Tuesday, June 28, 2011

how summer is playing out...


Summer has been a bit tricky this year with many distractions involving summer school, a two day power outage and chilly temps (just to name a few). These happenings have left me a little late in getting my summer groove on. But a brief get away (on my own) this past weekend with very special friends and a beach town set things right an I'm moving into full time summer mode. Tara inspired me to fire up some homemade pizzas but I have a problem. I have so many great crust recipes I can't decide which I like best and which one consistently results in a beautiful blistery crust. So this week we are doing our own little pizza cookoff to determine which recipe will be our tried and true favorite. I'm also experimenting with toppings and am going to start with black olives, rosemary and roasted garlic, spinich, feta, slow roasted tomatoes and pine nuts and pesto, roasted red pepper and goat cheese. In other kitchen news I am addicted to sweet and spicy goodness of the caramelized cashews with cayenne pictured above. I've made peppered pecans and candies walnuts in the past, and while they are lovely, they've got nothing on the buttery cashew encrusted with crunchy maple syrup with the kick of cayenne and warmth of cumin (although i have been using 1 tsp ground cumin instead of the 1 1/2 whole cumin called for). In the studio I've been working on a block print which still needs a bit of tweaking. I've gotten the image where I want it to be but still have to fool around with the text for the dinner plate. This week I will surely find my way back to encaustics and hope to share some new works by the end of the week. I hope your summer is in full swing!

ps: what's your favorite pizza topping?

6 comments:

Carole Reid said...

Yummy! Summer sounds delicious at your place! We are all wondering if summer will ever come to Vancouver Island. It's still cloudy and cool here. Sigh.

I love your lion cut. I think I'll have to find my tools and cut something myself. Thanks for the inspiration.

artslice said...

I love that block print...will it be a placemat?

Michele Maule said...

Loving the block print and your pizzas sounds so delicious! It's been so cool here in Oregon, I feel like Summer is delayed a bit too...

Eydie Kugler said...

Beth,

I stumbled on your blog today for the first time and found out we are neighbors. I live in Buffalo Grove.

Love your blog, there is much inspiration and beauty.

I look forward to connecting with you again.
xoxo

belinda marshall said...

the block print is looking gorgeous and the pizza sounds delish!
i love halloumi cheese {which i can't have anymore :(}, green olive and lemon on a thin crunchy crust!
happy summer!

tangled sky studio said...

carole-summer arrived at a snail's pace this year but happy to say it did arrive!
brenda-not a place mat but it sure looks like one, right?
michele-thanks : )
eydie-nice to meet you. i checked out your blog and saw that you are also a taurus (like me) and have a child named sage!
belinda-i am mad about cheese but have never tried halloumi...i will look for some and give it a try...thanks for sharing a fave : )