Tyler Florence’s Split Pea Soup with Sweet Potato and Bacon Garnish
I ran across the best recipe for Split Pea Soup with Sweet Potato & Bacon Garnish in People magazine! Tyler Florence‘s recipes are always fabulous and this is no exception. We had a bag of organic split peas from Whole Foods, yet hadn’t used them… actually, I have never used split peas. Neither of us are big on thick soups. So the one thing I changed? I didn’t blend part of the peas after cooking (which thickens the soup), it still thickened itself somewhat, it was just perfect! The garnish made it over the top good. Cutting up a few slices of good bacon and putting it on a baking sheet along with sweet potatoes cut up small… oooowie, magic happens I’m telling you! It is unbelievable to me how much taste is in split peas! As you see below, in the actual soup part of the recipe, there are split peas, salt, pepper, lemon juice, (I didn’t have thyme leaves, so I did not use, and I only used parmesan once, could barely tell a difference). Yet those pretty green peas are TASTY with a capital “T”!
There aren’t a lot of ingredients – this is simply too easy! There is no soaking of the peas before hand. Another step that makes it that much easier! ✨Just be sure to give the split peas a good rinse right before adding to the pot (rinses away any dirt)…
Richard Lindenberg. A truly talented painter. Country Road is a beautiful painting… I love the shadows in the road before it bends… he gives a nice sense of distance with this painting. Very nice!
Richard’s description of this painting: Created at the 2014 Sonoma Plein Air Festival. Out Western Ave. in Petaluma.
Afternoon Light by Richard Lindenberg
Just. Look. At. This. Light. Pretty fabulous isn’t it? I am always drawn to paintings with light… that fabulous light!
Richard’s description: Went out to China Camp State Park to paint the waters edge late in the day… and saw this beautiful backlit stand of trees on the shoreline.
Read a bit about Richard, from his website, to read in full, click HERE:
My truth lies somewhere between a life well lived thus far… and the dreams of what can still be.
The discovery and joy of painting came to me quite late in my life path, but not unexpectedly. Landscape photography was my chosen creative medium for thirty years after attending Brooks Institute in Santa Barbara. Large, medium and small format cameras… using primarily black and white images and the magic of polaroid transfers on watercolor paper. Most of my adult career was spent as an entrepreneur importer and graphic designer. Then in 2006 I became more heavily involved in the art industry as the product manager for Savoir Faire, the exclusive importer of Sennelier fine art materials where the history from the French manufacturer opened my eyes to the impressionist era and to art materials in general. In 2010 he joined with Plein Air Magazine as their Marketing Manager.
In 2001, after taking a painting class in soft Pastels to enhance my Polaroid transfers…I was swept away by the possibility of actually being able to paint. After years of painting landscapes in pastel, my passion now is painting the landscape en plein air exclusively with oils.Painting is a friend that always brings me great joy and peace. I paint primarily because it constantly allows me to open my heart. The little moments looking out a car window at an extraordinary sight, or seeing the way a strip of late afternoon light streaks across the meadow. If my paintings can allow the viewer access into a world that is always present, but often taken for granted… then I have contributed something.
There are so many beautiful, ornate gates here in Charleston. Just look at the stunning shadows that are cast in the sunlight! If you get a chance, and the weather is nice, pop outside and snap some photos that you can look back on!
Broad Street in Charleston, SC is just so… historic! These buildings have stories. Can you imagine? Wouldn’t it be interesting to know what went on in each of them? The stories, the different businesses that have come and gone? It’s fascinating to say the least!
Next time you’re in Charleston, check out Broad Street. I think there is a great marketing job mentioning King Street. But the non-commercial places seem to be on Broad Street, so when you’re in the area, check them out! Matter of fact, if you’re downtown today, stop in The Gallery on Broad, check out the great art work on display!
Thomas Torak. STUNNING! I love this guys style! This painting reminds me of being a kid trying to capture lighting bugs… ahhhh the memories! Just look at how magical those stars are? Radiant and like jewels in the dark sky.
This is what Thomas had to say about his nocturne series that he did… beautiful words!
Starry Night was one of 21 Nocturnes I painted for a solo show at the Principle Gallery in Alexandria, VA. The exhibit was a tribute to the music of Chopin who wrote 21 nocturnes for solo piano. Starry Night was the final piece in the series, a quiet moment to let the exhibit drift off into sleep.
Studio Interior with Nocturne by Thomas Torak
It’s pretty cool to get a glimpse into the artists’ studio… where a gorgeous nocturne is being painted. Very clever!
Read an excerpt about Thomas from his website: Click HERE to read in full; interesting reading, you’ll want to click! Then while you’re there check out the many beautiful paintings!
Thomas Torak is a modern master painter working in the classical tradition. His paintings are known for their breadth and luminosity, rich color and lively brushwork. In the fall of 2008 he was hired as an instructor of portraiture and figure painting at the Art Students League of New York. His paintings have been recognized with the American Artists Professional League Medal of Honor at their 66th Grand National Exhibition; the Audubon Artists Gold Medal of Honor at their 59th Annual Exhibition; the Allied Artists of America Silver Medal of Honor at their 93rd Annual Exhibition, the Academic Artists Gold Medal at their 61st National Exhibition of Contemporary Realism and the Honor Award for Oil at the Academic Artists Association’s 50th and 54th National Exhibitions, the Frank C. Wright Medal of Honor at the 2005 American Artists Professional League Summer Members Exhibition and Best of Show at the 8th Annual National Small Oil Painting Exhibition in Wichita, KA. He has received the top awards at the Salmagundi Club in New York at their Thumb-Box Exhibition and a special members exhibit of Flowers. His painting, The Artist, was purchased by the Masur Museum of Art in Monroe, LA for their permanent collection.
Thomas began studying at the Art Students League of New York in 1974, studying the first year with Robert Beverly Hale and the next seven years with Frank Mason. Under Mason he learned not only the art of painting but also the craft. He prepares his own canvas, mediums and varnishes and uses only hand ground paint, often grinding the colors himself. A difficult and time consuming task, abandoned by most contemporary artists, but vital to the quality of his work. The methods and techniques he employs are those of the Old Masters but his paintings are decidedly contemporary. Many of his still lifes contain timeless subject matter such as fruit and flowers, but in others you will find more modern objects such as pizza, comic books or baseball mitts. Landscapes are often inspired by walks near his Vermont home or a stroll along the Maine coastline.
House Plan 140-149 by Houseplans.com is a wonderful contemporary plan with wonderful porch access from almost every single room! This plan is 2,693 square feet with 3 bedrooms and 2.5 bathrooms. A nice, unique plan for the way we live now. This plan is one of the 2013 Howie Award Plan of the Year Finalists! You’ll see why in just a sec…
Check out their website, there are LOTS of photos! Be careful with the window coverings… to me, in a house that’s contemporary, less is more!
(You may have to click on image to enlarge… or grab your reading glasses!) See how the master bedroom is located on the right hand side, along with the master bathroom and closet. Sweet, right? Out of the way, a private oasis all your own! Located off of the master bedroom is the office space and a powder room. I love having an office space, ours would be more like a reading room with a desk/computer… , then you walk through to the living, dining, kitchen which is oh so sweet! I think personally I wouldn’t have the kitchen counter on an angle. I would keep it straight, but I would cut it off, so it doesn’t enclose the kitchen space. Now as you walk out of the kitchen/dining/living space you enter a screened porch to get to the guest rooms. Part of me likes this and part of me doesn’t… I think maybe I would make this a sunroom? Well, depending where I live! I like the degree of separation it gives you though! Two bedrooms and a utility room, which is great if you have teens and are doing lots of clothes, but if it’s just the two of you, then maybe find a way to incorporate a utility room elsewhere in the house!
Cool plan, eh? Yep, JUST LOOK AT THE PORCH ACCESS all the way across the rear of the house. Can you imagine?
Mary Jabens. She’s got a great eye. My favorites are her clouds. They are magnificent! Her colors are fabulous, composition is interesting and ooh the little touches like the cloud break in the sky… makes this a stunning painting!
I’m telling you… Mary is an artist who’s work you need to check out… before her prices go up… up… UP!
25 Minutes to Rain by Mary Jabens
You can see the rain in the distance, yet still see some of that wonderful light… makes for a beautiful, moody painting!
Being creative has always been a part of my life. Different mediums, subjects, places, people and events continually give me inspiration. My passion is Plein Air painting. Living in Southern Utah provides a lifetime of subjects that are irresistible to my desire to paint! Trying to replicate nature in painting is a challenge: Warm and cool, light and dark values, soft edge versus hard edge- all the elements that make a great painting outdoors are a paradigm to me – one not existing without the other. Merging these elements together is my challenge. To make the results dynamic is my goal.
For more information regarding Mary’s thoughts and views on plein air painting check out the article (Clouds for Clouds’ Sake) by Bob Bahr for Outdoorpainter.com in June 2014!
Most everyone loves a good pot roast. The taste is so wonderful, like you’ve been slaving away for hours and hours, when in reality, it basically does most everything itself. Some people prefer to make mashed potatoes, if you’re on of those people, you can certainly pull the veggies and pot roast out when done, and maybe stir in a little corn starch/water mixture and and to pan, heat to thicken the gravy. I don’t bother, the juice is just that good. I usually throw my carrots and potatoes in the pot instead of making mashed potatoes, it’s just too easy this way!
My notes on the recipe below… I rarely use wine, I just like the taste of pot roast best without it, same with Thyme… garlic I use occasionally, but rarely… I buy a large container of Kitchen Basics Beef Broth (unsalted), and use about 3/4 of it. I don’t measure I just make sure it covers most of the veggies… I use a lot of carrots and a few potatoes. For a 1.5# roast, I usually bake it for about 45 minutes, then add the potatoes and carrots (I put the roast on top) and bake another hour. It’s perfect when the meat falls apart easily.
1 (14-ounce) can fat-free, less-sodium beef broth $
1 bay leaf
4 large carrots, peeled and cut diagonally into 1-inch pieces $
2 pounds Yukon gold potatoes, peeled and cut into 2-inch pieces
Fresh thyme leaves (optional)
Preparation
Preheat oven to 350º.
Heat olive oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Sprinkle chuck roast with salt and pepper. Add roast to pan; cook 5 minutes, turning to brown on all sides. Remove roast from pan. Add onion to pan; sauté 8 minutes or until tender.
Return browned roast to pan. Add the red wine, thyme sprigs, chopped garlic, beef broth, and bay leaf to pan; bring to a simmer. Cover pan and bake at 350° for 1 1/2 hours or until the roast is almost tender.
Add carrots and potatoes to pan. Cover and bake an additional 1 hour or until vegetables are tender. Remove thyme sprigs and bay leaf from pan; discard. Shred meat with 2 forks. Serve roast with vegetable mixture and cooking liquid. Garnish with thyme leaves, if desired.
Note:
MyRecipes is working with Let’s Move!, the Partnership for a Healthier America, and USDA’s MyPlate to give anyone looking for healthier options access to a trove of recipes that will help them create healthy, tasty plates. For more information about creating a healthy plate, visit www.choosemyplate.gov.
Jeanne Thiel Kelley,
OCTOBER 2006
Ok, now for my step by step shots!
Sear the meat first!
Sear to lock in juices on all sides
Since there are only two of us, I usually go to Whole Foods or EarthFare and buy a pot roast (chuck roast) and if it’s really thick i have them slice it in half lengthwise, I usually end up with about a 1.5 pound roast, but if you have more than two people in your family (this is several meals for us), then you may opt for the larger cut, just keep it in the oven longer.
Start by adding a little olive oil to the pan so it won’t stick, get the pan nice and hot so you hear SIZZLE when you put the roast in the pan… you aren’t cooking it through just browning on all sides, at medium high, I even sear the sides… keeps all those juices where you want them to be! Once it’s seared, move it to a plate…
Sautee onions…
Now sautee the onions… smells wonderful doesn’t it?
Add seared roast and beef broth to pan
Now add the seared roast and the beef broth to the pan – cover and bake OR… go ahead and add potatoes and carrots (If roast is small) and bake all together for around 1.5 hours or until it starts to fall apart! I tuck the potatoes and carrots all around the roast… you can check on it a time or two, splash a little more broth on top… a few hours later (and a WONDERFUL smelling house)… you have…
This is what BEAUTY Looks like when you pull it out of the oven… oh. my. word.
Patricia Canney. She has some interesting work out … she’s painting dresses, all kinds of dresses. Beautifully! Hey, if you were getting married, wouldn’t it be cool to have a painting of your dress in the store window? Take a peek at Patricia’s paintings, very nice! She’s in several galleries, below is a Q&A from the Abend Gallery in Denver, CO.
Patricia is in the process of creating a new website, so be on the lookout! For now you can continue to use this site as well as Facebook and Pinterest!
I also like this one from the study/sketch section of Patricia’s website, the bright happy color really pops:
When people ask, I say, “I paint dresses and garments and stuff!” Garments, dresses, costumes, hats and shoes appeal to me as variations on figurative work. They are portraits without the figure, embodying the essence of a person or dream. I love that each viewer can read their own story, memory and emotion into the painting.
I like small scenes of people, places, garments and quiet moments that are loose and alive with color, connecting it all with places and times. I am drawn to that certain kind of light that captures the unguarded moment and captures both the “now” and “forever” on canvas.
Lately I have been assembling still life arrangements of garments, shoes and hats on hangers, dress forms and coat trees in my studio. They hang from the walls, drape on chairs and get moved around with the light. I paint them from life and photograph them in morning or golden late afternoon light. It’s great fun.
I use my graphic design background when composing a painting. Childhood memories of my parent’s small town café inform paintings of restaurants and interiors. Paintings of garments and shoes remind me of my grandmother who worked as a tailor in a men’s store….or of my mom who taught me to sew.
The Abend Gallery in Denver, CO wrote a Q&A with Patricia, I love knowing who artists have taken workshops with, as well as who inspires them!
Is my work more about realism or abstractionism or combo?
It’s a combination…a bit abstracted in the paint quality but aiming for realism of the emotion. I’d like to achieve the truth of a quick sketch, quickness and light , in the larger pieces.
Studied with?
Kim English was my first workshop teacher and the artist whose work always inspires me. I have also studied with, Peggi Kroll Roberts, Maggie Siner and others.
Inspired by?
All the above and more. Kim English for his amazing skills and sense of light. Paul Oxborough, a modern master. Nancy Franke, with her lovely ease of paint. Dan McCaw inspires me with his unwaivering curiosity and daily challenges to himself.
Of course, inspired by…
The classic, three…Sargent, Zorn and Sorolla
My work in the future?
Always working toward painting effortlessly (with precision)…or to appear effortless!
What would I say to a viewer?
Thank you for stopping for a look. I want every painting to live in a “good home”…like the “foster children” they all are!
What do I want the viewer to take away?
Enjoyment. I hope the viewer can imagine a story or bit of a story in the paintings.
How has my work changed over time?
I hope it has improved. So many ideas and not enough time to grab them all and get them down!
Favorite medium?
Oil on canvas but I’d like to improve my skills with acrylic, just for fun.
What stands out the most in this photo? Is it the stunning shadows that play brilliantly against the pretty color of this building? Or is it the light that seems to dance across the building with each gust of wind? Whatever it is, it’s beautiful and its just so Charleston!
Enjoy your day! Relax while you can, Christmas is 25 days away!
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Win. Win. What a delight to support small businesses! Especially this time of year!
For more details, or to register your card visit the Enrollment Site!
Capri Blue Candles. Wonderful! You may have seen them at Anthropologie or at other retailers near you. There are a few scents that are my favorite. VOLCANO and ALOHA ORCHID, but to be honest, those are the only two I’ve seen. The Gallery on Broad in Charleston, SC also carries the Volcano scent, in a few different sizes. These candles make a nice hostess gift, or a nice treat for yourself after you worked so hard yesterday.
Hey, if you’re in the downtown area, stop in The Gallery on Broad and say hello… check out these candles… lovely! I will pop it in a pretty gift bag for you and you’ll be set!
Wishing you and yours a safe and happy Thanksgiving day! Now, if for some reason you aren’t full after a Thanksgiving Day feast, and you would like a little treat, that really feels like a treat… Try this… it’ll warm you up too!
Hot chocolate, made from scratch. YUM! Yet one more thing to be thankful for on a chilly day, right? There are only a few ingredients, you can heat the milk however you like (stove or microwave) and instantly you have wonderful hot chocolate that warms you from the inside out! Click on that link to be taken to the original recipe complete with photos!
Enjoy this Thanksgiving Day. Whew, I have so much to be thankful for… all of you, my family, friends, health, Charlie (woof) and Fred just to name a few.
If you’re feeling blessed (as I am), do something to make someone smile. This time of year can be hard on so many people for a variety of reasons. Do you have a neighbor who may be eating alone today? Invite them over, or maybe take them a hot chocolate and have a visit. We all get busy in life, but we have to keep those in mind who don’t have family and may be struggling with something going on in their lives.
Make. Someone. Smile.
Happy Thanksgiving! I’ll catch you back here tomorrow!
Can you believe that tomorrow is Thanksgiving? Are you looking for something to make as a side to go with the turkey? Would you like to make something that is quick, easy, beautiful and tastes out of this world? Ahhhh, then this is the recipe for you! This is from Martha Stewart! I posted this several years ago (and would never buy canned since I saw how easy this was to make).
Yes, there is sugar in this recipe, but unlike canned sauce there is no high fructose corn syrup or corn syrup (2nd and 3rd ingredient listed, eek!)
In a medium saucepan, combine cranberries, sugar, lemon zest, and water; bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer; cook until cranberries are soft, about 10 minutes. Transfer to a bowl, and let cool to room temperature.
This week I’m bringing back recipe favorites that I think may be a great match for Thanksgiving! This Rustic Apple Tart (click on link to see original post complete with photos as well as a video!) is easy, and so beautiful. The secret is the glaze and it couldn’t be easier!
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