I Have a Crush on Her

It all started with cuckoo clocks.

I like to do my own content.

Even if I am using a recipe from someone else, I still like to try it myself, write about it and take my own photos.

Not because I'm better, often I am not, but because it is fun for me.

It's what I like to do.

It's why I have a blog, for pete's sake!

But ocasionally something, or someone comes along that I just have to talk about.

And that something was this.

Be still my heart.

I was doing a random search for cuckoo clocks one afternoon this week while I was nursing Davy.
I love cuckoo clocks.
A lot.
In the way of the internet, one thing led to another and I found this wall of cuckoo clocks.
They've been painted, and if you could see inside, some of them don't have birds, but bunnies or squirrels.
The colors are gorgeous.
I gasped when I saw them.
I'm that way about cuckoo clocks, color and fabulous wall installations like this.


Upon further investigation, I found out the wall art was for a nursery made by this lady.
Upon further investigation, I found out she also painted a paint by number mural the same nursery.
My heart flip flopped.


Upon further investigation, I found out she has written this book, and this one.
(go look.  the spreads will make you swoon.  i can't wait to look at them in real life)
I was falling hard.


Then, I saw this.
This is a camp in Wisconsin that she and her husband spend summers at and rent out to like-minded, not afraid to rough it, appreciators of all thing vintage and beautifully designed, boy scouty kind of camp.
I want to go there.
I really, really, really want to go there.
You must go look at pictures of the camp.
Take the tour.
I like the tents, the log cabin and the lake cottage best.
How about you?


Lastly, I loved this.
It's her manifesto of sorts.
"Creativity is your currency."
It reminded me a bit of my post here.
If you are a lover of the thrift store score, the flea market find, the side of the road pick up (and I'm talking furniture, not people) then you will surely do a fist pump after you read it.
Finding old things and making them cool.
Making them your own.
Making them a part of your story.
I am so creatively inspired.


Teresa Surratt, you are rockin my world.
(and no.  i am not a crazy stalker.  although i will no be reading your blog. religiously.)
Love from,
Greta

Color Palette Inspiration: Pink and Orange at Blog Sugar

I talk a lot about color.

I love color.

It excites me, inspires me and makes me really happy.

Our home is full of color and I can't image it being any other way.

A few of the posts where I have written about color are here, here and here.

The danger, of course, with too much color is that your home, or outfit, can end up looking clownish.

Too much color runs the risk of looking crazy town.

But done right, color sings!

This weekend I attended Blog Sugar.

When I have a few minutes to think, I'll be writing more about the content of the conference over at Lilly and the Brothers.

It was fantastic.

But in the meantime, I wanted to share the color palette from Blog Sugar here on Picnics.

They did everything in PINK and ORANGE.

Yes.

Pink and orange together and it looked beautiful.

I love that I was inspired by more than the speakers at this conference.

The decorations also stole my heart.

The 2 sisters who did the decorations (see their business here.  be sure to look through the portfolio.  so inspiring) were incredibly creative.

I walked away with lots and lots of ideas to use in my home or at any party that I might throw in the future.

And they made the most of that great color palette. 

They used the full spectrum of both colors, from pale pink to bright orange.

It really worked.

See?

There were lots of garlands.  

You know how I feel about garlands.

I never would have thought of sewing crepe paper.  

They did and it looks great.

This "wall" was one of my most favorite elements of the decorations.
Crepe paper circles of varying sizes, in every shade of pink and orange, sewn together to create a big wall of bright and happy.
It was a dramatic backdrop for the dessert table without feeling stuffy.
It was just fun.

I also loved these crepe paper "globes" (or whatever you call them) strung around the patio.
They looked like big, gorgeous flowers.

Every where there were these big, bright balloons.
They added such a fun element to the decor.
Once again, different shades of pink and orange were used and the effect was perfect.

Those balloons made a real statement.
They were fun.
And they looked great against the blue sky.

They thought of everything and didn't miss an opportunity to make each element of the decor look better.
The menu for the bar was this big sign, decorated with a garland and a great font to show the drinks available.
Shirley Temple anyone?

And see those pink and white stripes behind the sign?
That was fabric hung around the bar to make it far more stylish than a plain old bar.  Genius.
They uses the same fabric for the background of the photo booth.

I loved it and was wondering where they got such cool fabric.

Found out they made it.

Of course.

It's a big painter's canvas painted in pink stripes.

Talk about inspiring!
I loved the way these ladies decorated.

They did such a fabulous job.

You could use any of these ideas for a birthday party, shower or wedding.

To see more styling tips from one of the ladies in this decorating pair, visit Laura's blog here.

There are so many more pictures I wish I had taken.

But for much of the night I had Baby Davy in my arms or strapped to me.

I just couldn't get all the pics I wanted to.

If you want to see lots more from the other attendees, you can go here.

You'll also get to learn more about the event and meet lots of the other bloggers that attended.

And to get a little more sugar from me, check back at Lilly and the Bros soon.
Maybe tonight will be the night that I get a few minutes to gather my thoughts and write it all out.
Happy Wednesday.
Now go get a donut!
You know you want one.

Love from,

Greta

Home Tour

Welcome to our home!
Built in 1952, our house is a fixer.
Our vision is to return the house to way it might have looked, inside and out, when it was built.
We've been here for 2 and half years and have done a lot, and there is always more to be done.


We're big fans of mid century modern design, but our house won't look like a spread from Design Within Reach.
(because, frankly, we do not have $200 to spend on a folding chair. seriously.  we prefer the $3 vintage sort from the thrift store)
And hopefully our home doesn't have this vibe either. 
(go check out the link--hilarious)
Our home reflects who we are.
So next to our Eames rocker, you might see a table we bought at a garage sale.
We're not purists.
We just like good design, beautiful colors and filling our home with the things that make us happy and tell our story.


Please take a look around and see what we've done with the place so far.

The Living Room

The Art on our Walls

The Kitchen Remodel

The Vintage, Metal Kitchen Cabinets

The Baby's Corner

The Kids' Room

There's still more to show you.

Our bedroom, the school room, Aaron's studio, the outside, laundry room.....

And we'll get there.

Slowly but surely.

Thanks for coming to visit!

Check back to see what's new.

Love from,

Greta

Working

Hey there!

So I am trying to do some "remodeling" here on the blog.

I have absolutely no idea what I am doing, and therefore, the previous post was written and posted.

I wanted an "about" page and that was the only way I could figure out how to get one.

All of you computer savvy types are probably laughing at me right now.

How about instead of laughing at me, you just get your booty over here and help me make my blog work the way I want it to?

Or I can just keep struggling along here and look dorky.

Whatever, I'm cool with that.

Just stay with me for the next few days.

There won't be much new content, just some kind of new look to this space.

Feel free to leave me helpful comments if you have any.

And keep in mind that if you write all techy I'll have no idea what you are saying and I'll cure up in a ball and feel like I am in algebra again and hating every minute of it.

Love from,

Greta

About Me

Hi, I'm Greta.
I love morning light and the smell of arugula.
I drink strong coffee with lots of cream and sugar.
Cream.  Never the fake stuff.
Vintage book sales give me a rush.
I think bird watching is really fun.
Mid century modern design is where it's at.
I'd like to become an expert at pie crust and cake baking.

I'm married to an artist.

We have 4 little kids.

I stay home with them, and teach them at home, too.

You can read about that part of my life on my other blog, Lilly and The Brothers.

This blog is for the other part of my life.

The part that loves a great vintage find.

The part that loves mid-century design.

The part that loves made from scratch banana bread and homemade tomato soup.

The part that likes to plan parties.

And stops to take pictures of old signs.

The part that is restoring our little 1952 home back to its mid century glory.

The part that buys glass, French, lemonade bottles so she can reuse them for her own lemonade.

The part that takes her camera everywhere she goes and can take 200 pictures in an afternoon.

The part that stays up far too late every night to write about thrift store scores or vintage children's books. 

These are the things that make me smile.

I don't have a lot of spare time, (OK practically none) so instead of watching tv at night I blog.

And while I never get to devote the kind of time to my photography or writing that I' d like to, I am still pleased as can be that my blog has been featured on these other blogs: Apartment Therapy's Ohdeedoh, Shelterrific, Babble, Bake It Pretty and all of you other wonderful bloggers who have linked to me over the years.  

Keep it up.  It makes my day.

I'm glad to share the little things in life that bring me joy.

Thanks for being here.

Love from,

Greta

*View my profile here*

The World's Best Ratatouille

What do you do when your mom gives you 10 eggplants, fresh from her garden?

You make ratatouille, of course.


I'm not talking about the movie with the rat who wants to be a French chef.
This is a real dish and might just be my husband's favorite meal.
Mine too.
I am not exaggerating when I say it's the world's best.
I've been making this ratatouille for about 7 or 8 years; long before the movie came out and most people heard of ratatouille for the first time.
I loved it before it became famous.


I saw the recipe in a Martha Stewart magazine and it looked so good I had to try it.
I followed the recipe religiously and it came out great.
The next time I made it, I changed it a little.
7 years later, most of the main elements remain the same, but I have given it my own twist and I think it is even better than the original.
It is definitely easier.
And that's a good thing.  (sorry Martha.  i had to)


The thing that sets this recipe apart from almost all other ratatouille recipes that I have seen is that before you stew the veggies, you roast them.
Roasting the eggplant and zucchini gives them so much more depth of flavor than simply stewing them.
It brings out the sweetness of the vegetables.
It makes all the difference in the world.


To prep the eggplant and zucchini for roasting, chop them into a large dice.
Mine were 1 inch squares all around.

Remember, when you roast them they will shrink up quite a bit, so you want them big to start with.
Also, if you cut them too small, they will cook too fast and not develop that rich sweetness you're looking for.

You should also roast your own peppers.
It isn't hard at all.
The original recipe called for holding each pepper over the flame of your gas grill or bbq.
I tried that.
It took forever.
And a day.
I'm a mom with 4 little kids--I don't have forever and a day.
Or even a day.
So, I solved the problem by putting the peppers on a rimmed cookie sheet and roasting them in the oven.
As each side turns black, I turn the pepper until all the sides are black.
This takes seconds instead of long minutes.
When the whole thing is black and the skin is like paper, I pull it out of the oven and plop it into a bowl.
I then cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let the pepper steam for a good 10 minutes at least.
When it's done steaming, you take it out of the bowl and the skin almost falls off in your hands.
Easy.
And way better tasting than store bought roasted peppers.
There is no comparison, really.

For the tomatoes, though, I take a totally different approach.
I used canned.
Gasp.
Yep.
First time I made this ratatouille, I peeled, cored, seeded and chopped fresh tomatoes.
And then I said, "never again." (that's why I used this recipe for my tomato soup)
If you have ever peeled, cored, seeded and chopped fresh tomatoes, you know what I mean.
It takes forever.
And a day.
Or maybe longer.
Being a mom of 4 and all, I opted for the easy way out.
There are some really good canned tomatoes out there, so you don't have to worry about these tomatoes spoiling your ratatouille.
I like to use fire roasted tomatoes, but you can just use regular if you want.

After you have roasted your veggies, sauteed the onions and garlic, then you pour everything into one pot.
You let it just simmer for 30 minutes, or much longer if you want.
It just gets better the longer you cook it.

It will all come together in one brownish mess.
Ratatouille is not the prettiest dish.
The roasted egg plant and zucchini kind of make it a rather drab looking dish.
But I promise, the taste is divine.
Truly.
Divine.


Some people like to serve their ratatouille as a side dish alongside roast chicken or grilled fish.
But I like to serve it as a main course.
With some good shaved Parmesan on top.

And pasta underneath.
It is really the best ratatouille you'll ever eat.
Did I say that already?

Besides serving it alongside meat or over pasta, it also makes a fabulous topping for pizza.

Or you can grill some crostini and put a spoonful of ratatouille on top.

It makes a great sandwich with some fresh mozzarella and some fresh basil.

I even like it for breakfast, warmed, with a poached egg on top.

I'm not kidding,

The creamy yolk, mingling with all the juices from those roasted vegetables and tomatoes?

It is one of the best breakfasts ever.

In the world actually.

Try it and see.

And if you do, tell me.

I'd love to know who else falls in love with this dish.

Bon Appetit!

Love from,

Greta

Roasted Vegetable Ratatouille 

adapted from Martha Stewart

serves 4 (with leftovers)

Time: From start to finish this recipe takes a while.  But aside from the initial chopping, you don't have to be there for all of it.  A lot of the time is roasting time or stewing time.  Don't start it an hour before dinner.  Start it early in the afternoon and then you'll have plenty of time to relax before dinner.  All you'll have to do is put the past on to boil.

2 large eggplant  cut into 1 inch dice

4 med zucchini  cut into 1 inch dice

2 med yellow squash  cut into 1 inch dice

2 sweet bell peppers 1 red and 1 yellow  roasted, peeled and cut into thin strips

1 med to large yellow onion  cut in half and then sliced into "half moon" slices

2 cloves of garlic minced

2 cans diced tomatoes

olive oil, salt and pepper to taste

your choice of fresh or dried basil, oregano or thyme

Preheat oven to 400

Place eggplant and zucchini in a single layer on rimmed baking sheet.

You will fill more than one baking sheet.  Be prepared to roast multiple batches.

Drizzle vegetables with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Stir to coat with olive oil

Place in oven to roast for about 30 minutes or until vegetables are very soft.

Sir occasionally while roasting.

Place peppers on a rimmed baking sheet and place in oven.

As each side of the peppers get blackened, turn the pepper.

Continue to do so until all sides are completely black.

Remove peppers from oven and place in a bowl.  Cover bowl with plastic wrap.

Wait at least 10 minutes before removing peppers from bowl.  The skin should come right off of the pepper.  If not, place back in bowl and wait a bit longer.

After peeling, remove stem and seeds from pepper and slice into long, thin strips.

In a large, heavy-bottomed pot, cover the bottom of pot with olive oil. 

Add onions and garlic and cook on medium-low until golden and onions are soft.

Add zucchini,, eggplant and peppers.  Stir.

Add tomatoes.

Stir and simmer for at least 30 minutes.

Season ratatouille with salt and pepper to taste.

If you'd like, add fresh basil, oregano or thyme to individual servings.

Or, season with dried herbs to taste.

Styling Your Home: Tips from an Amateur

I do not profess to be a stylist.

But I do know what I like.

And I think I am always developing my own sense of style.

And my "eye".

I study layouts in magazines as well as some of my favorite blogs with beautifully styled photos.

I put things together around my house and try to find combinations that work well and most importantly, that speak to me.

I like the things in my home to tell a story--even if no one knows the story but me.

I've been working on styling this table top in my living room.

You know the one my Aaron built for his studio and I have sort of stolen?

That was not my original intention.

I just brought it into the dining room to photograph it.

But then it just stayed there because Aaron was reworking the studio and he didn't have room for it.

And then I put a birthday gift from my mom on top of it.

And then I put a flower pot Aaron gave me on top of it.

And before I knew it, I had styled the whole thing.

And now I am kind of loathe to let it go.
We'll see what happens.
In the meantime I thought it would make a good post on styling.
After it all came together, I thought about how I did it.
Here's what I came up with.


#1.  Take your time.  
It is always so tempting to head to Home Goods (not) or your favorite vintage shop (yes!) and buy a bunch of "stuff" just to fill your shelf or table top and get it done right away.
But I want to avoid that show room look.
I want the pieces to be mine and to fit together my way and like I said, to tell a story.
That might take a while to figure out.
I added each piece slowly.
I'd just see a piece somewhere else in the house and think, "hey!  That would be perfect."

#2.  Chose a color palette.  
I am big on color palettes.  
There is a lot of color in our house.  
But all the colors work together and are repeated in some way in each room.
Some colors are dominant: turquoise and green.  We accent with a lot of orange, yellow and red.
For this table top, I went with turquoise and orange as the dominant colors.
The table has orange on it and the pieces that kept ending up there were in turquoise and orange.
I went with it and added in a bit of yellow and cream to temper it.

3.  Choose like objects--but not exactly the same.
The biggest objects on the table are pieces of pottery.
They are all different, but unified by the fact that they are pottery.
For example, the 2 pots above are different colors and ages, one new and one vintage, but they still work well togehter.
If everything is the same it is BORING.
By the same token, if everything is too different, it looks CRAZY.
Work with it until you find the right balance.

4.  Use color or pattern to unify different pieces.
That big turquoise lantern was the first piece I put on the table.
I added the little wooden giraffe next.  
Then I added the vase with the diamonds and suddenly there was a pattern going on that I liked.
They work together even though they are very different.

5.  Add small pieces that tell a story and are unique to you.
That little, wooden giraffe (seen above) was given to me on my first trip to India. 
I was 16.
I love how folksy it looks.
And I love that it is from far, far away.


The tiny globe and yellow pipe (seen below) were treasures the kids and I found this weekend when we went to our first estate sale as mom + 4.
It was a bit of a big deal for me because not all estate sale personnel look too kindly at me when I show up with 3 kids.
I wasn't sure what the reaction would be when I came with 4--even though the baby would be strapped to my body.
We got some looks to be sure.
Some nice and some not so nice.
But the kids were absolute angels and I was so proud of them.
And we found that globe (for 10cents!) and the pipe for Aaron.
(who doesn't smoke a pipe but thinks it would be cool to have one)

The yellow on the pipe goes with my yellow giraffe and the center of the daisys on that orange tray.
The tray is another garage sale find.
I like how Brady Bunch it looks.  (i have a thing for trays)

And those yellows go with the yellow frames that hang above the table.
I love our collection of vintage sign photos.
They were all taken by us on various trips around the country.
They tell a story too.

6.  Keep changing things.
Some people would disagree with this advice.
But I think if we keep everything the same it gets boring.
Add things.
Subtract things.
Keep looking at your house and finding ways to make it new.
That doesn't mean you have to go buy new things.
Most of the things on this table I already had or where gifts to me.
Or I bought for less than $3 at an estate sale.
Just shop your house.
Moving things around keeps it fresh.


So now that I've styled the top of this table, I just have to figure out how to style the bottom shelf.
I'm thinking vintage books.
Like this full set of Child Craft books I scored at a used book sale on Friday. (hooray!)

Aren't they beautiful?


Wishing you a great week.
I'm looking forward to one myself.
It ends with Blog Sugar!  
Will I see you there?  
Let me know so we can talk in real life and not just here in cyber world.
Love from,
Greta


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