In the Garden of Life

Think you can't draw, but would like to?

2009-12-10T08:00:00.000-08:00

One of the things I learned with our move to Washington is to prepare myself for the Fall/Winter months ahead when it is too cold and bleak outside for gardening, my favorite thing to do. What did I want to learn; what projects can I take on, other than cooking and baking. Given that trying out dessert recipes is what I am inclined to try out most of the time, not good for my diabetes at all.

The Fall schedule of Peninsula College listed various interesting classes but the Colored Pencils class describes teaches drawing using colored pencils. I've dabbled in drawing before and got good results but it's always with a lot of trial and errors before I get the desired result. A frustrating process although it allowed me to get by in drawing things on objects, such as my watering can shown here>>>>>>:

Our instructor is very good. She gave me a different perspective on how to look at the object I am trying to draw.

We used colored pencils and didn't try to sketch out the object with a lead pencil which was how I used to draw - sketch it out and then fill in the space with color (my medium before was watercolor). With the colored pencil technique she was showing us, we were developing the picture while using the colored pencil; the process is almost like burnishing.

You keep adding color with the colored pencil and the resulting picture almost has a glow to it. For this class, we stuck to recreating the object. I was excited to realize that I can do this, and produce the results shown in my first couple of tries.

It is a first step and I will sign up for more classes. But, in the meantime, I am happy that with this class, I am able to add a repertoire to the development of my art skill.

This frog in my shoe drawing is all out of proportion. I was trying to add to the original picture and as you can see - not good at this yet. Oh, well, such is life.

Drawing below: I was trying to capture the lightness of background of a calendar picture.

I was very glad to share this newly acquired skill with our neighbor's daughter, Heather, who has a definite passion for drawing. I did several projects with her, the Chestnuts being one of them. She entered one of her works that we did together in an art contest. She earned prize money for this. Now, that felt great. And, I'm happy that I got her started on it.

She was a fast learner. Her parents enrolled her in other colored pencils classes after our sessions together, and I am happy to report that her skill is much better than mine at this point. Well, to be honest, I think she'll definitely be way better than mine.

It was a great project to take up that fall!

The quest for perfect Panettone

2009-12-10T07:51:00.000-08:00

I have come to associate Christmas time with having Panettone for breakfast. When we used to live in San Diego, I'd go to the Little Italy district on India Street. Boxes of Panettone displayed at the stores is enough to get me salivating in anticipation. of this buttery bread filled with candied fruits and raisins. And I love the gold wrapper it's baked in; makes it look special.

After we moved to Sequim, WA, the local grocery stores did not stock Panetonne and there were no specialty food shops around. Of course, if I was willing to drive to Trader Joe's in Lynnwood, WA (over 2 hours drive from where I live), I can get it. Oh, by the way, I also have to time my visit to the store right because it disappears fast. And then there are mail order companies but now we're talking spending a lot for my gluttony.

As usual when faced with situations like this, I resort to going to the internet. A search for panettone revealed quite a selection of recipes. For those of you who aren't familiar with Panettone: Almost every region in Italy has its own Christmas cake, but this Milanese specialty is by far the the most famous and most difficult to make. When they say the most difficult, they mean it. I've had to experiment with different recipes. My failures ranged from the dough not rising, the dough rose but it fell during baking, resultant bread was dense, some dough oozed out of the make shift mold I made (the one I like is tall like the picture above), texture was too much like bread, texture was too much like cake - just not the right weblike texture (shaggy) like the store bought ones.

Until last year, every Christmas brought a series of panetonne baking experimentation. The recipe calls for a lot of butter and eggs and time. So, after 3 tries each baking season, I give up till the next year brings that "want" again. Michael is ever so supportive and eats with me my imperfect creation.

My last search on the internet yielded this blog: Hector's Panettone blog from Real Baking with Rose. Rose Levy Beranbaum, author of various cookbooks, is famous for her detailed instructions and she is very generous in answering questions online. Of course, her followers jump in there to help out other bakers as well with their questions. Hector is one of the most generous.

Back to the Panettone. As I mentioned, Hector walked me through some of my hurdles. He did say for a non-bread baker, I was taking on a rather ambitious recipe.

Here's an excerpt of one of our conversations on the blog:

Amy: Panetonne has cooled down and we've cut 2 slices off it. It's got the shaggy texture, could be lighter but that's probably because it didn't rise as well as it should.
Will find a solution for the proofing problem, although it did rise better this time.
It could use be a little sweeter and I think next time, I will increase the corn syrup.
Other than all that - I am pleased with the result of this batch, knowing I am improving each time! Thanks you Hector and Matthew! Thanks Rose for the very detailed instruction - btw I weighed my ingredients this go round.

Hector: Amy, I am so proud of you, and love the shaggy texture!!!!!!!!

I purchased online the special wrapper to get the look. And as they say in fairy tales: ".....and they lived happily ever after."

With me, it's "..... and they enjoyed Christmas breakfast with Panettones ever after!"

My thanks to Rose Beranbaum's recipe, online presence and her followers, particularly Hector Wong. You can view Hector's blog here.

Obsessing Fresh Peach Pie a la Marie Callender

2009-12-09T22:02:00.000-08:00

Sitting in class at our final class on Driftwood Sculpture, we started talking about pies, then to Marie Callender's Fresh Peach Pie. (Sorry no picture available). My new found friend Peggy agreed with me when I mentioned how much I loved it, and how my husband and I literally feast on it in one sitting. I tell you it's that great. She had the same wonderful experience.

Living in Sequim, WA is almost like moving to a foreign country when it comes to finding a Marie Callender's. So, every summer I get into a "trying to see if I can make a fresh peach pie a la Marie Callender". Searched on the internet for a recipe each year, and couldn't find one just right. I tell you, I feel like a pregnant woman every summer time craving for this pie.

When removing the skin off the peaches, the first step is to put the whole peach in hot water for a few minutes so the skin will easily peel off. But that process softens the peaches causing it to ooze juice. Nothing like Marie's where the peaches are firm but ripe, glistening under the glaze.

There's also the pie crust. How do you keep the crust from getting soggy with this juicy peach? Recipes all over the place on to how to cook the pie to achieve this result. But,that's just the problem. You have to cook the pie with various things such as cornstarch, flour, tapioca, arrowroot powder, etc. Definitely not like Marie's.

Back to the internet looking for a solution and followed this thread:
Heavenly Peach Galette. Rose Levy Beranbaum wrote an extensive instructional recipe with a lot of favorable comments from her followers. The result is not anywhere close to Marie's. But the favorable comments and the idea of a galette appealed to me (I make my Pear Frangipane Galette this way too, recipe courtesy of Food Network).

After several tries, it turned out great. Here's how Rose's galette look like:

Here's my finished product:

Anytime I try a different recipe, I end up with disappointing results. Guess I'll adopt Rose's recipe for my peach pie recipe until Marie Callender responds to my request for a recipe. Better yet, like my friend Peggy said, submit it to America's Test Kitchen and see if they can do it. I just might do that.

P. S. America's Test Kitchen responded and this is what they recommend:
Do not blanch the peaches. Just use the peeler designed for peeling thin skinned fruits like tomatoes, peaches, etc. Also, blind bake the crust.
We'll see how this works next summer.

An Apron for Mother's Helper

2009-12-06T20:57:00.000-08:00

Christmas has a way of making me think back. Such as, what to get for my granddaughter. Then I remembered that when I visited the grand kids last year, Courtney enjoyed helping me make Blueberry Scones (recipe from Cook's Illustrated). She especially liked patting down the dough, distributing the berries into the dough and cutting it into scone shape. (we sure had fun).

My stepson really enjoyed the scones (even bragged about it at his office). He requested that I make some more before we head back to Washington. I was only too glad to do this because I know that I'll get double bang for it: Michael will enjoy the scones and I have another bonding experience with Courtney.

Surely, an apron is what she needed. So, I thought I'd make one for her. I wanted to make it pretty but not too frilly that it can't be used. I also thought that because she enjoys gardening, that it'd be something she can use for that as well. Found a ready made red apron with 2 pockets. Then off to JoAnne's Fabric store in Port Angeles.

I was sure glad there's a JoAnne's fabric store close by. They had a black and white checkered fabric with red cherries on it. How great! My apron has cherries on the pattern too. To accessorize it, got 2 packages of iron on red cherry decals, a polka dot red ribbon and I was ready. Ta dah!

When I called Kathy (Courtney's mom)) to help me determine how long the apron ought to be, she excitedly told me that her neighbor sells little girl aprons and Courtney modeled it for her. Her neighbor from what I gathered is selling these aprons. Kathy said that Courtney really liked the apron.

You can imagine how thrilled I was to hear this. Sometimes, one gets lucky.

Of course, I forgot that my sewing machine isn't working too great. After much effort and thread pulling (ggrrr, I need a new machine!!!!!), I finished the apron and got inspired to do one for my sister's grand daughter. So back to JoAnne's.

It was snowing and Michael, my husband, did the driving. While I was looking at fabrics, my husband came back excited from shopping around at the close by Dollar store and informed me that he found little girl chef hats over there. I am telling you. This was a find! Great job Michael! Can you imagine how long it would take to make the hats? With just a minor alteration of extending the velcro closure, I got my hats for the 2 girls. Too cute.

Don't know how I missed it last time, but they had this fabric with muffins all over with a pink background and a coordinating pink fabric, this time in polka dots. Found some darling muffin iron on decals and with a roll of gingham pink and white ribbon to complete it. My mind was on high gear thinking how to make it pretty. With a little bit of ribbon on the bib side, I just knew it'd cute.

Which one do you think my granddaughter would like better?

LEMONS, LEMONS, AND MORE LEMONS

2009-12-06T20:06:00.000-08:00

I was at Costco two weeks ago and noticed the pile of lemons in one section.. The lemons were so enticing, both in color and fragrance, so I grabbed a bag. I figured I can always use lemons.

Well, this morning, I still haven't gotten around to using a great part of it other than to squish a little bit on the omelet I was making. Hmm, what to do. We always enjoyed lemon curd (especially Michael, my husband, who is an englishman). But, canning a whole bunch of lemon curd just didn't appeal to me.

And what does a modern cook do nowadays, check the internet. S0, I went online and looked up ways to prepare a lemon curd without canning. An article from Fine Cooking, Fool-Proof Lemon Curd indicated that lemon curd freezes well. And voila, and I found this recipe for Freezer Lemon Curd .

So, in between sewing an apron for my granddaughter Courtney (more on this later, it is soooo cute), I made the lemon curd.

This recipe is very, very good! I had enough to fill 6 containers using the Ball Freezer Jar (Item #: 1440082000. Ball® Plastic 8oz. Freezer Jar). By the way, these containers makes preserving jams and jellies really simple. Into the freezer it went, leaving one for immediate use. Yummy!

As you can see, I still have a lot of lemons to use. Maybe I'll make a Lemon Cheesecake. I can take it to the filipino get together we're having next week.

Dorothy and the Red Pair of Shoes

2009-11-24T20:15:00.000-08:00

Several years ago, Michael and I went to a Line Dancing Class. It was lots of fun but work got in the way.

A couple of weeks ago, my friend Lynda, who is really into Line Dancing, got me back in the groove. Now, if you know me, you'd know it's quite a sight to see me follow a choreographed dance activity. I am left handed. That means, my left is my right; and my right is my left. Need I say more about that? Then, there is this extra thing I do. For some reason, my feet seem to add an extra step to the sequence. So, not only am I turning the wrong way, I am also getting in the way with my delayed steps. Does this remind you of some people in aerobics classes?

I think this is also one of the reasons I could not abide corporate jobs. I just can't abide conforming guidelines. (Now for those of you in the mortgage business, that'll take you somewhere else in the financial world.) I love to dance! So, I make up my steps and enjoy myself. Being married to an Irishman at one time taught me that fun is about enjoying yourself and not the steps.

But what do I do now in the case of Line Dancing? Line Dancing, got it?
I am fine when our instructor, Carma, (she is an inspiration) breaks down the steps. However, when she puts it all together - I am the one making a mess in the dance floor. Definitely not in "Line" with the others executing those steps so gracefully.

The brand new red cowboy boots. You heard of Dorothy and her red shoes right? Well, something happened last week. All of a sudden, I am getting in step with the group. Lynda and Patt noticed it and immediately, we all said: It's the shoes!. Needless to say, I will stay and persevere and if I am not in line, at least I shall have fun. Also, there's Lynda, Patt, Teri, Elaine and Angel only too willing to teach me. Gaining friends and burning a bit of calories along the way is a very good incentive too.

Talk about supportive, just 2 weeks before Thanksgiving, this sweet, kind lady took my hand in class and guided me through the steps. Really don't know her but I can't wait for her return from vacation to do the steps with her. And, that's one thing I can say: people in the group don't care if I didn't get the steps right away. They are supportive and just want to have fun. AND, when the weather is cold, dreary and wet - line dancing is just the ticket to lift your mood up.

Line Dancing, care to join us?

Thanksgiving on the Road and the bumpity bumps along the road

2009-11-23T11:31:00.000-08:00

It was five years ago this Thanksgiving Day that we were on the road in a UHaul truck containing pieces that we could not get into the BIG moving van that was also on its way. We were moving to Sequim, Washington. We were so eager to get to our new home that we decided to forego Thanksgiving Day with the family. Michael and I dubbed it the "Sequim Chapter of our Life".

There we were in the freeway, when suddenly we heard a pop! we had a flat tire. I was so afraid and Michael eased our Uhaul van into the center divider where we waited for about two hours for the repair guy who just sat down to this Thanksgiving dinner at his home.

Then we thought, OK things are fine and we're on the road again. But, darn if we didn't get a second tire blowout! Michael left me on the side of a lonely offramp (after all, everybody was with their families enjoying Thanksgiving). He had to locate a phone to call in our 2nd blowout. A longer wait this time for the repair guy who has to locate something or another to fix our problem. Of course, his Thanksgiving Day was also interrupted. At this time, I am getting worried about this trip and the company we chose to rent our moving van from.

With each blowout, we hear things shifting about inside the back of the van. But, frankly, I really didn't want to see what was going on. I mean, I have my not so meager collection of Lladro there, my antique Grandfather clock, along with several Orchids, in bloom no less. I couldn't face what might be a disastrous sight. Michael tried to reassure me that all's well.

Tired and jubilant, we arrived the following morning, only too eager to view a home that we purchased a couple of months ago and had not seen since then. (With the downturn of property values in San Diego at the time, needless to say, we were worried if we can make it.)

The contractor we hired to do complete the remodeling to the house by our move in date (he had 2 months to do this) hardly made any progress except for the demolition. So, we slept in the smaller bedroom, camping style. You know, nothing but a blanket and bed sheet between us and the floor. We hung a bed sheet to protect us from all the dust and mess going on in other parts of the house. But, we didn't mind it at all. We made it! The promise of a new chapter buoyed our spirits.

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you!

Here's the house before all the remodeling and landscaping of 5 years.

Here's a current picture:

Driftwood and Art

2009-11-19T15:18:00.000-08:00

One weekend, Michael and I were sort of ambling about. We decided to check out the Events section of the paper and noticed that there was a Driftwood Association event in town. It was fascinating how ugly pieces of wood were transformed into a piece of art!

Always in the lookout for things to do during the Fall and Winter months, I decided to enroll in Driftwood Sculpting. I came to our first class with a big rather complicated looking piece of wood (looked the the rock spires in Silent City in Bryce Amphitheater from Bryce Point, Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah, USA). Most of the others did the same. Our instructor advised us that they were too complicated for our class and had us pick pieces of wood from a stack she had in the corner.

After endless cleaning, my piece of wood is evolving into either a skeleton of a hog head or from a different perspective, an interesting free form sculpture. I've been sanding it to a shine as you can see from the 2 pictures attached. This is not the finished product yet and if I may say so - IT IS LOOKING PRETTY DARN GOOD!

Ladies Dinner Party and How to lengthen Peonies blooming time

2009-11-19T13:30:00.000-08:00

I was at an All Ladies dinner party last Friday. It was loads of fun and my girl friend Lynda went all out with the spread. Scallops wrapped with bacon, Spinach balls, cheese and crackers, and spiced nuts for hors d'ouvre accompanied by non-ending mixture of drinks, wine and champagne. Then for dinner, we had Crab Cakes with Lemon Butter Sauce topped with Tomato salsa, Rotolo (yummy italian dish) for the main course and Tiramisu and Pumpkin Cream Cheese roll for dessert choices. We were stuffed and truly grateful for this wonderful meal! What a fantastic hostess/cook she is!

Then, as conversations go - one of the ladies brought up my website and peonies. She indicated that she didn't know there were so many varieties. She complained, however, that the plant is short lived when in bloom. And so, I explained to her how to lengthen the blooming time of peonies.

Her comment inspired me to create a pdf file title "Peonies Blooming Time". I just posted it on my website www.ilovepeonies.com. I hope that this helps you in your selection of peonies. Living here in the Pacific Northwest, one of the things I decided is that I will have flowers and color during all 4 seasons. I didn't want to face fall and especially bleak winter with nothing going on in my garden. And so, I chose plants and trees that would provide color during these seasons.

Thus, the Peonies Blooming Times. It takes a little bit of time to download because it has a lot of pictures to show you the colors of the peonies in bloom during specific times. This guide will help you choose cultivars that will lengthen the time to enjoy the peonies!

Welcome to "In the Garden of Life!"

2009-11-11T14:00:00.000-08:00

I thought of an all encompassing title to cover topics I'd be posting, which could be anywhere from my Passion about Peonies, Gardening, Bread Baking, Desserts, Cooking, home decorating and home remodeling, hobbies such as hunting for mushrooms, drawing, hiking, sewing and driftwood sculpting to name a few.

With the heavy emphasis on gardening, I thought why not "In the Garden of Life". Our life is like a Garden. We come up with ideas (the seed), whether it's about our careers, relationships, family, friends, hobbies, health, our dreams. Then we move forward with this idea (planting the seed) we begin to nurture it with good soil, amending it with nutrients to ensure its growth, cultivate it and wait for the reward of our work with the beautiful plants, trees and flowers. We share it with our family, friends, neighbors, and the birds, the bees, the butterflies, and even in my case with CZ, my cat, who seems to delight in accompanying me when I work in the garden; practice her runs and catching skills! In The Garden of Life provides us with a way to express ourselves, relax, be with nature and meditate about life.

So there you have it. Again, Welcome to "In the Garden of Life".