Look what's blooming!

The strawberry plants have started flowering!

It won't be too long before we have strawberries to snack on! :)

Recipe RE:MAKE: Lemon Rosemary Roasted Chicken Pot Pie

This month, we attempted to makeover the basic chicken pot pie by jazzing up the otherwise boring flavor profile.

To do that, we made lemon rosemary roasted chicken pot pie. Instead of a soupy, creamy filling, we used lots of veggies, huge chunks of chicken, and lots and lots of spices.

You don't have to make your pie crust from scratch, but if you want to, here's how ...

Ingredients

2.5 cups all purpose flour

1 tsp salt

1 tsp sugar

1 cup chilled unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

Directions

Put flour, salt, and sugar, and small pieces of butter into a mixing bowl. Using a pastry blender, cut in butter until the mixture resembles coarse meal.

Add 4 tbsp ice water; knead dough into a ball. If your dough is still crumbly, add 1 tbsp of ice water at a time until dough comes together. Do not overwork your dough.
Divide dough in half, wrap in plastic and refrigerate for at least one hour.

In the meantime, prep your filling for the pot pie. We made 2 enormous pot pies, but you can probably use the same ingredients for 4 average sized pies or one large 9-inch pie.

Ingredients
2 chicken breast
2 tbsp olive oil
1 medium onion, diced
1/2 cup diced carrots
1/2 cup green peas
1/2 cup corn kernels
1/2 cup chopped celery
1 bay leaf
2-3 sprigs of rosemary
1/4 tsp celery seed
1/4 tsp chili pepper flakes
1 lemon, juiced (or 3 tbsp lemon juice)
2 tbsp flour
salt and pepper, to taste

Directions
Preheat oven to 350°F. Rub some olive oil, sprinkle salt and pepper on chicken breasts, and cook for 20-30 minutes or until juices run clear. Let chicken breasts rest for at least 5 minutes, then chop into generous-sized chunks.

In a saucepan over medium heat, cook onions until soft and translucent.
Stir in flour, salt, pepper, celery seed, lemon juice, and red pepper flakes.
Add celery, corn, peas, carrots; cook for 5 minutes.
Add bay leaf, rosemary sprigs, and chicken chunks; cover and simmer until vegetables are soft; about 10 minutes.

Discard bay leaf.
Place chicken and vegetable mixture on top of bottom pie crust.
Cover with top crust, seal edges, and make several small slits in the top for steam to escape.
Place on baking sheet, and bake at 425°F for 30-35 minutes, or until pastry is golden brown and filling is bubbly.
Cool for at least 10 minutes before serving.

Art House Co-op: Print Exchange 2014

The Art House Co-op's (Sketchbook Project) Print Exchange 2014 project is due at the end of the month. Yesterday, Zach finally got around to carving his block. The theme is "Let This Be A Sign," and this is what he came up with:

 Beets!

And as an added commentary on the state of industrial farming and the consumerist nature/culture of our food, he cheekily made his prints on torn up Whole Foods bags. I love it.

I can't wait to see all the prints we'll receive this year!

p.s. check out the print Zach made for last year's project.

p.p.s. check out the prints we received from 2013 here!

{Five for Friday} 5 Earliest Childhood Memories

How much do you remember about your childhood? What are some of your earliest memories? I posed the question to Zach, and here are his answers ...

i remember a lot about the house i lived in before i was 4 in berne, indiana.  there was a connecting room with two entrances that my brother and i would chase each other through, running in circles.  i remember moving.  i remember riding in the truck with my grandfather, eating donut holes and drinking apple cider while he smoked cigarettes out the window.

i remember church as a very young kid.  i remember feeling small beneath the gigantic stained glass church windows at whatever church it was that we went to when i was very young.  i remember the light from them mostly, being profoundly interested in the way that there is gleaming and not gleaming.

i remember the dog from when i was very young.  his name was shane.  i remember being very sad when i came home from pre-school one day and my mom told me that an angel had come to take shane.  i remember being so jealous that my brother got to see the angel take the dog away, and i didn't.

i remember doing donuts in the driveway in our big wheels.  it was awesome when you could leave a black plastic skid.

i mostly remember playing with my brothers.  we had a woods behind our house.  we'd play gi joe and rambo.  i climbed the trees.  we built a trail.  we played whiffle ball in the yard where the bush was first base, the basketball goal was 2nd, the rock was 3rd and the big ass oak tree was home plate.  i remember my dad bitching at us to no end because we were wearing tracks in the yard down the baselines and where we stood to bat.  we played 'diving catches' where one of us would throw the ball just out of reach of the other and you'd have to dive to catch it or not catch it.  for some reasons we always dove for balls on the acorns underneath the oak tree.  or when it was too hot and we couldn't go to the pool, we'd play in the hose.

from the studio: 4.24.2014

A sneak peek at Zach's latest project in the studio ...

Sun salutation

The cat in the garden, soaking up the warm rays of the sun ...

Recipe of the Week: Pineapple Fried Rice

The weather has been getting progressively nicer, which means we've been grilling our dinners more frequently. If you're like us, and looking for something simple and flavorful to go with your grilled meats and/or to complete your meal, why not try making some pineapple fried rice? It's really quite easy and quick too.

Ingredients
2 tbsp coconut oil
4 oz peeled shrimp, or chicken sliced thinly
1 tsp tumeric
1 tbsp fish sauce
1 tbsp pineapple juice
3 shallots, peeled and sliced thinly
3-4 cloves of garlic, minced
1 tsp shrimp paste (you can find this in Asian grocery stores)
3 cups of cooked rice, refrigerated overnight
2 cups diced pineapple
1 carrot, peeled and diced
1 bell pepper, sliced thinly
1 small Thai chili, seeded and cut into small pieces (optional)
1/4 cup roasted cashew nuts

Directions
Heat coconut oil in wok, cook shallots and garlic until golden, then add shrimp paste and cook until fragrant (about 30 seconds).
Add bell peppers, carrots, and pineapple and cook until soft.
Add shrimp (or chicken) and chili pepper, stir fry until just cooked.
Add rice, tumeric, fish sauce, and pineapple juice and stir until the rice gets evenly coated in the sauce.
Stir fry for another couple of minutes, then serve topped with cashew nuts.

Springtime Magnolias

Zach and I spent Easter Sunday at his parents' in Portland. The day was perfect, and the magnolia tree in their backyard (that we got married under!) was in full bloom. I couldn't resist breaking out the camera to capture some shots ...

The weather was beautiful. We sat outside for hours, enjoying the light spring breeze and some great conversation with family.

Mr. Kitty and Sam dog hung out with us too!

Garden Update: April 2014

On the last day of March, we planted a whole bunch of seeds.

But the spring in Indiana is always unpredictable. We had to wait for 2 whole weeks before we spotted these wee little signs of sprouting ...

radishes. we also planted a box of turnips. 

dwarf teddy bear sunflower sprout!

a zinnia seedling

pea shoots

The fruit tree and shrubs are also coming back ...

dwarf mandarin peach tree

blueberry bushes!

raspberry shortcake bush

We also have beets, herbs, and a whole host of Chinese veggies growing, and trays of peppers and tomatoes still waiting to sprout. Can't wait for the warmer weather to usher the garden along!