Baby Caps

Love these sweet little baby caps from Etsy.com.

So sweet!

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Love this woman's style...

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Where is she?

What's she thinking about?

Is that wine or champagne she's drinking?

Where'd she buy that fabulous hat?

So many questions...

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My love of all things wedding-related...

Someday we'll renew our wedding vows...

(and I'll have an excuse to buy another beautiful gown!)

Dear Santa...

Please make me a happy girl on Christmas morning and put this under my tree!

It's a woman's retro Schwinn PINK bike - love it!

I'd put a basket on the front and load it up with fresh flowers and a loaf of french bread.

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Kate Spade Heels....OMG!

OMG....I bought the most beautiful pair of Kate Spade heels today at a consignment shop.

Black satin heels for a fancy night on the town.
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I want to sing out loud!
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I am going to place them on my nightstand so I can peak at them at 2am!

Will post pics soon!

LOVE!
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Blissful Blueberry Zucchini Bread

What's in abundance in August besides heat, humidity and frizzy hair?
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Blueberries and zucchini!
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Here's a great way to use them up and please your friends and family:
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Ingredients:
3 eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup vegetable oil
3 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 1/4 cups white sugar
2 cups shredded zucchini
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1 pint fresh blueberries
Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease 4 mini-loaf pans or 2 standard loaf pans.
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2. In a large bowl, beat together the eggs, oil, vanilla, and sugar. Fold in the zucchini. Beat in the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and cinnamon. Gently fold in the blueberries. Transfer to the prepared mini-loaf pans.
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3. Bake 50-60 minutes in the preheated oven, or until a knife inserted in the center of a loaf comes out clean. Cool 20 minutes in pans, then turn out onto wire racks to cool completely.
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If you want to make this bread even more blissful, add a crumb topping:
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2/3 cup flour,
1/2 cup brown sugar,
1/2 cup white sugar
1 tsp cinnamon,
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1 stick softened butter
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Mix together by hand and sprinkle all over the top of the loaves before baking.

Heavenly!

Texas Caviar with Avocado

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I was introduced to Texas Caviar in South Dakota during my husband's high school reunion festivities last year and was immediately hooked!

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It's a great summer treat and pretty healthy as well! Enjoy!

Ingredients:

2 (15.5 ounce) cans black-eyed peas, drained and rinsed
2 tomatoes, chopped
1 medium sweet onion, chopped
1/2 cup chopped jalapeno peppers
8 ounces Italian dressing
cayenne pepper to taste
2 avocados - peeled, pitted, and chopped

Bunch of cilantro, chopped

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Directions:

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1. In a large bowl, mix black-eyed peas, tomatoes, sweet onion, jalapeno peppers, Italian dressing, and cayenne pepper. Stir in the avocados just before serving.

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2. Serve with tortilla chips or scoops.

Tips:

-- You can also toss in some corn if you'd like!

-- Use black beans if you can't find black-eyed peas....or 1 can of each.

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Blissful salmon with pecan crunch coating

This salmon is BLISSFUL and so healthy!
Enjoy!
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Servings: 6
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Ingredients:
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3 tablespoons Dijon mustard
3 tablespoons butter, melted
5 teaspoons honey
1/2 cup fresh bread crumbs
1/2 cup finely chopped pecans
3 teaspoons chopped fresh parsley
6 (4 ounce) fillets salmon
salt and pepper to taste
6 lemon wedges
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Directions:
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1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). In a small bowl, mix together the mustard, butter, and honey. In another bowl, mix together the bread crumbs, pecans, and parsley.
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2. Season each salmon fillet with salt and pepper. Place on a lightly greased baking sheet. Brush with mustard-honey mixture. Cover the top of each fillet with bread crumb mixture.
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3. Bake for 10 minutes per inch of thickness, measured at thickest part, or until salmon just flakes when tested with a fork. Serve garnished with lemon wedges.

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Substitution: If you don't have the Dijon mustard and honey in the house, you can substitute your favorite prepared honey mustard dressing or condiment.
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Also, the honey-mustard sauce is VERY good so you may want to make an extra portion and serve on the side.
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Farmers' Markets - a summer treat!

Farmers' Markets are such a summer treat.

Fresh veggies, the scent of just-picked herbs and flowers, local live music, homeade fudge...lobsters!

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Our local Farmers' Market is on Friday afternoons....

a perfect day of the week to hold these events, in my opinion!

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When I have the opportunity to be there,

the stresses of the work week melt away and I'm transported

to a serene and peaceful place.

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A lovely way to start the weekend.

Here are some pics from the Hudson Valley market that was featured

in the NY Times...

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Blissful Corn on the Cob

I love corn on the cob in the summer but I'm not very fond of that

"post-corn-on-the-cob-i-can't-smile-bcuz-i-have-corn-stuck-in-my-teeth"

feeling.

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Instead, I choose to saute my corn in a bit of butter/olive oil and serve it off the cob...


Sauteed Corn Off the Cob recipe

Ingredients:

8 ears very fresh corn
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
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Preparation
1. Using a sharp knife, cut the kernels off the corn into a large bowl.
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2. Melt the butter in a frying pan and add the corn. Season with salt and plenty of pepper and cook for ten minutes, stirring frequently with a wide spatula. Serve immediately.
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YUM!

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My first apron (don't look too closely!!)

I love the look of frilly aprons. The kind they sell at Anthropologie and Etsy.

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Layers of gingham, eyelet, little fringes, patchwork fabrics - so girly and pretty! All those pretty aprons make me want to get into the kitchen and bake a beautiful, summery lemon cake!

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So I attempted my first apron today.

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Went out and bought an apron pattern and spent a few hours trying to figure out what to do with that pattern paper, the fabric, the pins and the new sewing machine.

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Well, for my first apron (and having only sewn for a few days), I'm quite pleased!

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Just make sure you squint when you look at the pictures, oh.....

and don't look too closely at my stitching!

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Sewing inspiration pics

Sewing & Shiraz

My girlfriends and I got together for a night of sewing and shiraz recently! We hired a woman to come to my house and teach us how to use our sewing machines! Julia, our instructor, was great! She was very patient, showed us a ton of easy tips and helped us create little pillows! We can't wait for lesson #2!

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Homeade Pesto

Pesto is an aromatic herb paste, traditionally made from fresh basil, garlic, Parmesan cheese, pine nuts and olive oil. Pesto has its origins in Liguria, Italy, where people have been making it for hundreds of years with the brilliant green basil that grows wild on the hillsides. Nowadays, flavorful, fragrant variations of pesto can be made with other herbs such as cilantro or mint.

Pesto Pointers:

Fresh basil is very delicate, and will turn brown if it gets very hot or if it's exposed to air for long periods of time. Many cooks use fresh spinach as well as basil in their pesto to help maintain its brilliant green color.

When mixing pesto with pasta, potatoes, or risotto, stir it in at the last minute, just before serving.

Store pesto in a jar or airtight container in the refrigerator for about a week, or in the freezer for about six months.

Keep it looking fresh and green by covering the top with a thin layer of olive oil or with a sheet of plastic wrap directly on its surface; this will keep it from oxidizing and turning brown. (If your pesto darkens in color, it will still taste good. Only discard it if it has been stored improperly.)

One way to freeze pesto in manageable portion sizes is to freeze it in an ice cube tray, and transfer the cubes to a heavy duty plastic freezer bag. (Reserve an ice cube tray for this purpose, as it may discolor and flavor your plastic tray.) Thaw frozen pesto in the refrigerator or in the microwave on medium power just until room temperature.

Serving Suggestions for Pesto
Although pesto is easy to make at home and will taste fresher than the purchased kind, you can also find it at the grocery store in shelf-stable jars, in the refrigerator case, or in the freezer section.

Try pesto:

On pizza in place of or in addition to the red sauce

Added to a cream sauce or Alfredo sauce

Mixed with mayonnaise as a sandwich spread or burger topping

Stirred into mashed potatoes or risotto

Dolloped on soup

Whisked into scrambled eggs or folded into omelets

In pasta salads, potato salads, or salad dressings

Mixed with cream cheese and spread on a bagel

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Simple Garlic and Basil Pesto Recipe:

INGREDIENTS

3 cups chopped fresh basil
1 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup pine nuts (or walnuts which are less expensive)
2/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons minced garlic
1/2 teaspoon chili powder

DIRECTIONS
Place the basil in a blender. Pour in about 1 tablespoon of the oil, and blend basil into a paste. Gradually add nuts, Parmesan cheese, garlic, chili powder, and remaining oil. Continue to blend until smooth.

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www.allrecipes.com

Summer dinner on the deck

It's August in the Northeast, humidity fills the air, there's no breeze and it's just too hot to do anything but sit still...with a cool beverage in hand.

Tonight's dinner was an easy one - flatbread pizzas on the grill. As mentioned in an earlier post, start with a piece of lavash bread on a cookie sheet and add whatever you have in your fridge. The top one has corn, feta, onions, bacon. The bottom one has pepperoni, basil, onion and mozzarella.

Heat over indirect heat on a grill for 10-15 mins until it looks done and enjoy! It's a great, easy way to use up left-overs to make a very satisfying and delicious dinner!

....and don't forget the cold beverage!

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Early August garden pics

Chive flowers about to blossom

Knock-out Roses still going strong in August

View of the arbor which was COVERED in red, climbing roses in July

Aloha roses...so beautiful!



Some of the new hydrangea plants waiting for a new home.

I used the layering technique to get these new plants from a single hydrangea.




Container plants on our deck

More container plants

Super sized coffee cup planter with assorted herbs

Love these coffee cans so I drilled a few holes in the bottom and voila - planters!

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Blissful Basil

I love basil.

I love the smell of it. I love it in caprese salad. I love to watch it grow. I love it in pesto.

It makes me happy!

This spring I bought one pack of basil seeds and literally have about 30 blossoming basil plants in my garden, on my deck, in containers...everywhere. I plan to make LOTS of sauce and pesto soon and when my tomatoes are ripe, I'll plan to make many delicious salads.

Some other uses of basil:

• Basil is widely used in traditional medicine and Ayurveda. Basil is rich of hundreds of phytochemicals. It has anti-bacterial, antiviral and immune enhancing properties. Here are 18 wonderful uses for the basil.
• Application of the juice of the basil leaves mixing with a little amount of honey over the eyes twice daily to treat fresh cases of cataract.
• Basil improves the efficiency of kidney. Take the mixture of equal amounts of the juice of basil leaves and honey regularly for 6 months for eliminating the stones in kidney.
• Basil is a good medicine for diabetes. The antioxidants in basil reduce the glucose level in blood. So take a tea spoon of juice of basil leaves daily to keep the diabetes under control.
  Basil leaves improve memory power. The smell of these leaves is pleasant to us.
• Basil oil cures earache, while gargling with the decoction made with these leaves reduces throat pain.
• Taking the mixture of equal parts of the powder of basil roots and ghee can make you romantic.
• Tea made with the tender leaves of basil prevents Malaria and Dengue. Take the decoction of these leaves with cardamom powder for reducing high body temperature.
• Basil can reduce heart diseases as it reduces the cholesterol content in the arteries.
• Mix a tea spoon of honey and ginger juice in a cup of decoction made with basil leaves and take for getting relief from cold, influenza, asthma and bronchitis.
• The decoction made with the mixture of leaves, roots and flowers of basil acts as anti venom for a snake bite.
• The Eugenol in these leaves is a good pain killer. Rub the leaves on the wounds for healing and for relief from pain.
• Place few leaves of basil under the pillow or under the bed sheets to solve the problem of insomnia.
• Massage with basil oil on the affected limbs to reduce the severity of paralysis.
• Make a fine powder of basil flower buds. Mix a spoon of powder to a spoon of honey and consume it for relief from migraine.
• The mixture of equal amounts of yogurt and basil juice with a pinch of cardamom powder is considered to be a cure for venereal diseases.
• Leaves can be used to treat insect stings and bites.
• Wash the hair with the decoction of basil to condition the hair.
• Adding some basil flowers and leaves in bathing water makes the body feel fresh.

Basil info from www.healthmed.com

Firefly Sweettini (aka the John Daly)

I had a Firefly sweet-tini the other night before the McCartney show at Fenway and let me tell ya...it was delish! Just one was plenty!

A Southern Twist: Tea-Infused Vodka
By ROBBIE BROWN
NYT.com

IT is such a simple idea, so plainly obvious that many Southerners can’t believe they didn’t think of it first: take the South’s trademark refreshment — sweet iced tea — and make it alcoholic.
That, essentially, was the recipe used by a South Carolina distillery last year to create a phenomenon. Its elixir, Firefly Sweet Tea Vodka, tastes almost exactly like the beloved sweet tea poured at generations of Southern family reunions, church meetings and picnics.

In just months, Firefly Distillery on Wadmalaw Island has expanded sales of its Sweet Tea Vodka to 40 states. Below the Mason-Dixon line, where fans are most rabid, the amber-brown liquor flows at colleges, bars and football games. Sweet Tea Vodka is 70 proof, a bit tamer than most vodkas, but the sweetness makes it seem even less potent. The daintiest drinkers can take shots without wincing (except, perhaps, from the sugar).

Some people mix it with lemonade to create a John Daly, an alcoholic version of an Arnold Palmer. Others serve it over ice, lime juice, mint leaves and soda water as a “mo-tea-to.”
A few months ago, the East Andrews Cafe and Bar in Atlanta started “Firefly Thursdays,” mainly to attract women. Crowds grew rapidly.

“Someone will order Firefly,” said Stephen de Haan, an owner of the bar, “and someone else will recognize the bottle and pretty soon everyone in the bar is drinking it.”

The vodka preys on the South’s famous weakness for sweet drinks, particularly sweet tea, the icier, sugarier, syrupier cousin of regular tea. “The house wine of the South” is how Dolly Parton’s character in “Steel Magnolias” describes the tea. But sweet tea has been going national. McDonald’s offers the drink at 78 percent of its locations in the United States. The Arizona Beverage Company sells a Southern Style Sweet Tea as far north as New York.

That popularity sparked the imaginations of Scott Newitt and Jim Irvin, who created Firefly. Since 2004, they have distilled vodka flavored with muscadine wine, first in Florida, then in South Carolina. But last year, they were looking to capitalize on their position as Southern distillers when Mr. Newitt learned of a California distillery that was making a green tea vodka. It was a quick leap to sweet tea. Mr. Newitt had heard of Northerners mixing tea, sugar and vodka to make an Ice Pick. He applied a Southern twist. “We wanted to be the Jack Daniels of vodka,” he said. “I couldn’t think of anything more Southern than Sweet Tea Vodka.”

The drink made its debut last April. By September, it was sold in 12 states. By March, they hope to reach all 50 states. “I was shocked by how fast it was going,” said Mr. Newitt, who declined to provide sales figures because, he said, other distilleries are planning their versions.

Indeed, Burnett’s Vodka, from Kentucky, unveiled its own sweet tea vodka last month.

For Firefly Distillery, the South is a source not only of inspiration but ingredients. The vodka is distilled, in part, from wine of muscadine grapes, native to Southern states. Some of the tea that is infused in the vodka, after sugar is baked into the leaves, is grown on the Charleston Tea Plantation, about five miles from the distillery.

Firefly introduced new flavors this month, including peach, lemon and mint. But sweet tea loyalists question whether the distillery’s luck will repeat itself.

“Personally, I wouldn’t be interested in those other flavors,” said Michael Sileno, an information technology worker in Greensboro, N.C. “But they hit the jackpot with sweet tea.”

Ice Cream Cake

24 ice cream sandwiches
1 (16 ounce) container Cool Whip or similar
1 (12 ounce) jar chocolate fudge topping

2 cups of candy/cookies (Hershey's , M&M's, oreo cookies, snickers, etc)

Grated chocolate bar for garnish

DIRECTIONS:
Place 8 of the ice cream sandwiches side by side in a 9x13 inch baking dish. Spread evenly with half of the hot fudge topping, then half of the Cool Whip and then whatever you want to use for a filling (Hershey's or oreo cookies, mint cookies, snickers, etc). Repeat with the remaining ice cream sandwiches and toppings. Finish with a layer of Cool Whip and sprinkle with grated chocolate bar.

Cover and freeze for at least 1 hour before serving. Keep unused portion covered and frozen.

Enjoy!

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