RSVP Collection No. 18 - Crunchy Asian Salad

Crunchy Asian Salad

1 env. GOOD SEASONS Italian Dressing Mix

1/2 cup  sugar

2 Tbsp. soy sauce

2 pkg.  (3 oz. each) ramen noodle soup mix

2 pkg. (16 oz. each) coleslaw blend (cabbage slaw mix)

4   green onions, sliced

1/2 cup PLANTERS Dry Roasted Sunflower Kernels

1/2 cup  PLANTERS Sliced Almonds, toasted

Directions

PREPARE dressing mix in small bowl as directed on envelope. Stir in sugar and soy sauce.

BREAK apart Noodles; place in large bowl. Discard Seasoning Packet or reserve for another use. Add coleslaw blend, onions, sunflower kernels and almonds to noodles; mix lightly.
ADD dressing; toss to coat. Serve immediately.

Paper Obsessed No. 2 - I Married Adventure

I'm obsessed with two books I own. The story inside is remarkable, but what caused me to covet these books until I was able to obtain them was the book spines themselves. I Married Adventure, 1940 and Four Years in Paradise, 1941 have fabulous zebra and giraffe designed spines and you know me and animal print.

In the first half of the 20th century an American couple, Martin and Osa Johnson—from Lincoln, Kansas and Chanute, Kansas, respectively—captured the public's imagination through their films and books of adventure in exotic, faraway lands. Photographers, explorers, marketers, naturalists and authors, Martin and Osa studied the wildlife and peoples of East and Central Africa, the South Pacific Islands and British North Borneo. They explored then-unknown lands and brought back film footage and photographs, offering many Americans their first understanding of these distant lands.

This is not a shelf book. It is an accessory to be displayed. Character in a room.

There is so much story just in this one photograph. Are you seeing the hat, the crisp white shirt, the leather saddle, the binoculars... all on top of a zebra? I could design a whole suite around the inspiration from just this one photograph.

Such style, Osa had - loving her painted plane!

From 1917-1936, the Johnsons set up camp in some of the most remote areas of the world and provided an unmatched photographic record of the wildernesses of Kenya, the Congo, British North Borneo and the Solomon and New Hebrides Islands...Their equipment was the most advanced motion pictures apparatus of the day, some of it designed by Martin Johnson himself.

When the young adventurers left their home in Kansas to explore and photograph these lands, little did they realize that they would provide the world with a photographic record of the African game of unimagined magnitude and beauty...The Johnsons gave the filmmakers and researchers of today an important source of ethnological and zoological material which would otherwise have been lost.

Their photographs represent one of the great contributions to the pictorial history of the world...Their films serve to document a wilderness that has long since vanished, tribal cultures and customs that ceased to exist.

Images/Sources:  Martin and Osa Johnson Safari Museum, Paris Hotel Boutique

Color Palette No. 5 - Seaglass and French Roast

What better color palette combination then one that conjures up the pleasant aroma of freshly brewed coffee and cool breezes?

This color palette is enhanced by pairing it with metals, mirrored chests, crystal lamps, and warm wood tones.

My paint color picks for this palette

Benjamin Moore Aganthus Green

Benjamin Moore HC-14 Hollingsworth Green

Sherwin Williams - French Roast



Image Sources: Henri Restaurant, Domino, House Beautiful, Elle Decor, Decor Pad, Windsor Smith

Be Inspired No. 12 - Subway Tile

On a recent trip to Boston and riding the subway there, I was reminded of how much I love the clean lines and timeless design of subway tile for kitchen backsplashes and bathrooms.

Many New York City Subway stations are decorated with colorful ceramic plaques and tile mosaics. Of these, many take the form of signs, identifying the station's location. Much of this ceramic work was in place when the subway system originally opened on October 27, 1904. Newer work continues to be installed each year, much of it cheerful and fanciful.

The subway system in Paris is decorated using subway tile designs with colorful seating. Check out these inspiring images of subway tile used in home design.

Glass subway tile offers such a wonderful palette of color. So whether using ceramic, marble, or glass subway tile, installed horizontally or vertically - the finished product will be stunningly classic.

Image and Content Resources:  Wikipedia, Cote de Texas, Daltile, Mosaic Tile Co., Modwalls, Pottery Barn, Kitchen Backsplashes Blog

Garden Design No. 3 - Bonsai

As mentioned in an earlier blog post, I love sculpture in a garden. Whether created from man-made materials or living plants. But I find it a definite bonus when that art form offers a tranquility in the garden as well. Bonsai is a Japanese art form using miniature trees grown in containers that does just that.

The Chinese have a similar practice in the tradition of penjing from which the art originated, and the miniature living landscapes of Vietnamese hòn non bộ. The Japanese tradition dates back over a thousand years, and has evolved its own unique aesthetics and terminology.

Bonsai provides two benefits to its gardeners: contemplation (for the viewer) and the pleasant exercise of effort and ingenuity (for the grower). Bonsai practice focuses on long-term cultivation and shaping of one or more small trees growing in a container. There are some bonsai in existence that are over 150 years old!

A bonsai is created beginning with a specimen of source material. This may be a cutting, seedling, or small tree of a species suitable for bonsai development. Bonsai can be created from nearly any perennial woody-stemmed tree or shrub species that produces true branches and can be cultivated to remain small through pot confinement with crown and root pruning.

I appreciate the Japanese Maple and flowering types of Bonsai, but the varieties that marvel me most are the traditional evergreen art forms.

There is definitely a tranquility and peace in a Bonsai garden like no other.

The National Bonsai & Penjing Museum is home to one of the largest collections of bonsai and penjing in North America. Here's a link to their virtual tour http://www.usna.usda.gov/Gardens/collections/VirtualTours/BonsaiVirtualTour.html. 

Here are a few books available on Bonsai gardening.

Image and Content Sources:  Wikipedia, Bonsai Gardeners, The Garden Lady, US National Arboretum Museum.

RSVP Collection No. 16 - Chicken, Walnut and Red Grape Salad

Chicken, Walnut and Red Grape Salad

with Curry Dressing

2 t. curry powder (preferably Madras-style)

1/4 c. light mayonnaise

1/4 c. plain nonfat yogurt

2 t. Mango chutney

1 t. minced peeled fresh ginger

1/2 t. grated orange peel

3 c. - 1/2" pcs. cooked skinless boneless chicken

1 c. halved seedless red grapes

1/2 c. thinly sliced green onion

1/3 c. walnuts or pecans, toasted, coarsely chopped

Stir curry powder in small skillet over medium heat until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Transfer to medium bowl. Add light mayo, yogurt, mango chutney, minced ginger, and grated orange peel. Whisk to blend. Stir in chicken, grapes, green onions, and chopped walnut or pecans. Season salad with salt and pepper to taste. Can be made 6 hours ahead, cover and refrigerate. Serve on lettuce leaves, garnish with grape clusters.



Gotta Love No. 7 - Dominoes

Several months ago I came across a really cool vintage 1940 copy of Hoyle's Complete and Authoritative Book of Games book. I'm not sure how games are played in your house but when I was growing up there were different rules for the same game depending on whose house you were playing the game at.

This "authoritative" book sure would have come in handy to solidify official rules! I don't know how you feel about allowing three of a kind sets in the game of Rummy, but I think it should be banned, except for sets of Aces, of course! But I am all for landing on Free Parking in Monopoly meaning you win the center pot of money, even if that is not the "official" meaning.

Another reason this book caught my eye was because I love vintage dominoes and this book offered a few game versions I had never played before.

Dominoes glossary of terms:

Bones: The dominoes, also called tiles, rocks, or stones.
Boneyard: The dominoes left after all players draw their hands in the scoring and matching domino games. Set: The first domino played in a hand.
Cutthroat: Any domino game in which each player plays independently, with no partner. This term denotes that each player is out to beat the others.

Here is an interesting version of the game from this book.

Matadore Game

Two players draw seven bones each. Highest double sets (plays). If neither has a doublet, the heaviest domino sets. There are four trumps, or matadores. These are the double blank, and the dominoes that have 7 pips on their faces; the 3-4, 2-5, 1-6.

Doublets are not set across the line, a doublet being no better than a single number. The object of the game is to make the ends of the adjoining dominoes, added together, equal 7. If a player cannot do this, he must either play a trump or go to the bone-yard and draw until he can make a seven or get a trump. The last two bones must not be drawn.

When a trump is played, the player can expose whichever end of it he pleases by placing it crossways, so that the next player will have to make a 7 by playing the complement of the exposed end.

Image Sources: Willow Bee Inspired, Watson Kennedy