Farmer's Market Find
Not sure what recipe book to crack open after a long winter of squash stew? Rely on your local farmer's market for inspiration. Sometimes going with no plan in mind evokes the greatest meals. For organic farming and sourcing ingredients locally, work with what is in season. One of our favorite spring items on the menu: artichokes. A tip for buying the best artichokes: look for large artichokes that are fully closed (leaves are not open). Quick and easy recipe below.
Easy Floral
Even a few blooms can steal the show when surrounded by table linens in the same colorway. Pair Queen Anne's Lace white and pale green petals with natural linen and a white runner. For an easy, modern look, put stems in glass tubes in the center of your table. For more color, cut stems of lilac or hydrangea and pair with our favorite orchid table linens such as Drifting Stripe Table Runner and Simple Stitch Chambray Tablecloth.
Colors That Say Spring
Give your table a fresh look with layers of sunflower, orchid, and natural linen. We love to mix neutrals such as charcoal and gray with pops of yellow. For a more neutral look that lets your table shine through, lay down our Open Crochet Table Runner for a rustic centerpiece.
Simple Artichokes - serves 4
Clean and cut artichokes to preference. Place 4 artichokes in salted boiling water. Steam for 30 minutes. Rotate in pot, drizzle the juice of one lemon evenly over artichokes. Steam for additional 15 minutes. Remove from water and let cool. Serve cool with dip.
Mix together the following ingredients for a refreshing dip:
1/2 cup mayo
2 cloves roasted garlic
1 tbsp ground black pepper
1 tsp sea salt
- Can be made ahead of time and refrigerated
There's something about Mary Oliver's work that encourages the grounds to bloom, the rain to subside, and the geese to fly north. Here is one of our favorites, correctly titled "Spring."
Spring
by Mary Oliver
Somewhere
a black bear
has just risen from sleep
and is staring
down the mountain.
All night
in the brisk and shallow restlessness
of early spring
I think of her,
her four black fists
flicking the gravel,
her tongue
like a red fire
touching the grass,
the cold water.
There is only one question:
how to love this world.
I think of her
rising
like a black and leafy ledge
to sharpen her claws against
the silence
of the trees.
Whatever else
my life is
with its poems
and its music
and its glass cities,
it is also this dazzling darkness
coming
down the mountain,
breathing and tasting;
all day I think of her -—
her white teeth,
her wordlessness,
her perfect love.