Summer Stripes

Miss Dondola swing chair

Summer is meant for relaxing and wouldn't it be sweet to swing in this chair, sipping iced tea and reading a good book?

sucreshop.etsy.com $8 for 20

Eat your ice cream with a striped spoon.  It may not make it taste better but they sure are cute.

Candy Stripes napkins Karaweaves

Pure cotton napkins/hand towels for al fresco meals.

Rectangular lacquer trays West Elm

Carry it outdoors with a pretty lacquer tray.

Final Farewell to Summer...

...but not until 10:49 am EDTon September 22.

Goodbye to dinner on the deck,

fresh food from the garden,

an outdoor swim.

image

Bring on autumn.  I'm ready to be wowed by the beauty of the season.

Have a delightful weekend

Saving Summer: Herbs

 Happy Monday.  I hope you had a glorious weekend.  

Our weekend was relaxing but lots of things on the summer "to do" list were accomplished. 

Our deck plantings still look great after the hot, dry summer.

I've love being able to snip some herbs while I'm preparing a meal and add their fresh flavor to the food.  I recently read about freezing herbs in oil.  The herbs can be defrosted and then used in soups, stews, and other foods later on.

The method is quite simple.  Use herbs that grow on a woody stem, like thyme, rosemary and sage rather than softer herbs such as parsley, dill, chives.  You can use basil in pesto.  Fill the compartments of ice cube trays with the herbs, chopping the larger pieces if necessary.  Add olive oil to each compartment so that the herbs are submerged in the oil.

Freeze the herbs in the trays and when frozen, pop them out and place in ziplock bags and return to the freezer.  Simple!  I'll be real happy I did this when there is snow on the ground and I have no fresh herbs available other than the grocery store.  If you've got an abundance of herbs, why not give this a try.  

Summer Rain

Ah!!!  Summer Rain

We had much needed rain today.  The kind that really soaks the ground, not just settles the dust.  

image 

I vaguely remembered some songs with summer rain in the title.  I went to the iTunes store and entered "summer rain" for a search.  No less than 20 different songs popped up with Summer Rain as the title.  My favorite Summer Rain song is by Johnny Rivers.  You can click here to listen to the song.

I used an old, ratty, falling apart umbrella today. I think it is time to splurge on a new one, one with some color.  Any one of these would do nicely.

Stylish Umbrellas by spiralstyle featuring a folding umbrella

Enjoy your weekend...rain or shine!

Summer Bounty

Happy Monday!  I hope you had a beautiful weekend.

Our daughter, son-in-law, and their dog, Dempsey, spent a few days with us while on their way to relocating in Philadelphia.  It was too hot to be outside, other than for a swim so we were "forced" to relax inside, watch the Olympics, chat and eat.

They both love to cook and helped prepare meals with bounty from the garden and farmers market.  Our daughter composed beautiful Caprese salad plates.

Her husband whipped a delicious peach salsa to accompany pork tenderloin.  

                                   photo by Romulo Yanes

We made an outstanding salted caramel ice cream from this recipe.  It was a perfect balance of sweet and salty and remarkably rich and smooth.

Cold Brewed Coffee

There is nothing I like better than a hot cup of coffee but in the summer, the "hot" part is not so appealing.  Iced coffee is great but when I take leftover coffe and ice it, it often tastes bitter.  I tried cold brewed coffee which I read was smooth and not bitter.  By "brewing" the coffee in cold water, the beans do not come into contact with heat and the result is a less acidic, sweeter tasting brew.  I concur, the cold brew method produces a rich, sweet coffee.

I cold brewed 12 ounces of ground coffee in 7 cups of filtered water for about 14 hours in a large pitcher.  After the 14 hours of brew time, I poured the mixture through a cheesecloth lined mesh sieve into a glass vessel.

Use a medium roast rather than a bold or dark roast for a smooth flavor.  A medium roast will give a very rich brew.

The cheesecloth and grounds were discarded and the coffee was further filtered through a mesh coffee filter.  I didn't have any paper filters so I used a gold mesh filter.  Do not stir the mixture or it will become cloudy.  Cover the filtered cold brew and chill.  This coffee concentrate can be kept refrigerated for up to two weeks...if you don't drink it all first!  The cold brew is a concentrate and should be diluted 1 part coffee to 1 part water or milk.

An iced latte with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.  A delicious guilty pleasure!

Summer Weekend

Enjoy your summer weekend

See you on Monday

Effortless Summer Dressing

Looking stylish on a hot day can seem like a huge effort.  These Pinterest picks exude seemingly effortless styling.  

                                              Source: firebirdsuite222.pixnet.net via Deborah on Pinterest

                                                                  Source: peoplestylewatch.com via Deborah on Pinterest

                           Source: thesartorialist.blogspot.com via Deborah on Pinterest

                                              Source: s120.photobucket.com via Deborah on Pinterest

                           Source: imgfave.com via Deborah on Pinterest

Grillin' and Chillin'

Cedar paper grilling wraps from Cedar House

Wrap your food in cedar paper for grilling to get a great cedar-smoke flavor.  These sheets are made of real cedar wood.  

Cedar Grilling Papers from Home Depot

Soak the cedar papers in water, wine or fruit juice for 5-10 minutes, then wrap up your food in the paper and tie with the included string.  You can use these wraps on the grill or in a pan on the stove.  The wrap will retain the juices of the food, creating natural steam for moist, flavorful food.

Rabbit Wine-Chilling Crystal Carafe

Keep your wine chilled to the perfect temperature.  Add ice to the metal core in this carafe.  The wine will stay the perfect temperature for 90 minutes even if the ambient temperature is 80 degrees.

Capturing Summer: Apricot Jam

Capturing summer in a jar.

Apricot Jam

Jam recipe from David Lebovitz

Waterproof Your iPhone with a Scuba Suit

                Source: photojojo.com via Deborah on Pinterest

Chances are that you are hanging around water this summer at a pool, beach or boating.  Chances are you may drop your phone in the water.  Chances are you'd like to take underwater photos.  

                           Buy the The iPhone Scuba Suit at the Photojojo Store!

You can waterproof your iPhone and take underwater photo by encasing your iPhone in a Scuba Suit.  Check it out by clicking here.

Genius idea!

Kinimatic: Customize a Bikini

Kinimatic custom bikini 

No doubt you took some fabulous vacation photos with your camera or iphone.  It is great to share photos on Facebook or other social networking sites but how about wearing your photos?  You can with Kinimatic.  The photo above is a preview of a design I made on the Kinimatic custom bikini site.  I took some of my own photos and used them for the design of a bikini.  

Not only can you design your own bikini, you can customize board shorts, shirts and yoga mats.  How cool is that?

DIY: Bread and Butter Pickles

Summer.  Picnics.  Pickles.  They go together.

You can easily make your own bread and butter pickles this weekend.  I was inspired by Emily of Cupcakes and Cashmere.  She said they were easy and delicious and she was correct.  

Start with 1 1/2 lbs of pickling cucumbers.  These are smaller than regular salad cucumbers and you can easily find them at Farmers Markets or grocery stores this time of year.  Slice them fairly thin but not paper thin, you wan them to have some crunch.  You can use a waffle cut if you have the tool.  Place the slices in a bowl and mix them with 1 1/2 tablespoons of Kosher salt.  Chill for 1 1/2 hours and then rinse, the slices, drain well and return them to the bowl.  Add 1 cup thinly sliced sweet onion to cucumber slices.

In a saucepan, combine 1 cup granulated sugar, 1 cup white vinegar, 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar, 1/4 cup light brown sugar(packed) 1 1/2 teaspoon mustard seed, 1/2 teaspoon celery seed, and 1/8 teaspoon ground turmeric. Heat until sugar dissolves and then pour over cucumber and onion slices.    

Let stand at room temperature 1 hour then cover and chill for 24 hours.  Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks. * your pickles may be ready after only 4 hours or so.  Here is the link to the recipe.  

Did I say these pickles are good?  They are not good...they are FANTASTIC!

YOU CAN DO THIS!  This is a great weekend project.  

Have a fantastic weekend filled with summer activities.  I'm having guests on Friday and Saturday and my menus will be filled with Farmers Market finds and grilled goodies.  

See you on Monday!

Nautical Inspiration

Nautical Inspiration by spiralstyle 

    

Nautical Picnic Inspiration

Nautical Picnic by spiralstyle on polyvore.com