Decorating Ideas for Smaller Oriental Rugs

I just did a rewrite on my article on How to Decorate with Oriental Rugs so if you are a rug collector or just anyone interested in this subject, here you are.

This is a small Turkoman runner and it really enhances this beautiful bathroom.

This yellow runner was sold many moons ago but I included it here as I think it looks fantastic in this kitchen.

Here is an antique Persian Afshar piece draped on a table.

  

Here is the article:
Decoration with your Oriental Rug Collection

I hope you find something of use.

Thanks for checking in.

New Video of the Tree of Life Design. August Summer Sale Continues!

Here is a brief video of two beautiful rugs woven in Afghanistan. They are both 8 x 10's and there are a few other random small pieces at the end of the video but the two bigger rugs are both in the Tree of Life design. New Oriental Rug Video! 

Here are the two pieces featured in the video.

We are still running our Summer Sale so if you would like to see more rugs, here you are:

Paradise Oriental Rugs, Inc. in Sebastopol, CA.

Breakfast for Champions! Nutritious Quinoa Salad with Red Bell Pepper and Corn!

Had some fun in the kitchen this morning. I had been thinking about creating this salad for the last few days and so, step by step I put it all together and it turned out pretty darn good. Took some photos and even did a taste test with my employee. All A-OK, so here we go.

I used 1 package of white Quinoa (1 lb.) which I purchased at Trader Joes. Some may choose the red. I had cooked and cooled the quinoa the night before so that was ready to go when I started my preparations this morning.

Here are the ingredients I added, all of which were organic except for the olive oil.

1 lb of white quinoa
1/3 of a package of frozen corn, briefly cooked in boiling water and cooled (only 1 minute).
1 medium sized red bell pepper finely chopped.
1 medium sized green bell pepper, finely chopped.
1 white onion, finely chopped.
1 bunch of parsley
A few sprigs of fresh cilantro.
Juice from 2-3 large or medium sized lemons
3-4 TBS extra virgin Greek Kalamta olive oil
Sea salt and pepper to taste.
Serves 6-8

I did not use fresh cracked pepper as I wanted the pepper to be more of a subtle flavor than a dynamic one.

                                       Here are the first three ingredients in my salad bowl.

1 medium white onion, finely chopped.

                                           1 bunch of curly parsley

                                             Finely chopped.

Getting ready to mix all together. 

I used two large lemons and approximately 4 tablespoons of olive oil but when I cook, I rarely measure anything so that is my best guess on the oil.  I had to add a bit more lemon and then I added my sea salt and pepper. 

After mixing together these basic ingredients, at the last minute I decided to add a bit of cilantro so I did. 

Prepared my lemons so they were ready to squeeze.

Tossed the salad in olive oil. Added the lemon juice. Added salt and pepper. 

The olive oil I always use is Greek Kalamata extra virgin, which is my favorite!

I garnished this salad with some sliced lemons, first on top and then at the edges of the bowl.

Now, after all this preparation, I was very hungry as I had been up for a number of hours and eaten nothing so I thought why not? It's ready, nutritious was very satisfying. 

Alternate ingredient: 1 can of rinsed and drained black beans for a heartier meal. I tried it the next day and it was very yummy! I did have to add a bit more fresh lemon juice, olive oil and sea salt but I'm sure you could have figured that out:) 

If you like this recipe please share on any social media or with a friend.

If you would like to email me any comments, please send to Penny at:

afsharlady@aol.com