Category — Holiday

… from today, is Halloween!

My Illinois BFF, Jen, called me at 8:34 AM this past Monday morning and was buzzing about a blog that she had just found and completely loved. There was a craft on that blog that SHE AND I HAD to do … right now! (yep, that is her above, I know, she’s super pretty, and yeah, I adore her!)

HERE is the blog … and the project … that we I did that very day.

And here is the story of exactly how that went down:

I jumped in my car, which was serendipitously filled with gas just the day before, and headed out to the closest  99¢ Only Store, which is exactly 3.3 miles from my house, to buy the necessary supplies. There, I found 11 black feather boas, 4 packages of black and gray gauze, 4 black glitter skulls, and 2 silver glitter skulls.  From there I drove across the street to Hobby Lobby and purchased 2 foam wreath forms, using a 40% off coupon for one of those wreaths. Total amount spent – $33.79 plus tax.

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Here is the second pumpkin craft I found on Pinterest. This is the one that took several hours and a steady hand to create. It wasn’t that it was all that difficult, there was just a lot of drying and waiting time involved.  I believe that the original pumpkin I saw on Pinterest was made with a real pumpkin, I used a faux pumpkin because I wanted to have it year after year instead of throwing it away in a few weeks after it rotted out.

Initially I purchased a $24.99 white pumpkin from Hobby Lobby – using a 40% off coupon – paying $14.00 for it. Before I could get to the project, I found an $8.00 white pumpkin at Target and decided to use that one instead.

The creases that run from stem to bottom were much more defined on the $14.00 pumpkin and I may still use it to make another, I think it would turn out a bit prettier and be easier to figure out exactly where to draw the vertical lines. I also wasn’t thrilled with the tan spray paint I picked out. It turned out to be quite metallic, more gold than tan, and also dripped profusely, so I’ll be buying a different paint when I make that second one. We’ll call this one the trial run…Live and learn.

Pumpkin a la Burberry

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There are so many cool fall crafts being posted on Pinterest every minute that it’s getting hard to keep up!  Two distinctively different pumpkin-themed ideas really caught my fancy.  This first one took about 10 minutes to pull together, and oddly enough, out of the two different pumpkin projects I made – Dave liked this one best. The second one, which I’ll put up tomorrow, took quite a bit longer. When I say “quite a bit” – I’m talking several hours longer.  Yeah, ten minutes vs. about four hours… and he likes the 10-minute craft best… Go figure!

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Wouldn’t it be lovely to have a Labor Day picnic?

Photo credits: Country Living 1958 Nash Rambler Tailgate Picnic, Mason Jar Salad Picnic, The Full Spread

If only it wasn’t 105 degrees today in the Arizona desert, that is exactly what I would be doing… picnicking in the great outdoors, or at least in my backyard. But since this is my reality, maybe a picnic indoors would fill the void left by the heat. I wonder when we get to do this again? Maybe I should refresh my understanding of the USA federal holidays with this list of federal holidays in 2020 so I can plan another beautiful picnic soon.

Photo Credit

When it cools down in late October and we get our fall temperatures …

This is exactly what I dream of doing! How relaxing, romantic, and delicious does that look?!? The images come from one of my favorite bloggers, the talented, Heather Bullard, who also happens to have a real job as Contributing Editor at Country Living Magazine and is Editor-In-Chief for Souvenir Lifestyle Magazine. These specific photos come from the summer issue of Souvenir, which I subscribe to online. That way I can look at Heather’s gorgeous images over and over again without searching through my mile-high pile of magazines.

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There is nothing like the vintage images of young children setting off fireworks to wish you and yours a very festive, delicious, and Happy Independence Day! Have fun and stay safe! xoox

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Happy Father’s Day to my dad who is in Idaho visiting three of his eight grandchildren and all five of his great-great children.

And to Dave, father to our two beautiful kids, who is off playing in a golf tournament at the club and will then come home and watch golf on TV while Connor and I make him a well deserved special Father’s Day dinner.

Here is what Marissa, Connor, and I want to say to the two of you…

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For Easter, I rearranged the hanging basket, over the sunken swim-up kitchen… keeping the ivy and replacing the roses with purple iris, daisies, and lilies.

Then, I drew all the new drop-cloth drapes on the patio, to keep the sun and warmth out, turned on the ceiling fans, and we had a beautiful late-afternoon dinner outside.

The place settings consisted of my collection of pink and green Bordallo Pinheiro majolica plates. Here is how I built each setting.

The green salad plate varied from one seat to another.

The bunny plate on the bottom right is my favorite, I particularly love the edging on that one!

For holiday dinners, I usually plate each course, but since Connor’s roommate was joining us, I didn’t want to make any assumptions about what he might or might not eat.  So instead, I set up a buffet.

We dined on Brussels Sprout Salad, Challa, Fruit Skewers, Smashed and Roasted Fingerling Potatoes, Roasted Leg of Lamb with Zinfandel Sauce, a glazed spiral ham from Costco, and Plum and Raspberry Upside-Down Cake.

The fruit skewers are self-explanatory – and just click on the names of any of the other dishes to get to the recipe. Below you will find the recipes for the lamb and the potatoes.

Even though Connor and his roommate, Patrick, are both nearly 21, they still enjoyed searching for, (above) and then playing with (below) the stuff in, their Easter baskets.

Oh, and turns out, I could have saved on the washing of a bunch of bowls and platters and just plated the meal after all. Patrick ate it up!

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Happy Easter to you and yours. I’m throwing out one last recipe, just in case you still have to make something super easy and SUPER-DUPER cute! Usually, I would have already had my table all set to show you my tablescape, but since we are eating outside and it’s been windy and dusty all week… I have not done it ahead. Instead, above you can see the pile of dishes I plan to use and a mock-up of a place setting at the bottom of the post.  I hope you enjoy this beautiful day!

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Bonus Photo – The full moon setting this morning at 6 am – gorgeous!

Citrus, specifically lemon, is my favorite dessert to make for Easter. The thing is, my guys don’t love citrus as much as Marissa and I do. Since Marissa isn’t coming home for Easter this year (picture my eyes welling up at this moment), I’ve decided to cater to my husband and son and make something different.

As I was strolling leisurely through Costco earlier this week (picture the one in a million chance of that!) picking up a leg of lamb, spiral ham, and other Easter dinner necessities, I spotted this carton of 18 luscious plums.

Immediately, I thought “plum and raspberry” – so I picked up a package of raspberries too.  Since I’m not a natural baker, I searched the web and found this lovely cake on marthastewart.com. I hope my guys like it… and as for my sweet Marissa… I miss you! xoxo

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Challah is an egg bread that holds deep religious significance in the Jewish faith.

“According to Jewish tradition, the three Sabbath meals (Friday night, Saturday lunch, and Saturday late afternoon) and two-holiday meals (one at night and lunch the following day) each begin with two complete loaves of bread.  This “double loaf” commemorates the manna that fell from the heavens when the Israelites wandered in the desert for forty years after the Exodus from Egypt. The manna did not fall on the Sabbath or holidays; instead, a double portion would fall the day before the holiday or sabbath.” (excerpt from Wikipedia)

Challah recipes always make enough dough for two loaves. Three important steps to the perfect challah are; three risings instead of the usual two (one of those being a slow-rise in the refrigerator), using two coats of egg wash for a shiny lacquer-like crust, and not over-baking.

Challah is delicious and used the next day for French toast.  Especially loaves with raisins, or in this case, craisins.  I substituted dried cranberries for the raisins, as my family prefers craisins to raisins. We’ll be enjoying the plain loaf with our Easter dinner on Sunday and the craisin loaf for a French toast breakfast on Easter Monday.

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