i heart this quote...

"I love the relationship that anyone has with music: because there's something in us that is beyond the reach of words, something that eludes and defies our best attempts to spit it out. It's the best part of us, probably, the richest and strangest part..."
—Nick Hornby, Songbook

SIGNS OF SPRING in North Carolina..

Pickling, sourdough bread & summer cocktails..

Summertime..and the living IS easy..a true statement for what my life is like right now living in the south..i've had some days off in a row from work, which gave me a chance to get back into the kitchen a bit and cook up some yummy foods like Soup Au Pistou & summer veggie frittata..and lest we forget the all time favorite and household staple-chocolate chip cookies..i had a little Fluer de Sel leftover from Sweets & Meats Market We also had a serious abundance of cucumbers from our garden share so i decided to try my hand at pickling..they're resting in the fridge for a spell so we'll see how they turn out in about 10 days! i can't wait..




These delectable tiny cocktails are a recipe i found in Fine Cooking, consisting of limoncello, gin, muddled grilled thyme and lime juice..served over ice..they would be even more wonderful with a touch of simple syrup added..but with both the gin and limoncello, it could get ugly if much more than one is consumed...but they sure are delicious and an excellent addition to a dinner party or a relaxing evening at the dads while soaking in the ocean breeze... :)


a.clay

Happy 30th Amy Mac!

Lemon Layer cake with homemade lemon curd filling and buttercream frosting, with lemon zest, lemon juice, edible flowers and a few raspberries...not too shabby if i don't say so myself..

Freelance Catering...

Alexis and I have teamed up and taken on some catering work the last few weeks so i thought i'd share some of what we've been creating...these pics are the selection of hors d'oeuvres we did for a marketing dinner a few weeks ago...more to come!

balsamic soaked strawberries with sweetened mascarpone on mini scones with mint and lemon zest
prosciutto-wrapped cantaloupe with arugula and manchego
grilled pear with blue-cheese, candied pecans and quince paste
olive, sundried tomato and artichoke tapenade on FRVB baguette crostini
red and gold beets on spinach with toasted hazelnuts, goat cheese, orange and leek
..to name a few...

a.clay

30!

Sooo i'm 30. Big deal. I think i'm finally coming to terms with this. As it turns out, it's not the end of the world..so that's a plus. Actually though, it was one of the best birthdays to date with a few of my bestest peeps and a fantastic birthday meal! Everything was perfect, except, of course, for the ONE missing element that was to be a surprise but was kept from me no thanks to Mother Nature herself...my best girl..snowed in up in Maine with no way out for three days..i gotta give her credit for her perseverance, as she was to the point where i thought she might captain a snow plow or steal her brother's snowmobile to get down here. Do not underestimate the power of a woman when she's set her mind to something! However, her boyfriend delicately reminded her that all of new england was socked in and even if they attempted to drive, they'd probably get stuck on the highway and most likely freeze to death, which would most definitely ruin my birthday-not to mention, my life. :) As it would definitely ruin theirs...So i'm glad they decided to go the safe route and plan a trip for the summer, with all fingers and toes and sanity in tact..spring and summer in north carolina is quite lovely and full of refreshing newness, happiness and rainbows. Wisteria-the beautiful flowering vine i like to call the silent tree killer because of it's invasive, strangling nature-is found abundantly around here and just peaked last week...i know it's incredibly detrimental, but man i love it..and the smell....oh it's wonderful! There's an abandoned house across the street from us that's covered in it..which definitely helps the aesthetic of the dilapidated old structure..With spring in full swing and us getting settled into our new digs (yes! a house again-finally!), i've started some small container gardens for the front porch, picked up a couple of plastic adirondack chairs for hanging out on the front porch, hung the hammock and a few boston ferns and scoped out the new neighborhood on my morning walks..i'm ready for lazy, warm sunday afternoon cocktails on the front porch with friends....

a.clay

HAPPY 30th (THAT'S RIGHT...) DAY OF BIRTH TO MY SOUL SISTER!

XOXO

HOPE YOU HAVE A BEAUTIFUL DAY! WISHING I WERE THERE WITH YOU.

a slow afternoon.

It is 50 and sunny...it is February in Maine...my sunporch is creeping up to 75 which leaves me pining for my garden, tank tops and afternoons at the beach with Finn chasing birds. But for now, I spent the warmest part of the day on the porch typing letters to good friends on my old Smith-Corona. These new-fangled computers are so sleek and quiet! I can actually hear myself think and correct all my typos.. oh how far we have come!

However it is nice to take a step back sometimes. When it takes effort, forethought, and deliberate pushing of buttons because there is no going back. Once that lever with the letter "A" on it has risen the ink will forever be imprinted on the page. Non of this backspacing with ease. Accepting the mistake and moving on. It feels kind of good and when I pull the letter out when I am finished there are no red squiggly lines all over as a constant reminder that I have misspelled or spaced one to many times. They are there hidden within the letter for the reader to pick out. It's kinda nice.

quotes for life....

Anyone who eats three meals a day should understand why cookbooks outsell sex books three to one.
L.M.Boyd

fun new cookbook.... exciting new take on eating local and fresh... oh..and he's pretty easy on the eyes too!

it has been too long....

It has been a while since I have been on to whisk and willow, and with the start of the new year, I figured I am going to be more diligent about keeping up with the blogs. This is just a primer, there is more to come...baking is still pretty fantastic, the beauty and creativity that is a part of the process is so satisfying. I realize quite often just how lucky I am to wake up every morning and go to work to bake. TO BAKE!! Not only to bake, but to bake what I want to be as creative as I like...which as I write I realize I need to take more advantage of. This year I will start logging all the sweat (and savory) treats that I produce and sharing them with you all. Here's to an inspiring New Year!








j.may

HOME

Hope everyone had a most beautiful, delighted holiday filled with warmth, full happy bellies, family and laughter.and maybe even a little snow..we sure did! Twenty inches of that gorgeous white stuff fell to the ground in Connecticut last saturday into sunday morning...phil, bella and i following right behind it...we made our holiday trek from NC sunday morning, truck packed, kitten in toe, gifts yet to be wrapped and high-tailed it northbound..the last time i can remember snow like this at home in CT was when i was an itty bitty girl person, so i think we were due..it's mostly gone now thanks to the rain last night..

Happy holidays and a peaceful, healthy new year to you...may we all be abundant in Love...for "there are many things i'm sure, without which we could not live...but lOve is the only one i can think of.." (curlygirldesign)

our first snow....

left me dreaming of this:

j.may

Chocolate and Rosemary-A Fine Pair..

I found this recipe on a blog one afternoon and tried it last night...let me tell you--it is Delicious! The chocolate filling would also make for great fondue-minus the eggs..i infused a cup of heavy whipping cream with rosemary by allowing it to come to a slow boil on the stove then letting it rest in the fridge overnight. The tart shell gets baked for about 12 minutes, during which time i assembled the rest of the tart filling..it's got a rich chocolaty flavor and the rosemary gives off almost a hint of mint instead of its' rosemary flavor..sprinkling alittle pink himalayan or hawaiian salt on top really makes it..when in need of chocolate, this would most definitely satisfy the craving..a little will go a long way as it's super rich..

a.clay

Fall is on!

With fall, comes the last of the zucchini harvest, which means zucchini bread with a hint of orange and chocolate chips, such a tasty treat!  Hot chocolate chai also comes with fall, my new favorite drink of the season (oh that and tea, which I have been drinking my weight in... Raspberry Leaf Yogi Tea to be exact, double yum!), and of course plenty of hiking.  Finn and I just returned from a 2 1/2 hour hike which was absolutely gorgeous with all the oranges, reds, and yellows.  Just a perfect day to be wandering around in the woods!  Hope everyone is enjoying their fall!

Est. 1980..

BEER BREWING and GLASS BLOWING..2 birds, 1 stone

Eddie adding some more water to the pot. Suzie heating her piece.
Full to the brim with hand-crafted liquid enjoyment.

Eddie teaching Andreas about life..and beer..
The Brewers...they even measure together..

Autumn is beginning its slow creep into our lives, bringing us cooler mornings and evenings and even though the leaves haven't really started spiraling downwards yet, on my mornings walks it smells like fall..and i'm excited. The fresh transition into each season is the best, and it always seems to inspire new ideas, projects and motivations..the StarWorks Annual meeting is coming up at the end of october and i'm on the 'party planning committee' again this year and will be making some sweet and savory food contributions with the joined force of my new friend Suzie. The boys' beer brewing operation is going strong and has been really successful..they were asked to provide 3 varieties for the annual meeting so they've been going at it-they'll have 2 IPA's and an amber-each in 10 gal. batches. Each week they do a new brew and every one i've tasted has been delicious. And to get the beer to a boil, they figured out a way to use the heat that's put out from the glory hole instead of using propane. So they rigged a pulley system above one of the glory holes (someone needs to be blowing glass to be able to use the glory hole otherwise it wouldn't be hot enough) to hoist up the giant brew pot. Such innovative thinkers..can't wait to see what else they come up with...

a.clay

wild women

Ahhhhhh, a weekend retreat!! Time to catch up and reconnect.  While Anna and Phil are enjoying a divine meal at Primo back home, I am relaxing on the beach in Deer Isle with Finn reading and yup, I even took a dip!  But back to the reading.  I have in my hands the most wonderfully inspiring book I would love to share with you all.  I had discovered a poster a while back in a bathroom stall in Malaprop's ( a cute book store in Asheville, NC).  The poster, I soon discovered, was in fact based on a book called Women Who Run With the Wolves: Myths and Stories of the Wild Woman Archetype by Clarissa Pinkola Estes, Ph.D.  I cannot put it down.  I cannot peel my eyes away.  For my Yoga Teacher Training we are really encouraged to read inspiring books (they leave it pretty open ended) and after trying some Indian literature, some Tibetan literature, and some run of the mill inspiring spiritual books, I stumbled upon this in a second hand book store and couldn't wait to dive in.  There is nothing I can find more interesting and divine than the strength of women past and present.  I am naturally drawn towards spirited and tenacious women.  There is nothing I find more inspiring than the natural way of women, mystical, magical, healing, wise, nurturing, and .... wild.

Just a little taste:

"Within every woman there is a wild and natural creature, a powerful force, filled with good instincts, passionate creativity, and ageless knowing.  Her name is Wild Woman, but she is an endangered species.  Though the gifts of the wildish nature come to us at birth, society's attempt to "civilize" us into rigid roles has plundered this treasure, and muffled the deep, life-giving messages of our own souls.  Without Wild Woman, we become over-domesticated, fearful, uncreative, trapped."

Hope you are inspired!

j.may

Who says girls can't play with sharp tools??

Meat slicer and a cheese cleaver.  These are the tools i get to use during the course of my day..don't be jealous boys..I must say i was fairly nervous at first handling the meat slicer but after only two finger slicings on the circular blade while it was NOT in motion, i think i got it. And it's pretty bad ass.  So is that hunk of Prosciutto de Parma, which is quite nice to slice. The knife however, if i were a foot taller maybe then i'd have enough leverage to really slice off a piece of cheese with ease, but alas, i am not.  So it can pose more of a challenge when trying to cut  cheese with an incredibly rough rind. Anyway, things are picking up at the store.  We've had a couple write-ups about it too, which has helped to bring people in.  And the BluesFest happens this w/e across the street down at the harbor so we may have a slammin saturday.  We'll see!

a.clay

Foggy doesn't even begin to describe it...

What fog?..

The beginning of Sweets and Meats Market- Rockland, ME

So i've finally made it to Maine! and wanted to share some of Jess and I's new endeavor...

---a dairy lover's delight...as for the faint of heart vegan or vegetarian, i suggest sticking to the case in the front filled with grains and legumes.  We've got some serious hunks of meat in this case.  Aunt Carol and Uncle Bill-you would be in drooling, back flip mode over some of this stuff! --- 

Jess and I, as it turns out, have great success in aquiring job opportunities together.  One of many of our talents ;)  I think once we start into it, our employers quickly begin to find out they've obviously gotten themselves in too deep and there's no turning back.  They're stuck with us.  But what a team we make! Our most current endeavor is the new Sweets and Meats Market in the south end of Rockland, ME, a specialty foods market that offers amazing cured and fresh meats, a diverse array of cheeses from cumin gouda to some that i can't even pronounce yet.  Julia, the owner, will also be carrying a sweet selection of beer and wine, as well as Ciao Bella Gelato (my favorite), baked goodies from jessa may, sandwiches and so much more..the coffee we're carrying is through a local company called Matt's Roasters and is roasted by matt himself by wood fire.  This is when i insert the word delectable .  It's been quite a treat to be here for part of the opening process..there will be more to share as the summer progresses...but here are some pics for now that we'd like to share of the store-post and pre-opening day..