Almond Milk

I have just had my first bowl of cereal EVER with milk on it

I have hated milk since I was a child...

enter memories of my mother

 making me sit to the table after dinner until I drank my milk

which of course was warm by now, and of course led us both into many a long dark evening

BUT! 47 years later that is all over now

thanks to almonds, milk and a lovely video by Sarah Britton

 Simple stuff here kids.  I've tweaked the original recipe

a touch and it is really delicious

Soak 1 cup raw almonds in water for at least 24 hours in the fridge

(I have had the best results if they sit for even a bit longer)

Rinse them in a strainer under cold water

place them in a blender, whir it around until they are all chopped up

Pour the milk and nut meat into a pitcher thru some sort of straining cloth, cheese cloth works fine

I use one of my reusable produce bags (awesome product by the way)

Squeeze the nut meat to release every last drop of this delicious milk

I then add 2 pinches of sea salt and a 1/2 tsp of pure vanilla extract

both are optional, but boy they make it good

Stir to mix.

Pour the almond milk into glass jars with lids and chill what you don't drink.

Good for up to 5 days in the fridge

I throw the leftover nut meat into my shakes in the morning,

add them to cookies or use for a pie crust...

but one of the best things I have done with them is to toss them with

pasta and a tomato sauce.  Yum! meaty texture, protein - brillant.

Simple.

Enjoy!

Kyra

Edit, Edit, Edit.

I love the lamps in my living room, but, I don't know, not quite in my living room.

I had steel lamps at the cafe in the newly set up area, but I couldn't figure out 

why the room wasn't warming up.

Voile! White ginger jar lamps at the cafe!  Warm central.

And the steel lamps in my living room.

Nice.

One small indulgence, a new slipcover made for the wing back

by Eastman Textiles.  It is inexpensive linen, washed and left a little baggy

It looks so organic, I just love it.

The real kicker is, that a few years ago Renee

had brought home some new drop clothes from Home Depot

They looked like linen and forever I kept saying,

"wow, those would make great drapes or slipcovers"

Well, Country Living just did a story on a woman

who used them to reupholster her couch and wing chair.

See, I am NOT crazy!

Well..... maybe just a little, but its fun!

Have a great day

Kyra

Grounding

I awoke Friday morning tired and out of sorts after the wine workshop Thursday night.

I figured it was normal, a wonderful event that I had really looked forward to, now over.

Plus a few long days, long night, etc.

But, when I woke Sunday morning still feeling raw and on the verge

of tears over everything,  I decided it was time for some grounding

Literal grounding.

Putting your bare feet on the earth and letting its energy

just flow right through you

I started off Jane Austen style with a quilt, pillow and my feet touching the grass

Then Renee suggested that we put our 14' skiff in and go island hopping

Promising that we'd take our shoes off on every island and linger on the rocks and sand

It was our first voyage on the water for the year and it is ALWAYS magic

But coming out from under 10 straight days of rain, I think we are talking HEAVEN

It is almost mid June.

Without this year of pause,

it would be my 16th year of the cafe 

and

I would be in SERIOUS gear-up mode right now.

School is almost out, the team would be gathering, the summer people

arriving and soon the leisure part of my life would be OVER until November

As I jumped off the boat onto Potato Island I was filled with

a combination of the excitement I have carried with me all my life

when remembering childhood summers here 

AND the youthful amazement contained in my first summer landing here as an adult

 and full time resident, almost 16 years ago

  Look at this picture.

It is real and exists practically in my back yard!  What the heck are those huge white flowers?

I do not in any way regret

the success of my cafe and all the serious wonders it has brought to me

but, as I slide my feet into the sand on Rock Island I know it is time

to chill out on the 'You Must Produce!' part of me and let in

the screaming desire to 'Just Be Here'

From the beach I could see the town in the distance 

and I realized I have a month ahead of me with no real commitments

That is a little scary in its wonderfulness.

I think I may just have been grieving a little this weekend.

 Letting go of who I have been,

 embracing her with gratitude, while also knowing it is time to move on

and own my now

 

By the end of our day of grounding I had re-embraced my youth.

I don't mean wanting to be 20 again, but those feelings of

hope, dreams, wonder and excitement.  The feeling that each day is enough

and I can't wait to see what the next moment brings

I am also very grateful for the captain who seems to so often steer this rocky ship.

So, go out there and put your bare feet on the ground!

Embrace who you really are today, and give yourself a hug

Kyra

First Wine Workshop at Lily's

It is truly amazing the things I am learning over this year of pause

when I let myself just relax and enjoy who I am in this present moment

Here's something;

I love to throw a party

I'm loving it even more now that I get three days to prep for it,

have time to gather flowers from the yard

and haven't served over 200 people lunch two hours prior to the gig

My spring celebration dinner in May was the unveiling of the wall removal between

the two rooms upstairs.  We had just finished the renovation and people 

commented that the acoustics were a bit overwhelming

So I busied myself before this next event

 hanging quilts everywhere and putting a few rugs down

It really seemed to help and I get to look at my quilts!

 

Last night was the kick off of what I hope will become a new pattern at Lily's

Wine experts; Max from Blue Hill Wine Shop, Michael from Vias Imports and Karolyn from Pine State

came together to showcase 18 varietal wines from 10 regions in Italy

I set long tables,  prepared traditional foods, and served the meal family style

24 people tasted, ate and learned as much as they could take

in about wines from Piedmont all the way to Sicily

A bit of the menu: 

Roasted chicken with parsley pesto and rosemary

Pecorino's from Italy via Max's shop connections

Braised greens from Carding Brook Farm

Marinated chic peas with champagne vinegar and red onion

A real hit was my tomato sauce 

You will find the recipe below

And here's my favorite thing to do with the leftovers!

Polenta "fries" made with yesterday's polenta cut into thick fingers, 

pan fried in olive oil until crispy and served

with tomato sauce for dipping

Yummy!

TUSCAN STYLE TOMATO SAUCE

(I made this for a crowd, so you can easily divide the recipe in half for a smaller batch

just use 3 boxes of tomatoes and remember it freezes well)

5 boxes of Pomi chopped tomatoes

2 6oz cans of Muir Glen tomato paste

1 medium yellow onion, finely chopped

6 large cloves of garlic, chopped

1/2 cup olive oil

1/2 - 1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes

Sea salt to taste

In a large heavy bottomed pot -I like Crueset for this one-

 heat the olive oil over medium heat

Add the onion and garlic and sauté until the garlic becomes fragrant, about 30 seconds

Add the tomato paste and stir with a whisk to combine

Stir in Pomi tomatoes, season with red pepper flakes and salt

Bring to a simmer, turn down heat and cook, stirring very often

until reduced to a nice, thick sauce

This takes a good hour and a half to two hours

Taste occasionally for salt and adjust when necessary

Serve on whatever you choose, or eat it with a spoon!

Enjoy your weekend everyone, and thank you.

Kyra

A Juicer?

Renee bought a juicer.

That in itself took me about a week to process

Then it came.

Then she made juice with things like kale and beets and swiss chard

and apples and ginger, pretty cool, but wait a minute ~

 what about all

that waste?

See all the pulp to the left?

 OMG

I just spent 20 years of my life successfully running restaurants on the

premise that "there should be no waste"

So I read up on juicing;  detox, cleanse, vitamins, don't want the roughage...

I get it and I've even had fun making juices - no kale in mine please -

beets, carrots, lemon and apples with a bit of ginger, nice.

I still don't feel good about it, honestly.  I can't imagine harvesting

carrots and beets and cukes, if I am lucky, from my garden this summer

to see most of them smushed up in a cup and put on the compost pile

Yikes, some input on this anyone?

Hope you are enjoying your day

Kyra

A Full Pantry

 The heart warming joy of a full pantry

I'm not sure I can explain, the feelings of

Settled, Safe and Belonging  it brings to me to glance up and see

shelves filled with jars of lentils, nuts, grains and dilly beans
bowls of sweet potatoes, onions and garlic

to open a cupboard door and see cat treats and honey,

homemade granola and rice paper wrappers

A foodie friend was snooping thru my fridge on Friday night

and found my preserved lemons, and avocado oil

Kalamata olives, toasted almonds and new wines

made it easy to coax them into staying for a few hours and a wonderful serendipitous visit

It has been raining cats and dogs for three days since. 

All cozied in and not wanting to go out I have been cooking

with everything I can find within the house

Rustling through my spice cupboard I found a small jar of Fennel Pollen

that I had bought with a friend when she needed some for a Mario Batali recipe in February

It inspired these truly incredible pork chops, which I am sorry, I was unable to

get a good picture of, all pretty from the oven.

ROASTED PORK CHOPS WITH FENNEL POLLEN
serves 2

Two 1 1/2 inch thick bone in pork chops

Kosher salt

Freshly ground black pepper

1 heavy T  fennel pollen

2 cloves of garlic, chopped

1 medium yellow onion, peeled and sliced into 1/4" thick slices

1 bulb of fennel, cored and sliced into 1/4" thick slices

 (optional - I didn't have any but I thought it would be good)

3 parsley sprigs

Olive oil

Couple splashes of white wine or milk

Pat the pork chops dry and season them generously on both sides with

kosher salt, black pepper and the fennel pollen

I did this a few hours in advance, covered them and let 

them sit in the fridge to season

If you do this, take them out about 1/2 hour before cooking them to

warm them up a bit

Sprinkle the garlic cloves on the bottom of a 9" baking dish

Layer the onions and fennel (if using) on top of the garlic, sprinkle lightly with kosher salt

 Lay the parsley sprigs over the veggies

Place the seasoned pork chops in a single layer over it all

Drizzle with olive oil and a few splashes of white wine, or milk, 

or water, if you have neither of the others

Roast, un-covered, in a 400 degree oven for approximately 18-20 minutes

I like my pork chops to temp on a meat thermometer at 150 degrees

Remove them from the oven, cover with a piece of wax paper or foil and let

rest for 10 minutes

Set the pork chops aside.

 Pour the veggies -minus the parsley sprigs- and pan juice into

the bowl of a food processor and pulse until somewhat creamy, but not smooth

Smear the sauce on the plates and lay the pork chops on top

Garnish with fresh parsley if so desired

OMG, these were SO good
I served them with roasted sweet potatoes and broccoli

No doubt worth investigating the fennel pollen

Enjoy your day, soggy or not!

Kyra

Bedding and Being a Nester

I am a nester.  It is that simple.  I love to be home, fluffing up

the whatever and moving the whatnots and there is no

better place for me to find comfort than in my bedroom

I know many of us are like this and I was feeling so grateful

for the quick, easily obtainable junky fix that textiles brings to a compulsive nester.

Just the other week,

Off went the chocolate brown linen drapes in my bedroom 

Now we're sporting sheer white linen for summer

I scored this awesome gray one cloth quilt at TJ Maxx,

draped some modern bird fabric over a pillow and presto,

a whole new look!

I started thinking how important our beds are and the

wonderful warm safe place we create for ourselves, or someone else, 

hence this sweet little quilt Lydia just finished for her young daughter

On "The Monthlies" trip to Rockport we stopped

at Cherished Home on the way and Suzanne bought

this beautiful Pine Cone Hill Duvet for her bed at 75% off

It has prompted her to re-paint her bedroom in a soft taupe,

voile, instant rejuvenation and ELATION (especially on my part), for not much money

Whenever I get a hit of winter blues, I change the whatnots

on the top of my bed 

And I LOVE to create bedding for new potential nesters!

Enjoy your weekend, 

and maybe put a little textile skip in your step if you get the chance

Kyra