Hello Sunshine

For some strange reason I know I have used the title before,

 but today I want to share the work of a creative and lovely acquaintance 

Victoria Pearson. 

These are her photos and she now has a wonderful new cookbook devoted to the subject of Citrus....

which you can purchase here

Vickie has been a longtime photographer/contributor to Martha Stewart and there is a nice feature and some of the recipes included in Martha Stewart Living this month.

I had the pleasure of working with Vickie when she photographed

 our home in Ojai for Country Living

It was really interesting to see how she sets up for a shot and what the end result becomes.  I usually can spot her work in a magazine before I check the credits.

Her photos are always very etherial and light filled 

which I love.

Vickie has a true love for Ojai and she relishes her time at her home on the east end,

 surround by...you guessed it...citrus trees! 

After reading these recipes I'm convinced she is a wonderful cook too.  

She co-wrote the book with her friend Valerie Aikman-Smith

If you are at the farmers market this month it is brimming with citrus, especially tangerines and odd oranges like Cara Cara and Blood oranges. 

Cara Cara's are really good.  

Not as sweet as a valencia with a bright salmon-isn pink-ish interior. 

And Blood oranges are bitter and sort of peppery but very tasty. 

And of course you know my fave is the Meyer.....here's my best vinaigrette ever

The book is full of recipes that are not the usual 

but very 

creative, simple and delicious 

with out all the hype....

which is so needed right now. 

rant allert!

 I'm so sick of slick "food network" celebrity chefs that appear to spend the majority of their time attending Food and Wine festivals, creating silly television and inundating book stores with uninteresting, unusable cookbooks.  

The fact is that most of us (even those new to cooking) understand good food and the enjoyment of creating a wonderful meal for your family and friends. 

It has absolutely nothing to do with throw downs, shopping cart races or using odd ball ingredients like freeze dried Nutella.

 come on....will someone please call the food network and the cooking police and tell them to please stop already!

ok I'm better....back to the good stuff

This time of year it is pretty easy to get stuck in the comfort food rut because the weather is chilly.

Because citrus is available all year,  any of these recipes will work for you right now

And if you're really in a winter rut you can break out the blender and whip up some 

home made Margaritas for Sunday football!!!

Stay warm and cozy 

and squeeze a little sunshine into your day

xxx's

kelley

Kumquats

these are just about the cutest little gems ever!

Kumquats

 whether you have an acre 

or just a great little patio...

as long as you have sunlight 

you can grow Kumquats

we have many varieties of citrus in our orchard 

but sadly not a single Kumquat

 right now the blossoms are peaking and 

the new fruit is forming

 the bees are doing their thing too...

thankfully

 and since orange is in

 both in the garden

  in the home,

 in nature

and on the runway

lets get some Kumquats

tangerine happens to be the Pantone 

color of the year 

for 2012

 orange is a very Tuscan inspired color 

 but surprisingly 

works well with many other colors

 one of the nice things about Kumquats 

is they grow in almost all zones

and do very well as a potted plant

 I have been thinking about what to put

 in big galvanized pots on our newly built deck

and have decided on Kumquats

 in addition to being a really great looking ornamental plant 

the fruit is really tasty 

and can be used for jams and relishes...

so off to the Nursery 

what will the color of the year be in 2013

Avocado maybe?

you just never know

Flowers

I brought all of this home with me on Sunday afternoon from Ojai. 

It was starting to rain and I knew if I didn't pick the tulips and a few of the other gentle flowers they wouldn't last through the storm.

I have so many lemons and oranges right now, I wish my dog Millie could eat them!

I am not very good at arranging flowers but I enjoy doing it.  

Maybe I should take a class or something....?  

My preference is always to use the same flower type and color in a single vase because  I like the simplicity of the single color.  

But the garden gave me so many beautiful things today.

I planted quite a few sweet peas and mixed in some edible peas too. 

 The edible peas look fun hanging over the side of the little vase.  

I threw a few in a salad this weekend and they were sugary sweet.

The blue stalks are a perennial called Pride of Madeira,  

very drought tolerant and great in an arrangement.

  

The bees love these guys.

The little pink guy below is called Cistus or Rock rose, again very little water required.

This bright flower is from another wonderful succulent

I planted quite a few ranunculus in orange, which in addition to purple is my favorite color in this garden.

Iceland poppies were my first really pretty annual grown in my garden when I was newly married. 

I remember being so proud of these when they ended up in a bouquet.  

How time flies!

My favorite bulb, by far, this spring in the Ojai garden is  Tulip Perestroika.  It's a reddish orange and came up early and just gorgeous.  

The yellow tulip is called Mrs Sheepers

 

This is how the Perestroika Tulip shines in the garden...amazing!

 

Hope you had a restful weekend

&

Thank you to every one who left comments on the last post.  

I had a crazy week and wasn't able to respond to everyone but I laughed at the fact that we all love to stalk furniture...too funny!

~*~

Kelley