The Summer Arts and Crafts Project

My youngest daughter, Bridget, used to claim she was the "way she was" because her parents never sent her to camp.

Most people's reaction, including ours, was to look at her as if she had 4 heads but I'll give her this...it was a good conversation starter.

I, the Fortunate One, went to Girl Scout camp multiple summers as well as weekends in the fall and winter.  These were great experiences and I continue to hold fond memories of evening campfires, singing Taps in rounds, bug juice and all the fun on the waterfront.

Arts and crafts?  Not so much.  Whatever it was we were concocting, mine never remotely resembled the model.  I recall sitting next to a fellow camper as we braided long strips of plastic that would serve as lanyards, staring open-mouthed as her fingers nimbly moved back and forth, crossing each color so that it indeed did make a braid.

I think I offered her a couple pieces of gum to make mine.

This, of course, is the long way into my Summer Arts and Crafts story.

Last year, I painted bird houses and hung them on the side of the storage garage.  They over-wintered nicely and a chickadee utilized one for her nest.

I have long admired the sign posts that show up here and there, identifying how far it is from that particular point to somewhere else.  You know, they look like this:

I decided that signs to post would be my summer arts and crafts project.  Since my son-in-law is a woodworker (married to the girl who never went to camp), I was able to get multiple pieces of scrap wood from him.  It only took most of the summer before finally driving over to his shop to complete the 5 minute task.  Yesterday was a preview of fall day--cold, damp, grey--so my oldest granddaughter, Millie (daughter of He Who Must Not Be Named) and I holed up in the basement and painted the signs.

This is not quite as easy as one might think. 

 First, you need to make a list of all the wonderful places you've been that hold significant meaning to you because, in my version of the project, these will be the places on the signs.  I ended up leaving a couple off, only because I ran out of wood.  (I'll rectify that in the near future.)

     First sub A.  We only momentarily considered googling the distance between our home in Minnetonka and all those wonderful places.  I chose not to put mileage on the signs--artistic license, if you will.

Second, you have to not only decide on the background paint colors but also what colors you'll use on what sign for the lettering.  I must say, here Millie was a great help.

Then, third, you have to figure out how to do the lettering in a fashion that is somewhat artistic, clever and homemade.  I believe I succeeded on the homemade part.

Here they are.  The spousal unit organized them--north to south, east to west, and hung them on the garage in that direction.

And I didn't have to bribe Millie with pieces of gum to do it for me.

ps--Today is the spousal unit's birthday and we recently celebrated our 45th wedding anniversary.  No one else I'd rather be taking trips around the sun with than my Dan-o.

Cooking

Molly made this the other night and indeed, it comes from the New York Times!  I'm not a fan of spice foods so was a bit leery about the jalapeno, but it added a nice, easy bite to the dish.  Delicious.

Orecchiette With Corn, Jalapeno, Feta and Basil

1 lb. orecchiette

4 T unsalted butter

1 jalapeno, finely chopped

5 ears corn, shucked and kernels removed*

Kosher salt

8 ozs. crumbled feta cheese

1/2 c torn basil leaves, plus more for serving.

1. Cook pasta just short of al dente, about 10 minutes.  Drain, reserving 1 c of pasta cooking water.

2. While pasta cooks, make the sauce.  Melt butter over medium heat in skillet.  Add jalapeno, cook until softened, about 1-2 minutes.  Add corn, cook until it begins to brown in spots, about 3-4 minutes.  Season with salt.  Add 1/4 c of the pasta water and bring to simmer.  Cook until reduced by half, about 1-2 minutes.

3. Add pasta to skillet, tossing to coat with sauce.  Add feta cheese and an additional 1/4 c of pasta water, tossing until pasta is slick and glossy with sauce.  If needed, add more pasta water.  Stir in basil.

4. Transfer to serving dish**, scatter with remaining basil.

* There is a handy dandy kitchen tool that strips the kernels off the cob.  Next time you get invited to a Pampered Chef party, this is a good purchase.

** More power to you if you transfer to a serving dish.  In our house, it comes straight out of the pot.