Crayons. . .

Your attitude is like a box of crayons that color your world. Constantly color your picture gray, and your picture will always be bleak. Try adding some bright colors to the picture by including humor, and your picture begins to lighten up. ~Allen Klein
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I found this box of crayons last weekend in my Grandparents basement.  My Dad's name is written on the front of the box.  My Dad was born in 1951, so I'm guessing that they are from the late 50s.  Not a single crayon is missing!  These make me smile.

How to Cook an Artichoke. . .

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Growing up in an Italian family (I'm half Italian; hence my love for Italy & all things Italian) it was, and still is, very common for us to have artichokes as our vegetable with dinner - especially Sunday dinners. 

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Just for fun, here is a photo from a trip I took to Seattle in 2001 of artichokes growing on a farm:

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In the United States, most artichokes you find in the grocery store come from Castroville, CA.  They even have an Artichoke Festival there every year!  You will find the best artichokes in season from March - May, but typically you can find them year round.

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You will need:

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- Fresh artichokes

- Olive oil

- Lemon juice

- Oregano

- Garlic flakes

- Salt

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Step 1: Cut off the stem of the artichoke so that it will stand upright.

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Step 2:  Lay artichoke on side and cut off top 1.5" to 2" of leaves. 

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Step 3:  Using kitchen shears, cut off tips of all remaining leaves.

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Your prepared artichoke will look like this:

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Step 4: Place artichoke in pan and fill with a couple of inches of water. Bottom third of artichoke should be immersed in water. You can cook as many artichokes as you can fit in one pan, with all artichokes standing upright.

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Step 5:  Drizzle olive oil and lemon juice over artichoke.  I don't measure - just use an amount that seems good to you!  Add oregano, garlic flakes, and salt to top of artichoke.  Again, no need to measure.  Just use a pinch for each artichoke you are cooking.

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Step 6:  Cover pot and simmer on med / high for 35 - 45 minutes.  Check your pot a few times during cooking to make sure that there is still water.  If the water has gotten too low, just add a little more.

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Test artichoke by pulling off a leaf.  If the leaf is easily pulled off, your artichoke is finished!  Remove from pan and serve.

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Eat artichoke, leaf by leaf, working from the outside in.  At the very end you will get to a bunch of small fuzzy leaves.  Scrape those off and you will be at the artichoke heart - this is the best part!  Some people like to serve their artichokes with garlic butter - I usually just use plain butter.

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If anyone tries cooking an artichoke for the first time, I would love to know what you think!

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buon appetito!

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Mapping It Out. . .

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I found three frames this week at Target on clearence for $6.24.  I couldn't pass up the deal, so I decided to frame a few maps I have from my trips to Italy.
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The frames came with mat board cut to frame several pictures.  Not what I wanted for my maps.

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I used a metal ruler and my exacto blade to cut off the center portion of the mat board.

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When I finished, they looked like regular rectangular mat boards.

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Next, I choose the maps I wanted to use.

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I found my three favorite and cut them to size.

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The maps all have crease marks in them and the Venice one actually has some writing on it, but I sort of like them that way - it reminds me of our trips and walking the cities.  The writing on the Venice map is from Gigi, a worker at our hotel, pointing out some of the best spots in the city for a spritz!  Gigi did not disappoint!

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I hung the maps up in my home office.

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When I hang a group of pictures, I always use the paper that comes inside the frame to decide where to hang the pictures.

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It's a really easy way to make sure you are hanging your pictures exactly where you want them.  I pound the nail right through the paper.  I think this method saves a lot of time trying to find the correct spacing for the nails.

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Here are the finished fames:

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I am linking this up to Remodelaholics Anonymous Friday's here.  Check it out!

Also linking up to Frugalicious Friday's @ Finding Fabulous here.

And to Make it for Monday @ Cottage Instincts here.

And to Trendy Treehouse here.

And to Funky Junk Interiors here.

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Today. . .

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Today I am working from home and enjoying my beautiful Amaryllis, blooming for the second time!
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Antipasto Penne

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Have I mentioned that I love pasta?  Seriously, I could eat it every single night for the rest of my life and be quite content.  When I saw this recipe posted by Kendall @ Keeping Up With the Joneses I knew I wanted to try it.  The recipe is adapted from Cooking Light which you can find here.
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Ingredients:
- 10 oz. penne pasta
- 1/2 cup kalamata olives
- 7 oz. sun dried tomatoes
- 1 (6 oz.) jar marinated, quartered artichoke hearts
- 1/2 cup prepared pesto (I used store bought in a jar)
- 1/4 cup pine nuts, toasted
- bell peppers; one red, one yellow
- 1/2 cup grated parmigiano reggiano cheese + more to top pasta
- handful fresh spinach (optional)
- salt & pepper to taste
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First, start a large pot of water for your pasta.
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Next, you'll need to roast your peppers.  Cut peppers in half lenghtwise; remove seeds.  Place peppers, skin side up, on foil lined broiler pan.
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Place in oven with the broiler set to high.  It should take around 12-15 minutes for the peppers to turn black.
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While your peppers are in the oven, chop kalamatas, artichoke hearts, and sun dried tomatoes.
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* {Note - if you purchaed sun dried tomoatoes in a bag like I did, and not in a jar, you will need to soak them in a pot of simmering water to soften before use}
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Your peppers should just about be done.

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When your peppers look like the photo above, they are finished.  Remove from oven and place in a Ziploc bag for 5 minutes. {I'm not exactly sure what this does, but I'm guessing that it helps to soften the skin}

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Add pasta to boiling water.

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Peel skin off of peppers and chop.  In a medium sized bowl, mix peppers, kalamatas, artichokes, sun dried tomatoes, pesto, and parmigiano reggiano.

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Toast the pine nuts on a cookie sheet in an oven heated to 350 degrees for 6 minutes.

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When pasta is finished cooking, drain and return to pot on the stove with a dash of olive oil.  I had fresh spiniach on hand so I added a handful to the pasta. As you stir, the spiniach will wilt down.  Add your artichoke, pepper, tomato, and olive mixture to the pasta along with the pine nuts and stir until all pasta is coated.  Serve and top with additional parmigiano reggiano.

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Enjoy!

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Baby Surprise Jacket - Finished!

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I finally finished the Baby Surprise Jacket!  You can see my first post about it here.  The pattern is by Elizabeth Zimmermann and was written in 1968!  I had a really great time knitting this.  I am going to give it to my friend who had a baby girl last week.
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Here's the sweater, still on the needles and with only a few more rows to knit:
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The interesting thing about this sweater is that it is knit up in one piece and there are only two seams - one at each arm.

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Here's a picture of the finished knit.  It's hard to believe that this turns into a sweater!

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Fold it up and it looks like this:

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Isn't that amazing?

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Seaming up the sleeves:

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I sewed on three buttons and the sweater was finished.

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Here's the back:

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I found several great resources online for help with this pattern.  The first is a series of videos on YouTube made by the owner of my local yarn shop.  Click here for the first video in the series.  Also helpful, especially for how to seam the arms, is Yarn Harlot.  Click here for her post on the BSJ.  Also, if you search online for 'BSJ row counts' you will find several charts people have posted to for keeping track of the rows - very helpful!
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I've linked this post up to Make it for Monday over @ Cottage Instincts.  Check it out!