Growing Lettuce

Sam and I enjoyed a wonderful salad made from lettuce that we have been growing in our kitchen garden. So far, the lettuce is the only veggie ready to be harvested besides our basil and rosemary herbs. We are growing a few different varieties, Green leaf, red leaf, field greens and butter lettuce. I picked some leaves and washed them very carefully.

I tossed the clippings with cucumber, tomatoes, dried cranberries, and pecans. Delicious! Sam added some Parmesan / Asiago to his salad, I left mine as is!

We had this wonderfully fresh salad with lemon zest grilled chicken. Dessert was fresh strawberry pie from a pie shop in town. (((sigh))) I could get used to this.

I have been spending some time working on pendant necklaces, magnets and bracelets. I have a booth where I am selling my jewelry at the Alpine Earth Day celebration and then at Sage and Songbirds Festival here in town. The weather has been so nice, a little warm, but we have a great breeze that flows through the house. Very nice.

Down the road from us there is a small farm that opens up every year on tax day (4/15), they sell their fresh fruits and veggies only a few days a week - some days I hear that you have to pick your own fruit! I might go by there tomorrow and check it out. Then, I have to come back and work on jewelry some more, I know, it seems like a vacation, but it is getting a little old. I started applying for jobs again. I wonder if any will call me back? I wonder.

The Golden Poppy in Alpine

It is nice to see your handiwork inside of a store - for sale!
The Golden Poppy is a brand-spankin' new store in Alpine (my current town of residence) and it features artwork from local San Diego artisans. It is very strange hearing the word "artisan" apply to what I do, but it's true, I guess...


Here is my little corner of the shop, a bookshelf that is not completely populated yet with my whimsical jewelry and art frames. The shop owner Lori, seems to think that my necklaces and such will be a hit. I hope so!

I need to add more, but my friend was here over the spring break and bought almost all of my pieces, so I need to make some more. Lori and I will be switching the display up a bit to give it more POP! She has such beautiful Navajo and American Indian pieces there, we will see how my whimsical stuff fares.

Wish me luck!

Hillcrest Movies and Supper

Sam and I met at the Hillcrest Cinemas tonight to take in a film called "Sin Nombre". It was a Spanish film set in different parts of South America, Mexico and the US. It was very emotional since it mainly dealt with the themes of gang violence, immigrants coming to the US through Mexico, death, violence towards women and extreme poverty.

It was a good movie. I highly recommend it to anyone who wants to see an interesting and completely different take on the illegal immigrant smuggling that takes place every minute of everyday. Great new director too - Cary Joji Fukunaga. Wonderful cinematography, I could not take my eyes off the screen!

After the film, Sam and i walked around Hillcrest for a few blocks in search of a place to eat. We actually walked all the way back, and ate at NOVA PIZZA, which is located downstairs from the cinema. I will have to give Nova a big thumbs down. :O(

Although the service was great, very clean, lots of people, I ordered the lasagna and was very disappointed. Luckily I also ordered a side Caesar Salad which was good, but not special.

Sam ordered the Tequila Lime Shrimp Pasta, which he enjoyed. So, at least one of us had a good dish!

This weekend Sam's mom and step dad will be visiting us from the desert. They have not been down to see our new digs yet. I hope they enjoy our little place as much as we do. So much nature and peace here. I can hear the frogs serenading as I type... rib bit.

Rice Pudding!

I had a lot of left over rice from last night's dinner and decided to make rice pudding. It's almost too simple!

It was also too delicious! Sam and I ate some for dessert tonight, a very sweet treat.

Here is the recipe I used:

2 cups of cooked rice
3 cups milk (whole, non-fat, rice, condensed)
2 cups raisins ( I am crazy for raisins)
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla
A dash of salt
A dash of nutmeg
Sugar to taste

My variation is that I used 1 cup of non-fat milk and 1 cup of sweetened condensed milk and added no sugar. I also love vanilla and cinnamon, so I added more of those as well.

I first began with the milk, salt and rice in a medium sauce pan, and stirred the rice until it was boiling. I also added more milk since I wanted a creamier consistency. If you are adding sugar, this would be the time to do so as well.

Once the liquid is well absorbed and the rice is looking creamy, remove from heat. Add in your cinnamon, vanilla, nutmeg and then the raisins.

The whole prep + cooking took about 20 minutes.
The rice pudding was wonderful warm, and even more yummy cold!

Dinner

For dinner tonight I am cooking pork chops and as a side dish, baked apples mixed with sweet potatoes and brown sugar. I might caramelize some onions. I cook almost everyday. I did not like cooking so much before, but the idea of making something nourishing and delicious can't be beat.

Most of the time it is comfort food - spaghetti, chicken, rice - those are usually in my rotation of meals / recipes.

I do like to experiment also, there are so many foods i have never tried cooking!