LEGO village tour
| January 19, 2012 | Posted by nancy under LEARN |
Here’s a peek into The Lego room in it’s current state. When I first shared this room with you it was all organized and sparkly. Since then,we’ve added another table for building and setting up the towns the kids love to play and imagine with. They trade, buy, grow food, sell beer at the tavern, shop at Erin’s lighthouse boutique and lots of other things kids dream up.
It’s their own magical world that is so very real to them. I love that they play and learn this way and they have a space to do it. I don’t think this room will be anything else but The Lego room even though I am known to rearrange and change rooms on a whim. I’m not sure I would have a choice and I don’t think I’d want to.
More photos can be found here.
lego mini-fig
| January 16, 2012 | Posted by nancy under CREATE |
We still have a room dedicated to Lego storage and building. Some days I might find one boy in there playing quietly or singing to himself while building. On others, it can hold a large group, including friends and cousins, playing with the Lego village they’ve built and acting out their own scenarios. I’m going to share more on that once I get some photos of their town.
The lego room now has a proper entrance with it’s own hand-painted mini-figure above the doorway. I actually took one of the canvases from this last painting e-course and painted this cute dude over it. I was not super happy with how the original painting turned out and wanted to put the techniques I learned from the course to the test. I really enjoyed painting this guy and love the background and depth I was able to create. I could have done a better job on the proportions of the eyes and mouth. Which according to the members of this household, including the 5 year old “his eyes and mouth are too small.” Really? Everyone’s a critic. At least they are gaining an eye for design.
Click here to see a video of the painting progression from the wash to the final.
baked fish and alfredo sauce :: recipe review
| December 7, 2011 | Posted by nancy under FOOD |
I had a chance to try two recipes from Kathleen Flinn’s book last night. I made Fish en papillote (baked in paper) and a simple Alfredo Sauce with linguine. Sounds fancy right? Well it was so easy. Both recipes were described in her book and used during her lessons. I made a mental note when I read the book to try these out. I’m so glad I did.
It was late when I started preparing this meal and the kids were all skeptical. Especially Sean, he is my pickiest eater right now. They all go through phases, but he seems to be going for a record. He wanted to make is own dinner, but we told him that he would enjoy this and just to wait and see.
I used frozen salmon fillets that were defrosted, some rosemary for the fresh herb, lemon slices and some onions and zucchini. The prep for the fish took 10 minutes and it cooked in 15 minutes. The fish was delicious. I don’t think I’ll cook it any other way from now on. The other week I cooked this same fish and it tasted fishy and dry. Cooking it in the paper with the lemon, herbs and vegetables kept it moist and tender.
After I had the fish in the oven I focused on the sauce. I couldn’t believe the ingredients were so simple. I’ve never made my own Alfredo sauce before. I’ve always relied on the store-bought version. As recommended by Flinn, I used fresh grated parmesean cheese in the sauce and that made all the difference. I have always used the inexpensive, powdery parmesean cheese in the can that you find in the center aisles of the grocery store. I actually have never purchased a fresh block of parmesean cheese before. This sauce was sweet, creamy and full of flavor.
Wanna know what the kid’s verdict was? They loved it! They had white sauce all over their happy faces and I only heard good things about the food. That sure feels good. I don’t know how many times I’ve made dinner only to be disappointed by the kid’s reaction. It’s nice to spend the time cooking, enjoy the food myself and make others happy.
I highly recommend these recipes. Try them and let me know what you think!
Source: kathleenflinn.com via Nancy on Pinterest
Fish en papillote
Serves two.
2 (10 x 12) inch pieces of parchment
2 (4 oz.) piece of fish or thinly sliced chicken breast
1 ½ tablespoons olive oil
Few sprigs of fresh herbs (dill, basil, thyme, rosemary) or a ½ teaspoon dried
Splash of white wine or water
Few thin lemon slices
Pinch of cayenne
Optional: About ½ cup of vegetable for flavor and garnish: shallots, onion, garlic, zucchini, carrot, broccoli, fennel, mushrooms, etc. each finely chopped or sliced
Basic Alfredo Sauce
This is a great way to use up leftovers such as shredded chicken, cooked shrimp, grilled
vegetables, and so on. Just toss them in near the end of cooking. Use cream, not milk. Start
cooking the pasta before you begin the sauce. As an easy shortcut, toss chopped vegetables
such as broccoli, asparagus, peas, artichokes, and the like into the pasta water to cook
them briefly; frozen vegetables work well. Add cooked chicken, vegetables, diced ham,
cooked shrimp and whatever you have on hand with the pasta and heat through.
Makes 3 to 4 servings
2 cups heavy cream (2 tablespoons reserved)
½ teaspoon salt
½ cup grated Parmesan or Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
1 garlic clove, minced (optional)
Freshly ground black pepper
8 ounces cooked pasta
Prepare the pasta according to package directions. Carefully reserve one cup of the pasta water to use in
the sauce. Over medium-high heat, add all but 2 tablespoons of the cream to a sauté pan or skillet. When
it bubbles, add the salt. Small bubbles will erupt into larger bubbles. Stir. When the sauce thickens enough
to cover the back of a spoon or leaves a clean line in the bottom of the pan when you pull a spatula across
it, add the pasta water. Cook over medium-high heat for about 3 minutes, until it bubbles again and the
sauce thickens. Add in the reserved 2 tablespoons of cream, heat through, and then add the cheese, garlic
(if using), and a few cranks of pepper. Taste, and add more salt if needed. Add in the cooked pasta, any
additional ingredients and stir well to coat.
(recipe credit: Kathleen Flinn, The Kitchen Counter Cooking School)
paintings :: final
| December 1, 2011 | Posted by nancy under CREATE |
Annie is finished! She has crazy eyes, but I like them. I think they make her look more like the squirrel girl that she is. Her basket is filled with acorns. I was going to add patterned wallpaper behind her, but lost my steam. I’m happy with the overall painting!
I got lazy and finished this painting with a black pen brush. I was losing interest in this one at the end. I think I would prefer to do this type of design on the computer instead of painting. Too detailed for he brush for me. I like the design and think it would be a cool fabric design as well!
I added simple lines and a slight shadow to create depth to the leaves, that’s it and it’s done!
Here is my comment in our class environment about what I learned in this class:
I really enjoyed this class! I took an oil painting class in college and working with acrylics is so different.
Here are a few things I’m taking away:
1. gathering inspiration and taping it to a wall really helped me nail down what colors I love and what my style is.
2. using washy layers is a must, stay loose and go over the painting many times and work up to the fine details.
3. i was able to work out what type of subject matter would work for me in painting.This time around, I took course I this past summer, I feel like I will keep painting. My goal is to always have a painting going on my easel!
Thanks for a great class Mati + Lisa!
