Fig Jam & Rosemary

During this special time of year, when fall and the end of summer are toying with each other, thoroughly teasing us with a mixture of cool and warm days, all at the same time I might add...these two well loved ingredients work their way into as many of our meals as possible.

My two most favorite ways to enjoy them are in a "White Bean & Rosemary Soup" and "Turkey, Fig Jam & Brie Sandwich on Rosemary Bread". The soup, which I've doctored up a wee bit, is from the first Barefoot Contessa cookbook and the sandwich, well that just happened to materialize one day...both have become regular occurances in our home, and they couldn't be more simple or easier to make.

For the soup, you chop fine one leek, half an onion, as much garlic as you desire (I used four cloves this time), two stalks of celery and one or two carrots (my carrots were super skinny so I used two).

You will also need one large sprig of rosemary, one dried bay leaf, juice of two small lemons or one large...

three cans of Cannellini Beans or any other white bean you happen to have, rinsed and drained, 1/4 cup olive oil, two boxes of chicken stock (I use organic), about one teaspoon of dried tarragon (my favorite herb) and last but not least, salt & pepper. Sometimes when I'm feeling spicey...I add a pinch of cayenne pepper too!

Just heat up olive oil in your favorite stock pot, add dices veggies, some salt & pepper, and saute over medium heat for about 15 minutes, don't need to go too soft.


Add the beans, stock, sprig of rosemary & basil leaf. Bring to a boil and cook for about 20 minutes.

Once soup is cooked, cool for about five minutes, add the lemon juice, and then blend any way you choose...I use a food processor (favorite tool in the kitchen) but a blender will work just fine too. Sprinkle in the tarragon, add a bit more salt & pepper to taste and the cayenne if you so choose, then just enjoy.

To make the sandwiches, I use Essential Bakery's "Rosemary Diamante Bread" which a local bakery makes. It's not mushy and has a crispy crust coated in sea salt, if you can find it, please use it...it's the best, some grocery stores such as Whole Foods carry it. Spread one slice of bread with the fig jam, I use Organic Adriatic Fig Spread (usually sold in the "frommagerie" of your local grocery store), the other with Dijon mustard. On the fig side place as much Brie cheese as your little heart desires, then your turkey (I use the no salt turkey from Whole Foods), then *butter* or red leaf lettuce...top with Dijon slice and enjoy...hopefully immensely!

Another way we love to eat this lucious combo...and what I'm one day totally bringing over to Brock Streets future, amazing..."Norwegian style" cabin in the woods (to help give us sustenance as we discuss home building), is to simply top rosemary crackers with brie and then the fig jam...it's one of best hors d'oeuvres/midnight snacks you'll ever get addicted to.

Happy soup season everyone...and bon appetit!

A Touch Of Fall

Two Linky's in a row, my goodness! I just couldn't resist as two of my favorite blogs, A Lasting First Impression and Hooked On Houses, were offering the same challenge about transitioning your home into Fall.

At first I thought there was no way I could play along since our house is in it's very empty state of limbo right now awaiting it's future operation, but the challenge of it all proved to much for me, so I thought I'd see what I could come up with. In the above picture...I just added a cherished fall leaf (from our previous temporary home), and a few pinecones to one of my rock collections...instant Fall! I think the colors of the journal behind it help to warm up the scene quite nicely too.

In the image above...I really didn't have to do anything, the calendar, in all it's vintage melon tutorial glory, had done it for me.
So there you have it...that's it, Fall decor at 24 in the year 10' (there *will* be pumpkins next month though!)! I'm very much looking forward to next years autumnal touches...I've been waiting a very long time to drape our new home in this most beautiful time of year.

Please share your fall touches, be they grand or petite...over at Emily's and Julia's. I'd love to see how my talented & dear friends grace their homes in this glorious season.

Age

This is my entry (first time) for Razmataz's photo challenge "AGE". It's a very recent purchase and part of a set of three Ironstone pieces that I've actually been wanting to do a post on because they were one of those amazing, unbelievable, to good to be true (but it was true) finds that you just don't come across everyday.

What enamors me most about this lovely coffee/tea pot is that it was obviously very well used. The crazing, with it's beautiful coffee or tea staining, tells a story that I would love to know more about...who used it so often, what time of day, and where did they keep it when not in use. According to the marking on the bottom, it was made by T & R Boote, a pottery in England that made Ironstone in the 1800's. This particular mark dates the pot to around 1880, a very good time in history for the creation of "poor man's china".

How I wish it could speak....though the crazing does seem to speak volumes, in it's own aged, lovely, well used way.

A Surprisingly Beautiful Start To Fall

I'm so very thankful that the gloomy, rainy weather that was predicted for this week, and the first day of Fall no less...never materialized. It's funny how blue skies and blue waters can bring about the gift of *bluelessness* (I think I just invented a new word!).

"Blue skies, smiling at me, nothing but blue skies, do I see"... (thanks Irving Berlin!!)

My muse seemed to have left me this past week. Actually...I think she's playing hide & seek with me. One minute I have a passion and excitement about all of the gloriously beautiful "little" blessings that are surrounding me and the next minute, they seem inconsequential compared to the overwhelming stage we are finding ourselves on at the moment.

But once again...I turned towards the beauty of the area we are so blessed & fortunate to live in, and tried to soak up as much of the permanently unchanging (yet ever changing), spectacularly peaceful and perfect atmosphere that always recharges my soul and lifts my spirits when I'm feeling a bit off-track (the huge dose of oceanic, ion saturated, vitamin D filled air probably helps a bit too).

I'm thinking my muse might have just needed a change of scenery and a new "blue" dress...and I'm hoping that maybe now, she'll be happy and stay a while!

A truly heartfelt thank you dear readers, for your patience with my long of late sporadic absences...I wish you all a lovely, blue sky filled (Trina...I'm so happy you've already been having one), breathtakingly beautiful ~ Fall!

George Has A New Friend

This past weekend my lovely sister-in-law Emily (of the beautiful & budding blog A Lasting First Impression) and I went to the No.123 Flea right here in Kirkland WA, and I found this lovely lady who I thought would be a nice companion for George, especially since she looks like a very young Martha.

Don't they look nice together? For now, this is where she'll stay...I think they'll get along just fine and most importantly, Jane approves of her immensely.

I also purchased another amazing piece of antiquity but I'll save that for another post as I'm trying to figure out a temporary use for it.

A highlight of the flea...which was wonderful and loaded with unique and tastefully arranged treasures, was that we got to meet Melaine from My Sweet Savannah. She had a space there that was extremely creative and whimsical...she's done a post about it and her pictures show it all beautifully.

I haven't really purchased anything other than "house parts" for the last four years and even though we're still in a bit of a limbo state and not ready to go all out with decor...it was so fun to purchase a couple of items that I know will be part of the "family" for years to come.

Bravery & Flowers

To get to these....

So that I could have these....

and these....

I had to brave THESE.....

(The one above...the "lady", is actuall eating her mate! He was scared to come over to her...kept hesitating...*she* kept enticing him with one arm...(for real!), he finally gave in to his fate...it was very quick, and now...there will be millions more of these monsters populating our garden/jungle, making flower getting a thrilling yet very scary adventure for years to come!)

But it was all worth it...

because this past week, I had been in quite a "lull" as the enormity of our house/plumbing situation was weighing heavily upon my heart (as well as some other issues that loves ones are experiencing), and the absolute adventure that getting these flowers entailed gave me such an adrenaline rush, that I completely forgot about all of my woes and worries for a bit and I've been feeling so much better ever since!

Having the flowers to look at daily helps too...

and they remind me that you never know where or when a silly, exciting, blood stirringly crazy little adventure might show up, bringing with it a much needed escape from reality and a continued sense of being able to tackle anything!

Have a lovely weekend everyone and remember...

"Bravery is the capacity to perform properly even when scared half to death!"

~General Omar Bradley

Where I Blog

I had been wanting to do a post about my little temporary make-shift office next, and then lo and behold...I noticed that Julia from Hooked On Houses had done a post last week called "Where I Blog" so I checked it out and found that the blog Centsational Girl was having a "Where Do You Blog? Party and that Julia's post was the first party participant. Well, I'm so late to the game as the party is ending in one hour but I'm giving it a go!

We moved into our new house pretty much furnitureless and for the first few days of living here, our computer was on the floor...not fun! So I decided to get our wonderful old enamel table out of storage and use it as a temporary desk. My father-in-law grew up with this table in Minnesota and Mr. 24 grew up with it also. I had found the little white bookshelf in an antique mall for twenty dollars about ten years ago and decided to bring that out of storage too. Notice the little tiny lump of blanket at the bottom of the picture above?

Well, that's Miss. Ginger...she didn't want her picture taken. She's our little surrogate Doxie and we love her! She gets to hang out at our house just about everyday and the office is her favorite space (plus, her treat drawer is in here).

One thing about using an enamel table for a desk that I didn't anticipate was that the mouse signal doesn't work through the enamel! So whenever I use the mouse, I have to place it and the mouse pad on my leg...it's getting kind of old...and who knows what those signals are doing to my leg!

These dahlia's and hydrangea's were cut from our *garden* (I mean, jungle). Most of my vases are in storage still so I just grabbed a storage jar and used it instead.

My Jane Austen action figure inspires me to focus and write...and reminds me when it's time for tea.

The aforementioned father-in-law restores these vintage metal chairs and this little one was one that he gifted to us...isn't it adorable. He's working on two larger ones for us at the moment.

Not only is this room our (my) office...it's also my art/creative space where I make cards for a couple of shops in the area. Finishing up the house had put the card making on hold for a bit but I'm trying to get it up and running again now. Also, what you don't see in the room are all of the art supplies I use to teach my classes and camps...they're all piled up in the middle of the room (along with a few unpacked boxes) and shooting around it all was a tricky!

This next picture is for dear Pam from Red Ticking...thinking of you sweetie, and for the amazing Dennice from Fringe...I spy a little something you sent me D!! ;)




Below is Miss. Ginger's treat drawer and some fabulous art done by our dear neighbor Kaitlyn Elizabeth when she was about six years old...she just started her senior year today and my heart is a bit emotional about it...love you KK!

Okay...I have five minutes to try to link this up and I've never done that before...chow and thanks so much for visiting my world!

*Okay...I'm back...and I totally missed it by SECONDS! I can't believe it...oh well, at least I have the post...trying not to be to deflated, and trying not to be too irked that I was pulled away for a few minutes...and trying to breath...that was intense...I just have to say my favorite word for times like this...Fooey! Good thing I bought some Easy Now tea today...think I'll make a cup! ;)