Cucumber Ribbon Salad and A Thousand Cranes Party

Every single one of us can do things that no one else can do -

Can love things that no one else can love...We are like violins,

We can be used for doorstops, or we can make music.

-Barbara Sher

This is a salad I've been making for years. I love it's simplicity. Now that it's summer, there's nothing more refreshing on a hot day than a cucumber. Today is the first day this summer that I've made the salad. It reminds me of a party I had for a few Japanese friends of mine who were getting married. This salad was one of the dishes served. We had a Thousand Cranes Party.

This dish is so easy, here are the dressing ingredients. All in all, less than 5! And takes about 5 minutes to make.

The story of a Thousand Origami Cranes is a Japanese legend that promises that anyone who folds a thousand origami cranes will be granted a wish by a crane, such as long life or recovery from illness or injury.

The crane in Japan is one of the mystical or holy creatures (others include the dragon and the tortoise), and is said to live for a thousand years.

It is traditional to take the thousand origami cranes and string them up, and hang them at your wedding. Or not just a wedding, one could hang them in your room, even. It's good luck. And it also signifies world peace. It's a prayer in paper form.

You need a mandoline slicer to get the cucumbers really thin.

I read stories of brides folding origami cranes months before their wedding, and mothers of brides helping fold them. Some are given to the bride as gifts.

I knew when I read about this tradition, I wanted my party for my friends to have a Thousand Cranes theme. First I needed some origami cranes to hang. I read about this about a week before the party, so first I consulted Etsy and Ebay to purchase some.

No luck. No one could get them to us fast enough. So my friend Cindy and I started folding origami cranes. How in the heck did we do that, you ask? We consulted U Tube of course! We found a great tutorial on how to make them. Still not super easy, and not the fastest thing to make for a couple of gringos who have never folded origami anything in their life.

Here's our cranes we made hanging in my dining room, with some paper lanterns and streamers.

All in all, we had hundreds of cranes, not a thousand. No matter, it's the thought that counts, right?

We made some bigger cranes to hold our place cards.

I was even able to find crane chopstick holders

The couple was so delighted. They took home our cranes to hang in their new baby's room. We were so relieved they liked them, and were proud the cranes we folded were worthy.

All in all it was such a great and fun party! I love learning traditions from other cultures. 

In the hot weather I like to make cucumber water. Just add sliced cucumbers to ice water and let sit a half hour or so for the flavors to blend. When I drink it I feel as if I'm at the spa waiting for a facial.

Personal Size Princess House Water Pitcher available at my Etsy Shop, House of Lucien.

 

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Cucumber Ribbon Salad

Make this salad right before eating, if let sit too long it will get soggy.

Recipe Adapted from  Epicurious

Ingredients

1/4 cup (59 ml) seasoned rice vinegar

1-2 teaspoon sugar

1 teaspoon soy sauce

1/2 -1 teaspoon Asian sesame oil

 2 English cucumbers (1 1/4 lb total)

Sesame Seeds (optional)

Directions

Add all dressing ingredients  (everything except the cucumbers and sesame seeds) in a medium bowl and whisk till blended. Set aside. Slice the cucumbers thin on a mandoline slicer (or another type of slicer, I used this one from Kuhn Rikon, it works well and I bought it at Marshals for maybe 10 bucks, I also have a fancier one, but if you don't own one I think it's work it.) into  1/8 inch thick ribbons. Toss Cucumbers with dressing and top with sesame seeds (if using) and eat immediately.

* edited to add* If you don't have a mandoline, or if you want the salad to last longer and not get soggy, I've been told that just slicing the cucumbers (so they're not so thin) into 1/2 inch slices, will prevent them from getting soggy so fast. If you do that, I'd let the salad sit 30 minutes or so to absorb the flavors.

If you let the dressing sit too long it will get soggy, (longer than about 20 minutes.)

Lavender Lemonade and Cool Stuff

"Deep summer is when laziness finds respectability." 

~Sam Keen

This lavender lemonade is my new favorite drink! It's refreshing, unique and just plain delicious. I love the taste of lavender, the smell of lavender, I absolutely love lavender! We have many plants of it growing around our property, so I am fortunate to have access to it.

Recipe for the lemonade and some more pics below, now onto some cool stuff I'm liking this week.

Olive Oil Felted Lemon Meringue Pie Soap - This soap is covered in hand felted wool to give you a scrub while you wash. Made of olive oil and Shea butter. From MikeandDianeSoap. This soap sounds fresh and cool, perfect soap for summer.

Cat Cave/ Cat House Handmade from Natural Wool - From Grazim - What the heck! I've never seen anything like this, but what a great idea. How sweet is that cat? I think any cat would love to have a handmade house.

Handmade Wooden ABC Children's Blocks - By TinyGiraffeShop - These are so beautiful. I think they would make a great baby gift.



And now on to Lavender Lemonade Making!

One of our lavender bushes on the walk up to our house is out of control. The good thing about it though is that it gives you a lovely whiff of lavender on your walk up the path.

Straining the lavender buds

After you add the lemon juice, it suddenly turns pink!

 

 

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Silver plated tray and pitcher available at my Etsy Shop, House of Lucien.

Lavender Lemonade

You can harvest your own lavender flowers, or buy culinary lavender from a well stocked grocery store. If you are using dried, I'd use a bit less.

Recipe from Local Harvest's newsletter


Ingredients

1 Tablespoon fresh lavender flowers (that have not been sprayed) Or if using dried, I'd use half that.

1/3 - 1/2 cup (64 mg-100 mg) (78 ml - 118 ml) sugar or honey

1/3 cup (78 ml) fresh lemon juice - it took me 3 lemons - You can add more if you like it more tart


Directions

Boil 2 cups water in a small saucepan. Once it comes to a boil add the lavender flowers and remove from heat. Let steep for 10 minutes. Strain the flowers from the liquid. Add the lavender liquid to a 1 quart (4 cups) (946 ml) jar and add the sugar or honey. (add the lesser amount, when you taste it later if you want it sweeter, add more to taste.) Shake it up to mix. Add the fresh lemon juice, then fill the jar the rest of the way with cold water. Refrigerate till cold. Taste it now and see if you need more sweetener, or if you want it more tart, add more lemon juice. Enjoy over ice.

Dutch Baby with Fresh Berries

"What do we teach our children? We should say to each of them: Do you know what you are? You are a marvel. You are unique... You may become a Shakespeare, a Michelangelo, a Beethoven. You have the capacity for anything."

-Pablo Casals

The dutch baby holds a special place in my heart. It reminds me of times of special breakfasts at The Original Pancake House. Growing up we had a location within walking distance to our house in Anaheim, California.

It was always my favorite place to eat breakfast, (and I believe it still is.)

I would always order the same thing. The apple pancake. A huge sweet dutch baby pancake loaded with apples, cinnamon and brown sugar. That is definitely one of the best tastes of childhood for me.

Everyone else thought so too, of course. There was always a line out the door on Sunday mornings after church. Those minutes of waiting for a table were some of the longest minutes of my life.

Mixing up the eggs, lemon zest and sugar

The apple pancake is the dish they are famous for, but they also serve a more traditional dutch baby. A German pancake (like this one) served with wedges of lemon and powdered sugar. This dish I've always loved as well.

A picture from the oven

So when I saw this version with fresh berries, I knew I had to have it. Fresh berries just mean summer to me. This baby is easy to make, just make a simple one bowl batter, toss on some berries, throw it in the oven and you're done!

A perfect summer brunch dish that is certain to create more delicious dutch baby memories.
 

 

This is my fresh strawberry Dutch Baby

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Dutch Baby with Fresh Berries

Recipe adapted from Grace Parisi from Food and Wine

Edited to add - This recipe is very flexible with the fruit. You can use any mixture of berries or chopped fruit. I've made it with chopped strawberries and chopped fresh peaches and it turns out great. Of course if your fruit has a high water content you'll want to dry it as much as possible, for example if the peaches are very ripe, just try not to get all of that moisture onto the batter, or it may turn out a little wet.

Ingredients

3 large eggs

1/2 tsp. finely grated lemon zest

2/3 cup (129 g.) sugar

3/4 cup (88 g.) flour

3/4 cup (177 ml) whole milk

1 cup (165 g.) (about 6 oz.) raspberries

1 cup (165 g.) (about 6 oz.) blackberries

 

4 Tablespoons butter

Confectioners sugar for dusting

Directions

Preheat oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit, 220 Celsius, Gas Mark 7.

In a medium bowl, whisk the eggs with the finely grated lemon zest, sugar and salt until combined. Add the flour and milk and whisk until smooth.

Put a 12 inch cast iron skillet over medium heat on the stove. Add the butter and melt it. When the butter is melted remove from the heat and add the batter. Sprinkle the berries evenly over the batter. Put it in the preheated oven.

Bake it for about 22 minutes, until the edges are browned and puffed. It will puff up, then fall, like a souffle. (Unfortunately, the pictures of mine that you see, have fallen already). Dust with confectioners sugar and cut into wedges and serve.

Iced Tea Float and Cool Stuff

 "I will not die an unlived life. I will not live in fear of falling or catching fire. I choose to inhabit my days, to allow my living to open me, to make me less afraid, more accessible; to loosen my heart until it becomes a wing, a torch, a promise. I choose to risk my significance, to live so that which came to me as seed goes to the next as blossom, and that which came to me as blossom, goes on as fruit. "

-Dawna Markova

From "50 Inspirational Quotes to Power Up Your Inner Badass."

"This iced tea float is genius!", I thought when I first read about the recipe in a book called, "Best Places Seattle Cookbook: Recipes from the City's Outstanding Restaurants and Bars."

First you make some strong, sweetened iced tea, turn it into a sorbet, then float it in unsweetened iced tea for a refreshing drink that slowly sweetens the iced tea as the sorbet melts. The creator, Kaspar Donier of Seattles Kaspar's says a batch of leftover iced tea inspired this sorbet creation. He uses Earl Grey tea, I chose black tea with fresh mint and lemon. Recipe below.

And here are some things I'm loving this week:

Cardamom and Coconut Lip Balm by fawnlilybotanica - I'm in love with cardamom so I bought this yesterday. She not only uses organic cardamom oil, but also infuses the sunflower oil with organic cardamom seeds. I can't wait to try it! They also have a Vanilla Bean Facial Wash that looks equally fabulous.

Beautiful Audrey Hepburn Quote Art Print with Black and White Silhouette -  by ColeandCo. Designs

I've always loved this quote, and what a beautiful reminder hanging on the wall.

Shea Butter Turquoise Stone Soaps in Cool Water- By Beacon Hill Candles- I love the beauty of these turquoise stones. With Shea butter and coconut oil they are moisturizing as well. A great addition to a guest bathroom.

Blue-Green Aquamarine and Silver Sculpted Siren Ring-
By SamBraundJewellery- this ring caught my eye then I read about it and loved it even more. Now I think of it as the Pirates of the Caribbean Ring.

Here's the description- "This collection is inspired by myths and legends surrounding Mermaids, and their Siren songs that would lure mariners towards the rocky coastlines, causing shipwrecks to occur.

These rings are made with these mythical seductresses in mind. The gemstones are polished smooth by the sea, having fallen from these shipwrecked vessels and settled on the ocean bed, where over time coral and barnacles have encapsulated the gemstones creating part living sculptures.

Each ring is uniquely sculpted in Sterling Silver, with woven swirls depicting the coral, and Sterling Silver beads to represent the barnacles. The silver has been oxidised to create an antiqued look, which serves to highlight the intricate weaving."

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Iced Tea Float

Inspired by a recipe in "Best Places Seattle Cookbook: Recipes from the City's Outstanding Restaurants and Bars." by Kaspar Donier of Seattles Kaspar's


For the Sorbet

Ingredients

4 1/2 cups (1 liter and 65 ml.) water

1 1/2 cups (300 g.) sugar

5 - 7 strong black tea bags - I used Welsh Tea (which is a great black tea by the way and it is very strong) BUT if you are using a regular black tea, like English Breakfast by Stash or Lipton, I'd use 6 or even 7.  OR if you want to use Earl Grey, use 6 Earl Grey tea bags.

juice of one lemon

a small bunch of fresh mint


For the Liquid Element

Very Cold Unsweetened Iced Tea - I added fresh mint to this to let it infuse while it cooled


Instructions

To make the sorbet. First make some strong tea by adding the water to a saucepan, then add the sugar and stir it. Almost bring it to a boil. Add the tea bags and mint, and remove the pan from the stove. Cover it and let it steep for 30 minutes.

Remove the tea bags, squeeze out the tea from the bags and discard. Add the lemon juice. Now you can either leave the mint in the sorbet base while it cools, if you want a stronger mint flavor, or you can remove it now. Refrigerate this till it's very cold, at least 4 hours. Now remove the mint if you haven't already. Process the sorbet mixture in the ice cream machine according to manufacturers instructions. Freeze mixture until firm, at least 2 hours.

When you are ready to serve, first let the sorbet sit out a few minutes until it's soft enough to scoop. Add a few scoops of sorbet to a glass, then fill glass with iced tea and garnish with fresh mint.

You can also serve the sorbet as a refreshing dessert with some tropical fruit if desired.

IF YOU DON"T HAVE AN ICE CREAM MACHINE, Make an Icy Slushy- Make the sorbet mixture as directed above.

Pour it into a shallow dish in the freezer. Scrape it after it starts to freeze. About 30 minutes later, scrape it again. Keep scraping it every half hour or so till it's icy and frozen. Just like my Honeydew Ice. Put this mixture in a glass and add iced tea to it to make an icy slushy.

Fresh Strawberry Milk and Cool Stuff

"You journey has molded you for your greater good, and it was exactly what it needed to be. Don't think that you've lost time. It took each and every situation you have encountered to bring you to the now. And now is right on time."

 ― Asha Tyson

So I wanted this post with a beverage, and cool stuff to happen over the weekend, but it's hard for me to keep to a schedule. But here it is! Fresh strawberry milk, a few simple ingredients turned into something healthy and spectacular. (Recipe at the end of the post.)

This week one of my favorite things I'm including, isn't a thing, it's a site.  From Kindovermatters.
The quote above belongs to this recent post called, "50 Inspirational Quotes to Power Up Your Inner Badass.  The quote at the top of this post is number 5 on the list.

Spread Love Butter Spreader - I'm in love with this simple piece of flatware. Perfect for a wedding or engagement gift. From Milk and Honey Luxuries, I think I want everything from their store.

Lavender Infused Honey - Raw honey from their farm, infused with their own homegrown lavender.  I can just taste it now. Yum. from Honeyrunfarm.

Kitchen Cook Sign from Oldnewagain. They have more signs, and letters too. I love them all.

You Can Have It All - Linocut Print- By thebigharumph. Yes, you can!

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Fresh Strawberry Milk


Ingredients


A glass full of fresh strawberries with stems removed- washed- if you want the milk to be thick like a shake, use frozen strawberries and it will.

the same glass full of milk- full fat is always best- use about 3/4 of a glass of milk if you are using frozen fruit and if you want it thick.

2-4 Tablespoons sugar or honey, to taste

Add all of the ingredients to the container of a blender and blend well.

Top with whipped cream if you wish. Enjoy!

Asian Noodle Salad

"Without leaps of imagination, or dreaming, we lose the excitement of possibilities. Dreaming, after all, is a form of planning."

-Gloria Steinem
Writer and Journalist

This salad is one of my favorites. I've made it for parties, I've made it for potlucks, and it's always well loved. It's fresh and full of vegetables, and full of flavor. I think it's a perfect salad for a summer picnic!

Some of the ingredients of my salad, peppers, cilantro, cabbage, bean sprouts, spinach and cashews

One of the great things about this salad is that you can mix and match different vegetables based on your taste. You can also fill it with vegetables, of just have a little. It's all up to you and based on your taste.

Don't like bell peppers? Leave them out! Allergic to nuts? Cool! Leave the cashews out. This salad will still be tasty.

The dressing is so delicious, with fresh ginger and garlic, I love it. Sometimes I double it to use in salads later. It's just that good.

I use whole wheat linguine as the noodle element, but you can use udon noodles instead to keep it actually Asian. Or use brown rice pasta, and Tamari Sauce instead of soy sauce to make it gluten free.

Asian Noodle Salad

Remember, you can add different vegetables for this, and as many as you want. Some variations not included below are: julienned carrots, cucumbers, thinly chopped celery, or even sliced zucchini or yellow squash. Use whatever vegetables sound good to you.
Loosely based on one from The Pioneer Woman

Ingredients

For the Salad-

1 package (16 oz.) Whole Wheat Linguine Noodles, or Brown Rice Spaghetti, Cooked, Rinsed, And Cooled

1 head thinly sliced Purple Cabbage or Napa Cabbage- I use a Mandoline to get it nice and thin

1 bag (8 oz.) Baby Spinach, sliced

About 2 Red or Yellow Bell Peppers- I used a small bag of different colored peppers

1 bag Bean Sprouts -also Called Mung Bean Sprouts

3 Carrots, shredded
 
Chopped Cilantro, Up To 1 Bunch, To Taste

3 whole Scallions, Sliced

10 oz. (283 mg.) Unsalted Whole Cashews, Lightly Toasted In Skillet


 For the Dressing

1/3 cup (79 ml) Rice Vinegar - unseasoned, but if seasoned (means  it has sugar) then reduce the sugar below by half)

1/3 cup (54 mg) Brown Sugar

1/3 cup (79 ml.) Olive Oil

8 Tablespoons Soy Sauce or Tamari Sauce

2 Tablespoons (up To 3 Tablespoons) Sesame Oil

3 Tablespoons Fresh Ginger, Finely Chopped

2 cloves Garlic, Finely Chopped

Directions

Toss the noodles with most of the vegetables. For example sometimes I don't use the whole head of cabbage, or the whole amount of spinach. So I toss everything with about half of the cabbage and spinach then I see if I like the ratio of vegetables to noodles. If I don't I add more cabbage and spinach till I get it where I like the way it looks. You do the same.

Whisk dressing ingredients together and pour some over salad. Toss the salad with the dressing and see if you like the amount of dressing on the salad. If you need more add it till you get enough dressing on the salad for your taste. Refrigerate until serving.

Fourth Of July Drink

 

 

"You have to love a nation that celebrates its independence every July 4, not with a parade of guns, tanks, and soldiers who file by the White House in a show of strength and muscle, but with family picnics where kids throw Frisbees, the potato salad gets iffy, and the flies die from happiness. You may think you have overeaten, but it is patriotism."

  ~Erma Bombeck

Since Fourth of July is coming, I figured a cocktail was in order, to reflect the holiday, of course. This one features grenadine, blueberry vodka, and regular clear vodka.

Unique Tall cordial glasses available at my Etsy Shop, House of Lucien.

Fourth Of July Drink

Idea from ECurry

First let me warn you. I tried to use cream as the white part, it doesn't work. The cream is too heavy, the blue vodka just fell into it. The grenadine on the bottom is heavy and thick, so it holds the others well. The blue and the white or clear, should be the same weight, or a similar type of liqueur. I thought about using white cream De cacao or white chocolate liqueur for the white portion, but I don't know if it would work. But if you try it I'd love to know your results.

Keep reading after the recipe for more info on specific gravity of liqueors.

Ingredients

Grenadine

Blueberry Vodka, or Blue Curacao, or any blue liqueur- cold

Vodka, or any clear liqueur, cold. -or you could try using a white liqueur, see the note above about this.


Directions

Layer this cocktail by adding the grenadine first.

Next, add the blueberry vodka by pouring very slowly off the back of a spoon.

Finally, with a steady hand, add the clear or white liqueur or vodka on top of the blueberry vodka by pouring it off the back of a spoon.


Edited to add: courtesy of A_Boleyn

refer to these page to find the specific gravities of red/white/blue liquors

http://accidentalhedonist.com/how-to-pour-a-pousse-caf/

http://www.barnonedrinks.com/tips/reference/specific_gravities.html

White creme de cacao (1.14) should work in between the red grenadine (1.16) on the bottom and blue curacao (1.11) on the top based on this.

Double cream at 0.99 would float on top of blue caracao at 1.11. Most vodkas have a specific gravity 0.79 so a blue vodka should float on top of the double cream.


Like I mentioned, I tried heavy cream on top of the red, then with the blue on top and the blue vodka sank into the cream, I'm not sure why. Maybe because of the type of vodka, I have no idea. But these charts are great, thank you!