FAVORITE THINGS, AND IT'S OFFICIAL.....I'M ON A BREAK!

Thought I'd share with you a few of my favorite things lately........

First up, and I know this sounds really strange, but this line of home fragrances just rocks my WORLD....in fact, the whole family loves it.........and have you ever heard of a husband loving a room spray?..........



I found the Orleans Home Fragrances (I swear to you I am not a paid spokesperson) when we were down in New Orleans this spring, and I am totally addicted! Their room sprays and soy votive candle fragrances are highly concentrated and last and last and last....pretty important when your house is for sale and you've got these creatures around............

Southern Magnolia is our very favorite...that scent just transports us to a warm, romantic and flower-filled spring day in the deep South.

If you'd like to try out this company's products, you can find them, HERE.

I tell you what....you won't be sorry!

More favorite things? Well, since you've asked so kindly......there's always my daily walks and weeding sessions in our little perennial garden........

Sunrise Coreopsis is just so darned CHEERFUL, no?......

Love the lime green of this new Sedum I just planted....

This Yarrow comes back year after year....the flowers are just starting to hint at the mustard yellow hue they soon shall become....

Lupine, which does so very well here......

Our Barberry plant is just HUGE all of the sudden...seems like just yesterday that I picked this up at the nursery, in a one gallon size pot! Again, love how the lime green just POPS against our barn red home..........

And last, one of six woodsy little planter baskets, soon to be brimming over with delicate white Petunias and Potato Vine....

I have a few gardening tips that I have relied upon for years and years now....

1. I try to focus on the actual leaves of the perennials I choose, over the flowers. Because the foliage is what you're probably going to be looking at for the longest periods over the growing season, so you'd better pick out colors and shapes that you enjoy!

2. This product is a LIFESAVER (or should I say, plant saver, or better yet...$$ saver!), especially if you live in a wooded area like we do, and have deer and/or rabbits. If sprayed religiously, this really, really works (don't mind the smell..it fades after a few hours).........

(Again, I am not a paid spokesperson....just thought you'd like to know about a few products that are really terrific!)

You can find Liquid Fence these days at most hardware/garden stores.

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So I've decided to take a little summer break.....think I've sort of lost some of my blogging MOJO, for the time being, anyways.

Time to really focus on my health, my family and having as much fun as possible this summer!

Also working on lots of sewing projects, in anticipation of opening up my new Etsy store. Don't worry, I'll be sure to announce it here and on Facebook!

For now, enjoy your glorious summer!

lots of love,

Leslie

XXX000

SWEET PAUL'S CAPRESE TARTS AND A COUPLA MY FAVORITE THINGS.....

Yesterday was such a good day for me....first of all, I received these sweet Peonies from my sweet friend, Sarah F....they just make me smile!.........

And if that wasn't enough, my sweet friend Sarah shared her sweet daughter Allison with us last night for supper!

Allison, soon to be a school teacher to some very lucky children,  is such a brave, brave girl...she eats all of my experiments! Here's the young woman herself, fresh off of the boat from Amsterdam/Belgium/Paris, just chock full of travel tales....ah, the lives our daughters lead!.........

My ever-willing recipe guinea pigs:

Are you wondering what concoction I "tortured" them with last night?

Well, it was called Sweet Paul's Caprese Tarts (Sweet Paul is another one of those amazing food blogs).......which involved puff pastry, fresh mozzarella, halved grape tomatoes and fresh basil...........let's just say that the four of us around the dinner table INHALED these beauties........

Very summery, very cheesy and very buttery...MMMMM!!!

You can find the recipe, HERE.

My only changes to the original recipe?

Well, next time I think I would bake the puff pastry for 10 minutes or so by itself, THEN add the cheese and other toppings.

Also, I added some freshly grated Parmesan cheese for extra flavor.

You might also score around the edges of your puff pastry with a knife, which will give your end product a nice little "crust"......

Other than that, the recipe was PERFECTO--hope you enjoy it as much as we did!

Have a fabulous weekend....

Leslie

XXX000

BI-RITE CREAMERY'S SMOOTH AND MELLOW CHOCOLATE ICE CREAM, AND HOW WE SPENT OUR SUNDAY.....

A few snippets from a very peaceful Sunday afternoon (quite rainy and cool here in the Northeast)............

I just love the way a cloudy day makes the lime green color of my potato vines just POP!.......

Impatiens love it when it's cool...........

So do our ferns..........

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Rainy days make me want to light a candle and bake and be creative and cozy inside our home....I know that my daughter feels the same way........

I don't know if she was channeling the Waltons or Laura Ingalls Wilder yesterday, but she stayed busy, doing a lot of this:...........

And making a little bit o' this: (homemade blueberry jam---maybe one of these days she'll give her ol' Ma her secret recipe!)........

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I've been spending a lot of time up in my sewing loft lately.....I have acquired QUITE a stash of fabric, and just love seeing where going nuts on my Singer will take me.....just finished these pillows for the little sitting area up there.....

This is where ALL the magic happens.....

I just finished stitching up (some by hand, some by machine) some sweet little black and red decorative pillows....kinda into the whole penny rug design lately....

I'm thinking about starting my own Etsy shop, online. Have you ever heard of Etsy? It's an AMAZING resource for handcrafted gifts and just about everything else in the universe that's made by hand....you can check it out, HERE.......so what do you think? Should I go into business? Or just keep sewing for kicks and giggles?......

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So recently my awesome Berkeley-living Uncle Joe sent me a link to a blog that has NOTHING but ice cream recipes....oh, he knows me so well!

If you desire to acquire diabetes just by LOOKING at a website, you should go HERE.

One of the recipes featured was by Bi-Rite Creamery, out of San Francisco. They are famous, FAMOUS I tell you, for their amazing ice cream.

 Abbie and I just HAD to whip up a batch for a Sunday evening dessert.....This recipe was a little more involved than my standard ice cream creations, but oh my goodness was it ever worth the extra effort (and really, it wasn't THAT much extra effort...just a little bit of egg tempering and straining was all)....hard to believe that THIS:

Would in a few hours turn into THIS:

But it did! Creamy, rich and homemade chocolate ice cream. If you'd like to whip up a batch for your family this summer, you can check out the recipe, HERE.

Thank you, Uncle Joe!!!

TODAY I'M SO THANKFUL THAT:

***Abbie's best friend Allison is coming home from Amsterdam/Paris tomorrow! Can't wait to hear all about your travels darling girl, and have you over for some BBQ!!

***I'm taking off for a two day wine tasting trip with Wink tomorrow morning, bright and early. We're hitting the Southern Tier of New York state and meeting up with our Club Managers of Central New York Association friends for some much needed wining and dining...can't wait to see the whole gang...

***Grad parties are starting up next weekend--I think we are going to at least 4! So much fun....

SUPER EASY MONDAY NIGHT SUPPER: WHOLE FOODS' GRILLED VEGGIE AND GOAT CHEESE PITAS...

So, Monday nights are not a good night for me. Because Monday afternoons I have to give myself my Methotrexate injection. Which I am sooooo grateful for, as the injections really seem to be helping me on a daily basis, but ANYWAYS, by early Monday evenings I can really feel like S*#T-on-a-stick. Kinda like I've swallowed a bottle of chemicals, which is essentially what I'm doing, but instead of swallowing I'm sticking a needle in my stomach.....

But I digress--sorry for the visual.....

Sometimes on Mondays Wink picks up dinner on his way home from the office, and sometimes he does the dishes.

And sometimes I feel okay enough to get my butt off of the sofa and cook up a little sumpin' sumpin' simple.

I love pinning and sharing recipes that I've been finding HERE lately (you won't believe how many delicious things I've pinned to try!):

(Have you discovered the wonderful world of Pinterest yet? It really is more fun than a barrel of monkeys...so creative, so inspirational!)

Recently I pinned a recipe from Whole Foods Market, a.k.a. Foodie Nirvana.

I made their Grilled Veggie and Goat Cheese Pitas for Wink and myself a few weeks back, and Wink said that he could seriously eat these for dinner 3 times a week; they're THAT good.

I only deviated from their recipe a LITTLE bit this time (have you noticed that I do that a lot with recipes?)....I roasted the vegetables in my oven, instead of grilling them. Either way should be just fabulous...I just really, really like roasted vegetables!

Get yourself 4 ounces of good goat cheese...I bought the herbed kind.........

Slice up a bunch of vegetables....this recipe calls for portobello mushrooms, zucchini (I added yellow squash), red onion and red bell pepper....drizzle with olive oil, balsamic, salt and pepper...........

I roast my vegetables in a 400 degree oven for about 30 minutes, or until really tender....I usually flip them once during cooking.

"Shmear" softened goat cheese all over one side of a pita, add vegies, bake some french fries on the side maybe, and you've got dinner!..........

Oh, so delicious!

You can find Whole Foods' recipe, HERE

See you soon!

Leslie

XXX000

WHAT'S FOR SUPPER: HOW ABOUT MAPLE GRILLED SALMON, ROASTED GREEN BEANS AND COUS COUS?.........

Welcome back! How have you been?

Me? Well thanks for asking....we've been craaazy busy around here, and tonite I am Tired, Tired, Tired, with a capital "T"......

I'm so exhausted that nothing sounds better to me than curling up on the sofa with a cat or two and watching a sappy Lifetime or Hallmark movie. And I'll fall asleep in the middle of it and miss the ending, fer sure.....

But it's a good tired, because in the midst of all of our busy-ness with our (Little Miss Thing's and my) back breaking planting/gardening job and our Open House/Memorial Day weekend extravaganza (it's over--yay! And it was a huge success, me thinks..yaaaaay!), we've managed to have ourselves a little bit o' fun, too.

Because it's summertime, and the living should be sweet and easy.....with lots of sundress wearing / bike riding.......Abbie says pale is the new tan (OMG I love this child!).........

And lawn mowing (Wink's idea of a GREAT sweaty time, I am not kidding)...

And Weber-ing and dining on the back deck, whenever the weather permits....

Gotta love these darling unscented votives I picked up at the Hob Lob....a pack of 6 runs about $3.....

Big fun for me in the summertime equals working in my yard and eagerly watching all on my precious perennials that faithfully come back to life, year after year. Which is truly a miracle, what with our below zero temperatures AND the deer we get around these parts.....

This Boston ivy never fails to bloom mid-May...I don't think anything could kill it (I like to joke that I could pour gasoline on the roots and set the vine on fire and it would still come back, like a champ)....

Black-eyed Susans, Coneflowers, and the Shasta Daisies are all doing just swell...

Lamb's Ear....truly one of my favorites.....

Clematis, A.K.A. "deer crack"........

Check out these wild ferns that I transplanted to the bed under our Red Leaf Maple a few years back...they will be huge by July.......

Best thing about these ferns (well, besides their beauty)? They're FREE!.......

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Not to change the subject or anything, but.......

Need a quick and easy and nutritious dinner idea? How does this look to you?.......

Maple Grilled Salmon.....it is our absolute FAVORITE way to cook salmon these days! The cous cous is just the Far East boxed kind...gotta love how cous cous comes together in about 5 minutes flat. And the green beans? We like to roast them...

To roast your fresh green beans, just trim them, rinse them and lay them flat on a baking sheet. Toss (use your hands) with olive oil, salt, pepper and a little bit of balsamic vinegar. Roast for about 20 minutes in a 425 degree oven, flipping beans over about half-way through the cooking time. Absolutely delicious!

The salmon...super easy, and your kids will love it, because it tastes like candy!

Here's the recipe...enjoy!

MAPLE GRILLED SALMON

Serves 3-4

1 cup REAL maple syrup

3 tblsp. orange juice

2 tblsp. butter

1 tsp. soy sauce

kosher salt

1 lb. skinless salmon fillets

In a small saucepan, bring syrup to a boil over medium heat. Boil until reduced to 2/3 cup, about 5-6 minutes. Stir in orange juice, butter and soy; remove from heat. Pour into a shallow casserole. Let cool for 20 minutes. Place salmon in cooled sauce and let sit for 1/2 hour, tossing in sauce once or twice. Place salmon on stove-top grill pan ; sprinkle with kosher salt and cook for aproximately 4 minutes per side over medium-high heat. Brush salmon with sauce while cooking. Serve immediately.

TODAY I'M SO GRATEFUL THAT......

***Our daughter has been such a huge help to me since she's been home, and never complains about any of the mundane tasks I ask her to do!

***My husband just brought me a nice glass of wine, without my asking!

***All of the feedback on our home today (QUITE a few people came through our little Open House!) was super positive.....

***That my readers are so very forgiving and loyal...I know you will all forgive me for any and all type-o's and grammatical errors in this post, due to my brain-dead state tonite!