I made myself wait

until I'd actually completed something to show you. Apologies for the pause in posting. You'd think this summer-thing would leave me with heaps of time on my hands, but I'm surprisingly busy currently, what with the reading and the cooking and the cleaning, and the party prep. Yesterday, I finished the 20 some-odd feet of bunting that I was making for the party. A good way to use up fabric scraps (one of my goals on my summer list), festive for the party (yellow and blue for Sverige), plus I really like the idea of washable, reuseable party decorations. And is it just not too cute for words? I mean, really! Mine took a bit longer than some other versions out there as I decided to back my little bunting flags in the same fabric, which vastly increased the amount of pinning, sewing, pressing flat, and trimming of corners. However, these won't fray, so I think the extra time was worth it for being able to wash and reuse these without them getting tattered.

They're quite simple to make, just triangles sewn together along two sides, trimmed, flipped right sides out, pressed, and zig-zagged into a long thin strip of silk that has its own raw edges tucked under and pressed before sewing. I spaced mine about 2" apart on the silk.

In other news, check this out:

tomatoes! we're almost there... and plenty of basil abounding for when they're ripe.

Finally, something new to try. I picked up Donna Hay's Flavours cookbook at the library last week. Not too shabby - a bit meat-heavy on the dishes, but some interesting ideas. And we do eat meat once or twice a week anyhow. We made the "fresh salmon and lime cakes" and split it for dinner on Monday, with a fresh green salad on the side. By the time Cass had skinned and chopped the salmon, I had everything else in the bowl, so needless to say, it goes together quite quickly. We were out of wasabi and substituted some dijon, but agreed that next time, we'll make sure we have the wasabi in it. And perhaps some more ginger, too. Did you know Trader Joe's sells a ginger puree these days?

fresh salmon and lime cakes

• 1lb salmon fillet, skin removed
• 1 egg white
• 3 Tbl fine rice flour (we used mochi flour we had on hand)
• 2 kaffir lime leaves, shredded (these were great. next time we'll use three. and maybe a shot of lime juice)
• 1 Tbl finely chopped ginger
• 1 tsp wasabi paste
• 3 Tbl chopped fresh chervil or flat leaf parsley (we used the latter)
• oil, to shallow fry

Remove any bones from the salmon an dchop into 1/4" dice. Combine the chopped salmon with the egg white, rice flour, lim eleaves, ginger, wasabi paste, and chervil or parsley. Heat 1/2 inch of oil in a frying pan over medium heat to shallow-fry the cakes. Place 2 Tbl of the mixture into the hot oil and cook for 35-45 seconds each side, or until lightly golden. Drain on absorbent paper and keep warm in a low oven while you cook the rest.

Serve with lime dipping sauce:

• 1/4 c. fresh-squeezed lime juice
• 1/4 c. soy sauce
• 2 Tbl brown sugar

Mix ingredients together in a small bowl with a whisk or fork until sugar is dissolved.

enjoy! I'll be back soon with another post: there's another needlework project in the works currently, I just started another canvas, and the Midsommar party is this Saturday, so lots to share, hopefully soon!