J Schwanke’s Life In Bloom

"J Schwanke's Life in Bloom" is brought to you by the following.

♪♪ At home... ♪♪ ...at work... ♪♪ ...or anytime.

♪♪ CalFlowers is a proud sponsor of "J Schwanke's Life in Bloom", where flowers and wellness go hand in hand.

We have fresh in all our stores, from soups and steaks and all things flour to all things flowering.

Custom fresh arrangements designed by our in-store florists at Albertsons Companies.

With additional support from the following.

Passion Roses.

Suntory Flowers.

♪♪ Join me today and see how kindness blooms.

I'll have some easy flower arranging tips.

We'll visit with a photographer of pets, embellish a wreath, and share kindness through food as well.

♪♪ ♪♪ I'm J Schwanke, welcome to "Life in Bloom".

♪♪ A dictionary definition of kind as an adjective is having or showing a friendly, generous, and considerate nature, or of a sympathetic or helpful nature.

I believe it's important to be kind.

It's a mindset.

A kind word or two can make someone else's day.

Their reaction can release good feelings for you as well.

Giving flowers is often thought of as an act of kindness, especially flowers that you have gathered, picked, or arranged yourself.

Have you ever delivered flowers in person?

If not, I encourage you to try it.

In my experience, the reaction is always positive and sometimes this kind act is profound for the recipient.

Maybe they have never received flowers.

Witnessing the emotions that flowers sometimes evoke in others can be inspiring.

Even a simple, kind word can be unexpectedly powerful.

Today, we'll explore ways to be kind or show kindness.

And maybe together we can make someone's day brighter in the process.

One of my favorite things about flowers is giving them away to other people.

I thought it would be fun to just take a collection of garden flowers and add them to these containers so that we can give them away in an act of kindness.

Our little mason jar is tiny and short, and so if we put a flower or two in there, it might pop out really easily.

So you can see, I gathered up these little black-eyed Susans in my hand with all the blooms together, and put a couple of scented geraniums around the outside, and I'll use my craft covered wire and just make a little bundle.

So I'm just going to take it around a couple times... ...cut it off, and tie that together.

Now that's a lot more stable.

I can cut it off and I can drop it right down inside.

A bigger one like this maybe needs a little bit of structure because we have a wide opening inside there.

So I'm going to put a few pieces of different types of flowers and foliage down inside there to give it a little bit of structure.

And again, I try not to make these things too tall because if I make them too tall, they're going to also fall over.

So having the flowers tighter and clustered together is going to be a super great way to keep those flower heads all together and make it look nice and full.

Now look, that's a perfect way to say thank you for a dish someone brought over to you.

Let's take a look at our clay pot.

It's just a little container that fits right inside it so it holds water.

You can even throw some pebbles down inside it if you wanted to, to give it a little more weight at the bottom.

It can tend to be a little bit top heavy if you don't have some rocks down inside there.

Now you'll notice I kept my foam nice and short because then my flowers can go in nice and tight.

♪♪ ♪♪ So now we've got a great little cluster of flowers on top with our clay pot.

I love a vase like this that tapers and is narrow in the neck, because it allows the flowers to be gathered together.

When those blossoms come together tight, they look more impressive.

♪♪ Just a few flowers and it looks great.

It's a wonderful gift to say thank you.

Now let's take a look at our little cookie jar.

This is a great little tin.

It's completely waterproof.

♪♪ Here's a couple of gerrondo gerberas... right down here in front.

♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ That's a cute way to fill that up and say thanks for the cookies.

We'll finish up with our peach container.

♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ So this is a beautiful way to recycle some fun containers and also say thank you, but spread some kindness with flowers.

♪♪ Kindness comes in many different forms, and sometimes sharing one's talent with others can be an incredible act of kindness.

I'd like to introduce you to my friend Raúl Velasco, a talented photographer that has an affinity for photographing pets.

It doesn't really matter what type of pet.

Raúl quickly realized he could share his talent for photography with people that wanted great pictures of their dog, cat, or other types of pets.

So, Raúl, we're going to start with full disclosure.

All right?

You are our photographer on set.

It's true.

And so when we travel and we go to a flower farm that has pigs, or we go to a farm that has dogs or a farm that has goats, or maybe there's a peregrine falcon or what -- It doesn't matter.

Whatever's there, you take these amazing pictures of animals.

And so you've combined that with kindness.

So tell us a little bit about what you do for people and their pets.

Sure.

As a dog owner, my last dog, Chino, I used to take a ton of photos of him.

And then after that, I got my dog Tuco.

Right.

And I started taking studio portraits of Tuco.

I decided that I would start offering that to folks, because pets are family, and I fully believe that, you know, very strongly.

So I feel like people should have their pets on their walls because, you know, they mean a lot more than I can say, I guess.

George wants to say hi.

Do you want to come up?

Come on.

Okay.

But yeah, they are family.

And having pictures of them and having quality pictures by a talented photographer.

And that's really wonderful.

When you're taking pictures of animals, what techniques are helpful?

Typically, before I do a pet portrait shoot, it'll be anywhere from like 10 to sometimes we've done up to like 35 pets that come in through the studio.

You know, it's like one pet in the studio at a time.

Unless it's like a family, you know, that's bringing like three pets that live together.

I think more importantly is that it is a group effort.

So, you know, I tell the dog parents come in with them, bring their favorite treat, bring their favorite toy.

Anytime you see a photo online, you know, that's really well orchestrated, really well done, that's been done in like a massive studio with a huge crew, a lot of those animals are trained.

Okay.

All right.

Sure, sure.

You know, I typically don't work with trained animals.

I work with animals that are just family pets, you know?

So when they come into the studio and they get on that white backdrop, it's their first time.

Some of them are scared, you know, of the paper.

You know, they might hit it and it makes a noise and they're like, "Ah!"

So it's all about getting, you know, the pet parents all there together with me standing behind me, putting the treat over my lens, talking to the dog, letting the dog run around and smell the studio beforehand so that they can kind of get acquainted with the space.

You know, it actually is, you know, a lot of work.

I remember the first time I did it, I was like, "Wow, this is more than I expected with dogs that aren't mine."

Right.

But I fell in love with it.

Raúl, you know we have a tradition.

I do know.

So, a flower crown for you, my friend.

All right.

Take this guy off.

There you go.

There you go.

Hang on.

There we go.

Awesome.

[ Laughs ] I know, right?

It's a rite of passage.

It is.

I made it.

[ Both laugh ] Well, thank you so much.

Appreciate you being here.

I appreciate you sharing all this.

And the dogs -- The dogs love it too.

They love spending some time with Raúl too.

So thank you very much.

♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ Today I'm placing a wreath in the shape of a peace symbol or sign to hang near my front door.

This is made of dried grapevine by my talented friend Zach Taylor, who we met in season six at Brickyard Farms.

I had seen an even larger wreath there and inquired if he would make one for me.

It was so kind of him to do so.

The peace symbol itself was created in 1958 in Great Britain as part of a nuclear disarmament campaign.

Between 1960 and 1964, thousands of buttons featuring the sign were distributed on college campuses in the United States.

By 1968, the symbol had been adopted as a generic peace sign and is still known as such today.

I think it's also an appropriate reminder of this episode's theme of kindness.

As it's made of grapevine, enhancing it with fresh flowers is a wonderful accent, especially when welcoming guests to your home.

When we're adding fresh flowers to our grapevine wreath, we need to have a place where those fresh flowers are going to reside.

And this is called a floral cage.

It has a block of foam on the inside and it has a plastic back.

It also has grommets on both ends so that we can zip tie it directly to our wreath.

And then this acts as our water supply for those fresh flowers that we're going to arrange.

The cage is also removable so you can replace the foam inside if you want to reuse it again.

I also want to make sure that cage and foam stays in place.

So I'm going to use waterproof anchor tape, and I'm just going to wrap it around it a couple times... ♪♪ ...to ensure the stability.

Now if that cage comes loose, it's not going to fall off.

Next we're going to find a spot here that's going to hold on to that really well.

And we'll use our zip ties to attach it.

We'll do the same at the top with the other grommet.

Now, I also want to ensure that this isn't going to flip around.

So I'm going to use my anchor tape one more time.

I'm just going to wrap that around the grapevine wreath.

♪♪ I'm going to do it one more time in another location.

♪♪ ♪♪ Now it's super secure and it's not going to go anywhere.

Now it's time for us to add our flowers.

♪♪ We'll start with foliage first, and we want to make sure we're following the curve of the wreath and not covering up the peace sign in the middle.

♪♪ We'll add our accent flowers.

We have the agapanthus.

We've got the raspberry bush.

And we have the burgundy sorghum.

It's a perfect way to continue to reinforce the lines of the foliage.

♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ Then we'll go for our stars.

We're using our burgundy dahlias and our pincushion proteas in the center.

♪♪ ♪♪ I'm filling in between with this beautiful hellebore, too, because it has that chartreuse green color.

Now we're ready to hang it in place.

♪♪ ♪♪ Today we have a special guest.

The co-creator of "Life in Bloom" from the very first episode.

My husband, Kelly.

Kel and I have been together for 30 amazing years.

And while I'm the one that enjoys the spotlight, Kelly is completely involved behind the scenes concepting, script-writing, producing, planning, art, directing, and more importantly, keeping everything on track and running smoothly.

Today he joins me on this side of the camera, sharing a recipe for cherry galette that includes what I consider his famous pie crust.

Food, especially homemade food, is a really good way to show kindness.

I think that's how a lot of people communicate that, you know, someone's important, or that they love someone, or that they love their family, they love their friends, they'll make food for them.

Right.

In my opinion, your mom's pie crust was the best pie crust I ever ate.

Okay.

Yeah.

Your pie crust is as good as your mom's now.

Okay.

Well, thanks.

Yeah, so -- You know, I asked her one time for the recipe, and she just wrote it out because it was all in her head.

She had made it, you know, hundreds and hundreds of times.

And so I changed the ingredient from vegetable shortening to butter because you're Mr.

Butter Man.

So it's pretty simple ingredients.

There's not a lot to it, and it's just a matter of getting used to how it goes together.

My pies are pretty rustic, so I was a little apprehensive about, you know, how that turns out.

A galette is a little more -- it's rustic as well, but this is -- it's simpler.

It's easier for people to accomplish.

You don't have to worry about crimping the crust just right.

It's just folds in on itself and it's great.

So there's two cups of flour in here.

Okay.

There's a 1/4 teaspoon of salt.

We're going to reserve 1/3 cup that'll help us blend the liquid in better.

We'll start with the cubed butter.

And it's important to start out with it being cold.

Pastry blender tool.

If you didn't have one of these, you could use a fork.

It might take a long time.

Most people use a food processor.

I've never used a food processor to make -- And you're just cutting through the butter, blending it with the flour.

You're just trying to get the butter down to very crumbly.

Between 1/4 and 1/3 cup of cold water.

And that's important that it's cold.

We're going to take the flour and make a paste.

So then I just kind of blob it in in little groups.

And so then you just go back in with the pastry blender.

That works the moisture and the water into the butter and the flour, and then it starts to become a dough.

So then you just use your hands to incorporate the dough together a little better, and it will form a ball.

You don't want to over knead it.

Kneading it is not really the point of... Got it.

...pie crust.

It's not like bread.

I'll put some flour down.

Since it's a galette, it's just one piece that you roll out.

Flatten it out a little bit.

Some flour on top.

Some flour on the rolling pin.

You're rolling it out I would guess to like probably a quarter inch.

I don't know if you could get it much thinner than that.

Loop it up over the rolling pin.

Ohh.

And then just pop it over onto the pan.

Here I have cherries.

These were frozen.

I heated them on the stove a little bit with a little bit of water and 3 tablespoons of arrowroot, so that thickens it up.

So for a galette, you're just going to... Cover it up.

...kind of fold in on itself.

Uh-huh.

We're going to get a little bit of melted butter and brush it on.

And this will just help it brown up and look pretty.

A little bit of sugar on top.

So then this will go in the oven at 425 for 35 to 40 minutes.

So we have a little bit of oozing and spillage.

But that's also partly why we have the parchment down.

So we're going to need to let that cool a little bit before we dig into it.

♪♪ That's just as good as it is every time.

I think it's the flakiest crust I've ever made.

I don't know if it's the oven or the day or you being next to me.

Oh, I don't know.

Wow.

One more bite.

That's so good, Kel.

Mmm.

We have a tradition.

What is this tradition you speak of?

Flower crown.

So good.

Yeah.

I am thankful and grateful for your pies.

But I am also so thankful and grateful for you.

And I just love that we do this together.

And it always is magic, because we have so many memories and so many fun things that we have done.

And you've always been by my side.

Well, and right back at you.

♪♪ And now it's time for my favorite part of the show.

Flowers from you, the viewers.

Today I have pictures from two viewers who are kind enough to share what others have arranged.

First, Denise Childs of Fort Worth, Texas, shares an arrangement made by her 12-year-old helper.

She writes "I'm living alone and when I injured my ankle, my helper came over every day to fill my bird feeders and watered my potted plants.

On Mother's Day, he knocked at the door and asked if he could pick his mom some flowers.

He arranged it perfectly in my eyes.

I was so proud he came to my gardens to get a gift of love for his mom."

Good job, Denise.

What a great way to introduce flowers to the next generation.

And this is so inspiring and encouraging.

Thanks for sharing your flowers with your helper.

Our next viewer is Christa Slater from Calimesa, California, who watched the show on KBCR.

Christa shares that she tried the cardboard vase technique from our flowers and crafts show with kindergarten and first-grade students.

She writes, "We drew a vase one day, then had parents poke holes with a pencil.

The flowers were added the following day."

These are so much fun, Christa.

Your students are so creative.

I'm sure they were a hit.

Thanks for incorporating this fun flower craft with your students.

Please send me your pictures of flower arrangements inspired by "Life in Bloom."

We call them Schwankes after a viewer's nickname.

Send them to [email protected].

That's the letter J at the letter U Bloom.com.

And watch for more Schwankes on upcoming shows.

Thanks for watching "J Schwanke's Life in Bloom."

Perhaps one of these ideas will inspire you to share some kindness, or maybe just inspire you to say a kind word to someone you meet today.

For "Life in Bloom," I'm J Schwanke.

So talking about Julia Child, you and your brother would watch cooking shows all the time.

Like that was the -- This was in the in '70s, so, you know, back in the ancient times when there were originally three channels and it was a big discovery when the fourth channel of PBS was found.

Came into existence.

There were all kinds of things on PBS we would watch.

But "The French Chef," Julia Child was one of the -- one of the things that we watched together.

And you had to know when it was on and you had to make a plan.

Sure.

Right, right.

It wasn't available all the time like it is now.

So that was -- Yeah, I remember watching that when I was young.

"J Schwanke's Life in Bloom" is filmed in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

J's flower arranging tips, helpful hints, and arrangement recipes are available in J's two books, "Fun with Flowers" for $25 and "Bloom 365" for $20 plus shipping.

To purchase these books and any visit uBloom.com/Store.

♪♪ To learn more about flower arranging and J, access to videos, and to get recipes, tips, techniques, and much more, visit us online at uBloom.com.

Follow J on Facebook and Instagram at "J Schwanke's Life in Bloom."

"J Schwanke's Life in Bloom" is brought to you by the following... ♪♪ At home.

♪♪ At work.

♪♪ Or anytime.

♪♪ CalFlowers is a proud sponsor of "J Schwanke's Life in Bloom," where flowers and wellness go hand in hand.

We have fresh in all our stores, from soups and steaks and all things flour to all things flowering.

Custom fresh arrangements designed by our in-store florists at Albertsons Companies.

With additional support from the following... PassionRoses... ♪♪ Suntory Flowers.

♪♪ Closed-caption funding provided by fabulousflorals.com.

♪♪