Ketchup and Mustard

Here's the latest from the garden.  I've got several new fashion designs ready - look for those next week!

Ketchup and Mustard - a bicoloured petal - is new this year at jLAmode.

Bangers and Mash

I just got back from London. Here's a tasty dish of veggie Bangers and Mash. I dug the potatoes out of the garden this morning - so fresh and tasty.

Fried Pies!

Roll out prepared biscuits (fresh, frozen or refrigerated) Fill with something tasty - I used fried apples

Fold in half and seal with a fork.

Shallow fry over medium heat.

Guacamole

Prepare the ingredients:

• avocado
• diced tomatoes
• minced onion and/or garlic
• fresh lime juice
• salt

Mix all the ingredients except tomatoes until the avocado starts to break down.

Then, stir in the tomato and serve.

Strawberries with Tart Mango

Easy desert!

Tart mango can be a challenge to find at the moment of perfection, but so can a ripe mango.  Regardless, strawberries pair nicely, both with aesthetic and flavour profile.

Prepared here with turbinado sugar, whipped cream and sugared biscuits.

This can be easily converted to a vegan dish by omitting the cream.

Concept: Contrasting Fabric Collared V-neck

Mămăligă

A traditional Romanian dish made from cornmeal (like polenta):

Spread with sour cream or unflavoured Greek youghurt: Served here with:

• roasted peppers
• roasted and fresh tomatoes
• spinach
• goat's cheese

Cravate - Linen, Silk and Cotton

An homage to spring with light natural fibres and earth-tone print.

Constructed of Cotton/Linen blend (print), Stretch Cotton and Silk.

Tomatoes!

-- Early Girl Hybrid

Rose Gallery 2012 I

This is how the roses look.  You'll see the flaws as they are (naughty worms eating holes, aphid damage).  I do color correct the photos if I have to use the flash in the evening, but I don't color enhance.

Corn! ... and other garden things.

My family has planted the same type of corn for three generations:

About a dozen rows (but not too long of rows):

== other things ==

Potatoes doing well:

Volunteer tomato (it sprouted from discarded tomatoes from last fall):

Parsley, boxwood basil, rosemary, lavender, asparagus:

Cakes and Pies - The Amalgamation

10-inch Cake?  Just one layer?  No frosting?

Hiding inside is an entire 9-inch, homemade Apple Pie:

It's probably a crime against nature... or at least a crime against cuisine.

But it's fairly tasty:

This is one of those things that you try once, so you can say that you did... and now, for some strange reason, my pancreas hurts.

-Garten-

Potatoes already in April!

• peaches
• nectarines
• tomatoes blooming
• lettuce
• oregano
• grapes blooming
• blueberries

Concept: Zip-neck Linen pullover

Linen is one of my favourite fabrics.  It doesn't have much stretch so the fitting has to be precise, or the clothing has to be made to flow loosely.

The all panels will be made from the same colour fabric, so the sections will only be differentiated by an offset grain and, of course, the seam.

Hotdogs - decked out

Generally I think that hotdogs are nasty - vegan, veggie, real meat - all flavourless in my mind.  So, I like to deck them out with the following additions:

• chilli
• fresh tomatoes
• lettuce
• onions
• mustard
• butter
• whole wheat buns

-NEVER catsup

I used the grill pan to put some char on these veggie dogs:

Travel - Grand Canyon

I got to see the Grand Canyon recently.  It was awesome! Here's a composite photograph (~10 individual photographs merged into a large image).

-Eagle Point-

Asperges et la laitue frit

Sautéed in macadamia nut oil, cubed tofu with fresh-from-the-garden asparagus spears and seared lettuce, garnished with a balsamic reduction.

First Rose of 2012!

Caribia Hybrid Tea Rose

A Proper Salad

If your salad is boring, you're not making it right.

Grill Pan

Grilled tofu:

This week, I finally got a grill pan.  Best idea ever!

In the winter, using an outdoor grill isn't great, but this makes a great alternative.

• when choosing a pan, make sure it's very heavy
• make sure the pan is hot
• even non-stick should be seasoned and/or oiled before use
• use ONLY silicone coated, wooden or plastic utensils.