Holiday Greetings

A Natural Look For The Holidays

 I love a natural look for the Holidays - fragrant pine branches, antlers, silver ornaments, white flowers and of course white candles, lots of white candles. This year, I made scented candles out of wine bottles. A fun project and not too expensive, see the how-to instructions below.

 Such a lovely warm glow....

I searched the internet, watching videos about how to safely cut bottles, and  settled on Ephrem's Original Bottle Cutter Kit available on Amazon.com.

 

Lots of wine bottles collected waiting to be put to good use.....

I found wicks at Michael's Art Supply Store using double-sided pressure sensitive tape to secure them to the inside of the bottle.

Soy wax has a nice creamy natural look, so I decided to go with it and found a 10 pound bag on the internet. Shipping costs were more than the price of the wax (!), but the total price was still less than what I would have paid locally. 

Removing the labels proved to be somewhat difficult - soaking in hot water really did nothing. So, using a straight-edged razor, I carefully shaved off the label. Then I used Goo-Gone to remove the glue leaving a perfectly clean bottle.

 

Cut and prepared bottle bottoms with wicks waiting to be filled with soy wax. 

 

Make sure to use a double boiler for melting the wax, and watch it carefully to avoid fires. 

Also, be sure to center the wick tops while they harden, so that you avoid what happened here! I will just put the glass container back in hot water to melt the wax and recenter the wick.

And violà! Pretty candles made with something people usually throw away.

Wishing you and yours a wonderful holiday season filled with light, laughter & much love!  

What are you making for your holiday decorations? I'd love to hear about them in the comments box below, thanks!

Savoring The End of Summer

Ah....summer will be ending soon. The shadows grow longer, the air becomes somewhat chilly and  the harvest is resplendent with plentiful tomatoes and zucchini. Always a great combination, I decided to turn them into a delicious tart, which I served for a summer dinner. The recipe follows below.

Tomato and Zucchini Tart with herbs.

Closeup of the tart.

 Below is the recipe I used for the Zucchini Tart. To save on cooking time, I grilled the zucchini first. The results were very delicious, if I do say so myself!
 

Tomato-Zucchini Tart

By Julia Rutland, Birmingham, Alabama, Southern Living

AUGUST 2007

    Piecrust –either gluten free or regular  ( I used cornmeal crust)

    1 medium zucchini, thinly sliced (about 3/4 lb.)

    (I used 2 and grilled them)

    2 teaspoons olive oil

    3 medium plum tomatoes, sliced

    1/2 cup fresh basil, chopped

    1/3 cup (1 1/2 oz.) freshly grated Parmesan cheese

    1/3 cup light mayonnaise  ( I omitted this)

    1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

Preparation

    1. Fit piecrust into a 9-inch tart pan according to package directions; trim excess. Prick bottom and sides of piecrust using a fork.

    2. Bake piecrust at 450° for 9 to 11 minutes or until lightly browned. Let cool.

    3. Sauté zucchini in hot oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat 2 minutes or until tender. Arrange zucchini in bottom of prepared piecrust. Arrange tomatoes on top of zucchini.

    4. Stir together basil, cheese, and mayonnaise. Drop by teaspoonfuls evenly on top of tomatoes, and spread gently. Sprinkle with pepper.

    5. Bake at 425° for 10 to 15 minutes or until thoroughly heated and cheese mixture is slightly melted.

 These items came from thrift shops. I like to use quilts as pretty tablecloths. The yellow one above was so sunny, cheery and French looking that it inspired the whole posting!

Closeup of the sunflowers - always a great summer flower.

Again, Tomato and Zucchini tart. What a wonderful way to savor the end of summer!

So, how was your summer? Tell me what tasty dishes you have made this season in the comments below, I would love to hear from you.

Figs are in season right now, luscious and ripe! Get'em quick because, blink once, and the season will be over. I recently made a Fig and Walnut Tart that was very delicious. The recipe I used was from The Tuscan Sun Cookbook: Recipes From Our Italian Kitchen by Frances Mayes and Edward Mayes.

Closeup shot of thyme and purple flowers.

Another closeup shot of figs, lavender and thyme plants.

The items above were from thrift stores.

The large Willams-Sonoma linen tablecloth and twig placemats were also from thrift stores.

 

Fig and Walnut Tart

From The Tuscan Sun Cookbook: Recipes From Our Italian Kitchen by Frances Mayes and Edward Mayes

Serves 10

Pasta Frolla

10 Large fresh figs, halved

Extra-virgin olive oil for the baking sheet

6 Tablespoons Honey (Jasmine or Lavender, if available)

5 Tablespoons sugar

1 cup walnut halves, toasted and halved again

1/2 cup heavy cream

2 Tablespoons all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves or 1/8 teaspoon dried

Preheat the oven to 375° F

Place the pastry in a 10-12 inch pie plate, trim the edges, pierce it all around with fork tines, and pre-bake for 5 minutes. Remove from the oven and set aside.

Raise the oven control to broil. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and oil the paper. Arrange the figs on the paper and drizzle 2 tablespoons of honey and 2 tablespoons of sugar over them. Broil 2-4 minutes. Let the figs sizzle a moment, slightly caramelizing them. Don’t let the sugar brown, just melt. Remove them from the oven and turn down the oven temperature to 350°F.

In a small pan over medium-low heat, melt 1 tablespoon of sugar. Add the walnuts and toss just to coat them, about 1 minute. Take care: sugar can so easily turn rock hard, Remove the walnuts to a plate to cool.

Place the figs cut side up in the piecrust and arrange the nuts evenly over them. In a small bowl, mix well the cream, remaining 1/4 cup honey, the flour, thyme, and remaining 2 tablespoons sugar. Spoon evenly over the figs. Bake 25 minutes, or until the crust is golden and the filling is warmly browned.

After taking this shot, my friends and I devoured the Fig and Walnut Tart - Delicious!

The Magic of Microbes

 

Plants are a big part of my decorating scheme, and since I want them to be lush, healthy and free of pests, I am always researching new ways to keep everybody in great shape.Just as organic produce is good for our human health, the quality of the soil is very important to plant health. I have to say that The Soil Food Web is my new obsession!

I'd like to tell you about a wonderful book called Teeming With Microbes by Jeff Lowenfels and Wayne Lewis which brings to life all of the critters who live in the soil (or who try to, despite our uneducated efforts at killing them). All the living organisms in the soil, eating, working, fighting, pooping and dying help to fertilize and aerate the soil. I learned about Mycorrhizal Fungi which are "nutrient magnets: mycorrhizal fungi attracted by the exudate of the plants, attach themselves to the roots and produce chelates, compounds that break down the chemical bonds of inorganic chemicals that normally bind to organic matter and clay in soil and are unavailable to plants."

  

The book that changed the way I garden: Teeming With Microbes by Jeff Lowenfels & Wayne Lewis, with Dr. Elaine Ingham, PhD, President, Worldwide of Soil Foodweb,Inc.  Though the science behind the Soil Food Web can, at times, be very technical, it is worth slogging through to get to the good stuff: how all of this will help our plants become healthy and beautiful!

  

From a page in the book: you can see in the example of the grass sample on the right, how mycorrhizal fungi assist the grass roots in obtaining more nutrients resulting in lusher, thicker grass.

Another example of how mycorrhizal fungi helped the pine tree seeding get more nutrients. There are endomycorrhizal and ectomycorrhizal fungi. And it turns out that different types of plants prefer different types of fungi: most vegetables, annuals, grasses shrubs, softwood trees and perennials form mycorhiizae with endomycorrhizal fungi, and most conifers and hardwood trees form mycorrhizae with ectomycorrhizal fungi. Okay, so I had to get myself some mycorrhizal fungi!

After searching the web as to who might have these fabulous fungi, I hurried down to my local hydroponics store, and came back home with these products by Extreme Gardening. The guys at the store were very knowledgeable and really liked this brand of mycorrhizal fungi and compost tea, assuring me that these microbes were the freshest.

 

I also went to a garden store, and they recommended this product for geraniums. I must say that I've seen a big increase in flowers after adding this ammendment.

Now, to make compost tea, which I have also been brewing, you need to first aerate the water. Just as chlorine and fluoride are not healthy for us humans, these chemicals are harmful to the microbes we want to encourage, so it is necessary to aerate the water for 2 hours before watering plants. To make compost tea, after aerating the water for 2 hours, add the teabag, and aerate for another 24-48 hours before applying to your plants. If you don't have time to bubble the water beforehand, just let it sit for a couple of hours, and the chemicals will evaporate. At first, it seems like a lot of trouble to go through just to water plants, but do it once or twice, and it seems easy enough. We want to encourage the microbial growth.

Here is another wonderful product I was introduced to: Insect Frass. From their website:

Insect Frass is insect poop (like guano or castings) But unlike bats or birds, Insect Frass actually comes from plants. In all natural ecosystems (where there are no man-made chemical pesticides), insects feed on and digest vegetation, and give it right back to plants in the form of nature's perfect plant food. Plants benefit insects - Insects benefit plants! 

Insect Frass naturally contains the nutrition plants require, beneficial micro-organisms, and the only immediately plant-available source of chitin (pronounced “Kite-in”). Chitin fortifies a plant from the inside out, causing an "auto-immune" response that signals a plant to produce natural toxins which fend off its natural enemies like pests and fungal pathogens. The EPA says that chitin and chitosan defend against botrytis (grey mold), powdery mildew, early and late blight, fungal pathogens in the root zone (root rot) and root-feeding nematodes. Insect Frass does NOT cause a plant to kill beneficial insects or beneficial nematodes.

This is another brand of compost which I like very much; it comes in big bags, perfect for top-dressing your plants, and these tea bags to make compost tea.  You could also make your own compost tea bags from an old nylon stocking. You may think I've really gone off the deep end with all these different composts, but when I get into something, I really get into it!

Now to the results.....

 

Beautiful healthy aeoniums....

 

Lots of new growth on the bird's nest fern......

 

....and the succulents are happy as well. I'm going to stay with the program!

So, that's my most recent obsession. Hope you enjoyed learning about The Soil Food Web. Here are the links to the products I mentioned:

Soil Foodweb - www.soilfoodweb.com

Insect Frass  - http://www.onfrass.com/what.html  

Xtreme Gardening products  - www.xtremegardening.com 

Bountea, more bio-organic soil amendments  - www.bountea.com 

Bu's Blend Compost - www.http://malibucompost.com/   

E.B.Stone Organics-  www.ebstone.org/

Grow Your Own - Hydroponics and Organics  - http://growyourown.gardeningunlimited.com/

If you have any questions, please feel free to ask. And if you have anything to add, please leave a comment in the section below. Thanks!

Quirky Flowing Contemporary Lamp

I just finished this lamp project which was inspired by a photo I saw. You never know where and when inspiraton will strike! Directions follow on how I made it.

Closeup of the white crackle glaze bowl with shells.

I love the seafoamy-flowing wave at the top of the lamp.

This is the large white crackle glaze bowl that I found in my favorite thrift store - a great score at $9.00!

I started with a simple lamp that I found for $7.50.

Simple linen gauze curtain from thrift store for $2.50.

I orginally tried the lamp with the shade it came with, but the pattern showed through the linen. So, I carefully removed the shade.....

....and covered it with a translucent film that I happened to have on hand.

To keep the fabric in place and to insure a clean edge, I stitched the curtain into a tube with an elastic band at the bottom.

I mixed up the wallpaper paste in a bucket and plunged the fabric into it, being sure to work the paste thoroughly into the fabric. It was a messy process, if you try this, be sure to wear rubber gloves.

I carefully hung the lamp, with the wet fabric tube attached, being careful to mass the bottom on the plastic for easy removal. I tried arranging it various ways until I found something that I thought would look good when turned upright. I then left it to dry for a good 48 hours. I was happy with how the wall size made a good sturdy shade which kept the pattern I wanted.

And violà! Here is my lamp along with the crackle glaze bowl filled with sea shells and sponge.. I think the lamps looks great against this African Kuba Raffia Textile. Simple and Contemporary. Total cost of lamp and bowl:$23.00.

Let me know what you think, and show me your projects as well! Until next time....