Garden Diary 2012, June 28

Mixed lettuces and garlic scapes.  Does anyone know what to do with garlic scapes?  They are so cool looking that right now I just have them in a jar and am admiring them.  Hopefully I won't start having nightmares about a roiling pit of hydras.  It is so fun that the garden is finally really producing.  This year we are determined to be really good and efficient with the garden produce: using what is ripe and not wasting it or letting it go by, things like that.  So it will be an experiment.  But I am forewarning you that I'm sure there will be a point where I am complaining about eating zucchini and beans.  And at that point you can remind me about how long winter is, and how bad grocery store green beans are, and to stop whining. Deal?  Great, thanks.  Next up though is going to be peas, and there are never too many peas, so you won't hear any complaining just yet.  Remember last year's post about garden peas?  If not, go here.  It's worth a look.  If you like cute dogs and babies that is.

hello summer

Hoisin Glazed Grilled Salmon with Sesame Asparagus

TH's parents just arrived for a visit yesterday, and in honor of their arrival, and the fact that it was fathers day we made a nice dinner.  It turned out to be really delicious, and it was so easy I thought I should share the recipe with you all!  

I got a great hunk of Wild Sockeye Salmon fillet from our local fish market.  Chopped up a few scallions and about a tablespoon of ginger and stirred it into about 1/2 cup of hoisin sauce.  I oiled and salted the fish, and then slathered a generous amount of the hoisin mixture on the non-skin side.  Then just snapped it into our fish grilling basked and cooked it over a medium grill for about 6 minutes per side, basting occasionally with the sauce.

And on the side I made a gently stir-fried asparagus dish with ginger, garlic, sesame and a poor-man's home-made ponzu (soy sauce and lemon juice).   I chopped up the asparagus, blanched it for 1 minute in boiling water, then drained it.  In a stir fry pan I heated up about a tablespoon of peanut oil with a few drops of sesame oil.  Once it was nice and hot I added 1 chopped garlic clove and about a teaspoon of chopped ginger for about 30 seconds.  Then in went the asparagus until they were crisp tender, and it was finished with about 1/4 cup of the ponzu, which made a delicious sauce with the little bit of sesame to help flavor the jasmine rice I served as a starch.

The whole thing was just yummy, and we all cleaned our plates.  The richness of the salmon was nicely balanced by the crispness of the citrus on the asparagus, and the whole thing was just great to mop up with forkfuls of rice.  I'll definitely be making this again!

Field Notes

 The field outside my studio yesterday in the evening sunlight.

Have a great weekend everyone, and a happy Fathers Day to all!

An Engagement Ring Box Made From East of Eden

I love the way this custom engagement ring presentation box came out with the beautiful blue inside cover.  Plus it is so fun to be involved in someone's engagement, even in this small way! 

New in the Shop: The Framework Collection!

Please hop on over to the shop here to see all the new work included in my summer shop update!  Lots of new pieces are up so far, and many more will be appearing in the upcoming weeks. I've been loving producing this new line, somehow I feel like I'm getting back to basics, back to my original minimalist sculptural aesthetic, and it feels great. And pssst, there is a special perk for Campestral readers: just enter the coupon code CAMPESTRALBLOG at checkout for 15% off your entire order! (From now until June 30th)

In Bloom

If You Give a Mouse a Cookie. . .

Thanks so much to sweet Kate for the gift of this adorable book!  And it came with an accompanying audio cd that is read by Carol Kane, which Emmett loves, and I still giggle a little bit, waiting for her to tell Emmett to "have fun storming the castle!"  Oh, and for those of you who don't know it, the book is called "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie," by Laura Joffe Numeroff.  SO cute!

Early Summer Round Up

 The breakneck pace of summer is already snowballing, and I find myself not having enough time to do all the things I want to do, as well as all the sitting and doing nothing in the warm sun that I want to do.  But I have been trying to take some photos along the way, and here is a smattering of moments from the summer so far.  

My parents are back now for the summer, which is great.  The bottom photo of is the flowers I put by their bed to welcome them home a couple of weeks ago.  The peonies keep threatening to bloom, and if we can get a few days of warm sunny weather in a row I bet they will.  We actually had to run the wood stove yesterday.  I don't want to talk about it.  The dinner party photo above was from a fun evening with some new local friends that we are so excited to have.  It really takes a long time to make new friends and find a place in a new community.  And even though I grew up here, so much has changed since I've been gone, that it isn't quite the same place, and I mean that in a good way.  We have now been here just over three years, and we are continuing to feel more settled in, and are continuing to meet great new people, which is pretty amazing in a town of 2500 people. Little Chester is really growing on us, I think TH and I are both pleasantly surprised at how fun and vibrant it is once you scratch the surface.

Two of our bestest friends are coming up from Brooklyn for a long weekend starting on Wednesday, and I am so looking forward to seeing them, and all the fun we are going to have. We are going to try the new restaurant that opened in Bellows Falls, and some friends are putting together a wild game dinner for us on Friday. Even with all the amazing culinary opportunities there are in Brooklyn, you very rarely get to eat something that someone shot personally.  And if the sun comes out Holly and I might sneak out to the Castle spa and get pedicures and sit by their beautiful pool for a while.  What have you all got going for the week and weekend?  How is summer treating everyone so far?  I'd love to hear!

Hello June

My Clematis vine in all its glory.  I had to take a few photos of it before all this rain we are getting ruins all its blooms.

How did this week speed by quite so fast?  I spent a lot of time outside this week, getting the bulk of the garden planted, and doing some horse things.  And I tried to get some work done in between.  Our babysitter has had to switch her Emmett-sitting days to Friday and Saturday because of her school schedule, so our work week has gotten a little skewed.  We'll be putting our "summer action plan" weekly scheduling meeting back into effect this week, so the weeks don't slip by us quite like this one did.  Summer seems to add additional difficulties to finding a good life/work balance.  Luckily for us summer up here is pretty short, so I don't feel too guilty about working less and enjoying the outdoors for the three warm months.