Under a blue moon

Friday's Favorites

 

Flickr Favorites (please click link to see the source of these beautiful images)

 

• Delicate quatrefoil earrings from Etsy
• I admit that Pier 1 doesn't come immediately to mind when looking for pretty brooches but look at this pretty, vintage inspired one in lovely cobalt
• I am waiting with bated breath for Besotted Blog's shop to open - in the meantime here is a teaser in the form of a drawing.  Wait!  Don't enter (and ruin my chances....)
• Here is some inspiration via Flickr:  Sweet little landscape painted on the back of a vintage postcard and some DIY lined envelopes (makes me wish I had a pen pal)
• And finally, a lovely little reminder to slow down and enjoy the scenery

My goodness this week totally got away from me.  And what is up with it being the last day of September??  Where did the year go?  I really need to get that print in my last link. 

In exciting news the deck is done!  As are the new walkways and planting areas.  I'll do a garden tour next week and share some before and after pictures.  It took a bit longer than we expected but we are thrilled with how everything turned out. 

Happy weekend everyone!

9.25.11

Saturday was one of those days where I didn't have a single thing planned.  I love those kind of Saturdays.  

I slept in and when I did finally get up I just sat in the living room with my cup of tea and caught up on my magazines.  As I was sitting there, flipping through the pages, I started looking at my living room with a critical eye.

Things were looking a bit cluttered and fussy to me.  Too much going on visually and not the soothing refuge I envision for it.  

There are certain elements that I just can't change.  Like the floral on the love-seats and the plaid on the Bergere chairs.  But I can control all the stuff I have adorning all the surfaces.  

I started off with this throw pillow.  Perfectly serviceable and it certainly goes with the color scheme in this room.  But I decided that three different patterns on one 14 x 24 pillow was too much.  

So I headed to Joanns (where I advised a Nun on the relative merits of two different fabrics for her habit.  Like I'm an expert or something....) and picked up some creamy white, bottom weight fabric.  I wanted it to have heft to it but not be too stiff.  I find bottom weight fabrics make good upholstery fabrics for smaller projects.

I basically just made the same pillow cover but in the creamy white. The only difference is instead of a zipper I put an overlapped opening in the back.   

Then I took an antique tray scarf that I bought a few months ago and basted it to the front for texture and interest.  

I think the entire project cost me $10.  Half for the fabric and half for the tray scarf.  The pillow was free.  

Not a bad way to fritter away a Saturday.

Friday's Favorites

Flickr Favorites (please click link to see the source of these beautiful images)

• I love the sentiment and the sweet reminder
• Kirstie Alley's Maine cottage is for sale.  Gorgeous house and views (decorating is a bit over the top...)
• Daily reminders on what it is to be a lady (I'm a bit surprised at the controversy her blog raises - when did being polite and taking pains with your appearance become synonymous with the disempowerment of women?  Does being a gentleman make a man less manly?)
• On to more frivolous topics...Adorable yet spooky gingerbread men
• Poignant reminder about treating everyone with kindness and respect.  Reminds me of the Plato quote "Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle."

Have a spectacular weekend everyone!  

9.21.11

In an effort to quell my insatiable Diet Coke habit I'm trying to pretty up my water.  

A couple of sliced strawberries, half a sliced lemon and a handful of mint do the job nicely AND it is very refreshing.  

Sliced cucumber, ginger (fresh) and mint are also nice.  

I'm keeping the pitcher in arm's reach on my table so I can just keep filling up my glass as I'm working.   

9.20.11

 

I spent last weekend stocking my larder.  I'm very intrigued (and impressed) by the idea of spending a couple of intense days cooking mass quantities of freezer friendly meals and stocking your freezer. 

The idea is to stock up on the major, time consuming components of a meal so that during the hectic work week you can just pull something out of the freezer, add a salad and you have a nice meal with little effort. 

Not everything freezes (or reheats to be totally accurate) well.  So before I started assembling Coulibiac I did a little research and found some good online resources.  Here are two links that I found very useful: 

http://aturtleslifeforme.blogspot.com/2011/06/freezer-meals-on-cheap.html (cooking ahead and freezing tips)

http://joelens.blogspot.com/2007/01/freezer-friendlymake-ahead.html (freezer friendly meals)

I ended up making shredded chicken, chicken stock, taco meat, twice baked potatoes, pasta sauce, bean and cheese burritos (with home made refried beans - very easy) and chicken pesto stuffed shells.

I was careful to label each item so I wouldn't pull out mystery packages of food a year from now (something I actually just did this morning - lesson learned).  Not only did I describe and date the item but I also included cooking instructions. 

I also bought a book suggested by the first blogger listed above called "Don't Panic: Dinner's in the Freezer."  I haven't had a chance to look through it but I'm hoping to spend another weekend cooking up more meals. 

I'm also hoping to get my sisters together so we can do a big cooking session together.  I've also heard of groups of women that each prepare a dish en masse and then share it with the others in the group.  They keep one family sized serving for themselves and give one to each of the other women.   So if you have five people in your group you end up with your own dish and four others that were prepared by the other members. 

Do you have any freezer friend meals or tips?  I will say the chicken and pesto stuffed shells are really good (you can find the recipe here) and that I made my burritos too big.  Next on my list are enchiladas and lasagne.

 

Friday's Favorites

Flickr Favorites (please click link to see the source of these beautiful images)

• Okay now HERE are five food groups I can get behind
• Drat!  It's sold out but if it is ever back in stock this is my new iPhone cover
• I think I might need a sign like this by my front door
• Pretty necklace.  I am drawn to blue stones in my jewelry, aren't I?
• LOVE these cards.  Love the simplicty, the sentiment and the typefaces.

We had two days of tolerable temperatures and this weekend it is back up to the 90's.  What is up with that?  I plan on doing some Fall pots on the deck (which is nearing completion - I can feel it...) and doing some major cooking (and freezing).  Stocking up my larder for the cruel months ahead.  You know - for when it's in the 70's.

Have an absolutely delightful weekend!

9.15.11

 

This is kind of fun.  Wordle.  You type in the URL of your blog (or any blog) and it comes back with the most frequently/recently used words.  Alternatively you can make a custom one by entering a block of text (of what ever words your want).  

Might be fun for an invitation, announcment or save the date type of notice.

Evidently I've been yammering on about apples lately... 

9.13.11

Keeping with the apple theme - I also made apple butter this weekend.  Truly the easiest recipe ever. 

I wish I had a better picture but my props got eaten before I could reshoot.

I loosely followed this recipe for apple butter with the following changes - I peeled and chopped my apples into a 1/2 inch dice.  I filled my 5 qt. crock pot about 3/4 the way full with the apples.  Then I added 1 1/2 cups sugar (most of the reviews said the recommended amount was way too much), a heaping tsp. of cinnamon, scant 1/4 tsp. of cloves and a pinch of salt.  

I cooked on high for an hour then turned it down to low and cooked it for about 24 hours, stirring every couple of hours.  When I turned off the crock pot I blended it with my immersion blender.  Perfect.  Very silky.

It yielded about two and half pints of apple butter.

As an added bonus the house smelled fabulous all weekend long.

9.10.11

Normally I don't post on Saturdays but I couldn't resist the date.  I love when the numbers line up like that.  

Yesterday I made my friend Keith come over and pick apples with me. Our two trees have been very prolific this year and the apples were starting to jump off the trees.

I have no idea what the varieties are - one tree produces apples with a vaguely Golden Delicious flavor to it and the other one has tart apples on it.  Neither are particularly good eating apples but they do cook up nicely.

Luckily for Keith and me he brought his daughter with him so we made her go up the ladder and pick them from the higher branches.  She is infinitely more agile than either of us.  

Next year I want one of those old three legged orchard ladders.  I think it would a look a little more charming than our day-glo yellow fiberglass one (which is stage left, out of camera range).

I baked one pie and have a pot of apple butter simmering with my windfall.  

The pie recipe is used is this one.  It has a ton of great reviews and I like the story of how the woman's grandmother wouldn't have known what all the fuss was about - it was just her standard apple pie recipe.  And her granddaughter loves how, with one simple little recipe, her grandmother has entered so many kitchens and has joined many families at their tables.

Even though it is still in the 90's today there is a suggestion of Fall in the air.  That subtle breeze and the first of the leaves dropping from the trees.  The smell of apples cooking sure adds to that Fall feeling.  

There is something really rewarding about taking something that grew in your own garden and making something out of it.  

Friday's Favorites

Flickr Favorites (please click link to see the source of these beautiful images)

• Lovely tissue tassle garland tutorial.  Someone needs to have a festive party so I can make one  
• Another fun DIY party project:  Animal candle holders (honestly I just need to become a party planner.  That seems like the best job ever)  
• I'm thinking I'll need this book when it comes out in October:  The Book of Fine Linen (and whoops I forgot my dream job is to have my own linen shop.  Party planning on the side I suppose....)
• Free printable vintage Halloween downloads.  Never too early to start planning for Halloween
• Pretty Fall earrings (any excuse for new earrings!)

Well this week just flew by.  The short work week sure helped.  It is supposed to be hot as blazes this weekend so I think we'll just try to move as little as possible.  Frozen cocktails might be on the agenda.  

Happy Weekend Everyone!