Garlic and Lemons and Bumblebee Jasper

I love lemon and garlic together, especially when it’s hot outside. Garbanzo beans are good with lemon and garlic, too. Hmm…actually that’s why hummus is so good – lemon juice, garlic and garbanzo beans….but I digress. (hummus also requires expensive Tahini, which is outside my budget at the moment). This is about the inexpensive but very yummy pasta salad I made yesterday. I’m trying to increase the amount of veggies in my diet, and maybe lose some weight, too. And save money to boot - eating on the cheap is pretty much a necessary skill for a self-employed artist. This little salad is simple and quick and a very satisfying summer supper.

Lemon Broccoli Pasta Salad

(makes extra salad dressing, too)

1 cup olive oil

3 large cloves garlic, put through a press

juice and zest from 2 large lemons

1 can garbanzo beans

1 box penne pasta (I use DeBoles rice pasta – gluten free)

2 nice size broccoli crowns, stems chopped and flowerets broken into small pieces (about 2 cups)

1/4 cup of toasted sesame seeds

1. Whisk together the garlic, lemon juice, zest, and olive oil and set aside.

2. Cook pasta according to directions. Put broccoli in the water with the pasta about 3 minutes before it is ready to come off the heat. Drain broccoli and pasta and put in large bowl.

3. Open and rinse can of garbanzo beans, toss with broccoli and pasta. Pour lemon-garlic dressing over pasta to taste. There will be a nice amount of dressing left for your salads, too. Add salt and pepper to taste, sprinkle with toasted sesame seeds, and enjoy.

For a more hearty version, add: feta cheese, kalamata olives and grilled tuna. Yum!!

Now, about that bumblebee jasper – what a lovely stone! Bright true yellow is not something very often seen in jasper, but this stone has beautiful yellow running through it like ribbon candy. It comes from the fumarole fields of the Mount Papandayan volcano in West Java, Indonesia. This particular cab is going to be a ring very soon. Think I’m going to name it “Sun Soul”. I’ve got a lovely little faceted yellow sapphire that might the perfect accent stone for the setting. We shall see, anyway. That’s all for now, time to head down to the bench!

I think I’ve been gone long enough now…..

Yes,  I needed a break from blogging and some time to think.  It’s been long enough now, and I’ll be easing back into it over the summer with bits about new work, a few of my cooking and eating adventures, news about my sadly neglected garden (which, by the way is thriving without me, just not very neat, ha ha), and maybe even some book reviews.  I listen to audio books while I work in the studio, and I definitely want to share some of those!  It’s time to revive the “Sunday Morning Coffee and Etsy” posts, soon, too.  The new circles feature at Etsy has helped me discover tons of great new artists whose work I’ve fallen in love with. 

Anyhow, I’ve been working hard and contemplating where I’m going to go next with Lavender Cottage – definitely time to grow to the next level.  The first step has been moving away from an all made-to-order business and building up an inventory.  Making everything to order meant that there was never any time to work on new ideas, and my shop was starting to get stale, not to mention all of the “uncreated” ideas crowding my brain to get out!    It’s been hard to work fast enough to catch up so I can start working on new inventory, but it’s finally starting to happen.  I actually listed more than one new piece this week!!  Most are everyday pieces made to coordinate with customer favorites.  I’ve wanted to do that for a long time.

Here are some new Pebble Road bangles made from square wire.  (I’ve got more square wire designs up my sleeve, too. ) These are oxidized for a rustic feel, and go beautifully with the Pebble Road Wrapped Oh pendant and Pebble Road stud earrings.

 

There is a new buttercup ring in all sterling silver rather than mixed metals too.  The Summer Meadow ring, along with a cute little pair of earrings that I named Honeydrop are a great little set.  They can both can be set with moonstone to coordinate with the Moonflower cuff, too.

 

I’m working on a new all-silver buttercup pendant which will be set with a citrine to match these.  It, too, can be set with moonstone for coordinating with the Moonflower cuff.

 

 

Another new piece made this week is a pendant that continues to explore the  “torn” metal idea that I’ve always enjoyed working with.  Simply named ‘Torn’, it was made to coordinate with with the Pebble Road Posts and the Silver Pebbles ring.  While I was making this one, I almost set it with a diamond as it looks sensational with a sparkly faceted stone instead of the little silver pebble.  One like that one will go with the Ice Whisper ring – methinks I’ll be making myself one of those quite soon!  And if set with a labradorite, it will go great with the Galadriel’s Song ring. 

I’m also whittling away at my pile of unset stone, my very favorite thing to do.  The latest of these is “Plumflower”, a lovely little sugilite cabochon accented with a tiny bloom and swirl of silver.  Had fun making this.  I’m in a swirly mood these days, and am working on great flashy Sunstone ring embellished with a few swirls for this week.  Just have to get the swirlies soldered on and the stone set and it will be ready. 

Soooo, that’s it for now, but stay tuned, because soon every piece in the shop will have at least one other piece that goes with it.   Just trying to get organized  -  I know, it’s about time, lol!

I’m not making any promises about how often I’ll be blogging, but let’s just say it will be more than once every 7 months!  See you ‘soon’!

Sunday Morning Coffee and Etsy – 10/10/10

Good morning!  Well, I just couldn’t let a date like 10/10/10 go by without a blog post.  Yes, I have been very sporadic this year in my blogging, haven’t I?  Last post was 8/29/10 – I need to do better – I still find lots of gorgeous new things on Etsy, and I feel bad for not sharing them more often.  So, let’s get started on today’s wonderful collection…..

I happened across this shop a while ago, and quickly saved it to my favorites.  The message and the look inspire me – Less and More.  I am on the verge of a gigantic decluttering of my house and studio, and although my style is not modernist, I love the clean simplicity of  these beautiful and very useful pieces.  I can  definitely use a few of these mixed in with my cottage style decor.  Some of these can double as sculpture too.  The chopstick holder is wonderful – much better than hiding them in a drawer.  Makes me want to go out and buy some fancy chopsticks.  Not only that, now I’m craving Chinese food! 

What I really need, though is one (or many) of the desk organizers.  I especially like the nice-sized Crafting Cindy version.   Both my shipping desk and my jewelry bench would benefit greatly from a few of these.  

I’m considering moving my studio out of the basement and into what is now my packing and shipping room/bird room.  I’d love to be upstairs, and it would be fun to be able to actually have “decor” that inspires me rather than cold cement walls.  I came across this wonderful embroidered lavender pillow in the shop of Polkadots and Blooms.  What a great name for a shop filled with wonderful, and yes, very useful, fabric treasures!  

These handy little cloth storage baskets (small size pictured here – the also come in medium and large) would definitely help out my clutter issues and look great while doing it.  The exterior fabric is mangle cloth, a vintage linen fabric  between 60 and 100 years old.

 

I was also thrilled to find a shop, The Creative Gene,  this morning that sells handmade cotton dishcloths.  My mother started making similar ones for me years ago, and I am totally addicted to them now.  Unfortunately my Mom doesn’t always have time to keep making me more of them.  I fell in love with this lovely stack of 3 discloths aptly named Violet Petals.  My kitchen has a wallpaper border of potted violets, so these are completely perfect!

You’ll find other beautifully made items in this shop such as baby blankets, hats, and this wonderful crocheted storage basket that is a perfect fit for storing your handmade dishcloths!  Now I’m totally inspired to go do the dishes and clean up the kitchen – have a great week everyone!