chili verde bento

Hi bento pals! Whew, its been a busy day of cooking, photography and room staging projects...how was your weekend?

Gorgeous mild day today, so enjoying the continued persistence of mild days against the coming, inevitable deep chill. This morning offered delicate grey skies against which the remaining ruby and rust colored leaves, deep violet and soft pink flowers glowed in contrast...

Camellias in the foreground, beautiful golden hydrangeas behind them. I planted these for our neigborhood a few years ago, so happy to see them flourishing and waving with blossoms today...

...the rich, rippled textures of native oakleaf hydrangeas

I'm doing food photography for my employer's monthly magazine...this month, our featured recipe was Turkey Chile Verde from the always informative World's Healthiest Foods site. A hearty version of chili with a dark green undertow from fresh herbs, kale. The fresh oregano adds a wonderful herbal depth to the chili...

My photo:

And I thought, why not continue on with a bento for Monday with this dish...adding grape tomatoes, baby carrot slices, sugar snap peas and sweet green grapes. Love the golden ginkgo leaves that are just starting to fall to the ground, decorating it with such  graceful golden fan shapes...

Also worked on staging the bedroom today...paring down to a hopefully inviting neutrality!

Time to chill with a glass of wine as I contemplate and plan for holiday travels this week. It may be a little while till I post again....wishing a peaceful, warm and happy Thanksgiving to my American friends!

panini heaven

Hi friends! It's Friday night, it has been a long and busy week...and we are celebrating the weekend with some really delicious paninis. Would like to share a really yummy approach to these satisfying Italian treats...informed by Jamison's years in Italy!

Fresh Italian country bread, sliced

fresh mozzarella, sliced

Vidalia or other mild onion, sliced very thin

fresh arugula leaves

Calabrese salame

Prosciutto

Capocollo

Tangy Italian cheese like Asiago sliced thin
butter
three minced cloves garlic

In a bowl, blend two tablespoons of butter with three minced garlic cloves and a small handful of arugula:

Assemble your lovely panini elements:

Fresh mozzarella and arugula...

Peppered Asiago...

Cured meats:

Italian bread:

Butter two halves of Italian bread with the garlic-butter-arugula spread, then layer on your tangy cheese slices:

Next, the thinly sliced onions...

Fresh mozzarella...

Capocollo

Calabrese Salame

Prosciutto

Layer on arugula leaves...

Add the second slice of bread on top and carefully dip in a shallow bowl of olive oil to coat:

....and place in heated panini press (or pan with warmed olive oil, to pan-fry), cook until beautifully golden...enjoy with a glass of your favorite red wine.

Happy weekend!

blue birds

Hi friends! As many of you know, Jamison and I are preparing our home for sale, and today I had fun styling my bathroom with a variety of new and old items. I tried to bring my bentoist tendency to build on color themes to bear not on a small box of food, but a whole room (and beyond this one, several others!)

This new shower curtain with cheerful blue birds was the starting point...it echoes the soft turquoise of early 70's tiles (which I've loved and will miss):

More blue birds...

This antique Redouté rose print was an eBay find from several years ago. It adds vibrant color and blue butterflies to the room and a nifty place to hang delicate necklaces. Love the exotic rose names in careful French script on this print almost as much as the sweetly bright flowers...

Another antique French print, this one by avian artist François Nicolas Martinet

Japanese silk container in favorite colors...

....and some favorite necklaces

Wishing you a happy start to the week...