Kitchen greens

I am blessed to have a garden to grow things, but if I didn't have herbs on my kitchen window ledge I would not use them in dishes nearly as much as I do. 

Herbs are like prepositions that bring dishes together. They are great for salads and garnishing and an inexpensive way to decorate simple food. In summer, basil is my go-to herb for salads and Italian dishes, like pasta and pizza. I recently tried growing thyme which looks luscious and is a great accompaniment to potato dishes  I also keep chives handy to cut up into little hyphens over salads and to decorate dishes.

Sometimes positioning herbs in the kitchen can be a problem. The window ledge may be too hot or plants may not receive enough light. 

Have you ever thought about being a little 'shelf-ish' and putting up a little shelf just for your herbs? This way you can position them in the right spot. They need good light, but be vigilant of your plants if they get direct sunlight through glass which can get super hot. In the summer months, check the soil for dryness daily.

My favourite herbs are basil and flat leaf parsley. I do have to dash into the garden for my parsley, as the herb, like Rosemary, can get unruly and grow into large bushes. I let the parsley in the garden self seed as this helps to replenish my supply. (See my previous post on thrifty gardening tips.)

Another good supply of greens is to grow microgreens in the kitchen. The fresh plump shoots are delicious.
The Tui Garden Project and Annabel Langbein have some tips on how to grow these succulent accompaniments. In New Zealand you can buy Annabel Langbein's small packs of microgreens like beetroot, chervil, rocket and cultivate your own or you can buy potted greens like this one from The Family Herb Co. in Auckland. 

This post was inspired by Judith and Igor of Urban Jungle Bloggers who challenge their followers each month to post a blog on a botanical theme. This month it's 'plants in the kitchen'! Being a plant hunter myself, I am totally hooked! 

If you want to participate, please visit the Urban Jungle Bloggers website for all the details. 

Enjoy your herbs and eat your greens! 

- Claudia x

Thrifty gardening

Happy New Year! Perhaps you are on holiday or preparing to go back to work soon. You may even be looking out on your garden and feel the need to get out there. I find that being in my garden and getting close to the earth is refreshing and rewarding. It clears my mind of everyday worries. Somehow gardening activities demand that I focus on the task at hand. I find it quite invigorating too. One minute I'm watering a patch and re-viewing my layout, what's working and what isn't. The next minute I'm moving plants around and leaving piles of weeds in clumps as I go. 

My garden is mostly comprised of perennial plants.  The few annuals I have, seem to come up from reseeded stock, season after season, or from seeds I have collected, saving me from spending big. 

At this time of the year straight after Christmas, I find I don't have much spare cash to spend on gardening even through I have some spare time, so its important to have some thrifty gardening tips. Here are some that have helped me get through the year.

1. Let nature do it's thing:

Let the garden become a little unruly and allow some flowers or herbs to go to seed.  Collect the seeds on a dry day and store in marked envelopes for sewing next spring. 

2. Make your garden and food waste work for you

Make your own compost, but have two piles going. Start one after a hefty gardening prune (exclude weeds!) and then leave it for some weeks. Start another heap with food waste (no meat products) to which you add any subsequent pruned clippings. It does take a few months, but you'll be amazed how much green waste you can recycle and have some mulch and nourishment for your plants - like all living things, they do need good supplies of food!

3. Make more 

Some plants can be grown from cuttings placed in water e.g. Impatience, fuchsias, Rosemary, oregano etc. Pot soft wood cuttings in well drained soil using a rooting hormone e.g. Lavender, Streptocarpus, or use a layering technique for ground covers.

4. Be generous

Offer cuttings and surplus plants to your friends and neighbours and you'll be rewarded with reciprocity. 

Hope you have a productive gardening year and are able to take some time to just be still and to take some breaths.

- Claudia x

Bath tea

There is something satisfying about making home-made gifts. Simple ideas can be really effective.

One such example is making bath tea bags. A simple treat to throw in the bath to make it feel and smell more luxuriant.

What you'll need is:

Dried lavender rubbings - large handful
Dried rose petals - large handful
Dried calendula petals - handful
Dried rosemary - small handful

Thin cotton or muslin cut into 6 rounds the size of a side plate.

You'll also need:

Coarse sea salt 6 TBS
*Epsom salts 3 TBS
**Baking soda 1 TBS
Essential oil (5 - 6 drops) 

Mix all ingredients In a large bowl.
Spoon a TBS into the centre of a cut muslin cloth, 
[*Epsom salts is useful for soothing tired muscles and **baking soda, softens the water and helps to relieve skin irritation.]

Tie up securely with string and store the bags in a sealable container. 
When you draw a bath, drop a bath tea bag into the water and enjoy.

Wrapped and ready for the tree!

My Steller Story for making bath tea has been featured - So exciting- thank you @Stellerstories! 

Winner of #thegatheredandfoundseries IG competition

The results are in for #thegatheredandfoundseries and a winner is chosen! A common theme I can see is that all pics feature elements from nature, the best place to find inspiration!

Well done to @flojoro123 for being selected as the winning entry. (Please DM Tasha on IG with your address so you can receive the beautiful "Oceans necklace".)

Here is what Tasha Wakefield, from Spindrift Collections and who crafted the 'Oceans Necklace' prize, had to say about her choice. 

"It was an extremely hard decision as the entries were all so beautiful, but this one stood out for me. I love the beautiful composition, colours and stillness. It's a wonderful picture and one that instantly caught me eye."

These  entries are some of Tasha's other favourites.

"I loved this one as the natural colours were so fresh and festive and I can almost smell the tea looking at the picture." @ehpyle 

"I love this picture, it's a wonderful composition and I adore the beach finds and muted colours". @petalplum 

"This picture really put me in the festive spirit - again I loved the natural colour palette and use of the lovely sparkling fairy lights." @kim_swanson

"I enjoyed this beautiful flatlay with carefully selected and placed natural items" @annld60

"This one, I enjoyed the beautiful natural festive composition". @bymeeni

Thanks to everyone who joined in #thegatheredandfoundseries and a Big Thank You to Tasha for her exquisitely crafted prize, the "Ocean's Necklace" and for selecting the winner. Head over to Tasha's website Spindrift Collections to see more of her stunning work and the places you can find her. 

- Claudia x

Spanakopita - a delicious summer evening dish

A simple, but tasty dish to serve when you have guests over is spanakopita. There are many variations for you to present it, but the coil is the most conventional. Nadia Lim who promotes 'good food' and who  is a NZ Masterchef winner and My Food Bag owner had a column in a recent NZ Herald, which I attempted.

What you'll need is:
2 chopped onions
1 tablespoon fresh thyme
2 cloves crushed garlic
1 tablespoon brown sugar
2 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
4  eggs - beaten
200 g feta - crumbed
1/3 cup pine cunts (lightly roasted)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon  ground black pepepr
350 g frozen spinach (I used silverbeet from my garden)
12 sheets file pastry
50g melted butter
1-2 teaspoons sesame seeds (optional)

Preheat oven to 190 deg C.

Gently fry the onions, garlic and thyme and after 5 minutes add the sugar and balsamic. Fry for a further 5 minutes until caramelised.

Whisk eggs, salt pepper and feta and add roasted pine nuts. 

I lightly cooked the silverbeet and patted dry. If using frozen spinach you need to squeeze out the water using a clean tea towel. 

Chop spinach roughly and add to the egg mixture. 

The most fiddly bit is preparing the filo pastry.

On a clean, dry surface, lay a filo sheet, brush with melted butter and overlap the next sheet over the one edge and once again, brush with butter. Add a 3rd sheet alongside so you have a long, rectangular  buttered filo pastry sheet. Repeat twice, overlaying the first layer with 2 more buttered filo sheets.

Spread the egg and spinach mixture along the one long edge of the buttered sheet and gently roll up the sheet into a long sausage shape.

Carefully transfer the 'sausage' to a round buttered tin and create a spiral shape starting in the middle {which I didn't do ;)} and working around to the outside.

Brush the spiral with more butter or olive oil. Sprinkle sesame seeds if desired

Bake at 190 deg C for 20-25 minutes.

*Note In my recipe I used a width of  only two filo sheets, so the coil is a bit thicker.

Served with salads this is a lovely meal. A tip would be to not over-roast the pinenuts!

Enjoy - Claudia x

Gathered and found

There is therapy, I find, in wandering along the shore to the sound of pounding waves, embraced by the ocean's salty, misty air. Finding interesting bits of jetsam washed up and half buried in the sand is an additional pleasure. 

Tasha Wakefield, my latest featured creative, does this for a living. You will find Tasha strolling along the Sydney beaches or in fact, any beach in the world she may be visiting. You may think she's wondering aimlessly on a beach walk, but she is actually carefully scanning the shoreline for signs of shimmering seaglass to collect and repurpose for her jewellery pieces.

Tasha runs the jewellery business, Spindrift Collections, with the philosophy of creating pieces that are ethically sourced, sustainably produced and affordable.

Tasha  uses sea glass in her jewellery designs, creating beautiful muted colours which suit her silver work. She says : 'Beach glass, also known as sea glass or mermaids tears is old discarded glass from bottles and jars, which made their way into the ocean. Over many years the waves, water and salt then naturally smooth the glass down to a beautifully soft and polished finish. I collect and source my beach glass from seashores all around the world, meaning I always have an amazing variety to choose from when making new works. Whether a Spindrift design or a bespoke commission, I always find just the right piece for you.”

To see her stunning work, visit her newly revamped Spindrift website for a peek at her  elegantly designed and made pieces and to find all Spindrift Collections social media locations.

I am so excited to let you know that Tasha’s is offering this beautiful piece 'Oceans Necklace' as a prize. 

This piece represents our five oceans, with four pieces of sea smoothed beach glass and one solid sterling silver piece. To be in to win, please join us for a competition on Instagram.

{Photos by Tasha Wakefield}

To enter, on Instagram:
1. Follow @spindriftcollections & @adiandbert
2. Tag a friend & invite to join
3. Post a NEW pic featuring what you have gathered and found to #thegatheredandfoundseries

The competition is open worldwide and closes at the end of the month, 30 November. Tasha will judge the winning entry.

A cut above - #thescissorsseries winners!

We have a winner for #thescissorsseries! 

Amy was very efficient, sending the results to me at the weekend, but I was away attending a conference, so sorry for the delay! 

It's been a pleasure watching my feed and seeing all those pairs of scissors taking centre stage in the most creative ways. Without further ado, here they are. Thanks to the lovely Amy for playing along and providing the prizes and all of you who joined in!

Here are Amy's winners with a few words about her choices.

Winner  @kim_swanson receives  print of 'The Primer' and a pair of vintage scissors.

Though this vignette was very simple, the placement of the package, the rosemary and the scissors told the sweetest story. The light in this photo is exquisite and with the elimination of all background shapes, colors and tones, you can appreciate the interplay of these three items and the details - the print on the paper packaging, the embossing on the scissors and even the veins in the leaves of the rosemary are all brought into focus...spectacular!

Runner up - @catrinekelty - receives a print of 'The Primer'.

I'm a firm believer in strength in numbers - especially when it comes to collections. Both of @catrinekelty's photos had a dark, ethereal look to them which played off nicely with the metal of the scissors.  I snickered when I saw the "bouquet" of scissors since I myself always look for interesting ways to photograph the most common of items.

Some honourable mentions

@annld60

@beverlylcazzell_lavenderbleu

Both of these captured a vignette with beautiful arrangement and lighting. 

The depth of field on @annld60 picture is so striking and the complement of the brown bottle to the clear glass as well as picking up the amber tones of the flower bulbs offers great repetition.  The front bottle and the scissors are so clear, you feel like you can reach out and touch them.

Since I have a large collection of sewing paraphernalia, @beverlylcazzell_lavenderbleu  image just spoke to me...and it didn't hurt that it had a ball of string too! Again, with no distractions in the background, the interplay of the tin box, the ball of string, the wooden spools and the scissors is the main focus, all playing perfectly together.

@kraig_at_the_warehouse

@clearerreflections

Gotta give a shout-out to the guys in the group!  Not intimidated by the plethora of roses/peonies/greenery in the submissions, these two offered up a couple of striking images of their own.  Myself being a huge fan of neutrals/grunge/rust/junk, both of these guys usually tug at my heart whenever they post on IG - it was no different with this series.

It really was a difficult process to pick a winner, but the entire series was so enjoyable - I loved seeing all the images come across my feed constantly in the last week, from all around the world - it continues to reinforce for me why IG is by far my favorite creative hangout.  Thanks Claudia for a great week - I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did - you did a fantastic job hosting - thank you!  = Amy Duncan


Kim receives pair of vintage scissors and print of 'The Primer', below, by Amy Duncan and Catrine, as runner up, a copy of the print. Well done!

See you next time.
- Claudia x