Potted Succulents

If you know someone with succulents, you should never have to buy them. They're the easiest thing in the world to propagate from clippings. Here I've pinched off a few buds from my mother's massive succulent garden. Ask your source for permission first (or search on craigslist for clippings... I've seen several postings in the "free" section).

Let the end of the clipping callous over. This usually takes about a week. Then, pop them in a pot. They fill out within a year. The pot pictured is only a month old.

Because it's so easy, I plan to start a little nursery out back just for succulents. I'll let you know how it goes!

Organizing Magazines

The battle between stuff and space is never ending. Case in point: my magazine collection. I love flipping through old mags, but they just take up too much room.

I save my absolute favorites for posterity, but the rest get ripped and filed into massive 3-ring binders. I have one for travel, one for gardening/home, and one for flower design. I even have file folders for pretty cakes (not enough clippings to make it to a binder).

Here are some lovely pages from an old House Beautiful. Who doesn't love dahlias?

Seed Starting Tips

Years of starting seeds has taught me a thing or two about bringing baby veggies and flowers into the world. I've spent a lot of money on seed starting systems, wasted a lot of time with seed beds and have straight-out failed on numerous occasions. Here are some tips for semi-lazy and moderately thrifty seed starting.

Know Thyself
Are you really going to transplant those tiny seedlings on schedule from your germinator into consecutively larger pots before setting them in the ground? Or will you be like me and probably let it go for a few weeks until the seedlings are a tangled mess? Since I'm not a very diligent gardener, I prefer systems that give me some wiggle room. I germinate in either plantable newspaper pots (pictured) or individual cells for smaller plants. The baby plants can get quite large before I need to plant them.


Know where to Pinch Pennies
Regular gardeners don't need to spend a lot of money on expensive propagation systems, but there are items you should spend a little money on. The biggest: seed starting mix, either homemade or store bought (I save myself the hassle and buy it). Potting soil, and especially garden soil, has too much nasty stuff in it to use for indoor seed starting. For outside seed starting, I just use regular potting soil and haven't had any problems.

Keep it Clean
I've used vegetable packaging from the grocery store, old pots, expensive propagation systems, and compostable pots. Whatever type of seed starting system you have, be sure to clean it thoroughly if you intend to use it again. Diseases, such as the dreaded damping-off (in which all your seedlings suddenly topple over), can be spread from contaminated pots. Get out that bleach solution. Of course, with newspaper pots, you don't have to worry.

Just Right
Don't under water, but don't over water either. If you let the soil get too mushy, or leave a germination dome on too long, you'll start growing mold and you're baby plants will surely die. If you fear you won't water regularly, get a self-watering system. It will be worth the money.

Let there be Light
Once you've germinated, get those seedlings light, pronto! It can be artificial, or natural. I keep the seedlings in the window, and rotate them so they don't slant all in one direction. Just as they need light, they also will require air... don't leave that dome on!

Baby Steps
Your baby plants won't survive long if you plant them immediately in the harsh outdoors. Give them a few hours a day in a sheltered place, lengthening their outdoor adventure every day till they've become acclimated. When you plant them, try to do it on an overcast day, or at least not a blazing hot day. And, remember to water thoroughly.

New Design Website

I'm excited about (and scared) about a new website: Houzz. Excited because it's chock full of interiors uploaded by designers and architects. Scared because I may end up wasting tons of time flipping through all the kitchens, bedrooms, living rooms, etc.

In addition to pros uploading pics, users can sign up with their own profile and post ideabooks willy-nilly. Check it out when you want to "waste" some time!

Bananas Foster Oatmeal

Growing up I hated sweet oatmeal. I'd fry up a sausage link and slice it up so each bite of oatmeal would be accompanied by salty, porky goodness.

Nowadays, I'm on to the sweet stuff. I first had bananas foster oatmeal during a business trip to Knoxville, Tennessee, of all places.

A bit of flambed rum is a great way to start off your morning and it only takes about 15 minutes to put this all together from start to finish.

Bananas Foster Oatmeal Recipe
(to serve 4)
Oatmeal (rolled or Irish style... the latter will take forever to cook so plan ahead)
Water
Bananas, 4
1/2 C butter
1 C brown sugar
1 C cream
2 T rum

Cook the oatmeal in a separate pot.
In a saute pan, melt butter till brown. Toss in sliced bananas and brown sugar, stirring to melt the sugar. Let it bubble for a bit and get a little caramelized. Add the rum and either cook off the alcohol or ignite it (I prefer the latter to ensure all the alcohol is cooked off). Slowly stir in the cream and your finished.

You can pour this directly onto the oatmeal. It also keeps relatively well, so you can make a big batch and just microwave it for use on consecutive mornings.

An alternative method is adding the cream directly to the oatmeal and using the bananas foster sauce as a topping. Both ways are yummy.

Pizza topping ideas

Pizzas are a great, cost-conscious party food. For my crafting party last weekend, I put together four using whatever toppings I could rustle up in the fridge and pantry. The morning of the party, I simply whipped up a batch of pizza dough (you could, of course, pick up a couple pounds from Trader Joes), sprinkled on the random accoutrements and tossed them in the oven. Not including baking and rising time, making the four pizzas took less than 30 minutes.





Plain for the Kiddies
Red sauce (see bottom)
Mozzarella cheese, grated
Sliced crimini mushrooms

Mushrooms and Carmelized Onions
Mozzarella cheese, grated
Chevre, crumbled
Carmelized onions
Sliced crimini mushrooms
When finished baking, brush the edges with olive oil and sprinkle over with truffle oil

Spinach and Capers
Red Sauce
Mozzarella cheese, grated
Sliced mushrooms
Oil-packed capers
Baby spinach

Sun-dried Tomatoes and Carmelized onions
Mozzarella cheese, grated
Chevre, crumbled
Sliced oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes
Carmelized onions

Red Sauce
1 cup tomato puree
1 tablespoon dried oregano
salt & pepper to taste
1 clove minced garlic
Mix together the above and spread on the pizza before adding the other toppings

Camellias in Egg Cups

In my opinion, the best vases can be used for more than just flowers. For instance, this display of camellias (picked from a neighbor's front yard) looks lovely in egg cups lined up on a long table. The big ruffly blooms stand out in simple arrangements like this. It's an inexpensive and unusual decoration for a wedding or other event. When the party's over, guests or the hosts can take the cups home to use for any little thing, soft-boiled eggs included!

P.S. Need to iron that tablecloth!

Crafting Party

This weekend I invited friends and family over to get some unfinished projects completed. The crafting party is a variation on a scrapbooking or quilting party. But, instead of a specific craft, it's a free-for-all. People brought whatever they wanted to work on, some of them multiple projects. For my part, I finished half a dress, started on a pearl necklace and got some help in the redesign of my website. When you have crafty folks over, you can tap into their expertise.

Potlucking made the party-related workload a little easier. I requested that each person bring an entree to serve eight. It worked out to just enough food for lunch and dinner for everyone who stuck around all day. On my part I made a tall cylinder of lemonade (it's actually a big vase, but works better than a punchbowl!) and a few pizzas. I'll give you a recipe and some topping ideas later this week.

Festival of Brides Cakes

On Sunday I dropped by the Festival of Brides held at the Langham Hotel in Pasadena. I only saw one floral vendor of the dozen or so that were at the show whose works I enjoyed. Everyone else seemed committed to tightly packed, over-the-top, floral gaudiness. Please, let the flowers breathe!

The cakes created by the resident pastry chef made up for the floral disappointments. They also tasted lovely... especially the custard and berries! I also loved their courtyard. What a beautiful spot for a wedding, even in the rain!

Tinkering with My Website

I decided brown (even though it is my current favorite) is not the right color for my wedding-oriented floral business. Though it still needs further tinkering, I gave my website a little lift over the weekend, peeling away the chocolate color for a fresh coat of white! I also added Julia Williams' beautiful photos to the portfolio sections and the home page.

Check it out at www.brookhowell.com!

Henry the Train Cake

I was so busy making this train cake last week that I forgot to blog on Thursday and Friday!

My nephew Caleb specifically wanted a Henry cake: not a Thomas cake, not a Percy. In case you didn't know, every Thomas and Friends train has a different face as well as a unique combos of number, color and size. The hefty Henry is made of one big sheet (16x16-inch square pan) of vanilla pound cake layered with strawberry and raspberry preserves and buttercream. I estimate it serves 65 people.

In retrospect, I should have painted the cake before adding all the details, like the wheel spokes and seams. Caleb didn't seem to mind the defects. All that's left now is a chunk in the fridge and Henry's fondant face!

Ornamental Pear Blossoms

In my parents' neighborhood, ornamental pear trees line the streets. Perhaps because the weather had been so warm, they all exploded into bloom last week. I had to bring some of the delicate white blossoms inside, but I didn't want to haul out a ladder to snip them. As I pondered what to do on my walk up to my grandfather's house, I heard the horrible roar of a mulcher: right across the street, some guys were trimming a tree.

They let me poach enough branches to fill several large vases. Now the thin white petals are dropping like confetti all over my table!

The patio gardens of the Brewery

Dear Theresa,

Every year we look forward to going to the Brewery Artwalk. Whenever the artists' "colony" in downtown LA opens its studios to the public it feels like a little festival. Oftentimes, I'm just as equally charmed by the landscape art outside their homes as the art within. Here are a few gardens I admire:

The second two are outside the studio of Teale Hathaway. She makes beautiful images.

Valentine's Cookies

Dear Theresa,

It's not Valentine's Day yet, but the heart-shaped cookies cutters I received for Christmas called out to me.

This cutout cookie recipe is the exact same one I use for butter cookies...the only difference is substituting a bit of cocoa for 1/6 of the flour (e.g., in the linked recipe, use 5 cups of flour, 1 cup sifted cocoa). You also need to refrigerate chocolate cutouts 15 minutes before baking. Otherwise, the unchilled dough will spread out and leave you with some rather deformed hearts!

As you know, I'd rather not completely cover cookies with icing because it makes them too sweet. But, some people prefer the look, so for a few I slathered on the pink and scribbled a few sweet lines on each!