Apron Strings

New from old again. These aprons made from vintage pillowcases and a cafe curtain/valance set. The one at the bottom, with the birds, that's the one from the curtain. Just like Scarlett in GWTW.

Homegrown

It's amazing that even in a little neighborhood in a medium sized urban area, we can grow our own.

Mangos from our backyard start here on the tree:

Then get peeled and sliced in the kitchen:

Get pastry-ed and baked in the oven for 35 minutes and end up looking like this:

Thank you little backyard tree.

Health Kick

My daughter gave a very unique Father's Day gift to her dad this year. Her thoughtful choice of present takes in to account a concern for his health and for the environment. As a caring, loving daughter, she wishes that he ingest only things that are pure and natural and good for him. And she hopes that those products are made with ingredients grown without harmful chemicals, pesticides and other yucky stuff.

The gift? ORGANIC VODKA! Yes. USDA Certified Organic.

Square One Organic Vodka

An ordinary bottle of clear liquid. But wait...what does that label say?

Organic Booze!

The greening of the martini.

I can.

After being inspired by this great NY Times article on the gaining popularity of home canning amongst the whole/local food movement, I "put up" some condiments this weekend. 9 pints of Spicy Cranberry Ketchup (omg delicious) and 8 pints of Berry Jumble Jam (a mix of organic blackberries and organic red raspberries---a little runny, but very tasty). Recipes are from this book from the canning equipment people at Ball.

If you read the NY Times article, you'll see this written about one of the mavens of the home canning movement, Eugenia Bone: "She doesn’t decorate her jars with calico, or stick charming labels on them, and is unconcerned about the color of her asparagus and the occasional overcooked batch of artichoke hearts." I didn't follow that canning philosophy. But before I dressed my product up in cotton and twine, I took them out for a walk in the garden and posed them in the flower planters. (see web header photo for proof!).

There is something so satisfying to go through the canning process and end up with a pantry full of delicious goodness.

Yep, I'm still here!