Cupcakes

Love heart cupcake
Originally uploaded by poodles rock

They are so much better than cakes when you're just interested in something casual and homey.

Exciting Plates

Ferns are unbelievably beautiful, aren't they?


This stationary from Herman Yu Design shop makes me very happy. It reminds me of my plates.

My only request this year for the holidays was to get a set of these plates from Martha Stewart's Macy's Collection. The minute I saw them I knew they were it. IT! After drooling over them for months I finally started receiving enormous cardboard boxes shipped from Macy's Online. I love them so. Thought I'd share them with you.

Recipe: Portuguese Caldo Verde

Portuguese Caldo Verde, or as my buddies know it, "Kale and Sausage Soup" is my favorite soup to make, and one of the most hearty and inexpensive meals I have found. My dear friend who is very well-traveled told me about this recipe, which I have slightly modified to suit my tastes.

You will need:
6 cups of Chicken Stock (preferably free-range, because non-factory farm animals taste better)
4 cups water
4 large cloves of garlic
1 bag kale/1 pound of kale shoots, cleaned and de-stemmed
3-4 potatoes (I use plain russets)
Freshly cracked black pepper, to taste
1 1/2 teaspoons coarse salt
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1 large yellow onion, chopped
4 lean pork bratwurst sausages
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil


I add a little bit of the salt and some pepper at each stage of this recipe: essentially whenever a food is in the pot for the first time it gets a few pinches.

Using a kitchen scissors, remove the meat from their casings. In a large pot on medium-high heat, brown the sausage in the olive oil until it is opaque, crumbling it into bite-sized pieces. You may wish to season it with a half-teaspoon of cumin for extra flavor. As the meat cooks, wash the kale thoroughly as dirt may be on the leaves. Run a large knife along the edges of the kale stems (assuming you didn't find pre-chopped kale in a bag) and cut the leaves into strips of about 1.5" thick. Put aside in its colander.
Chop or dice the onion and crush the garlic with your palm, then slice it thinly (you need not mince it). When the sausage has browned, set it aside on a plate, reserving all its drippings and oil to cook the onion and garlic in. Reduce the heat to medium-low. Season and sauté the onion for around seven minutes, and add the garlic for the last three - if you add it prematurely it is likely to burn and become bitter. As these two cook, slice your potatoes in half lengthwise, and then crosswise thinly. You may peel them if you wish, but they are easier to handle with the peel on. After the onions and garlic have been cooking for ten minutes, add the potatoes and stir them in to coat them with the oil. Cook them for another three minutes.
Next, add the sausage back in, the stock, the water, the remainder of the salt and pepper, the kale, and the garlic powder. The kale will seem too tall for the pot, but it cooks down. Mix everything together gently and turn heat to medium-high, until the mixture is near-boiling, then reduce to medium-low, cover partially, and simmer for 25 minutes. A good cue is that the potatoes should have just a little resistance to the tooth, and the kale should turn a beautiful shade of deep green, not dull. Adjust seasonings and serve hot.

A Little Orange on a Gray Day

Lantana - this plant has become a big favorite of my mother and I, since it hangs so nicely from a basket and reminds us of Spain. If you rub its leaf an herby smell comes off, and the berries it produces look like blackberries, although I wouldn't eat them since I'm not sure it's safe.


Marigolds - functional and beautiful, they are practically fall in a flower, and beyond that, they ward off bugs with their spicy, pleasant scent.

Ranunculus, my current favorite flower (which changes every year or so). So full and gorgeous, although I can almost never find them where I live.
Magnolia, a gorgeous spring-blooming tree that always makes me think of Blanche on "The Golden Girls", played by Rue McClanahan.

Nasturtiums - one of my favorite flowers, a prodigious climber with fun little curly vines, geranium-shaped leaves, and edible blossoms.

Ideas of Reference

I forgot to explain my blog's name:

Ideas of reference is a psychological term. It means, in brief, having the false notion that all kinds of things relate to you personally. It's a kind of common delusion, a symptom that is typical of a lot of psychological disorders and also to a lot of bloggers. So I thought it would be an appropriate name for a self-indulgent food and arts blog such as this.

Narcissistically yours,
Diana

Virgin Post

Hellooooo.

This will be a rather directionless blog, but here's some of what I intend to do with it:

Food - Recipes, photos, restaurant reviews
Movies - Reviews, essays, recommendations
Photos - Of dogs, flowers, design, and home decor I appreciate for whatever reason
Music - Songs, artists, critiques, essays, recs
Quotes - From the people around me and those I'll never meet.

Disclaimer: I have somewhat unusual tastes in music in particular, but I've been told they are good nonetheless. Maybe this blog will help somebody discover something new that's actually old. If I write about something from the 30's or 40's, don't be surprised - it's my favorite era.