Projectland

Celebrating spring with friends.

 

 

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Learning how to make a Sami bracelet

Last week I had the opportunity to learn how to make a Sami bracelet. For years I had admired my neighbor Lynette's Sami bracelets. So when she told me her cousin Laurie who had made the bracelets for her was going to be in town in a few weeks and would be more than happy to have a small class on how to make them, I jumped at the chance! I find them just the perfect mix of handmade yet polished.

Below are the steps in pictures. The materials are tin thread, Reindeer leather, and a shed Reindeer antler button. Laurie special ordered the supplies from Sweden. Interrupted only by a delicious cup of hot chocolate and some butter cookies, we got down to work and as is typical when working hard on learning a new skill, the four of us fell silent. We worked for two hours and I left with my bracelet only about half done. I stitched the tin-braid down, closed up the leather in the back of the bracelet and sewed in the braid button loop and the button on the next day.

I love my bracelet and am trying to find a couple of hours of un-interrupted time... (huh?) so I can start another one, or two or twenty...

 

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Eat the lawn

It has been very warm here in Chicago so the dandelions have been growing like, well, weeds. One of my favorite spring rituals is to make salads made from the dandelions that grow in the yard. Their taste is so bright and fresh and their texture soft. It's rewarding to eat something that naturally grows abundantly, is considered a nuisance and best of all tastes delicious!

Yesterday I made a twilight harvest from our yard,

washed the leaves carefully, after all we do have a dog...

...and tossed them with a slightly sweet balsamic vinaigrette. We ate them with pasta topped with a garlicky sauce made using homegrown tomatoes from last summer, a bit of goat cheese, salt and pepper. Not bad locavore eating!

Happy Birthday!

...you magical, beautiful, 8 year old girl. How can so many years have gone by so fast? Your thoughtfulness, compassion and quick wit inspire me every day. I love you.

Managing February

It's February, not April that should be named the "cruelest" month. I usually find it so hard to get through without getting depressed at not seeing green leaves on the trees or hearing birds singing. But this year it has not been so hard. Maybe its because it started out with a very enjoyable afternoon at Binth, where I have been working part time, attending a Letter Writers Alliance social. It is very inspiring and satisfying to be creative with a bunch of other people also being creative. The fact that it has been sunny and occasionally even warm, has also been a check in the plus column of February.

 

I think I was supposed to write a letter, but inspired by green jello's blog, I made a valentine boat instead, and gave it to my sweetheart of 20+ years.

Working at Binth part time has been so rewarding. I enjoy the space, the beautiful Binth paper goods and design, but of course it's the people there I enjoy the most. When I started there, Suzanna asked if I wanted to bring in my paper mache birds to try and sell. I had been working for months to make an "alphabet" of birds and I had completed it. But I wasn't sure what to do with them once they were finished. I wanted to initially make a book, but it just was not coming together for me: is it a kids book or one for adults? Is it a story book or an ABC book? Is it for people who want accuracy in their bird models or don't mind a little creative interpretation? Too many questions for this frazzled mom-mind. Really, the important thing to me was that I had gotten from A to Z. Literally. So I brought the birds in to Binth because they were not getting any younger sitting in my basement studio, and to everyone's surprise, they were snapped up by bird fans! I have been making more birds, but also started teaching paper mache bird painting workshops.  I make the paper mache "blank" birds, then bring paints, brushes, bird ID books and start up the "Chirp USA" app on the ipad so we can listen to different birds songs while we paint. I have really enjoyed getting to know fellow birders and crafters at these workshops, and I had no idea there were so many bird fanatics out there! If you are interested....check here to see when another workshop will be held.

 

One of the other things that has made this winter more manageable is that I've managed to fit in a few lunches here and there with friends. One of the more interesting meals was shared with one of my best friends, Bonnie from Goods and Heroes . We were at Ba Le enjoying sandwiches and when we were done with lunch, of course I was craving something sweet. I was in luck because in the cooler were packages of flourescent green, orange and purple rice.  (I picked purple because it reminded me of Easter and springtime and the other two colors were just too other-worldly...) I don't know its name, but it is made with coconut milk and has a topping of coconut, sugar, peanuts and sesame seeds. Yum!

The next food adventure was with Fumika Yamamoto, who Bonnie by chance discovered was interested in teaching Japanese cooking classes. Bonnie wrote about our experience here and so did Fumika here.  So, I won't repeat the event, but just share the pictures from my camera that morning.

The ingredients!

The mountains of deliciousness!

And the final dish "Okonomiyaki in the Hiroshima style".

February, you truely are not soooo bad.

December 2011 part 2

When Sophia and I returned from NYC, we got back to our routines with a few special events thrown in for excitement. On December 13, we went to see one of our favorite bands: WILCO at the Riviera in Chicago. Here's a late night picture of Chief Rail and I up WAY past our bedtimes!

 

We were treated to some acting in the neighborhood Christmas pageant at the Church. Our two were so proud of being part of the show.

 

 

Lots of excitement on Christmas morning!

chocolate, tea, oranges, books, a green dinosaur, soap, sunlight, the smell of pine needles...

on the day after Christmas, we took a lovely wintry walk in the woods with friends at the North Park Village Nature Center.

We flew to Maine shortly after Christmas for a family visit, and while there, took a two day side trip to Sunday River  for some downhill skiing. The girls both took to it right away and by the end of the day were skiing down the longer runs.

 

 

 

Then it was time to have the last coffee of 2011 in the Christmas tree mugs and head back to Chicago and start January 2012.

Just from the oven goodness.

I remember when Mark Bittman from the NYT wrote about a no knead bread method and I thought, "I have to give that a try..." but I think I had a one year old and a four year old when the article came out, so my time was otherwise spoken for.  A year or two later, we got this book as a gift, where it sat on the shelf up until a few days ago. Since it's winter and I love baking when its cold out, I pulled the book down, checked to see if I had all the ingredients, and mixed up some dough. What a revelation! This bread recipe turns out one of the best breads ever. It's beyond good and beyond easy. Mix up a few ingredients, let it sit on the counter for 12-24 hours and then bake. It is incredible. I can not believe that this bread came out of my home kitchen oven! And what is even better is that it fits the bill for the "busy family meals" category perfectly. A slice of this bread still warm from the oven with a cucumber-tomato salad and a bowl of chicken noodle soup and the kids were in heaven.

And so, here is Jim Lahey's  no knead bread recipe :

(I like that someone in our house decided to color in the little white circle on the book's cover. It does kind of ask for it!)

December 2011 (part I)

Hello again!

I'm going to back track a little and post some pics from December. The highlight being a trip to NYC. Again with the NYC, I know, its like a love affair I am having with that city. Every chance I can, I try to find an excuse to go. This most recent excuse was to chaperone my oldest on her turn to have a weekend with her grandparents to see the "Radio City Music Hall Christmas Spectacular" show. What?! She couldn't fly alone! Check out that leopard hat, they were all the rage. All the street vendors had piles of them alongside the knock-off LV bags and Chinese cashmere scarves. Just for the record, I happen to love the street vendor carts in NYC. I find it incredible that they exist and stay in business.

So to encapsulate our trip:

We had the bestest, mostest, bestest time ever!

The holiday windows there were amazing, and the

 Bergdorf Goodman windows were especially inspiring and so magical. There was taxidermy, and lots of it. Be still my heart and imagination.

 

We took a visit to the New York Historical Society and Museum where S learned about 911. She was understandably shocked about what had happened and fearful for our plane trip home. My friend Bonnie says, "no disasters before 3rd grade" because kids can't process a disaster and feel powerless to help. But what about the kids who lived through it? And what about kids who live through traumas before they turn 9? In this case, it was unavoidable that we would see the photos of the twin towers since they were in the front lobby along with a with a badly scraped fire engine door. I felt that the important thing to do was discuss it with her honestly. Her curiosity is so innocent. She was so moved by the photos of the "missing" papers posted around the site. Especially the one about a child missing his father. It is a painful thing to read about no matter what age you are.

To get us out of our sadness, we walked one block north to the Museum of Natural History. And got to see some spectacular dinosaur skeletons.

We also went to the kids museum in the basement of the MNH which is compact, well done and does not look tired the way you would expect a museum with millions of visitors should look.

Before we left my beloved city, we went to see Wicked as promised to a certain someone (and my Mom). They both loved it as much as I do. We belt the songs out in the car on our way to and from school. Little sister doesn't get it, but she will. When its her turn to go to NYC for a weekend with her grandparents, I've got four words for her; "you need a chaperone".

 

Whew, fall is over but... the holidays approach!

I have been absent on this blog. Sorry! things are busy around here and I am finding it hard to write- although my intention is to keep up with the practice because it has been so rewarding. The latest news is that I am starting a part time job! I will be working in Forest Park at the first Binth design store with Suzanna, the founder and principle designer of Binth. After seven years as a stay at home mom, I am ready for re-integrating into the outside world!

Here's a recap of the goings on in projectland recently;

We celebrated a friend's 50th birthday in Michigan. You can read more about his birthday and see lots of pictures here on his highly honest website and blog: Out Your Backdoor

We trick or treated with the neighborhood gang. Can you spot the mermaid and the cheetah?

I co-coordinated and was in the 3rd annual West Walker Holiday Fair which is a benefit for the Three Brothers Garden, a community food bank garden in the neighborhood. I brought scrappies, a new stuffed doll I have been making (more about that in later post!) and some hand painted porcelain. I shared the table with artist friends Alison and Prisana. The fair raised about $2000 for the garden. I was very happy with the turnout and the amount of money raised!

I made paper mache turkeys with my daughter's Montessori class. This one was my favorite- I love the expression and the rainbow tail.

We celebrated Thanksgiving with friends. The food was incredible, and the sentiments and reflections people made as we went around the table were heartfelt. It has been a good year and we have so much to be thankful for.

And so as we head into the last month of the year, I continue to shop for our groceries at our neighborhood grocery store: Tony's Finer Foods for which I have nothing but praise. Look at that display! It's so beautiful. Tony's always has what I am looking for and they inspire me to try new things, although I am still not sure what to do with a bitter melon or all those starchy tubers from central and south America....

and I continue to enjoy cooking for the family. We saw the documentary Forks over Knives and resolved to try to eat more grains, fruits and vegetables. This is a tart made with the last kale leaves from the garden.

There will be lots more to write about come January and hopefully I will get in a short post here and there in December, but till then, stay warm!

 

 

 

criss cross applesauce

One day this fall, just south of the Wisconsin border we turned into a tidy U-pick apple orchard that was impeccably manicured. The kids tumbled from the car, happy to be free after an hour and a half drive. They ran around on the grass and on wood-chipped pathways that ran in between two big flowerbeds. My friend Amy and I walked over towards a white tent surrounded by absolutely gorgeous apple trees laden with fruit, red wagons lined up in 3 neat rows and an older man with furrowed brows scowling in the direction of the kids. He had a 10 am 6" cigar stuck in his mouth. The kids turned to run towards us, and then came the full frontal attack from cigar guy:

"...Hey, git those kids outta da flowerbeds... Listen, if you want to have kids here, you gotta watch em at all times!!!! dey can't run around screaming and climbing the trees and picking apples dat aren't ripe. see dat sign? It says, no children allowed unless accompanied by an adult at all times..."

Then the Mrs. of the orchard came out from behind the back of the tent and her first word was not "Hello" but "Are you looking for a petting zoo? Or rides?, 'cause you ain't gonna to find that here, you might want to go somewhere else"

Whoa! What kind of U-pick place is this? Amy and I looked at each other and I knew we were both thinking the same thing:  load everyone back up into the car and leave ASAP. But we stayed promising to closely watch the kids. The fruit looked too good. Plus the reason we chose that farm other than the fact that they had a picture of a two year old girl biting into an apple on their web page (which I took to mean "family friendly") was because it DIDN'T have a fee to park, a fee to enter the orchard, rides for a fee, and expensive apples.

The Mr. and Mrs. warmed up to us after a while and by way of an apology cigar man said, "your kids are OK. They're doin' great".  I said, "you must have had some bad experiences with kids here huh?" He told us about a couple of times when parents were not supervising their kids and a boy had done a lot of damage to apples with a jackknife and another boy had climbed up to the top of a tree and broken some branches.

Although the fruit was excellent and the owners were actually friendly in the end, I think we need to find an orchard where our "city kids" can run around and cut loose a little. If they can't do that in the countryside then where? (I don't want to give the name of the orchard. I think they just woke up on the wrong side of the bed that day, and I am sure that any small family farm needs all the business they can get to survive.)

Is it just fate that we will get crankier as we get older? I hope not, but it is a noticeable trend.

OK- on to applesauce, because I love any excuse to use my china cap which I bought half my life time ago at a Kiwanis sale in Ann Arbor, MI.

 

Homemade applesauce is hands down the best. Here is a simple recipe:

Cook 10-15 apples whole or core them. Combine with 2 C. of water, 1/4 C. brown sugar, and 1t. cinnamon over medium heat. Cover pot, and stir apples every few minutes. After 20-30 minutes, the apples should be soft and mushy. Let them cool, and then use a China Cap, or any other food mill/strainer to mash apples into apple sauce. If you don't have a china cap, you can use a cuisinart to make sauce, but make sure to core apples before cooking them, otherwise it will be hard to pick the seeds and stems out before processing the cooked apples.

We went to an orchard a couple of weeks later that I can heartily recommend. It is Ela orchard in Rochester, WI. It's not a u-pick, but the apples and pears are beautiful and delicious and most importantly, the owner, Bob is warm and open to people of all ages coming to his farm! You can feed the goats who comically gum the apples, drooling away, until they are the right size for swallowing. Here are a few pictures:

 

The last picture is my very own Honey Crisp.