Juneau, AK: Wearable Art Runway Show

Every February the Juneau (Alaska) Arts and Humanities Council holds a Wearable Art Extravaganza. I took the pictures below at the 2010 event, when I was working in Juneau. I was pretty floored that such a fashionable event was taking place in Alaska. But really, I should not have been surprised. Alaskans are inventive and love re-using materials. The lady with the blue hair has a dress made out of milk cartons. 

This colorful ball gown was made entirely from paint chips. Put this one on your calendar for next year!


The final bow and a chandelier made from balloons.

Growing Mushrooms

In the spirit of our upcoming move to the pacific northwest, I've been thinking about growing mushrooms. at home. on a log. on some wood chips. Whatever might work. I hear the conditions are good for this type of project. Get more info about growing mushrooms here. Find mushroom varieties to grow by difficulty here.

Or pick up one of these vintage 60s Arabia mushroom bowl designed by Kaj Franck. From etsy store The Laden Branch.

Mom's Homecooking: Very Veggie Fishloaf

This salmon loaf recipe was originally published on Cayenne & Carob March 18, 2008. I've since pumped it up with dark leafy green veggies and this definitely warrants an update. My mom still makes her original recipe and sometimes I can get away with making this souped-up version.

Baked Salmon Loaf
Adapted by Cayenne from The Greater Yukon Cookbook, Galena, Alaska

2 cups cooked salmon (either leftovers or jarred salmon)
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1/4 cup butter

Use butter to grease loaf pan and to saute whatever veggies you can find. At a minimum onion, celery and garlic work just fine. I am a huge fan of kale or swiss chard in this recipe. Just chop a cup or so, saute it briefly and mix with the rest of the veggies. You can also add some spicy peppers, like New Mexico green chilis. Or just throw in some hot sauce. I've also found feta to be a nice addition but you don't need too much 1/3 of a cup or less.

Mix your assortment of veggies with the egg and salmon flakes. Turn out into the loaf pan and press down so the top is flat. Bake for 40 minutes at 350 degrees.

The loaf shrinks up considerably and will feed 2-3 as a single main course or 4 if you add a big salad.

Wake-up: Budding Roses

photo credit: Cayenne 05.16.10 in Fairbanks, Alaska

vintage rosehips platter from etsy shop retrovert vintage 

Wake-up: Paper Birch

photo credit: TEB 05.18.10

canadian birch paper straws from anthropologie

Spring Fun: Blueberry, nectarine, and merlot sorbet

Blueberry, nectarine, and merlot sorbet

5 cups fresh or frozen blueberries (reserve 1 cup for last 2 minutes)

1 cup sugar (white or light brown will work too)

2 cups H2O

Zest and juice of 1 lemon

1 nectarine chopped

Bring all ingredients to a boil and simmer 10 minutes. When you have 2 minutes left put in reserved 1 cup of blueberries for added texture.

Cool mixture completely. Test sugar content by floating a raw egg in cool mixture. Only about a nickel's worth of egg should be showing. Add as much sugar syrup as needed for this balance. At this point you could freeze this base and thaw it later when you are ready to make a batch of sorbet.

Add 2 cups blueberry/nectarine mix to your ice cream maker plus your choice of 1/2 cup red wine - merlot or cabernet.

Follow your ice cream maker's instructions. Mine only took 30-40 minutes. 

Status of the Blog Update

It has been 2 years since I've posted anything here on the ol' blog. So long, in fact, that I was surprised to find 16 draft posts just waiting patiently in line. I was not intending to post here anymore, but these drafts are too tempting. We'll see how long it takes for me to get them out, hopefully not another 2 years :-)

Blogging has always been something that I enjoyed to do in my free time. When I moved to Washington, DC, in the fall of 2010, my free time quickly became non-existent. 

Since 2010 several new social media services really enabled me to connect with family and friends, and keep track of the design trends that I loved to share here on the blog.  Cayenne & Carob elsewhere on the web:

twitter: cayenne_carob | pinterest: cayenne | path: cayenne

In August of 2012, I moved back to San Diego and started an independent consulting company which has again taken up a lot of time over the past 6 months. Now we are getting ready to move to Seattle, WA, at the end of April. Let the adventures begin!

Cayenne

Spring Fun: Sorbetto

Mashing the grapes for grape-mint-lime sorbetto (last summer).
Sorbetto is best the day it is made, but I'll eat it anytime.

Last summer, I borrowed a friend's ice cream maker for a few weeks. The result was a series of sorbetto experiments. Our favorites, the aforementioned grape-mint-lime and nectarine-apple with maple syrup. With the help of our juicer the possibilities are endless.

I'm still fiddling with the sugar substitutes/concentrations to make something low sugar - maybe this summer I'll be more successful. The grape-mint-lime was made with 1/2 the amount of sugar that the recipe called but the texture was more granada-like and there would have been no way it would form "scoops."

I used this Lottie + Doof Framboise Lambic Beer Sorbetto recipe, which was adapted from The Ciao Bella Book of Gelato and Sorbetto by Pearce and Zecchin, for the proportions.

• ~4 cups fresh fruit juice of your choice
• 1 lemon (juice only)
• Simple Syrup (1:1 water and sugar)

Over medium heat combine water and sugar. Whisk often and simmer until all of the sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat and let cool.

This is where things get a bit tricky - how to add sugar syrup while taking into account the sugar content of the fruit you used. I am no expert but will point you to this technique over at Fresh Sliced Fruit Daily. Look toward the bottom of their Tangerine and Grapfruit Sorbetto recipe, hint: it involves a raw egg.

photo credit: Cayenne 07.19.10

Copenhagen: Noa Noa Danish Clothing Store

This palena cotton ticking dress by Noa Noa came home with me!

The Bohemian Wardrobe Company, is an online shop that sells the Danish clothing brand Noa Noa.

US source for Noa Noa, Narcisse in Portland, OR; I know where I am headed next time I'm in Portland.

I fell in love with this whistle tunic but it was 100% wool, which I'm allergic to, but you can buy this from Inis.

Their carefree bohemian-style translates into super cute clothing for little people too.

photo credit: top and bottom two images from the Noa Noa website

Copenhagen: Winter Street Style

Francine by Lars Daniel

Mette, Copenhagen Winter, by Phil Oh on Street Peeper

Linnea, waitress, on The Copenhagen Street Style blog

Inspiration: Copenhagen, Denmark!

A recent visit to Copenhagen -- my first trip to Europe -- has me itching to blog again. Stay tuned!

photo credit: Nyhavn winter classic by Flumm_Jesus2

Year of....

Happy Hour!!

Be that for the drinks or food, you will find me out and about on the early side.

There was another option pretty high up on the list, but I was more excited about a year of h-a-p-p-y hour.

image credit: Happy_Hour_Club_CA by PopKulture

Wake-up: Tis the season...

...for giving at KIVA. I've mentioned Kiva before and I just wanted to remind you this holiday season that this is a wonderful, fun way to give a hand up. I am still re-loaning the $100 that TEB gifted me through Kiva.

I give in $25 increments and my most recent loan was to a man in Columbia that makes leather goods by hand. You can search by many different parameters, e.g. female, type of industry, location. Give KIVA this holiday season.

Disclaimer: I have not been paid or compensated in anyway by Kiva. I truly believe that they have a great business model and that they help people all over the globe.

Wake-up: Tis the season...

...for union suits. yah know, the one piece jumpsuit PJs. Outfit the whole family!

Teenager:

Jack Wills' Shelderton All-in-one, $90

Exhilaration union suit, $20 Target

Trendy Aunt and Uncle:

J. Crew classic union suit, $70 (grey and red stripe)

Sports enthusiast:

Burton midweight one-piece, $100 (made for outdoor sports)

The Parents:

LL Bean two-layer union suit, $50

Baby:

Polarn O. Pyret classic striped eco romper, $50

Quick Dinner: Veggie Soup Base

Looking for a way to use up some turkey leftovers? Try my quick dinner veggie soup base. I normally bake some foccacia during the time it takes to make the soup base.

The secret ingredient is a German seasoning called Seitenbacher Vegetarian Vegetable Broth and Seasoning. I found it at Rainbow People whole foods grocery store in Juneau. Silly me for rationing my one small bottle when you can go buy loads of it on amazon right here. It is cheap, ~1$/ounce, light weight, and vegetarian making it perfect for backcountry travel or the urban hiker who has to hall their groceries for blocks (yup, that is me on both accounts).

Vegetarian Broccoli Soup Base - perfect for Thanksgiving leftovers

Inspired by GP's Detox broccoli and arugula soup recipe, I blogged it here.

Makes 2 servings (multiple 4-6 times to make enough for freezing)

1 tbsp olive oil

3 cloves garlic minced

1 onion chopped (any kind you have on hand)

1 head broccoli chopped (including the thick stems)

2 1/2 cups water + Seitenbacher (according to directions for amount of water)

1/4 tsp course salt

1/2 lemon juice

Saute the onion and garlic in the olive oil. Once onion is soft add your water and Seitenbacher. Bring to a boil, turn down heat, and simmer until the broccoli is soft (~20 minutes). Purée with an immersion blender in the pot or transfer to a regular blender (be careful blending hot liquid and don't fill the blender more than halfway full). Freeze all your extra soup base in tupperware or ziploc bags (lay flat on cookie sheet until frozen to have stackable units).

Now comes the fun part. Clean out your fridge and add whatever looks good, e.g. brussel sprouts. After Thanksgiving we torn up some turkey and threw in some mini tortellini (the dried kind from Trader Joes). Simple. Your done. Enjoy!

photo credit: Cayenne 06.22.10

Wake-up: Fall has arrived

Yup, fall is here. I quite enjoy fall with the beautiful colored leaves, crisp air, and layering of clothing that circumvents having to wear a heavy jacket.

My capitol hill neighborhood is bursting with color.

Red leaves across the street from our house.

photo credit: Cayenne 11.06.10 and 11.13.10

Weekend: DC Tweed Ride 2010

There were many a dandy and quaintrelle on the streets of DC this Sunday afternoon, including myself. We had so much fun dressing up and riding from Lincoln Park to Stroga in Adams Morgan.

Many ladies had on high heels and everyone was dressed to the nines. I will be expanding my tweed collection in preparation for next year and also looking for some seersucker for the summer ride. Ride info here on Dandies & Quaintrelles: Redemption through Style.

photo credit: grey suit by maxedaperture; quaintrelles ride in heels by Oisercage

Wake-up: I'm still here...

...exploring bustling DC.

...finding a routine.

...commuting 2 hours a day.

...enjoying happy hours.

...settling into the house.

All this takes up the majority of my time and leaves so few spare moments for blogging or cooking. Am I cooking? - not so much, just the quick dinners that I've posted for the past two years here on Cayenne + Carob.

Am I reading blogs? - a few but mostly enjoying the more graphic blogs.

I don't know where this blog is going to end up after my career transition. In the meantime you can still find me on twitter and on Pinterest.

Pinterest is a virtual pinboard. Looking for neat architecture, interior design, or fashion/style there is a cache of boards for you to browse through. I pin a dozen images a week so go check it out. Keep up with me there while I figure out what I'm doing here.

Sign up to create a profile and pin images on Pinterest.

Follow my pins via RSS feed.

photo credit: Cayenne 09.25.10, American Visionary Art Museum (Baltimore, MD)

Wake-up: Bed on the Floor

I moved to DC with no furniture, thus am still sleeping on a mattress on the floor. We mistakenly bought off craigslist the wrong size mattress so even that is not going to stay.

As always craigslist is touch and go - we bought a large table and four chairs for only 80$ but then the mattress was advertised as a queen but when we got home it clearly was a full size (our fault really, seller was foreign). A mirror we purchased at IKEA was cracked along the edge hidden by the cardboard packaging. And we are still searching for an inexpensive couch.

I wish my floor bed was as serene as the one above with the Swedish Crux blanket by Pia Wallen. Buy from Pia Wallen website (~800$ USD).

photo credit: Pia Wallen Crux blanket found via Door Sixteen blog

Weekend: Workshare at Clagett Farm

My first weekend in DC we completed a workshare at the Cheasapeake Bay Foundation's Claggett Farm. Two of my good friends reccomended this great farm where you can work for 4 hours in exchange for 1 share in their community supported agriculture food box. Two adults working a 4 hour shift on a Saturday morning mean we took home 8 pounds of 4 different kinds of squash, and 4 pounds total of green beans, okra, tomatoes, and all-you-can-pick herbs.

Our work on the farm included picking 3 different varieties of beans, cucumbers and cleaning up a rotting melon field. There were black widow spiders involved in that last task. By 1p we felt as though we definitely earned our workshare. I hope to be able to do a workshare once a month depending on if we can a ride out to the farm.

Clagett Farm

11904 Old Marlboro Pike
Upper Marlboro, MD 20772
301.627.4662

CSA pricing: 600$ annually for new members (pick up in Dupont Circle)

Workshare info: workshare opportunities are available Thursday-Saturday. Call 301.537.3038 between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. on the Thursday or Friday before the Saturday you would like to come to the farm. Bring a water bottle, work gloves, and a good hat to shield the sun. The farm is located approximately 30 minutes from Capitol Hill by car.

Directions: follow the driving directions written on the website

photo credit: Cayenne 09.04.10