Fall in Yosemite

I hope that your holidays are happy.  It is such a busy time of year for us all.  

Fall is well under way and winter is not far behind, so I thought I'd post some photos from a recent trip to Yosemite where we saw the Giant Sequoia's and some beautiful leafy colors.

The waterfalls are always gushing in the spring, rarely in the fall.  We were lucky enough to have some flowing streams and a few lightly flowing falls to hike to.

In California most of our trees hold onto their green leaves year-round, so it was special to find sprinkles of yellow, gold and red in the forest.

Many rocks were climbed, paths were hiked and streams were explored.  We are eager to see the wildflowers next year, in the spring.  

Holiday DIY, Wooden Advent Tree

During my nightly sift through the stacks of holiday catalogues that now arrive daily, I came across this great wooden tree from West Elm.  It's clean wooden simplicity appealed to me, garnished with glittering star ornaments.  I decided it would make a great advent tree, with 25 nails, one for an ornament a day. 

For the project I used, contractor shims, wood glue, sandpaper, an xacto knife and 25 finishing nails, all stuff we had laying around the garage as it happens.

I really liked the way the West Elm tree was tapered at the tips to give a more realistic branch-like look. Contractor shims are inexpensive (about $4 for the pack) keep the feel and look of the tree light.  Plus, they hold together well with wood glue and tiny finishing nails and cut away for easy shaping of the squared corners.

The photos for the project didn't turn out as well as I'd hoped but they still give you a good idea of how to create the tree.  It is a pretty free-form project and you can shape the tree's branches any way you'd like.  First I sanded all of the pieces to remove some rough edges.  To get the tapered branch tips, I sliced away the corners at a tapered angle then used more sandpaper to shape them.

I selected about 5 shims and laid them in a line with their ends overlapping  by an inch, then secured them with wood glue to form the trunk of the tree.  Strategically placed finishing nails also added extra security to the trunk and branch joins.  Once the trunk was dry, I began to assemble assorted sized pieces as branches.  I left some shims full legnth then used the xacto knife to cut others into 2 inch and 5 inch pieces.

From there I just played with the pieces until the tree had the look and feel that I was going for.  Finally I gently hammered in the finishing nails, being careful not to nail the tree to the countertop...., secured the branches with a bit of extra wood glue and that's it!  It is really that simple.

We keep a bowl of special (lightweight) ornaments by the tree and add one a day for advent.  I am already planning on spray painting it white for a fresh look next year.  By the way, PaperKarma is a great way to help you stop the catalogue deluge and save paper. Or, maybe that catalogue stack on your kitchen counter will contain your next inspiration.

Texas

Log Cabin

 I hope that you enjoyed your Thanksgiving.  We spent ours with family in San Diego and had a wonderful time celebrating together.  As promised, here are some photos from our recent trip to Texas.  We were visiting family on a picture perfect piece of historic property built c. 1851.

I was up early every morning to photograph all the things that make you truly feel like you are in Texas.  Like these button-faced washtubs,

And of course, Longhorns.

The weather was cool enough for a sweater and the stars were dazzling at night.

We laughed, ate good food and left eager for our next visit.

Texas Red Berries

Texas Red Berries

Back home again after traveling for a few weeks and recovering from colds on our return home.  I am organizing all of our photos of trips to Yosemite and Texas and will post those soon.  We finally started feeling better today so we celebrated by making these Ricotta Blackberry Scones.  I added a bit of salt to the dough, but that is all they needed.  They were perfectly light, not too sweet and juicy with berries.  I made a quick syrup with the remaining berries by simmering them in a bit of water with sugar and a vanilla bean pod, until thick.  Then we spooned the sauce over the scones, added a scoop of vanilla ice cream and freshly whipped cream.  It was delicious.  The taste of Autumn in a bowl.

Ghosts, Goblins and...Gnomes

Fall has finally arrived in Los Angeles and its residents are celebrating by pulling on their scarves and overcoats.  After months of scorching dry heat, there is a chill in the air, enough to believe that summer weather has finally come to a close.  Fall is my favorite time of year for many reasons, the crisp air, the leaves changing colors, caramel apples, and a certain sense of well-being and we near the Holiday season. 

I knit a bit, nothing fancy, mostly scarves here and there.  Even though I don't knit very often, I love to buy yarn and as a result have baskets of it.  One of my favorite Etsy shops to browse,  Gnome Acres has some of the most colorful yarns I have seen in awhile.  With names like, No Place like Gnome, Candy Mountain and Witches Brew, you can't help but get into the Halloween spirit.  Even though I know I shouldn't, I am tempted to add this, this and this to my yarn collection.  I love that the fibers are hand-spun alpaca and llama wool from local farms, dyed by Denise herself.  Read the blog to learn more and visit the Etsy shop to check out the Gnome-made selections for yourself.

Little Berries

Finally... sewing!  There hasn't been time lately for little projects so I was thrilled when I found myself at home with a whole unscheduled day before me.

My daughter couldn't resist eating the last berries in the kitchen when she lamented that she'd miss them during the winter months of apples, figs and pears.  So to cheer her up, we made these little happy berry (and a tomato) pincushions.

They were simple to do with a paper template, some felt, a needle and thread.  In no time, I found myself with an entire strawberry crop.  They will make nice additions to Birthday and Holiday packages this year.  After all, who can resist a strawberry?

To recipe or not to recipe?

How do you feel about following recipes?  I tend to begin to follow each step with good intentions then find I have drifted off on a tangent, creating another dish that is different, yet equally good.  I like to use what I have on hand, instead of frantically running out for oils and spices that I will never use again.  I am constantly substituting ingredients and cooking by feel to suit my taste, rather than by formula.  Since I hardly ever write my recipes down, I am often stumped when I try to recreate a dish. This tends to frustrate my family to no end. "Make that dish you made last month, it was so good."  "Why didn't you write it down?"  I think I earned this trait from my Grandfather who was always creating the most delicious soups and sauces, and never writing them down.  To this day I still dream of his Tomato Basil soup, forever lost.

I came across this article at Gilt, all about the recipe and how it is not always to best place to begin.  I enjoyed it so much that I decided to forgo a much needed trip to the store for a week to see if we could create dinners using only ingredients on hand.  The experiment was a success and we were able to come up with some delicious and creative dishes that we would have otherwise missed.

While I may not cook by recipe often, I will make an effort for my family and you all to take a little more time to write things down.  With that, enjoy these light Mustard greens with Garlic.

Cooking them is silly simple (hardly a recipe at all).  Wash thoroughly and pat dry with a clean towel.  I stack mine and cut them in a wide chiffonade.  They melt into one another well and soak up more of the delicious garlic flavor.  Heat a wok or pan on medium high and add olive oil.  While this heats, chop, mince or grate your garlic.  I use two huge cloves, or three to four small ones. When the oil is hot, drop your garlic in and cook for about one minute.  Add your greens and stand back.  Once the spattering has died down, turn your greens to cook evenly.  They are done when they have wilted considerably.  Add salt and enjoy with a bowl of pasta, on their own or as a topping on toasted baguette.