angry chicken

lemon curd (again)

Okay, due to some impulsive photo deleting, I am using photos from old post. I wanted to share the easiest and best lemon curd recipe, and searched my own blog making sure I hadn't done this before (I had) but the link to the recipe is no longer good, so I'm just going to type it in here. I made a amazing birthday cake for Lydia, a yellow cake with lemon curd in the middle and a buttercream frosting, but I don't have a photo (again, the deleting) so you have to trust me. It was delicious.

Lemon curd is one of those things I love and can't buy because it just doesn't taste right. But all the recipes are too rich (too many eggs yokes) for me. This one is perfect, doesn't require extra egg yolks, and is lighter. I never use a double boiler either, just a good enamel sauce pan.

Easy Lemon Curd Recipe-

1/2 cup fresh lemon juice (and zest)

3/4 cup sugar

3 eggs

1/4 cup butter 

To make this add the first 3 ingredients and heat it all up and stir a lot until it gets thick. This won't take long. Then take it off the heat and add the butter and stir it until melted. I like to use it this way, hot, over french toast, otherwise you can keep in the the fridge and use it cold.

We went blueberry picking over the weekend and we had fresh blueberries with lemon curd and a little whipped cream on top—delicious.

bend, oregon & surrounding areas

Earlier this month we spent a week in Sunriver and explored the surrounding areas more than we normally do. Usually the girls like to swim so much that it's hard to break away, but it was much cooler this year which was really nice because we were able to do hikes and activities we have been always meaning to do, but hadn't gotten the chance to.

One of the highlights was rock hounding at Richardson's Rock Ranch in Madras. It was so fun. The weather was perfect and the drive was pretty easy, although on the ranch a 4x4 would have been nice. We were fine, but if it had rained at all we would have gotten stuck. We dug for thunder eggs (they provided all the tools) and were able to get them cut open, which was thrilling. The girls got one cut each, the rest we brought home and will need to get cut here. We got about 20. I also bought some amazing rocks that they have imported from all around, not just from their ranch. It was so amazing to see all these beautiful rocks just piled up. I'm sure we will go rock hounding again soon. In the meantime, I need to get the family over to the Rice Museum of Rock and Minerals. I can't believe we haven't been there yet.

Unrelated but very important:

I just now discovered Zinio Library. Multnomah County Library has partnered with them which means, with my library card number, I can view and download magazines with no limit and no expiration. Like, a lot of magazines—current ones. Ones I look at only if I am on an airplane or at the beach. It's been so wonderful to read these on the sofa at home. I feel like I am on vacation all the time. Sort of. I do miss looking at paper, but still. It's pretty great. All the info about how to use it is here. Another super big shout out for how amazing our libraries are!

new oils for sale!

I am so happy to have to new oils for sale in my etsy shop!

These new oils are ones I made a bit ago, for myself, and can't get enough of them. One is a new scent—Earth Perfume Oil, which is a magical blend of rich E.O.'s that is quite bold. There's a full description in the shop, but it's wonderful and sensual. It also fades, as natural scents do, so don't worry about it being too strong all day.

The other is a treatment oil—Thrive Treatment Oil, which I blended a bit back and have been using all spring. It's an uplifting oil for the mind and heart. It's great for an easing an upset stomach, and calming nerves. I like to use it first thing in the morning. It helps me wake up and shed any fuzzy/sleepy brain weirdness.

They are all organic, as always, and also priced fairly. I keep all my prices low. This means I can't sell my oils wholesale (sadly), but I feeling strongly about selling these at a fair price. Beauty products are inflated in price because it gives the illusion they work better— but don't believe the hype! These are amazing, as as wonderful as the big name/popular brands selling them at triple the price.

Happy summer!

treasures

We made a trip to Ed's House of Gems and Paxton Gate, both here in Portland.  We can spend hours looking at and playing with rocks, crystals, and gemstones. We had never been to Paxton Gate before—very fancy! I know I have linked to these sites before, but we also love getting science supplies at Acorn Naturalists and American Science & Surplus.

sketchbook

For about a month now, during the day, I have been working in a sketchbook drawing and using paper college. I've been using these same shapes in my paintings, monoprints, quilts, and fabrics for about 15 years now. I keep thinking I will branch out, but these forms keep coming back to me, which is fine. I've been really enjoying working small, with no worries or thoughts about what these will become, just making them and moving on to the next page. I usually work at the kitchen table while the girls are working on reading or math, so I am near by to help, but also am not all up in their business. You can see more of them on my instagram.

The white pen (I have to use this pen) and grey background paper are key for me here. I need to keep my choices limited.

 

Japanese-Style Pancakes

So, I made these this week. They had been on my list since I saw the video how-to a few weeks ago. I realized there was no reason to make one at a time, especially for a family of five, so I waited until I found (and remembered to buy) 5 of the same size cookie cutters. I followed the directions exactly and they worked out really well. There are lots of videos on you tube showing these made in a bain marie, which takes a lot longer. I made these on our large cast iron griddle pan that goes over 2-burners. It's very uneven and the back gets really hot so next time I will cook them at a lower heat. When you look at these online, you can tell they all get really brown/burnt because it takes a bit of time to get the middle cooked. They still taste delicious with the color, but a few of mine got a little to dark.

The butter was so cute, but came off for the actual eating, because it was just too much. Also, 2 of these per person made the kids and adults very full, one each might be better, with some fruit, eggs and bacon. They really are more like a fancy dessert—the texture is light and spongy inside. Very, very yummy and so pleasing to make and stack. The girls added nutella.

In other happy cooking news-

I made hash browns in the waffle iron about an hour ago. Why had I never done this before? I was going to to take a photo but they disappeared too fast. Just freshly grated potato in the food processor, tossed with a little flour, salt, and pepper. That's it. What the heck? So yummy and easy. The internet told me I would never make them any other way again and I think it was right.

Wahclella Falls

It's hot here. Like, 96°. It was hot yesterday too, so we went to Wahclella Falls and then had a great lunch at Bridgeside looking overlooking the river and the Bridge of the Gods. It was a lovely day and hard to come back to our non a/c house. The hike was a bit rocky. I need better shoes. All my sneakers have pretty thin soles and I don't have hiking boots, which is weird because we hike a lot. I have a strange rebellion against performance clothes and outdoor gear in general. I just feel like Portland is so mild and feel silly being over dressed/outfitted for what seems like a pretty normal walk that I react in the opposite way, which means sneakers and dresses on a hike. The dresses are fine, but the sneakers need to be upgraded to something that feels a little less like I am barefoot. I find my overall foot comfort is a much higher priority as I get older.

Thank you for all the book suggestions in the last post. I am going to start some of them very soon. I just got a book from the library, I need to give it a but more time to see if it's worthy to mention. So far, so good.

Unrelated-

We watched Kings of Summer and laughed really hard. It's probably not for the whole family, lots of swearing and such.

recent charms

A request was made for some Adventure Time charms so I made these (using a you tube tutorial) along with some lemon cakes in the back there. I need to display these. I haven't been up on adding charms to my display so I had forgotten about these. They don't deserve to be hidden away.

Unrelated:

• I need a summer book to read, or maybe 3.

• It's supposed to be really hot here this weekend, like over 100°, so that's going to be interesting. We have no air conditioning.

• I am planning a family outing this weekend to see one of these waterfalls. I love this website so much for planning trips to go on, both overnight and day trips.

• I must make these Japanese Pancakes.