Despite the fact that I've been a slacker and just couldn't find the time to photograph and post a listing for the mini-wristlets to match the camera cases, I've been filling orders for them by special request. And since I had a couple on the schedule for today, I figured I may as well give them a good chunk of time and make enough to photograph for a shop listing:



Aren't they just the cutest?
Of course I was intending them mainly as an accessory to the camera cases, but the little snaphook makes them handy for keys or whatever, too.



I want one in every fabric under the sun!

In case you haven't noticed, custom-sized camera cases are officially in the shop! Get yours now in the fabric of your choice. Matching mini-clip wristlets are available but I haven't gotten around to making a listing for them yet so if you want one convo me and I'll list one especially for you.

And then, allow me to exclaim once again that getting our weekly CSA box full of tasty fresh stuff has me feeling like I've won the lottery. (Which has me wondering how I am ever going to survive without it once the growing season is done?)

Here's a look at this weeks' bounty:

That's carrots, green beans, heirloom onions, napa cabbage, baby lettuce mix, real new potatoes, kale, parsley, arugula and raspberries...what a treat!

One of the best parts of getting this surprise veggie pot luck every week is that it encourages me to really get creative and step outside my cooking box. And while I tend to improvise a lot of the time anyway, I'm finding that I'm becoming even more adventurous as the weeks go on. And being someone that tends to get bored easily, that is a fabulous thing. But the absolute best part is the all-out variety and the fact that having a fridge stuffed full of such a diverse bunch of veggies has eliminated one of the decision making steps in the whole ingredients-to-meals process.
Because I tend not to be good at making decisions.
About anything.
So my favorite time of the week has become when I'm just back from the farm and unloading our box with my wheels turning thinking of the possibilities for each gorgeous item.

Tonight's meal was a no brainer. Beef, blue cheese and arugula. It's a match made in heaven, and as soon as I pulled the super fresh, extra peppery bunch of arugula out of the box I knew that that was what it would end up as:


For being all of a 15 minute meal, this was fantastic. The beef (tenderloin tips) got a quick marinade in balsamic, evoo, plenty of salt, pepper, crushed rosemary and marjoram, plus a drizzle of honey. The mushrooms got tossed in, too and after 20 minutes or so everything went onto the super hot grill for a quick ride to charred but medium rare. Meanwhile, I slathered some good blue cheese dressing on a baguette and added a big handful of arugula in preparation for tucking in the chunks of warm beef.
Completely, utterly delicious and ridiculously quick and easy. It's the kind of sandwich that makes for perfect picnic food because it seems a little different and special without being complicated.
The slaw was some of the napa cabbage and carrot julienned with a creamy dressing that got the perfect amount of perk from a little horseradish. I don't know why I don't use the horseradish trick more often, because it turns what can be boring, creamy slaw to something you can't get enough of.
And don't forget the mushrooms! These were so yummified from their marinade bath that I could have been completely happy just them in place of the beef in the sandwich. Another note to self: mushrooms + arugula = yum.

Labels: cooking food csa

Have you ever looked back at your blog archives and realized that you used to be way more interesting? It seems like I had way better photos and way better things to say a couple of years ago.

What happened to me?

Anyway.
Tonight brings us #2 "dump dinner" as Knit-Whit calls it.
Peanut noodle salad:


made with leftover peanut sauce from last nights' chicken sate which was what Boy requested in honor of the Project Runway season 5 premier.
Number one dump dinner was the side of curry rice and vegetables I made to go with the chicken by sauteing a whole slew of super fresh CSA veggies in some oil and curry powder, dumping in cooked brown rice and mixing the whole thing up with a couple of plops of garlic-curry mayo that was left over from our last mini Bombay Slider adventure. Both that and tonights' noodles were super quick and easy and best eaten at room temperature making them perfect hot weather food. Plus I get to feel good about not having containers of leftover condiments hanging around in my fridge.
And in case you were wondering, the best most perfect peanut sauce recipe ever for noodles or sate or whatever, is here. It's the one I've been using for at least a decade, and all I did to get the dish above was dump it on some cooked noodles and toss with the julienned veg.

And then.
More bacon than should ever be in one place at one time, aka bacon-critical mass:



Somebody call the pork police.

That, friends, is 20 pounds of supremely tasty, perfect bacon. The bacon beneath which all other bacons pale and shrivel (literally) in comparison.
And it's mine all mine.
Because the grocery delivery place that I've used for so long that I've pretty much forgotten how GO grocery shopping is going out of business, and they're the only place I know of to get my beloved Lorentz Meats short of driving to Cannon Falls and buying it direct.
So I had to stock up, because the idea of being without this bacon, like ever, makes me perspire and shake.

I'm thinking I shouldn't need to start looking to score for at least a year or so now.

Whew.

And yep, that's the same Lorenz Meats you read about in Michael Pollan's book.

No, not my nephew Casey...

Camera case-y!!


I'm so excited to get to send these out! I had a ton of fun making them although I must say I agonized a bit over the fabric choices not knowing y'alls taste. If I've completely missed the mark for any of you, my apologies. Please feel free to re-gift (and then visit my Etsy shop where I will be happy to custom make you another in whatever fabric or leather thrills you :) .
I have my fingers crossed that they fit and are useful for the lucky winners. I decided to put a little d-ring tab on them for cuteness and to allow them to be clipped to an optional little mini wristlet:



'cause we're all about the matching accessories here at S.C.

Your own custom sized camera case, coming soon to my Etsy shop!

Totally random picture, that, and for some reason I can't even really remember what went into the dish other than the ingredients that are obviously recognizable. But I do remember that it was really tasty and I didn't want to leave you photo-less for an entire post.

Whew. I've been playing hookey with an extra long 4th of July holiday weekend and am just now reclaiming the responsibility of activities of daily living beyond cooking and eating and drinking and playing hostess.
We were fortunate to have our first official houseguest for the holiday weekend. It was fun, and I think he survived the Modern in MN experience fairly well. He didn't even seem to mind too much the fact that the guest room, aka the furniture graveyard, is still really more like indoor camping than actual guest quarters.
Fortunately, guys tend to be easy that way.
Plus he's now got bragging rights to having had full, exclusive use of our New York Times featured guest bathroom, (for which I wrangled up a nifty shower curtain install using IKEA's KVARTAL system and some basic hardware store goodies...reveal coming soon on that over at Modern in MN). Gotta love crisis decorating mode for forcing me to get those languishing projects finished up. Now if only I could bust that kind of move on painting and sourcing furniture for the guest room, we'll be set.
So, not to keep y'all in suspense any longer....time to announce the winners of the first ever S.C. camera case giveaway!!!
I asked the guys to pick five numbers between 1 and 35 which was the total number of entries.
And the winners are:
Claire
Eli
MaryRuth
Emily
Joanna

WHOOOHOOO!
It's going to take me a bit to catch up on my slacker-age from over the weekend, but as soon as I do that, I'll get to work on them and get in touch with y'all for address info. And remember, these are sort of prototypes, so your feedback and comments are welcome, as are the great suggestions and ideas some of you have already offered.
Hurray for cute and happy cameras!
And if you didn't win but have a camera in need, I'm hoping to make the cases avaliable in my Etsy shop within a couple of weeks.

That, friends is a camera case. A custom order requested by one of my Etsy customers that's sized to fit perfectly (I hope) her small digital camera.
Cute, eh? It's even padded!



In fact, I think it's so dang cute that I'm going to make them a regular shop offering. The only problem is, I don't have a small, handbag-sized digital camera of my own to make a sample for. It's on my list, yes, but every time I'm at the store thinking of buying one, I realize I (still) haven't done my homework and therefore have no idea which one I should buy.

Anyway, here's where you come in. I need some camera measurements to help me develop a bulletproof formula for making these on demand, in any size. So, if you leave a comment here with the dimensions of your pocket camera (no dslr's or the like) , length, height and width, before the end of the week, you might just get yourself a free Splatgirl Creates camera case like the one above.

That's right, it's a giveaway! The first!

Just be sure I have a way to contact you to get your address should you be one of the winners. I'm planning on picking five winners, or, since it's likely that only five people will enter anyway, you'll all win :)