A bouquet worthy of Fantin-Latour!!

WOW! I wish you could smell these paeonias!! A subtle, old-fashioned, elegant fragrance that wafts and whispers so beautifully! This is just one bouquet from a plant that is sporting about five times this many blooms. Thank you Paeonia!!

When I see a prolific and exuberant bouquet like this it always reminds me of the time at Poly. doing my Foundation Course in Art and Design when I had to copy a Fantin-Latour painting as an ETCHING!!! OMG it nearly killed me but I did it and thus my appreciation for said Master's bouquets was born....they are so luscious and drool worthy, he captures the soul of the flowers, their volume and evanescence...you really can almost smell his paintings.
Happy Glorious Saturday in Maine...the breeze is blowing great billows of rosa rugosa through the open windows and the birdsong fills the air!!
DELIGHTFUL!!!

Who is this little Rascal??

Goodness gracious...who is this Rascal Bear from Maine with his dapper little silk scarf and winning smile?? Why it's Monty and I made him in the last couple of days from leftover home decor fabric a good friend of mine in New York sent to me to use as was my wont.

I have pondered the proposed usage, some pieces are large enough to make clothes from, BEAUTIFUL clothes (and Yeh right...WHEN am I ever going to get around to that and Oh YEH...making clothes used to drive me demented and many's the time I wanted to fling the sewing machine out the window!!), other pieces are long enough to make lovely scarves and possibly handbags but what to do with the small pieces that don't seem quite big enough for anything practical??

PRACTICAL?...why must it be practical...I have wanted to make small Teddy Bears for many a long year now and then DING...this is the perfect material to make little Teds from and thus my new string to an already full bow is born. The pattern I used is actually for a bear that ends up being 3 inches tall......not a good idea for my first attempt so I scanned and enlarged and here's my first Ted, completely hand sewn, which is so much more fun than machine sewing in my book!!...he is filled with leftover scraps of the fabric I actually used for him (is that cannibalism??...is he a Haggis...Ha ha!!) and also buckwheat husks which are available in bulk at the Belfast Coop at an extraordinarily reasonable price. He is finished with criss cross stitches over the seams in leftover wool from my adventures in handtufted rugs.
I am already planning my next Ted...from some large weave pink silk Chanel looking fabric...very fetching and I shall 'stuff' Milady not only with buckwheat husks but also some lavender flowers for a slight delightful fragrance!!
I'll be adding my Monty to my Etsy shop later today after I have designed and printed a little Certificate of Authentication with date of birth etc and also to my Facebook Store...yes I have a store on Facebook...isn't that amazing?
Feedback on Monty is requested and appreciated!!

And here's a stunning lavender iris for you!!

Easy Peasy Strawberry and Almond Scrunch!! YUMM!!

Here is a very delightful and super easy summer recipe that resembles an English trifle but is less fussy and much quicker to put together...get the best flavoured strawberries you can...I use Driscolls Organic Strawberries from California and they're delicious!!
This recipe is adapted from "The Food for Thought Cookbook" by Guy Garrett and Kit Norman.
Food for Thought is a famous vegetarian restaurant in Covent Garden London
THE RECIPE:
1lb strawberries...washed, sliced and sprinkled with sugar...do this first to allow strawberries to macerate and give up some of their juices
Scrunch:
3oz butter
4ozs/1 1/2 cups rolled oats
2ozs/ 1/2 cup wholewheat flour or I do mostly white flour and some ground flax seeds to make up the difference...for a more nutty flavour
3ozs/ 1/3 cup sugar...brown or white your choice.
1ozs/1/4 cup toasted sliced almonds crumbled up
Creamy Part:
1/2 teaspoon almond essence/extract
5 fl ozs plain yoghourt (preferably drained in a cheese cloth for a couple of hours to get rid of some of the whey and make the yog. a little thicker...or you could use Greek Yoghourt)
10 fl ozs whipped double/heavy cream....to soft peaks...still needs to be a little loose.
2 tablespoons clear honey....I use a nice strong flavoured one from Maine...Swann's Wildflower Honey....delish!!
Extra 1oz toasted almond slices for top of dessert/pudding.

METHOD:
1. To make Scrunch: Pre-heat oven to 375F
2. Place all ingredients into a mixing bowl and rub butter into the other ingredients until thoroughly distributed.
3. Press gently into a flan/pie ring with a removable bottom...mine was about 9" diameter.
4. Bake for about 20 minutes until golden brown, remove from the oven and allow to cool.
Here is the Scrunch when cooled....

5. Mix honey into yoghourt with almond essence/extract.
6. Gently blend/fold honey and yog with whipped cream.
Now assemble your Scrunch....break up Scrunch base into smallish pieces and cover bottom of chosen bowl with such, strew half of strawberries and their juices over, cover this with half of the creamy bit...then repeat again finishing with cream mixture but saving a few strawbs. for the top. Sprinkle finished piece de resistance with reserved strawberries and toasted almonds.

Ta dah...allow to sit for a short while before serving so the strawberry juices can meld with the cream, yog. and scrunch. YUMMM!!!
Happy Strawberry season!

Fried Oreos and a salmon pink poppy!!

Look how cute!!! Deep fried Oreos...how can one resist!
James and I were recently in Lewiston, Maine on a picture perfect day and we decided to stop at a place we hadn't been to before for a spot of lunch...Val's Drive-In. I am happy to report we were not disappointed...the food was great...I had an excellent veggie burger, the portions were the perfect size...not huge and overwhelming...and the piece de resistance was...ta dah!! Deep Fried Oreos.....they were delicious

Our little friend the Oreo set against the backdrop of the All American Val's Drive-In...who could ask for anything more!!

The waitresses at Val's bidding us a fond farewell....

and a portrait of Jennifer our happy, friendly, attentive server. Thanks Jennifer!!...we'll be back.

I know this is not related to the Fried Oreos but this flower came out in the last couple of days and I just had to share it with you because the colour is THE perfect pink and the flower itself is beyond beautiful...the inside is the most evanescent smoky grey purple...almost indescribable...
more buds are ready to bloom in the next few days!!! Lucky me!!

Poppies, Lupines and Iris...oh my!!

The sun is shining, the birds are singing and the bees are buzzing, you can see three busy bees right there in the poppy above!!The flowers here in Midcoast Maine are breathtaking right now...we have bright red ballerina poppies, fields of lupines, huge pendulous spiraea heavy with flowers and many colourful irises.
These pictures say it all!!

Plus poppies are for remembrance which is appropriate on this Memorial Day weekend.

Here's to summer 2010!!

Rhubarb Mintade and Rhubarb Layer Cake!

Isn't this the most luscious and lovely colour?! It is rhubarb and mintade and it is SO easy to make...and yes I have taken my own sweet time doing this post...forgive me!!

4 stalks of rhubarb (no leaves)

3 stalks of mint leaves or about a good handful of leaves

1/2 cup/4ozs sugar and some honey of your choice...I use Swann's honey from Maine, the wildflower variety which has a good strong, old-fashioned honey taste...almost like mimosa flowers...has anyone ever had those crystallized...I had them as a kid and I loved them.
Anyways...cut the rhubarb into small pieces and put in a pan with the sugar and about 2 tablespoons of honey, you won't need any water and bruise and muddle the mint leaves in there too, stir all together....put on low heat and cook until the rhubarb completely breaks down...allow to cool and check for sweetness.

When cool pour all into a strainer over a bowl and allow to strain completely...the resultant thick juice is ready to be used over ice cream or thinned to your desired consistency for a nice soothing, cooling delicious beverage of a beauteous hue!!

Happy Quaffing!!

Here's my made-up Rhubarb Layer Cake...got so much rhubarb have to figure what to do with it all. My Mum used to make an apple sauce cake this way so I thought why not do it with rhubarb.

First of all double the recipe above for the Rhubarb Mintade, leave out the mint and only cook 'til the rhubarb begins to soften...you don't want it mushy for this recipe...do strain again so the rhubarb isn't too wet.

Make the very simple cake batter: Pre heat oven to 425F

1 cup/8oz of sugar

2 sticks softened butter (yes I use salted but you don't have to)

10 1/2 ozs/2 1/4 cups white flour sifted

4 large eggs whisked at room temperature

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

1 teaspoon cardamom

1. Cream butter and sugar together 'til light and fluffy.

2. Add eggs a bit at a time and beat after each addition...you are doing it bit by bit so the mixture doesn't curdle but if it does don't worry it will come back when you add the flour!!

3. Add the sifted flour and cardamom in 2 or 3 three additions and mix well but don't beat..cream.

4. Butter and flour a small cake pan...mine was about 7" but nice and deep...put half of the batter into the pan.

5. Pick out some nice whole pieces of rhubarb from the cooked rhubarb and set aside.

6. Now spread the rest of the cooked rhubarb over the batter.

7. Spread the rest of the batter over the rhubarb...if is it hard to spread...this is a thick batter...use a wet spatula to spread, that really helps.

8. Now put the whole pieces of rhubarb on the top of the cake in a pretty pattern, as below, or an ugly one if you are feeling grumpy!

I put an extra sprinkling of sugar over the cake before I put it into the 425F oven for about 35-40 minutes...the wetness of the rhubarb will determine how long to cook...insert a thin knife into the cake to see if it is done...should come out clean but you also have to determine if it is not clean it may be the rhubarb sticking to the knife, come on Nancy Drew/Enid Blyton you can do it!

How green is my garden!

WOW!! It really is this green out there...no photoshopping or doctoring of colours, this is how it looks right out my window right now!! Above you can see all the poppies waiting to burst forth....and below...

the first Lupine opens it's beauteous petals to the clear, shining azure blue skies...it is GORGEOUS here in Maine today, a cool breeze...birds singing, bugs buzzing...the first June bug showed up last eve, a little early perhaps but we were glad to see the little guy.
The delphiniums are burgeoning forth along with wild daisies, paeonias and irises. I'm so excited to see my dear flower friends return once again...welcome!!

Rhubarb, rhubarb everywhere...OH YUM!!! Manchester or Queen of Puddings with rhubarb!!

Ahhhhh...the rhubarb patch and this is only part of it...so much rhubarb so little time!! I love that it just keeps returning in abundance and expects no effort on your part...good little rhubarb!!

So I availed myself of many stalks and proceeded to wash trim and chop...remember the leaves are toxic and must never be used in cooking, throw them away...begone leaves!!...with my rhubarb I just guesstimate the amount of sugar to begin with...here are about 5 goodly stalks and about 1/2 cup of sugar. I don't add any water to my rhubarb as it is very juicy without. Put the pan on a very low heat and stir occasionally...don't let it catch or burn...keep those eyeballs peeled. For this recipe I allowed the rhubarb to break down completely as I wanted a smooth rhubarb compotey thing. When the rhubarb is cooked allow to cool and add more sugar if you deem it necessary..rhubarb sweetness is a very personal thing!!

Ta Dah!!! The first rhubarb delight of the season...Manchester Pudding or Queen of Puddings...your choice on the name...I prefer Manchester as that is where I hail from. Usually this pudding is made with commercial or homemade jam such as raspberry but why not rhubarb compote I asked myself and here we are - a custardy base, a layering of rhubarb and a cloud of heavenly meringue!!
THE RECIPE:
1 imperial pint of milk which equals 20 fluid ozs US
1/2 oz/ 1/8th stick butter
4oz/2 cups fresh white breadcrumbs (I do mine in batches in a coffee grinder which works really well)
4 oz/1/2 cup fine white sugar or brown it doesn't really matter
2 egg yolks and 4 egg whites
4-6 goodly tablespoons of delish rhubarb rhubarbiness

1. Pre heat the oven to 350F and butter a pie dish that's about 8-9" round...or do individual ones...whatever your heart desires, this is not a precision dessert.
2. Put milk in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Remove from the heat and stir in the butter, breadcrumbs, half of the sugar and allow to sit for about 20 minutes until the breadcrumbs have swelled.
3. Beat the egg yolks and add them to the cooled breadcrumb mixture...if the mix is still hot the yolks will scramble!
4. Now pour the breadcrumb 'custard' into the pie dish and cook for about 30 minutes until the custard is set...I like it when the centre is still a bit wobbly not set hard throughout...makes the finished pud lighter and smoother...so wiggle as you go and when the outside is set and the middle is still a bit wobbly remove from the oven.
5. When it is somewhat cooled spread the rhubarb gently over the custard.
6. Now whip the egg whites to stiff and gradually add in the rest of the sugar beating in between additions...when nice and glossy spoon over the rhubarb and make pretty.
7. Return to the oven and bake 'til browned and beauteous as above.
8. I prefer this dish cool when it seems to have more flavour than straight out of the oven...the custardy part is definitely better cool or cold but not refridgetarted (incorrect spelling but I like it!!)

And here for you, my dear Readers is a spring bouquet from our Maine garden....the weather has been fantastic lately although it is grey and mizzlin' today...the garden abounds and all the flowers are early!!

In a Maine Afternoon.....

From this..........to this, in a couple of hours....the photo doesn't do it justice but this was an intense rainbow that only lasted a short time...glad I saw it out the window.
The sculpture is by James and is called "Leap, Run, Leaping"

Make A Wish Rug Design

The Make A Wish Foundation of Maine asked me to design a rug for their upcoming auction in July. Of course I was thrilled to be asked and really glad to do so. I did the same a couple of years ago and was really proud that my rug ended up making about $3000 for the Foundation.....I was aghast!! Of course I couldn't have done that rug without the amazing work of my friends Maine Wool and Design who take my rug design and actually turn it into a rug...BY HAND!! right here in Lewiston, Maine. Their work is incredible and they are one of a handful of companies still left in America who hand tuft rugs. The process is quite elaborate and time consuming. After I have designed the rug I need to make a full scale black and white layout for Cliff to work from, he has to transfer the full scale image to brown layout paper, then electric pounce the design and then transfer that onto a cotton backing, then he fills in the design with wool by hand using an electric tufting gun, then the rug needs to be sheared and finished and finally have a latex backing applied to finish the edges and hold the wool in place...YIKES, it is not a quick process and I can tell you right now Cliff really knows what he's doing!! Thanks Cliff!!!

Above you see the design at it's very beginning...we choose a circular design as the starting point for this rug...I reworked it into a rectangle (with the invaluable help of Eleanor my artistic assistant) as circular rugs are harder to place in a room and rectangles are an easier 'sell' Here's the finished design....in pencil on tracing paper. I'll certainly post a picture here of the finished piece...in about 5 weeks time. Only one rug of this design will be made so that the rug has more value for the auction and it will be signed and dated by me.

The Make A Wish Foundation helps kids like Electron Boy realize their lifelong dreams...yea!!! for Electron Boy.

Happy Beautiful Earth Day One and All!!

Some recent beautiful creations by Mother Earth!!

Jam Roly Poly in honour of St. George's Day April 23rd

Here is my Jam Roly Poly in all it's stodgy glory basking in a pool of duck egg custard (eggs courtesy of my friends Jay and Gail...thank you!), 'stodgy' being the British word for stick-to-your-ribs, heavy, filling comfort food that is usually very high in the carb department...this one fits the bill big time!! St. George would be very proud!!
St. George is the Patron Saint of England, April 23rd is his feast day and is also the day Shakespeare's birthday is officially celebrated too...pretty heady stuff if you ask me!!

And now for the Roly Poly...nursery food of the highest order and one of those war time type puddings where the merry wives of England attempted to make something delicious out of almost nothing!!
THE RECIPE:
4 oz unbleached white flour
2oz shredded suet (hard to find sometimes I found mine at Farmers Fare you could try substituting butter but it will be different...how I couldn't tell...a bit more greasy I think)
2 tablespoons sugar
Good pinch of salt
4-6 tablespoons cold water
3 big tablespoons of warmed JAM.....preferably strawberry or raspberry to be traditional but I used blueberry because I live in Maine
A little milk for brushing
One lonely little egg whisked also for brushing
METHOD:
1. Rub the shredded suet into the flour along with the sugar and salt.
2. Add water spoon by spoon until the dough sticks together but is not sticky.
3. Turn dough onto a floured board and roll out to about 4" by 8" rectangle.
4. Spread chosen jam over dough but keep 3/4" clear of all the edges.
5. Fold over long edges and press lightly down...the object is to prevent the jam escaping when you roll the roly poly up...see pic below...

6. Brush milk on to turned over edges and start to gingerly roll up the poly as below being careful to seal the edges as you go but not squeeze the jam out either.7. Here's how your poly should look...like a great big sausage roll...no jam escaping here!!...seal well you don't want get that roll soggy!! Sprinkle with sugar and wrap up in a layer of parchment and then a layer of aluminium foil

8. Now put the wrapped sausagey thing into the top of a steamer and steam the living daylights out of it for about 1 1/2 hours...thus..

9. This is unusual but I took the roly poly out of it's wrapping, sprinkled it with more sugar and then baked it in a 400F oven for about 15 minutes to dry and crisp the exterior...as below. And there you have your Jam Roly Poly...not the most exciting of desserts, sorry puddings, not the most elegant...a humble little pud that is oh so very traditional...I had it for pudding at school!!

CUSTARD SAUCE, ANLANN CUSTAIRD
from "Irish Traditional Food" by Theodora FitzGibbon, a goodly trusty cookbook
1 heaped tablespoon white sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 duck egg and 1 duck egg yolk whisked together, large regular eggs work just as well
10 fl oz/ 1 1/4 cups whole milk

1. Beat together the egg, egg yolk, vanilla and sugar in a bowl.
2. Have another double boiler on the go.
3. Heat the milk to almost boiling in the top part of the double boiler but on the stove top to make it go faster.
4. Stir a little of the hot milk into the egg mix and then a bit more to temper the temperature.
5. Then put the top part of the double boiler back over the bottom and the boiling water and whisk the egg and milk mix into the rest of the milk
6. Do not leave the custard alone now until it is finished or it will curdle whilst you are not looking and you will have to start again. SO stir and stir and stir with a wooden spoon until it starts to thicken and coats the back of the spoon as in the picture below...you take the spoon out of the custard, turn the spoon over, run your finger through the custard and if the line doesn't fill back in it is ready, don't let it cook too long or get too hot as the eggs will start to turn into scrambled eggs and the sauce will be grainy.....take off the heat immediately and continue to stir.

THE TRUE DRAGON

St George was out walking
He met a dragon on a hill,
It was wise and wonderful
Too glorious to kill

It slept amongst the wild thyme
Where the oxlips and violets grow
Its skin was a luminous fire
That made the English landscape glow

Its tears were England’s crystal rivers
Its breath the mist on England’s moors
Its larder was England’s orchards,
Its house was without doors

St George was in awe of it
It was a thing apart
He hid the sleeping dragon
Inside every English heart

So on this day let’s celebrate
England’s valleys full of light,
The green fire of the landscape
Lakes shivering with delight

Let’s celebrate St George’s Day,
The dragon in repose;
The brilliant lark ascending,
The yew, the oak, the rose

© Brian Patten 2008
Brian Patten, a poet from Liverpool, was commissioned by English Heritage to write this poem to revive the waning interest in celebrating St. George's Day...thanks Brian!
On St. George's Day you are supposed to wear a red rose in your lapel in remembrance.
Happy St. George's Day everyone!!