Urban Comfort

Paper to Petal

I see a lot of craft books every year, but only a handful actually make it into my library, and even fewer remain there from year to year. But I had a feeling about this book, pre-ordering it back in March when it first showed up on Amazon (and eagerly awaiting its publication and the arrival of my UPS driver ever since).

Oh, was I right!  Paper to Petal, by couple Rebecca Thuss and Patrick Farrell, is almost overwhelming in its abundance, a whopping 256 pages! It's not the kind of book you peruse in an evening, then set aside to gather dust. In fact, I flipped through it at least four times last night and something new caught my eye every time. But beyond the eye candy - and there's a lot of it - there's an amazing wealth of instruction and resources. The steps are all laid out visually, so you know exactly what you're striving for. The designs are not simplistic, but they feel achievable (the 264 templates in the back of the book help with that).

You would think with all that precision that the projects themselves could get a little stuffy, but nothing could be further from the truth. There's such a riot of color and playfulness contained within these pages. It goes beyond the mechanics of striving for reproduction of nature, introducing fesh, artistic expression, with painting techniques and the incorporation of glitter and metallics, printed papers, unexpected colors, and surprise. 

If you have any interest in paper flowers, this is a must-have for your library. It's so beautifully designed and photographed that it's also a book you can keep on your coffee table with all of your other art books. I trust that you will find it endlessly inspiring. Personally, this book comes at exactly the right time in my creative life, as I find myself becoming more interested in artistic expression, not just "craft."  This book is a beautiful marriage of both.

Clay Leaf Bowls

I've mostly been on hiatus from my creative life these last few months. I needed the step back, the stillness, the time to just be instead of always doing. But the inertia of my summer seems to be fading as quickly as it began. My son has returned to school, perhaps a psychological prompt that it was time to move back into productivity. All I know is that my brain is moving again.

I haven't made anything for myself in months, which is the danger of being a professional creative type. But there's nothing better than making something just because. No client dictates, no deadlines, you can even fail. I indulge in it far less than I should. But last week I suddenly felt the urgency to make use of the remainder of the season. 

I went back to something familiar, working with air-dry clay, but decided to explore it in a different way. Instead of working with the usual shapes (circles, ovals, rectangles, and squares), I wanted to work with natural forms, making small bowls out of leaf shapes, working with thinner clay.

The fig leaf bowls are my favorite because they are both graceful and highly detailed, though they're a bit more fragile than the bowls made with solid shaped leaves. But they're all good sizes for small things - jewelry or desk supplies, perhaps. At some point, I'll have to decide how to finish them, though I think I'll keep them neutral instead of coloring them green. But I'm undecided for now - that'll just have to wait for a more productive part of fall.

 

 

 

 

 

Materials:

 Air-dry clay (I prefer DAS brand)
Leaves 
Clay rolling mat
Acrylic clay roller
Clay scissors or sharp scalpel
Aluminum foil 
Wire baking rack for drying (optional)
Fine tip tweezers (optional) 

Directions:

 1. Begin by rolling out your clay to approximately 1/4-inch thickness, then place the leaf, vein side down, on the surface of the clay. Use the roller to roll directly over the leaf, both pushing it into the surface of the clay and thinning the clay at the same time.

 

2. Lift the clay off the mat, with the leaf still in place, and trim the excess clay with scissors (I just cut a general shape around the leaf, then go back and do the detailed cutting). Put the excess clay back in the package to keep it from drying out.

At this point, you have two options. You can cut around the leaf, using scissors, or you can keep the clay on the mat and use a sharp scalpel to cut around the leaf. I prefer scissors, but it's entirely up to you. The fig leaf has fairly easy contours to follow and might be easier with a scalpel, but I'll show you some detailed leaves that I found easier to cut with scissors. But the bottom line is to use the leaf itself as a template - and don't worry about the little breaks in the leaves that may occur with rolling. As long as they aren't too severe, they won't affect the end result much.

 

3. Make an oval shaped ring from a piece of aluminum foil and gently arrange the leaf covered clay inside, making sure the bottom of the clay is resting on a flat surface (so that your "bowl" will sit upright once it's dry. The aluminum foil is mostly to support the outer part of the leaves). Carefully remove the leaf and let the clay dry before removing the foil, at least overnight. At that point, you can turn it over so that the underside dries as well.

Note: If your leaf is too firmly embedded in the clay and you risk tearing the clay removing the leaf after it's been arranged, remove the leaf covered clay and put it on the mat and remove the leaf first. Then carefully arrange it in the aluminum foil ring.  Fine tipped tweezers can be a help for leaves that are too firmly embedded.  

 

Leaf Cutting Detail:

I used scissors to make the detailed cuts of this leaf, following along the edge. I made snips from each side of the points in the leaves, rather than trying to make continuous cuts. 

Leaf Arrangement:

With the strawberry leaves, I wanted to see how I'd fare with overlapping leaves. I arranged it in a small wooden bowl (which was the perfect size) for the first few hours, then transferred it to an aluminum foil ring afterward to complete its drying. In the end, after it had completely dried, I had to reinforce the overlapped leaves by adding a little glue (Beacon 527 Multi-Use glue), which worked just fine.  

P.S. I've enrolled in an introductory pottery class, which starts next week. While my primary focus will be thrown pottery, I hope to learn some good techniques to share with you that can be used for hand building as well. Stay tuned!

 

Lemon Verbena Custard

 

If I could have only one herb in my garden, I suspect I'd choose lemon verbena. It's hardly the most practical of the bunch, but I think it's certainly the most delightful. In the past I've used it to make syrups, ice cream, or cocktails, but this year one of my (favorite) cookbooks fell open to this recipe and I thought it was time to try something new. I'm so glad I did, because this may be my favorite verbena recipe so far.

The custard has to be prepared in advance, though much of the time is chilling time. What you're rewarded with is the purest of pleasures in a 4 ounce cup - and 4 ounces is exactly the right amount because it's deceptively rich, even though it tastes like summer in a spoon.

It's perfection served as is, but if you're going to accompany it with anything, I'd suggest raspberries (lightly tossed in a lemon verbena syrup, perhaps?) or a thin, crispy cookie such as a florentine or tuile. Anything else would be overkill. 

If you're not lucky enough to have lemon verbena available, make a note to grow it next spring. I'm usually able to find starter pots of it at my farmers market or one of the better nurseries in my area, but I've also purchased starter plants online and had a great deal of success with those as well - and they don't require much care, beyond the basic watering and plenty of sun. Perfect for those like me, with the not-so-green thumb!

 

Lemon Verbena Custards
adapted from The Last Course by Claudia Fleming with Melissa Clark
Makes 6

1 cup heavy cream
1 cup whole milk
1 ounce (1 cup packed) roughly chopped fresh lemon verbena leaves
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
1 large egg
3 large egg yolks

1. In a heavy saucepan, combine the milk, cream, lemon verbena, and 1/2 cup of the sugar. Bring the mixture to a simmer.

2. In a large bowl, whisk the remaining 2 tablespoons sugar with the egg and egg yolks until smooth. Turn off the heat under the cream mixture and whisk about 1/4 cup of the cream into the egg mixture to temper it, whisking constantly to keep the eggs from curdling.  Pour the egg mixture into the saucepan with the remaining cream, whisking the mixture constantly. Strain the mixture into a bowl and chill for at least 2 hours and up to 2 days.

3. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Pour the custard into six 4-ounce glass or ceramic ramekins. Arrange them in a baking pan and place it on the oven rack. Pour enough very hot water into the baking pan to reach two-thirds of the way up the sides of the ramekins. Cover the baking pan with foil and pierce all over with a knife. Bake the custards for about 30 minutes, then lift off a corner of the foil to allow the steam to escape. Re-cover the pan and continue to bake until the custards are set around the edges but still slightly jiggly in the center, 10 to 15 minutes longer. Transfer the custards to a rack and let cool at room temperature, then cover and refrigerate overnight before serving.

*If you wish to unmold your custards, run a small knife around the sides of the ramekins, then invert the custards onto dessert plates.

 

Mail Order Bride: The Passion Flower

I've been obsessed with Passion Flowers for a long time now, and while they grow well in Southern climates, I never find the flowering vines at my local nurseries. But this summer, I was ready to incorporate them into my container garden for three very specific reasons - to photograph, to use as a garnish for tropical drinks, and to press the leaves for craft projects. I haven't gotten around to the tropical drink yet, but I had a whole lot of fun photographing the first flower this weekend.

I took a chance and purchased a tiny little seedling by mail order in late spring and waited, somewhat impatiently, for the vine to take hold. A couple of weeks ago, buds finally starting popping up and Friday, the first flower sprang to life. But it's an unusual sort of flower - it takes about 10 minutes from the moment the flower begins to bloom until it's fully open. Then it graces you with its exotic beauty for no more than a day, slowly closing up again before it begins to bear fruit. It's a heady, fleeting romance, with little time to waste. All the more reason to capture its beauty on film.

 

Starting with a basic painted wood background

 

Experimenting with light and color

 

Up close and personal

 

Inspired by the work of Mary Delany, I photographed the flower against black velvet (for full effect, click on the image to enlarge). This was a completely new approach to photography for me and I can't wait to try it with other flowers. 

Friday Evening Cocktail: Bramble

Lazy.  That's been my M.O. this summer. At the end of the day, my head is still popping with things I want to make, learn, and do, but more often than not, all of that latent passion is met with a stifled yawn, a cocktail, and a quick retreat into television series I've missed (so far this summer, I've seen the first seasons of House of Cards, Scandal, and Rectify). The busy days of fall will come soon enough. 

Because I've been so lazy, my cocktails have been pretty simple as well. One of my all-time favorites of summer is my husband's Blackberry Smash, and while I'll continue to ook forward to it every season, I've discovered another cocktail that offers me almost as much pleasure with a fraction of the labor. It's just four ingredients - gin, fresh lemon juice, some simple syrup, and a drizzle of crème de mûre, a blackberry flavored liqueur, over crushed ice (essential for optimal dilution). 

It's lovely and you'll want to drink bunches of them (even if you don't consider yourself a gin drinker), so pace yourself.  

Cheers!

 

Bramble:

2 ounces dry gin (I prefer Plymouth)
1 ounce fresh lemon juice
1/2 ounce simple syrup (see below)
1/2 ounce crème de mûre (blackberry liqueur)

In an ice-filled cocktail shaker, shake together the gin, lemon juice, and simple syrup; strain into a rocks glass filled with crushed ice. Drizzle the crème de mûre over the top of the ice. Garnish with a short straw, blackberries, a lemon wedge, or both.

Simple Syrup - Combine 1 cup sugar and 1 cup water in a small saucepan; stir to combine. Bring just to a boil, stir to dissolve the sugar, then remove from the heat and cool before using. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 months.

 

Note:

I crush ice in what's called a Lewis bag, a heavy canvas bag, and a wooden mallet. But you can improvise if you don't have such tools handy - wrap ice cubes in a clean dish towel and crush them with a meat tenderizer or something heavy.

 

Pasta Salad with Feta and Mint

Pasta salad isn't a particularly sexy concept, more a staple of potlucks than gourmet fare. But a good pasta salad, that's something to have tucked into your back pocket for impromptu summer gatherings. I encountered this pasta salad at a pool party, in a potluck setting, but I turned around and made a batch two days later, the intriguing addition of mint having captivated my palate. 

This is a great dish to bring to a gathering or keep on hand for a quick lunch or light supper. It's not at all "minty," but robustly flavored. In short, it's a keeper. 

 

Pasta Salad with Feta and Mint

1 pound fusilli pasta
1/3 cup finely chopped fresh mint
2 tablespoons + 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons + 2 teaspoons white wine vinegar
4 teaspoons chopped garlic
2 teaspoons finely grated lemon zest
1/2 cup olive oil
2 2/3 cup chopped plum tomatoes
1 15-16 ounce can garbanzo beans (chickpeas), drained
6 ounces feta cheese, crumbled
Additional chopped fresh mint

 
1. Cook pasta in a large pot of boiling salted water until just tender, but still firm to the bite. Drain and rinse with cold water. Drain again.

2. Combine 1/3 cup mint, lemon juice, vinegar, garlic and lemon zest in a large bowl. Gradually whisk in the olive oil. Add pasta, tomoatoes, garbanzo beans and feta cheese; toss to blend well. Season with salt and pepper.

Let stand at room temperature for 2 hours before serving (or cover and refrigerate overnight, then let stand at room temperature for 1 hour before serving). Before serving, garnish with additional mint.