Good To Know
October 13, 2016
I’ll just leave you with this list…and, your own thoughts.
via: http://www.swiss-miss.com/2016/05/zero-talent-required.html
A rainy, sloppy start…
October 6, 2016
to October had me thinking about something quick, filling and a bit nostalgic…Sloppy Joes. While I can’t remember when I had had one last or if I had even made them before at all, it warranted some further study. Easy enough with a can of sauce, a pound of ground beef and some buns, what would happen if I tried to eliminate the meat? Pretty much magic on the first try and it couldn’t be any easier. Starting with a 15 oz. can of low sodium Sloppy Joe sauce and teaming it up with a 17.6 oz. package of steamed lentils I added 4 oz. of baby Portobello mushrooms that I had pulsed coarsely in the food processor and sauteed in a tablespoon of general use olive oil. As things started to simmer I pulsed 1/2 cup of walnuts until coarsely chopped and added them to the pan for additional texture. Doctored with a couple of tablespoons of maple syrup to round out the sweetness, a couple of tablespoons of bottled barbeque sauce for a bit more tang and a final adjustment of salt to taste they were done. Served up on a traditional soft bun with a side of slaw these have moved up to the top of my Meatless Monday rotation.
photos:gp
Home Grown
September 25, 2016
It might technically be Fall, but it still feels like Summer. And, Summer’s bounty is keeping things green by the armload and basketful thanks to generous friends and neighbors. Until the leaves start to turn and the temps start to drop I’ll be good to go.
Top to bottom:
A tangle of Limelight hydrangea and hops thinned from a friends garden and casually dropped into a simple glass vessel makes a simplequietmodern statement that will last for weeks.
Another surprise package of homegrown heirlooms included these green zebra tomatoes…a welcome addition to a panzanella or caprese.
Taking advantage of the limited availability of Romanesco it was hard to pass up those locally grown.
I planted artichokes in containers this Summer for the color and texture of the foliage alone. Until the first buds appeared I had completely forgotten about the added bonus.
photos: gp
What do you get…
September 16, 2016
when you take a soft-spoken twelve-year-old and add a ukulele and a pocket full of original homegrown lyrics? You get Grace VanderWaal…the winner of America’s Got Talent. From her “golden buzzer” audition right through to the exciting photo finish she wowed each week with her talent, her charm and her originality. Congratulations, Grace! America voted and America got it right.
If you’d like to experience the audition that started it all…https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eNxO9MpQ2vA
Near Perfect
September 11, 2016
The day started simple enough…crisp and bright with clear skies that seemed bluer than blue. Then, the unthinkable. I remember it all as clearly as if it were yesterday. Fifteen years later and the horrifying images burned into my memory still bring me to tears. Let us honor all of those in New York, in Shanksville and at the Pentagon on that day with a moment of silence, a prayer, a promise to never forget.
1970 photo by Andrea Di Castro from http://www.stardustmoderndesign.com/2012/11/new-york-city.html#!/2012/11/new-york-city.html flag photo:gp
Old School…New School
August 24, 2016
Carrying a white linen handkerchief is definitely old school. I’ve been doing it for as long as I can remember. Carrying a handkerchief in a Liberty of London print? Definitely new school. And this print, Black Pepper/gray in the Tana Lawn Classic is the perfect way to shake it up. The small pattern, while not exactly a floral, comes in somewhere between a classic composition book cover and camouflage, and is equally at home in the back pocket of your jeans as it is the breast pocket of a suit jacket.
Fabrics and DIY instructions are available at https://www.purlsoho.com/tana-lawn-classics.html
photos: gp
Putting the plan to paper,
August 20, 2016
starts with a little inspiration. This garden by Australian designer Peter Fudge totally embraces the simplequietmodern aesthetic. A beautiful composition of clipped hedges and hardscaping against the softened edges of natural treeline and massed plantings of native grasses. Dappled sunlight and gentle sounds of moving water. The perfect place to spend a late summer day. I’d start here in the morning with coffee, break here midday with lunch, nap here in the afternoon and finish here with dinner or cocktails. Close your eyes and take a deep breath. Are you there yet?
Photos: http://peterfudgegardens.com.au/
“Get You Back”
July 25, 2016
One listen was all it took to get me to pull up the Mayer Hawthorne station on Pandora. What a perfect soundtrack for this Summer…modern, soulful, some rhythm and blues…a little funk. Perfect.
photo:http://www.mayerhawthorne.com/
Lucky 7
July 17, 2016
If the bright lights of Las Vegas won’t draw you in, maybe this will. Seven Magic Mountains, by Swiss artist Ugo Rondinone, is a site specific installation just 10 miles from The Strip. Comprised of seven towers of brightly painted boulders stacked to over thirty feet high, Seven Magic Mountains will be providing a jolt of color to the Mojave Desert through the spring of 2018. If you’re on the west coast I think a road trip might be in order.
photos:http://sevenmagicmountains.com/
Worth the Wait
July 14, 2016
Perfect for dining al fresco now or to put into service indoors during Fall and Winter. Harry Bertoia’s plastic side chair for Knoll International, a re-issue of the original 1956 design in celebration of his 100th birthday. Shells will be available in neutrals to brights…the frames in polished chrome or powder coat.
simplequietmodern 