Laothoe populi.....a sweet little moth

The Poplar Hawk-moth (Laothoe populi) ......the latest focus in the pollinators series I have been working on. I was inspired by all the layers of grey and brown stripes. I must be feeling like fall ha! hahaha fall is what we make it here in central Texas.
~I decided to put my moth friend on some very simple flowers on an even simpler pale grey hi-waist skirt.It will also layer nicely with tights and boots


and here is the pretty lady who bought my first of many moths to come...

belle and burger home sale***next 2 saturdays

Hey y'all ...I am having a home sale in liew of the farmers market for the next couple weeks.( All prices will be reduced since I won't have to leave the house!!)

~Multitudes of lovely frocks.


~I will have loads of $10 tanks!!!!
I will be also be showing a sampling of some fall looks( Austin fall) and serving Arnold Palmers.....would love to have you stop in for a spell. This is just a peek at some of my offerings and of course I will be makin' new stuff to add all week.



That will be July 23rd and July 30th from 11-4pm. I will also be available for appointments to come look if you cannot make the Saturday drive-bys. email me at belle south girl at yahoo dot com check with me for my location or look at the FB event page
*****please, if you can, laugh loudly at my super goofy photos; when it is 100ºlike e v e r y day you get a little fried

feeling figgy and a bit buttery

~We have had the incredible fortune of swimming in figs for about 2 or 3weeks this summer.... and how lovely they are!! Kg's mum has 2 beautiful trees just steps from her kitchen door. Part of our heat coping stradegy this summer has been late day swims at Ma Mi's and drying off a bit while picking the figs . Burger has keen eyesight(much more so than me) and took great pride in spotting the ready to pick delectables. I love them freshly plucked and can eat 'em by the pound but there are sooo many lovely things to make with them as well. Ma Mi makes fig preserves ( amazing biscuit /ice cream topper...i might could beg the recipe from her to share with you ins). I used all of our harvest making scones.....this recipe is BY FAR my favorite scone recipe right now and I will definitely be making variations with other fruit. The biscuit had the perfect tenderness. it is a drop scone which really helps with the under working of the dough.I substituted agave nectar for the maple syrup out of need...it was perfect all 3-4 times I made them.
I also discovered the art of making butter when I made these. I did not have butter milk so (!!!???!!!)I cruised the inter web for a solution. I had no idea that with heavy cream you could literally whip up your own butter and butter milk. This seems silly to me now considering how often I whip up cream 'round here..but i never over whip! It is super easy and quite satisfying and the butter is quite amazing, especially on fresh baked figgy scones.

It is so easy I am gonna tell you how to do it right now...


making butter(and buttermilk)

ingredients and tools 1 cup of heavy cream kosher salt(totally optional) pint jar with tight lid 20-35 min a strong arm patience

1. fill your clean jar half way with heavy cream. and start to shake and then shake it a whole lot more. It will turn into whip cream first.

2.Then slowly it will begin to separate. keep shaking till there is a clump.

3. pour off the liquid from the fat . that is your fresh buttermilk.

4.clean your butter ball. In the original instructions(which I cannot locate at the moment) I read it said to need the butter in a little cold h2o to clean. IN this lovely book (I have since brought home from the library ) it says to put some h2o in the jar and shake then pour off the h2o; repeating 3 or 4 times until the h2o is clear. I have not tried that method yet but sounds way better than the kneading method.

5.mold your butter. I made a log once twisted in wax paper and then also just put it in a ramekin .Honestly we ate it so quickly it did not matter. Just make sure you cover it so it does not absorb any odors from the fridge.

east bound and down....

~Loaded up and truckin' my goods off to the Atlanta boutique, Young Blood. It is just off Ponce de Leon in the Highlands. I love this shop and gallery and I super excited to be selling belle and burger there! These photos are just a sampling of the 18 pieces available
and now a little bit of jerry for the road.....

Gene's banana pudding recipe

~For almost 5 sweet years I worked at a delectable New Orleans soul food and po-boy shop here in Austin called Gene's which sadly has closed its doors. Gene was like a daddy to me and I gained about 25lbs working for him which he was mighty proud of. I miss him terribly and hope is doing well and making folks fat and happy back in the big easy. ~I suppose he won't mind me sharing his banana pudding recipe now that the place is closed. Now let me just say I grew up on a mean banana pudding. My mama made a meringue topped home made delish pudding....but just try Gene's it is hard to make any other. Since it is kg's absolute fave desert( i would say kg married me so because of Gene teaching me how to cook), I decided to make one for father's day this year.

*Now before you scoff at me let me say a bit about the boxed pudding....Gene always used a big ole' can of vanilla pudding; but the first time I made it at home I made homemade vanilla pudding. However I can say that I really cannot tell the difference once you add the whipped cream. So do what ever you prefer bit I like to use a large box of cook and serve jello pudding.... it is purrrfect.


ingredients
vanilla pudding ( i used box jello cook and serve..makes 6 1/2 cup servings)
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1 tsp powdered sugar
1-2 ripe sliced bananas
1 box vanilla wafer cookies

process
make and chill pudding in a big bowl
crush 1/2 the box of cookies
whip cream and powdered sugar to stiff peaks
fold cream into chilled pudding until well combined
in a casserole dish or clear bowl layer your pudding as follows:
cookies, pudding, bananas
beginning and starting with cookies, use a 3rd of the pudding for each pudding layer
round the top with wafers to make it look perty
refrigerate for at least a few hours but actually the next day is THE best ...keeps for up to 3days but never lasts that long 'round here

fry daddy... 105º and holding

~ I have been laying low mostly .....It has been like 105º everyday for the month of June in central Texas so needless to say I have been skipping the the market. I am planning on sucking it up and going soon. I will have to let you know when....What I will be doing is finishing up my Atlanta shipment.


I will share more as I take photos, speaking of photos , Someone who loves me so bought me a camera which i am just now getting my little paws on.
This post will be heavy in the random photo rambling info department as I get used to it and being able to take photos!
~we had a terrific fathers day even though the waitress spilt the syrup container completely over burgers head.(thankfully it was not warmed) It was quite traumatizing but we will remember fathers day well. We went to Papi's for a swim to wash all the sticky off. Then came home and spent the rest of the day in the kitchen; Kg's favorite room. First we reorganized the kitchen a la Julia Child. We had already done one peg board but we added a second and outlined the pots to help with keeping it this way.Then I made kg a banana pudding (recipe later this week) for fathers day.
We also had a fry fest since daddy got an electric deep fryer for fathers day. We fried green tomatoes, potatoes and drumsticks. All in time to sit in front of the TV ( horrible ...i know) for our Sunday show.



I have huge girly crush on Kristen Schaal....she is superb. I really need to get my hands on a copy of her book Sexy Book of Sexy Sex, co written with Rich Blomquist.(daily show)

~ and to end my rambling ketchup post.... Here are a few of those random photos I promised plus a a sampling of black joe lewis....another fathers day present to all of us

....summer fun at the Amy'ssuper weird but pretty fly/bee in the front garden
2 lizards engaged In an afternoon delight on our fence
bye y'all

this saturday

~We will be at the market tomorrow June 4Th with large hat and a spray bottle of iced rose water! Here are few previews.......My fave this week is the dress up top made from an old sham and sheet...I love this combo.I see this being the direction of the stuff I am shipping to Atlanta.
~I made this dress in pink with peach straps and in nude with rust straps...this pattern is super summerific!
this lil' table cloth skirt has dragon flies scattered about it!
there are plenty more dresses in stock but unfortunately I haven't the digi-power to show them all; so you MUST come and see them for yourself!!!!


....and now I leave you with my bass champ. Papi and burger catching fish.