ROAD TRIP!!!

Well, my very fun visit with my very fun friend Lisa is coming to an end, but not before we hit one of my very favorite places on earth--THIS place.....

That's right, dear friends, Old And Everlasting, in Cazenovia, NY. If you have never been to my friend Marianne's incredibly awesome shop, boy OH boy are you ever missing out! You can check out everything at Old And Everlasting by checking out Marianne's blog and website, HERE!!

And, next weekend is Old And Everlasting's Barn Sale--an event NOT. TO. BE. MISSED.!!!!! Customers travel from far and wide for this event, every year (Lisa and I are a week too early--sigh).

See you soon for a delicious Panzella Salad recipe, just perfect for your summer BBQ's!

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

*My sweet friend Lisa Marie Presley Boom Boom Schultz, who came all the way from sunny California to see her old friend Leslie in (frickin'!) super RAINY New York!

*The Frey family, for taking our daughter for a much needed vacation on Edisto Island, which I do believe is right off of Savannah, Georgia and Charleston, South Carolina. Have a blast, girls! Eat some grits for Mama!

*My amazing husband, Big Daddy, for giving us such a wonderful life. I love you!

STRAWBERRY LEMON TART AND THE PERFECT DAY!

Before I get to this Strawberry Lemon Tart.........

I simply must tell you all why I have the very best husband (almost 24 years!) in the world! First off, he allows me to take our stinky, furry mutt Willie on day long car excursions, even though the man is about the most meticulously neat - freakish person on the planet, especially when it comes to his beloved truck. But the day was sooooo lovely out, and how on earth could we leave this beast at home, all alone? Could you?...........

Big Daddy has, over the years, spoiled me rotten, driving his red-headed wife ALL over these United States of America in search of her latest little fancy. Seriously--how many husbands would drive all the way through the plains of South Dakota and Minnesota, in search of a tiny dugout on a creek his wife once read about as a child? Or out into the swamplands of South Carolina, looking for the perfect plantation tour, complete with gators? Or here's the best one: driving almost halfway across California, just for a bowl of split green soup that his wife just had to have? Yup, that's my man--I am one blessed woman.

We've (well, okay, I've) been dying to go check out Sharon Springs, a teensy tinsy village about 2 hours away, for a long time, thanks to Cindy over at Hidden Pond Farm--if you haven't checked out her blog yet, you're really missing out! You see, Cindy is OBSESSED, I tell youz, over those Fabulous Beekman Boys, who have a television show on the Green Planet Network (that sadly we cannot watch with our cable package). Those two guys from Manhattan are really making a mark on Sharon Springs, buying up a big farm, raising goats and other critters,  AND opening up a fabulous shop in town. The tiny hamlet is feeling revitalized, thanks to them.

Big Daddy further humored me by letting me spend all the time I wanted in Beekman 1805, and even bought me a jar of their goats milk caramel. I mean, who KNEW you could make anything out of goatsmilk except for maybe cheese and soap? Not me! Can't wait to try it out, over some vanilla ice cream, perhaps. Here's some photos from our little day away from the Adirondacks....check out this grand old hotel, from way back during Sharon Springs' glory days as a world class medicinal bath destination:

Sometimes, I guess, there are actual goats in front of the shop, but not today......

Such a beautifully displayed store....me wanted evvvvvverything!.......

I'm gonna hafta come back for this Black Onion Jam--the man working says it's da bomb on roasted pork...................

Aren't these vases just the coolest?...............

A great place to while away the afternoon.....love that gray paint..............

Spring has surely sprung in Sharon Springs.......

The Black Cat Cafe, where we had a wonderful little lunch. I loved my sandwich with, you guessed it, goat cheese!...............

So maybe after all of that goat cheese talk, you're hungry now. I have a real treat for you today---my perfect company dessert, a Strawberry Lemon Tart. You are going to want to print out this recipe (below) for your recipe files--the crust is the only thing you have to assemble--the topping could not be easier!

You can combine all of the crust ingredients in a food processor, lickity split. Do NOT skip the almonds in the dough--the flavor they, and the extract, give the crust is unbelievable:

Pulse until almonds are ground fine, then add cold water, 1 tablespoon at a time, until the mixture forms a soft dough:

Press onto the bottom and up the sides of a greased 9 inch tart pan with removable bottom:

Bake, and let cool. Next, you need these two ingredients--strawberries, and 2 jars of lemon curd, available in the jam section of most supermarkets:

Spread lemon curd evenly over bottom of shell, then arrange the halved and de-stemmed strawberries any way you'd like. See--I TOLD you this was going to be easy! And, you will not believe the ooo's and aaaah's you'll receive from your guests--they'll think you slaved the day away. Gotta love it!............

  Here's the recipe:

STRAWBERRY LEMON TART

Serves 6-8

Crust:

1 cup all purpose flour

1/2 cup almonds

1/4 cup sugar

6 tblsp. cold butter

1/2 tsp. almond extract

1/4 tsp. salt

2 to 3 tblsp. cold water

Filling:

2 jars lemon curd

1 pint fresh strawberries, washed, de-stemmed and halved

For crust, preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place all ingredients, except water, in a food processor and pulse until almonds are finely ground and all ingredients are well blended. Add water, 1 tablespoon at a time, pulsing until mixture forms a soft dough. Press onto the bottom and up sides of a greased and fluted 9 inch tart pan with a removable bottom. Bake at 400 degrees for 15-20 minutes, or until lightly golden brown. Do NOT overbake. Cool completely on a wire rack.

For the filling, first remove tart from sides of pan and slide onto a serving platter (leave bottom of pan on). Spread lemon curd evenly over bottom of shell. Arrange strawberry halves on the lemon curd. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour before serving.

TODAY I'M MOST GRATEFUL FOR:

1. My wonderful rheumatologist, who has seen me through so many ups and downs over the past 3 years.

2. This gorgeous 70 degree weather! Keep it coming!

3. Hobby Lobby--a fun place to go nuts after a long morning with doctors. Gotta love retail therapy!

Persnickety!

Finished up most of my holiday shopping yesterday, and the crowds were horrific! But before I hit the jam-packed big box stores in Utica, I stopped by a nearby town, called Boonville. The name of Boonville just cracks me up, for some reason, but Boonville really has a sweet little old downtown, complete with a classic town square and gazebo. My favorite reason to visit the town is a shop I've been frequenting since we moved here, back in 2004.

Persnickety--a gem of a shop, located in what I believe is an old bank building, right on Main Street in downtown Boonville. Most of their merchandise is country primitive, which I adore, but they also carry a nice selection of Adirondack style giftware. And here's something really fantastic: the owner, Sue, tells me that their Rome, NY location is going to be featured in the March edition of Country Sampler magazine! I look forward to this issue every year, as it is their tour of homes across America. The Rome store is actually set up like a real country home, and is just adorable. Anyways, here's a little tour of Sue's Boonville store, all decked out for the holidays:

Of course, I couldn't leave Persnickety without buying something, now could I? Doing my very best to stimulate the economy, I am. We needed another one of their faux Christmas trees for our living room--this one is the tallest in my collection, standing over 5" tall:

And I also picked up these DARLIIINNNGGG primitive candy cane ornaments, and a grubby little string of lights for the tree. I believe I picked up the gingerbread man ornaments at Persnickety last year:

I know this little tree looks a tad bare still; I have big plans to handmake some cute little felt/burlap/button ornatments in the next few days--stay posted!

I spent my day today (rainy and icy and just YUCKY outside) making the most delicious oatmeal, cranberry, dried apricot and pecan cookies......come and see me in a few days for the recipe!

Two Leslies In The Fingerlakes

So, I think I had more fun yesterday than I've had in a long, long time. One of my favorite local friends, Leslie "Barley" and I hit the road in my little old station wagon, determined to find some cute stocking stuffers (and, to be truthful, some stuff for ourselves, too!) in the New York Fingerlake towns of Skaneateles and Cazenovia. Which are two very, very lovely old villages along Hwy. 20. The weather was quite snowy and cold, so we were dressed appropriately in our sweaters and down, and had the seat warmers turned up high. Leslie B. had never been to Skaneateles before, so I was super eager to share my favorite places with her!

First up, a "new" shop to me, called Hidden Pond Farm. Cindy Petters, the owner, is quite famous in the crafting world--her home was recently featured in my favorite new magazine, "Where Women Create". Cindy has always wanted to open a shop in her almost 200 year old Skaneateles home, and lucky for us, got up the nerve to do so, just for THIS ONE DAY!

Here's how her home looks from the street:

And HERE'S how Cindy's itsy bitsy, cute-as-a-button shop looked, inside!

That DARLING Brazilian boy with the curls, her daughter's boyfriend, had the smile of an ANGEL!

Cindy also let us tour her absolutely, pristinely decorated home--you can tell she loves the Early American Primitive style!

I purchased some of Cindy's homemade mulling spices and another little gift that I can't tell you about now, because a certain someone who might receive it, happens to read my blog.

Cindy was THE most gracious host, serving us brownies and cookies and cider. LOVE YOU, GIRL!

Refueled, we headed to downtown Skaneateles and checked out one of my longtime faves, called Pomodoro, and the little kitchen shop next door, called Rhubarb. Bought a calender for meeeeeee!!!

Doesn't it look amazingly snowy and Christmas-ey out? A veritable winter wonder land, I tell youz.

Next, we drove over to nearby Cazenovia and had a little lunch at a darling cafe whose name escapes me. Bad blogger, bad! Then........off to show Leslie B. my ABSOLUTELY FAVORITE SHOP ON THIS PLANET. I saved the best for last. If you have never been to Old and Everlasting, on Hwy 13 (by Critz farms), just south of the village of Cazenovia, RUN, I order you, RUN there, now!

I savor my visits to this little shop in the country. The owner decorates for each season, and the feelings of absolute joy and peace I feel there cannot be explained. Just one little word of advice: bring your credit cards, debit cards and cash! Because you'll want it all.

Old and Everlasting, at Christmas time (sort of a dark photo, but hey, it was a dark day!~):

So much good stuff, they have to hang it from the rafters!

Sigh--this is my dream shop--the one I WILL open again, some day soon!

Well, after all we saw and savored and purchased, Leslie B. and I had to take our broke selves back home to the Adirondacks. Such a fun day--thank you, Leslie B.!!

Oops--almost forgot! You can now comment on my blog to your heart's content; I changed the settings, so you don't need to be a blogger to do so. Comments are always at the bottom of each post. Oh yea--one more thing--sorry about my sort of blurry photos--my camera sucks (hint, hint, Big Daddy~!), and it was also very cold, so I think there was a little bit of steam or road salt on the lens.