I’ve been so busy painting and cooking and not writing, I decided it is time to get back to my blog. I just finished this 30 x 40 inch painting. I painted over one that is similar, but I did not really like the colors. This year, I would really like to work on having the right color in the right place.
I’ve started studying other artists to see how they paint some of the same things I like to paint. I believe you can always learn by looking at how anyone does something differently than you. I’ve always enjoyed taking classes for that reason too! One of the complications I find in painting, is how much detail to use to make it readable without taking away from the creativity.
I love painting abstracts, but do not seem to bring that into my impressionist painting. Where do you find the balance, or how do you find the balance? I like abstracted realism, but it is just not my style. Finding one’s style at any age is important. Hope you enjoy this new painting.
I signed up for my first ever Art Sale called the Crush, as it is held at a local winery. I paid for my space and went to put it on my calendar realizing I was out of town that week, at another “art first”! I signed up for a Plein Air Open Paint Out in Mendocino the same week. I already paid for that, and the week of lodging and am very excited about entering a contest, but disappointed I won’t be able to do both.
Trying to stay on top of everything you sign up for and want to do can be exhausting. Next week I am taking a figure drawing class in Sacramento, then meeting a high school classmate for lunch. It is a casual class.
In the interim, I decided to paint a couple of wine pieces. This one is 9x 12 inches and was fun to paint. I will start showing in Village 360 in Suisun Valley starting the 23rd. This piece is available for $450.00.
The other piece I am working on is 30″ x 40″, featuring grapevines and mountains and big sky. I worked on it all day, and forgot how long it takes to do big impressionistic painting. I am trying to expand my horizons on what I paint.
So many artists paint one thing, and I think it is important to experiment to see where you excel. I have been painting for a long time, with more in the last view years and love to try different things. At this point in my life, I like to go big or stay small, with nothing in-between. Just a random decision I made lately.
Every time I go to San Francisco, I love to stop at Buena Vista and have an Irish Coffee. I have been doing this since before I was even 21. (Oh no). I only ate there once with my family when my sons were very young. I highly recommend the Irish Coffee, but not so much the food. (Although it may have improved in the last thirty years) The fries were good.
I recently went there with a group of fun women, where we laughed and loved our Irish Coffees. Can’t wait to go there again. It is always perfect, no matter what time of day! I loved the ambiance of the restaurant, even though the view was cut off by a tent outside because of Covet 19.
I painted this a couple of months ago and just kept looking at it, thinking it was just “too light” in color for a bar. I’m hoping to paint a few more bars in the future, as they just seem way too interesting to me.
My mind has been exploding with painting ideas lately! I want to paint small. I want to paint big. I want to find time everyday to paint, which often seems impossible. So many other things get in the way. I originally painted this without the calligraphy, but it did not have enough life for me, so I flipped the painting and totally changed the look.
The is a 30″ by 40″ oil that I painted for my 1912 Bungalow home in California. I was very energized while painting this and loved the process. Such freedom in an abstract. It can look however you want it to look and feel. This one feels explosive to me and makes me smile. What art do you do to make you smile?
My blog is a little funny, as it combines two of the things I love to do in life: painting and cooking. I have Cherry Galette in the oven right now, with the first cherries our cherry tree has produced. Thinking about the richness of the red, reminded me of this painting I just finished last week. I’ll do a short blog on the Cherry Galette when it is done, as if you were to have food and art, this would be wonderful with a beautiful and rich Crocker & Starr Cabernet Sauvignon!
Living so close to Napa, makes it easy and wonderful to go wine tasting at a very wide variety of vineyards. One of my favorites is Crocker and Starr where they sell the Sauvignon Blanc and delicious Cabernet Franc. The last time we went wine tasting, I took lots of photos and painted a couple of vineyard pieces. These are smaller pieces, so about 8″ x 10″ and 9″ x 12″. Trying to capture grapevines is not as simple as I you think. There is the idea of wonderful wine, the simplicity of the vines and difficulty of trying to capture the essence of the place. I added a little gold leaf to try to bring out life of the vines.
Talk about a quick and easy, yet tasty dinner. I paired with a nice salad and a good Pinot Noir.
For the Grits:
3 cups water
1 teaspoon kosher salt
3/4 cup uncooked quick-cooking or regular grits not instant
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 cup freshly grated sharp cheddar cheese, about 2 ounces ( I used about 4 oz)
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese, about 1 ounce, plus additional for serving
1/4 cup chopped green onions white and green parts, plus additional for serving
For the Shrimp:
2 teaspoons EVOO
1 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
1 pound medium shrimp, 25 count, peeled and deveined, with tails on
Instructions
In a 3 quart saucepan, bring the water to a boil. Add the salt, then slowly add the grits in a thin stream, stirring constantly. Reduce the heat to low and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the grits thicken, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat, then stir in the butter, black pepper, cheeses, and green onions.
Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
In a large bowl, stir together the olive oil, garlic, paprika, thyme, oregano, cayenne, salt, and pepper. Add the shrimp and toss gently to coat. Spread the shrimp in a single layer on a baking sheet lined with aluminum foil. Roast the shrimp for 5 to 6 minutes, until just pink and cooked through.
Serve a top the grits, sprinkled with additional Parmesan cheese and green onions.
Every birthday for years I made my three sons a Dobos Torte for their birthdays. My middle son really did not like chocolate as he grew older, so we changed his to a white cake with fresh strawberries. I had not made one in years and saw a six-layered Dobos Torte in Bake Magazine. It looks a lot more complicated than it is. I could not find the recipe online so I photographed it out of the magazine and hope you can read it.
This is my oldest son, now 41 cutting the Dobos Torte I made for family on Mother’s Day 2021. I think everyone enjoyed it. I sure did.
Garlic (Allium sativum), is used widely as a flavoring in cooking, but it has been used as a medicine throughout ancient and modern history; it has been taken to prevent and treat a wide range of conditions and diseases.
Garlic belongs to the genus Allium and is closely related to the onion rakkyo (an onion found in Asia), scallion, chive, leek, and shallot. It has been used by humans for thousands of years and was used in Ancient Egypt for both culinary purposes and its health and therapeutic benefits.
National Garlic Day may be a holiday best celebrated alone or with a hefty box of breath mints and a very charitable loved one, but few foods are as deserving of their very own day of recognition as the amazing, edible bulbous plant. Celebrate National Garlic Day on April 19 with your favorite garlic-laced meal and a few fun facts about this delicious, flavor-packed add-in that can do almost anything, from reducing your cholesterol to keeping vampires at bay.
11 Things You Might Not Have Known About Garlic
1. YOU CAN EAT MORE THAN JUST THE STANDARD GARLIC CLOVE.
When you think “garlic,” you inevitably picture garlic cloves, but despite the ubiquity of that particular image of the plant, it’s not the only part you can eat. Green shoots that can be especially delicious and tender when they’re young. Think of them as garlic-flavored scallions. They make a wonderful addition to pestos, soups, and butters.
2. CHINA PRODUCES THE MOST GARLIC.
Garlic is native to central Asia and has long popped up in European and African cooking, too. But it’s China that currently holds the record for most garlic grown, China grows a staggering two-thirds of the world’s garlic, believed to be around 46 billion pounds per year.
3. AVERAGE CONSUMPTION OF GARLIC IS BELIEVED TO WEIGH IN AT AROUND TWO POUNDS PER PERSON.
Even with just two pounds, that means eating roughly 302 cloves per person per year.
4. GARLIC’S HEALTH BENEFITS ARE MYRIAD, INCLUDING AN ABILITY TO REDUCE CHOLESTEROL.
The best way to release the health-happy power of garlic is to cut it, which turns garlic’s thiosulfate compounds into allicin, an antibiotic and antifungal that is believed to reduce “bad” cholesterol as it inhibits enzymes from growing in liver cells.
5. ALLICIN IS ALSO GOOD AT COMBATING HEART DISEASE.
Allicin helps nitric oxide release in the blood vessels, relaxing them and bringing about a drop in blood pressure. . Keeping blood vessels relaxed and lowering blood pressure is good for the heart and the rest of the vascular system.
6. GARLIC CONTAINS VITAMINS, MINERALS, AND ANTIOXIDANTS THAT ARE GOOD FOR YOU.
Garlic bulbs are filled with potassium, iron, calcium, magnesium, manganese, zinc, selenium, beta-carotene, zeaxanthin, and Vitamin C.
7. GARLIC’S USE AS A HEALTH AID DATES BACK TO ANCIENT HISTORY.
It’s believed that Egyptian pharaohs plied their pyramid builder with garlic for strength, and an ancient Egyptian medical document, the Ebers Papyrus counts 22 different medicinal uses for the plant. Garlic pops up in texts from Virgil, Pliny the Elder, Chaucer, and Galen, all of which detail its various uses and share lore about the magic plant.
8. DESPITE ITS ASIAN ORIGINS, ITS NAME IS DERIVED FROM ANGLO-SAXON SPEECH.
A combination of two Anglo-Saxon words—“gar” (spear) and “lac” (plant)—is believed to be the source of the plant’s name, specifically in reference to the shape of its leaves. ,
9. GARLIC’S REAL HEALTH BENEFITS ARE PROBABLY THE REASON FOR ONE OF ITS MOST PREVALENT MYTHS.
Garlic had long been recognized as a wonderful health aid before writer Bram Stoker introduced the concept of the vampire, a beast repelled by garlic to the public with his 1897 novel Dracula. In the book, he uses it as a protective agent, and it’s believed that Stoker lifted that idea from garlic’s many medicinal purposes, particularly as a mosquito repellent.
10. YOU CAN USE GARLIC TO MAKE GLUE.
The sticky juice that’s in garlic cloves is often used as an adhesive, especially for delicate projects that involve fragile items like glass. You just need to crush it to get to the sticky stuff which, despite its smell, works surprisingly well as a bonding agent for smaller jobs.
11. GARLIC CAN CLEAR UP SKIN TROUBLES.
You can battle both acne and cold sores with garlic, simply slice cloves in half and apply them directly to the skin. Hold for a bit, as long as you can stand and while the smell might not be the best, the antibacterial properties of the miracle plant will speed along the healing process.
Here is a great article by Food52 about buying and using garlic:
National Garlic Day may be a holiday best celebrated alone—or with a hefty box of breath mints and a very charitable loved one—but few foods are as deserving of their very own day of recognition as the amazing, edible bulbous plant (okay, “bulbous plant” might not sound super appetizing, but it’s certainly accurate). Celebrate National Garlic Day on April 19 with your favorite garlic-laced meal and a few fun facts about this delicious, flavor-packed add-in that can do almost anything, from reducing your cholesterol to keeping vampires at bay.
1. YOU CAN EAT MORE THAN JUST THE STANDARD GARLIC CLOVE.
When you think “garlic,” you inevitably picture garlic cloves, but despite the ubiquity of that particular image of the plant, it’s not the only part you can eat. Hard-neck varieties of garlic produce “scapes,” green shoots that can be especially delicious and tender when they’re young. Think of them as garlic-flavored scallions. They also make a wonderful addition to pestos, soups, and butters.
2. CHINA PRODUCES THE MOST GARLIC.
Garlic is native to central Asia and has long popped up in European and African cooking, too. But it’s China that currently holds the record for most garlic grown. Per a 2012 study, China grows a staggering two-thirds of the world’s garlic, believed to be around 46 billion pounds per year.
3. AVERAGE CONSUMPTION OF GARLIC IS BELIEVED TO WEIGH IN AT AROUND TWO POUNDS PER PERSON.
4. GARLIC’S HEALTH BENEFITS ARE MYRIAD, INCLUDING AN ABILITY TO REDUCE CHOLESTEROL.
The best way to release the health-happy power of garlic is to cut it, which then turns garlic’s thio-sulfinite compounds into allicin, an antibiotic and antifungal that is believed to reduce “bad” cholesterol, as it inhibits enzymes from growing in liver cells.
5. ALLICIN IS ALSO GOOD AT COMBATING HEART DISEASE.
Allicin helps nitric oxide release in the blood vessels, relaxing them and thus bringing about a drop in blood pressure. Keeping blood vessels relaxed and lowering blood pressure is good for the heart and the rest of the vascular system (and it’s tasty).
6. GARLIC CONTAINS TONS OF VITAMINS, MINERALS, AND ANTIOXIDANTS THAT ARE GOOD FOR YOU, TOO.
The bulbs are packed with potassium, iron, calcium, magnesium, manganese, zinc, selenium, beta-carotene, zeaxanthin, and Vitamin C.
7. GARLIC’S USE AS A HEALTH AID DATES BACK TO ANCIENT HISTORY.
It’s believed that Egyptian pharaohs plied their pyramid-builders with garlic for strength, and an ancient Egyptian medical document—the Ebers Papyrus—counts a stunning 22 different medicinal uses for the plant. Garlic also pops up in texts from Virgil, Pliny the Elder, Chaucer, and Galen, all of which detail its various uses and share lore about the magic plant.
8. DESPITE ITS ASIAN ORIGINS, ITS NAME IS DERIVED FROM ANGLO-SAXON SPEECH.
9. GARLIC’S REAL HEALTH BENEFITS ARE PROBABLY THE REASON FOR ONE OF ITS MOST PREVALENT MYTHS.
Garlic had long been recognized as a wonderful health aid before writer Bram Stoker introduced the concept of the vampire—a beast repelled by garlic—to the public with his 1897 novel Dracula. In the book, Van Helsing uses garlic as a protective agent, and it’s believed that Stoker lifted that idea from garlic’s many medicinal purposes, particularly as a mosquito repellent (think of the blood-sucking).
10. YOU CAN USE GARLIC TO MAKE GLUE.
The sticky juice that’s in garlic cloves is often used as an adhesive, especially for delicate projects that involve fragile items like glass. You just need to crush the cloves to get to the sticky stuff which, despite its smell, works surprisingly well as a bonding agent for smaller jobs.
11. GARLIC CAN CLEAR UP SKIN TROUBLES.
You can battle both acne and cold sores with garlic, simply by slicing cloves in half and applying them directly to the skin. Hold for a bit—as long as you can stand!—and while the smell might not be the best, the antibacterial properties of the miracle plant will speed along the healing process.
This is a great article from Food52 on how to buy and use garlic.
There are many, many varieties of garlic, but they can all be classified as either hardneck or softneck garlic. Softneck garlic truly has a soft neck, meaning the central stalk is pliable enough to be manipulated — this is the type used to make garlic braids. Softneck garlic tends to be milder in flavor and to have more cloves per bulb (up to 20!); hardneck garlic, on the other hand, has fewer cloves but they’re larger (3, last photo) and easier to peel.
When you buy garlic, as is true when you buy onions, you’re looking for hard, dry bulbs; like onions, they’ve been cured, which means they will last longer and store well. After being cured, the roots and stalk (1, photo below) are trimmed and the outermost layer of paper wrappers is removed. The garlic is ready to hang out in a cool, dry place in your home for months. Both types of garlic store well once cured, but softneck garlic will keep for a much longer time than hardneck, which is why you’ll usually find softneck garlic at grocery stores.
If stored long enough, you’ll eventually see little green sprouts in your garlic cloves. We generally don’t bother with removing them, but if you prefer to, just flick them out with the tip of a sharp knife. ( Iread once that they are a bit bitter, so I remove them)
For those who think garlic is garlic, it isn’t all the same. Different varieties carry unique flavor profiles, but you’ll likely have to head to your local farmers market to try varieties like Inchelium Red, Kettle River Giant, Purple Glazer, and Sicilian Silver. Once you leave the supermarket, you’ll see more color variation, like purple streaks (2) in both the bulb wrappers and the cloves.
Once you get to know your local garlic farmer, you’ll have an easier time getting your hands on garlic at other stages of growth early season treats like green garlic and garlic scapes(the latter of which are only produced by hardneck garlic) and wet or fresh garlic (which is fully mature garlic that is eaten immediately after it has been harvested, without going through the curing process).
If you’ve ever come across black garlic, that’s not a specific variety, it’s garlic that’s gone through fermentation and the flavor could be described as having a lot going on: “First there’s a hit of sweetness, followed by a faint hint of smoke, then a pungency that lingers long after the sweetness is gone.” If you’ve tried it and you weren’t immediately converted to its charms, cook with it, as the flavor changes with heat.
For some, garlic cloves can be as aggravating as shallots. as recipes will call for a set number of cloves, but when heads of garlic can have such a wide range of clove sizes, there’s room for interpretation. We assume a mediumish-sized clove of garlic is about a half teaspoon once minced.
It’s hard to find a savory dish that we don’t like to use garlic in, but if garlic isn’t the first thing you reach for when you start cooking, we’ve got 5 ideas to get you started using more of it:
Pair garlic with your favorite protein: Try it with any protein
An easy and fast dinner for a weeknight. I prepared the chopped onion and garlic in the morning, so I just had to add it to the Risotto as I was cooking it. I took some frozen peas out of the freezer and had some fresh broccoli in the refrigerator left over from Farmers Market, so cut it up and got it ready.
Risotto is an easy dish, but you do have to watch and stir and watch and add more liquid. I took a bottle of wine out of the refrigerator and put it on the counter to bring to room temperature. Most people tell you to add everything “hot” to the pan, once you add the rice and EVOO, but I add at room temperature, mostly because I am a little lazy. I almost always have frozen chicken stock, so throw it in the microwave to warm, while I am cutting up veggies.
Garlic Parmesan Risotto
Risotto in 17-25 minutes?! I’m in! Garlic Parmesan Risotto may be the star of the show we call “dinner” in this easy side – it’s sure to please the whole family!CourseSide DishCuisineItalianPrep Time5 minutesCook Time20 minutesTotal Time25 minutesServings4Calories367kcalAuthorKylee Cooks
Ingredients
1/2 medium onion diced finely
4 cloves garlic minced
1 Tb s EVOO
2 Tbs butter
4 cups chicken stock
dry white wine ( I use whatever is left over in the refrigerator, so maybe half a bottle). Cheap wine gives you cheap flavor.
1 cup arborio rice
1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese plus extra for serving ( I only use Reggiano Parmigiano, so the flavor is the best it can be)
3 Tbs freshly chopped parsley ( I pick it from my garden, and be sure to remove all the stems, as they are bitter)
Peas and Broccoli or what ever veggie you want to add.
Instructions
Add butter and oil to a large skillet over medium heat.
Add the onions and cook until just tender, then add the garlic. Cook 1 minute longer.
Add the rice and toss to coat, (making sure oil gets onto every grain of rice if you can). Remember I did mine ahead of time.
Add the wine and stir until it is absorbed.
Add 1 ladle of stock and stir until it absorbs.
Repeat this until you have used almost all of the stock -(It should take about 17-25 minutes). Taste to make sure it is the texture you want to eat it. Not mushy, but not too al dente.
After adding the last ladle of stock, add the parsley, and promptly add the cheese.
Let it absorb until it is creamy and thick, but not soupy.
Serve, adding extra parmesan if desired.
Seared Scallops
Preheat a cast iron skillet over medium high heat.
In the meantime, pat the scallops very dry with a paper towel. Sprinkle the scallops with salt and pepper, to season.
When the pan is hot, add EVOO, then drop in your scallops, giving them enough room in between so they don’t steam each other. The scallops should make a sizzling noise when you put them in the pan.
Cook the scallops for 2 minutes, or untill you can see a little brown on the edges, making sure not to move them or touch them at all.
Flip the scallops over with a pair of tongs, and add the butter to the pan. Let the scallops cook for 1 more minute, basting the scallops with the butter.
Remove the scallops from the pan and serve over Risotto!
We served this with a Bennett Lane Pinot and loved the dinner. My granddaughter, age ten had joined us for dinner and ate two huge helpings, more that my male friend. She is quite slight, but can really eat if she loves it! Enjoy!
Having lived in the Pacific Northwest for over thirty years, I love Salmon of all types and cooked in a variety of different ways. I found this sort of accidentally online and thought I might try it with some of the beautiful parsley I grow in my herb garden. I planted my garden several months ago and it is finally starting to take off. The following bright and flavorful parsley oil makes a great salmon sauce. I served it with bacon wrapped asparagus for the perfect dinner. We paired it with a nice Pinot Noiir.
Ingredients
For the parsley salmon sauce: 1 cup packed fresh parsley leaves 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil 1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice 1 large clove garlic, peeled 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar 1 teaspoon sea salt 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper For the Whole30 salmon: 4 3-ounce salmon llets, skin on 2 tablespoons olive oil sea salt freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
First, make the salmon sauce: combine all of the ingredients in a high-speed blender, and pulse until very smooth. Pour into a jar, and set aside.
Next, sprinkle salt and pepper on each side of the salmon llets, and heat a large skillet over medium-high heat.
Preheat the oven to 400-degrees F.
Add the olive oil to the pan, and then add the salmon, SKIN SIDE DOWN.
Watch the salmon cook on the edges. When it’s half-way cooked, move the skillet to the oven to nish cooking. No need to ip this salmon!
Cook the salmon in the oven to your desired level of doneness. I like my salmon a little red in the middle, so I cook it for 8-10 minutes, but if you prefer it all the way done, cook it for 12-15 minutes.
Remove the salmon from the skillet, place on a serving dish and drizzle with the pars
Bacon Wrapped Asparagus is one of the best recipes for easy entertaining! Cook it in the oven, on the grill, or stove. Crispy and flavorful every time! It is so easy in the oven and you can cook it at the same temperature as the fish. I like to make many things with asparagus. The other night we had a simple asparagus soup. I used the leftover asparagus, cut up and added to our dinner salad.
Ingredients
1 pound asparagus spears trimmed (about 20 to 24 spears)
1 Tbl Olive Oil
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
8 strips thick-cut bacon
Instructions
Place a rack in the center of your oven and preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. For easy cleanup, line a large rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. ( and I put tin foil under this to make sure there is no mess)
Place the asparagus in a large bowl or on the prepared baking sheet. Drizzle with the olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Toss to coat. Count the spears and divide the total number by 8. Gather that number of spears (likely 2 to 4 spears, depending upon their thickness) and hold them together in a single bundle. Starting midway to the top, wrap the bundle with one piece of bacon (overlap the starting end of the bacon slightly to secure it) and place the bundle on the prepared baking sheet, seam-side down. Repeat with the remaining spears.
Bake until the bacon is crisp and the asparagus is tender, about 22 to 28 minutes, depending upon the thickness of your bacon and how crisp you’d like it to be. Serve warm or at room temperature.
Note
You can add additional toppings, such as balsamic glaze, cheese, honey, and more!
Thought you might like to see a photo of my growing, still growing Herb Garden in California.
Note that the parsley is taking over the world and the chives are not doing so well yet! Hopefully they will take off growing soon, as they tried to take over my garden in Washington.
