lavender my love; A recipe post

~So my man makes crazy good ( and simple) salad dressings. Since Burger and I grew a tiny patch of baby greens, we have been on a salads everyday, till the greens burn up, routine. This routine makes crazy good salad dressings a must!In addition to our baby greens, we also planted a lovely and prolific lavender plant. Lavender is one of my favorite herbs...but my imagination is limited with it in our kitchen( working on that). I love it in tea and it is in my favorite macaron but those items are not made from my plant in my kitchen. However my new favorite salad dressing is made from my very own plant. Kg concocted this recipe that he is making it in my kitchen. I asked him if he wouldn't mind, sharing the recipe with all y'all. His basic proportions are derived from the joy of cooking's french dressing or vinaigrette sauce.

lavender vinaigrette with sherry vinegar

1 tbs shallot or onion
1 tsp prepared french mustard (Dijon is good, but a I use coarse ground one, most often)
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
1 tbs honey
1 tbs fresh lavender
1/4 cup sherry vinegar
3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil


1 . add all ingredients EXCEPT OIL in med. mason jar w/ a lid (160z or so....this amount won't fill it all the way but it's what we have the most of and gives you plenty of room to shake)

2. put the lid on and shake vigorously

3. add the oil a 1/4 cup at a time re-lid and shake each time until it looks smooth and emulsified

4. you can add to your favorite salad mix and enjoy now, however it gets better if you let it sit in the fridge for awhile or a week....( it's best at the end of the jar )

garden harvesting apron...

~I love this apron I just finished. It is my pattern drafted from my favorite vintage apron. all the fabric is vintage and scraps(treasured vintage). I had this sweet vintage toaster cozy( and no toaster) that I turned into a double gathering pocket for sorting your veggies from the garden ! The collar was made from part of a sham that had one small rip in the eyelet so I made the Apple as a sort of non-removable broochIt was one of those inspired late-nite moments where the scrap pile starts to make its own designs. ...

belle and burger will be at the market tomorrow April 16Th and will have this treasure with me...for sale
see y'all there hopefully!
....update~ sold apron but added much better photos...Really loved this one especially sac-like double pocket

The sweet n' sassy Sunny Dress Sale

~From Now till Friday April15Th all the belle and burger dresses
in the online shop are 20 to 30% off. ~


Since we missed the market this week I spent sometime adding some of my in stock dresses to the belle and burger shop.
Most of these dresses are made from vintage and recycled fabrics( the exceptions are stated on sale site)
If you like one click on it to see more about it....


If you have specific sizing questions that are not answered by the description shoot me an email
belle south girl at yahoo dot com...thanks for looking

knickers, new dresses, but no market

~Unfortunately, no market this week April 9Th for us. Burger and I caught a little stomach bug this week which put a damper on things 'round here. However, I thought I would share a few photos from last week's market and the past weeks makings.
I made some knickers(above) that I am loving. These bloomers were actually short shorts that I decided to elasticize the leg openings. They are very comfy and look adorable under a dress or skirt or by themselves! I am making more because they really lift my luggage.

~In the area of booth design (an area I struggle with)Kg and I ( mostly kg) came up with a changing room for my booth . This is not such a revealing photo. I promise a more in depth photo display, accompanied by a written explanation later.
~Spring is in high gear and rushing past here in central Texas which means a great demand for lovely, comfy dresses. I made this custom blue and lavender XL frock for a Hotrod Queen last week. It was made from a cotton sheet for her to wear to the Lone Star Roundup, last weekend.

~I also made this flowy, flirty little number. This dress is incredibly comfortable and very sassy. It sold last week and I was a little sad because I had told myself I could have it if it stayed through the market...but luckily it was made from new fabric so I can go get more to make myself one!This next dress is actually still available. I will post better photos in the shop this weekend. It is a medium to larger fitting size 6-12 nicely. It is made from new 100% cotton linen look fabric. I also loved this safri looking dress and almost kept it till I made this.....A little patchworked breeze designed especially for me. Finally after making at least 5 dresses thinking" this one is for me" I made a keeper( although I kept 2 others too)...sometimes I can be so dang fickle. I am planning on adding spaghetti ties to this. IT makes me flutter with is pretty patchworkiness....

we love scientific experiences

~Burger has been very into what he calls doing scientific "experiences"(love it)
I will share a few of our latest experiences

~Daddy and burger made rock candy and fizzy drinks following a tasty science kit. The rock candy was quite a test of burger's patience since it took a good 2 weeks to grow the crystal candies. I must say despite some complaining in the beginning he did quite well. In the end I think he learned how to save things for later....something very new to us. He actually still has 2 strings left .
~Late last week burger and I made salt volcanoes(very fun and simple) that we got from this book the science explorer ;out and about
here is what we did

ingredients
a glass jar
vegetable
oil
salt
water
food coloring

process
1. pour 3 " of h2o in jar
2.pour about 1/3 c of oil in jar. when everything settles, is oil on top of the water or underneath
3. add one drop of food coloring. what happens?Is the drop in the oil or in water? does the color spread?
4.shake salt on top of the oil while you slowly count to five, What happens to the food coloring? what happens to the salt?
5.add more salt to keep the action going as long as you want
~Golden Exploring Earth Book - Nature Hikes 1973 is another book we have been into.I Picked it up a while back but we pulled it out in January and started talking a lot about hiking and looking for things when you are on a hike. Both Kg and I have taken Burger(separately)on a hike to one of favorite pre-burger swimming hole/hiking spots. Burger likes to make a mental list of what he is looking for before we go. After our last hike he came home and made up this scientific experience which I think is just swell! He asked me for a plastic bag' then went out in the yard for a bit. When he came to me with is bag full of goodies he said " all I need now is an ant and I will have made our yard in here"A few days later he asked for another bag, then came to me and said I need a little tiny snake for my desert

yes that is a tiny tumble weed....I love that scientific experience

We have also been working on our spring garden. Burger has been helping me plant seeds and tend our gardens over the last 3 years . He actually is very good with gardening; he is gentle and thoughtful. We have just a few things going right now but hope to have more if the hot Texas summer will let us!
Here are our sweet greens that we planted at the end of February ...hulk sits in the garden the way he has every year since burger has started gardening with me. I like to think of him as our thinker statue
We also germinated morning glory seeds which burger thought was very cool.....

I am loving all this interest in how things work and in creating new things! Four is definitely a wondrous year...