Jessica Flores Design

How about a recipe?

I'm not turning into Pioneer Woman or anything, but I thought I'd share a recipe you might have use for just about now.  I really do love to cook, but my small and less-than-modern kitchen sometimes makes it less than fun.

Last night, however, I took advantage of Nora's late afternoon playdate with her cousin, pulling out the food processor from the cavernous cupboard above the microwave and creating something green and delicious.  

My mom and sister have been asking how I make my pesto, and my garden is almost busting at its seams with spinach, so how about I share it here?  

This one came from a magazine clipping a zillion years back that made its way into my purple recipe binder.  You can use all basil once you have it or adjust the amounts of spinach and basil to your liking.  More spinach will make it more fresh and mild tasting. More basil will be closer to the traditional pesto. Last night I used the amount of spinach called for, because I still haven't planted my sweet basil and only had one of those potted plants you get in the produce aisle.  

It's called "Jay's Basil Pesto," but you can now call it "J's Basil Pesto." :)

    1/2 c. olive oil

    1 1/2 c baby spinach--stems removed

    3/4 c. basil leaves

    1/2 c. pine nuts or walnuts

    6 oz. Asiago cheese, grated (I used about 3 oz of parmesan, and that was plenty)

    3 lrg. cloves garlic, peeled and quartered

    combine 2 T of the olive oil, spinach, basil, nuts, cheese and garlic.  Cover and process until nearly smooth, stopping processor and scraping sides as necessary. Drizzle in remaining oil until mixture is smooth.

This is how it looks once after it's all smoothed out . . . 

You might be able to pass it off as Shrek sauce on your little ones.  Nora likes it on turkey sandwiches, and it freezes really well.

I tossed with some pasta and topped with some buttery garlic shrimp. 

Most of my prep time was consumed with peeling and deveining these little boogers.  I just saute them with butter, garlic, red pepper flakes, s&p in my farm girl teflon pan (aka cast iron).  I used European butter this time.  Extra fat. Yum. But, here's a tip--don't skimp on shrimp.  Pay an extra dollar on the raw ones that have been cleaned for you.  You'll have more time to spend on a homemade loaf of bread!  

A Father's Day Project

I got to craft with my sister last weekend!  She came home for Fathers Day, so we decided to get together and make our Dear Ol' Dad something special for his fabulous garden.

Our goal was a handful of some cool garden markers--something other than popsicle sticks scrawled with sharpie.  We putzed around on Etsy, but didn't find many ideas that didn't require a metal stamping tool or a kiln.  So, we invented our own. When your family has been crafting for decades, you're bound to find some good swag in the attic.  Mom came to the rescue with a roll of copper, and I "forked over" some of my extra silver-plated flatware (ha ha, get it? "forked over?"). 

We cut some little ovals from the copper, painted a smudge of white paint on top,
 stamped them with rubber stamps,
 punched a hole in the copper,
 strung it on a jump ring, splattered with a little more brown paint for a fake patina and hung it on one of the fork tines.
 Now it just pops into the ground and marks all of Dad's sprouts!  

Now before you scroll down to the next picture, please keep in mind that it pains me more than you know to post it--I despise pictures of myself, but in the spirit of honest blogging and to give you a glimpse of my waif-ish sister and handsome Pa, I will share it--messy hair, bare face, flabby upper arms and all.  I saved a copy on my computer with myself cropped out, but decided it would be too obvious.  OK, so let's get over it and move on. . . 

Don't we look proud? 

Sunshine

You've found yourself in a little corner of the Web where I've hung my beret for a long time now.  For well over 10 years I've been sharing my art at this domain in one form or another, and since it's become a blog, you've learned more and more about me--the artist. Sometimes I wax poetic on the meaning of life, and sometimes I just give you random spots of sunshine from my studio, my home, my travels.  

Last week wasn't full of much sunshine when I try to conjure it up in my mind.  It was a storm of raging hormones and appointments, parties, regrets, chores and day-job commitments, summer milestones and deep disappointments resulting in laughter and list-making and full-out sob sessions with mascara smeared all over my face.  

But when I turn on my camera and push the blue arrow to play it back, I know there must have been sun, because we picked plump red glistening strawberries and made a perfect batch of low-sugar jam.  (The picture of the berries at the patch are stuck in my phone.)

I met a lovely bunch of crafters at a swap at the library and found a handful of fun summer camp patches in Danielle's booth full of vintage treasures.  (I think I'll use them for a "cheater girl scout" messenger bag.)

I added a little bit of romance to my living room with a special project I made from an old frame, a scrapbook letter and some vintage wallpaper.

And my garden continued to grow--weeds and all. (Some of those weeds are morning glories I couldn't bare to pull.)

Tonight we enjoyed a spinach salad picked fresh from the patch not far from the back door.  I'm nourished.  I'm ready to start this week new.  The forecast is mostly sunny.

 

Crafting Hope

Last week was the third meeting of a new little group my friend, Lindsay and I have brought together--well, mostly Lindsay, all I do is make the invitations.  We call the project "Crafting Hope," and it's inspired by the book Craft Hope by Jade Sims.  (I'm great at naming things too--just see my business name) The book is full of simple, useful projects that can be created and sent to deserving organizations around the world.  Over the past few months, we've gotten together at the Library  to make pillow case dresses for girls in Africa, bibs and burp cloths for teen moms at a local alternative school, and little bandana shorts and dresses for children in Haiti.  I made this one from some of my own fabric and some of Lindsay's. I hope to make another for Nora, because it was so fast, fun and easy!  We even have a doll pattern for one to match the little girl's.

Lindsay has a gracious heart for sharing her talent as a seamstress and all-around crafter, and I hope you'll go over and visit her blog to find out more about the group and our last get together (including some silly pictures of me!).  

You're welcome to join us any time--even if you've never sewn a stitch! We have a great mix of ladies, from age 8 to . . . well, let's just safely say "over 38." Here are some of the little ironing maids we had.

Drop me a line if you'd like an invite and details on our next meeting.  We'll be making more of the same bandanna shorts from the book and dresses from Little Lizard King, who so kindly donated the patterns.

Summer in Full Bloom

"A blog post two nights in a row?" you say?  Yes, yes it is!  The Squirt has gotten in the habit of plain tuckering herself out with swimming and digging holes and other such summer shenanigans, so she's in bed on time, the dishes are mostly finished, and I'm on a little sabbatical from sewing, so I'm here--blogging from my patio and watching the last glimmer of rose-colored sky fade into deep blue and listening to the peeper frogs in the woods and chipmunks in the shrubbery.  . . . wait, I'd better get some bug spray . . . 

ANYway--my garden is just a smidge past the height of its glory, so I wanted to post some pics before it all starts drooping.  (You've got to click on the picture for a pop up to really appreciate it.)

Hubby added the picket fence late last season, more yellow daylillies are coming in, and the roses are loaded with buds for the first time since we moved in four years ago.

EEW!  Warning to outdoor bloggers--bugs like the glow of the screen!

ANYway, my favorites are the peonies, and I think I've told you before that we have an abundance of them. Today I took a shot of each variety:

A delicious strawberry ice cream color with double ruffles. . . Please note these are not scientific nor common names, but if you know them, feel free to share!

A vibrant magenta with fancy yellow plumes of stamen. . . 

A gorgeous single variety with a huge pom pom of delicious yellow pollen 

This one has a giant bloom of layers and layers of petals.  I like to take a single head and display it in a shallow bowl.  It looks like a big ol' scoop of sherbet ice cream.  I think I've got a sweet tooth tonight. . . 

This one is a bit past its prime, but you can see that it was a lovely single creamy white with long frilly stamen, and wouldn't it look pretty among the roses it's nestled in if it could have just held out a few more days!

and finally, the good old fluffy white Lady of the garden.  What would a bouquet of peonies be if it didn't have some white to make the other colors pop?

Is that a rumble of thunder I hear? . . . 

I'd better wrap it up for the night and see how the hubby is coming on his project in the garage. I'll give you one clue about it:  It is called the "Poulet Chalet!"  I'm so excited!  Stay tuned for a post all about it!

 

 

 

Junkin'

It is Junkin' Season, y'all, and my vintage senses are tingling!  I thought I'd pop in to share some of my finds so far.

A bag of buttons.

A vintage set of Whitman alphabet flash cards for 10 cents.

I always loved coloring in the old Whitman coloring books.  You know, the ones with the little girls in mini dresses and bobby socks feeding the chickens and the boys dressed up like cowboys.  These didn't disappoint when I opened the little plastic case

I especially like this mod lamp

and this clunky old iron.

I want to live in this house, 

and this is how we know these are truly more than a few years old:  

Yes, that's a pistol on a set of alphabet flash cards.

My favorite loot so far was this bright mint-condition coffee can full of vintage wooden yo-yos for $1.50!  Can you feel the  goosebumps?!  

Here's how I'm displaying them now in my kitchen.  

right next to my little hodge podge of other auction and garage sale finds.

I just adore those little doggies playing the accordion and symbols.  (I have a feeling that's not how you spell symbals, but I just can't get it right without the red line. . .cymbals?  Oh well.)

Now I'm on the lookout for a wooden tray to keep my magazines and stuff tidy on the coffee table, a round topper for a wire waste basket I've planted with flowers on the patio (I'll show you that later in what I hope to call "the patio makeover post"), a set of old windows for said post, more silver-plated forks, and, of course, fabric.  Let me know if you spot anything that fits these descriptions.  I'll be on call.