The Fallen Leaf Lantern

I don't know if I ever formally announced this on Poppy Haus, but I started a visual display internship with Anthropologie last month; the best part of which is the opportunity to create three dimensional art installations out of ordinary materials "as a job", because as you know, I really like doing it for my home. Today's post has been in the works and a little delayed because of my ever tightening schedule with school, interning, blogging and kid wrangling.  I am very excited to share this new paper lantern project, particularly because it's a project that you can do with kids, at least the leaf collecting part (we got our leaves from Jasper's school). The lantern can hang from a string or can be illuminated with a light cord. Here are some more pictures and a tutorial. 

When illuminated, the lantern creates a dim, ambient light a bit like candlelight.

To make your own, you'll need a rice paper lantern (this one is 14") a paper grocery bag full of intact,fallen leaves (completely dry), metallic gold spray paint, and hot glue. 

The first step is to spray paint the lantern gold in two, light applications.

Next, spray paint the leaves gold, front and back.  Allow to dry completely.

Begin assembly by turning the lantern upside down and starting from the base, hot glue a the leaves around the opening, stems pointing up toward the top.  Slightly overlap the edges of the leaves to create movement. 
 

 

Continue layering the leaves in circles around the lantern until reaching the top opening.  The stems should gather pointing toward the metal hanging piece at the opening. 

Hang from a gold thread, rope, or from a light cord to illuminate the lantern. 

Luxe Pumpkin Luminarias

I've had a couple of craft store pumpkins sitting in my work space (aka my dining room table) for several weeks just collecting dust while I worked on other things. I finally got to them, now that you've been totally inundated with Halloween decor ideas, so just know that I'm planning on rocking them on the Thanksgiving table as well. These are "transitional" pumpkins. That's right, I said transitional. Also, they light up, so they are magic. I'm planning on making several more, because we are hosting this year and if the weather cooperates we'll be eating at an extra-long table extending out into our backyard. This project is easy enough for a mid-sized kid to work on, so I'm enlisting an enthusiastic Jasper to help me poke all the holes. I love my sweet artsy boy. Here's the tutorial and materials list...

Pumpkin Luminarias

Materials: papier-mache pumpkins, bamboo skewer, chopstick, small box cutter or cutting blade, black metallic spray paint, battery operated tea light.

1. Poke holes into the seam lines of the pumpkin, spaced about 1/2".
Start by poking the holes with a skewer, then go back through and widen and round using a chopstick.

2.  Use a blade to cut a hole in the bottom of the pumpkin wide enough to insert a battery operated tea light.

3.  Spray with 2 light coats of metallic black paint (Rustoleum) and allow to dry for several minutes.  Pop a light in and you're all set!

Picnic Soup

(Today's post is being dispatched from The South of France by Lisa Fontaine. Enjoy!)

 

I'm excited to be back at Poppy Haus today as a guest contributor, thanks Heather for having me!  Fall is always one of my favorite times of the year.  The kids are back in school, the tourists have fled the Bay Area- reducing commute times (only slightly), and the weather is warm and glorious for our Indian summer.  This year, things are a bit different, although equally enjoyable.  My husband and I decided to fulfill a lifelong dream and are spending the year abroad in France with our three young children Bijou (8) and twins Eero & Wilder (3).  We are living in the countryside in southwest France in a 200-year-old farmhouse and our children attend public school in our nearby village of only 800 inhabitants.  Needless to say, things are quite different than our urban life back home.  

As tradition goes, the kids are back in school.  However, the traffic patterns have remained the same as the summer months.  We typically pass 3-4 cars in the morning on our 10 minute drive to school. The only traffic jam is when you get stuck behind a tractor and have an oncoming car or turn up ahead.  We are also experiencing a more typical fall season. The temperature has dipped to 13 degrees celsius, don't ask me what that converts to, I'm still having a hard time with this metric thing.  Let's just say, you need a coat outside.

Despite the cold air, the sun shines many days, making it perfect weather for a fall.  We don't have to go far to find a perfect picnicking spot.  Just across the gravel driveway to the patch of lawn perched above the bare wheat fields.  In the distance, we can see our neighbor's cows and sheep graze.

Dress warmly and pack an extra blanket.  Bring along a bottle of your favorite red wine and substitute those sandwiches for some warm pumpkin soup in a thermos. My kids have been collecting walnuts from our tree so I included a jar of fresh walnuts and a couple of apples.  So simple, but so tasty.  Just the way the French like their food.

If you'd like to follow along with our adventures in France including recipes, craft DIY projects, and tips for moving abroad, please check out my blog at www.picnicblog.org or @picnicblog on Pinterest, Instagram and Twitter.

Spicy Pumpkin Soup

Ingredients:

1 tbsp olive oil

2 tbsp vegetable oil

1 onion, sliced

1 leek, sliced

2 cloves of garlic, minced

1 small pumpkin

1 carrot, peeled and sliced

1 dried red chile, finely chopped

1" piece of ginger, peeled and minced

1 tsp. ground coriander

4 cups chicken broth

1 can of coconut milk

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.

Cut the pumpkin in half and scoop out the seeds.  Rub the two halves with olive oil and place face down on a foil-covered baking sheet. Bake for 20 minutes or until the flesh of the pumpkin is soft and easy to scoop out. Remove the pumpkin from the oven so it can cool while you prepare the next step.

Warm the chicken broth in a large pot.

Heat vegetable oil in a pan and add the onion and leek and sauté for 7 minutes.  Add the garlic and cook for 1-2 minutes.    Scoop the flesh from the pumpkin with a spoon (discarding the skin) and add to the sauté pan along with the carrot, chile and ginger.  Sauté for 2 minutes, then add the ground coriander.  Add your sauté mixture to your pot of warm broth and allow it to simmer for 20 minutes.

Remove from heat and add the can of coconut milk.  Allow to cool slightly before transferring it to a food processor to puree.

Thanks Lisa!! For more about Lisa, and her beautiful blog Picnic, visit the about page and see her full contributor profile...

White Bean Chili Verde with Pumpkin

This recipe is one of those things that came together on a day when we might have been just too tired to cook, and could have very well ordered some take out to get us through. Instead we turned to our old friend the slow-cooker, because I had a hankering for chili verde. The addition of pumpkin makes it a hearty, autumn stew, and we ate ours up with sliced avocado, and honey cornbread.  Here's the recipe...

White Bean Chili Verde with Pumpkin

Ingredients

1 1/2 lbs skinless/boneless chicken breasts
6 cups chicken stock
2 cans Cannellini beans 
2 cups pumpkin or butternut squash, 2" pieces
1 28oz can whole tomatillos
1/2 cup mild salsa verde 
Salt and pepper

Add all ingredients except the pumpkin to the slow cooker.  Cook on high for 3 hours, add pumpkin, then cook for an additional hour.  To make before work, cook on low for 6 hours (use the timer) keep warm until an hour before serving, add pumpkin and allow to simmer until soft, about an hour.




 

The Autumn Flower

A while back I asked my friend, the floral designer turned painter, Jen Daily to teach me how to arrange grocery store flowers to make them look more lovely than their $10 price tag.  When I spotted these blush colored dahlia's at the market the other day I thought about her advice and got to arranging.  Dahlias are my favorite fall bloom, they remind me of the peonies of summer time.  Dahlias come in a variety of colors ranging from deep dark purple to nutmeg, to this pale hue.  I used trimmings from my yard, including Japanese maple, and a mystery flower that I just love.  You can't do this wrong, just keep it loose and mix textures. See how I built this arrangement below.  And before I say goodbye for the weekend I wanted to give a quick plug to Jen Daily and her new project of tiny little paintings now available for purchase in her Etsy store.  I bought this one and I can't wait for it to arrive...

 
Here's the link to her shop Jennifer Daily Art.  Okay, on to the flowers...
 

Fall Colors

One advantage of having whole grains and veggies prepped for the week is that lunch is a bit more exciting than the usual turkey sandwich (or peanut butter and jelly if you are a lazy daisy like me). We have kabocha squash on hand from our garden right now so I've been roasting it with a little olive oil and popping it into meals- we made enchiladas stuffed with mashed-roasted kabocha last weekend. Roasted kabocha also makes a great addition to a picnic salad like this.  The squash is nutty and soft, which works really well with sweet roasted beets and tangy fresh apple.  I think it would be delicious with figs too now that they are in season. To make yourself a "Rainbow Bowl" follow the recipe below.

Rainbow Bowl 
makes 2-4 servings

2 cups cooked quinoa
1 small kabocha squash, cleaned and cut into 1" cubes
1 large red beet, skin removed, cut into 1" cubes 
1 apple (pink lady, fuji or granny), chopped
1 avocado, sliced
1 lemon
1 tsp ginger,minced
1 clove garlic, minced 
2 tbsp grapeseed or olive oil
1 tbsp ponzu sauce (or soy sauce + rice wine vinegar)
sea salt and pepper
cilantro for garnish

To roast the beets and squash:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees

Toss the beets and squash in 1 tbsp olive oil sprinkle with sea salt and roast on a sheet pan for 15 minutes, until soft at the center, but not browned.  Allow to cool to room temperature. 

To make the dressing:

Juice the lemon and whisk with ginger, garlic, 1 tbsp oil, ponzu, and salt and pepper to taste.  

Toss quinoa, roasted vegetables and apples together with dressing in a large bowl. Portion out and garnish with avocado slices and cilantro.   
 

If you don't have a ton of extra time for food prep, you can substitute butternut squash available pre-cut at Whole Foods and Trader Joes- they also sell roasted beets, and you can always use a store bought dressing.

Talk Soup

Last Halloweentime we hosted a little pumpkin carving party at our house and made a pumpkin soup that knocked everyone's sock off (perhaps it was the truffle oil floated on each serving).  We're reprising the soup this year for our new school friends and their families, which might have me chopping up 25 pumpkins to feed everyone. That's a lot of pumpkins. Here's the the recipe...

Curried Pumpkin Soup
serves 4 generous portions

1 medium sugar pumpkin
1 yellow onion
3 tbsp olive oil
8 cups chicken stock
3 tbsp sliced ginger
3 tbsp ground nutmeg
2 tbsp curry 
1 tsp white pepper
Salt to taste

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Chop pumpkin into 3 inch pieces, chop yellow onion into wedges, and drizzle with olive oil on a sheet pan.  Roast until soft, about 25 minutes.

While the pumpkin is roasting, bring stock and ginger to a boil, reduce to a simmer, cover.

Once cool enough to touch, scoop pumpkin flesh from rind into the stock, add roasted onions, allow to simmer until very soft, about 10 minutes.  Using a immersion blender, puree until fairly smooth (I prefer it to have a little grit).  Add nutmeg, curry, pepper, and salt, simmer for another 20 minutes to build flavor.

I serve the soup with a dollop of Greek yogurt or when being extra decadent, a teaspoon float of truffle oil, and lots of crusty bread.

I love you Pumpkin

best jack-o-lantern ever.

One of my favorite things to eat in the Fall is pumpkin bread. I have been working on this recipe for a few weeks and I think I have finally figured out how to make it both moist and flavorful, in a more figure flattering way.

Here's the recipe:

3 cups whole wheat flour 
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon 
1 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp allspice
1 tsp ground ginger
2 cups brown sugar
1 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 15oz can pumpkin puree 
4 eggs beaten

Preheat to 350. Whisk the dry ingredients and wet ingredients in separate bowls, combine and distribute between two 8" loaf pans greased with a little cooking spray.  Bake for 45 minutes (check with a toothpick). Allow to cool for a few minutes, transfer to a cutting board, slice into it warm.  Yum. Enjoy with a heavily creamed cup of coffee in the morning listening to a podcast of "This American Life", maybe on your birthday.

Rainy Day Woman

Sometimes the weather puts you in a mood that feels the way it looks.

I decided to make a big pot of split pea soup to really hammer it on home.


Recipe
2 tbsp olive oil
1 onion yellow onion, diced
2 cloves of garlic, minced
2 carrots, diced
2 cups of dried split peas (rinsed)
8 cups of chicken stock
1 tbsp smokey paprika
1 tsp sea salt
1 tsp cracked pepper

Sautee the onion, garlic and carrots for 5 minutes.
Add split peas, stock and seasoning, bring to a boil.
Reduce to simmer for an hour.  
Serve with crusty bread and salty butter
Wear a cozy sweater, have a glass of wine and listen to Bob Dylan.

Me in my Autumn Sweater

It's my favorite time of the year, when summer starts fading in and out, and you can smell the distinct arrival of Autumn with the first rain and the crunch of fallen leaves.  We experience an Indian Summer here in the Bay Area which is always a little confusing. Despite a lingering tomato crop and layered, but flip-flopped wardrobe, Autumn is here.  We made a menu of healthy comfort food and I'll be sharing a recipe each day this week after I make it.  Here's what to expect...