Better Butter

Last weekend I had a big event at our local church for the women of the congregation. If you've been here over the years, you know that I often lead our Women's Ministries in our local churches. However, I only was in charge of this event this time. I've done a similar one before. We had several demonstrations along with other samples of ideas for the holidays. Some were for entertaining, gift giving and others were decor. I wanted to share this particular one with you today.  

I made three different compound butter recipes. These would be perfect as gifts or when you have company. Each lady got to taste them and took home the recipes. I brought the leftovers home and popped them in the freezer for future use. Cutting them up into smaller pieces means I don't have to waste any. Tonight we grilled smoked pork chops with roasted asparagus and new potatoes. I thawed out the Lemon and Dill butter and it was very delicious with this meal.  Perfect for the asparagus and potatoes. My husband also ate it on a baguette.  

The three flavors are Lemon Dill, Cranberry Walnut Orange and Café de Paris.  I've linked the recipes so you can find them easily and try them out.  I think the Cranberry, Walnut, Orange would be perfect for Thanksgiving dinner.  Doesn't that sound good? There are many similar recipes on Pinterest or just a google search.  Check these out, it is an easy way to enhance your holiday meals. 

Delicious Summer Recipes

I've recently been searching for some new recipes for the summer.  You know, all the wonderful produce that's in season has had me wanting some good salads.  I've posted a couple on Instagram recently, but I thought I'd share the links to them here.  

This first one is Ravioli with Sautéed Asparagus and Walnuts from Green Valley Kitchen.  I could only find cheese ravioli in my store, which I thought was ridiculous, but it was still delicious.  These are my photos, so you can see how they really turn out.  

The second one is 10-Minute Zucchini Noodles with Garlic, Lemon and Parmesan.  I asked for and received a Spiralizer for Christmas and I finally tried it out.  It worked perfectly on zucchini and this recipe was very good too.  You can find it at Instant Pot Eats.  

I loved all of these recipes or I wouldn't be passing them on to you.  I've just hit the jackpot lately.  This one was my favorite combination.  Pasta, tomato, basil what can be wrong with that? This recipe is from Alexandra Cooks and was a favorite with my husband too.  

And lastly, I decided to make my own hummus. In Japan, we couldn't buy hummus or decent crackers.  I craved hummus and Triscuits. I had friends that would make their own. I even brought cans of chick peas to Japan for them and myself.  I never did it. Yesterday I did and I added "Everything but the Bagel" sesame seasoning to the top with some olive oil. It was amazing with some Triscuits.  I made this Classic Hummus recipe from Gimme Some Oven.  

Do you have some new summery recipes you'd like to share with me? I'm on the hunt! 

Happy eating. 

Karen

Fountains, Friends, Swings and Salads

I wish I could take good pictures of our back yard landscaping.  It's all finished, but there is still scaffolding around the house.  It makes for really ugly pictures.  I can give you some sneak peeks, however.  Here is a picture of our new fountain in the back.  It's made from a culvert.  I saw a larger one in a neighboring town and LOVED it.  I took a photo and showed it to our landscaper.  He made it happen.  The birds have discovered it already. The Palo Verde trees are beautiful already, but they will get big and lush with yellow blossoms. I love how the blossoms float on the water in the fountain. Their trunks are green which will set off the Red Bud trees when they bloom and the purple cactus. There are also grasses which will blow gracefully on our breezy days. 

            

I also wanted a simple swing from the patio.  It's perfect for sitting on and watching the view.  Our friends joined us for Easter dinner and tried it out.  It's perfect for two.

Our Easter dinner was very simple.  

Ham

Baked Sweet Potatoes

Sesame, Almond and Asparagus Salad

Jello Salad

Rolls

Carrot Cake

This salad was fast, easy and delicious.  You can find the recipe at Love and Lemons.  Did you make a new recipe for Easter?  Please share if you did! 

"It Never Rains in California"

Well, not much anyway. But when it does rain, it POURS! I'm sure you've heard recently all the news reports of the bad drought we are having out here in California. It's all over the news and it is a very real problem. That is one main reason we've put in our drought tolerant landscape in the last couple of years.  Last week, however, we had a little reprieve and had several huge storms comes through.

It was beautiful and scary all at the same time. The winds were craziness! Many trees fell in the area. Of course, several in our neighborhood fell because they were already dead and LAZY people didn't cut them down. Now those same people have dead trees laying across broken fences. I am probably not one to talk, but it is definitely smart to stay on top of your maintenance.  It will save more problems down the road.  I know, I know, you've heard that before.   

That faux stream bed wasn't so faux at one point.  

Sorry the gale force winds prevented taking a picture at the appropriate moment.  

Can you see my new/old sink just a sinking away out there? The dirt was soft where they had put the drain in that I had to go out there and lay that heavy thing down on its side.

 I know this is a bad picture, but there was major flooding going on.

We  had to pull out those bushes because they were floating in those holes. They were just sitting in their nursery pots, but we didn't want them to drown before they were even planted.  So much excitement around here last Friday.

Don't you just feel the need for grilled cheese and tomato soup on days like this?  Maybe homemade Chicken Noodle Soup fills that comfort food craving.  In 2009 I posted a recipe for a good one here.  Well, I wanted a little bitty warm dessert on Saturday.  Not something that would hang around here for days.  Chocolate is always (especially lately) my go to for dessert.  I remembered seeing Cake in a Cup recipes on Pinterest.  Sounded perfect.  Most of the recipes call for cake mixes, etc.  This one from Nana Clare's Kitchen is purely from scratch and it was REALLY GOOD.  Really, really good.  Nana Clare has other Cake in A Cup recipes she's perfected. Here are some not-so-great pictures I took of our Cake in a Cup dessert. It's not really like a cake, maybe more like a lava cake which is nice and gooey.

Strawberry ice cream made it even better. Have you tried a Cake In A Cup recipe? Let me know of any other good ones you've tried.

Favorite Hors d'Oeuvres

I came immediately home from a trip (again) to see my family into July 4th. I was also preparing for a wedding shower I threw today for approximately 40 people. So, there's been no blogging time in the last two weeks. Now, however, I have a lot of great recipes to share with you. You know how you shouldn't try new recipes on company. Does anybody really follow that rule? I always forget that. I tried a couple new things and some old favorites. Now I'm loving all of these recipes. See, I checked them out for you and now you can make them with no worries. I'm helpful, like that.  

 {Herbed and Spiced Goat Cheese Balls}

{Tomato-Basil Skewers}

On the left, Melon Balls and Proscuitto doesn't need a recipe. The combination is so delicious! My second new recipe is Crostini with Peaches, Blue Cheese and Honey. I didn't take a good picture.  Maybe it was because I was busy eating them. Seriously good.  I found some of these recipes on Pinterest.  Maybe you should just follow my Recipes board on Pinterest.  That's it!

This is a Raspberry Angel Food cake using a box mix.  I definitely need to perfect the addition of raspberries to a mix. However, an amazing buttercream frosting covers up a lot of problems. 

The engaged couple are serious hikers and fly fishermen.  These fun little cupcakes were a perfect touch.  Thank you Pinterest again for the frosting idea.

 I made a Trail Mix Bar which was a big hit.

I borrowed my friend's beautiful crocheted tablecloth, used a few woodland type decorations and Farmer's Market flowers.  The golden Butterfly Bush were a stunning accent against all the purples. Now I'm getting off my feet and saving these recipes for the next party!

Joining the party at: Between Naps on the Porch

Cheese, Fruit and Baubles

I hosted a fun jewelry party last night.  I was so busy getting prepared, that I didn't take one photo.  I'll tell you about it anyway and borrow a photo from here or there.  I decided to make a cheese and fruit platter and a little dessert platter.  I made some delicious flavored water from a recipe that Mary from Home is Where The Boat Is posted recently. If you've never been to her blog, check it out.  She does an amazing job with table decorations and recipes.  

{source}

I used Ina Garten's advice on building a cheese platter. (Here's a fun video of how she makes an Antipasto platter). Although I didn't use the same cheese, I did get recommendations from my local cheese shop. I added green grapes, strawberries, salami, Proscuitto, crackers and baguette slices. I even bought lemon leaves to set the cheese on.  You CAN buy them from your florist.  Mine were $1 a stem. which had several leaves on it. I also added bunches of sage and thyme. The two cheeses I bought were Idiazabal a smoked sheep cheese from Spain that was a favorite. The softer cheese was Fromage D'Affinois, made in France from double cream cow's milk. Delicious!

I bought some chocolate chip cookies and made Tastefully Simple's Almond Pound Cake mix.  I embellished it with a drizzle frosting and sliced almonds on the top.  It was also a hit.  I have a similar recipe, but who wants to cook when there's an amazing mix available?  It was inhaled.  

The jewelry we played with is from Stella & Dot.  Have you been to a party yet?  They have really beautiful jewelry to fit every taste and budget.  It's a really low key, relaxed and fun atmosphere.  All in all, it was a lovely evening.  

Wish you could've been there!

Veggie Love

So you probably thought this was going to be about amazing, healthy vegetables. Well, technically, it is, even though I know I'm not suppose to be eating potatoes. I know already! But, I just couldn't help tasting this new recipe I made today. I baked some sweet potatoes for myself which would've made for a prettier photo, but these Salt Baked Potatoes smelled out of this world. I had a 1 inch slice out of my husband's potatoes. ONE INCH, I tell you. It was totally worth it. You have to be willing to eat the skins in order to not miss the amazing goodness, though. I pinned the recipe and found it on Our Best Bites. I have never cooked anything on a bed of salt. I also didn't have rosemary so improvised with some thyme from my garden. It was still delicious.

The next fantastic veggie on my plate are Green Beans with Crisp Shallots from my Mark Bittman cookbook, How to Cook Everything, the Basics.  I found it online at Serious Eats. Give it a try and don't forget the almonds.  They add the perfect crunch.  This makes your green beans stellar.  I've made it twice since Easter and they've been perfect every time.  F A B U L O U S.  

You can see that I had half of a grilled boneless pork chop.  The only trick to this was I used my new digital thermometer to make sure the thick chops were done all the way through.  I was tired of singeing my hand while trying to hold the old fashioned thermometer long enough for it to get to the temperature.  I found mine at Williams Sonoma.  Hope you try one of these recipes.  You won't be disappointed!

Progressive Brunch and Favorite Things

On Tuesday my friends and I had a Progressive Brunch.  Nancy had the idea so we could see everyone's house decorated for Christmas.  Plus, we just like to have girlfriend days. We started with stuffed mushrooms and turkey salad finger sandwiches at her house. She decorates with a Woodland theme. 

 This cute owl from Pottery Barn watches over the comings and goings.

 Nancy decorated this birdcage with cardinals, a little house and frosty greens for Christmas.

 Her mother made this felt banner years ago.  It has a lot of detail and I love it's vintage vibe.

I forgot my good camera, so my iPhone had to do.  Sorry for the fuzzy photos.

Nancy's really good with her garden.  Here her Christmas Cactus is going to town! 

It's just beautiful!

Then on to Kathy's house for Spinach Salad with craisins, pear, sugared walnuts and blue cheese. Nancy loved to pet Grace, Kathy's Persian kitty. I swear Grace's eyes match Nancy's sweater.

 Kathy's beautiful tree is covered in Nativity ornaments.

 Kathy set the table with each of us receiving a monogramed stocking as place cards.

 She has an extensive collection of vintage and new santa mugs.  She has been collecting them for 30 years. This is just a part of one shelf.

We skipped Renee's house since we're all attending a Christmas party there on Saturday. Next was my house for Chocolate Covered Cherry cookies and hot tea for dessert and gift exchange.  We gave each person our favorite thing. We kept it to a $10 price limit. It was an idea I saw on The Nesting Place.  We really enjoyed the idea. I received dark chocolate mint Lindor Chocolate Truffles (dark chocolate is healthy), some soft Aloe infused bootie socks and some Totally Awesome spot remover.  I gave some wonderful lemon and lavender lip balm from Temecula Lavender Company.  I've already got three more ideas for future favorite things gifts.  We loved our new tradition. What fun girlfriend tradition do you enjoy?

Joining Melissa's Linky Party at The Inspired Room.

Tasty Pecan Recipes

Thanksgiving Thursday was a lovely day.

I know you're not suppose to try new recipes for company. So, WHATEVER, I decided to anyway. We go to my cousin's house for Thanksgiving and I just take a couple different things. Country Living Magazine had some wonderful looking recipes in their November issue. I have never made a pecan pie before, but their Chocolate Chunk Pecan Pie was so enticing. It did not disappoint! FABULOUS!  

I also made their Roasted Sweet Potato Casserole with Pecan Streusel.  What's with all the pecans?  I have no idea.  I almost took a green salad with sugared pecans, but ran out of time and thought better of it.  Back to my point, the sweet potatoes were also AWESOME!

{via Country Living}

Sorry, no good pictures of the feast.  I was busy eating.

 But the young-uns burned off a few calories afterwards.

While us old-uns sat and watched.  I had very high heels on, so there, that's my excuse. I hope your day was lovely too. There's so much to be thankful for, isn't there?

NUTS!

This morning I made a quick breakfast of Greek yogurt, blueberries and sliced almonds. I turned on some music and enjoyed it out on the patio. It reminded me that I've never made the Nut Topping that I had bought ingredients for. Some of you may know that I've been on the South Beach diet for over two months now. I've lost over 16 pounds and it has pretty much become "the way things are".  

 This topping is made without oats, since South Beach pretty much removes most grains, except for whole grains and then only sparingly. It's great for on top of yogurt or fruit.

This is less than half of the recipe.  The rest of it is in the freezer. Here's a link to the recipe,
South Beach Nut Topping.

Here are two recipes for more traditional granolas. 

Source: tasteofhome.com via Amy on Pinterest

Source: simpleorganizedliving.com via Kelly on Pinterest

Try making your own, you'll love it!