One of my favorite things is a bi-monthly supper club that my close friends and I formed a few years ago. Even though life and schedules take us in many different directions, we try to make it a point to find some time to cook and eat together. The most recent supper club was a summer Italian theme. I picked this adult jelly recipe that is chock full of blueberries because to me, berries are all about summer time.

I referenced an old recipe for a Riesling fruit salad from Delicious! Delicious! and decided to simplify it. I used Black Muscat blush wine (from Piety Flats here in Yakima, WA) and only blueberries, instead of peaches, pears and apricots.  The Black Muscat gave it a really pretty color.

Black Muscat Jelly with Blueberries

1 pint blueberries
3 envelopes unflavored gelatin
2 TB sugar
3 cups white grape juice
2 cups Black Muscat wine (or any dessert wine)

1. In a small saucepan, sprinkle gelatin powder over 1 cup grape juice. It is important to sprinkle so you don’t get clumps. Let it stand for 2-3 minutes. Stir in sugar. Bring to a simmer over medium heat, stirring often until granules are completely dissolved. Remove from heat. Pour into a large bowl. Add remaining grape juice and wine.

2. Place bowl over a larger bowl half-filled with ice water. Let it stand for about 20 minutes or until gelatin starts to slightly thicken, stirring occasionally. Whisk gelatin to form bubbles throughout. Stir in fruit. Remove from ice bath and pour into an 8-10 cup mold. Refrigerate at least 8 hours until firm.

3. When ready to serve, place a plate upside down on top of mold. Invert onto plate. If gelatin does not release, dip mold up to rim in warm water for 5 seconds before inverting.

Serves 12.

Looking forward to Kim O’Donnel’s book The Meat Lover’s Meatless Cookbook. I am such a meat lover myself so these recipes will help me enjoy delicious meals and eat less meat.

Last month, I made a really delicious butter mochi from Reid’s recipe. Now I’m craving it again. I might try this matcha version. I just have to make sure to make it matcha-y enough. I always don’t use enough matcha powder in my baked goods.

I love parties. Here’s a great idea for one – a Favorite Things party. (via A Chow Life) I can’t wait to have one with my girlfriends.

I love Mad Men. Look what folks behind Helvetica documentary remade – a 1960s poster promoting Helvetica.

This double sconce from Roll and Hill has caught my eye and I have just the spot for it.

Wondering what to do with all the zucchini showing up this time of the season? Here is some inspiration.

I have been enjoying these long days of late. I try not to fill my days with too many things but somehow it all goes so fast. I spend most of the day reading, checking blogs, keeping up with emails and thinking about new recipes but cooking familiar ones that I have neglected.

Around Scarlett, there has been a lot of cleaning and organizing going on. I think you have heard me mention this a couple of posts before. It has been a slow but really rewarding process. My new workspace is almost done. I just need a rug to tie the whole space together. I have also been living vicariously through the custom building process of my folks’ house. I am learning quite a bit in the process and look forward to seeing the house come together. So excited for my folks.

I made spaghetti tonight. Ripe tomatoes are just the epitome of summer. Marcella Hazan’s sauce is so easy and so delicious. If you haven’t tried it, what are you waiting for?

Today’s bits:

We painted our bathroom a while ago with a dark blue-grey and added a lot of industrial accents. I think these vintage-style pool locker baskets will make a really good accessory. You can find vintage ones on Etsy too.

Summers remind me of deviled eggs but these olive eggs look really tempting.

In Asia, it’s common to find a spray hose right by the side of the toilet bowl. It’s a hand-held bidet. While I was home this time, I got used to using one after going to the potty. I could get one of these diaper sprayers or I could make my own like in this video.

This weekend, we’re having a garage sale but what I’m really looking forward to are BBQ chicken wings. I plan to marinate my chicken wings with coke, honey and soy sauce. Then we throw them on the grill. Perfect for this weather. Scrummy.

Oh and the tacos in the picture are my favorite quick meal – tacos al pastor (spicy pork), tacos de lengua (tongue) and tacos de tripa (crispy spicy bits of fried tripe). So damn good.

There was a beautiful warm summer breeze that blew through the house most of the weekend. It was a busy one but very productive. I am in the process of converting the tea nook into a more usable workspace and will post pictures once that is done. Most of the elements of the tea nook will still be present but it will be more usable. I guess I am missing the use of desk/workspace since I left work.

Today’s bits:

If you are looking for new grilling recipes like I have been, how about this mustardy one or maybe this Asian Sichuan peppercorn one?

This weekend, we bought bacon dogs from The Swinery. Simply delicious! Check out their inner sanctum for grilled goodies for brunch (weekends) and lunch.

There are lots of things to do here in the summer – for e.g. the Washington Brewers Festival. Or perhaps garden tours are more your thing – here is a calendar to see which tours are going on.

And run, don’t walk, to Bluebird Homemade Ice Cream – peanut butter or oatmeal cookies n cream!

All it took was one photography workshop to inspire me to learn more about my camera and to play around more with my Rebel. I got this camera more than 2 years ago but I still know so little about it. Thanks to the food photography workshop that was presented by Aran of Cannelle et Vanille fame. I have to spend more time with my camera, get acquainted with it and learn as much as I can about it.

Other things that have caught my eye lately:

This super cute Orla Kiely bag from the 2010 spring/summer collection.

The Giving Tree is one of my favorite stories. That is probably why I swooned when I saw this iPad decal.

I know that I am not alone when I say that I drool over Anthropologie’s pretties. I wish I had this beautiful platter. The texture is just lovely. And how adorable are these cute elephant shakers?

An inspiring blog that Aran shared with us during the workshop - What Katie Ate. I love how she photographed these cheeses, especially. Somehow the greys and blues in the veins of the cheeses are emphasized by the gray and shadowy backdrop. So many other beautiful pictures are shared in her blog, do check it out.

One of my favorite condiments – prik nam pla (fish sauce with Thai bird chiles). I put it on almost anything but my favorite uses – over fried noodles, fried rice or soup noodles. Try it, if you like it spicy. I just like the fresh chile flavor with the salty sweet briny fish sauce.

Today’s bits:

I made this Kim Chee stir-fry recipe today with ground pork instead of pork belly – really quick and really tasty.

This sounds and looks like a really delicious baked pasta recipe.

Another food truck to look out for in Seattle - this time, some good ol’ Creole cookin’.

Here’s a really great website – Roaming Hunger, that helps promote this mobile food truck culture – yay for curbside cuisine!

I loved Gayla Trail’s first book called You Grow Girl and now I want to get my hands on Grow Great Grub. On a related note, I mixed in chicken manure into the veggie bed and stock tanks. Can’t wait to see how happy the veggies will be.

I may not have monsters to keep at bay but this beautiful whale light box caught my eye today.

We had delicious burgers and fries at Five Guys last week, just before we saw Toy Story 3. What a fun night!

Today’s bits:

I decided on this shower curtain for the new walls in the master bath. It is making the bath look quite masculine. I think I just need some happy yellow daisies in there to make it look like a girl lives here.

Dinner swaps/cooking co-ops – what a creative fun idea to make dinner one night for several families to pick up and then enjoy the delicious dinners for another couple of nights during the week from your swap families. It makes me want to start one.

I am a big Nigella fan and when she loves something, I’m always quick to pay attention. I think she has great taste. She recommends this chic new book by her art director/book designer, called The Geometry of Pasta. I am a believer that any shape pasta can be paired with any sauce but this book tells you what goes with what.

My favorite thing to eat is shokupan しょくぱん (Japanese white bread). I like it plain, or with butter & a sprinkle of sugar, or some kaya (pandan coconut jam) or with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

 I love her but she is a such a tease!

O, Seattle, why do you do this? All I ask for, once a year, is to have a nice lovely summer. This past weekend felt like winter. Ok, a little spring-like but it was way too cold for almost July! Please, let the sun come out to play, please?

It was a busy weekend here at Scarlett. I cooked up a Thai food storm in the kitchen and got to spend time with my dear friends. I got to show off some of my cooking skills and recipes picked up from cooking school in Thailand. I did make an old favorite recipe – Fried Prawn Cakes – they were popular!

Today, we celebrated Father’s Day with dad and the rest of the gang with some brunch. It was delicious and always fun to get together and share food. There were fish & chips and creamy crab bisque.

Today’s bits:

How have I missed out on Juana Molina before? Take a listen if you like ambient, electronica and good vocals.

Allison Miller can really play those drums, I’m just sayin’.

I have cupcakes on my mind this week – I want some brown liners for these cupcakes that I’m planning to make.

I need more Cray-pas Oil Pastels for my new Taro Gomi book. I just want to color, doodle, scribble and did I mention, color.

[via Willi @ DigginFood] A tomato trellis makes so much more sense than a tomato cage. It’s hard to find a cage that is strong enough for plants with the larger fruit but if the weather in Seattle keeps up this way, I doubt that I will have to worry about it.

I told you that I can’t live without rice. Here’s my brunch one morning – Omurice – a Japanese omelette filled with fried rice. My rice had peas, Chinese sausage (臘腸）and some bacon, and a sprinkling of fried ikan bilis/dried anchovies. For those who know SE Asian food, it was a cross between Chinese fried rice and Indonesian Nasi Goreng.

Seattle was teased with some good sunshine for most of today but we are headed for more rain this weekend. I’m looking forward to cooking a Thai dinner tomorrow for some dear friends and on Sunday, we are going out to lunch with dad.

Today’s bits:

I want to make these cocoa oatmeal cookies, I personally know a cookie monster.

One day, when I can afford it, I would love to commission Lubna Chowdhary to design a tile installation like this.

I am not sure if I will make it to Whidbey Island this summer but look at this lovely organic potager garden – The Raven and The Spade. [via Willi at DigginFood]

Enjoy your weekend!

I swear that I was born to eat rice. Yes, I am obviously biased towards it since I’m Chinese and I have only been eating it for most of my life but how can one not love rice? Especially when it’s cooked right, those perfectly plumped grains are delicious! White rice is my favorite, I also eat brown and red, basmati and wild. It looks like for health reasons, one should eat less white rice and more brown but I say, all in moderation!

Today’s bits:

At the local kids store yesterday I saw this adorable book, it has so much detail in it. I love how kids can learn about different parts of the world in such a fun book. It reminded me of Richard Scarry’s books.

It took working in jobs that made me sit in many meetings to realize that I love to doodle. I really enjoy Taro Gomi’s books and have bought them for my favorite fellow doodler, O. He has new books and I can’t wait to get my hands on them.

Letterpress printed cards always make me happy – this mermaid one from Hello!Lucky is so fun and have my favorite colors. I also like this anniversary one.

This weekend, I am cooking up some Thai food. This cucumber salad from chez pim sounds really summery.

Are you ready for the weekend?