My fellow Make and Take Gal, Poh, gave me a lovely book by Cami Walker called 29 Gifts. This little gem explores the trials of Cami's adaption to having MS. Along her journey Cami meets a Spiritual Director who provides her with life changing insights on the power of giving. Cami embraces the suggestion and we journey with her as life takes on balance, mindfulness, and joy! The abundance focus changes everything! There is a whole month of summer left, I suggest this read as a wonderful catalyst to send us into to fall and the giving season.
Poh is practicing what she is reading as well. This past month my community lost a very special young man. His parents asked me to make a quilt from his t-shirts, an honor that still leaves me breathless. When the box arrived I simply could not open it. It was Poh who came over and sat next to me, and then grabbed the scissors and pushed me to begin the task of preparing the blocks before I had time to think. Knowing I could not do this alone, she camped out in my home for 3 1/2 straight days until we finished the quilt and passed it on to be sewn together by a long-arm quilter. Poh was my angel for this project and asked for nothing in return. The ripples will extend far beyond the 3 days of time Poh gave me, and Cami's book has been a wonderful inspiration to share in this practice of abundance and mindfulness! Checkout Cami's website for stories and ideas here.
Poh hosted a wonderful morning of crafting cupcake stands and matching card and envelope sets!The cupcake stands were based on a model seen at the local paper store. We experimented with the pedestal shape, table top shape, and tablecloth or skirt additions... a bit like playing paper dolls!
Our finished projects together!
Once we completed the darling cupcake holders we moved onto designing matching card and envelope sets. Cards are a favorite session for the Make and Take Gals. We stock up our collections and each time make a fun and unique pattern. Poh bumped up the elegance factor with a lined envelope, which was so fun to create as we fussy cut paper to showcase just the right design!
We each created 25 unique cards to take home!Time for lunch!
Poh created a beautiful lunch of turkey burgers, three bean salad, and of course, cupcakes! Not just any cupcakes, but rosewater infused pound cake cupcakes with vanilla rosewater frosting. At each place setting was a small spice jar filled with dried bay leafs from her garden and we each took home an heirloom tomato start... wonderful!
Recipes
Garden Three-Bean Salad with Fresh French Dressing
1 cup canned white beans(cannellini) thoroughly rinsed and drained
1 cup radishes,quartered or sliced
Freshly ground black pepper
1 recipe Fresh French Dressing
1. In microwave-safe bowl combine green beans with1/4cup water and 1 tsp salt. Toss to distribute salt among beans. Micro cook, uncovered, on 100% power(high) for 3 to5 minutes or until tender. Set aside and allow to cool.
2. Place salad greens in a large salad bowl; add green beans,edamame,white beans and radishes. Add about half the dressing. Sprinkle with pepper and toss gently. Pass the remaining. Makes 8 servings.
Fresh French Dressing
In the blender combine 2 medium tomatoes,halved and seeded; 1/4 cup olive oil; 2 to 3Tbsp red wine vinegar; 2Tbsp tomato paste; 1Tbsp snipped fresh tarragon and 2 tsp Dijon mustard. Cover and process until thoroughly blended. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Tomatoes vary in juiciness; if dressing is too thin, blend in additional tomato paste,1 tsp at a time. Refrigerate until serving time.
Recipe from Better Homes and Garden June 2011
Strawberry-rose cupcakes
Makes 16
1cup butter, at room temperature
11/4 cups sugar
3 large eggs
1tsp. Vanilla extract
3/4cup buttermilk
21/2 cups flour
3/4tsp baking powder
1/4tsp baking soda
1/4tsp salt
1/3cup strawberry jam
11/2 to2tsp rose water
Cream cheese-rose frosting
21/2cups small rose petals(organically grown) for garnish
1. Preheat oven to 325 degree. Line 16 muffin cups with liners. Beat butter and sugar with a stand mixer until creamy. Add eggs,vanilla and buttermilk; beat until well blended.
2. Whisk together flour,baking powder,baking soda and salt in a bowl. Gradually beat into butter mixture until well blended.
3. Whisk together jam and rose water to taste in a small bowl. Spread 2 heaping tbs batter in each liner. Top with 1 tsp jam mixture, then another 2 tbsp batter, carefully spreading it to cover jam.
4. Bake cupcakes until a toothpick inserted toward the edge comes out clean, 25 to27 minutes. Let cool in pans 5 mins, then transfer to racks to cool completely. Spread with frosting and decorate with rose petals.
Cream-cheese-rose Frosting
In a bowl with a mixer, 4 oz cream-cheese and 1/4cup butter( both at room temperature) with11/2 to 2tsp rose water,1/4tsp vanilla extract and 21/2 cups powdered sugar until smooth.
From Sunset magazine
Gourmet Turkey Burgers
1 lb ground turkey
3oz sun dried tomatoes (not in oil)
3-4 oz flavored feta cheese (such as garlic & herb or basil & tomato)
1/2 medium onion
1 egg
Combine all ingredients and shape into patties. Grill or pan fry. Makes 4 - 6 burgers.
Templates
Feel free to enlarge these to make your own cupcake stands and envelope liners at home!
Cupcake Stand Template
Envelope Liner Template
Thank you Poh for a fun morning of friendship and fun! ~ MJ
Last evening Poh and MJ had the honor of being part of an intimate gathering at the World Affairs Council event in Portland, Oregon where Master Chocolatier Julian Rose of local Moonstruck Chocolate gave us a lesson on the process for chocolate from the harvest at the farms near the equator to the table in one of Moonstruck's 5 local cafes. Learning the journey from the correct growing conditions to the science behind mastering the 3rd highest traded commodity in the world! Julian Rose delivered an engaging and informative course with a sprinkling of stories and chocolate politics. He demystified this historically amazing fruit.
As the science gets closer to proving that cacao originated in Central America, Julian Rose detailed for us his crowning accomplishment this past year in rediscovering the believed to be extinct Nacionale cacao tree. Over 100 years ago this crop was wiped out by fungi disease in Equador. Last summer Julian Rose, through a happy accident, bought some interesting beans from a farmer in a remote wild forest in a valley of Peru. Finding the flavor to be good he questioned some of the basic structures of the cacao pod that he had not seen before. The farmer, Fortunato, also found the pods odd with the expected "purple" beans, but also some white beans in each pod. After examining and having the documenting of the Gnome, it was discovered that the bean was from the Nacional line and that the mother tree was actually part of this small wild crop. This news was monumental for the global chocolate industry and for proving that Peru has the actual origin Nacionale, not Ecuador. For Julian Rose it was a rare discovery and professional accomplishment to his already recognized talents as one of the top 10 Master Chocolatiers in the world.
The good news for us Oregonians is Julian Rose bought the beans and formulated two versions of single source chocolate for the Moonstruck label. Named after the farmer and the number of tests to confirm its origin, Fortunato No.4 is available in a 68% bar or the sophisticated Dark Chocolate Tumbled Cacao Beans. Our tasting of the single source Moonstruck chocolates was amazing. I may be awake all night, but the smooth and fruity tumbled bean was OH so worth it! Promising to tease our senses even further, Julian Rose is creating a drinking chocolate from Fortunato No.4 in time for Fall 2011!
Run, don't walk to experience this rare treasure or go online to Moonstruck to order the closest thing to Inca Gold available! ~ MJ
April was skipped over for our meeting last month as our members were pulled in other directions, so when I saw today was finally another Make and Take, I was filled with joy! We gathered at Poh's this morning and lingered over tea and carrot bread while we caught up on all the news. Then Poh had a little something extra to share by roasting garlic.
Roasted garlic Recipe:
Cut tops off garlic, making sure all cloves have top cut off. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, sprinkle with fresh Thyme, and then drizzle with olive oil. Bake for one hour, or until golden on 400 degree oven. Serve as a spread from the garlic head or remove roasted cloves and serve in your favorite recipe like mashed potatoes!
The house smelled divine as we worked on our main project. Favors, and darling ones that we would be making for an event that Jean's mother was sponsoring. Knowing we would be happy to produce the little satchels, Jean laid out a gorgeous array of pre-cut papers for us to get to work on. Soon the table filled with one cuter than the next, purse favor filled with mini-chocolate bars!
It wasn't long before the smell of the roasted garlic and Poh's cooking beckoned us to lunch. Once again Poh created a delicious selection for us to enjoy...and we did!
Purse Favor How To:
To make your own chocolate purse favors, which I think would make cute place card holders as well, take a decorative strip of 1 1/2 in wide x 6" long. Trim corners on one side and cut a solid complimentary color rectangle to glue behind the end where corners are trimmed. Rectangle and be 1/2" long by 1 1/2 wide. Then poke small holes 1 inch from layer end and 3/4" from the straight end. Fold the bottom straight end up under the layer end and secure with a colorful brad through the 2 holes. Insert 2 mini-chocolate bars that you double-side tape together and then again tape to bottom of purse. Pinch the top to form the triangle shape of the purse and cut a complementing piece of ribbon as the handle. We used double sided tape for all the securing. That's it! Enjoy as treats for Mother's day or your next party!
Thank you Poh and gals for another wonderful Make and Take!
