Art for the Kitchen Walls

This week, I have been thinking about dressing up my cubicle at work with a little art, but I keep coming across pieces that I would love to have in my kitchen. I wanted to share a few of my very favorites.

This mushroom print is pretty fabulous. I love the organic botanic style. It's called, Mushrooms, by Wendy MacNaughton on one of my favorite go-to sites for good and affordable art, 20x200. 

 I have such a hard time picking a favorite from this artist, Joel Penkman. All of his paintings are stunning! And you can buy his prints of them on Etsy! 

This is such a great modern shot! I always think that pastry tips are such lovely sculptural objects and this photo, titled Cake, by Bomobob, is on another great art site, Society 6.

These two prints are by the super awesome Stanley Chow! I love the humor and bold, graphic style. (I love his stuff so much that Michael Caine, may, or may not be, hanging in my living room!) You can buy Stanley's prints on his iphone app, as well as his site here.

Vanilla Simple Syrup

One of my favorite treats when I'm out and about are those delicious tea lattes from that ubiquitous coffee chain, but I also love recreating the experience at home for a fraction of the cost. This is the secret ingredient, and it's super easy to make. You could also use this syrup in coffee, hot chocolate, or even in a cocktail recipe! 

Vanilla Simple Syrup

Ingredients:

3 Cups of Sugar
3-1/2 Cups of Water
1 Vanilla Bean

Cooking:

Take the vanilla bean and slice it in half, lengthwise. With the tip of a paring knife, scrape the seeds from the flesh. In a saucepan, pour in your water and sugar together, then add the vanilla bean halves and the seeds. Whisk over medium heat until the sugar is completely dissolved. Remove the bean halves and pour into a resealable container. It will be good for a week or two, but if you have a sweet tooth in the morning, like I do, it will be gone before then! 

Chicken Stock

Making stock from scratch is dead simple and it's such a good way to use every bit of the chicken. I very often will buy a whole organic chicken, remove the meat for use in other dishes, then use the carcass for amazingly fragrant stock. Once the carcass is cooked, you can pull off the extra meat for a small helping of chicken salad. I make a huge batch of the stock, then freeze in smaller containers, pulling it out as needed, until it's time to make more. You can put just about anything edible in the pot for extra flavor. This batch had radish greens and tops and some cauliflower stems in addition to the other ingredients. It's so easy and a great way to save a few extra pennies!

Chicken Stock

Ingredients:


1 Whole Chicken, Breasts, Thighs and Wings Removed
8 Cups of Water
1 Lemon
1 Carrot
1 Celery Stick
1 Peel and Outer Skin of an Onion
2 Garlic Cloves (Leave the Peel On!)
3 Bay Leaves
1 Tablespoon of Black Pepper
1 Teaspoon of Salt
1 Teaspoon of Whole Cumin Seeds
Any Other Clean Vegetable Scraps!

Cooking:

In a very large stockpot, put in all of your ingredients and bring the water to a boil. Once boiling, reduce to low heat and simmer, covered, for approximately 2 hours. Strain the stock and store. DONE! It's that easy!