Avocado

Original oil painting, 6 x 8 inches, canvas board

Narrow street in Arles

5 x 7 inches, Oil painting on canvas

Onions & Garlics

6 x 8 inches, Oil painting on canvas board

Two figs

4 x 5 inches, Oil painting on canvas board

Calanque de Sormiou

8 x 8 inches, Oil painting on canvas board

My family and I recently visited France, more precisely in the Luberon region. It was absolutely beautiful. This painting is the Calanques de Sormiou, a bay located very close to Marseille. I'm extremely envious of the owner's of the red roof house. What a view!

Berries and crumble

5 x 7 original oil painting on canvas board

My inspiration: berries! I have been eating a lot of berries this past summer and they are just delicious.We were invited for dinner and I made a berry crumble dessert. It was delicious! Here's the recipe.

Lightly grease a baking pan.

Add chopped apples, chopped strawberries and blueberries to the bottom of the pan. Sprinkle lightly with white granular sugar.

Prepare crumble mixture:

1 cup flour

1 cup oats

1 cup butter

1 cup brown sugar (I reduced to 1/2 cup of brown sugar)

Mix together.

Add crumble mixture on top of fruits.

Bake in the oven at 425F for 12-14 minutes or until golden.

Serve right away with a scoop of ice cream.

Bon appétit!

Fondant Matcha & Chocolate

I had to try this chocolate fondant with green tea! This recipe comes from again Ma petite cuisine Japonaise from Marabout. My boyfriend and I went to Japan 2 years ago and just fell in love with the culture and food.

Here is the recipe for Fondant Matcha & Chocolate

25 g of flour
10 g of matcha (green tea powder)
125 g of butter
50 g of hazelnut powder (I used coco powder, however the fondants weren't green like in the picture)
40 g of brown sugar
2 eggs
A pinch of salt
12 squares of dark chocolate


Preheat oven to 355 F.

In a bowl, sift the flour, matcha, and salt.

Melt the butter. In a second bowl, beat eggs and sugar with a whisk. Add melted butter, ground hazelnuts and flour to the matcha mixture.

Butter and flour 6 small cake pan and pour half the mixture. Place 2 squares of chocolate into each one and cover with the rest of the preparation. Bake in the oven for 7 to 8 minutes. Serve warm for the chocolate squares are melted.

My inspiration painting from this recipe:

Original oil painting on canvas board, 4 x 6 inches

Two Sesame Cookies

I received a japanese cookbook for my birthday two years ago and I've never tried any of the recipes. The book is called "Ma petite cuisine Japonaise" from Marabout.

My first attempt is this recipe called "Cookies aux 2 Sesames".

Ingredients:

1 1/3 cup of flour
1/8 cup of black sesame
1/8 cup of white sesame
4 tablespoons of olive oil
5 tablespoons of honey
3 tablespoons of water
3 tablespoons sesame paste (tahini)
pinch of salt

Preheat oven 375F.

Mix flour, sesame seeds and salt in a bowl.

In a second bowl, mix honey and water, then add the sesame paste and olive oil to obtain a homogeneous mixture.

Mix together the ingredients of both bowls. Form about 12 balls that flatten with a fork on parchment paper. Bake for 12 minutes.

Original oil painting, 4 x 5 inches

My cookies came out much lighter than in the picture in the book. I don't know, why? But they were still very tasty. The author suggests that you can substitute the sesame seeds for chocolate chips, almonds or nuts, etc. I will make these again.

All rights reserved.

I have places to go!

4 x 6 inches

Original oil painting

I tried a mini portrait of my nephew. He walks with a purpose. I hope I was able convey this painting.

What to read

5 x 7 inches

Original oil painting

Untitled

Original oil painting, 6 x 8 inches

All rights reserved.

Karl's favorite

Original oil painting, 6 x 8 inches

All rights reserved.

True Loaf

Small oil painting on canvas board, 8x8 inches.

Click here to purchase.

Please do not use this image without permission.

The fennel and date bread in this painting comes from a bakery called True Loaf Bread Company in Ottawa. They make the best bread in the city! Yum!

Smucker's Jam Jar

Oil painting: Small painting oil on canvas 5 x 7 inches

Small oil Painting : Honey Cruller

Small original oil painting, 5 x 7 inches

Read more....

Grandma's Zucchini Cake

One of my favorite desserts my grandmother used to make.

4 eggs
2 cups of sugar
1/2 cup of vegetable oil
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
2 cups of grated zucchini (finely grated)
2 cups of flour
2 teaspoons of cinnamon
2 teaspoons of baking soda
1 teaspoon of baking powder
1 cup of chopped walnuts
1 cup of raisins or dates

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a cake pan of your choice.

Mix all dry ingredients (flour, cinnamon, soda and baking powder) in a large bowl.

In a separate bowl, beat the eggs and gradually add the sugar. When the mixture is thick, add the vegetable oil gradually and beat well.

Stir the egg mixture into dry ingredient. Finally, add the raisins or dates and walnuts.

Place the cake in the oven and bake for about 50 minutes or until cooked.

** I reduced the quantity of sugar from 2 cups to 3/4 to 1 cup of sugar.

Granola

I made some granola on the weekend. It's absolutely delicious with mediterranean plain yogurt and drizzle a bit of honey on top. Scrumptious! Easy to make and a great food to snack on.

3 1/2 cups rolled oats

1/2 cup coconut flakes, unsweetened

3 tablespoons flax seeds

1/4 cup of pumpkin seeds

1/2 cup sliced almonds

2 teaspoons cinnamon

1 teaspoon sea salt

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup canola oil

3 tablespoons honey

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 cups mixed dried fruit (i used dried cranberries and raisins)

Preheat the oven to 375. Line a rimmed baking sheet with aluminium foil. In a large bowl, combine all the ingredients except the

dried fruit. Stir well to incorporate.

Spread the mixture on the prepared baking sheet, spreading it out into an even layer. Bake for 20 to 30 minutes (depending on the depth

of goldenness you're looking for). Stir every 10 minutes..

Remove the granola from the oven and cool completely, in its pan. Once granola is cool, mix in the dried fruit.

Consumed grapefruit

Oil painting, 5 x 7 inches

Art in progress: Almost done!

Featured on Little Green Jelly Bean

A blog about promoting small format art and handmade goodies on Little Green Jelly Bean.



Thank you Kayce for including me in your post.

Art in Progress

I haven't painted in several months, 8 months to be precise. I have been meaning to pick up my brushes for quite some time. However I was not inspired until... I looked over some pictures I took of my adorable nephew last fall. I fell upon this picture of his feet as he played hide and seek with his uncle and I fell in love with it!

The painting is not quite finish, but I think it's coming along nicely! Here are a few snapshots of the art work in progress.

COOKED: Mexican soup

It's cold outside and a hearty soup was needed. I found this recipe in Woman's Day magazine. It was filling and delicious!

I can't find the recipe on their website. So here it is:

2 tsp olive oil

1 small onion chopped

1 large sweet potato (12 oz), peeled and cut into 1/2 - in. pieces

14 1/2 oz each chicken broth

1/2 tsp ground cumin

1 can (11 oz) corn niblets drained

1 cup mild or medium salsa

1 can (8 oz) tomato sauce

1 can (15 oz) canned black beans, rinsed and drained

Garnish: sour cream and cilantro (option)

1. Heat oil in a 4-qt saucepan over medium heat. Sauté onion for 3 minutes or until softened and translucent.

2. Add sweet potato, chicken broth and cumin; cover and reduce heat. Simmer 15 minutes or until sweet potato is tender. Process soup until smooth.

3. Stir in corn, salsa, tomato sauce and black beans. Simmer covered, 5 minutes to blend flavors. Serve with sour cream and cilantro if using.

Enjoy!

Sewn: Laptop case

Here is another sewing project that I attempted. I needed a new laptop case to protect my computer. I originally bought this material to make a slip cover for a pillow. I never made it! But it looks great for this project.

Sewn: Oven mitt

Last summer, I felt the need to learn a new craft so I decided to take a few sewing classes. Once again my grandmother's influence had something to do with it. Growing up my grandmother would sew our clothes, Halloween costumes and even my graduation dress. So it just seemed natural for me to learn how to sew.

I've sewn a few items, but this is the one am most proud enough to post. Maybe I'll post some other ones. We'll see...