A Few of My Favorite Mountain Ranges + Thai Chicken Salad Recipe

I recently spent three days painting a mural of some of my favorite Colorado mountain ranges on the wall in the main room at Alpine Valley School.

The mural reminds me of the mountains that my father painted in my room in his house when I was little. I thought a lot about that while I was painting. I am thankful for being able to paint murals. It is really pretty gratifying to be able to create art.

Here's what it looks like:

I began by picking out images of the Colorado mountain ranges that I love. I did this, instead of just drawing random mountain-like shapes, because it helped me keep them looking realistic and to scale. After I created the image, I put superimposed a grid over it to ensure the right proportions when I drew the image on the wall. Next, I painted the top or back ranges. This was so that I would be able to easily paint over any drips that occurred.

Next, I painted in the finer edges on the top and bottom of the middle ranges of mountains. I did this so that the harder work would be done in the event that someone else wanted to paint along side of me. I also painted over the grid marks I made on the wall from when I drew the images on the wall.

I then painted them. From time to time I would also add in some clouds. I painted the clouds in small spurts as it was not so easy to stand on the foot stool I had and reach up as high as I could extend my arm and brush to paint the clouds.

I also went back over the top mountain range, touching up the paint where it was needed, as I would do with the other layers.

Now it is nearly done. I just have a few more clouds to add in.

I am curious to see if they will want the mountain ranges to expand onto another wall. When I posted the final image on Facebook, lots of people "liked" and commented on it. I hope it helps make the school feel just a bit more special.

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Here's a nice dinner salad that we enjoyed:

Thai Chicken Salad
via: My Kitchen Escapades
(recipe adapted from Taste and Tell)
serves 8

Chicken marinade
1/2 C vegetable oil
2 Tb rice vinegar
1/4 C sugar or 2 Tb Truvia
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 bunch cilantro, chopped
1 lime, juiced
dash of salt and pepper
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts – about 2 1/2 pounds total


Salad
2 hearts of romaine, chopped
1/2 large head of napa cabbage, chopped
1 cucumber, peeled, seeded and chopped
2 carrots, shredded
1 red bell pepper, chopped
5 green onions, chopped
1/2 bunch of cilantro, chopped
1 C salted peanuts

Dressing
1/4 C rice vinegar
1/4 C Thai sweet red chili sauce
1 tsp sesame oil
1/2 tsp sugar or Truvia
pinch of salt and pepper

Peanut Sauce
1/4 C natural peanut butter
2 Tb soy sauce
1 Tb rice vinegar
1 Tb Thai sweet red chili sauce
2 Tb water

1. In a ziplock bag, combine all the ingredients for the chicken marinade. Mush it all around, then place it in the fridge for at least 4 hours to marinade. Cook the chicken either on a hot grill, 6-8 minutes a side or in a 350 degree oven for 40 minutes. Allow it to cool a bit, then chop up all the chicken into bite sized pieces.
2. Combine all the salad ingredients in a large bowl, except for the peanuts, then add the chicken. Combine all the dressing ingredients then pour over the salad. Toss until the salad is evenly coated with the dressing. Dish out the individual servings of the salad.
3. Stir together the ingredients for the peanut sauce in a small bowl. If the sauce is too thick to drizzle, add a bit more water. Generously drizzle the peanut sauce over each serving of salad then top with the peanuts.

A Little Mail Art and Origami Heart Love

This week I have been able to carve out a bit of time in the evenings to create a few small pieces of mixed media art for a few mail art exchanges that I am part of. I had originally planned to make some sort of Valentine centered around the rocks. It just did not work out. I could not come up with something that was interesting to me. I've been reading through Mae Chevrette's art blog and so I had some of her images in my head. I find her work very inspiring, so I thought I could give it a try, even though I was working in 4" x 6", instead of on huge canvases. I also loved the pictures Ellie took in California. The pieces I created have a beach photo from Ellie and a picture of rocks from the Hoh Rain Forest in Washington that Ethan took and I manipulated in Photoshop.

I started out by putting down a turquoise wash on the white canvas board.

Next, I use nail polish remover to transfer the image onto the canvas. I had also searched out a few vintage California Beach images, old post card and photos, but they did not make the cut. When I tried to add them, it felt like too much was going on and the images were "fighting" with each other.

I've added ultramarine blue to the edges to give it a bit of depth at the edges. It is interesting to me how much this small act changes how I see the image.

I wrote out some of the words to "The Owl and the Pussy Cat" (... sailed off in a pea green boat...) here, knowing that this will become just texture later on since most of it will be covered. Many mixed media artists find old hand-scribed cards to fill this same need. I just did not have any and I did not want to loose any of the image to another layer of paper.

Toby absolutely insisted on being with me while I painted.

I painted in the undercoat of the text in an effort to have a true color for the fonts.

Here, you can see the benefit of adding that white under color.

I added two coats of the gold paint and outlined the letters with a scratch pen line. I tried to use a Sharpie to add those lines, but interestingly, Sharpie would not write on the modge podge surface so I used a gel pen.
The end product is not what I had in my head, but I am still pretty happy with it. I am also happier in general when I have a chance to make art.

On Friday afternoon after school I headed up to Two Hands Paperie in Boulder to the Origami Heart Folding event that Two Hands and Boulder Folders were hosting. It was a lot of fun. I folded a bunch of hearts.

I decided to tuck a few of them into the packages that I sent out today. I love sending out fun packages!

High Flow Paint, Morro Bay, Snickerdoodle Cupcakes and a Sunny Day, Finally (+ a Recipe and a Video)

(Some people like the way I write my notes, so I thought you might like a peak,too. I love the travel journals that some people create when they do quick watercolor and marker sketches. Someday I would like to do that, too.)

Saturday was a glorious, sunny and beautiful day. It was such a nice change from the snowy, grey days that we have had all week. I like those days, too, but I am certainly tired of the cold. It was a good day to get outside and let our bodies create a little vitamin D. I was not outside as much as I would have liked, but I did have a good time. I went up to the Meininger's (art store) in Boulder for a lecture on the new High Flow paints by Golden Acrylic, my favorite paint company. I am pretty excited about this new product as it can be thinned and used as ink with a dip pen or put straight into an empty paint marker. This means that there are many more colors available for some of those projects that I love. As always, we were gifted with a goodie bag of product samples, including hot pink high flow paint. It may have to make its way onto some Valentine's Day cards, should I find the time to make them.

I also stopped by Fabricate to get a bit more fabric for the Charlie Harper table runner I want to make, though my sewing machine is currently in the shop. The colors are more fall like, so I may have to design another project to usher in spring. I was tempted by many of the other prints they had, but practiced restraint.

Ethan and the boat crews have been in Morro Bay for the last two days. The folks in Morro Bay were very welcoming. The people at the yacht club invited the crews from both ships over to the club for a drink and some chatting. A hotel in town also gave them a room to use during their stay. Simple gestures like that make such a difference, making the crews feel welcome and appreciated. It is not like that in every town. Ethan says that Morro Bay is very lovely and that he would like to go back to visit in a more leisurely fashion some time.

It was a bit late in the evening because the crew had been out to the movies to see, "The Monument Men." The movie theater was a old style with only one theater where you could also see the rafters. I think it was nice to go in town and do something. The crew that Ethan is on is very stressed at they are short by about 25%, needing a crew of 20-25, and having only about 15. Thus, there is not much of a chance to forge friendships. By the time the work is done, everyone is tired. The crew on The Lady is full and much more jovial. Ethan is not sure if that is simply the difference in the personalities of the ships, or the crew numbers.

Morro Bay

Ethan is working hard and sometimes he feels like he makes mistakes. We reminded him that this is part of learning, afterall, this is his first try at sailing. Yesterday he learned that he was not fully understanding some of the sailor specific language. Someone explained some of the terms to him today and that cleared things up.

"Do it better" or "Do it handsomely" means that you need to do the task a bit faster, even if the quality is a bit lower. He thought that maybe he was not doing it very well.
"It's well" means that you have done a good job and the task is finished. That can be easily confused to mean that the job is okay, and nothing better.
"DSU" stands for Destitute Sailor's Union, the code word for the tips that the crew receives, which in the case of the Hawaiian Chieftan and the Lady Washington, will be used for something the crews will enjoy, such as a nice dinner in a restaurant. (I'm sure Rosie appreciates having a chance to not have to make that meal. it means an extra break for her especially.)
(If you'd like to learn more, I found this great blog, "Pauline's Pirates and Privateers." Be sure to notice the super fun ship lamp and knitted sea creatures. If my boy was still little, I would want to make these for him.)

Morro Bay by Jimkv

Friday's 14 Days of Valentine gift for Kohlton from Ellie was snickerdoodle cupcakes. They smelled heavenly. Kohlton thought they were very yummy. He told me that he thinks she is so clever and creative. He loves getting the gifts and seeing what wonderful ideas that she comes up with. In two years she has not repeated any idea.

Snickerdoodle Cupcakes
via: Sally's Baking Addition: A Sprinkle of Fun and Adventure

Ingredients:

CUPCAKES
1 and 2/3 cups (210g) all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 and 1/2 cups (300g) granulated sugar, divided
1/2 cup (1 stick or 115g) unsalted butter, melted
1 large egg
1/4 cup (60g) yogurt*
3/4 cup (180ml) milk*
1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
CINNAMON-SWIRL FROSTING
1 cup (2 sticks or 230g) salted or unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
3-4 cups (360-480g) confectioners' sugar
1/4 cup (60ml) heavy cream or half-and-half*
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
salt, to taste
1 Tablespoon ground cinnamon
12 snickerdoodle cookies, mini size (read above for how to make them mini-sized)
Directions:

Preheat oven to 350F degrees. Line muffin tin with 12 cupcake liners. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, mix together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside. In a large microwave-safe bowl, melt butter in the microwave. Whisk in 1 cup of sugar - mixture will be gritty. Stir in egg, yogurt, milk, and vanilla extract until combined. Slowly mix in dry ingredients until no lumps remain. Batter will be thick.

In a small bowl, mix the remaining 1/2 cup of sugar and 2 teaspoons of cinnamon together. Set aside. Spoon 2 scant Tablespoons of cupcake batter into each cupcake liner. Top with 1 teaspoon of the cinnamon-sugar mixture. Top with 1 heaping Tablespoon of cupcake batter, until the cupcake tins are about 3/4 full. Some of the cinnamon-sugar filling from the center layer may peek through the top layer of batter. See photo above for a visual. Top each cupcake with 1 teaspoon more of the cinnamon-sugar.

Bake the cupcakes for 19-21 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow to cool completely before frosting.

To make the frosting, beat softened butter on medium speed with an electric or stand mixer. Beat for about 3 minutes until smooth and creamy. Add confectioners' sugar, cream, and vanilla extract with the mixer running. Increase to high speed and beat for 3 full minutes (the longer you beat, the creamier the frosting). Add more confectioners' sugar if frosting is too thin or more cream if the frosting is too thick. Taste the frosting and add salt if frosting is too sweet (1/4 teaspoon). Remove half of the frosting from the mixing bowl and transfer to a smaller mixing bowl. Add 1 Tablespoon of cinnamon and beat until combined, about 30 seconds.

To swirl the frosting, spoon half cinnamon frosting into the piping bag and half vanilla frosting into the piping bag. See above for a visual. Pipe onto cupcakes as desired. I used a Wilton 1M swirl tip. If you do not have a piping bag and tip, simply frost the cupcakes with both the vanilla and cinnamon frostings. There may be leftover frosting depending how much you use on each cupcake.

Store cupcakes in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days and in the refrigerator up to 5.

*For the yogurt in the cupcakes, you may use plain or vanilla; regular or greek yogurt; any fat content; or even sour cream.

*For the milk in the cupcakes, you may use cow's milk; or soy milk; or almond milk. Vanilla or plain. I prefer using milk with some fat (like 1% or 2%), it makes the cupcakes moister.
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Collage Class with Mary Morrison & Golden Paints

On Saturday I got to take a Mix Media with Acrylics class hosted by Mary Morrison, a working artist for Golden Paints. It is always a treat to take one of her classes. Golden are hands down my favorite art company. They have quality products, lots of interesting variety and a good company ethic.

This first project was just a quick one to see how well the paint responded to a light fiber paste sub-strait (base). I love how the colors feather out as if it had been wet watercolor paper. I will most likely go back in and add more to this painting. It is my painting of a black bird, though there is no actual black. I am all about color.

Next up was working with large brushes to create a background for a piece. I've always worked with tiny, fussy brushes, so this was exciting and freeing.

I went to town with the big brushes and created this colorful background. I applied the light fiber paste to a canvas first and worked in the paint while the paste was still wet. It was tons of fun, but did not really work for the project. I had intended to paint a light section and a dark section, with words carved into the dark part (sgraffito). The words are a saying about blackbirds in folk lore. I thought I might paint a large bird in the middle. We'll see. It may simply be too busy for what I have intended.

I quickly moved onto my next canvas and made a much more simple background. Then I moved onto the college part. Many people covered their canvas with images and then painted over parts. I was inspired by a monoprinted piece and began to cut out bits from magazines to make trees. Pretty soon it looked like I was channeling Eric Carle. I love him, so I went with it. The pieces are not actually tacked down yet. I am still thinking about it. I like the piece, but it is a bit literal and childish. I have not decided if that is the way I want to go.

Ellie helped me bring stuff in from the car. She liked these pieces. That always makes me feel good.

Spring Cleaning and a 1980's College New Wave Music GrooveShark Playlist and a Magic Spinach Ring Recipe

There are a few ways to spend one's Spring Break. Last year we went on various adventures. This year we are knee deep in the cleaning type of adventures. We've been painting, cleaning and being buddies with Good Will. I thought a good playlist would help the cleaning go faster. Here's the music I added to my playlist:



One of the treasures unearthed was a recipe that we enjoyed about four years ago. I had hunted for it last year and could not find it. I even scoured the internet only to come up empty handed. If you have an Easter potluck, this might just be the thing. Even people who don't like spinach like this dish:

Magic Spinach Ring

1 box frozen Spinach, thawed and drained
1 egg
Seasonings to taste = salt, pepper, garlic, dried onion, cayenne pepper, basil, etc.
1 pound Swiss Cheese, grated
2 packages Pilsbury Crescent Rolls (I think the Garlic ones are best)


Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Mix the spinach with the egg and season to your liking. Add the grated cheese.Unwrap the crescent rolls, using them to form a star on your baking sheet. Mold the center of the star to hold the spinach mix. Scoop the spinach mixture to form a circle, twist up the crescent roll dough into the center and press into place. Bake for 45 minutes. Let it rest for 15 minutes before serving and enjoy!