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Brand, Canning, DIY, Mixed Media, Recipes, Updates

Pickles & Press

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What a whirlwind of a week it’s been… Well, I guess almost two since my last post! I’ve since been an embroidery machine as made by laura lee was featured in the Austin 360 (by the Austin American Statesman) Holiday Foodie Gift Guide! This is the biggest bit of press that my little handmade business and blog has received yet.

In between embroidering Texas Towels, I took breaks by baking banana bread and pecan pie as well as whipping a quick batch of refrigerator pickles. I love having pickles around as a cool, crips snack or a great addition to a cheese plate or sandwich.  Here’s a quick and easy recipe for you!  Oh yea, these are a little zingy!

Quick Zingy Fridge Pickles

  • 2 32-ounce mason jars
  • 3 cups of cider vinegar
  • 3 cups of water
  • 2 cucumbers, washed & sliced
  • 6-10 small sweet peppers, washes, quartered, and seeds removed (you can use bell peppers instead)
  • 1/2 red onion, thinly sliced
  • 3 garlic cloves, sliced (optional)
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 2-3 tablespoons kosher salt
  • 2 tablespoons pickling spice
  • 1 teaspoon cayenne
  • 1 teaspoon red chili pepper flakes
  • 1 teaspoon chili powder

Version 2

  1. Clean and prep cucumbers, peppers, onions, and garlic
  2. Stuff clean mason jars with cucumbers, peppers, and onions
  3. In a saucepan, combine vinegar, water, garlic, salt, sugar, and spices then bring to a boil
  4. When vinegar mixture has come to a rolling boil, place mason jars in the sink and pour the mixture into mason jars
  5. Place lids on the jars and wipe down outside of any spills
  6. While cooling, place jars on a towel on the counter (towel acts as a buffer so the hot glass does not cool too quickly and shatter). Leave jars out until room temperature
  7. Place jars in the fridge.  Pickles will be ready in a day or two
  8. Enjoy!

 

Uncategorized

Cyber Monday = Cookbook Sale

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cyber mondayThank you to everyone that shopped this weekend in honor of Small Business Saturday! I’m delighted that I’ve got my first few online orders and even some custom orders for the holiday!

That being said, I wanted to join the cool kid and let you know I’m offering a 50% off sale for a download of my digital cookbook – laura lee’s kitchen. If you’ve been interested, now is the time! As my mom would say…”Five dollars, no hollers!”

 

Brand, custom, Embroidery, Food, Updates

I’m Full & Ready for Tomorrow

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I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. I’ll tell you what… Mine was one for the books. My jeans currently don’t fit, my cheeks hurt from laughing, and I couldn’t be more proud of the feast that I prepared. If you didn’t see what was on the menu, you can check out the list from a week ago, here.  I even tried my hand at my first cherry pie ever.  It wasn’t the prettiest, but it was definitely delicious.

Of course, I’ve already begun nibbling on leftovers with a turkey, stuffing, and cranberry sauce taco. There have already been mumblings of requests for more pecan pie to be made, which I will gladly oblige after writing this post.

Now that the food coma is starting to wear off, I’m getting excited about my online shop being live.  Tomorrow is Small Business Saturday and I’m feeling pretty official now that I have a humble little online store.  So, if you have been wanting to support local shops, artists, makers, and businesses, now is the time! Take a peek and get your orders in.  There is a page for embroidery, gift sets, and the cookbook.

Story, Updates

The Shop Is Open

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IMG_2745Good morning, beautiful people! Despite being kept up later than expected, I was awake before the 5:15 am alarm came ringing.  I’m one cup of coffee in and I am just waiting for the sun to come up so I can get my day going!  I’m eagerly awaiting to load up my truck with bags of food to drive to a quaint little house in the woods in Canyon Lake, Texas. A little house where you cannot see any signs of a neighbor and the only thing that will give us away is the cloud of smoke billowing from the smoker that is about to make our beautifully smoked turkey tomorrow.

Embroidery-4That being said, there is still some work to be done in between baking pies and buttermilk rolls today.  In fact, last night I feverishly updated my online shop with embroidered goods and gift sets!  The furniture shopping page is still in the works as I figure out shipping, which may take some time! But I’m delighted with the first steps.  It hasn’t been easy getting all these things aligned and it’s taken much longer than anticipated.  I’ve been holding off getting the online shop up and going because I wanted to wait until it was absolutely perfect, but a year has passed and I’m still waiting.  Therefore, it was time to bite the bullet and get the shop launched.

So please, if you have a moment, take a look, perhaps get some ideas for your holiday shopping.  Also, remember to get any custom orders in by December 1 and you will receive 10% off!  You can get your ideas to me by contacting me here.

I’m so thankful for your continued support. I wish you all a wonderful Thanksgiving.

Gift of Giving Guide-4

 

 

 

Food, Updates

Thanksgiving Menu

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Thanksgiving is almost here.  I admit it completely snuck up on me this year and on top of that I have signed myself up to cook a feast in someone else’s kitchen.  I love the holidays.  I love cooking for people.  So cue up the holiday music and let’s get ready.

The Menu

After careful consideration of everyone’s requests and dietary needs, I have curated a menu that I, myself, am looking forward to eating.

Turkey Day Menu

While I won’t be smoking the turkey, I will be feverishly prepping everything else in the days to come, like whipping up this coconut milk brown sugar ice cream this week.  I’ll even be dusting off my Grandmothers pecan pie recipe that she fine tuned and has been using since 1966. You can bet that everything will be made from fresh ingredients, homemade from scratch.  No canned yams or cream of mushroom here.

That being said, I’m so thankful to be spending the holiday with people I love and that love and have welcomed me into their family.  May you all have a wonderful time prepping for the Turkey Day Festivities!

 

Story, Updates

Cold, Coffee & Comfort

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First off, let me say, is it cold enough for you? A chilly morning it is here in Texas indeed.  Flurries in the forecast? I vaguely remember leaving the brisk winters of Boston behind over a decade ago, yet here I am… Cuddled up under the covers with a cup of coffee that I can’t keep warm.

I have my morning ritual: my alarm goes off and I sleepily slide on my slippers, shuffle to the kitchen, press brew on the coffee maker, and crawl back into bed until the smell of freshly brewed coffee permeates the house.  I then shuffle back to the coffee pot to blindly concoct my morning cup, take my first sip, and then the life of the day begins.  Admittedly, I shuffle back to bed and hold my cup close to my heart and think about the day before, the day at hand, and what I want for the next.  Every. Morning.

This has been my routine for years.  I could sleep an extra hour, but I have always taken great comfort in this routine.  I’ve tried to read or to write morning pages.  It just doesn’t work.   As I sit and write this, yes, I’ve been up for three hours already, none of the other morning rituals have ever worked for me.  In fact, the agitation I feel when I try and switch it up is so immense, it’s not worth it.  This is what makes us creatures of habit.

To be honest, I’m not entirely sure why I am sharing this with you today.  I didn’t have it on my agenda to post a blog.  I suppose part of me needed to write, to open up, as my last few weeks have been rather tumultuous and I feel great guilt as I enjoy my cup of coffee, an addiction in and of itself, while another loved one struggles with their own; perhaps I am curious to know of others morning rituals to find peace before the chaos of the day ensues, either way, it feels good to be writing.

There is something about the gusts of wind howling from the window behind me, it reminds me of the back and forth of the ocean. It will be time to suit up to head outside soon enough, but until then, I sit with the pup, down comforter, and my cup.  However, your day begins, whatever it brings you, and what you bring to the table, I hope it is everything that you dream it to be.  Thanks for your continued readership.

xoxo, 

Laura Lee

 

DIY, Food, Recipes

Roasted Eggplant with Goat Cheese, Pomegranate & Pistachios

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A few weeks ago, I snuck up to St. Louis to spend a few days with my mom and her wonderful husband.  It was exactly what the doctor ordered.  While my folks were at work, I spent my mornings reading with the sunrise and coffee and taking walks around Historic Lafayette Park.  During the day, I would catch up on some much-needed adulting I needed to do then saunter off to my mom’s plot at the community garden to collect vegetables for dinner.  One night I whipped up this eggplant dish and accompanying main of stewed tomatoes and rainbow chard… more on that to come.  For now:

Roasted Eggplant with Goat Cheese, Pomegranate, & PistachiosIMG_2659 2.jpeg

  • 3-4 Japanese eggplant, sliced in half the long way
  • 1 four-ounce packet of goat cheese, crumbled
  • Pomegranate seeds, half a pomegranate
  • 1/4 cup of roasted pistachios
  • 1 tablespoon almond oil (I skimmed the oil off of an almond butter jar)
  • 1 lemon, halved
  • 2 tablespoons parsley, minced
  • 1 tablespoon honey, optional
  • salt and pepper to taste
  1. Preheat oven to 400ºF
  2. Place sliced eggplant facedown on a lightly oiled baking sheet, place in oven and bake until tender.  About 25 minutes
  3. Remove from the oven.  Flip eggplant cut side up and lightly glaze the cut surface with almond oil and squeeze lemon across the eggplant.
  4. Top eggplant with goat cheese, pomegranate, pistachios, parsley, and salt and pepper to taste
  5. For a little extra pizazz, you can, ever so sparingly, drizzle honey on top with a little extra sea salt.

Enjoy!

Brand, Embroidery, Recipes, Story, Updates

Good Things Are Happening

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IMG_1552
Blueberry Basil Jam & Vanilla Ice Cream (recipe & photo from laura lee’s kitchen)

It’s been a pretty exciting week around here.  Last week the laura lee’s kitchen – digital cookbook went live on the website and is now available for download.  Not only that, but I was also featured in a write up by Voyage Houston this past week as well. This was the first little bit of press that made by laura lee has ever received.  It’s pretty exciting!

Two big firsts for me!  I’ve got plenty more firsts coming later this fall as well.  I’ve feverishly been working on a new “Fall” line of embroidery that will be featured in the rolling out of the new online store! Doesn’t that sound très trendy?  Not to mention, I may or may not already be in panic mode for the holiday gift ordering season.  It’s coming, whether I’m ready or not! In fact, make sure to get your orders in.

While I sip my spiced chai, I’ll be sitting here embroidering away.  If you haven’t purchased laura lee’s kitchen – digital cookbook, you can order it here.  And if you’re unsure about the cookbook, feel free to catch up on some more Laura Lee reading here in the Voyage Houston Article.

 

 

 

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Fall Is Here

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Just looking at the calendar today, I realized that we are officially in the first days of fall.  In Texas, it means there is one more month of the heat of summer before we can start pulling out long sleeve shirts and sweaters.  Even if it is just to wear them at night.  At our little homestead, we’re prepping the beds for fall, beginning to daydream of stacking firewood for winter, and pulling seeds from our catalog.

On the made by laura lee front, I’ve been working up my own plans as well.  I have made the decision to begin phasing out of performing on a regular basis to solely focus on crafting, canning, refinishing furniture, and more.  I will be rolling out a new line next month too, just in time for Christmas shopping. While it feels too soon to even mutter those words before the Halloween decorations are put out, the holidays will be here before you know it!  There will be some major work done to the website too.

I’m excited to share with you my progress along the way.  Thank you for your continued support.  Have a great week and I look forward to sharing more with you soon.

 

 

Fermenting, Recipes

Some Like It Hot

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Back in February, I attended the Mother Earth News Conference where I sat in many a talk, workshops, and more.  One of the workshops I sat in on was Kristen Shockey’s of Ferment Works.  In just a short hour, Shockey covered the basics of fermenting and was also able to walk the crowd through making mustard and hot sauce. 

Since then I’ve made several batches of hot sauce and experimented with the different mustards.  In fact, in this house, I can’t make them fast enough and have to make double batches.  I’ve been tweaking them a little bit and adding more hot peppers. Because we like it hot, you know, spicy.

IMG_2086

Fermented Hot Sauce

  • 2 bell peppers
  • 5 habaneros (I actually use 6)
  • 2 teaspoons salt 
  • Mason jar
  • Blender
  • Gloves for cutting peppers
  • Make sure cutting board, mason jar, and all other equipment is clean
  • Remove stems and seeds from the peppers, and chop
  • Place all peppers and salt in the blender.  Blend until smooth
  • Pour into the mason jar.  Make sure sauce fills the jar at least 3/4 full 
  • Screw the lid on tight and store in a dark cabinet
  • Twice a day, unscrew the lid enough to let the air escape.  This is called burping.  (I literally say, “It’s time to burp the babies”)
  • You can let your hot sauce ferment anywhere from 3-14 days.  I typically ferment mine for two weeks.  

This is great on everything that you would put hot sauce on eggs, tacos, beans, and rice, etc.