SOME EASY AND FUN APPETIZERS, AND A SWEET NEW PLACE TO EAT!....

(Apropos of nuttin', I thought this old spice bottle worked well as a little vase for my freshly cut daisies!)

*****************

Ordered a new pedestal table from Ebay a while back, and it showed up the other day on our front porch. Why, it was just like Christmas morning!

I just love round tables for conversation--don't you? This table is very well made, and was a cinch for my husband to put together......

Gave my old dining room chairs a fresh paint job (gotta love Krylon high gloss spray paint....so much easier than painting by hand!).....

Waddya think?

I'm thinking of lowering the chandelier a tad...........

And please don't worry: we didn't get rid of our big old farm table....the sheer size of it was just bugging me lately, so Wink wrapped it up in about 20 layers of thick, thick plastic. Now it's being stored in the garage, for our next home.

Where hopefully we'll have a nice, big, gracious dining room, like I'm used to.

But for now, I'm loving this little pedestal table...speaking of pedestals, this is the base......

I figure no matter where we end up in this world, we'll always be able to use such a table. Maybe in a cute breakfast nook? Or as a game table....

A good little investment, I do believe!

********************

I did a small catering job at my girlfriend's gallery here in town last week, and I wanted to share with you the delicious, pretty and easy appetizers I prepared.

The first are my Melon, Mozzarella and Prosciutto Skewers........I used both canteloupe and honey dew melon, for lots of color, and seasoned with lots of freshly cracked black pepper....

I first made these for family, the night our daughter graduated from high school. They are the perfect summer appetizer, and everyone loves them, always. I do believe I found the recipe from Southern Living magazine, back in 2009, and I'll reprint it for you, below.

I also made my mama's Veggie Pizza Appetizers recipe....fun to make, and soooo delicious...you will wish you'd doubled the amounts! But if you're having just a few folks over for drinks, one recipe of these beauties will do...................

Take a gander at how colorful these are....so many vegetables.....I know this looks like a HUGE amount, but we were feeding well over 50 people.....

Here are the recipes....enjoy!

Melon, Mozzarella and Prosciutto Skewers

Makes about 20 appetizers

20 (1 inch) cantaloupe or honeydew cubes (I used a melon baller)

20 thin slices prosciutto (about 1/2 lb.)

20 fresh small mozzarella cheese balls

20 4 inch wooden skewers

freshly cracked pepper

thread 1 melon cube, 1 prosciutto slice and 1 mozzarella ball onto each of 20 wooden skewers. Sprinkle with cracked pepper. Refrigerate until serving.

My Mom's Veggie Pizza Appetizers

Serves many

2 cans crescent rolls

topping:

2 (8 oz.) packages cream cheese

1 cup mayonnaise

1 tsp. seasoning salt

2 tsp. dill weed

1 cup vegetables, cut into small pieces ( I used the food processor), such as broccoli, olives, green onions, red, green and yellow bell pepper, tomatoes, celery or carrots).

Unroll crescent rolls onto ungreased cookie sheet. Press the seams together. Bake for 10-12 minutes at 375 degrees. Let cool. Mix topping ingredients together and spread on cooled crescent rolls. Top with veggies. Cover and refrigerate. Make at least 3 hours before serving. Cut into serving pieces.

Till we meet again,

Leslie

XXX000

A TOUR: MY PRETTY LITTLE KITCHEN.........

Just so you know, I'm seriously having a "Shlumpa-dinka" kinda day today....the kind of day where I don't want to wear anything except this ancient old stained hoodie and comfortable yoga pants.........

Not my best look, I know...but it's a Sunday and I haven't been feeling my best lately, and the weather outside is just BLEEECH...not quite snowing, not quite raining.....

HEY MOTHER NATURE: HERE'S AN IDEA FOR YOU! PICK A WEATHER TYPE, AND GO WITH IT, FOR CRYIN' OUT LOUD!

Ahem....here's the view from my front door....it's only 30 degrees outside today. Deceiving, isn't it? I guess I should just be thankful that we're not buried under feet of snow, as we can SO be here in upstate NY this time of year........



So since I'm not going anywhere, and don't plan on cooking much of anything (prolly just a boring chicken and rice casserole for dinner that would make you yawn and vow to never look at my blog ever again), I thought maybe I'd give you a little "tour" of the semi-remodel job we had done on our kitchen last year.

I know, you've seen snippets of my kitchen on this blog for awhile now, but I've never given you the "GRANDE TOUR" of the "palace"...so today's the day, lucky viewer!

Please let me preface all of this by saying that YES, our home is still on the "newish" side, being only 9 years old this summer. So before you go ahead and judge me as crazy or just easily bored (and very spoiled) for redoing a nearly-new perfectly fine kitchen, well, I need to 'splain something.....

Men designed my former kitchen, and I hated it more than words could say. It made me hate cooking, and I'm a girl who loves to cook.

And that's all I'm gonna say, lest I start to sound whiney.

First thing Wink and I did was to decide, along with our builders the fabulous Mike and Roger, to move the existing kitchen sink and counter surrounding it to another wall, thus opening up the space completely. HUGE difference. We also replaced HORRID, HORRID white tile with gorgeous recycled granite countertops. I will never, ever again use white tile, anywhere. Especially when one lives on top of an old swamp and one's house keeps shifting, causing the horrid white tile's grout to crack along the backsplash. Again and again and again.

I almost lost my ever-loving mind over that.

Here's the granite we chose...pretty neutral, and ZERO upkeep....

(yes, it was expensive, but it should last forever...)

So here's a view of the majority of our new kitchen layout, minus the refrigerator wall and door to the back porch....

We saved a lot of money by using our existing cabinets and appliances, which are stainless steel. Our good friend and neighbor Roger is an incredible cabinet maker, and he built us not one, but TWO new pantries to match our old cabinets, thereby substantially increasing our storage. Here's the closed food pantry he designed...

And here it is, open...a little bare right now, as we're getting ready to go out of town...(believe it or not, this cupboard is usually a LOT more cluttery)....

Across the kitchen, there's another pantry to the right of our refrigerator...we use this for cookbooks, pet foods and appliances that I don't want on the countertops...what did I EVER do without this, I want to know??..........

Here's the cabinet we had built around the refrigerator (the door to our back porch is to the left)....LOVE the cookie sheet/muffin tin/cutting board racks Roger built!............

Here's what's next to the stove...funny story about this Boos cutting block that my mom sent for Christmas a few years back. She instructed me (you have to know my mom) to NOT NOT NOT open the cutting board box when the UPS man dropped it off, but instead to wait until Christmas to open it along with her other gifts. I, ever the impatient one, couldn't wait, cut the box open in a hurry and proceeded to drop the 15 pound cutting board right smack on my big toe. I actually BROKE 2 toes and hobbled around for a month, shoeless, because of my foolishness...lesson learned, Mom!........If you look closely, you can still see the blood on the corner of that cutting block...APRIL FOOLS!........

You might notice that we have a lot of fresh fruit lying about....that's to encourage us to actually EAT it!.......

One of the best decisions we made was to under-mount our sink..cost a little bit more, and we had to buy a new sink, but I'm so happy we did, as now it's so easy to sweep crumbs off of the countertops. You might also wonder WHY we didn't have a window knocked in the wall over the sink. That was my decision, as I HATE snow (pitiful, living in the Adirondack mountains, I know..), and really didn't want to stare at it for 6 months of the year while doing dishes. That's my rationale, and I'm sticking to it.....

My mindset is: when somebody buys our house someday, THEY can do whatever they like.

Anyways, I chose to hang this pretty framed picture my mom gave me, 500 years ago....LOVE the woodsy light fixture we picked out to hang above it....

Here's the message center of the kitchen: where I keep my grocery list and any other pieces of paper we have floating about, in a somewhat organized fashion. This is also where our animals are fed, so I have to tidy up this area at least 5 trillion times a day....

Somebody would like a little bowl of cream, me thinks....

Last but not least, we turned our old farm table into an island of sorts, so that I have unlimited workspace when I'm tackling my latest cooking extravaganza (like decorating 75 cupcakes for a party). To do this, we ordered these pretty wood and stainless casters online...these raised the table up to counter height, necessitating new barstools for eating (so funny how expenses snowball when you decide to make a few little changes!)...

Ooops--almost forgot one of my favorite things to show you! Found these new country-french chandelier shades for a song at Lowe's, and added lots of twigs and a bird's nest from the forest outside, just to add a little more woodsy-ness to our home....



So, now you've seen where all the "magic" happens in our home (ha ha ha, besides the master bedroom, that is! Get your mind out of the gutter--sheesh!).

I have to say that I LOVE cooking in our new kitchen now.  This is the 4th home Wink and I have owned in our married life...in that time, I've cooked in BIG kitchens, TINY kitchens, but this one here in the Adirondacks, on the medium side, feels just right!

Thank you so much Mike Risley and Roger Parent!

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Leslie

(P.S. if you'd like this home for your very own, it IS for sale, you know...you can check out our website, through Coldwell Banker, HERE. If you decide to make an offer, I will gladly throw in a few cats....)

OPRAH'S BAKED RISOTTO AND A LITTLE SPRING FLING!........

So, you know me.....it's a new season, and where do I head first? Yes, that's right...my favorite shop on the planet, and possibly the whole wide Universe, Old and Everlasting in Cazenovia, NY. Picked up my girlfriend Lori D. on the way (our husbands are both country club general managers, and she came to New Orleans with us for our annual conference--Lori only gained 4 pounds there, to my SEVEN, and that's why we can no longer be friends) and what a pleasant day we had, shopping, having lunch, having coffee....all the things we girls love to do!

 Isn't the bunny in the above photo just the cutest THANG, ever? You can check out Old and Everlasting's blog, HERE (called Everlasting Notes), or any time you like, just by clicking on her blog listing, which is handily located in the right hand column of my blog. Marianne's blog is a wonderful source of decorating and spiritual inspiration to many. (She ships everywhere, you know.......)

Also found this darling little nest for $1.89 at a spectacular furniture store called Johnny Appleseed (found HERE) in nearby Nelson, NY.....the store is actually located in the midst of a huge apple orchard! I mean really, could YOU pass this little nest up?.....

Here it is, nestled into my coffee table's centerpiece.....

The chickens are laying eggs like crazy in my kitchen............If my collection keeps growing, Wink's going to have to build me a coop!...........

I seem to be using terra cotta pots more and more these days....just love the garden-ey feel they bring to a room.............

I made these Springy bird's nest cupcakes, using toasted coconut, for some dear friends the other day.....aren't they sweet?..........

****************

We'll be leaving for Paris, France (not Texas) two weeks from Tuesday, and we're in a frenzy around here, trying to learn a little basic Francaise! We've had a few people tell us that French people are just rude, rude, rude....but our daughter, who has been living in Paris for quite a while now tells us that if tourists just TRY to speak a teensy weensy bit of their language, that the locals truly appreciate it and can be quite accomodating. Which got me thinking (uh oh!)....

Imagine if you worked in, say, a Burger King restaurant in this country. A group of French tourists come into your restaurant and ONLY speak French when trying to place their order. Not even trying at all to use any basic English. You can't understand a thing they're trying to say, and the line grows long behind them. Wouldn't you be a bit put off, being that service person behind the counter? We EXPECT tourists coming to America to try to speak some our language, at least minimally...shouldn't we show the same courtesy when we travel? I, for one, do not wish to continue spreading the horrible stereotype of the typical egotistical American tourist, who dresses poorly, is loud and believes that the whole world should revolve around Americans...

Wink and I are using flash cards, which Little Miss Thing thinks is super cute. Hey, whatever works, no? I'm also using subtle hints around the house to jog our memories....check this new addition out...........



******************

Our little town is officially on Spring Break...school is closed here for 2 weeks and most families go somewhere warm, on vacation.  I am not exaggerating when I say that our town turns into a ghost town, with tumble weeds blowing down the main street. I hate it, I really really do. It's quite an eerie feeling, being the only human being at home in the whole neighborhood! We used to go away also, when our child was in school here, but these days we tend to travel whenever we want, not being  tied into the school's schedule.

We fancy ourselves footloose and fancy-free--WHEEEEEEE!!!

Wink is away in Rochester on business for 3 days this week, so it's just me, the dog and the cats holding down Fort Willard. Even though I'm a little bit lonely, I'm going to try to take advantage of this quiet time to myself by reading all that I want to, watching, guilt free, Real Housewives marathons (Don't hate--I know it's a stupid, brainless addiction!) and taking long walks. Oh yes, and enjoying having the whole big bed to stretch out in. Maybe sleep in a little bit, too. And you know that after a few days of all this me-time,  I'll be missing  my guy, sumpin' FIERCE!

*******************

Here I go again, tearing recipies out of magazines...this one from Oprah........

Unfortunately, I don't think the print in this photo is large enough for you to comfortably read, so I'll retype it for you at the end of this post.....Wink and I love to make traditional Risottos...especially this time of year with fresh spring peas or asparagus. HOWEVER, Risotto can take a LOT of  time, stirring and adding broth, butter, cream until the consistency is just perfect. Which is why I was so curious about this recipe....BAKING Risotto? How on earth would that turn out?

I'm here to tell you that this recipe is absolutely to-die-for....comfort food at it's very best! All you need is a sturdy Dutch oven or ovenproof pot. We served our Risotto as the main entree for dinner, but it would certainly be a fabulous side dish (for some grilled fish, perhaps). 

To begin, cook some chopped bacon over medium heat in a Dutch oven, then set aside (I always place mine on paper towels, to absorb the fat).........

Add the chopped onion to the pan drippings and cook until tender. Add Arborio rice.......

and stir to coat with bacon drippings..........

Stir in wine...add broth, salt and pepper and bring to a boil. Cover and bake for aboutg 25 minutes. Stir in frozen peas (alwaysssss in my freezer) and basil......



Return to oven for another 5 minutes. Remove from oven and stir in butter (a much smaller amount than traditional Risottos!) and Parmesan cheese. Add bacon and season to taste.....

If I ate this as my very last ever meal here on Earth, I would die a very contented woman, smacking my lips all the way to Heaven....I'm just sayin', it's THAT GOOD! Gotta give this one a try...........

Here's the recipe.........

OPRAH'S BAKED RISOTTO WITH BACON AND PEAS

Serves 4 to 6

4 strips bacon, chopped

1 onion, chopped

1 1/2 cups Arborio rice

1/2 cup dry white wine

4 cups chicken broth or water

1 tsp. kosher salt

1/2 tsp. ground black pepper

1 cup frozen peas

1/2 cup chopped basil, plus more for garnish

2 to 3 tblsp. unsalted butter

1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese, plus more for garnish

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Using an oven-safe, straight-sided saucepan or Dutch oven with a lid, cook bacon over medium-high heat. When cooked through, remove bacon and set aside, reserving fat in pan. Add onion and cook, stirring, until soft and translucent, about 3 minutes. Add rice and stir to coat with bacon fat. Stir in wine and cook until it has evaporated, 1 minute more. Stir in broth, salt and pepper and bring to a boil. Cover and bake 20 to 25 minutes; check the risotto. Most of the liquid should be absorbed and the rice just cooked. Stir in peas and basil and return to oven, uncovered, for 5 more minutes. Remove risotto from oven and stir in butter and cheese. Add reserved bacon, season to taste with salt and pepper, and spoon into bowls. Shave additonal Parmesan over the top and garnish with basil.

TODAY I'M SO THANKFUL FOR......

***The courage I mustered up this week, somewhere: I learned how to self-inject medication into my stomach (which will be every week, from now on), AND had another Melanoma removed, all on the very same day. And then, because a girl's gotta eat, went out to a fun dinner after it was all over. That's just how I roll!

***Bunny corn

***The robins on my front lawn, reminding me that Spring is truly here!

CAROL'S SPRING PEA SOUP AND MY MOST FAVORITE COLOR!......



Even though we still have about a foot of snow on the ground here in the Adirondacks, Spring is definetely in the air.....

Why, it's supposed to be almost 55 degrees here, all week long....SWEET!

And if you've been checking out this here blog for any time at all, you know what a freaking FREAK I am about decorating my home for the seasons. It's an obsession...probably the old retailer in me. Valentine's Day over and done? February 15th, wipe the slate clean and bring in the Springtime! Day after Easter? Why not decorate for Summer?

Yes, I know-- I have a few screws loose. But you still love me, right?

You know what makes me craaaazzzyyy? Folks that leave up their Christmas decor until St. Patrick's Day. How can they stand it? I mean really, at this point, why not just leave it all up until next Christmas, hmmm??? Well, everything except the dead and dried BROWN wreaths and kissing balls, that is...

(Believe it or not, I'm trying not to judge....I know that people are super busy and have actual JOBS and all. I just happen to believe that one's home should be one's haven, and how on earth can home be a haven if there's dusty Christmas ornaments and burned out lights everywhere? Oh there I go, thinking too much again.....)

I just love the color green....it truly is my favorite. Used to be barn red, but I've found that green just makes me feel calm, and whenever I decorate with green, my home just feels freshie fresh--know what I'm sayin'?

Here's my centerpiece for our kitchen table...kinda went nuts at Hobby Lobby recently...can you tell how much I love my two-tiered plate rack (I've been using it since last summer!)?......

The candle holder, she's from Hobby Lobby, and so are all the terra cotta pots that I white-washed.....

Remember that song, "God didn't make little green apples"? Well, I beg to differ--Yes, yes he DID....and little lambs, too (watering can also from Hobby Lobby--think I paid about $3 for it).....

The hidden little fleur de lis is from our recent trip to the Big Easy.....twig ball also from the "Hob-Lob"....

Wink and I are trying sooo hard to be a little bit more "green", and one of the ways we're achieving this goal is to use cloth napkins at most meals...just so they're handy, I have them piled into another terra cotta pot....

I love this graphic table runner, also from (guess where?) Hobby Lobby......

I am OBSESSED with bird's nests (when I open my dream shop some day soon, I think I 'll call it "The Nest"--get ready!)....this one is the real deal, saved from a climbing rose vine that grew up the chimney of our Omaha home....

I crack myself up....like a bird (chicken) with eggs this large wouldn't have a bigger nest!...

**********************

My mom Carol sent me this Spring Pea Soup recipe years ago, and it's a real favorite in our home. I can't think of a better first course for your upcoming St. Patrick's Day feast!

To begin, my mom sautes yellow onion in butter, then adds flour and stirs....

Add pepper, salt, curry powder and broth, and bring to a boil....

Add thawed chopped frozen spinach.........

and tiny baby frozen peas to the broth, along with some sugar......

Puree with an immersion blender (I busted my old one just so I could buy this shiny new model!) until ALMOST smooth....



Turn off heat and stir in some half and half.........

And VOILA! You've got yerself some nice Spring Pea Soup...thank you, Mom!...

Here's the recipe....

CAROLS' SPRING PEA SOUP

Serves 4

1/2 cup butter

1 large yellow onion, chopped

2 tblsp. flour

1 tsp. curry powder (or more, if you like!)

1/4 tsp. pepper

5 cups heated chicken broth

3 3/4 cups tiny frozen peas

1/2 cup chopped frozen spinach, thawed

1 1/2 tsp. sugar

1 1/2 cup half and half

1 1/2 tsp. salt

Saute onion in butter until translucent. Add flour; cook for 3 minutes, stirring constantly. Add pepper, salt, curry and broth. Bring to a boil; simmer for 5 minutes. Add peas, spinach and sugar. Simmer for 8-10 minutes. Puree with an immersion blender until almost smooth. Add half and half--do not boil.

TODAY I'M SO GRATEFUL FOR.....

***This Friday..our town's annual and quite famous St. Patrick's Day parade! Our group, once again, is hard at work, trying to win the coveted first place! In case you missed last year's extravaganza, here were a few of us, getting ready...our theme was, "When Irish Eyes are Smiling"........(girls in photo are Sharon on far left, Pam in middle and Yours Truly on the right--I was "Red Eye")

***We just found out, due to internship scheduling problems, that our very own Little Miss Thing will be home for summer, one last year! I am one happy, happy mama!
Here's a cute photo that a friend took of her, during their recent spring break trip to Spain/Portugal...LOVE it!

***My thoughtful husband, who, once realizing that (oops!) we sold Little Miss Thing's car last year, thinking that she wouldn't be home much anymore, has decided to buy his girls a cool new bike to share for our jaunts into town this summer. Hopefully, this will resolve our squabbles over who gets the car!