Ripe!

Eat your greens!

Here's a spotlight on the gold medal winner I referred to in a recent post on our garden- Swiss Chard, a good source of iron, potassium, and fiber! We're still experimenting with various recipes using swiss chard, and this week we tried a swiss chard frittata from a recipe found in Martha Stewart Living. It was very good and light. I used 5 leaves instead of 2, and will add even more next time. Maybe more real egg would be better too? I also added some artichoke hearts and think other veggies could be thrown in the skillet as well. The meal was complete with some very tasty broccoli and sugar snap peas, pale ale, and a bright summery table cloth!

Swiss Chard Frittata

1 lg. egg

10 egg whites

1/3 c. ricotta cheese, part-skim, pressed through a sieve

1/2 tsp. coarse salt

1/8 tsp. ground pepper

1 T. olive oil

2 leaves chard, chopped 1/2 in. thick (I think it needs lots more)

1/2 lg. onion, sliced thinly

Preheat oven to 375. Whisk together egg, whites, ricotta, 1/4 tsp. salt, and pepper in a medium bowl.

Heat oil in 10 inch oven proof skillet over med. high heat. Add chard stalks and onion, cook until tender, about 4 min. Add leaves and cook, stirring until tender, 1-2 minutes. Sprinkle with 1/4 tsp. salt. Add egg mixture and stir to distribute veggies evenly. Place skillet in oven and bake until eggs have set, about 13 minutes.

Funky Safari

Here's a fun birth announcement canvas I recently created. And, you should know by now... I love the colors! Bright and happy and fun! No need for baby blue and pastels for this little fellow! He's already got an adventurous spirit, thanks to his mom's (and/or dad's) taste. I matched the design for his canvas to his bedding, which has lots of fun safari animals in greens and blues. I especially like that this piece will still be appropriate for his room as he grows up. I included a few photos to show my "peppered paper" borders, which I adhere to these canvases, so they're ready to hang as is.

I think a pink and green safari scene could be just as much fun as the blue and green... any adventurous baby girls out there? Here are some more samples of birth announcement canvases I've created, and I've got a few more to post soon. These can be ordered through my etsy shop as well. I'm still coming up with some standard designs for boys and girls, but in the meantime I'd love to hear your ideas.

Camp Rocks!

Don't you wish we could still pack up for a few weeks and head off to camp? The heat and the bugs and the afternoon rain; these all make much more sense to me at camp.

I designed this camp stationery for a paper company a while ago. It's a little bit Lisa Frank I know, but who didn't love Lisa Frank binders in elementary school? It's not my typical style, but it was a fun project to work on, with a target audience of tween girls. The art director wanted me to use watercolor, with softer colors, but just out of curiosity I also did the piece with my painted paper collage style. Just one of the many occasions when I've found having to think about what will sell best disrupts the creative process. Anyway, I'd be curious to hear which one you like better, even though you're probably not a tween- watercolor or collage?

Beets, Berries, and Broccoli

Here are some shots from one of our dinners from the garden last week. Au natural and so yummy! Not much more of our cool season crop is left to harvest, so now it's just waiting patiently for the tomatoes, eggplant, beans, okra, peppers, cucumbers, zucchini... so much to come!

Honey and Butter

Some of my pieces were chosen to be part of Knoxville's inaugural International Biscuit Festival! It's fitting that they're on display downtown at Coffee and Chocolate... with a little honey, butter, and biscuits, I think that covers all the necessities.

I took a different approach to creating these pieces, painting directly on canvas for the majority, as opposed to layering cut paper. They were really fun to work on, a nice change in pace for me, and I couldn't ask for a better theme... anything to do with home cookin' and biscuits. I usually opt for honey and butter on my biscuit, so that's what I chose to portray. The floral patterns are reminiscent of some place mats and table cloths my mom used when we were growing up. I think she likes bright colors too.

Hope you can make it to the festivities this weekend, June 4th - 5th, at Market Square. It should be lots of fun... and lots of good home cookin'. My work will be up at Coffee and Chocolate through the month of June, so stop by for a treat when you get a chance!