Lazy Sunday

Today we have had a quiet lazy Sunday in and around the house. I have caught up on laundry, read a little and listened to music. While, Mr. Michie has done a little reading himself, worked on writing a paper and a new blog post. What could be better than a quiet day to just be?

We made tomato salad for lunch on grilled bread:

We played in the garden and made sure everything was happy:

We made ice-cream sundaes and watched the afternoon thunderstorm from our couch:

Happy Sunday!

Is there any S'More?

I love S'Mores. They hold within those cookie walls the best of Sumertime nights. The freedom of being little, running through the grass barefoot, eating grilled hot dogs, chasing lighting bugs and roasting s'mores over the open grill.

For those of you who are not familiar with a s'more, it is a toasted marshmallow that is laid upon a piece of chocolate and they are both sandwiched between two graham cracker cookies.  We didn't always use graham crackers in my house though, my Mom would buy the Keebler chocolate covered cookies and we would mush our roasty toasty marshmallows in between those! HEAVEN!

Unfortunately, our little cottage does not have a space that allows us to grill, but that doesn't stop Mr. Michie and myself. We simply spread our ingredients out on the coffee table and light a candle, which acts as our "grill". So, you too can even make delicious s'mores indoors as well as out!

Here are a few S'more recipes or variations on the theme that I came across as I was blog reading this week, so they must be a hot topic! Click on the name to be taken to the recipe:

Uncle Scott's S'mores:

 

S'mores Cake:

S'mores Ice-Cream Sandwiches:

S'mores Milk Shake:

Big Girl's S'mores Pie:

(all images copyright their respective blogs)

Cinco De Mayo Round-Up

Tomorrow is one of my favourite little holidays to celebrate: Cinco de Mayo. A wonderful excuse to just have a good time! I thought I would share with you a few ideas I have found to create a wonderful fiesta! So grab your biggest sombrero and your best fake moustaches and lets have some fun!

1)No fiesta would be complete without guacamole. This is one of my favourite recipes from The Pioneer Woman and I promise you, after you make this, you will never want to eat store bought guacamole ever ever again!

2)All soirées need a little blush of colour and these tissue paper flowers from 100 Layer Cake are the perfect adornment to any setting, outside or in!

3)It wouldn't be fitting to have a Cinco de Mayo party if you didn't have a piñata. Since you might not have room for a big rainbow coloured tissue paper clad miniature burros at your house, these piñatas from One Charming Party are the perfect size for everyone! Perfect for your guest as take home treat!

(All images belong to their respective blogs; Cinco de Mayo banner created by J. Michie) 

Sweet Paul

I always enjoy perusing Sweet Paul's blog. There are a multitude of beautiful images to look at and the simplistic style of his blog gives it a classic distinction.

I don't just visit his site to gaze at the alluring and interestingly taken photos, I also go there to read his magazine. The best part is, you can read it online, if you so chose, without having to purchase a physical copy.

His latest issue is a children's edition, packed full of the wonderful sweet things I have come to love and expect from him and his team.

This apple green horse alone, makes me want to eat this pie, if only to have the chance to stare at him while I munch away.

While flipping through the current issue I came across these and maybe it was because I was craving something sweet at the time and they were decorated in brightly coloured sprinkles, or maybe it is because I find this photograph simplistically charming, but I thought I would share it with you: Chocolate Sprinkle Ice Cream Bites. Nothing fancy, but mouth-wateringly presented and the essence of the perfect bite!

(All images are copyright Sweet Paul Blog, first image was embellished by J. Michie)

DIY: Gluten Free Rice Milk

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Rice milk is killing my bank account. I love it, I drink it everyday, and when i don't have it it's all i think about. It's my addiction and since it's a healthy one I thought it was about time to start making my own - (like when a meth head realizes they can make their own meth lab! Except that is not healthy and they have to condemn tha' house after.)

* Since I found videos easier then the recipes online, I made a lil' vid showing my first attempt at making rice milk at home!
* This probably cost me around $5-10 dollars, to make 1.5 gallons of my own rice milk... when buying amazake 2-3 small drinks would cost me as much! I have no idea why companies charge huge amounts of $$$ for rice milk since making it actually doesn't cost much and a big part of the recipe is just water.

SUPPLIES YOU NEED ::::
*rice (brown is healthier)
*water
*Sweet Options: sweetener like honey, maple syrup or rice syrup, etc...
*Flavor options: vanilla, almonds, and/or other grains you can tolerate
*Pot, Spoon, Blender, Strainer (cheese cloth or stainless steal)



Do ya'll have any non dairy milk recipes? I would love to hear them! Almond, soy, and gang!

xoxoxox

FAIL! Seasoning My Iron Waffle Skillet

Um. I dont know what went wrong with seasoning this thing, but here is what happened : My mom sent me this awesome cast iron waffle skillet, that you can use on any hot surface! No electricity required - you can cook on top your gas stove, wood stove, probably an open fire. So... it came unseasoned, ya know... without the blackened oiled non stick natural surface it acquires after use. So i pulled out the pamphlet and read that i had to oil it and then put it in the oven to start the seasoning. Ok. Not too hard, I hoped. So i put olive oil all over it and stuck it in my toaster oven. It wasn't long before I turned around to see what the fucked up smell was, that the whole cabin was filling up with a heavy thick white smoke!!! The waffle skillet had some kind of waxy shit on it ( i thought i felt on it but wasn't sure), that had to melt off and so I assumed the smoke was the wax burning... i had no idea it would pollute my house so bad! ...... so i tried something else..... At this point I figured most the mystery wax must have been gone (mostly now in my lungs and cabin ceiling)... so i let the oil sit in the skillet for a few days, thinking maybe it would absorb. But it didn't. Then i stuck it on my wood stove since i had a fire going and it was majorly hot. It still made really bad weird smells - but no smoke so I was cool with the mildly donut shop/mildly metallic/mildly 'what is that melting' stench. BUT then THIS HAPPENED!!!!! Look at these pictures! (above and below!) .... OMgawd, this is not was it is supposed to look like. One side of the skillet turned all orange red and looks not at all seasoned. The other side, WTF is that gelatinous substance? It's got a red black tint, and it's not even flowing while warm - it's like a goo. Like hot stable iron & wax flavored jello... or maybe chapstick? What did i do wrong? This is a total 100% fail! xoxxoxo

Orange You Glad?

Orange you glad that as it gets darker sooner outside, it gets cozier sooner inside? I am! My candles are lit as soon as I get home from work and my cozy lamps make the rooms feel cheerier in this Fall season. We are not long away from twinkle lights and late nights up talking over a cup of hot chocolate for me and a cup of hot tea for Mr. Michie.

When the seasons turn to evening coming quicker and the air gets frosty, I love to have breakfast for  dinner. We do it so many ways; we will have Southern breakfast with biscuits and grits, or maybe French style, a Croque-Monsieur with a fried egg on top and a dressed salad, or a fluffy cheesy omelet with toast or simply a nice stack of pancakes, dripping with syrup.

After receiving my last "Willard" from the lovely Susan Branch, I went to check out her new homepage and in reading, discovered the following recipe, I think it will be going into our "breakfast for dinner" stash of ideas. I can't wait to try it!

(Image copyright Susan Branch click on the image to go to a larger version)

Ice-Cream Sandwiches

Yesterday, it was particularly sunny and hot here in our little London Burb and homemade ice-cream sandwiches were definitely in order!

To begin with, you will need ice-cream (flavour of your choice), cookies (something softer is a bit better than a crunchy cookie, but it is up to you), sprinkles or nuts (if desired, to roll the edges in, we decided to be purist yesterday), a spatula or knife, waxed or parchment paper and the most important ingredient: someone to share them with.

Gather your ingredients around you and let your ice-cream be slightly softened, it will be easier to spread. I normally keep homemade cookie dough in the freezer, but I had run out, so cheated and bought cookies from my local bakery.

Lay your cookies down in front on you, bottoms up and spread ice-cream over one cookie, use as much or as little ice-cream as you want, alternatively you can use an ice cream scoop and place one scoop in the middle and then mash down with the top of your other cookie. Place the other cookie on top and press them together.

Fold them up in wax paper or parchment paper, creating a little parcel of happiness and place them in your freezer, they need to sit in here for at least 30 minutes for the ice-cream to harden. You can leave them in longer. These were made in the morning and not enjoyed until the evening after we had eaten dinner.

When you are ready to eat them, pull them out of the freezer, folding your wax/parchment paper back so that you have a little opening in which to munch away at your ice-cream sandwich, but the bottom is still covered to keep your hands clean.

Make sure you have a nice sunny day (or a cloudy one if you need something to cheer you up), a front porch to sit on or a nice walk to go on and most importantly someone you love to share it with, because that will make it taste that much sweeter!

ENJOY!

Red, White & Blue

The Fourth of July is on the horizon and I have my whole menu planned for the weekend festivities, except for the most important part: dessert! That, for me, is the hardest thing to plan, there are just too many choices.  I could make my Strawberry Shortcake Cake, or good old fashioned ice cream sandwiches made from fresh chocolate chip, oatmeal or sugar cookies and filled with vanilla or strawberry ice-cream.

I spotted these goodies on the Martha Stewart site. I love the cookie spoons, although I would probably break them on purpose so I could munch away on my edible utensil and then get another one.

I also loved these jam stars. However, I would feel wasteful to not use all of my dough when I have smeared it so lovingly with jam, I would probably use my scraps up by cutting out some little circles or mini stars to go alongside the bigger ones.

It would also be tempting to make a mile high Pollyanna Cake, like the ones they baked for the Church bazaar. That is an old Disney favorite of mine. It is one of those movies that you better make sure you have something sweet in the house to eat when you watch it, although, unless you have one of Tillie's (the Harrington's cook in the movie) cakes you will be sadly disappointed with whatever exists behind the doors of your cupboards.

That does it! I think I will make my Nana's marble cake with chocolate frosting! I just might have to make two, one for me and one for everyone else...

*Click on the Martha Stewart Images to be taken to the recipes for those mouth-watering cookies!

(Images: Sugar Cookie Spoons & Jam Stars: copyright Martha Stewart; Pollyanna: images found on Flickr; Pink Flags & Circle Labels: a Pugly Pixel Freebie)

Mile High Banana Cream Pie

In lieu of a traditional Birthday Cake this year, I decided to make a MILE High Banana Cream Pie!

And it was Delicious! I even had a piece this morning for breakfast! Now what could be better than that? It could only have been topped by getting to share a piece with you!

(Images with my new Birthday Camera by J. Michie embellished with the Dot Freebie from The Pugly Pixel)

Berries & Cherries

I'm in love! And what am I in love with other than my adorable red-head you ask? I am in love with Bonne Maman's Berries & Cherries Conserves.  When we went grocery shopping last week, they were out of the usual strawberry and apricot and raspberry jams that I keep in, but there was a jar of this sitting on the shelf; and anything topped with red gingham ought to be good! Right?

Well, it was better than good, it was downright delicious! I can't stop putting it on things; toast, bagels, blueberry muffins, my fingers...This will add a new dimension to my turnovers. I cheat when I am in a real rush and want to make turnovers for dessert.

I use my left over puff pastry and instead of making a fruit mixture to put in them, I put jam in the middle instead. They always come out deliciously tasty with the right amount of jam that has always oozed out a little, making one corner a crunchy sugar encrusted sticky jam bite!

I usually make a quick runny icing mixture and just do a little drizzle on top. I am afraid to make my turnovers with this jam though, I might not be able to stop eating them....

Put the Kettle On...

Put the kettle on, I'm making scones this morning. I am making The Pioneer Woman's delicious scones today. However, I have made a few adaptations, there are some things that I can't get at my local grocery store in Jolly Ole' England, so when in Rome...

The house smells like a cozy tea room and makes me yearn for the little cottage we stayed at in Cornwall with the sun shining so brightly today it would be perfect for a walk down the coastal path and a stop at Daisy's for a doorstop sandwich and then some cake and tea.

Oh, I hear my kettle whistling, I wish you were here, you could join me for a spot of tea and a pecan scone....

Getting Organized

I am trying to get organized in our house this weekend. The Spring Fever Bug has bit me! So today I am cleaning and getting the house ready to go into the weekend, so tomorrow I can tackle the pantry.

The pantry is not only a place for food storage, but living in a little cottage it has taken on the role of having bookshelves packed with books, holding my cleaning supplies and most importantly all my sewing bits and bobs.

It has gotten quite messy at the moment since I have been in the throws of creating bears and bunnies and now when you open the door you just hold your breath. It is like those can of snakes, you pop the lid and they all come shooting out, well, when I open that door, I am waiting for everything to come shooting out at me! (it is not that bad I am being a bit melodramatic, or am I?)

So, I have donned my June Cleaver pearls and I am going to wax my way out the door to go grocery shopping. Tonight we are making bean burritos with queso sauce and making my sister's guacamole, yumm!

(apron image from Stitch Thru Time)

Let the Wild Rumpus Begin!

I feel like Max this morning from "Where the Wild things Are" and I am ready for the wild rumpus of a weekend to start. There are still bears and bunnies to finish, Mother's Day gifts to buy (they celebrate Mother's Day early here) and my sweetie pie wants to see the new "Alice in Wonderland" film.

I loved reading the book as a child, what I loved most was that when I finished the first book, I had to turn it upside down to read the 2nd, "Alice Through the Looking Glass". I am going into this film with my 3D glasses on and an open mind, I am not so sure about, it looks almost too out there, which my cute ginger argues with me is the point, so we shall see.

There is also a menu to be plan. My friends laugh at me, but I plan my menus for two weeks, we don't have a large grocery store in our town, so it is a ride down the rails for groceries with my hessian bags and red granny cart in hand.  I buy a few things to get us through locally as we need them, milk, bread, salad...

I am far from frugal, we eat very well and for the most part very healthy in our house, I don't cook junk; I just don't understand how they can randomly walk into a store and just see what they happen to find. One of my friends goes grocery shopping every morning and spends about £30-40 each time, that is insane!! I plan some meals for one nights, some will be leftovers some will have something entirely new made with their leftovers.

There will be a menu discussion in the house tonight, so far Aioli is on the menu one of my favorite pasta dishes and so simple, with oil and garlic and parsley; a mexican night with homemade bean burritoes, queso sauce and homemade guacamole; it is still very cold here so probably a stew maybe with dumplings and mashed potatoes on the side or just a hearty bowl with some buttermilk biscuits. Since we have had our first taste of spring, I really feel like either some homemade banana pudding or Nigella Lawson's "Old Fashioned Chocolate Cake".  This cake is a favorite in our house, it has been made for many a birthday. Although I do make a few changes, I half the required dark chocolate for the icing and mix it with milk or use all milk chocolate, since I found the dark at times became too bitter. (click on the photo to get the recipe)

But in all this sewing, movie watching, grocery shopping crazy filled weekend we will have, I want to make sure that we carve out a little bit of time to just be. I know sometimes I am guilty of trying to do too much in the space of 48 hours, I just need to remember to sit back and breathe!

What are you doing for your weekend?

(Alice in Wonderland image by: Katogi Mari)