It sounds like the start of a joke. “Two kinds of butter, a mayo, and a spread walk into a bar…”

But this is no joke, these are what I served with my biscuits and ham at our Easter brunch. My entire Easter menu was inspired by the Easter menu featured in this year’s Southern Living Magazine.  Although, I made several changes in recipes and menu choices to fit my taste. For instance, their menu featured Creole Mayo, I am a fan of Sriracha Mayo, so that is what I made. More Easter brunch recipes will follow in the coming days, for today, let’s look at these four.

I took a poll at brunch and asked for everyone’s favorites. The radish-chive butter won hands down. The second favorite was the other butter, made with orange marmalade and apricot preserves. The final two were tied for third. All four make for a perfect ham and biscuit sandwich.

Radish and Chive Butter

• 1/2 cup salted butter, softened
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 3 tablespoons finely chopped radishes
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh chives, plus more for garnish

Beat salted butter and salt with an electric mixer on high speed until light and fluffy, 3 to 4 minutes.

Gently stir in finely chopped radishes and chopped fresh chives. Scrape compound butter into a serving bowl, and sprinkle with more chives. Cover and chill until ready to serve.

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I’m still working on the photos for part three of the house tour.  It is so difficult to get the lighting right! In the meantime, I want to share a minor victory with you. A first-world problem sort of victory.

When I moved in, I bought a new washer and dryer. Dave used our old set for a rental he is bought.

I am happy with the new machines, but I had a little annoyance each time I put in a load of wash. Logically, the laundry soap and fabric softener sheets were in the cupboard above the washer. The problem was that the lid of the washer interfered with the doors on the cupboard. I warned you, it’s a small problem!

Last night, I found the solution at Home Goods. People, I know I’m not the only one obsessed with Home Goods, am I right?!?

Anyhow, the area of the store I always hit first, is the clearance aisle. It was there that I found this porcelain cutie for $5. I knew instantly that this would fix all my worldly problems! OK, not all, but this one little pain in the rear, for certain.

I nailed it into a stud in the wall, and filled it with the dryer sheets, laundry pods… and a pair of tongs.

Why the tongs? Well, I’ve recently learned that I have short arms. I went all my life without knowing about this physical deficiency of mine. The washer basin is so deep that I can’t reach the bottom to pull out the clothes. I know, another first-world problem … thankfully with an easy solution, kitchen tongs!

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House Tour Pt. 1 was all about the new courtyard out front and the new exterior paint job. For House Tour Pt. 2, we come inside.

As previously mentioned, I moved into my new home on November 10, 2017. It wasn’t an easy transition. Many people say the moving process can be stressful and they’re not wrong there.

The courtyard started on November 13 and was completed on November 21. To keep things interesting, the interior double-sided fireplace facelift started on November 15.

If you’ve followed this blog for a long, you already know of my dear friend and co-worker, Kim Howard. Kim has four gorgeous grown children, the oldest is Cody.

Cody Howard is a talented craftsman and an amazing human being. Cody is a US Marine Veteran. He is an outdoorsman, he was a pro whitewater kayaker, oh, and he restores old homes too. Cody is a true renaissance man. His company is called Chisel Built.

Photo from Instagram

Cody and his finance, Chante, work together and outfit some of the homes they restore and use for vacation rentals. You can find them on Instagram at Chisel Built and Chisel Built Stays.

Photo from Instagram

As if that isn’t enough wonderfulness, together, they are adventurous and love to travel the world. And, oh yeah, Chante is a fashion model too. Yup, they’re quite the dynamic duo.

Anyhow, for the fireplace, Cody sent me to Summit Brick, I was drawn to the Morocco brick.

My next stop was the fabulous Porter Barn Wood to find some reclaimed barn wood for my two mantels. I knew I loved this place as soon as I pulled up a saw the building!

As I was typing this and looking for the link to take you to their website, I found a short YouTube video that PBW has up of Cody and Chante’s home, using their reclaimed wood all over the house. Enjoy THIS fun bonus.

Photo from Instagram

Here is the fireplace Cody did in their home, all done up for Christmas.

I’ll be making the food for their wedding in NW Arizona in mid-May. So, obviously, I could wax poetic about these two all day, but maybe I should just get back to my interior remodel for now…

This was the fireplace on moving-in day. *Please take note of the stuccoed beam that is on either side at the top of the fireplace, we’ll be getting back to that later.

Nice, but not at all my style. And there are no mantels! I need my mantels! Where else do you hang your Christmas stockings? How can you decorate or warm up a modern fireplace like this? I suppose you could build a fire, but that’s not the “warming up” I’m in need of.

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You have a week to pull off these two pranks. It only took me about 15 minutes to “make” my fruit and vegetable Easter chocolates. I can’t wait to see the reactions!

I went to Target to shop for the foil-covered chocolate eggs. After carefully examining what was available, I decided on the Nestle Crunch Nest Eggs over the traditional Hershey’s Eggs because they were slightly larger. You see, you’ll be swapping out the chocolate eggs for grapes, so a similar size is a necessity. The Nestle Butterfinger Nest Eggs were a perfect size too, but the foil isn’t as pretty or “Eastery”  – yes that’s a word!

April Fool’s Fruit and Vegetable Easter Chocolates

• Nestle Crunch Nest Eggs
• grapes
• Ferrero Rocher Chocolates
• Brussels sprouts
• a bit of patience

Very carefully and slowly loosen the foil on a Crunch Chocolate Egg. On the first one I attempted, I made the mistake of completely opening up the foil. Don’t do that! It is too hard to fold it back together nicely.

Instead, open the foil just enough to remove the chocolate egg.

When choosing your grape, go a little smaller, rather than larger or the exact same size. I used the grape on the left.

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This year we get two holidays for the price of one on April 1st.

I suppose April Fool’s Day isn’t a true holiday, especially when compared to the importance and holiness of Easter, but I’m going to give you cute ways to celebrate both anyhow.

Today is a fun and messy, yet clean, way to color Easter eggs, and tomorrow a couple of fun Easter-themed April Fool’s jokes to play on family and friends.

Shaving Cream-Dyed Easter Eggs

• Hard-cooked eggs
• White vinegar
• White shaving cream
• Food coloring
• Lots of paper towels

Place the eggs in a bowl and pour in enough white vinegar to cover. Let sit for 3 to 4 minutes and then remove eggs from the vinegar and set aside. Soaking the cooked eggs in vinegar before dying gives you more vibrant colors. The vinegar may then be poured back into the bottle and used again, no reason to waste it.

Spray the shaving cream into a cake pan or onto a rimmed baking sheet or baking dish. Use a spoon or spatula to press down the shaking cream to make it smooth and dense.

Add 4 or 5 drops of two different colors of food coloring, of your choice, to a small area of the pan.

Then run the tip of a paring knife or a toothpick through the two colors to “marble” the colors together.

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First things first! I must thank you for your kind, loving, and encouraging words here and on Facebook. It truly gives me the strength and determination to keep moving forward and onward. I’m sending you virtual hugs and kisses! xoxo

I’m going to start the house tour on the outside and share with you what I did the first week I moved in; the front courtyard.

I live very close to busy Tatum Blvd., close enough that I could see the traffic whiz by outside my front door and front two windows. Thankfully, the way the house is situated prevents the noise from being noticeable in the backyard, but the front needed a barrier, so a courtyard was the answer. I checked with the city on the possibility of building the courtyard before putting in an offer on the house. If it would not be doable, I would not have purchased the house.

Moving day was November 10, 2017.

Demo of the front patio began on November 13th. I’m not one to waste time. I have to live up to my life motto, “Get Shit Done!”

As if that was not enough, I was having a propane tank installed in the back so that I could have my all-important gas range AND the demo on the inside double-sided fireplace began on November 15th. Because, honestly, if you don’t have at least four major things being done at the same time, what’s the point?

More on the awe-inspiring fireplace next week.

My dear friends, Tram and Steve, recommended the people I used for the courtyard and who I am using for the current backyard and pool remodel.

The wonderful Garden Plus Landscape and Pools do the most amazing work. They are quick, clean, efficient, trustworthy, competitively priced, and above all, kind. Honestly, I can’t recommend them highly enough!

They had the courtyard (and a new mailbox) done in 8 days! I talking completely done; demo, a wall built, pavers in place, irrigation, planted, painted, gate installed, mailbox post constructed, cleaned up, and done in basically a week.

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I haven’t written a blog post in over four months. I haven’t written consistently for nearly a year. If you’re still here, I thank you and I feel I owe you an explanation, a reason behind my absence, and inconsistency.

The title of this post gives a clue.

“When in doubt, choose change.”  Lily Leung

I’ve undergone major life changes: Divorce. Selling our beloved family home of 18 years. Moving into a rental/storage unit for 6 months. Buying and moving into a new home. Yeah, basically starting over.

“Getting over a painful experience is much like crossing monkey bars. You have to let go at some point in order to move forward.”  C.S. Lewis

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Over the years, I’ve had many people ask me about my favorite products at Trader Joe’s.

A much simpler question would be to ask what products I don’t like.

From the moment you walk in the door, the beautiful variety of fresh flowers, potted plants, and seasonal items awaken your senses. They are there for the taking, at prices that make them irresistible.

It sets the pace for the rest of the shopping experience. For me, that experience is quality items and deals that only Costco can compete with. The difference between the two is the variety – Trader Joe’s wins on that front. Then there’s the quantity. I don’t always want to buy a 5-pound bag of pine nuts, sometimes an 8-ounce package does the trick.

I’ll take you on my tour of “My Favorite Things – Trader Joe’s Edition” the same way I walk through the store when I’m actually shopping. The fresh produce and cheese/deli cases are next to the flowers.

I won’t buy Belgian endive anywhere else and I use it all the time for appetizers.

These are the teeny tiny potatoes I use for my Caesar Dip. Love them!

I can’t begin to tell you how many boxes of their basil I’ve bought over the years. You can buy regular, organic, or even a potted plant of basil.

Speaking of options, when I posted this recipe, the TJ’s in my area weren’t carrying shishito peppers, now they are!  On to the cheese…

I prefer white cheddar. The selection is great  – and I’ve tried them all. By far, the best is Trader Joe’s very own Unexpected Cheddar. You can always find it at the ready at my house.

Fontina, Mozzarella, Iberico, Manchego and Chevre are my other must-haves.

Where else can you find so many choices of smoked salmon?

… and prosciutto?

Pancetta is hard to find… except at Trader Joe’s. This cubed pancetta is always in my refrigerator!

There are more varieties of hummus than you could try in a month!

Across from the produce is the bread. I don’t usually have bread in the house. I only buy it when I need it for a recipe. The three types I usually end up with are the baguettes and Challah.

And during the holidays, I always need buttery brioche.

If it’s a crazy day and I don’t have time to make either lunch or dinner, the Field Fresh Chopped Salad or the Veggie Wrap is my go-to.

We’ll turn the corner and get my “only buy at Trader Joe’s” items found in the dairy case. Butter and heavy cream.

Only one time (during the holidays a few years back) did I run into a situation where the store was out of their “pink lid” heavy cream. I had heart palpitations and ended up driving to the next closest store because I will NOT buy it elsewhere.

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Each time I commit myself to get back in the blogging groove, something comes along and trips me up.

October, my birth month and historically my favorite month of the year, got off to a tragic start. My older brother, Dennis, passed away.

Dennis and I were close when we were young. When I say close, I mean that we’d alternately fight and get along, exactly like you’d expect siblings who are 18 months apart to fight and get along.

It was just the two of us for about 4 years, then Andy came along and a couple of years later, I finally got my baby sister, Sloane.

Dennis drifted in and out of our family and our lives but not before he left the world a beautiful legacy, his four amazing sons; Joel, Ben, David, and Jeremy. I adore my nephews. I was still in high school when Joel was born. He was my baby doll. Those cute little OshKosh B’Gosh boys are now 39, 37, 35, and 33 years old and live in and around Coeur d’Alene, ID.

Dad, Sloane, and I traveled to Idaho this past weekend to deliver Dennis’s ashes and belongings to his sons. Dad is in the photo above with my beloved sister-in-law, Teresa. Ben, David, Jeremy, and Joel (on the floor) are there, along with Dad’s great-grandkids; Joby, Kelton, Elijah, Aleea, and Dominic. Yes, Dennis most definitely left behind a beautiful legacy. Rest in peace, big brother. [Read more →]

This is Shirley with her favorite Trader Joe’s cookies, they are Triple Ginger Cookie Thins and they are what Shirley uses for her Margarita Tart crust.

I bought a box, Shirley sent me her recipe and I made it last weekend. The family loved it, so now I share it with you. Thank you, Shirley! xoxo

One item I love to use when baking pies or using a springform pan is this wonderful rack that catches any drips.

Shirley’s Margarita Tart

Crust

• 2 cups cookie crumbs made from Trader Joe’s Triple Ginger Cookie Thins
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• Pinch of salt
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted

Filling

• Zest of 2 limes
• 4 egg yolks
• Two 14-ounce cans of sweetened condensed milk
• 2/3 cup lime juice (from 4 to 6 limes)
• 1 tablespoon Tequila

Topping

• 1 cup heavy cream
• 4 tablespoons powdered sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• Lime slices and strawberries, garnish

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Crust: In a medium bowl, mix together the cookie crumbs, sugar, salt, and melted butter.

Press into a 9-inch springform pan. Place on a baking rack or baking sheet and bake for 8 minutes. Cool to room temperature.

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