Sunny Sienna Maker Jacket

This jacket is bringing a little bit of sunshine into my sewing studio even though the days are getting darker...

Designer Stitch Willow Kimonos (and a bit on the class I’m teaching!)

After a series of neutral colored garments, including greys, black, navy, etc., I have been itching to return some color into my sewing. A sunny, golden yellow did the trick!

Mustard Ponte Veronika

Can you believe I have never made or worn a circle skirt before now? 

How??!! Why??!!

True Bias Sutton in Mustard

Woot!  I whipped out another True Bias Sutton blouse! 

Cheddar and Veggie Pinwheels

Tim and I had some trouble with our propane range today- we were sitting around watching the Olympics and suddenly smelled gas (and I realized why I had such a bad headache).  The tank seemed to be leaking- we think maybe rubber ring that seals the tank to the tubing was worn.  We'll be looking into that tomorrow, for certain, but in the meantime we just turned it off and opened all the windows (thus letting in mosquitoes since we don't have any screens...sigh).

In the interim, I tried to figure out something for dinner that didn't require the stovetop... I settled on a recipe loosely based on these broccoli and cheddar pinwheels.  I had pizza dough in the freezer and a ton of veggies and cheddar in the fridge, but I wanted to add more flavor to the recipe by roasting the veggies with garlic and red pepper flakes instead of steaming it.  

Here's what I did:

- Mince 2 cloves of garlic 

- Finely chop about 3 cups of veggies (in my case I used broccoli, cauliflower and carrot)

- Mix veggies and garlic with a couple tablespoons of olive oil, some salt and pepper, and a couple shakes of red pepper flakes.

- Spread it out onto a baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes or so at high heat (about 400F), until starting to brown on the edges; cool

- Shred 1.5-2 cups of cheddar cheese

- Mix cheddar, veggies, 1 tablespoon of dijon mustard and 1 tablespoon of mayonnaise

- Roll out 1 lb of pizza dough (I used this recipe from Martha Stewart) into a large thin rectangle

- Spread veggie and cheese mixture onto 3/4 of the dough, then tightly roll into a long tube

- Cut the tube into pinwheels

- Put the pinwheels on a parchment covered baking sheet and bake at 425F for 15-20 minutes

Pretty tasty!  

Salmon with Brown Sugar and Mustard Glaze

Mmm- good recipe find.

Super tender salmon with a sweet and mustard-y glaze based on this Bobby Flay recipe: rather than grill it, I put the salmon fillets skin-side-down on a tin foil covered cookie sheet, S&Ped them and then topped them with the glaze... baked them at about 450 F for 10 or 11 minutes until the glaze was slightly caramelized and the salmon slid right off the skin.

Served with a side of gingery/garlicky stir-fried baby bok choy, spiced up with a little bit of crushed red pepper.

Roasted and Mayo-Free Potato Salad

This potato salad is a winner for those folks who don't like mayo.  Full of flavor from stone-ground mustard, garlic and coriander seeds, made creamy by Greek-style yogurt, and garnished with parsley and thinly sliced green onions, it's really the anecdote to boring old potato salad.  

Panko and Mustard Crusted Salmon

I saw this recipe for spicy panko crusted salmon on Always Order Dessert this week and had to have it immediately. The crunchy topping looked so delicious... and it was!

Ridiculously easy: basically the mustard serves as the glue for some panko bread crumbs that are jazzed up with smoked paprika and cayenne. It's all crisped up quickly in some olive oil and served with something green on the side (in our case, broccoli roasted with olive oil, garlic and red pepper flakes). I had a little trouble keeping the topping attached to the salmon when I flipped it, but I bet it would get easier with practice.

Maple/Apple Pork Chops

These maple and apple pork chops were super easy and really tasty. A little sweet from the apple and maple, but the sweetness is tempered by the mustard and lemon juice. The sauce bubbles up and makes a delicious glaze for the pork.Served with roasted sweet potatoes with cinnamon, cumin and chipotle, plus a green salad.

Boneless Pork Chops with Apple Chutney

We really liked this chutney from the other Martha... a little spicy, a little vinegary, a little sweet. Be careful not to overcook the pork chops if, like ours, yours are a little on the thin side.

We're trying the remainder of the chutney on turkey sandwiches tomorrow for lunch- will let you know how it tastes in that context!
Tonight the pork and chutney was served with some subpar roasted sweet potato and parsnip fries. They turned out kinda floppy when I was hoping for crisp. Oh well.

Chicken with Mustard Sage Sauce

The first time I made this, I asked Tim to get me some whole-grain mustard at the store... he was confused, so I clarified by describing the mustard as "the one with all the tiny balls in it." That seemed to work for him.

I've made this chicken recipe a bunch of times and it's really tasty and easy. Made even easier if you use chicken tenders like I did... they don't take very long to cook. I used sage from our rooftop garden. I like the flexibility of this sauce- you can make it as is, or you can splash some cream in. Mmm.

Served with roasted potatoes with garlic and rooftop rosemary (the potatoes were fresh from the soil as of today... picked by yours truly at Amy's CSA farm). Also, roasted broccoli with garlic, red pepper flakes and lemon juice.

Peach Mustard Chutney

Peach recipe #2, also for those peaches that got a little crushed on the way home from the farm: peach mustard chutney. Served with crunchy baked chicken pieces (like little chicken tenders) and an arugula salad with mini-heirloom tomatoes, lemon dressing and shaved parmesan.

Pretty tasty recipes! The chicken is pretty flexible- use different herbs in the yogurt or bread crumb mixtures, or switch up the flavors in the chutney and you've got a completely different meal.