Slow roasted Salmon with Spring Herb Sauce

April 9, 2009 by carina 1 Comment

I got this lovely recipe book from the library a couple of weeks ago and finally got around to using it last night for dinner! I think the recipes are relatively easy and the photos are inspiring. There are probably 10 recipes I have marked in this book.

I really think this is a very easy recipe as it requires very little work and ingredients I generally have in my kitchen.

There are basically two parts: Cook the Salmon (and I did Chicken too because I knew my ids would prefer that) and Make the Lemon sauce. Let me see if I can decipher these ingredients from the picture…

SLOW-ROASTED Salmon with spring herb sauce

1 1/2 pouds fresh wild king or sockeye salmon fillet

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

Kosher salt

1 cup dry white wine

3 tablespoons finely chopped shallots

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

6 tablespoons unsalted butter

1/2 cup mixed coarsely chopped soft-leafed herbs such as basil, chervil, chives, dill, fennel, lovage, mint, sorrel, or tarragon, plus additional small tender herb springs for garnish

Coarse sea salt for finishing

(and remember that if you have my kitchen recipe digital kit that you put this one on a recipe card for your kitchen! It’s a keeper! I’ve been pretty good about documenting all my recipes as I have had many new ones recently and my little recipe box is getting nicely filled!)

So I’m sure you don’t have ALL those ingredients in your kitchen. I just bastardized it a bit, heehee. I only had flat leaf pasley and I used dried thyme to help. I did have the lemons and butter, but no shallots. I substituted a finely chopped red onion instead. I also threw in pasta as our carb…I know, not traditional with Salmon, but I knew that’s what my kids would eat.

For the salmon and chicken, you just let the meats sit in olive oil for about 30 minutes and then stick them in the oven until done. Salt them before they go in the oven. I then put the pasta on and made the lemon sauce. All you need to do is mix the wine, lemon, shallots, and a teaspoon of salt in a pan and let it boil until it reduces to half. Then whisk in the butter. Easy peasy!

And that’s it! Combine the pasta with some of the sauce, throw on the fresh herbs at the end (for the dry ones, I think I threw them into the sauce…once again bastardized).

[ad]

Beautiful Bedrooms

April 8, 2009 by carina 1 Comment

I’ve been dreaming of a beautiful bedroom these days. With my office in the bedroom and with my girls using it as their hang out room, it is currently stuffed to capacity. However, I found these 4 bedrooms on HouseBeautiful’s website to inspire me to help make my room a little prettier…

Florescent pink pillows…who knew they could be so stunning?

13-esquenazi-bed-0708-xlg-37833696-61379737

This one is probably my favorite. Soft, sweet, and bright. And SO comfy. Don’t you just want to climb into that bed, snuggle in, and read a book?

38-zises-bedroom-1108-xlg-85350845-73140694

The chandelier on this one is TO DIE FOR. Yum, yum!

52-makeoverwhite-bedroom-0208-xlg-80649091

I’m attracted to the colors on this one! I think that blue is in my living room…

95-klotz-bedroom-0708-xlg-91594807-55987306

[ad]

Easter Inspiration

April 6, 2009 by carina 1 Comment

I’m back from a bit of a hiatus from my blog. I’ve had a number of things barking at me these last couple of weeks and I’ve devoted myself to being a little more careful about what I choose to spend my time doing. I actually was sitting in on a seminar a few weeks ago that asked us to rate the top 5 things in our lives (things we like to do, wanted to spend more of our time on, etc.). We were then asked to take that list and compare it to what we ACTUALLY do with our day. This simple task is an eye opener. I found myself acknowledging that I didn’t want to spend my life living the way I was now (so busy and stressed out) and not doing the things that I LOVE. Life’s too short right? My number one thing I wanted to do more of was spend a little more quality time with my little family—especially my girls. They’ve always been my number one priority, but I decided to MAKE sure that if I am doing something other than being with them, that it is completely worth it (that’s one way to justify not getting around to the laundry, heehee). Other top things for me? Designing, of course. I am COMPLETELY passionate about it. Surprisingly enough, cooking came up high on my list too. I completely forget how much I enjoy cooking as I spend more nights quickly try to get dinner together at night without a thought to how fun the process is. So you may see a bit more cooking on this site as I flex my creative muscles and make myself spend more time on things I love doing!

What are your top 5 things? What do you care about the most? I really believe that we have the ability to DESIGN our lives…which is a task in and of itself. How would you design your life if you could? I have some ideas about how I am changing my life to be a little less busy and more dynamic and engaging! I am always seeking after beauty in my life and that is one of the things I hope to bring to anyone who reads this blog. I hope that creativity is an integral part of your life too.

Which brings me to what I originally planned on posting about today: Easter inspiration. This is such a wonderful holiday—for decorations, family, and reflection. Hopefully, you get a chance this week to think about your life and what you need and don’t need in it! And while you are pondering these very big questions, lol, here is some eye candy to make you happy and feel inspired for this holiday!

This is Bossy Feltworks etsy shop. What a little darling chicky, huh?

This one’s from SoMommySew. These birdies and colors are divine?

This one is from madepersonal and is so charming.

If you want something to tandalize your eyes and your tummy, you should read this post over from the kitchn. It’a an assortment of very pretty little cookies you can find at different locations. These are too sweet and are true eye candy:

Those ladybugs are KILLING me…and little umbrellas? So sweet! Hope this all makes you as happy as it does me! More holiday stuff all this week…because, well, how can I help it? Happy Easter, Passover, or whatever you choose to celebrate this season. The main thing is that you celebrate!

[ad]

And the winner is…

April 3, 2009 by carina 1 Comment

And the winner of the Peony PLace Extras giveaway is:

random

Congrats LiviaY! All you need to do is email me at carina@diginirvana.com and we’ll get you set up with those stamps! Thanks to everyone else for playing!

Giveaway! Peony Place Extras!

March 30, 2009 by carina 18 Comments

Hello everyone! It’s a giveaway week! The new line of Peony Place extras hits this week with these first three digital kits at Two Peas in a Bucket tomorrow.

carinagardner_2ps_peonyplace_extras_antiqueframesprev

carinagardner_2ps_peonyplace_extras_attachmentsprev

carinagardner_2ps_peonyplace_extras_prettybordersprev

Then more EXTRAS come out next week…here’s the sneak peek!

carinagardner_2ps_peonyplace_extras_brushesprev

carinagardner_2ps_peonyplace_extras_cleargelalphaprev

carinagardner_2ps_peonyplace_extras_infostampsprev

carinagardner_2ps_peonyplace_extras_nocardsprev

So here’s the giveaway! For every 30 comments on this post, I will giveaway 1 of these Peony Place Extras! Just comment on this thread and say which of the digi kit EXTRAS you wish you could have and you will be placed in the drawing. Easy peasy!

This giveaway will end on this Friday! And the more comments (1 comment per individual for this giveaway) the more I will giveaway! It’s a win-win!

>>Go back to the home page for the most up-to-date posts!

[ad]

The Joy of Cooking’s Carrot Cake and The Cure

March 29, 2009 by carina 3 Comments

I recently signed up to do The 8 week Cure with many others at Apartment Therapy. I am currently reading Maxwell Gillingham-Ryan’s Book—Apartment Therapy: The eight-step home cure. “The Cure,” to boil it down, is an eight week program meant to help organize and make healthy our living spaces. There are several things you do including declutters, room remedies, and more. My favorite thing is to bring home flowers once a week for my home. I always put my flowers on our table because then I’ll actually clean it up! Dirty dishes and flowers don’t really match, you know?

img_2161_sm

And, to top it off this week, the cure is all about deep cleaning the kitchen. INTO it! My kitchen really needed it! One of the things you do is a new recipe. While I bought ingredients for a couple of new recipes, today I felt like I wanted to revisit a recipe I haven’t had a chance to make for awhile! I thought I’d share because it’s one of my favorites! It’s The Joy of Cooking’s Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Icing. I made sure and got it onto one of my recipe cards today so that I wouldn’t have to drag the book out again for it!

CARROT CAKE

Serving: 12
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 50 minutes

1 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
2/3 cup vegetable oil
3 large egg
1 1/2 peeled and finely grated cup carrot
1 cup walnuts, finely chopped
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 freshly grated or ground teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
1/2 teaspoon salt

OPTIONAL:
1 cup golden raisins
1/2 cup crushed pineapple, lightly drained

1. Have all ingredients at room temperature, 68°F to 70°F.

2. Preheat the oven to 350°F.

3. Grease and flour two 9×2-inch round pans or two 8×8-inch pans or one 13×9-inch pan, or line the bottom with wax paper.

4. In a large bowl, throroughly whisk together the flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, all-spice, and salt.

5. Add the vegetable oil and eggs, and stir together well with a rubber spatula or beat on low speed.

6. Stir in the carrots, walnuts, raisins and pineapple (if using).

7. Scrape the batter into the pans(s) and spread evenly.

8. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 25 to 30 minutes.

For me, I always do the pineapple, but never the raisins or walnuts. I also added coconut and vanilla for my own special twist!

CREAM CHEESE FROSTING

Beat 8 oz. cold cream cheese (not rock solid, but it means you can use it straight out of the refrigerator) with 5 Tbsp. softened butter and 2 tsp. vanilla until combined. Gradually add 2 c. powdered sugar that has been sifted after measuring. Continue to add more sifted powdered sugar until you reach a consistency and sweetness that fits your taste.

[ad]

Running with the Leopards—5K Race

March 28, 2009 by carina 1 Comment

No designerly posts today. Just a quick post to say that Josh and I ran a 5k today with his East High alma mater (the high school recognizable for being the place High School Musical was filmed). About 700 people showed for the race. It was cold. This is a terrible picture of us, but I thought the snow on the mountains nicely demonstrates the cold.

A final note…my husband beat me. I’m guessing by about 3 minutes. We ‘ll see when the race results come out. I also had a momentary scare when I was sprinting in and managed to fling my iPod. Don’t ask me how…it just happened! Thankfully it was sort of a frisbee fling and it landed in the grass. A race chaperone (is there such a thing? You know, that guy who stands on the side and watches races and gives times) picked it up (thankfully!)

[ad]

Easter Birdie Nests—Kid Edible Project

March 26, 2009 by carina 4 Comments

We made these edible easter nests that Siri is obsessed with it. I guarantee they’ll be a hit with your kids too! Plus they are easy!

Add a peep birdie for extra sweetness!

All you need is:

Chow Mein Crunch Noodles

Chocolate Chips (We like milk—it’s naughtier)

Shredded Sweetened Coconut (optional…I like it, the kids don’t)

jelly bean eggs or whopper eggs

Peeps chicks

Heat up a pan and melt the chocolate chips. Add the chow mein noodles and mix gently. I usually heap half into spoonfuls on a plate or tray and then mix the coconut in for the rest. Let your kids add the eggs and peeps. Easy Peasy!

[ad]

Nunchuck skills, bow hunting skills, glue gun skills…

March 25, 2009 by carina 1 Comment

Last night before the girls went to sleep, I pulled out some of my extra “bits and ends” and decided to make the girls a couple of clips. Siri just got a haircut (which has been FANTASTIC!), but means I need more clips for her to pull her hair from her face.

I bought alligator clips and just made a couple because I decided that Siri’s hair is too thick for these tiny ones I bought. I’ll be off to the store today to buy bigger ones so we can make more! (Siri was REALLY into it). First thing this morning, she asked to wear the clip we made.

All I did was lay down some thin ribbon on the clip and hot glue the two crochet flowers to the clip. We also glued two tiny pink gems in the centers of the flowers. Easy! And Siri is happy to boot! Glue gun skills…gotta love them!

[ad]

New Products at 2Peas and Card Nirvana

March 24, 2009 by carina 1 Comment

It’s a release day! First, check out Card Nirvana’s new poppy card! Isn’t it cute? Use it for a spring party, birthday, easter egg hunt, garden party, or whatever!

And it’s Tuesday! That means 2Peas Releases. I’m still running the Peony Place Line! So two more kits to add to this this week:

[ad]

Photoshop Tutorial: Silhouettes

March 22, 2009 by carina 8 Comments

My first Photoshop tutorial! It is created using a fabulous program called Jing. This photoshop tutorial was created in a swf file , so hopefully you will be able to watch it…you may need to download the latest version of Flash to watch it. I sort of zoom through the tutorial because I only had 5 minutes to show everything (the limit on jing).

Here’s the project: creating a family silhouette art piece for your living room. I show you how to create this silhouette in photoshop and then take it into Illustrator for clean up. I’d suggest the tutorial for intermediate users, but if you are a beginner, it wouldn’t hurt you to watch it! You can pause it as you work on your own.

I created my first silhouette of Siri when she was 2 years old. I thought it was a great way to document the subtle changes in my little girl. I have the screenprint of that piece in my living room. I love silhouettes and my original idea was to hang individual tiny portraits of each member of the family. However, do you know how HARD it is to find a decent oval frame? So I decided to go with the square frame and put all of us (my husband, Josh, myself, and two daughters) into one piece. Inexpensive art, always a plus!

Want to watch a larger version of this video? Click here.

[ad]

Easter Projects

March 22, 2009 by carina 2 Comments

Easter is fast approaching and I haven’t even begun to think about Easter projects for me girls. Our favorite is the peeps chicks in chocolate nests with jelly been eggs. Siri was just asking to do those the other day.

You should also check out the Easter Projects on Martha Stewart’s website. Look how cute these spring chicks are!

There’s also a slew of Easter decoration pictures. I am more motivated to get a few things together this week!

If you doing anything fun for Easter, post here!

[ad]

March of Tools: The Wacom Tablet and Card Scan Reader

March 18, 2009 by carina

In honor of March of the Tools, I decided to feature two of my favorite tools: My Wacom Tablet and Scan Card Reader. My Wacom Tablet I’ve had for a out 2 years now and love. Last May, however, when we moved from Minnesota to Utah, my Wacom pen was lost. I had placed it in my mother-in-law’s carry on bag and it somehow got lost in the mix. So I’ve been without a Wacom pen for most of this last year. Last week I couldn’t stand it anymore (mouse drawing is NOT that fun) and I ordered a new pen. I told Josh I ordered a new pen and he said, “Well, you know what’s going to happen now don’t you? You’re going to find your other pen!” I thought he was silly because I had already torn apart the whole house looking for it.

So last night, my mother-in-law drops by and upon seeing my new pen sitting at my desk, tells Josh (I wasn’t there), “I just found one of those at my house! I meant to bring it by.” I couldn’t BELIEVE it! Serendipitous?

So I am so happy I have my old pen and can send back the new one (which I have had for a total of 1 and 1/2 days and was a small chunk of change).

My Card Scan Reader is another tool I can’t live without! Did you know that using your regular USB to hook up your camera to your computer is suppose to be hard on your camera? So our IT guy at work gave me this. It works for 5 kinds of cards and Josh and I use it for both the point and shoot camera and my Canon Rebel. It’s SO fast and pretty inexpensive! And hey, if it extends the life of my cameras, then it is DEFINITELY worth it!

[ad]

St. Patrick’s Day Freebie

March 16, 2009 by carina 4 Comments

Here’s a quick freebie for you if you don’t really have much green (I don’t:). So I’ll wear this little badge to work tomorrow (and my kids will wear it just for fun!)! Just download, print, and cut out. No pinching!

Download st. patrick’s day freebie

[ad]

Finding Design in Everything: Form and Function

March 15, 2009 by carina 1 Comment

I was thinking about form vs. function…the time old question of which comes first (think the chicken and the egg) and how they inform each other. Form, the shape or medium that an object or service is in, and function (how it acts or works—the purpose of the object). Designers often say “form follows function.” So for example, a chair isn’t really functional if there is no seat. The form of the chair is dictated by what it’s purpose is (to sit in).

I was thinking about this question in particular as it happens last Saturday. I was trying to figure out a fun afternoon activity for my kids. I came up with the age old “cheerio necklace” since we had everything for it. I was thinking about how a cheerio wouldn’t work for this fabulous activity if it wasn’t for the hole in the middle, therefore making it’s form “functional” for this activity. I mean, you’ve never heard of a Life necklace or a Captain Crunch necklace?

I have no idea why they chose the “o” shape for the cereal, but I found this if you want to know anything about the cooking process of these little cereals. Anyway, this is my very little tidbit on how form and function influences even the tiniest parts (and perhaps insignificant) of our lives. I sure do love those Cheerio necklaces! If you have a form vs. function story, please share!

[ad]