Guggenheim!

Just a couple of weeks until the Guggenheim event! Can't wait to be in New York again!

Lovely Letterpressed Placecards

These lovely stacks are place cards for the sweet Senoir Editor of Lucky Magazine...I'll try to post a better picture later; sometimes I am so rushed that the only picture I can take is on the "school camera," but I think I might have taken a few other pictures at home--I'll check.

"Mrs. Betsy"

There is nothing more special than a note or drawing from a child! I am sure that when we have our own children, I will have the worst time throwing anything away!

I'd Rather be Sleeping...

I've been feeling extremely exhausted lately, to the point of feeling "fuzzy headed" (much to the amusement of my family! Thanks a lot, guys!) This photo of Belle as a kitten perfectly depicts what I would REALLY rather be doing right now.

Tarts for Every Season

Well I have no idea why I feel the need to post about all these summery foods way after the fact, but I really don't want to let the photos go to waste!

This is the tart I made for Nick on Easter morning this year. This tradition was started last year, on our honeymoon in Paris (!), when Nick went out and brought me back a fresh fruit tart on Easter morning, before we headed to Notre Dame for the Easter service. We decided to make it a tradition--the tart, that is, not Easter in Paris! This was a Bon Appetit-inspired strawberry tart, with an orange-scented, creamy filling. A little too rich for me, but Nick thoroughly enjoyed it!

Well now I am dying to make this Cranberry Chocolate Tart, featured in this month's Bon Appetit. I don't know about those crystallized ginger strips, but the rest of the recipe looks divine. Here is the link!
Cranberry Chocolate Tart

An Autumnal Spread...

Here is last night's little job...invites and envelopes and buffet cards for a dinner party happening in Los Angeles later this month! Very autmnal looking, with a scrumptious sounding menu, too: Spiked Cider, Hazelnut Pear Salad, Coquilles St. Jacques with Beurre Blanc, and Ratatouille.

Heaven on a chip...

Well, we don't have any more tomatoes in our yard, but I thought I would post this recipe anyway, as a last salute to summer. This salsa is so completely easy to make, and tastes ten million times better than any store bought one. Can't go wrong with Molly's recipes!

Grilled Tomato Salsa

by Molly Wizenberg

Taken from Orangette

(If you don’t have a grill at the ready, you can achieve the same - or similar - ends with your broiler.)

2 ½ - 3 lb. ripe Roma tomatoes
1 large onion
1 head garlic
1 - 4 jalapeños
2 - 4 lemons or limes, or a mixture of both
½ bunch cilantro
Salt

Preheat your grill. If you’re using a charcoal grill, get it nice and hot.While the grill heats, prepare the vegetables. Rinse the tomatoes, and set them aside. Peel and trim the onion; then cut it in half along its equator. Trim the top off the head of garlic, revealing the tips of the cloves inside; then wrap the entire head in aluminum foil. Rinse the jalapeños, and trim off their stems. If you want a very mild salsa, remove their seeds; otherwise, leave them intact.

Arrange the tomatoes, onion halves, jalapeños, and garlic on the grill. We like to close the lid to help keep it hot, but if you’re using a charcoal grill, this might create a smoky flavor, which you may or may not want. It’s up to you. Either way, let the vegetables cook, turning them once or twice, until they are nicely charred. The onions should be quite blackened on their cut sides, and the jalapeños should be charred. [A tidbit of interest: the more you cook the jalapeños, the less spicy they will be.] The tomato skins will begin to wrinkle a bit and blacken, and some of the tomatoes will split open. Carefully open the foil packet to check the garlic: does it feel soft? If not, return it to the grill until it does.

When the vegetables are ready, transfer them to a large sheet pan, and cool to room temperature. Dump the tomatoes, onion, and 1 jalapeño into the bowl of a large food processor. (Ours is an 11-cup.) Remove the softened cloves from the head of garlic, and add them to the bowl. And add the juice of 2 lemons (or limes), the cilantro, and a good dose of salt. Process to a salsa consistency. Taste, and add more jalapeño, lemon juice, and salt to taste. Taste, and tweak until it is to your liking.Refrigerate until thoroughly chilled before serving.

Sweet bunnies

A friend had asked for a picture of the stuffed toys that I make, and so here is one of my niece with the bunny I made for her! The fabulous photo was taken by my talented sister-in-law, Katie, who has started a photography business...

Currant Obsession...

I have been fairly obsessed with currant scones in recent weeks, and the breakfast scene above is typical of our Saturday mornings lately...the ones pictured are from a Bon Appetit recipe, but our new favorites are the Buttermilk Currant Scones from the Tartine Cookbook I recently received as a birthday gift....I'll try to post the recipe soon!

Friday.

"Friday couldn't come soon enough." -Sebastian

Some Fruits of our Labor...

A friend asked for some shots of our garden, so it motivated me to finally post these overdue photos!

Nick and I are planning on a full day of gardening this Saturday-- can't wait!

One of the lovely watermelons we grew this summer, plucked from the vine that entirely took over our yard....

Our crop of sunflowers, that decided to shun us and face the neighbors house instead....
Here they are up close...
A shot of one of the rose bushes I gave Nick for a wedding present...

On feeling loved...

Nick took me to Cafe Poca Cosa for my birthday, and had come beforehand and put these flowers on our table. I am hardpressed to come up with a time when I have felt more special. It was something so simple, but it made me feel insanely loved. They have graced my office all week! Thank you, Nicholas!

God and Betsy love Nick.

What a funny website...http://www.churchsigngenerator.com/ Make your own sign!

Chicken Pot Pie

My Beautiful Mother's Chicken Pot Pie

Ingredients:

2 2/3 cups flour

1 tsp. salt

1 cup shortning

7-8 TBSP. ice water

About two cups of cooked or roasted chicken breast (or thighs if you want darker meat), cut into bite-size chunks. I usually just cook two chicken bone-in breasts.

1 large potato, peeled and cut into bite-size chunks

2 large carrots, cut into bite-size rounds

1 onion

1/3 of a package of frozen peas

4 TBSP. butter

4 TBSP. flour

1 tsp. salt

few shakes of Herbs de Provence or whatever other herb you would like....Rosemary is great

pepper
2 1/4 cups milk

Directions:

Pre-heat oven to 425 degress. Make pie crust by stirring the flour and salt together, and then cutting the shortning in with a pastry cutter (or two forks!) The crumbs should be about the size of peas. Add the water, 2 TBSPs at a time, mixing with one hand to combine. Continue combining with your fingers until dough holds together.

Cook the potatoes and carrots in a big pot of boiling water until tender but not falling apart. Add half of a chopped onion a few minutes before they are done. When ready, drain into a colander with the 1/3 of a package of frozen peas waiting in the bottom. The steaming hot vegetables will thaw and cook the little peas just enough.

Make a white sauce by sauteing a chopped half of an onion in 4 TBSPs of butter until transparent. Add the flour, salt, herbs, and pepper and stir until cooked, about 40 seconds. Add the milk and stir until nice and thick.

Roll out the pie dough into two halves....one for the bottom, one for the top.

Mix the white sauce, vegetables, and chicken together, then dump into pie plate draped with one of the pie dough rounds. Cover with other portion of rolled dough, and seal and crimp the edges. Make some slashes in the top, and cover the crust edges with foil. Bake in a 425 degree oven for 35- 40 minutes, removing foil from edges of crust the last 12-15 minutes. Enjoy!

Stuff.

We seriously don't know what we were thinking.

The rummage sale for Alethia Academy is this coming Saturday. At our house. We have rollerskates in our bedroom, and strange, seven-foot-tall camel sculptures on our porch. Well, actually, that's not true about the rollerskates.

I hope its worth it, and I hope we don't drown in a sea of knickknacks before Saturday morning rolls around.

I love still lifes of fruit.

I LOVE still lifes like the one above, found here. Maybe over Christmas break I will finally break out the oil paints and be able to do some lovely fruit paintings of my own!

An early Christmas surprise for me and the kitchen....

This hutch is an early Christmas present from Nick and his wonderful parents. Ours is in cream, however, not black. I love it so much- it is just gorgeous.

Swap Ornaments...

Here are the completed ornaments for the Swap! They're going out late, but hopefully they will be loved anyway! Merry merry Christmas!

Jolly Jellies...

Here is a belated photo of our Jellybean Halloween Costumes!

Photo inside of a Photo...

I have about a million photos waiting to be turned into posts, but I keep forgetting to actually sit down and do them. In the meantime, here is a picture of a picture in my office--Nick and I a couple of weeks before we were married last April!