The Pesto Process

I  bought my three basil plants back in May when they were just a few inches high.  The U.P. summer has been so amazing that harvest time is here!  I documented the pesto this year - here's the steps from the garden to the freezer:

From the garden

One plant washed

Basil, garlic, fresh parm, olive oil & pine nuts in the food processor

Voila Pesto!

In cube trays ready to freeze

Three ginormous plants = 7 trays of pesto cubes!  It's gonna be a great winter...

Pesto:

2 cups packed washed basil

2 - 3 cloves garlic

1/4 cup pine nuts (I've used walnuts and hazelnuts too)

1/2 - 2/3 cup olive oil

1/2 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese

process until smooth, I transfer to ice cube trays to freeze, then put in a ziplock in freezer or vacuum seal.

Today's Harvest!

Green beans - 1st pick!  Now to blanch and pull out the vacuum sealer for freezing.

This is the first time I've harvested lavender from my front flower bed.  I never imagined I'd get so much!

The plan is to make sachet pouches/dream pillows out of batik scraps that I have.

Fresh dinner tonight!

Our garden this year has tomatoes, basil, cilantro, beets, carrots, beans, radish, peas, corn, lettuce, spinach, kale, swiss chard, cucumbers, yellow squash, zucchini, acorn squash and butternut squash (whew!).
For dinner tonight we picked our first zucchini, yellow squash, peas, a red onion, and had a salad with the greens.

Can't wait for ripe tomatoes and fresh salsa!  And the corn is amazing!  This is the first year I've tried it and every stalk has tassels!

Stormy 4th of July

The 4th of July is a special time in Marquette - the days are long, dark doesn't come until about 10:30, and hot summer days are what we live for!  Inevitably, as we wait for the fireworks every year, the weather changes and the anticipation of the fireworks turns into confusion as the entire city wonders whether they'll be cancelled (or not).  Usually, it's 9 or 9:30 when 3/4 of the town has brought blankets and chairs to the beach to experience the show.  This year was no exception - a wonderful, hot summer day turns on a dime...

It was scary!  The wind came up and it rained.  Here's another view 

We weren't sure if they were going to have the fireworks, most people left - then in the rain, thunder and lightening, the show began!

Presque Isle Paradise

Not far from our house, about 8.4 miles to be exact, lies a tiny island named "Little Presque Isle".  I think it's named that because in the city of Marquette there's a park called "Presque Isle" that's much bigger.  Little Presque is one of our favorite places to go to walk on the beach, swim, or just sit and listen to the waves.  We go there year round, and when it's frozen, it's easy to walk over to the island.  In summer, we stay to the west of the island, where it's more private.  June 30th and July 1st we spent the afternoons there.  Amazingly, the Lake was warm enough for swimming and there were no bugs - not one fly or other critter to disturb our paradise.  It's a short walk through the woods and my favorite part is the smell of the pine needles on a hot day.  Here's what it looks like as you're walking through the woods approaching the Lake.

We set up a tent in the shade for the afternoon.

No one was on the beach in either direction - that's "Little Presque" - the island.

It was in the 80's, hot in the sun, cool in the shade and absolute paradise!

Infinity Pool - U.P. Style

You've heard of man-made, well this is the epitome of beaver-made.  This lake is essentially a beaver dam, identifiable by the three lodges occupying it.  I'm sworn to secrecy as to the location as it took our adventure seeking hiking buddies 3 tries to find it.

A single wild rose greeted us as we approached.  Saw a few lady slippers this day too.

Oh, and did I mention waterfalls?  All pictures taken with my new Samsung Galaxy S2 phone, except the lady slipper.  Next task is learning to zoom.

In celebration of Pisces!

I have a lot of Pisces people in my life.  My husband, and my closest friends throughout the years, are all Pisces.  It is said that Pisces depend on their intuition and are very perceptive.   Whatever it is, I am very drawn to the fish (or is it that they're drawn to me?).  I just learned that the sun sign in Pisces always ends on the moment of the Vernal Equinox!   Can't think of a better reason to have a sale - Egret Designs celebrates Pisces and Spring during March.

Etsy Treasuries

I first learned about Treasuries on Etsy when a pair of earrings I had in my store was selected for a Treasury named See the Beauty in Michigan: Purple to Blues.  I posted about it on this blog, it was one of my first posts - I was so excited!
Now I'm learning to create my own Treasuries and highlight some beautiful works by others.  I've made two so far: Celebrate Sodalite and A Mermaid's Dream.  Hope you enjoy!

Sodalite and Silver

The latest pair of Sodalite and Silver, new on Etsy today.  I've been learning more about Etsy and think I will create a Treasury of Sodalite.  Sodalite is said to balance the head and heart, promote peace and harmony as well as release stress, anger and fears.  It's a lovely color too!

Holiday Greetings

Grab a beverage and enjoy this 4 minute video of wintry scenes set to George Winston's arrangement of The Carol of the Bells.  This was my holiday greeting card this year - sent via email to all friends and family.

Playing with Facebook

Just set up a Facebook page "Egret Designs".  If you're inclined, check it out and comment, or like it (if you do).  I'm working on linking it to my Etsy store and vice versa.  Gotta keep up with technology... even sent my Christmas greetings out electronically this year.

Copper Caps

I love using bead caps!  The caps are copper - the bead in the middle is unknown material but I thought it went together well.  Made myself a similar pair but more vintaj in appearance.  These are going up on Etsy tonight.

Skin care with Aloe

Have you ever squeezed gel from an aloe leaf?  That stuff is gooey!  I had to sacrifice three fairly good sized leaves today for a new recipe I tried.  It's on page 114 of Organic Body Care Recipes by Stephanie Tourles,

It's called a cleansing cream but doubles as a face and body cream.  It has most of the same ingredients in the other recipe I use daily on my face, but instead of cocoa butter it has aloe vera gel and vitamin e oil.  Can't go wrong with those ingredients!  The best part was that I already had every ingredient, although my aloe plant might not be real happy tonight.  1/4 cup is a lot of aloe!  Used lavender, geranium and a bit of ylang ylang essential oils for added benefit.

Ready for the Craft Sale!

My husband made this display rack for me and I've been working hard to fill it up.  Marquette-Alger RESA has an annual craft sale and they allow me to participate since I work in the building.  Sale starts tomorrow and goes through mid December.  Working on 3 more very different designs that should be done in a week or so.  Here are some up close shots.  One click on the photo will enlarge for more detail.

coconut shell beads

teal n gold spiral 

blues n silver spiral

green and bronze

coconut shell beads w/copper caps

dark green and shiny gold

earrings

A Fall Camping Trip in the U.P.

Sunrise at Huron River

Evening Camp

Coffee n Bacon

Dinner's in the dutch oven

All was right with the world for 2 glorious days and nights in early October!  Temps in the 80's, swimming, sitting by the fire, good food and friends.

Looking west

56 Tons of Inner Tubes Recycled, and counting...

For those of you that know me,  you'll remember that I come from a long line of recyclers, although in my great grandparents day, it would have been called junk collecting.  My father's business was called General Reclaiming Co. - that's right, he had a glass recycling business in the 50's!  Took it over from his father who started the endeavor.  Grandpas parents were in the business too: some in paper, and yes, rubber!  So when I saw this company that makes gorgeous bags - handbags, wallets, briefcases, and the like out of recycled inner tubes, I had to promote it.  If I carried a bag, I'd have one of these.  Ironically, the woman that started the company in her home doesn't carry a purse.

Making grape jam

I came home the other day to find a glad-ware container of concord grapes on my front porch.  I have two friends that have grape plants and both of them had one of my glad-ware containers, so I wasn't sure who had given me these beauties.  Turns out it was my next door neighbor, she's been planting all sorts of fruits & veggies (recently put a few blueberry bushes in her yard too).
Have you ever had a whiff of concord grapes?  They truly smell like grape candy, the aroma was so strong that my entire kitchen smelled like Welch's grape juice (which was wonderful).  My husband suggested that I try to make a spread with them, but after friends stopped by and snacked on them, there were just a few left.  So I tried the local vegetable market, Farmer Q's and they had quarts of concord grapes - I was on a mission!
Google being my research tool of choice, I came home and promptly googled how to make grape jam and came across this recipe (click on post title).  I didn't know the weight of my grapes, so like everything else I cook, I just eyeballed the quantity of sugar and lemon juice.  Other than that, I followed the recipe to a "T".  The finished product is a little looser than true jam, but was a delightful treat on our pancakes this morning!  Thanks neighbor!

Marquette at its Finest!

A great video of the Tall Ships entering Marquette Harbor!  It was spectacular sailing alongside these beauties.  Nick, the fella with the beard, captains a local schooner, Coaster II, for 2 hour, 4 hour and sunset cruises.  His son, one of the lads hoisting a sail in this video, was recently hired as crew on Pride of Baltimore II.  What an adventure!  

Sailing the Keweenaw

A quiet evening at Bete Grise Bay on the Eastern shore of the Keweenaw Peninsula.  The post title links to more pictures from our trip and a short video to get the full experience!  It was six wonderful days with my husband and without cell coverage!

Vases are full!

Picked lillies, globe thistles, lavender and astilbe today for a mighty fine bouquet.   Mums have started to bud and ornamental grasses are getting tall.  An earlier post shows what it looked like the end of May.  It will be over way too soon...