Less is More - Something Shiny

This week's challenge at Less is More  is "Something Shiny" - the perfect opportunity for me to indulge my love of dragonflies. I think the almost metallic flash as one darts by is one of nature's most beautiful treats, and a quick rummage through my craft stash will show you dragonflies in all kinds of shapes, styles and sizes.

In keeping with the "Less is More" theme, I chose one of my tiny metallic dragonfly brads for this card,   adding a little more shine with matching gems and metallic card, and using one of my old favourite embossing folders.

I'm not the only cook in the house!

My husband is also a very keen cook and although he doesn't get much time, he likes to take over the kitchen at least once a week and when he does, I know I'm in for a treat.

Today on his own blog, he has written about the meal he made for us last weekend, so I thought I would share it with you. Pop over to http://marksvegplot.blogspot.co.uk/2012/06/tapas-meze-anti-pasti.html - I'm sure you'll be hungry when you read it!

And thank you Mark for creating such a delicious dinner.

Less is More challenge - Use a Flourish

This is my first attempt at joining in with the "Less is More" challenge. The task this week is to create a one layer card and use a flourish.

It sounds easy, but I'm not used to working directly on to my card and I hadn't realised how often I cover things up, cut them differently or just change my plan as I go along to cover up mistakes. Working directly onto the card, it absolutely has to be right first time, and my wastepaper basket is now testament to how tricky that can be. But I was delighted with the elegant simplicity of my finished card, so I will definitely be joining the challenge again. Here is my card

I used masking tape to make a rectangle on the card and sponged yellow, ochre and brown ink into it to create a gradient. The flourish is  from an old Hot Off The Press set of stamps, and the birthday greeting from a grab bag I bought from the USA years ago. I finished the card off by inking the edges in brown and sponging yellow inside to show through the cut-out corners.

Why I don't buy ready meals

.... well, I usually don't buy ready meals - but at the moment there is a competition on some packs so I had to buy one in order to be able to tell Grape Vine readers all about it (and to enter for myself). So today's lunch was some sort of salmon and broccoli thing with potato wedges.

It cost £2.25, plus the cost of having the oven on at a very high temperature for 45 minutes (I don't have a microwave). Bearing in mind that this is a fairly small plate, not a full sized dinner plate, does it look worth it?

At first I thought they  had forgotten to include any salmon, so I fished (Ha! see what I did there?) around in it for a while and managed to separate out the flakes of fish. It came to about a dessertspoonful. Probably equivalent to about a tenth of the amount in an individual sized fresh salmon portion from a supermarket. You can see the salmon at the top  of the photo.

As for taste, well I have to confess it was absolutely delicious. But as a quick lunch to keep me going on a busy day, it was an absolute failure. The fruit bowl has been seriously depleted this afternoon.

Would I buy it again? NO!

Will  I be using the piece of salmon in the freezer to create my own version of it for a fraction of the cost-per-mouthful some time soon? Just try stopping me!

My first craft challenge

Although I've been a crafter for many years, and entered postal challenges, this is the first time I have entered a craft blog challenge so please be gentle with me!

The stamp I have used today is a very old one - so old that the writing has worn off,  so I can't give the manufacturer or reference number, but I bought it from America about 12 years ago, along with a dragonfly and a leaf background in the same range. The designs are very big - about 13 cm by 10 cm  -which means they are not very versatile as they always dominate anything else used with them, but despite that I love them and come back to them over and over again. As many of you will know, I am a comper and find them very useful for making hand made postcards for sending in postal competition entries!

I brayered glossy card with a Kaleidacolour pad in Birthstone, then stamped the image in black and embossed with clear powder. I added highlights to the wings with holographic glitter glue.

The finished image is matted on silver metallic card with a die cut swirl from the same card, and mounted onto a lilac pearlescent card and finished with gems.

I am entering this into the Emergency Crafters Things With Wings challenge

And because the stamp is postively ancient (goodness, it's almost a fifth as old as I am!) I'm also entering it into the  Oldie But A Goodie Anything Goes challenge

I hope I've done everything right - please can somebody tell me if I haven't!

Broad bean, feta and beetroot salad

The first broad beans of the season are beginning to appear in the shops now although ours in the garden still have a long way to go. Here is a salad that helps to make these precious beans into the star attraction of a summer meal

Cooked broad beans (I couldn't be bothered  to double pod them, and as they were young and very fresh they didn't need it, but if your beans are older or you are serving the dish for a  special occaasion, you might want to) are mixed with diced cooked beetroot and cubes of feta cheese.

Dress this with a dressing made from a tablespoon of lemon juice whisked with three of olive oil, seasoning and some chopped fresh mint. As soon as you do this, the colour of the beetroot starts to bleed into the cheeses, so the photo was taken before dressing it, with a few mint sprigs to symbolise the dressing!

I an submitting this to No Croutons Required at Tinned Tomatoes.

Tartiflette for a summer lunch

A few years ago I won a short break to Aix en Provence. One day we drove out into the surrounding countryside, towards Mont Sainte-Victoire, much loved and painted by Paul Cézanne. Apparently he painted it over 60 times, and many of the viewpoints around the mountain are dotted with artists creating their own versions of the views he loved. We stopped at a small restaurant close to one of these viewpoints, sat on the warm sunny terrace and enjoyed a delicious lunch which I now often recreate my own version of for a relaxed meal with friends.

My husband's main course was tartiflette. I've tried several recipes, some quite complicated, but the one I come back to time and time again is Mary Cadogan's recipe which I found on the Good Food website.  It is the simplest, and the most like our first experience of the dish.

On the day of our mountainside lunch, I chose the house salad, which was similar to a salade nicoise but with smoked ham and cheese added as well as the tuna and eggs. Leaving out all the protein except the eggs transforms it into a delicious accompaniment to the tartiflette.  This salad is made of cooked new potatoes and green beans, wedges of boiled egg, olives and wedges of tomato, on a bed of green salad, with a light vinaigrette dressing.

To complete the meal, some fresh, crusty bread. I like to mix the dough in the bread machine, using the standard dough from the manual but replacing half the white flour with mixed grain flour. Then I shape it into a ball and put it onto the baking tray to rise, underneath a very large greased mixing bowl. This seems to encourage the dough  to rise evenly and keep its shape.

While it is rising, I heat the oven as high as it will go and place a small bowl of water on the oven floor to create a steamy atmosphere. Once the dough is risen, I slash a cross in the top then when placing it in the oven, turn the temperature down to my chosen cooking temperature. This initial blast of extreme heat coupled with the steam seems to give a crust that is crisp rather than hard, with the dark colour I love in bread (I'm always the one who picks out the slightly burned loaf at the baker's)

I may not be able to capture the landscape of the area by painting like Cézanne, but at least I can create a meal that gives us the flavour of that lovely day out.