affordable art: Ashley G and Drew

(wouldn't it be great for a kid's room?)

I just found this talented creative duo: Ashley G and Drew, partners in work and life designing cute prints and do-dads in Portland, OR.
What i love about these works (besides the fact that you can get them for around $20 a pop!) is that they have these adorable ornaments with a selection of their images. Talk about a great and indie holiday gift that can be showcased year-round, talk about the perfect wall piece for the smallest of spaces (and also about $20)! They also do a collection of cards and i think clothing-at least that is a section on their etsy page.


They also do custom portraits as well...a great b-day or anniversary gift!.


UPDATE: i have recently seen a few of these images for sale at Urban Outfitters...but i think you should go through Etsy or their site instead so they can have more of the profits.

the fun part of my job: Salvage Life and Au She Cosmetics

i must admit, one of the best things about having a store like this is being able to meet so many incredible, talented people that are right in our area.

just yesterday i was able to meet 2 fellow female entrepreneurs: Beth from Salvage Life and Tatiahna from Au She Cosmetics.

I met Beth from Salvage Life at a craft fair in Cerritos...looking at her pieces, i instantly fell in love with her artful deconstruction of things that i would normally overlook. I immediately wanted to carry her jewelry. Beth and her adorable daughter came by in the morning with a series of necklaces made from vintage watches, chains, belts and other trinkets that were combined together to make one-of-a-kind pieces.
she also sells lovely vintage slips and wears that complement her jewelry line. Her blog has better images of her work.
(Beth's beautiful and curious daughter)

(trying to get to her mommie's jewelry!)

(necklaces made from old watch pieces and vintage chain-GORG!)


In the afternoon i met with Tatiahna of Au She Cosmetics. I had only met her a few days ago, when she came in to drop off her application for Patchwork. I asked her what she was selling and she told me that she had a line of handmade, natural and organic cosmetics. HOW do you even begin to make makeup! not only that, but she uses at the least 99% natural ingredients (most of her line is made with natural pigment as well.
i have been searching high and low for a small-batch, natural line, one that i could try and actually talk to the person who made the product-i had completely given up on it and here she was in Placentia!
Tatiahna was formerly a make-up artist and while she loved make-up, she didn't love the industry..she really wanted to work with people and work with a product that made your insides as good as your outside and is a rebel in the cause for changing beauty stereotypes. we met today and now i have a few samples to try out (the lip products smell WONDERFUL!)

(Tatiahna demoing how to mix eye shadow with her cream primer)

CSA cooking: leek frittata

basket inventory: beets, a large melon, dill, basil, lettuce, arugula, chard, kale, limes, passion fruit, bell peppers, leeks, spring onions, radishes, avocados

my good friend August came by after a few months in France and we made this super simple frittata, which is basically a quiche without the crust (at least the way i make it!). the cooked leeks can be used on other things as well, use them like you would cooked onions.
(august juicing limes-we will use it later for dressing!)

LEEK FRITTATA:

leeks
6 eggs
salt, pepper, and your favorite spices/herbs
parm cheese (optional)
olive oil or spray oil for baking/saute

heat the oven to 350

clean the leeks and cut off the green parts only leaving the white and light green areas. slice to desired thinness. cook the leeks with a little oil for 10 min or until they are soft or even slightly brown. cool slightly.

whisk the eggs together with salt, pepper, and additional goodies that you like with eggs. add the leeks and give a good mix to make sure that they are spread throughout the eggs.
spray a pie dish (i use thrift store glass ones-they are cheap!) and dump the egg mix into them. sprinkle with cheese and place in the oven for 15 min or until the eggs are ready. slice and enjoy!

(right before we put it in the oven)

score of the century- heirloom tomato overload

Sunday turned out to be a pretty busy day as well.
The morning started with a drive to the Hollywood Farmers' Market off of Ivar. If you haven't been to this market-GO. it is every sunday from 8am-1 and it is definitely worth a visit...top 5 in Southern California.
My friend and fellow Master Food Preserver, Ernest Miller has been working the MFP booth for the past couple months answering questions with LA Master Gardeners. I finally was able to go up to the market and say hello, meet the crew and see what i needed to do, b/c i am taking over for Ernest next Sunday (only one Sunday a month)...more on that experience next week!
While at the market, i was able to meet my friends Ayshea and Robin who were going to be canning with me later that day. We took a quick tour of the market and located a booth filled with heirloom tomatoes. Remember what i said a few days ago about how to get a deal at farmers' markets???
With about 10 minutes left until closing, we went up to the side of the booth where we saw a box of softened tomatoes...these were the ones being sorted by the farmers that were not going to last the day. The conversation went like this:
Ayesha: how much for these?
Farmer: ummm, how about $1 a pound (good price)
(30 seconds later), Farmer: how about the whole box for $5?
A: sold!
if anyone knows ANYTHING about heirlooms, the first thing you know is that they are not cheap-they cost anywhere from $3-6/lb. when we finally weighed the box, it ended being almost 40 lbs...which is around $150 in tomatoes!

Obviously, with that much at that price, you have to do something.

But first we took a visit to the markets latest endeavor, The Farmer's Kitchen. This "extension" of the market sells produce, meals and in the future-education (I know Ernest has already been working with them...maybe i can help!). At the Kitchen, we had fresh teas and lemonade and some tasty egg dishes...a majority of it from the market.
(super good)


back to the canning:
(ayeshea and robin made jalepenos and guava chutney all on their own!)


on the list of things to make: basil jelly, ketchup, marinara sauce and whole canned tomatoes.
first up was the jelly, which was relatively fast and a great thing to show Robin and Ayesha of jellied infusions of which they can make a number of things.
(steeping the basil)

(this what we were working with)

next, the ketchup and marinara. these took up the bulk of our time as the ketchup needs to cook for at least an hour to reduce...along with the marinara, we had all 4 burners going for hours while we watched a few episodes of Project Runway.
(sriracha and lemon grass ketchup....GOOD but HOT)

(ayesha blending the tomatoes so we can strain them for ketchup)

(robin & ayeshea stirring pots of marinara)

(i didn't know about a "jar wrench"...did you??)


after 8 hours of canning, we came out with about 3 cases of product...i was so tired by the end, i had to skip on the pressure canning lesson-i think Robin was a little disappointed (sorry!)
PS i also can't find the rest of the photos from the event, my camera didnt transfer all of the images.

busy weekend and birthday plans

yes i know my birthday is in may, but i was inspired on saturday to start planning.
After a busy day at the store, i had to get ready for Elsa and Bernie's wedding (my boyfriend's sister). I was curious about what this was going to be like since i havent been to a Mexi-wedding since my mom would take me on the 18-hour journey to Nogales to visit a bunch of tios and tias that i couldnt speak Spanish to and ended up sitting in the corner somewhere or washing dishes.
But before we headed into Cafe Hidalgo in Fullerton, we stopped across the street at one of our favorite galleries-The Hibbleton.
(cute front!)

(small gallery, great art)


i got the latest copy of DWELL and a t-shirt, gustavo bought an awesome painting of maggots sitting around a dining table-he thought it was a bunch of baguettes.
(great painting huh!)

so we finally get to the wedding, and it was in this super beautiful historic building with a large courtyard. i fell in love with these branch centerpieces that had hanging candles and flowers.
(i ended up taking this home-you will see this in the store soon!)

but better than that we this 10-piece mariachi group that was absolutely AMAZING. each member sang, sometimes together and mostly alone, and you just knew that these guys were professionals-they were constantly moving around positioning themselves so that, depending on the song, certain instruments were heard or were more pronounced than others...some of the singers voices were so good that i almost cried!
(mariachi chica-she kicked a**)


that's when i knew what i wanted for Cinco-de-lilah 2010: a mariachi-taco truck-margarita extravaganza...i can't believe i havent thought about this before!

unfortunately, the awesome mariachi was replaced with a 13-piece band that looked like a small school marching band expect the band members outfits resembled Las Vegas more than your local high school. they were pretty fun though, and you calves get a serious workout bouncing around!
i have to say, it was a very fun wedding...i came home pretty saucy, wiped out and happy..congrats to Elsa and Bernie!
(passing around the serrano chilies with the dinner)

(the happy couple)

craft night with Estasia at The Annex

forgive me for waiting a day on my CSA food tip...i have it..i was just too caught up in making new items for the store in our new space The Annex that is dedicated to DIY and sustainable living, learning and teaching.
on the last thurs of each month, the Annex is open to people wanting to hang out and do something creative...yes, just bring your supplies, sit down and chat while making your thang...there are even supplies just in case.
my friend Estasia, (who by the way, makes ADORABLE hemp skirts) came by to catch-up and make stuff...what did we make??
*remember my 127 yard sale adventure?? i actually bought a large bag of odds and ends- vintage lace and ribbon, buttons and fabric goodies. we turned these items into cute "pillowcase primers" or cute collages with a pillow template inside a small tag. all you have to do is sew and decorate!
(from this)
(to this)

*OK, break time: i am in LOVE with Knudsen's Jamacian Lemonade
...this is the BEST canned/store-bought lemonade around and mixed 1/2 and 1/2 with champagne, well, it is BETTER than a mimosa.
*bean ornaments: we then made these cute ornaments made from hot-gluing dried beans to stryo (YES I KNOW it is stryo) balls...but they are pretty damn cute.

canning class: Preserving Summer

for anyone interested, i will be teaching a workshop at the Irvine Fine Arts Center next Thursday, October 1st from 6:30-9:30.
we will be covering the basics of food preservation, making a few items from summer produce, tasting samples. class includes take-home information and preserved products from our class.
If you are interested and want to sign-up, click here to register/view the class.
i will be posting more canning classes soon!