three things

I want to tell you all about a really great series of interviews on the Twenty Four Hour Zine blog. 

It's called Live Fast, Die Old! Conversations with Zinesters of a Certain Age. Long time zine maker Josh Medsker interviews zine makers like Ben Snakepit, Joe Biel, Ken Bausert and many others about being over a certain age and still making zines. 

Josh and I recently had a conversation for this series. You can see all of the conversations, including mine at the Twenty Four Hours Zine blog.

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I have a special re-release all color issue of my zine Imaginary Life 3#.  Imaginary Life #3 is 4 little zines - one for each season. It came out in 2003 and I always thought it was so pretty it seemed like a shame that people couldn't see it in color. So, for the ten year anniversary I printed up a very small amount of them in color. 

Imaginary Life#3 is all about my life over ten years ago. The struggles and deep thoughts of a single 30 something gal who had recently moved from California to Portland. IL#3 is in the Etsy shop now.

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Are you one of those people who misses the written letter? Were you a zine kid in the 90's and still pine for the days when people wrote back and forth and ordered zines through the mail? I was never one of those kids, but I do miss the written letter and I like the general aesthetic of writing a letter - the feel of the pen in your hand, the fast scratch of the pen to paper when your writing is trying to keep up with you head, the times of pondering and thinking as the page waits for your new thought.

If what you need is a kick in the pants to get back to writing through the mail, then the Radical Uprises's Letter Writing Bootcamp and Paper Doll Army Project is for you.  You order ration packs through the mail, you have missions and you get badges when you complete them. It's one of the brilliant, lovely and always uplifting projects from Jetta of the Radical Uprise. Check it out.

Whatever Watermelon Salad and my Kitchen Confession

I am the kind of person who doesn't read instructions much. I like to get in there and just figure it out. Sometimes this works great. Lots of times it doesn't.  I'm kind of like that with cooking, too. With baking I'm more careful (but not by much). I have a bit of a devil-may-care attitude about cooking - especially if it's just for myself. I collect recipes on Pinterest and have many cookbooks and yet, when it comes down to it I usually just make something up.

So, yesterday I got the idea to make a watermelon salad. I looked up some recipes on Pinterest, but none of them were really what I wanted to do. So, I just kind of did my own thing. I made a watermelon salad with cucumbers, blueberries and mint. I added some things to make a dressing and the result was really good. Here is a sort of roughed out idea of what I did (what, me measure?) so you can use it as a guide for your own whatever watermelon salad.

My version of Whatever Watermelon Salad

About 4 cups cut watermelon
1 cucumber, peeled and cut up
About 1/2 cup blueberries
Mint leaves, roughly chopped up (I used Lavender Mint from my garden)

Dressing

1 tablespoon Olive Oil
1 tablespoon honey
1 tablespoon Lavender Lemongrass Vinegar.
( I know not everyone has this sitting around. But, I recommend trying something that would give it just a little bit of some unique little tang. This vinegar is perfect as a secret ingredient in things. It adds so much, but you can't quite put your finger on it.)
a pinch of salt and a little bit of pepper if that's your thing.
Whisk together and gently toss with the fruit salad

You can eat right away, but it's better if it sits for a bit. The second picture is the salad the next day.

Are you a perfect cook and stick to recipes or are you like me?  I'll call it creative (but I have also called it half-assed).

You're Invited to an Herb Themed Tea

The Menu

Peppermint Tea
Lavender Pepper Scones
Dill and Goat Cheese Sandwiches with Lemon Delight Herb Vinegar
Goat Cheese Brie and Spinach in Nasturtium Vinegar Sandwiches
Mandarin Quinoa Salad Parfaits
Rose Apple Tarts

I had a wonderful time a couple of weeks ago setting up a fancy tea for my friend Sarah of the blog New Wave Domesticity. I've been doing some website work for the delightful Blue Heron Herbary on Sauvie Island and they had set me up with some delicious herb blends and vinegars that I wanted to try out in some recipes. So, an herbal theme tea party seemed like the perfect fit for our tea-for-two meeting.

The first thing I was inspired to make were the Lavender Pepper Scones or Biscuits. From the first time I smelled the herb blend that they make at Blue Heron Herb Nursery from their scores of lavender fields (they farm and sell over 100 varieties of lavender) I knew I wanted to make scones with it. I love a savory scone - with butter of course.

The Lavender Pepper Herb Blend is the most popular of Blue Heron's blends. I am not a huge lavender flavored girl, but I was encouraged to at least give it a smell. After that I was hooked.  It isn't super lavendery, but just enough that it give it this really interesting savory taste. I used a mixture of the Lavender Pepper Blend (which also includes some other ingredients) and the pure Lavender and Rainbow Peppercorns option that I put in my own spice grinder.

The result was delicious! I chose to make them biscuit shaped, but they were more scone like. I could have made them a little thicker and more biscuity, but they were great as is. Kind of dry and  flaky and so ready to have some butter on them. Just how I like my savory scones. I just loved all the pepper in them and the lavender made the taste so unique and full.

Lavender Pepper Scones (Biscuit) Recipe
2 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 cup salted butter, cold and cut into small pieces
1/2 cup plain greek yogurt
1/4 cup milk
1.5 teaspoons Lavender Pepper Blend
2 tablespoons Lavender Rainbow Peppercorns
1/4 tsp baking soda


1.Preheat oven to 400°F (200°C). In a large
bowl, mix flour, baking powder, lavender pepper

blend and lavender peppercorns. Working quickly, add cold butter, blending with fingertips until evenly distributed.
2.In a large bowl, mix yogurt, milk and baking soda. Pour over dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Turn out onto a floured surface and knead until dough just holds together. Do not overwork. Pat or roll into a 1/2- to 3/4-in. (1 to 2 cm) thick disk.
3.Using a 3-in. (8 cm) round cutter (or a floured jar lid or glass), cut dough into 9 or 10 rounds (gathering scraps to re-roll and cut to use up dough). Bake on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet for about 15 min. or until lightly browned. 

I adapted this recipe to use for the scones.  It called for 3/4 cup buttermilk, but I didn't have any so I used the yogurt and milk combo. I found the sub online somewhere and it worked great.  Also, the amount of Lavender Rainbow Peppercorns I used is a guesstimate since I just kind of kept grinding it in till it looked good. Add as much as you want. I also sprinkled them with some more Lavender Peppercorns on the top, but I can't remember if I did it before or after.

These are so good, I am still craving them and they are long gone.

Dill, Goat Cheese and Lemon Delight Vinegar Sandwiches

Also on the menu that day were some delicious tea sandwiches inspired by the Herb Infused Vinegars from Blue Heron's Three Bird Vinegar and Dressings.

Goat Cheese Brie and Nasturtium Vinegar Spinach sandwiches

I made these Dill and Goat Cheese Sandwiches by using a soft spreadable goat cheese and cutting up a bunch of fresh dill. Mmm. So good.  I used about a tablespoon or two of the Lemon Delight Vinegar, which is a combo of lemon basil, lemon thyme, lemon verbena and lemon peel in a white wine vinegar. This is my favorite vinegar so far. I tasted the sandwiches before and after the vinegar was added and it made such a difference and yet it wasn't obvious what it was. It really brightened the filling. They were super good. I love this vinegar for asparagus and all vegetable steaming, too.

I also used the very interesting Nasturtium Vinegar from Three Bird. Nasturtium flowers have a peppery summery taste. I tossed some spinach in them and then added them to some Goat Cheese Brie. It made a nice sandwich that had a good amount of veggies in it, unlike the other offerings. The Nasturtium Vinegar added a unique and layered taste to the simple sandwich.

The tea was rounded out by a favorite easy dish of mine that I found on Pinterest - Mandarin Quinoa Salad Parfaits. I added some of Three Bird Vinegar's Bouquet of Roses Vinegar to this sweet and nutty tasting salad. It added an extra depth to it and mixed well with the fruity flavor.

Sarah brought with her these darling Apple Pie Cinnamon Bites that looked very impressive and were delicious.

It was so fun to do a tea party like this again. Thanks to Blue Heron Herbary for the inspiration. I am a new devotee to Herb Vinegars and Lavender Pepper. Oh, and Blue Heron Herbary is having a 20% off deal through May 1st on all products on their Etsy shop. Check it out and get some herbal inspiration, too.

sifting through the years

This is the sifter that I use every time I need to sift flour. It was given to my mother who told me that it was her grandmother's.

My mother was raised mostly by her grandmother. Her grandmother was Mabel Smith. A strong woman of Scottish descent who's ancestor's had been in America since before the Revolutionary War.

Great Grandma and Grandpa in later
years when my mother was young

Mabel was running a boarding house in Kansas when she met her second husband, my great grandfather, who had been, among other things, a heavyweight boxer.

They were married for the rest of her life. I never met my great grandmother, she died the year I was born. But, I do remember Grandpa Pat, as he was called. He was a cantankerous old man, who was very large, ate bacon and eggs every day, smoked a pipe and lived to be 94.

I love using this sifter. I think about the history while I sift my flour and baking powder.

I imagine my great grandmother using it in the 1920's to make my grandmother and her sons biscuits and later using it in the 40's to make treats for her granddaughter.

I imagine my grandmother (also named Mabel) using it to bake Christmas cookies for the family.

I imagine my mother, a young mom in the early 1960's making cakes for her two young daughters.

And now, almost 100 years later I am still using it. Shaking my wrist slightly back and forth in the same way they all did. Melding ingredients to make warm baked treats for the people I love.

Love is a Radical Act Project

Some friends of mine, Sam and Kelly, have started a wonderful project called Love is a Radical Act.  Here's some of what Sam said about the project. You can read the whole introduction to the project here.

..I do not understand or subscribe to romance. I think it often belittles the true love that motivates small daily gestures. It too often clouds the reality of a relationship – the lack of solid foundation, the acts of cruelty, the lack of common goals and interests...

..I am fighting for recognition and respect for all types of families – blended families, queer families, multi-racial families, adoptive families, families of choice, childless and child-free families, single people, and many more. I am fighting for the right to marry my partner so that we will enjoy the same protections that other couples take for granted. Heck, if someone can come up with a better system that will allow for greater flexibility and protection for all types of families, then I will fight for that too...

In honor of all kinds of love and as part of the fight for marriage equality Sam and Kelly have a few ways that you can participate. 

1. They're selling ceramic hearts that you can then leave places or take images of. 
2. They are doing he(art) bombings where one or many people go and hang the ceramic hearts in public places  
3. They're asking for your stories of all kinds of families and love. You can find out more how to get involved here. Check out the website for some he(art) bombings that have already taken place.

Last weekend I went to the beach with a family of mine that would not be recognized or valued by many people in America. It was a lovely simple weekend. A nice end to the summer. I so enjoyed taking images of the Love is a Radical Act hearts in this setting knowing that I was living exactly what this project is about.

My partner of nine years was with me. He is a true and trusted partner. He's my best friend. I so relate to what Sam wrote above about how the romance that most people think is so important is actually just an illusion. That idea actually belittles the true real love of everyday kindness and partnership. That is what I have with my partner.

We don't live together, we aren't married, but we have a strong equal partnership and his love and friendship has changed my life so much for the better.  Some people have and will dismiss our relationship, but it is strong and just as valid as any other couple or family who love and care for each other every day.

Family is where you find the people who most care for you, who want the best for you, who accept you as you are. This can come in many different forms. One is no better than the other. The fact that love can be divided as good or bad or right or wrong is absurd.

I hope you'll take part in this fun, positive and important project.

summer's bounty

Although it's still almost a full month before summer is officially over, I'm seeing a bit of fall peeking out and sneaking into view. The air feels and smells a bit different and the light is different. I know though that we will most likely still have hot weather for another month. In this area the hot weather goes through the end of September usually.

Still it definitely feels like the end of summer. Before the heat wave last week I found 2 huge zucchinis. I look everyday, but someone had missed these. It seems impossible. I decided to make some zucchini relish with them. Something I'd never made or had before.

I found an easy recipe in a zine I'd gotten just a couple of days earlier at The Portland Zine Symposium.  The zine is Keeper's Kanzine and I highly recommend it. Not only is it a beautiful zine (I love the cover) but it has some great recipes and some great advice.

I got it from Ms Valerie Park Distro and you can get it there, too. There is second edition as well.  It was in this zine that I learned that I can put jars in the oven to sterilize. I've always been really put off by the whole sterilization process, kind of intimidated by it, so I loved this idea.

The recipe was called Golden Relish and it turned out great.  I wasn't sure how I'd like it, so I made a half batch. It's really good. If you like sweet relish you'll like it. I've had it on a sandwich a lot in the last two weeks.

Here is a picture of it right after I canned it. Today I made another half batch and I used a yellow pepper instead of red and put in less sugar. I want to see how it will be with less. Since I used the naturally sweet Walla Walla Onions I think it could use less sugar. I'm excited to try it.

The heat wave kind of burnt up my plants. I don't know if I will get much more harvest from them. I didn't get many cucumbers this year because the zucchini took over. Which sucks. I kind of like the process of having too much of something and finding a way to use it, and zukes are the best for that. But I want more cucumbers, so next year I may not plant the zucchinis.

Anyway, I'll leave you with this pretty picture I took on my phone Friday while I sat on the porch swing with my mom. My step-dad was working in the garden and he had handed her some roses. It was a lovely perfect breezy summer day. The air felt so soft and friendly.

summer

I know it's summer when my fridge looks like this:

My flowers look like this:

I find myself on the grass looking at this:

And my feet spend some time in this:

Happy Summer!

a few days at the beach

I spent some time at the coast last week. I took my parents and we had a few days of sun, sand, great food and some gambling. It was great. It was beautiful most days and it made me wonder why I don't go more.

I grew up in a beach town. It was 10 minutes to the beach and you parked and just walked out to it. After that I lived in the Bay Area, which was surrounded by water and you could be at the ocean in less than an hour, usually. Driving 2-3 hours to get to the beach seems like a long time to me now, but I really need to do it more often.

This was taken from my room

My parent's dog, Abby. This was her first time seeing the ocean and she loved it.

simple joys

Here's one of my favorite things in life.

You're inside on a breezy, not too cold and preferably sunnyish day. You are perhaps on your bed or favorite chair, reading, writing or drawing. The windows are open a bit and the pretty curtains billow back and forth in the breeze. You hear birds and maybe some kids or cars far off. The air smells sweet.

The curtains fall flat and billow open, moving back and forth, sometimes swinging high and sometimes just swaying back and forth.

Sometimes you stop what your doing and just watch them.

Last weekend I did two things that I have been meaning to do for a long time. 

1. I finally found this fabric I bought a year or more ago and made the very simple alterations I had to do to them to make them in to curtains.  I don't really know how to sew. I took one short class when I was about 11. 

The window is quite big and the all white is kind of a lot. I am thinking about adding some trim to the sides - which gave me a great excuse to not hem them. But, I love white curtains in the bedroom, especially in spring and summer.

2. The other thing I did last week that has been on my to-do list for a couple years is make a video clip for my Dad's film.

I got my Dad's film on DVD in 2009 and last week I finally got into the hard drive that it's stored in and created a clip (it was much easier that I thought). Now people can see a bit of the film. This is really awesome as before now there was no clip of it anywhere on the internet.

I hope I can cross of a couple more things this week. It feels so good when you do something you've been meaning to do for a long time. And, trust me, I've got a long list!  Hope you all have a good week!

(This post is 100% April Fools free)

march

March is here. The above illustration is from A Child's Book of Poem's. 

Today was very spring like. The sun was out and I went to check out what's been popping up in the garden. My hydrangea bush still had some old dried flowers on it from late last summer, but among them many new buds.

Here is the contrast of dried up winter next to baby fresh spring. No judgement here. I like them both!

I pruned all the old dried flowers off the bush and now it's ready to grow into a big beautiful pile of hydrangeas. I love them. This bush started as a potted plant from Trader Joes.

The neighbor's dog, Clover, came by for a visit. She is super sweet and so well behaved.

Some other stirrings. 

And some cheery narcissus that are intent on keeping their heads down and facing away from the door. I snuck up on them.

I guess spring is coming. I do like it, I just feel like winter never got a real good showing. I am looking forward to flowers and California strawberries and sitting in the sun. 

winter landscapes

I really like the winter landscapes. I like the spindly trees and the open skies, the dried up plants and withered branches.  A couple of weeks a go I took a drive out to the Ridgefield Wildlife Refuge and spent a couple of hours driving the course (you have to stay in your car). I drove slow with the windows down and listened to the birds, frogs, wind and rain. I mostly saw the same wildlife I have seen before: nutrias, hawks, great blue herons, canadian geese, tundra swans and many other birds and ducks. I really love this place. It's a treat any time of year.

Above you can see a red tail hawk in the tree there.

A Great Blue Heron

I ended the day in Portland with a warm meal at a Vegetarian Vietnamese restaurant. A wonderful end to an edifying day.