Summer's Splendor

Summer so far has given us quite a bit of splendor...Great berries, beautiful blossoms in my garden, wonderful treats from a needle book swap and a week at the beach with family.

 

 

Some good stuff so far this summer!

 The berries have been great this season and I made this Strawberry Rhubarb and Sweet Dumplings with the last of them some weeks ago. All I did was take 2 cups of flour, 2 tsp.baking powder 1/4 cup sugar and 1 tsp.cinnamon mixed it with some milk to make a thick batter and dolloped it onto the the fruits which were dressed with some sugar and lemon juice. I took it to knitting night and they loved it.

The Needle book swap... My needle book recipient got a book with her initials cross stitched on it and made with some civil war scrap and along with it some goodies from Maison Sajou. Then I received this awesome goodies from Tanya from Tanya Quilts in CO. She made me this awesome embroidered project bag along with goodies that included chocolate which I ate upon arrival! Amy from Amy Made That hosted it. It was great fun and I love meeting new blog friends. My garden...the Morning Glories and Sunflowers are here and they are beautiful. My Anise plants are keeping the bees so very busy lately( I so wish I could find where they are taking all that nectar and get my hands on that honey!) and the Day Lilies have come and gone. The vegetable garden is making a real push now as well. The garden is in a lull now waiting for the later summer blooms to make their debut. Cape May NJ...we spent a week with my Husbands family, close to 30 of us! It was so nice to spend extended time with those who we don't see often. I haven't been to Cape May since my oldest were toddlers. It was so nice to see that some of my favorite stores were still there. My favorite being the Scandinavian gifts shop. Years ago I decorated my house with items from there and are still adorning my home. Unfortunately they wouldn't let me take photos in the store. Such charming stuff. Maybe I will photograph what I bought next post. They have a website www.swedethings.com. Then a trip to Winterwood an amazing Christmas store. So sweet my handsome boys at Sunset Beach where we searched for Cape May Diamonds while watching the sunset.  They are little quartz stones that when you polish them and they resemble diamonds. It was a beautiful evening. We had unseasonably mild weather at the beach it almost felt like September. We saw dolphins everyday in the ocean and took a haunted house trolley tour of all the Victorian homes that are supposedly filled with spirits. It was just great to sit in the trolley on a breezy eve and get a great look at all the beautiful Inns.

I have some new projects going and am looking forward to showing you. So how did you like the tutorial?

I hope your summer is sharing some its splendor with you as well. 

Be Well,

Ming

During A Rainy Week...

Much was accomplished...this is what has been going on...

It may be a bit gloom outside, but I have to say I am happy for it. As it is giving me a much needed break with the yard and garden work. So needless to say I am enjoying it.
The Shawl...  A few months back I joined Romi's Mystery Shawl KAL. I couldn't post any pictures of it until all  the clues were given. It is over now and I'm not finished it as it was giving me a hard time  but I persevered and am finally making good progress. I love the Lorna's Laces special edition Olympic yarn Sochi 2014. I am in love with the warm golds with the hint of silver. I think it goes amazingly with the grey.
The Cake ... If you want a quick and easy cake really one bowl ..you must try this. It is a great base cake with berries. Quick easy effortless.I did make it into a Bundt and added about 1/4 cup more cream as it was looking a bit to dense for me.
The Onsie...I am making these for the 4th to sell on Etsy and some for some new editions that will be joining us this month. Lots of friends having babies. Very easy cut applique and I will be adding some stitching. Maybe a tutorial in the future???
The Food...Asian chicken lettuce wrap and homemade egg rolls ( I just followed the directions on the package of the egg roll wraps). These were easier than I anticipated. I got the recipe idea from Pinterest but them went online and used the one linked here. I didn't feel like it needed all the extra flavors so I altered the recipe and kept them simple. They were extremely GOOD! 
The Flowers...this is what is blooming right now in the garden...My shrub roses, Lantana and the honeysuckle...lots of pink right now which really makes a splash against the grey skies...a great color scheme.
The Rain... is hanging on for the rest of the week but to me it is anything but gloomy for I am finding it to be extremely inspiring and creative.

Things are Jamming...

...around here these days literally and non... I got the call the other day from my dear friend who owns a local farmers market.I wrote about it last year here. Its always happens on a day that i am not planning on being in the kitchen but when you get the call you have to get  jamming...literally ! This year I made regular yet a lower sugar jam and a Vanilla scented balsamic strawberry jam. I've included the recipe as I am extremely pleased how it turned out...and when I say pleased I mean I am have been eating it everyday for breakfast...on toast...mixed with Greek yogurt ...with almond butter..

On other non literal jamming notes ...my orchids are all starting to bloom as is the backyard, it's all finally starting to come together which is good as my body is a bit tired from all the yard work the past few weeks. I am adding new veggie garden beds and breaking the earth up with just a hoe and me. Its back breaking, but the physical exercise and daily sweat feel good when it is all done. Its amazing how getting your hands dirty really cleans the mind ...hey wait that's a good line "Get your hands dirty and clean your mind" or " Clean your mind...get your hands dirty"!

I  finished up my second pair of socks. Several years of knitting & crocheting, making sweaters, scarves baby clothes, booties and such I have never attempted socks. I am extremely excited to pick out my next pattern for my third pair. they are such great little projects that you can take anywhere.


Now for the Jam recipe...If you like to jam I highly recommend the book "Mes Confitures" by Christine Ferber. I adore the simplicity of this book. I haven't really used her recipes just more of her techniques. One thing I did this year was let the berries macerate overnight...this is how I got the gorgeous red juice in the measuring cup that I so wanted to make strawberry lemonade with. The color was amazing but I never got around to it. Maybe next time...

Vanilla Scented Balsamic Whole Strawberry Jam

• 2 quarts strawberries I kept mine whole
• 6 cups sugar 
• juice of two lemons
• Good quality aged balsamic vinegar I used about a quarter cup but would use more next time
• Pure vanilla bean paste 2 tsps.

Macerate the berries overnight in a cup of sugar ...drain ...add strawberries and sugar in a heavy bottomed
stock pot ( this is what I use I haven't yet made the investment for a copper jam pot ..one day)add lemon juice. Now to make matters easier because I believe jam making is subjective, as is any recipe, follow any jam making cooking instruction you are comfortable with. It is a practice makes perfect/ trial and error process. After making jam a while you learn to judge by looks and texture as to when its done. When you have reached desired consistency add the balsamic and vanilla and start the jarring process. Enjoy!
I am thinking this would make a great topping for a Mascarpone cheesecake recipe. Now that will be the next recipe!

Oh and how about that strawberry that looks like a tea pot!

Well I leave you with this ... a little Jammin with Bob Marley

Have a great weekend and if you have a favorite jam recipe to share please do!
Ming