Buona Pasqua

Asparagus from California, eggs from Barnhartvale, and parmigiano from Italy. Mr. Cowboy puts it all together and makes an awesome frittata.

Have hot glue gun, will travel

What do you do when the pop up handle on your suitcase breaks? Some people would rush out to Winners and buy a ridiculously priced Nautica hard back case.

But then you come to your senses, return the afore-mentioned beautiful sunshine yellow with gray accents Nautica suitcase, and cajole your dad, the infamous Mr. Cowboy to fix it for you. And fix it he does with a chunk of plywood and a hot glue gun.

This suitcase is now ready for a few more trips.

Notes from my studio

We had a couple of visitors to the studio this morning; they basically laid around all day while I worked on some projects.

I know I have had this quilt on my blog before but now it is really done; the binding is on and I have signed it. In a few days I will mail it off.

Cowboy country

Not even ten minutes from our house we are in the country; big houses, white fences that stretch for miles, and lots of horses.

Chopped salad

The Queen in our kitchen is Ina Garten. And our latest favourite recipe of hers from her Back to Basics cookbook is the Cape Cod chopped salad. It is a crunchy mixture of arugula, bacon, apples, walnuts, and cheese. We added roast chicken and pickled onions to make it an even more complete dinner salad. But the star of this meal is the dressing made with orange juice, maple syrup, apple cider vinegar, and mustard plus a good olive oil and lots of black pepper. The plates were licked clean!

Birthday haircut

Thirty three years ago tomorrow our lovely daughter Maura came into this world with a lot less hair.
 

View from my studio

The picture window in my studio looks out on the backyard; the cherry tree in the middle of the yard, the bird feeder in one corner, and the cedar hedge all around. There were quite a few robins running around the yard and flying through the trees yesterday during the ten minute snow storm. I'm going to have to keep those windows extra clean because you never know what's going to be flying by

Apple of insanity

I know eggplant is not in season right now but we had a hankering for melanzane alla parmigiana. Mr. Cowboy made a huge pot of tomato sauce even going so far as to roast some of the fresh tomatoes so that they wouldn't taste like cardboard.

Bought lots of extra cheese!

I roasted the eggplant and then layered it with the tomato sauce and cheese. I didn't really need a recipe for this but just for fun I checked out Jamie's recipe in Jamie's Italy. He sprinkled the top with breadcrumbs but we just topped ours with the rest of the cheese.

Jamie only bakes his for half an hour but we let it go for double that and the top layer of cheese was nicely browned.

"...the Italians call it melanzana, derived from the Latin mala insana, or apple of insanity."
From "Al dente" by William Black

Notes from my studio

Remember my old dresser; made of cedar but covered with an awful veneer?

Now every time I look at it, I will be transported to the Isle of Capri. That is the name of the paint I chose for the old brown dresser.

I have several seam rippers and the latest one (the blue one from Japan) did not fit with the others in my little hippo. So Mr. Cowboy kindly retrofiitted one of the round holes to accommodate the latest to my collection of very essential sewing tools.

Yes, I love to patch. Maura's coat was wearing thin where her backpack sits so I covered the hole with a bright red heart made from an old Stanfield undershirt.

Another bag done. This is made using some fabric from my butterfly collection with some ladybugs used in the lining.

Sunday sale

The change to Daylight Saving Time had nothing to do with us being late for the sale at Cottonwoods and seeing as we were already late we had no choice but to have Cowboy breakfast. Fuelled by a triple espresso, I went through the two rooms  and found some treasures. A card of Mother-of-pearl buttons, a Canadian flag patch (free) and a handpainted cup from Naramata.

The flour sack is in great shape and will look good on the window seat cushions in my studio.

Frosty breakfast

Heavy frost. Clear and sunny. Breakfast at the river with friends.

Monday collage

In order to keep Daughter #1 happy, I am always looking for wheat, sugar, and dairy free recipes. And with these Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookies we have another winner. These are made with oat flour and I was a little generous when measuring so you definitely need a cup of tea to go along with them but despite that they taste great.

The season is short for pomegranates and right now I am still seeing them at the store. This last one I bought is huge, bigger then a softball, and it cost me four bucks. But I love them so much that the price just doesn't register with me.

It took me two days to finish this shopping bag; not because it is a complicated pattern but I tried something new with the handles.

I pieced the handles with all sorts of labels, ribbons, fabric scraps, and embroidery. I love the way it looks, edges frayed, alla Amy Hanna.

The bag fabric is called "Bold and Beautiful" by Michelle D'Amore.

The inside is even more spectacular; the fabric is called "Ceylon" from Hoffman International. I sure hope she likes it.

I don't complain when Mr. Cowboy walks around the house spreading sawdust wherever he goes. Within a matter of days of asking, he had made me a tiny bench that fits under my cutting table. It is the perfect height for me to put up one foot in order to keep my back straight. He even painted it for me, Terra Cotta just like the feature wall in my studio.