Happy Friday

Kitchenscapes

Make: Pinboard

I had this IKEA frame with a broken glass, and decided that it was about time I made that pinboard I thought I'd turn it into.



With some fabric, some yellow ribbon and a cheap duna from the same place as the frame, I got a result I'm pretty happy with. I used one of those staple guns to fix it all to the frame. Really a no brainer.



I was so proud to show it off to the boys, but I shouldn't have bothered. Big Man reckoned I could have spent my energy on something other than faffing about.

Men just don't get these things.

Yellow Inspiration

Yellow is the color evoked by light that stimulates both the L and M (long and medium wavelength) cone cells of the retina about equally, with no significant stimulation of the S (short-wavelength) cone cells. - Wikipedia

Picture by fabulous, fantastic and funny Colour Me Katie.

My kitchen lamp. Muuto, designed by Form us with Love.

Fantastic diptych by FRYD + DESIGN.

Domo. Picture by me.

IKEAs Kryddstarkt series. Only in Sweden.

Silent Sunday

Spring Sunday at the Alotment

Happy Friday

Seedlings

Wordless Wednesday: Yellow

Surrounded by Yellow

I really can't get enough of that bright colour. Daffs everywhere, both inside and out.

And my collection of yellow things is growing. Daily. Yellow tablecloth. Yellow lamp. Yellow butter dish. Yellow broom and dustpan. Yellow pillows. Yellow pots.

Yesterday I painted a row of pegs yellow too.

... and those daffs. Oh. I love spring.

March Banner

... needed a change. Yellow is my favourite colour.

Seasonal Soup

I've been wanting to make pumpkin soup since my parents started growing them in the alotment this summer. Today I finally mustered up the surplus energy.

Spent about two hours making it in my parents kitchen. And I can tell you, working in someone elses kitchen is always a challenge. I managed to pull it all together, though.

I will be making this again, and again ... sooo good.

The soup tastes delicious with a dollop of yoghurt and a swirl of olive oil, or like I just ate it: with a pile of gremolata. 

Pumpkin Soup with Herb and Walnut Gremolata

The soup:

Half a football sized pumpkin
One big onion
One whole bulb of garlic
One tablespoon of sugar
Organic stock cube(s)
Olive oil
Salt
Pepper
Chilli/Cayenne pepper

Dice the onion and garlic and sweat off in a good clunk of olive oil in a big pot. Cut and peel the pumkin into thumb-sized chunks and add to the now glossy onions. Stir so that the chinks are covered in oil and onion/garlic. Add the sugar and a little salt and pepper.

Here comes the magic. Put a lid on the pot while still keeping the temp on a medium to high heat. The pumpkin will caramelise and the lid will keep the steam in so that the pumpkin releases its own juices. This process takes about 20 minutes and in the end you have a pumkin mush.

Run through a blender into fine puré and add back to the pot. Now is the flavouring stage. It amazes me how much flavour the vegetable combo gives, but you'll need some stock. I cheated and used a few organic stock cubes (but if I had some I would use some home made, or bought, stock). And add at least the same amount of water as puré. It really depends on how thick you like your soup. Heat up.

At this point I like to season a little more. With chilli/cayenne or just pepper. And here it's up to you if you want to add some cream to the soup.

The gremolata:

A handful of walnuts
A handful of herbs, I used parsley and rosemary
A good chunk of crusty old bread
Two cloves of garlic
Olive oil
Lemon zest
Salt
Pepper

Add herbs, garlic and lemon zest to a blender and whizz. Add olive oil and nuts. This turns the mixture into a kind of pesto. Add the bread in chunks and whizz untill the bits are crumbly but not to small. Spread out on a tray, and bake in oven for 10 minutes on 220 degrees. Stir if needed and turn off oven to let your crumbs dry out.

Yellow

... to brighten up, what is here, a grey and damp day. Especially the laundry makes me happy happy.

Self Gifting

... in yellow. Definitely my favourite colour of now.

I don't think I'll cook my clogs in my new pot.

Now I'm just waiting for warmer weather.

Isn't she a beauty?

I bought my Swedish Hasbeens a month back. They were delivered at work only two days later. I lve them, and I have worn them outside already.

My Le Creuset was ordered from my local shop, and was hand delivered from France last weekend. Got it on Monday, and I've already cooked two meals in it. This weekend: Bread. I'll tell you all about it.

Winter Warm Worms

Gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous.

Ahhh, that lovely and talented Sandra Juto. I feel like I have been moving in her new studio with her, and I have been drewling over her lovely lovely Wrist Worms for quite a while now. I was never in doubt of the colour though. Yellow is my colour crush of the mo.

So I self presented myself (yes, it is a verb) a pair. Oh, they are all the hand made beautifullness I imagined. And still actually a bit warm for the season. My Dad commented that they would be ideal for fishing (maybe a new sales point. In man colours made for man hands?).

Oooh, and not only did they come with gorgeous Swedish stamps, but also with a card and a pocket calender! It is already in good use at work. (See below.) I love these kinds of details.

Jealous?

I would be.

Pocket calender. In my work space.

Kitchenscapes

I'm so stoked with my new kitchen that I decided to post some details. And incidentally some from my hallway, as it also got freshened up in the process. I love the combo white-grey-yellow.