This Week in My Kitchen

Cooking inspiration runs a little slim this time of year when I see the garden begin to grow, but there's nothing to pick save for kale, chives and tulips.  But being forced to dig a little deeper isn't a terrible thing.  This week, inspiration came . . .

. . . from a a conversation with my mother.  She served fish cakes this week and that sounded good.  These are salmon and potato cakes, waiting to be dredged in flour and pan fried.

. . . from a library cook book.  This kale panini with feta cheese and zippy banana peppers is sure to appear on our table again.

. . . from the pantry.  There's nothing like cracking open a jar of last summer's tomato-y goodness to enjoy over pasta.

And finally, inspiration came from a string of sunny days and a few spring showers -- reminders that the abundance of summer will come soon enough.

What's cooking at your house?

I'm joining, for the first time, This Week in my Kitchen at Beauty That Moves.  This blog hop is all about capturing a love of whole foods, combined with the activity of a bustling kitchen.  A weekly collection of photos from the centre of my home.

Feeling Blue

I like blue.  It makes me feel tranquil and content, perhaps because some of the nicest things in life are blue.  The summer sky.  The sea.  My daughters bright eyes.  These dried hydrangea flowers are still blue as blue can be.  It's a good thing I brought them in when I did, because the last few days have brought enough rain, wind and hail to tatter the garden.  

While Miss S naps, I'm working this bundle of squishy blue yarn into a set of baby leg warmers.  Last night the urge to crochet took hold.  I really wanted to start a new sweater for Miss S, but that requires more than scraps, which requires planning ahead.  Instead I dug out the pattern for these little leg warmers and settled in.

The pattern, by the way, is one that I bought a while back from this Etsy shop.  It's a sweet design and, after a little experimenting to get the gauge right, I'm finding the pattern easy to follow.  I might even make a pair for myself as the pattern includes an adult size.  Maybe they'll be blue.

  

Of Wasps' Nests and Other Beauties

Souvenirs from the great outdoors tend to land on the dining room table.  It's become a tradition.  When little bits of nature fascinate, I bare them home for continued admiration.  Fragile flowers or crunchy leaves don't last long.  Other bits linger long enough to be joined by new finds, and certain rare treasures hang around longer still.  I once kept the two intact halves of a robin's egg -- palest blue against a white plate -- for weeks.  

 

Like the egg, these pieces of wasps' nest are holding my interest.  I found them in the garden, knocked off the roof, I suspect, by workmen this spring.  They are more empty space than substance.  I marvel that such perfect geometry was wrought by the hovering pests that I swatted away from last summer's barbecues.  

The pieces of wasp nest are joined here by a seashell that Little Miss S plucked from the tide last weekend.  A pot of succulents from the garden adds life and vigor to the collection.  It's that beautiful geometry that ties the three together -- line and balance and shape.

 

How, you might wonder, does all this tie into my creative quest?  Plopping organic keepsakes on plates probably doesn't qualify as creativity, but certainly feeds it.  What inspires you?