the teacup incident

Tuna with Ginger-Cucumber Relish

Here's a simple topping that's delicious over grilled fish or combined with tuna salad in a sandwich. Cucumber, pickled ginger, red onion and cilantro form a piquant taste that's just right for the meaty flavor of tuna.

Grilled Tuna Steaks with Ginger-Cucumber Relish (serves 4)

4 tuna steaks (6 oz each, about 1 inch thick)
1 Tbsp canola oil
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp salt
Cooking spray
1 cup diced seeded and peeled cucumber
6 Tbsp finely chopped red onion
6 Tbsp pickled ginger, coarsely chopped
3 Tbsp chopped fresh cilantro
1 1/2 Tbsp fresh lime juice

Prepare grill for high heat. Brush steaks with oil; sprinkle evenly with pepper and salt. Place fish on grill rack coated with cooking spray; grill 3 minutes on each side or until medium-rare or desired degree of finish.

While fish cooks, combine cucumber, ginger, cilantro and lime juice in a medium bowl, tossing well. Serve relish over fish.

Ginger-cucumber relish is also a great topping for tuna sandwiches!

Recipe adapted from Cooking Light Fresh Food Fast cookbook.

Vintage Office Supplies

I love my iMac but there are times when I feel a certain nostalgia for vintage office supplies. Do you remember gummy labels, onion skin paper or the scent of carbon copies? How about the chatter of old typewriters or the brrring sound of dial telephones? Their clunky shapes, outmoded uses and faded colors have a certain charm despite their inefficiency. 

Luckily vintage gear is still available if you want to add a bit of character to your studio or office. Flea markets often have old typewriters, industrial staplers, date stamps and vintage scissors. Or follow the Etsy links below to view my picks for a vintage office vibe.

1. Office supply collection  2. Stacked file trays  3. Russian phone  4. Plywood Chair  5. Olivetti typewriter 6. Typewriter table  7. Green clock

1. Fan  2. Orange kettle  3. Industrial stapler  4. World globe  5. Red bookends  6. Heavy duty scissors

Built to last and great conversation pieces, accessories such as a vintage stapler or fan will warm up any cubicle. Or display a typewriter or old phone just for fun - its a nod to recycling as well as retro cool.

Photos by Etsy shop owners. Illustrations by me.

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies (world's best!)

School buses have returned to our neighborhood and school has started for the younger set. The University starts classes next week and college kids are streaming into town with their gear in tow. Fall is in the air here even if we're still feeling the heat of summer.

The idea of school got me thinking about after school snacks and there's nothing more tasty than cookies! I've been making this recipe for more than 20 years and they're my favorite indulgence. Their yummy flavor comes from the blend of brown and white sugar with butter. Give them a try and if you can resist eating more than one, tell me your secret!

Makes about 2 dozen large cookies

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated white sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1 Tbsp milk
1 cup sifted all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda (1/4 tsp at altitude)
1/2 tsp baking powder (1/4 tsp at altitude)
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup uncooked rolled oats (I use Quaker old-fashioned "5-minute" oats)
3/4 cup chocolate chips (optional)

Cream the butter in a large mixing bowl. Add the sugars and cream well. Combine and beat in egg, vanilla and milk.

In a separate bowl combine flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Add to butter mixture and beat until smooth. Add oats and stir to incorporate them fully. Stir in chocolate chips, if using. 

Lightly grease a cookie sheet with butter. Drop rounded tablespoons of the dough onto the sheet about 2 inches apart. If you want to make larger cookies, start with 9 cookies per cookie sheet. 

Place cookie sheet in oven and bake for 12 minutes. Check cookies at 10 minutes to see if done. Cookies are done when they are light golden brown on top.  

Remove cookie sheet from oven and let sit for a minute to stiffen cookies. Move warm cookies to a wire rack to cool while baking the rest of the dough. Serve warm with milk or store in an airtight container until ready to use. 

Recipe from Joy of Cooking by Irma S. Rombauer and Marion Rombauer Becker
Enjoy!

Architectural Interests

When visitors come to town they often head to Boulder's Pearl Street Mall for shopping and eating among the historic storefronts. The town was first established in 1859 and the architecture reflects the mining town it once was.

Looking up you will see fancy brick and woodwork, carved ledges, molding and window shapes rarely manufactured today. Boulder proudly preserves this history while offering a modern blend of shops and businesses behind the facades.
A casual mix of outdoor walking, sitting and play areas makes the mall a fun experience at all times of the year. Summer is an ideal time to to enjoy the plantings along the mall while watching street performers and sampling the outdoor dining and shopping opportunities.

Boulder's restaurants are varied and numerous - many boast chefs known around the world for their innovative cuisine.  Other architectural styles can be seen along the mall, such as the Art Deco style courthouse and Boulder theater. Nearby historic homes also reflect Boulder's past with gracious porches and balconies, beautiful windows, arches, and columns.Some historic homes maintain a quirky attitude through paint, art or attitude.Whatever your reason for visiting Pearl Street, be it shopping, dining, meeting friends or just walking through history, the view always delights.

Blueberry Ginger Fizz

When its hot and humid I like to serve up something cold and fizzy like this refreshing beverage. Lemon, lime and blueberries turn ginger ale into a mocktail that you can serve to friends of all ages. Try it at your next garden party or tailgate event.

Blueberry Ginger Fizz (serves about 8)

1 2-liter bottle diet ginger ale, chilled
1/2 cup fresh blueberries
1/2 lemon, thinly sliced
1/2 lime, thinly sliced
Ice cubes

Pour 1 liter of ginger ale into a pitcher or 1/2 gallon jar. Add blueberries, lemon slices, and lime slices to pitcher and cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 2 - 4 hours to blend flavors.

Just before serving top up your pitcher with ice. To serve, fill each glass halfway with blueberry mixture and ice; top with remaining chilled ginger ale (from original 2-liter bottle). 

Adapted from allrecipes.com.

Happy 100th Birthday, Julia Child

Today I'm celebrating Julia Child's 100th birthday with no dieting allowed! I really enjoyed her book, My Life in France, and I'll be watching Julie and Julia this evening for second helping of Julia.

What about you - who are you celebrating today?

Scenes from A Summer Weekend

I've been loving our summer weekends because its fun to sleep in or play with art materials in my pj's. I also enjoy a wander around a flea market or farm stand on a sunny day and going to the movies on a rainy evening. Don't you love a lazy weekend?

Making new collage characters after breakfast

Shopping for bargains at the Boulder Paris Street Market

$5 china teacup from the thrift store

Supermarket bouquet

Tigger looks for rainbows from her perch at the window

I hope your weekend was relaxing too!

Seared Salmon with Edamame Succotash

Here are three terrific reasons to make this dish this weekend: it starts with crispy bacon (yum!), it takes just 20 minutes to cook and you create everything in one pan for super easy cleanup. This is restaurant quality delicious so invite some friends over and be ready to accept applause!

Side salad: baby lettuce, fresh tomato, walnuts and blue cheese, lightly splashed with lemon viniagrette.

Seared Salmon Fillets with Edamame Succotash (serves 4)

3 applewood smoked bacon slices
4 (6-ounce) salmon fillets, about 1" thick
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup water
1 (8-ounce) container refrigerated prechopped tomato, onion and bell pepper mix (or use 1 medium tomato, seeded and diced; 1/2 yellow onion, diced, 1/2 green pepper, seeded and diced) 
1 cup frozen yellow corn
1 cup frozen shelled edamame (green soybeans)
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1/8 tsp salt

Cook bacon slices in a large non-stick skillet over medium-high heat 7 minutes or until crisp. While bacon cooks, sprinkle salmon fillets evenly with 1/4 tsp salt and black pepper. When bacon is done, transfer it to a paper towel to drain; crumble bacon.

Add fillets, skin sides up, to drippings in pan. Cook 4 minutes over medium-high heat or until browned. Turn fish over; add 1/4 cup water and remaining ingredients to pan. Cover and steam 3 minutes or until fish flakes easily when tested with a fork or until desired degree of doneness. Serve fillets over succotash and sprinkle tops with crumbled bacon (serving size: 1 fillet and about 3/4 cup succotash).

This yummy recipe is from Cooking Light's Fresh Food Fast. 

Nathalie Lete "owl and pussycat" plates from Anthropologie.

A Summer Bucket List

South Boulder Creek Trail; bright flowers turning to seeds

The last few weeks of summer are upon us and I hope to enjoy every minute of warm weather. I started a bucket list to remind myself to be outside more, enjoy some ice cream, listen to music al fresco and perform random acts of kindness. Here's my list - maybe it will inspire one of your own :)

Boulder Creek

• Go on an ice cream date with a friend and/or my hubby.
When I was a kid my best friend's dad used to take us and our sisters in his station wagon to Baskin Robbins on hot summer nights. I would order a scoop of bubblegum ice cream because when you were done eating the cone you still had a big wad of gum to chew (if you didn't accidentally swallow it). Although I now prefer dark chocolate to bubblegum, its still a treat to savor a frosty scoop on a hot night.
• Enjoy the music and food at Prospect Eats. This Monday night event features local bands and loads of food trucks ringing the park in downtown Prospect. My husband's band played at this venue in early July and it was a great opportunity to enjoy food, fun, community and dancing in the park.
• Take a road trip. Even if its just to a nearby attraction, its fun to get out of town for a day. Around here there's Rocky Mountain National Park, the WildAnimal Sanctuary, Red Rocks Ampitheater, the Garden of the Gods, Denver museums and botanical gardens, and a lot of beautiful hiking/biking/horseback trails. What's near your neighborhood?
• Demonstrate my gratitude for a sweet summer by random acts of kindness. My family has weathered some challenges this summer but nothing like what survivors of the Colorado fires and the Aurora shooting have faced. Its time to pay it forward by paying for a soldier or police officer's coffee, buying theater tickets for the people in line behind me, or donating to the Red Cross. Let's keep the karma flowing in a postive direction.

Far and near

• Try something unexpected. Attend the Fringe Festival's unusual offerings or check out the indie handmade goods at Firefly Marketplace.
• Celebrate Julia Child's 100th birthday on August 15th by making something from her cookbooks and/or watching the movie Julie and Julia.
• Add art into the mix. Go on the First Friday Art Walk, view the exhibits at the Boulder MOMA, visit the pottery lab. Experiment with my Collage Characters, perhaps creating animals and men as companions to my previous pieces.
• Eat peaches! This year's crop of Colorado peaches is rumored to be the sweetest yet due to an abundance of hot weather this year. You've probably eaten peaches that drip down your chin - these are "eat over the sink" juicy! The Colorado Peach Festival is coming up on August 18th in downtown Lafayette, CO.
• Generate new themes for photography. Try snapping things that are aqua or vintage signs or Louisville's cottages. Sign up for a photography course at our local adult education or try this online tutorial. 
• Ask the sellers at the farmer's market for their favorite recipes. Buy their produce and go home and try it!

What's on your bucket list this month?

Melon Salad with Honey-Lime Dressing

Some days I'm just too busy and hot to make complicated food (by complicated I mean creating more than two items). This salad is goes together fast and makes a refreshing side dish, snack or dessert. A simple dressing of honey, lime juice and mint lifts the flavor to a whole new level. Serve it alongside a sandwich for lunch or rotisserie chicken for dinner.

Melon Salad with Honey-Lime Dressing (serves 4)

2 cups mixed melon chunks from the supermarket deli, chopped smaller if needed or one small cantalope, seeded and chopped into chunks. (Our market adds grapes to their chopped melon salad.)
1 Tbsp fresh lime juice
1 Tbsp honey
1 Tbsp fresh mint, chopped

Combine the lime juice, honey and chopped mint in a small bowl and stir to blend flavors.

Pour dressing over melon, tossing to coat. Keep refrigerated until you are ready to serve it up.

Recipe adapted from Cooking Light's Fresh Food Fast cookbook.