A Mediterranean Feast Fit for Any Occasion

This Feast is one that gets me emotional, as I’ve had the joy of serving it on many festive occasions, from visiting family in Arizona, to inviting new friends over for the first time, to hosting dinner parties with strangers that have now become friends. This feast is full of love and lots of colorful spice. Shouldn’t all feasts be that way? With many of you preparing classic Thanksgiving feasts, or perhaps bringing a side dish along to a family gathering, I hope you are inspired to get in the kitchen with people you love and enjoy some flavor. Happy Thanksgiving to all of you.

I’m calling this a Mediterranean Feast because it celebrates flavors from all over the Mediterranean Region: from Morocco, through Greece, all the way to Israel. The fresh, herby, vibrant flavors of this region showcase bright lemon, complex spice blends, colorful crisp salads, and the playful sweet-savory exchange that I have always found to be surprising and delightful. Lemon—an underrated and most useful ingredient is especially worth mentioning. The longer I’ve been cooking, the more I’ve made sure lemons are a pantry staple. The acidity they bring to all of the spice is irreplaceable. So pick up a handful of fresh lemons and get ready for some fun.

Another honorable mention is Za’atar. This blend of sumac, thyme, and sesame seeds is something special. You can buy it in bulk online, or at a Middle Eastern grocery store. It has countless uses, and one of my favorite ways to use it is to sprinkle it along with some tahini on my eggs in the morning. It’s magic.

Figs & Olives

To start, I take a few small saucers and scatter some fun multi-colored olives and dried figs on the table for snacking along the way.

Moroccan Spiced Chicken Shawarma & Yogurt Tahini Sauce

This Chicken is the main protein of the meal. However I’ve had the chickpeas that follow as the backup protein in the even that a vegetarian is coming for dinner. This chicken is so flavorful and pairs perfectly with the yogurt tahini sauce. You can read the details of both recipes HERE.

Crispy Chick Peas & Hummus

These crispy chickpeas are a textural joy. They are a perfect topping to the hummus recipe, or they can be served on their own with a sprinkle of feta on top. Don’t forget the fresh herbs on this one, it really brings it together. The hummus, while delightful topped with the chickpeas, can also be served on its own. Simply give it a little extra drizzle of olive oil and serve alongside some pita and sliced veggies. The nuttiness of this hummus never gets old and we can thank the tahini for that. Read more details on these recipes HERE.

Rice with Caramelized Onions, Raisins & Walnuts

This rice recipe is a combination of my love for both Moroccan and Israeli couscous—but with rice! Honestly, couscous would be perfectly magical instead of rice too—but I often find I have more rice on hand and can easily scale it for a feast. The key to this rice is in fact plenty of olive oil and plenty of salt. If your rice tastes dry, add another glug or two of olive oil. If your rice tastes bland, add another pinch of salt. You know it’s ready when you want another bite and another. Get the full recipe HERE.

Cucumber Za’atar Salad

This crisp and refreshing little side salad is the perfect addition to any Mediterranean meal. A little bite of the deep spiced chicken shawarma, a little bite of crispy chickpeas, and a cool and refreshing bite of cucumber za’atar salad is the perfect combo. Plu,s this salad comes together in no time at all. Add this to your feast and enjoy all the colors and brightness it brings.

And don’t forget some warm pita :)

So there you have it! A feast for any occasion. With Thanksgiving coming up this week, I hope you are inspired to bring a small labor of love to the table. Whether its a classic cranberry sauce, or a fun hummus with chickpeas for snacking midway through the day, small thoughtful deeds and food prepared from a place of gratitude can be a gift to everyone around you. Much love!

A Breathtaking Barbie House and a Quick Little Recipe

THIS. I have so much to say about this Barbie house. To begin, my sister and I walked up to a house just like this on Christmas morning when I was just the same age as Florence. My mom and dad had built the most magnificent Barbie house and our little girl dreams had come true. My sister and I spent countless hours in front of the Barbie house, imagining worlds and playing out dramas of the most epic proportions. We were fashion designers, queens, matriarchs, bosses, and brides with wedding dresses that out-ruffled Princess Di. But the house we always came home to in our own Barbie Land, rivaled any real world house I’ve seen to this day. We’re talking perfect little pencil-rod-curtains in each room, lamps, rugs, coordinating color schemes, hand sewn tablecloths, and so much more.

Me, age 4, looking a whole lot like Florence.

My sister, Bethany, age 6.

Christmas morning, 1993.

Our original Barbie House kitchen.

Recently my sister and I began talking about how we wanted this sort of thing for our own girls as well. And a job like this can only really be accomplished by the Barbie real estate agent, general contractor, interior designer, and dreamhouse home makeover crew chief known as Lynda Redding (my mom). While Florence knows she is her Mumsy, she deep down really might believe her to be a fairy-godmother who with a wave of her hand (and many many hours of labor-intensive sewing, wallpapering, and accessorizing) still makes dreams come true.

My mom, Lynda.

This past week my mom and dad visited. And my mom and I had the most fun ever making this little house come to life for Florence. I’ll treasure the memories I have of this week, remembering how well my mom and I work on creative projects together, and how much we giggled, oogled, and smiled as this little world came together. I really have to take a second glance at these photos to realize it is in fact Barbie-scale. It even has the original kitchen from my Barbie house. I can’t even. And I can’t wait to see how Florence grows with this and unfolds her own stories and adventures like we did. Labors of love and creativity really are treasures.

And Now for some food…

A few weeks ago I shared a hummus and crispy chickpeas recipe. Today I’m sharing a Moroccan-inspired chicken shawarma recipe with tahini-yogurt dipping sauce. Next week you can expect a few more Mediterranean elements that will result in everything you need to have a Mediterranean feast of colorful, flavorful proportions.

This chicken shawarma style recipe is a knockout every time. The tahini-yogurt balances out the deeply spiced and blackened chicken to make flavors that bounce back and forth off of one another and come together perfectly. When I was in Morocco, I stopped at a shawarma shop nearby quite a few times. It was so full of spice and flavor, I couldn’t get enough. That same summer, in Fez, I had an incredible Moroccan pastilla that played with the sweet-savory the way Moroccans do best. This is an attempt at capturing some of those memories in my own kitchen.

Mac N' Cheese & Rainbow Poppies

Two things I love: mac n’ cheese and rainbows, yes I’m still a kid at heart. Today I’m sharing my go-to homemade mac n’ cheese which takes THE SAME amount of time as the boxed stuff. Oh it’s creamy craveable comfort food, and I just love it. And because I love a chance to serve the same meal 2-3 different ways, try this Mac without toppings or with them. Then with the leftovers, take all of the toppings, mix them in, and the next night bake the whole thing with melted cheese on top. Mac N Cheese then becomes a creamy traybake. I will always love not only the creamy comforting nature of this, but also the versatility. Let me know what you think!

I’ve also got such a fun painting to share this week. It’s a study in the joys of primary colors and it displays how just red, blue, and yellow can create a magnificent rainbow of colorful poppies. I love how splashy and colorful these babies are. I hope you love them too! These will be available as an original painting to start, so hop on over to my shop and snag it before its gone :)

rainbow poppies

This 9x12” original painting features a study in primary colors and watercolor techniques.

Shop Original art

Anemones and Easy Sweet Charcuterie

This week I have two simple but sweet little works of art/feast.

I love these almost surrealist anemones. They just sort of pop up, the way anemones do, in their own way. I love their silliness, and how as I’ve said before, flowers like these are like little protests to the difficulties around them, bursting out of the ground all bent and kooky, yet brilliant and all the more because of their surroundings.

I also love love love sharing this fabulous little plate of treats when friends come over. It’s always so quick to put together and it looks so inviting and indulgent. Try this out whenever you’re in a jam for something to throw together at the last minute and feel free to sub any single sweet ingredient for something you already have in the pantry. Just follow the formula: Something creamy, something fruity, something nutty, something crispy, something chocolate. Start with your biggest item, and slowly add the smaller things until you’re piling bits of nuts and dried fruit in the empty spaces. You can even grab your vegetable peeler and shave a few pieces of chocolate onto the top for added pizzaz. Every time I make this one it’s a little different, but a thing of joy nonetheless. Try it!

November Watercolor Class is OPEN

watercolor Class

Join me for an autumn night of painting florals.

Saturday, November 18th, 2023

This cozy November watercolor class will focus on fall florals. We will be doing a step-by-step watercolor painting of deep multicolored roses, golden wheat, radiant celosia, and colorful leaves. What a joy. As the days grow shorter and the holiday plans begin to come together, take an evening out and bring a friend along.

Did you love my “Fall Florals” print release last week? Then come along and learn to paint it with me! HURRAY, I’ll be hosting this watercolor class in person, Friday, November 17 at 7:30pm. If you’d like to attend, please click below. Then I will send you more details.

Fall Florals & Chicken Dumplings with Apples

“Fall” in a bowl

Get ready for the flood of apple recipes! After a day of apple-picking I find myself in a creative furry with apple pies, muffins, and especially savory chicken and dumplings. I love how much this recipe tastes and feels like “fall.” With flavorful rotisserie chicken, seasonal apples, fluffy dumplings, and deep savory broth, this bowl of “fall” is warm and comforting. If the weather drizzly, or the evening air is brisk, this is the recipe.

And now for some art: “Fall” on paper :)

Florence and I regularly paint together. This painting was the result of sitting together on the kitchen floor while painting and practicing flowers. She wanted me to show her how to paint a rose, which as anyone who has taken a watercolor class of mine knows, is one of the most gratifying flowers to paint. The repetitive circular strokes that still play with irregularity are a thing of beauty. Curves around curves around curves—some splashing into others, some small and compact, some bursting and blooming—become whimsical roses, one never the same as the next. These roses are particularly splashy. Just looking at them makes me want to pick up a brush and paint some more. Such a happy little autumnal bouquet, I hope you love it as much as I do.

Fall Florals

Muted wheat, fiery celosia, and splashy pinky-orange roses come together for this fall-inspired painting

Purchase “Fall Florals”

Peachy Poppies & Peachy Apple Pie

Painting poppies, roses and eucalyptus is something I could do every day. I’ve had so many renditions of this trifecta that I cannot even count them all. These three elements complement each other perfectly and showcase the joy of watercolor. The one I’m sharing today is one I just keep going back to—it has such vibrant colors, and little spray roses to top it all off. I love this one.

Today is the epitome of a rainy day, so what better recipe to share than this peachy apple pie: a late summer treat, perfect for those first few cool mornings when autumn is on the horizon. Get the sweaters out and light those candles, it’s time to cozy up!

Mum, Mumsy and Generational baking

I love a classic apple pie. Pretty little lattice pies bursting with fall spices, what’s not to love? Beyond apple pie, my heart really belongs to the peach cobbler. So here’s my marriage between the two. Yummy fall spices, sugar crust lattice, buttery filling, and that little added sweetness of peaches. And honestly, if you only have one or the other, use just apples or just peaches and it will lack nothing.

The original apple version of this recipe comes from my grandmother, “Mum” who shared it with me many years ago. We all know there is something rich about generational cooking. So when I cook this, it undoubtably reminds me of her. I actually baked some version of this the night before Florence was born. In sheer exhaustion and exasperation at her not yet being born, I went into a baking craze and made homemade scones and warm apple pie with my Mom, affectionately called Mumsy. It’s a memory I hold dear to my heart and the emotions of that time well up whenever I bake this.

Also, I must mention this homemade pie crust recipe. This crust will get its own spotlight down the road, but for now let’s just say, it takes it to a whole other level. It is my mom’s, and she got it from her grandmother. It’s a little savory so that contrast with the sweet apples, peaches, and filling, plays out perfectly.

Peachy Poppies

Poppies, Roses & Eucalyptus complement each other perfectly in this happy painting.

Purchase Peachy Poppies

Hopeful Hellebores & Hearty Stroganoff

On days like today I often lean into the significance of these hellebores, also known as Lenten Roses. Flowers bursting out of the ground before the death of winter has faded. It’s like they protest the long winter and refuse to let it linger. No doubt they are fitting symbols during the Lenten expectation for spring and resurrection, but they often find their way into any day or season where I long for life to replace death or for hope to shine into darkness. These little flowers do nothing really, in the grand scheme of the world or the darkness, but they do bloom and they do protest that hopelessness. That, in its simplicity, is what draws me to them. Little humble lights. It’s what draws me to most works of art. It’s some sort of beauty or some sort of word in the middle of all the noise. It pierces through, or even simply stands in the peripheral sidelines, softly speaking or sparking a sense of hope.

The original Hellebore painting actually has a whole bunch of blue ballpoint pen scribbles in the dirt portion of the painting. In a moment of inspiration, 2-year-old Florence added her own artistic mark to this painting, and I love it all the more because of it. How fitting for these hopeful flowers to take the treasured artistic input of my daughter. No artistic endeavor is lost on me, and these scribbles certainly are not.

Time for Some Hearty Food…

This Hearty Stroganoff is something I’ve been making for almost 6 years now. It brings home the comfort and has those warm savory flavors I always come back to and crave. The term stroganoff is used lightly, as this really is a stew-type dish, but a dollop of sour cream really does transform this from a homey stew into a flavor punch. Sitting the stew atop a bed of egg noodles really amplifies the nostalgia, and the fresh herby parsley adds just that bit of fresh that a stew like this needs. Try this one on the first cool day of fall, or on any rainy day and get ready to inhale the smells of flavors of homeyness and heart.