Thursday, December 7, 2017

CHOCOLATE CHERRY CHRISTMAS PIE


If you are looking for a dessert to crown your holiday feast, here is a killer pie that really rings the"dessert bell"!
CHOCOLATE CHERRY CHRISTMAS PIE
Chocolate Pie Dough:
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa
2 cups of all purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
3 tbs sugar
8 tbs butter (1 stick), cut into cubes
1/4 cup shortening
1/4 cup cup vodka
1 TBS cold water

Mix chocolate pie dough and divide into two disks and wrap in plastic wrap.  Chill for at least an hour.   Roll out one disk and fit into 9 inch pie plate.

Roll out the second disk and cut into star or other shapes with holiday cookie cutters.  Brush with egg white and sprinkle with sugar.  Place on parchment paper covered cookie sheet and chill along with pie.
Pie Filling:
1 1/4 cup sugar
4 tbs cornstarch
1 TBS tapioca
5 cups of frozen cherries thawed and drained
3 tbs lemon juice from a real life lemon
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
5 cups frozen cherries pitted and thawed
Reduce juice from cherries to ¼ cup

2 jars KC Classic Innovations Chrolate Cherry Fondue
Whipped cream

Preheat oven to 475.  Combine the sugar, cornstarch, salt, lemon juice and vanilla in a large bowl.  Mix in thawed cherries.  Allow to rest while you reduce the cherry juice by boiling it down to ½ cup.  Add to cherry mixture, stir well and spoon into pie shell.


Bake for 15 minutes, then turn oven down to 375 and finish baking for about 45 minutes or until the filling is thick and bubbly. If your crust looks like it is browning too much, cover it in foil.  Cool Pie completely. Spread one jar of KC Innovations Chocolate Cherry Fondue over the top of the cherry layer.  Pipe or spoon whipped cream over this layer and decorate with the chocolate cutouts.

Thursday, November 30, 2017

MAKE YOUR OWN FIREPIT FROM HYPERTUFA


During the cooler days of fall and winter, even early spring, it is nice to be able to take advantage of pleasant evenings gathered around a crackling wood fire.
You can make your own portable firepit from hypertufa.  It will rest right on the ground or can be raised up on a large pot.  This makes it very easy to maintain the fire, and not let it get too big to get out of hand.  It also provides a safe means to enjoy an outside fire.  The resulting wood ash is a terrific additive to your compost pile as well.

The firepit shell is cast from a mound of soil right in your garden.  Shape a mound of dirt about 42 inches in diameter.  Cover the mound with a
piece of plastic, an old drop cloth works great.  I placed some cast concrete ornaments in an outer ring for a decorative effect.  Any ornaments you add, remember to place them top side down onto the plastic surface.

Mix up a batch of hypertufa, (here’s my recipe:

You do not have to make the hypertufa all at once and can even do it in stages as time permits.  Begin packing hypertufa from the center of the mound to the edges, making a nice thick layer 1.5 to 2” thick. 

I put on a first layer to establish the shape.  Then laid strips of chicken wire over the surface to serve as re-enforcement and then put another layer of hypertufa on top. 


Use a brick to tamp the entire surface of the newly shaped disk. Cover the disk with plastic and allow to harden and cure for two weeks. Carefully flip the disk over and transport to the site where you wish to locate your firepit.   It is a good idea to have two or three people to help do this.

Mix ½ bag of sand topping mix with water to a consistency of runny frosting.
Using an old paint brush, apply a thick layer of this concrete over the inside surface of your new firepit. This will both seal and strengthen the structure.
Let this set over night then smooth the edges with a brick. Add painted accents if you wish with exterior latex paint.

Pour one bag of all purpose sand into the basin to serve as an insulator between the burning logs and the surface of the firepit.

Build a fire in the center of the pit and enjoy the warmth, the smell and the glow!

HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS FINAL WEEKEND SPECIALS



Thursday, November 9, 2017

HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS VIDEO


Come visit us at home for the holidays! 

Open every Friday, Saturday and Sunday through November and into December.


Saturday, October 21, 2017

NEW MESSAGE STONES AND STEPPING STONES

Life is lived in a circle and dates keep coming back to us. The joy of brightening other's lives, bearing each other's burdens and supplanting weary hearts with thoughtful gifts becomes for us, the magic of the holidays. 

These are our newest message blocks which stand on their own on a shelf or ledge, hang on a wall or fence or can lay flat in the ground as a ste[ppoping stone. Speaking of stepping stones, here are three new designs for the season. These are easy gifts for gardeners on your list.
We're HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS. Come to our opening night garden party, Thursday, November 2 from 4-8 pm. Enjoy good eats, live music and free craft activities in our studio, two floors filled with cool handmade gifts and home decor. We'll be open 10-5 every Friday, Saturday and Sunday through November into December.

Thursday, October 19, 2017

Cheery Holiday Message Block Creative Workshop

Cheery Holiday Message Block

Who doesn’t love bringing a little of the outside in, especially if it includes a cheery little redbird? Bemby Yocum will lead two sessions on December 2nd at the HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS sale and will help you create this inspirational message block. You will add your own personalized message to this charming wooden bird perched on a branch. Also, as an added bonus this bird can perch anywhere since everything is mounted on 2” wood that can either hang on a wall, stand on a bookshelf or windowsill. For more information and to enroll: 
https://peaceinmygarden.com/pr…/cheery-holiday-message-block

Wednesday, October 18, 2017

Home for the Holidays Guest Artist: MARILYN GASH





Artist Marilyn Gash has been creating and sewing since she can remember. Her creative passion is geared toward stitchery and creates unique hand stitched/appliqued wool ornaments, decorative pillows, sweet little custard cup pincushions, and vintage album page wall hangings that are unique in themselves. These charming items will be available at HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS, opening Thursday, Novenber 2 and running every Friday, Saturday and Sunday oin November. Open 10-5.

Monday, October 16, 2017

Home for the Holidays Guest Artist: BEMBY YOCUM





Bemby also loves Christmas. To celebrate the holiday, she has created a Nativity set available in two sizes, a kneeling Santa complete with a manger and woodland animals. The Nativity is also depicted on three pallet wood pieces that can stand or hang on the wall. You will find signs that can hang alone or be combined with a From the Summer’s Garden wreath. Come join us for the Home for the Holidays opening party on Thursday, November 2nd from 4-8 pm, then every Friday, Saturday and Sunday through the first weekend in December. More info: 

Home for the Holidays Guest Artist: BEMBY YOCUM





Winter is artist Bemby Yocum’s favorite season! She loves using natural elements in many of her designs. You will see evidence of this in the form of candleholders or perches for many of her whimsical wooden birds. Bemby’s fun graphic trees are available in sets of three and with a set of her charming woodland animals and you will have a unique winter scape to enjoy all through the season. Her birdhouses are decorated for indoor winter décor but can transition to the outside for the real birds in the spring!  

Thursday, October 12, 2017

DIAN STANLEY: HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS GUEST ARTIST





We are excited to introduce Dian Stanley as a new artist for our holiday Studio Sale, HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS. Her specialty is fiber of all types and she has been a fabric collector since her childhood. She is an accomplished sewist, an art quilter, a weaver and a paper enthusiast. Her work has been published in magazines and she actively participates in art exhibits and showings. Dian is also a member of Eclectics Gift Gallery in Kansas City. For the holiday sale this year Dian has been preparing a range of fabric and paper Christmas ornaments, unique clutch purses and framed wall art. HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS opens Thursday, November 2 and run into the first week in December.



Saturday, October 7, 2017

NEEDLE FELTED BIRDS WITH ROBIN MACKINTOSH

NEEDLE FELTED BIRDS

Wool is an amazing natural material with unique capabilities. One of these features, is the ability for wool to be pierced repeatedly with a barbed needle allowing the artist to sculpt shapes from the wool. This is called needle-felting. Join artist Robin Mackintosh as she demonstrates basic needle felting techniques. She will show you how you can make your own cute chubby little birdies.
For more info and to enroll: peaceinmygarden.com

HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS- Holiday Studio Sale


Friday, October 6, 2017

LISA FREEMAN- HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS GUEST ARTIST



Lisa Freeman has been as busy as her husband’s bees. 
Her “bee keeper” hubby experienced another bountiful honey harvest. FTSG will have plenty of honey available as well as hand-made moisturizing creams and lip balm made from the 2018 bee’s wax harvest. You'll have to checkout her new Jalapeño honey- sure to wake up your toast in the morning!



Reduce. Reuse. Recycle? Lisa’s theme for the last several months has been digging through her piles of fabrics, metal, wire and beads. Rediscovering these treasured supplies feeds her creative side resulting on charming message pillows, sachets, and fabulous fiber creations. 


Each of these items and many more await you at Home for the Holidays, From the Summer's Garden's Holiday Studio Sale opening Thursday, November 2 and every weekend in November into December.

Wednesday, September 20, 2017

COMING! HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS


Chase is taking Advanced Woods in school this fall and it is paying off nicely at work. He just completed a complex hypertufa mold I designed to create a house-shaped basin that will hold water for a fountain bubbling out of one of the windows. 


Preparations are in full swing for our Holiday Sale, HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS in November. Opening night is Thursday, November 2 from 4 -8 pm. It promises to be a month of fun holiday gifts, home and garden decor and clever creative activities. SAVE THE DATE!

WREATH WORKSHOP



Wreaths are a great way to express our devotion and understanding about the change of time. The circle itself is a symbol of seasons and time cycles. Autumn is a phase of life that addresses powerful concepts like: Harvest, transition, withdrawal. Nature itself seems to retreat. Changing of leaves, colder days - it's all a sign of moving from one phase to another.
An autumn wreath will embrace this time of transition. It's a great symbol for honing our focus on the stuff we've achieved and gained. Autumn wreath meaning celebrates a bountiful year, and expresses gratitude for the harvest. This doesn't have to mean a harvest of corn or pumpkins. In our modern world we experience harvests by accomplishing goals, reaping rewards from our toil and enjoying hard-won victories. 
Join us this Thursday evening and make yourself an autumn wreath. For more info and to enroll visit peaceinmygarden.com or call Steve at 913-579-5395.

Tuesday, August 8, 2017

AUGUST HYPERTUFA STUDIO

Get Your Hands Dirty: Mix, Mold and Sculpt a Personalized Garden Container



August is a great time to enjoy the pleasure of creating your very own garden container. Why not learn to make hypertufa?  Mixing, molding and sculpting with hypertufa (“tufa”) means getting your hands into a blend of water, cement, sand and recycled paper and crafting a garden container or other piece of art for your garden with a theme you choose. It’s functional, beautiful and fun ... and your options are just about endless.

If you’re new to the joys of “tufa,” From the Summer’s Garden offers a unique “green” version of hypertufa
which you will learn how to make in our August studio.  The workshop is a consecutive Saturday and Sunday , August  19 and 20 here at our studio. Participants will take home four to five finished projects, including a garden container, a stepping stone, a draped concrete container, small herb pots and a cast leaf water basin- quite a deal for one studio!
Hypertufa garden containers allow all KC gardeners to dream big and take action while waiting for spring’s arrival.  From the Summer’s Garden in Kansas City is your resource, offering workshops throughout the year and legendary Spring Sale events every weekend in May and our holdiay Sale ihn November.
Start mixing, molding and creating for your garden today!  

Visit: peaceinmygarden.com for more info and to enroll.  Join us!

Tuesday, July 25, 2017

HANDMADE PAPER STUDIO

Our HANDMADE PAPER STUDIO is scheduled for Saturday, August 5 from 
9-12:00 AM and Sunday afternoon, August 6 from 1-3 pm. 
 You can enroll here:peaceinmygarden.com.

What do you do?  What do you make?   
Participants wander the garden selecting colorful leaves and blossoms and fragrant herbs to use in making their paper. You will learn to make beautiful custom sheets of handmade paper. Then you will learn to sculpt a simple shape and make a simple plaster mold for paper casting. 
This group liked making paper so much they opted to forego other projects in order to keep on with their experimentation. The possibilities are endless when the garden is at this stage of high summer growth.
This sheet is made with marigolds and lemon balm leaves.
Here's a handsome blend of purples and greens.
Carolyn snips the small leaves of fino verde basil for her paper. 
Besides adding great color, it smells heavenly!
Brenda mixed in confetti made from shredded seed catalogs to kick up the color a few notches.
Anne carefully positioned small thunbergia blossoms into her paper after it was poured.
Carolyn trims the edge of her paper bowl featuring multi-colored zinnia petals.
Damp handmade paper is applied to the bowl mold and patted into shapeSusan created a custom sheet using birch twigs and ginko leaves.

On the second day of the GARDEN PAPER WORKSHOP the paper bowls were ready to be removed from their molds. It is always exciting to see what surprises you'll find on the inside. These bowls are beauties!




This bowl was made with pape containing red, coral and orange zinnia petals.
...and this one with celery leaves and white zinnia petals.
This one reminds me of a cabbage!
Brenda's confetti/petal bowl...
...and Anne's thunbergia blossom bowl.
Three vases made from different papers.
This is the plaster mold cast from Brenda's sculpture of a bee. She will use this mold to cast paper pulp shapes similar to the flower on the right. They can be used to make ornaments or even a decorative garland.

Taking a little time to jot down some notes. it would be hard to remember everything we've done in the Garden Paper Studio!