southwest guacamole
Q: what do you get when you cross an avocado and a lime?
A: delicious
But there’s more to the story.
The secret ingredient for southwest guacamole is corn. Contrary to my previous post about fresh corn, I prefer frozen corn kernels for guacamole. Just fill the bottom of a heated, dry saute pan with frozen corn and toast over medium high heat. Not much stirring needed. Add a chopped jalapeno pepper and salt and pepper when they begin to turn brown.
I would have added some diced onion too if I had one on hand. Believe it or not, this vegetarian kitchen operates with very few onions. Go figure 
Anyway, while the corn and peppers cool, mash two avocados with a fork and add the juice from 1-2 limes, plus a little more salt and pepper and maybe a dash of cumin powder.
Dice a ripe tomato and you’ve got a bowlful of love.
Mmm hmm. Trust me, this will become your favorite guacamole.
Thanks for dropping in!
taste of summer
The warm sunshine promotes plant growth like nothing else, except maybe miracle gro. Consequently, we’ve got an abundant supply of basil. And since the plants are self-seeding, lots of new sprouts popping up all the time.
Might as well enjoy it while it’s here.
First, a fresh picnic-friendly salad made from corn, garbanzo beans, orzo pasta, chopped fresh basil leaves and tossed with lemon juice and olive oil.
- 1 can rinsed and drained garbanzo beans
- 2 or 3 ears of corn, uncooked, cut from the cob
- one half pound orzo pasta (cooked and drained)
- big handful chopped fresh basil leaves
- salt & pepper
- juice of 2 lemons
- olive oil (one part lemon juice to two parts oil)
Since corn is in season, seems I’m adding it to just about everything. It’s sweet and delicious.
Add the salad ingredients into a mixing bowl, shake up the lemon juice and olive oil in a little jar, then pour over the salad and combine. Perfectly delicious at room temperature.
Next up, classic pesto with seasonal cherub tomatoes.
Grocery stores carry a great selection of affordable whole wheat pasta. I selected gemelli just because I like the shape.
Looks like we’re picnic ready
Enjoy your week and thank you for dropping in!!
for moms everywhere
I’m a volunteer blogger for an industry association and read a variety of blogs related to fundraising, scanning them for interesting tidbits to share with my colleagues.
This week I found a wonderful gem that I’d like to share with daughters who have moms and moms who have daughters. With love, for mother’s day
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math, nature and art
* math *
The internet is full of surprises. A few years ago I happened to find a research paper that my late father authored in the mid 1960s. It was a time in his life when he was very excited about his career in the early years of aerospace.
The paper was full of equations. Like this one.
This fascinating sequence of characters expresses heat balance. Essentially, the physics of nature. Radiant energy from the sun and movement (friction) as the heat passes through a window and reacts with properties specific to the material of the window.
My dad and his colleagues were experimenting with new window materials, trying to find something to use in spacecraft to optimize visibility and insulation during severe temperatures encountered in hypervelocity.
image from NASA’s photo gallery Gemini: Bridge to the Moon
As a youngster, daddy showed me photographs of the nature of our planet, explaining how essential our atmosphere was for human survival. He tried to explain natural properties of space and I tried to understand. .
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* nature*
I encountered a different sort of nature around 4:15 this morning. I heard an unfamiliar noise. Something like a horn tooting. My trusty dog Jasper and I ventured outdoors and heard it close by. Way up in the tall pine trees. I was aware of the bright moon. Dad’s voice in my head reminded me that the moon did not shine light, it merely reflected the sun’s light, in the places where the earth did not cast a shadow.
More hooting, calling noises.
Then a really large white bird took flight and soared right over us. Just like that. Gave me quite a thrill. First time in my life to see a barn owl (any owl, truth be told) in nature.
This isn’t the exact bird. But it looked like this.
barn owl
Jasper and I just saw the white underside whooshing past us overhead.
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* art*
I like to make things out of my imagination and I particularly like the planning process. Making schematics on graph paper. Optimizing the sizing and measurements. Using an antique ruler as a straight edge for construction. Making a prototype and refining the design.
Case in point – my weekend paper stitching project. I’ve gone through 3 iterations of this design so far and consider this latest one a step in the right direction — a workable starting point for the version to come next. The first two versions were a mess. trust me.
and the schematic for the next iteration–
the timeless chevron zigzag is merely a sharpened version of the rhythmic wave form that occurs in all of nature: electricity, sound, light, water. my little artform honed with the tools always present on daddy’s desk. graph paper and a straight edge.
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thank you for dropping in today and sharing this little bit of reflection
envelope prints
quite some time ago, I read this post by Carolyn, the creative force behind the inspired blog homework and I started seeing everyday things in a new way. In her post, Carolyn repurposed envelope paper – the kind you get from the bank that has printing on the inside – as a key ingredient in some of her artful creations.
I’ve been hoarding bank envelopes like crazy and lately tried incorporating them into my stitched-paper notecards.
I couldn’t resist adding the brighly colored postmark – just seemed like a perfect complement. Again, making use of two adjacent sides of an empty tissue box, folded out-side-in, as the basis for the notecard.
I’ve made two others, arranged differently, but this was my favorite. When using a combination of prints like this, simpler designs are indeed better and having a focal point, like the postmark, makes a difference.
Then, about a week ago, I saw a pin that led me to a post at purl bee with instructions for 3 blanket stitch variations. I really liked the chevron stitch and decided to combine it with a couching technique using, of course, paper.
I’ve done this a couple of times now and it makes a pretty notecard. I selected a thick stripe of map paper for the border accent and stitched it into place with the chevron blanket stitch.
I used half of a previously used greeting card as the basis for this notecard. I try to make all my notecards as earth-friendly as possible by reusing disposable paper items to the greatest extent possible. To see other notecard examples, click here or here.
Thank you for dropping by! With a slew of birthdays plus mother’s day and father’s day on the horizon, I really need to get busy and make a few more cards
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The Inspiration Board at homework
Metamorphosis Monday at Between Naps on the Porch
things I love – math and science
It just takes 5 words … according to the prescriptive recipe for interior style from Room Service. Simply choose 5 descriptive words that resonate with you. Let them become themes for the furnishings and accessories your select.
The first two in my list were romance and seashore. The third is math & science.
Geeky?
umm, maybe so. That’s so who we are. I only wish I had more furnishings that celebrate the beauty of science and mathematics. But let’s begin here — with this wonderful surveyor’s tool in the study.
or the vintage yardsticks in the crafting room.
Then there’s the artful abacus pair in the front hallway
and this totally awesome clock that makes me wish I had studied more….
Other kinds of technical items that tug at my heart include satellite imagery, technical blueprints and math, drafting and measurement tools.
So these are the kind of interior images that capture my imagination and give me an inspiration boost — they’re uncommon to be sure, but contain so many layers of beauty.
First, an astronomy map as a focal point –
from erin lang norris at Operation Paper Cuts
image from dust jacket attic
image from Southernliving via Emily A. Clark
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hope you enjoyed the images and wishing everyone a wonderful weekend.
Thank you for dropping by ~
diy hanging flowerpots
sometime last summer I published a post about the row of flowerpots adorning this backyard picket fence … and I’m just now getting around to writing the accompanying diy.
it is indeed a diy project, because the little hanging contraptions do not appear to be available anymore. thankfully they’re easy to make.
I originally bought a package of the wire flowerpot holders ages ago at a little garden store. Using those as my model, I purchased some galvanized fencing wire from the hardware store, since I don’t want them to rust.
Cut a length of wire long enough to fit the circumference of your small flowerpot beneth the rim, plus 8-10 inches.
Bend the wire in a circle, placed around your flowerpot, then using pliers, twist the two ends as close to the flowerpot as you can.
Remove the flowerpot and continue to twist. Bend the ends apart at the top, leaving about an inch on each side - this is where they hold on behind the adjacent fence pickets.
This is an easy and cute way to adorn a plain picket fence with a bright bouquet of spring. You just slide the twisted part between the pickets.
Just today I added the bracket with the hanging basket. It’s one of those closet shelf/rod brackets that was stashed in the garage. Might as well put it to good use.
And you might recall the hanging basket is also diy – made from a mesh produce bag. Fun way to upcycle – click here to read more about that project.
Anyway, it’s getting too late in the season to plant anymore, so we’ll just give them water and enjoy the blooms.
Happy gardening ~ and thank you so much for dropping by!
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sharing with
Metamorphosis Monday at Between Naps on the Porch
backyard audubon society hails new members
on this fine spring day, we greet two adult monarchs. One chrysalis had been indoors because we were fearful of bad weather, the Friday lawn care crew’s leaf blower, lizards, and a host of other possible doom-and-gloom scenarios.
The monarch’s metamorphosis within its chrysalis occurs over the span of 9 days.
On the first day, they are bright green.
By day 9, the adult markings are clearly visible.
It must happen all of a sudden, because the next time I checked, it was a butterfly.
At this point the butterfly’s wings need to unwrinkle and the butterfly’s body needs to eliminate excess liquid. See how his wings (above) are still crumpled?
One of this guy’s siblings emerged from her chrysalis in the nearby shrub at precisely the same time.
By 2:30, the insect’s thorax was much more pronounced and the abdomen narrower.
By 3pm both were flexing their wings
and by 3:30 they were off on a new adventure.
I photographed these two insects within 5 feet of each other. I secured the twig to which the first chrysalis was attached to the arm of an outdoor chair. Coincidentally, another chrysalis is metamorphasizing on the very same chair, just beneath the very same armrest. We didn’t notice it until today.
Apparently the monarchs are far from finished. There are still caterpillars growing
and eggs prepared to hatch (yes that tiny white dot near the middle of the leaf is an egg).
Just like a couple of 7th graders excited about assembling their science projects, Cristybella and I are prepared to recruit new members to our backyard audubon society
Thanks for your enthusiasm! It’s such fun sharing the excitement!
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sharing with
Metamorphosis Monday at Between Naps on the Porch
nifty thrifty sunday at nifty thrifty things
butterflies in progress
Cristybella and I have been attending to lawn and garden chores nearly every weekend for the past couple of months. We can hear baby birds chirping in their nests and are happy to enjoy the colorful blooming plants.
Last week I excitedly blogged about monarch caterpillars in the yard.
There were many more eggs than I imagined and the garden has been a revolving door of caterpillars. We’ve kept an eye on a few as they make their way to the next phase of life.
After the caterpillars have eaten a huge helping of milkweed leaves, they depart that plant to find a place to get comfortable. And the shrub a few inches away is very inviting.
It takes them a little while to settle into the new spot where they’ll take up residence for the next week or so. The insect attaches itself to the underside of a sturdy surface, then the metamorphosis begins.
They shed their striped skin and become a chrysalis.
In about a week and a half, the adult monarchs inside will emerge. I’d love to witness that, but the chances are pretty slender. We hope to catch a glimpse of one or two butterflies before they leave us.
It’s been so gratifying to glimpse into the magical side of Mother Nature. Hope you’re having a wonderful week and thank you for reading!
pretty fabric covered hangers
My late grandma loved crafting. One of her creative endeavors that I remember clearly was the way she braided bands of polyester double knit fabric around wire clothes hangers. Hey, it was in the seventies. I had some of those hangers in my closet growing up and loved that the hangers were not only slip resistant, but also gentle on my clothes.
I started making my own version of grandma’s hangers about 15 years ago, but use sturdier hangers and pretty cotton fabric rather than polyester.
I tear the fabric into strips about 1 1/2 inches wide then wrap them tightly around the hanger until it’s padded nicely.
On the final wrap I fold under the raw fabric edge to prevent shedding on my garments.
Then I tuck in the end, secure it with a straight pin and add a small ribbon in the center.
Here’s another alternative that’s very decorative and DIY friendly from the awesome blog wise craft.
yarn-wrapped hangers by wisecraft
So many ways to add sweet touches of homemade love.
Thank you for dropping by ~
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