Dairy Free Buttermilk

I love baking.  I try to keep it as dairy-free as possible for the lactose intolerant people in my life (including me to a small degree).  Milk is the number 1 pain-inducer for me, so we made the switch to soy milk years back.  Eventually we found our way to almond milk, which in my opinion has a far superior taste.  Did you know you can make your own buttermilk from any dairy-free milk replacement?  

 All you need is your dairy-free milk and either lemon juice or vinegar.

Put 1 tablespoon lemon juice or vinegar into a glass measuring cup.  Pour enough dairy-free milk in to fill to 1 cup.  Allow to sit for 5 minutes before using in a recipe.  Enjoy!

Marbled Picture Frames

Talk about a fun, easy, and cheap project!  This occupied my evening last night until far too late.  It was one of those evenings – out with friends and home with every intention on going to bed, but alas, art got in my head instead.  Once I am set on a project, I have to complete it, or it just completely takes over my brain’s functioning ability.

Supplies needed for this project:

  • old/cheap frames that can be dismantled
  • disposable bucket/container for water that is big enough for your frame to fit inside
  • assorted nail polishes 
  • newspaper for drying frames on
  • toothpick for swirling designs
  • fan or well-ventilated room, if doing this project indoors
  • gloves (optional, for keeping hands cleaner)

I started with 3 cheap frames from a dollar bin at a big box store.  The yellow was a nice color, but since they were from the dollar bin, the paint job was cheap and chipping off.  Nothing some paint wouldn’t fix!

Next, I rummaged around and found some of my cheaper and dying nail polishes.  Then I filled a bucket, big enough to fit the surface of my frames, with water.  Then, carefully poured a mixture of nail polish colors onto the surface of the water.  If you pour too fast, some of the nail polish will pop back up to the surface of the water.

Once the design was complete, I dipped my disassembled frame carefully just onto the surface of the water.  Then, I quickly lifted the frame straight up, so as not to ruin the design on the surface.

Here is the marbled design of the first frame.  Allow the frame to dry on newspaper for an hour, at least.  Keep using the same water, just use a piece of folded newspaper to skim the nail polish off the surface and then add new colors.

 For my second two frames, I decided to create a new base color with red and dark silver nail polish.  After the base coats were dry, they too were marbled.

The water bucket will have droplets of remaining nail polish leftover at the bottom and edges.  This is why it is important to use a disposable container.  When I was completely finished, I poured the water into a trash bag that was already full of trash that would soak up the water.  Do not pour down drains or flush this water!

I created some marbled sticky labels after the frames were done.  I plan on using these to label boxes and bins to keep my art room organized.

The frames look great alongside Greta’s abstract painted frame that she painted for me.

Sweet Potato Corn Chowder

This soup is the perfect cure for the end of summer to beginning of fall blues.  Kind of miss the pool with the lingering hot days, but loving the cool sweatshirt nights?  Yeah, me too!

I used some leftover corn on the cob to make this corn and sweet potato chowder – it’s something I have been thinking about for a few days now.  The best part is it used up quite a few of the veggies I had sitting around, fearful of letting go to waste.

The other nice part?  Dairy & animal free.  Sometimes I just need something that is vegan.  I know, some of you are probably scratching your head.  However, sometimes I also just need something animal derived.  I do what my body tells me to do (within reason).  That paint palette cutting board was a gift from my new art teacher colleagues!

Trusty Ninja purees soup with ease.  Just be sure and let it cool a bit, and make sure the lid is on tight, and make sure a fragile toddler isn’t near by to watch it loudly explode in the kitchen.  True story.  I had some double clean-up that night – tears and spilled soup.

She is quite the kitchen helper these days though.  Flipping through the cookbook is a new favorite activity, all the while asking me, “What this?” at every photograph.

Sweet Potato Corn Chowder – makes 6 – 8 servings.  Adapted from Better Homes and Gardens, Better Soups & Stews, 2003.

1. In a medium saucepan, in hot oil, over medium heat, cook 1 cup whole kernel corn, 1 small yellow onion, diced, and 2 cloves of garlic, minced.  Cook until the onion is tender.  Add 16 oz of broth.  Bring to boil; reduce heat to simmer.  Simmer, uncovered, 10 minutes, until slightly thickened.  Stir in 1 cup dairy-free (or real) cream and 1/4 teaspoon pepper.  Allow to cool slightly.

2.  Place cream mixture in blender container or food processor.  Cover and blend until smooth.  Return to pan and keep warm.

3.  In a medium saucepan, cook 1 cup whole kernel corn and 1 large peeled and diced sweet potato until sweet potato is softened.  Drain.  Stir into cream mixture.  Add 1 teaspoon fresh chopped parsley.  Serve warm.

NC Home Collage

North Carolina Home, collage & mixed media on paper, 9 x 12″, 2013.  
Do not reuse image without permission. 



Our Iowa home has something  new and interesting to grace its spacious gallery-like walls – a collage.  This collage makes use of old Greensboro maps, vellum, scraps of wall paint from the old house, and acrylic painting.  Since this was our first home, I made this for Eric – coincidentally one of the first artworks I’ve actually made for him.  Eric remarked on the house drawing, “Wow, I’ve never seen you use a ruler before to make art!”  Hey, there’s a first time for everything.  

Salmon Cakes w/ Lemon Yogurt Sauce

This right here is one of my favorite types of meals – roasted vegetables and fish, specifically salmon.  I always start to crave this kind of meal when things start to turn towards autumn – even when I just think it is starting to turn.  However, it’s still hovering in the 90s around here this week.  Seriously, is it October yet?

The roasted veggies are simply carrots, red potatoes, a red bell pepper, olive oil, peppers, garlic flakes, and fresh rosemary.

These babies are easy – so easy I had to remember to write down what I did tonight so I could actually publish the recipe!  So much of what I cook is just on a whim and based on what looks right and feels right.  This blog has forced me to be more observant and also created more consistency from each dish to the next.  It’s also nice having my own personal portable cookbook to turn to no matter what home or coast I am on.

Is it October yet?!  Stay tuned for fun Walking Dead ideas for all your Walking Dead party needs!

Salmon Cakes w/ Lemon Yogurt Sauce – makes 4

1.  Preheat oven to 425 degrees.  Spray an 8 x 8 inch pan with cooking spray or olive oil, set aside.

2. In a medium mixing bowl stir together with a fork, 1 – 14 ¾ oz can salmon, ⅓ cup panko, 1 teaspoon dill, and 2 eggs.

3.  For sauce: mix ½ cup plain yogurt, 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice, 2 teaspoons lemon zest, and 1 teaspoon chopped fresh parsley.  Top cakes with yogurt sauce and serve immediately.

4.  Bake 18 – 20 minutes, or until golden brown on top, setting the oven to broil for the last 2 minutes.  Top cakes with yogurt sauce and serve immediately.

{Better Than} Best Pizza Crust Ever + Drawing App

Sometimes accidents are happy ones in the kitchen.  I was trying to make dinner the other night and Greta was in the process of melting down – I simply waited too long to start dinner for her sake.

I tried to make my favorite pizza crust, from memory.  Usually this isn’t so hard, but when your toddler is screaming, it doesn’t work as well.  This crust appears in the previous post, Best.Pizza.Crust.Ever for dinner and knew as soon as I started to mix, that something was wrong.  I decided to roll with it, modified a few things, and hoped for the best.  I guess there was always the option of a sandwich and a can of soup if this failed.

I realized I had doubled the water, so to compensate, I added more flour and some cornmeal.  It ended up being so sticky that I did not knead it, instead stirring thoroughly.  After rising (it filled the bowl!) I punched it down, coated my hands thoroughly in olive oil and spread it out on the cast iron pizza pan (works great on the grill, too!).  When I baked the pizza, I used the convection setting to ensure it was baked thoroughly.  
This crust turned out to be a fantastic deep pan-like crust that had a crispy exterior and a soft chewy interior.  Eric having not been around for the mess-up, didn’t know the entire story.  When he tried the pizza his first comment was, “Wow, did you make this?!”  He said it was by far the best crust ever made in our house, so I quickly grabbed a pencil and paper and wrote down my error.  

Greta wasn’t all grumps that night, she has been enjoying a new art app I got for my classroom – called Drawing with Carl.  There are tons of neat paintbrush shapes to use – including this interesting pixelated one.  There are roller brush patterns that turn into various patterns once drawn.  Stamps create dots, stars, ink splats, and more.  The icon with the red and green circle creates stickers of creatures, dinosaurs, facial features and more.  The free version is very good – the upgrade offers more stickers plus a watercolor brush and oil pastels.  I highly recommend this app for kids and adults alike.  Eric always muses that I seem to like Drawing with Carl more than Greta does.

Add dinosaurs is by far her favorite part of this app.  The dinosaurs and mammoth roar and make noises when added or moved around the screen.  There is a funny little red guy with a big mouth – he has a neat feature too, but I will let you figure that one out for yourself.

{Better than} Best.Pizza.Crust.Ever. – makes one 14 inch deep dish pizza


2 cups tepid water (105 degree water)

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus more as needed

2 tablespoons honey
1 ½ teaspoons kosher salt 
3 ½ cups all-purpose flour
¼ cup cornmeal
1 packet active dry yeast
1. Mix flour and yeast in a bowl.
2. Mix warm water, olive oil, honey, and salt in a bowl or glass measuring cup.  
3.  Make a well in the dry ingredients.  Add liquid ingredients and mix well – 5 minutes.  

4.  Let rise in a warm spot for 45 minutes.  (Turning the oven on at 350 for one minute creates the perfect dough rising environment.)


6.  Punch down dough and let rest for 10 minutes.  In the meantime, preheat oven to 425 degrees, on convection setting and prepare pizza  pan with oil. 
7.  Coat hands in olive oil, remove dough and stretch into size on pizza pan.  
8.  Add tomato sauce to top of dough and bake on bottom shelf of oven at 425 degrees for about 10 minutes before adding other toppings.  This will ensure you do not get the doughy, uncooked center.  

9.  While your crust is baking, prepare toppings.  (For this pizza I used sliced fresh tomatoes, sliced fresh mushrooms, basil, minced garlic, and sliced spicy meatballs – real or fake work fine).  
10. Bake pizza in 425 degree oven for about 12 – 15  more minutes or til done, on the lowest oven rack.

Zucchini Cakes + Iowa City

Ok, so not cakes that are sweet, but nice little baked goods that are somewhere between a frittata and tater tot and oh so good.
These babies were so good I made them two nights in a row at our house!  I still have loads of zucchini to use up – so of course the zucchini recipes are still coming!  I have quite a bit of zucchini in the freezer right now, just taunting me.  

The first part takes planning and is crucial – allowing the zucchini shreds to dry out between layers of paper towels in the fridge, at least overnight.  This way your finished zucchini cake isn’t a soggy mess.

Mix the ingredients together in a bowl.  I used cheddar chunks one time and cheddar shreds the second, both were equally tasty.

 Fill 12 sprayed muffin cups.

Bake until golden – 15 – 20 minutes at 400 degrees.  You should end up with a dozen ½ full muffins or cakes.

Part of our Labor Day weekend was spent in Iowa City – both Eric and I are Hawkeyes, so it was fun to get back to that town for a day.

We met my parents there and started off with a hearty and delicious breakfast at the Hamburg Inn No. 2.    It is a well known spot for college students, locals, and travelers alike – also a common presidential stop.  Their pie milkshakes are world-famous.

Greta loved the bridge over the river to the art building.  So many treks were made across there in all kinds of weather.

We made a stop in the Macbride Hall Museum of Natural History.  This museum is free and rivals the best museums in the biggest cities.  The dioramas are superb, the giant sloth is frighteningly large, the mammal hall impressive, and the bird hall chock full of a dizzying array of all things feathered.

We made a trip to the Macbride Raptor Project, which is about 25 minutes outside of Iowa City near the reservoir and Sugar Bottom.  Again, free, and completely worth the trip – the birds housed here are either unable to live in the wild due to injuries or human imprinting.  

We ended the holiday weekend by drying more tomatoes.  Greta is my helper with removing stems and washing.  

 An afternoon fishing trip at my parents’ pond was the best end to a near-perfect weekend.

This photo sums up my love of a perfect summer, almost fall day.  Does it get any more gorgeous than this?



Zucchini Cakes – makes 1 dozen

1. Shred 2 cups of zucchini.  Spread in a plate, between layers of paper towels and refrigerate overnight.

2. In a mixing bowl, mix together 2 cups zucchini, 1 cup panko, ¼ cup shredded cheddar cheese, ¼ cup shredded Parmesan cheese, 2 cloves minced garlic, ground pepper, and 2 eggs.

3. Grease 12 standard muffin cups.  Fill 12 cups with zucchini mixture – should be about ½ full. Bake in a 400 degree oven for 15- 20 minutes or until golden on top.  

Sea-themed Half Bath Makeover

½ bath before makeover.  

Our ½ bath downstairs had a lot going for it and yet, a lot to be desired when we first moved in.  The shutters, which covered every window all over the house, had to go.  They made the tiny bathroom so much darker.

½ bath after makeover.  
The old laminate floors were replaced with a synthetic tile – it has a little give to it, which I like.  The removal of the shutters and use of the frosted glass-like window cling obscures the window without losing daylight.  This bathroom’s window helps to light the hallway, so this was the better choice than blinds or curtains.  

½ bath before. 
The tile is in fine shape, but the paint needed a fresh coat of glossy white.  After the floor was changed out, we had to raise up the pedestal sink a bit, and then re caulk the sink to the wall.  That crazy hook had to go as well. 

½ bath after. 

It was much harder than we realized to find a new cabinet, due to the size and shape of the hole in the wall behind it.  You can see the crack in the tiles in the bottom left corner of the cabinet, above.  So, we opted to use living room paint and some paint samples to spruce it up for the time being.  Who knows, it may even become a permanent cabinet.

I added an ocean mixed media piece I did back in 2006 – keeping this bathroom sparse was my goal.

 The cabinet’s interior is sharp in this deep blue.

My Fishbones, in Greensboro, cut metal fish and two striped towels from Ikea rounded out the sparseness. 

My favorite part of this bathroom is the surprise ceiling mural.  This came from the sea motif in this bathroom and a spark of inspiration one late night after Greta was in bed and Eric was out and about.   I figured if he really hated it, primer would cover it nicely.

I used two samples for the tentacle paint.  The top one is the Pantone color of the year – Emerald.  I have plenty left over and I love this color, so I think it will end up in a few more places in our home.  The bottom color is called crocodile smile and it is a summer 2013 Lowe’s paint sample.  The Lowe’s sample looked better in the jar than on the ceiling, I think.  

This lovely light blue is a sample from Ace Hardware, called Grace Harbor.  I used a cork to stamp the circular patterns on the ceiling.  I love these little paint samples, they are a great way to test a color and excellent for small projects.

The last touch was to add a storage shelf above the door.  I have always thought this is a smart idea for a bathroom, especially smaller ones.  It leaves no guests searching for t.p. or tissues.  Greta’s hand washing stool is handy for short people like me.

Apricot Corn Muffins + Tomato & Sausage Cornbread

Cornbread and corn muffins have and always will be a staple around my household – they were when I was a kid and will continue to be into Greta’s childhood.  I have two recipes that are easy and quick – one savory and one sweet, but both easy as pie to make for a snack or meal.

The first recipe comes from the need to use tomatoes.  No, don’t worry, I will not go on a tomato binge like my previous zucchini posts.  Though I admit, I am not done with zucchini recipes, merely resting from them for the time being.  This gorgeous tomato comes from my mother’s garden, along with hundreds more.  Tomatoes anyone?

This dish is truly something worthy of a painting – soft and chewy on the inside with lovely bites of tomato and sausage (I opted for fake) with a crusty Parmesan pepper top.  This is sure to please all – real or fake sausage.

This was our dinner tonight – tomato sausage cornbread and steamed green beans.  More mom’s garden vegetables – the green beans are so good this year.

Greta asked me for seconds tonight because she helped me to prepare them!

These sweet treats were born from a large quantity of fresh apricots on the verge of being non-edible in their raw stage.  Necessity is the mother of invention, most certainly in the use it or lose game of baking and cooking.  The addition of fruits and vegetables to cornbread requires a little more baking time – so watch the oven and use a knife to ensure you avoid doughy centers.




Tomato & Sausage Cornbread 

1. Grease a glass 8×8 inch baking dish with margarine, set aside.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. In a medium bowl, mix together 1 cup cornmeal, 1 cup flour, ¼ cup sugar (OR 2 tablespoons Truvia Stevia blend), 2 teaspoons baking powder, and ½ teaspoon salt.

3.  In a glass measuring cup, combine 1 cup (almond) milk, ¼ cup vegetable oil, and 1 beaten egg.  Combine with flour mixture in a few swift strokes, scraping the bottom of the bowl to ensure adequate mixing.

4. Chop ½ large or 1 medium tomato into ½ pieces.  Dice 1 sausage (real or fake) into ½ inch wide pieces.  Fold into batter.  Pour batter into prepared pan.  Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and grate fresh peppercorn on top.

5. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 to 35 minutes, or till knife inserted in middle comes out clean.

Apricot Corn Muffins – makes 12

1. Grease 12 muffin cups with margarine, or line with paper, set aside.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. In a medium bowl, mix together 1 cup cornmeal, 1 cup flour, ¼ cup sugar (OR 2 tablespoons Truvia Stevia blend), 2 teaspoons baking powder, and ½ teaspoon salt.

3.  In a glass measuring cup, combine 1 cup (almond) milk, ¼ cup vegetable oil, and 1 beaten egg.  Combine with flour mixture in a few swift strokes, scraping the bottom of the bowl to ensure adequate mixing.

4. Cut in ½ and remove pit from 6 fresh apricots.  Place one apricot in the bottom of each muffin cup.  Pour batter into prepared muffin cups.  

5. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 to 35 minutes, or till knife inserted in middle comes out clean.



Chocolate Zucchini Cake + Shrimp Boil

Getting an elementary art room ready has been consuming all my time here lately.  Case in point, this post deals with events 2 weekends ago.  We had a gathering at our house to celebrate family from afar, from from nearby, and a friend who will be moving back to her home afar.  

Cooking for 10 can be tricky, but I pulled out the trusty shrimp boil.  I used Martha Stewart’s shrimp boil because I love her spice bundle for this recipe.

The spices are laid out on cheesecloth and then rolled with a rolling pin.  I just thought they looked gorgeous. The flavor was complex and complemented the shrimp, potatoes, and Adel sweet corn well.  The spices were good enough I could have drank the broth for a meal.

 These two photos just make me smile.

It was so nice to see everyone together from the west coast to the Midwest to Japan – even 2 of the 3 goofy animals were included!

We had dessert and naturally I continued my zucchini recipe binge.  I figured out a sweet and chocolately way to use up zucchini – Zucchini Chocolate Cake from King Arthur.  I did swap out and substitute a few things, see below for the less dairy & less sugar version.

I went for a dark chocolate version with no milk or butter and Truvia Stevia blend instead of refined white sugar.  

This cake was so moist and aside from that little white seed that is visible in the bottom left corner, you would never know that there is zucchini in this cake!

Zucchini Chocolate Cake 

1) Preheat the oven to 325°F. Lightly grease a 9″ x 13″ pan.

2) In a large mixing bowl, beat together 1/2 cup (8 tablespoons) margarine, 1/2 cup vegetable oil, ¾ cup + 2 tablespoons Truvia Baking Blend, 1 teaspoons vanilla, 1 teaspoon baking soda, ½ teaspoon baking powder, and ½ teaspoon salt until smooth.

3) Beat in 2 large eggs.

4) Stir in the ½ cup almond buttermilk (place 1 tablespoon lemon juice in measuring cup and fill to ½ cup with almond milk, allow to sit for a few minutes) alternately with 2 ½ cups flour.

5) Add ¾ cup dark chocolate cocoa and 2 teaspoons espresso powder, mixing until smooth.

6) Fold in 3 cups shredded zucchini (about 1-10″ zucchini) and 1/2 cup dark chocolate chips. Spoon the batter into the prepared pan.

7) Bake the cake for 30 to 35 minutes, until the top springs back lightly when touched, and it seems set.

8) To ice the cake: Slide the cake out of the oven, sprinkle it evenly with the 1 cup dark chocolate chips, and return it to the oven for 5 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean.

9) Remove the cake from the oven, and use a cake spatula or rubber spatula to spread the chocolate chips into a smooth glaze. Cool on a rack.

Yield: 24 servings.