Baked

Happy hump day! It is Wednesday, isn't it? I'm a bit thrown off this week. Thanks for all the lovely comments on my last post about Palm Springs - it was quite the adventure.

If you've been reading my blog for a bit, you may have noticed that I do like a good cracker. Any kind, really. Today I offer up rice crackers with wasabi and nori. The wasabi just gives them an extra kick, and who doesn't like that?

Rice Crackers with Wasabi & Nori - makes about 24-30

3/4 cup brown rice flour
1/3 cup brown rice, cooked
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
4 tablespoons water
1 tablespoon wasabi - either from a tube or powder (I used the powder-follow instructions.)
1/4 cup chopped/crushed nori (sheets of dried seaweed)
1 tablespoon tamari soy sauce
1 tablespoon honey

Preheat oven to 350f/180c. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside. Place rice flour, rice, wasabi, and oil in a food processor and process until finely ground. Slowly add the water while processor is running. Mix until a ball of dough forms. Transfer to your work surface and knead in the nori until well combined.

Roll into small balls, the size of a marble, and place between two pieces of wax paper. I used a small baking pan to flatten ball. You want to make sure you flatten the dough very thinly. 

Place on baking sheet and bake for about 5-6 minutes, then flip over with a thin spatula. Bake for another 6-8 minutes or until they start to turn golden brown around edges. Remove from oven and turn oven off. Mix tamari and honey together, then brush onto each cracker. Place in turned off oven for another 4 minutes, allowing them to dry. Allow to cool on a wire rack. These are pretty addictive - enjoy!

Have a great day. Back soon!

janis

What's Your Garden Style?

Mine is a little controlled chaos, I think. We have a small back yard that is in plain view of our living area. It has undergone 4 complete transformations over the 10 years we've lived here. My poor husband. It's hard shooting beautiful gardens all the time, let's just say.

I'm trying to work out plants for our back yard. We want to have an edible garden and a little more privacy. Thought I'd take a look at a few small, urban gardens I've shot for some inspiration. Would love to hear what your garden style is. Any of these gardens fit the bill? I like bits of all of them.

This garden was shot for Garden Design. I love all the privacy, and the lushness of plants. Designed by Kari Renaud.

 You really could make use of this garden for a good portion of the year. Shot for Style At Home, designed by Ron Rule. Heather Cameron propped and primped.

A Japanese inspired garden. The magnolia was so pretty, along with all the Japanese maples and mosses. Shot for Gardening Life, designed by Donna Chomichuk.

Perfect garden for entertaining and the homeowners, Mark and Daryl, do a lot of that! Again, this garden has heaps of privacy and lots of lush plantings. Love the succulents. Shot for Canadian Gardening, designed by the homeowners. 

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts on gardens!

On a final note, a huge thank you to Sarah at Flourish Design + Style for the little Q & A she did with me. I'm usually more comfortable being "behind the scenes", but Sarah made it all so easy and fun. Her blog is beautiful - check it out!

Turning Japanese

It's cherry blossom festival time, here in Vancouver. I love spring. This year spring started in February, just in time for the Winter Olympics. Oh well, the city is in bloom and it looks beautiful.

The Nitobe Memorial Garden is located at U.B.C., and each April  they hold an Ohanami (cherry blossom viewing). This year it takes place on April 10th. Click here for more details.  Last year, I took part in a traditional tea ceremony, as well.  It was really lovely to watch, and so quiet and gentle.

Is your city in bloom yet? Happy Spring everyone!

Paul Smith Is Right

According to Paul Smith, you really can find inspiration in everything.  

These little party place cards were discovered buried in a bunch of  junk in my mom's storage space.  She doesn't know why she has them (that is the running theme of her storage space), but I'm happy she does.  They appear to be from the 60's and kind of brittle.  

I have now been inspired to have some green tea and plan a Japanese Sake party.   I've also decided to never, ever, have a storage space.