delicious autumn

Delicious autumn!  My very soul is wedded to it,
and if I were a bird I would fly about the earth
seeking the successive autumns. 
~George Eliot

Somerset Studio Sep/Oct 2011

I adore all of the Stampington Company's magazines...but when I discovered them many years ago, it was Somerset Studio that took my breath away...I was officially hooked.  Ever since, I have been impressed with the quality of the publication and the enormous creativity within.   It is always very inspiring.

so I am humbled and very excited to share that I have an article appearing in the latest issue

Somerset Studio - Sep/Oct 2011

it is a beautiful issue - go grab a copy and curl up w/ a blankie and some tea :)

ARTSY SHOPPING!!!

I have often spoken about the fabulous East Coast art retreat

ART IS...YOU

The workshops are amazing but did you know there is awesome shopping as well?  Come check out the Art Trunk show for wonderful supplies, goodies and unique art!

VENUE
Art Is...You is being held at the Danbury Plaza Hotel which is located at 18 Old Ridgebury Road, Danbury. 

TRAVEL
Conveniently located off exit 2 or 2A from Interstate 84 in Connecticut, just 5 minutes away from I-684 & Rt.22 in Brewster, N.Y. and 30 minutes North from White Plains N.Y. on I-684.

Exit 2 if you are coming from New York
Exit 2a if you are coming from Connecticut
There is a large carpark.

ART TRUNK SHOW TIME -  Sunday October 9, 2011

8am-10am:  Preview for retreat attendees
10am – 5pm: Open to the public

5pm – 8pm: Retreat attendees - Raffle, Special presentation by Kecia Deveney, Flamingo Race, Cash Bar and bar snacks

 

AUCTION – On Sunday night they will have a “Brown Bag” auction.  Each fabulous donated item will have a brown bag beside it.  Purchased raffle tickets are placed in the bag associated with the item you wish to win and at the end of the night they will draw the winners. 

WE HOPE TO SEE YOU THERE!!

HURRY - you can still register!

Join us for some very special classes at
THE East Coast Art Event

this is a FABULOUS Art Retreat

"Metal Marionettes" Workshop - click here for info

ART IS YOU

DANBURY, CT

Oct 6 - 11, 2011

"Whiter Shades of Pale" Workshop - click here for info

Story Boxes Workshop - click here for info

DON'T MISS OUT ON THIS AMAZING EXPERIENCE!

We hope to see you there :)

picklin' time!

the garden has bursted forth w/ harvestable veggies
every evening I poke around my cukes, tomatoes, beans and peppers
I am amazed at how many mature just from the day before - the cukes are especially impressive

photo credit FoodMuseum.com

pickling has officially begun in our farmhouse kitchen - dilly beans, bread & butters, sweet green tomato pickles, etc - the canner has been bubbling and I adore seeing all of the jars lined up neatly in the cupboard filled w/ yummy veggies

just for fun...

The following pickle history comes from Mt. Olive Pickle Company. 

• In 2,030 B.C., cucumbers native to India were brought to the Tigris Valley. There, they were first preserved and eaten as pickles.
  
• Cucumbers are mentioned at least twice in the Bible (Numbers 11:5 and Isaiah 1:8) and history records their usage over 3,000 years ago in Western Asia, ancient Egypt and Greece.
  
• In 850 B.C., Aristotle praised the healing effects of cured cucumbers.
  
• Cleopatra attributed a portion of her beauty to pickles.
  
• The Roman Emperor Tiberius consumed pickles on a daily basis.
  
• Julius Caesar thought pickles had an invigorating effect, so, naturally, he shared them with his legions.
  
• The enjoyment of pickles spread far and wide through Europe. In the thirteenth century, pickles were served as a main dish at the famous Feast of King John.
  
• Pickles were brought to the New World by Christopher Columbus, who is known to have grown them on the island of Haiti.
  
• In the sixteenth century, Dutch fine food fanciers cultivated pickles as one of their prized delicacies.
  
• Cartier found cucumbers growing in Canada in 1535, and they were known to the colonists of Virginia as early as 1609.
  
• Queen Elizabeth liked pickles. And Napoleon valued pickles as a health asset for his armies.
  
• Samuel Pepy's diary mentions a glass of Girkins as something to be highly appreciated.
  
• In 1659, Dutch farmers in New York grew cucumbers in what is now Brooklyn. These cukes were sold to dealers who cured them in barrels and sold them from market stalls on Washington, Canal and Fulton Streets. As it turns out, these pickle purveyors started the nation's commercial pickle industry.
  
• A fondness for pickles has always been a national characteristic of the American people. It's a good thing, since our country's namesake, Amerigo Vespucci, was actually a pickle peddler in Seville, Spain. He supplied ships with pickled vegetables to prevent sailors from getting scurvy on long voyages. While Columbus is credited with discovering America, Vespucci was apparently a better PR man. We're named for him. We became the United States of America -- instead of the United States of Vespucci. And that's probably a good thing, too.
  
• George Washington was a pickle enthusiast. So were John Adams and Dolly Madison.
  
• Pickles inspired Thomas Jefferson to write the following:
  "On a hot day in Virginia, I know nothing more comforting than a fine spiced pickle, brought up trout-like from the sparkling depths of the aromatic jar below the stairs of Aunt Sally's cellar."
  We're still trying to track down Aunt Sally's recipe.
  
• In colonial America, the pickle patch was an important adjunct to good living. Pickles were highly regarded by all of America's pioneering generations because, under frontier conditions, pickles were the only zesty, juicy, green, succulent food available for many months of the year.
  
• In colonial times, and, much later, on farms and in villages, homemakers expected to "put down" some pickles in stone crocks, and to "put up" some pickles and pickle relishes in glass jars.
  
• In 1820, Frenchman Nicholas Appert was the first person to commercially pack pickles in jars.