Irises in Purples and Blues

Iris on my kitchen windowsill

“Man has availed himself of the great laws of evolution in mightier matters than the iris, but in no theatre of his unsleeping efforts has he created purer beauty or wakened for flower lovers a truer joy than among the bearded irises.”
– Eden Phillpott, Country Life Magazine, 1917

Purple iris

Stacked irises

Detail, iris

Watercolor sketch of irises

Another watercolor sketch of iris

And yet another watercolor sketch of irises

Dinners with My Daughter

Now that my daughter is living away from home in an apartment, we’re going to try to get together on Mondays for dinner.  I don’t know about you, but I find that I have to work at staying connected to family and friends.  Without a regularly scheduled commitment, I find that time slips away and soon it will have been months since I’ve communicated. My daughter and I are both self-reliant and independent.  I’d love to have a closer relationship with her, but we are not the kind of mother-daughter who picks up the phone to talk several times a day, or even daily.  I hope that by getting together once a week, we’ll be able to keep up with each other’s lives over a meal.

I know that relationships take constant effort, or they are apt to languish.  And yet, by nature I cherish solitude, so I resist filling my calendar with too many commitments.  I already have a weekly date with one friend to walk around Green Lake.  And now I have at least one dinner a week to plan and look forward to.  Suddenly my life feels full!

Last week was the first Monday dinner with my daughter.  I made pork enchiladas, Asian cole slaw (using the recipe in my February 28, 2011 blog post), and fresh rhubarb pie and ice cream.

I used Anna Thomas's cheese enchilada recipe from The Vegetarian Epicure -- just added pork and brown rice.

Pork enchiladas ready for the oven

I save the wax linings from cereal boxes to use when I roll out pie dough.

I crimp the pie crust the way my mother used to.

Rhubarb pie never lasts long in our house.

Corn Bread with Corn Kernels

Cooling cornbread muffins

I love cornbread and usually use the recipe from Anna Thomas’s Vegetarian Epicure.  But I recently came across another recipe in Melissa Clark’s In the Kitchen with a Good Appetite.  It incorporates fresh corn kernels, and it sounded tasty.

In the Kitchen with a Good Appetite by Melissa Clark

It’s too early to have fresh corn-on-the-cob, so I used a cup of frozen kernel corn.  I also baked mine in muffins tins rather than in a skillet.  They still turned out delicious.  Here’s the recipe:

Rich and Nutty Brown Butter Corn Bread with Fresh Corn

8 Tbsp unsalted butter (1 stick)
1 ear corn, kernels removed (about 1 c)
1 Tbsp pure maple syrup
1 c all-purpose flour
1 c stone-ground yellow cornmeal
1 Tbsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
1-1/4 c whole milk yogurt or cour cream
1 large egg
2 Tbsp sugar
1/4 tsp baking soda

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.  In a 9-inch oven-safe skillet, melt 4 Tbsp of the butter over medium-high heat.  Add the corn and maple syrup and saute, stirring, until the corn is tender, 10 to 12 minutes.

In a large bowl, sift together the flour, cornmeal, baking powder, and salt.  In a separate bowl, whisk together the yogurt, egg, sugar, and baking soda.  Gently fold the wet ingredients into the dry ones until just combined.  Fold in the butter-corn mixture.

Return the skillet to the heat and melt the remaining 4 Tbsp of butter, tilting the pan to coat the sides completely.  Cook the butter 2 to 3 minutes until pale gold with a nutty fragrance, being careful not to let it get too brown.  Take the skillet off the heat and scrape in the batter, smoothing the surface with a rubber spatula.  (I folded the browned butter into the rest of the batter before pouring into buttered muffin tins.)

Bake until the top is golden and and toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 25 to 30 minutes.  Cut into wedges and serve.

I used frozen corn from Trader Joe's.

Fresh corn muffins

Purple Bells and Wispy Things

Bouquet of little purple things

Wispy seedhead

Bits of nature for my watercolor sketches

Watercolor and colored pencil sketch of Pasque folowers

Tulips: Hidden Kaleidoscopes in Nature

Peering into a tulip

“Our days are a kaleidoscope. Every instant a change takes place in the contents. New harmonies, new contrasts, new combinations of every sort. Nothing ever happens twice alike. The most familiar people stand each moment in some new relation to each other, to their work, to surrounding objects. The most tranquil house, with the most serene inhabitants, living upon the utmost regularity of system, is yet exemplifying infinite diversities.”
– Henry Ward Beecher

Peering into the inner world of this tulip reminds me of the kaleidoscopes of my childhood — repeating bits of pattern and color.  Lovely!

The tulip season is in its last days.  Even the fading, drooping petals are full of vibrant color.

Watercolor sketch of yellow tulips

Thoreau Thursdays (6): Beware of All Enterprises that Require New Clothes

“I say, beware of all enterprises that require new clothes, and not rather a new wearer of clothes.”
     — Henry David Thoreau

"No man ever stood the lower in my estimation for having a patch on his clothes." Henry David Thoreau

Clothing is undoubtedly one of the necessities of life, and even Thoreau acknowledges that clothes are necessary to stay warm and cover our nakedness in society.  However, he decries people who judge others for their fashions and the worthiness of their prospects in life by the clothes they wear.  Clothes are a “false skin,” and they do not make the man.  Thoreau says, “It is an interesting question how far men would retain their relative rank of they were divested of their clothes.”

I once had a job in a bank where I was expected to wear tailored dresses or suits.  I always felt a bit of a misfit in my new clothes, but I loved the work itself.  I work just as hard now, but in a different way, at my current job at the public library.  In undertaking this work, I do not have to buy new clothes, and it’s a relief.  I like that I don’t have to think about clothes; I’d rather think about the work itself.

Seattle’s Pike Place Market in the Spring

Outdoor dining in Post Alley at the Pike Place Market

After enjoying lunch at Maximus-Minimus in downtown Seattle, I took a stroll through the Pike Place Market.  Here are some photos of my visit:

Vendor selling mini- Tom Thumb donuts

Flower stall with many varieties of vibrantly colored tulips

Flower vendor making up a bouquet

Painted table outside Three Sisters in Post Alley

Chef at Piroshky, Piroshky preparing a new batch for the oven.

Dogwood Blossoms

The dogwood blossoms are so beautiful this year.  I see bright pink ones, off-white ones, and creamy ones with pink edgings.

Dogwood tree with blossoms

Heart-shaped dogwood blossom

Watercolor sketch of dogwood blossoms

Some Pig! Seattle Food Truck Dining Experience

Maximus/Minimus Food Truck on 2nd & Pike Streets, Seattle

Guerrilla chefs are creating unique dining experiences, serving from food trucks.  I read about one of Seattle’s food trucks in a book called Food Trucks: Dispatches & Recipes from the Best Kitchens on Wheels by Heather Shouse.  Maximus-Minimus offers pork, chicken, and veggie sandwiches Mondays through Fridays at 2nd and Pike Streets in Seattle.  After reading about it, I made a trip downtown on my day off to sample its wares.

Food Trucks by Heather Shouse

You can’t miss this portable restaurant — it looks like a giant metal pig!  I ordered a pulled pork sandwich, slaw and ginger lemonade.  Delicious!

Restaurant on wheels -- Maximus-Minimus

My lunch order: pulled pork sandwich, slaw and drink

The food tasted as good as it looked!

One last photo before I cleaned my plate.

You can link to the Maximus-Minimus website here:  http://www.maximus-minimus.com/.

Wisteria and Watercolors

The wisteria is blooming, displaying cascades of purple.

Wisteria starting to flower

Three petals

Detail of wisteria petals

A profusion of blooms on a neighbor's front porch

Wisteria in the sunlight

Looking up into an impressionist landscape

My neighbor's porch

Watercolor sketch of wisteria

Another watercolor sketch of wisteria