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I love summer food. Food you can eat with one hand while strolling. On friday night we took a walk to our local ice cream parlor and I had a cone of my new favorite, Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookie Dough. We walked through the village and I snapped this photo of our old town hall.
Saturday morning while Jared slept in, I made my weekly visit to the farmer’s market and treated myself to a gaelic sausage roll (Yum! Puff Pastry!) and sat under a tree to listen to this week’s entertainment (a girl with a guitar and a beautiful voice, I wish I had caught her name).
What are your favorite hand-held foods?
I totally forgot to post these photos of my birthday dinner the other week! Jared went out and bought a beautiful piece of salmon (one of my very favorites). I walked to the local foodie store and bought some cedar planks. Added some fresh lemon, a smidge of butter and fresh dill and tarragon from the garden and we had ourselves are pretty beautiful piece of grilled fish. I also picked up sparkling lemonade in a pretty glass bottle to pair with dinner.
After dinner we walked and got chocolate chip oatmeal cookie dough ice cream and took a stroll through the neighborhood. It was a perfect start to the holiday weekend.
Oh snacking. In the afternoon, nothing gets me going again like a little snack to curb my growling stomach. Sometimes I crave something sweet and other times I need something salty. I don’t always make wise snacking choices (hello big bag of Hot Tamale candy!) but I do try. Here are some of my top picks when I’m on the hunt for a snack…
Photo by DMpics.
- A box of fresh raspberries. One of those little cartons from the grocery store is the perfect size for 2 people (or one very addicted person like myself). No plate or fork needed. Just wash and eat right out of the box.
- Roasted Almonds. We get one of those big jars from Target (Archer Farms I believe…) and just keep it near our computers. Crunchy and salty but better for you than chips.
- Honey Wheat Pretzels. Sweet, salty and baked instead of fried.
- A small helping of leftovers. Pasta, rice, a little scoop of casserole, blue box mac and cheese.
- Ice cream. By far the worst thing for you on my list, but maybe the most delicious.
What is your snacking weakness?
After the farmer’s market this Saturday we had a little mid-morning snack with our moms to catch up and taste some of our treats from the market. I wasn’t even trying to make a pretty table, but once we set everything out it was picture perfect.
I tried a recipe from this months Real Simple Magazine for Hibiscus Mint Lemonade. It was pretty delicious. At the market we picked up fresh Zucchini bread. We also tried a chocolate chunk and cinnamon loaf which was amazing. And of course the fresh bouquet Jared’s mom treated us to made a perfect centerpiece in a simple antique mason jar.
It was the perfect way to start the farmer’s market season. I’m looking forward to a summer of beautiful fresh food.
And our own garden, magical things are happening! We have little green tomatoes! It was a total high-five moment. Our little green beans from the seed bank are also climbing like crazy now! It’s all so fun and exciting.
Since we were at a craft show last weekend we missed the opening for the Hudson Farmer’s Market. The market is about a 5 minute walk from our house and takes place every Saturday morning throughout the summer.
This week my mom and step-dad are visiting from Portland and we walked down to the market with Jared’s mom to browse the early summer crop and sample local foods. We ended up taking home fresh green beans, Herbes de Provence chicken burgers, a loaf of Amish-made banana bread and Jared’s mom treated me to the most beautiful bouquet of peonies and lamb’s ear.
It was lovely to see some old friends and teachers from my high school days. I ran into Caty (who I hadn’t seen since I graduated) who was preforming at the market. My old ecology teacher has a garlic stand weekly. And we finally got to meet Meredith and John of Gray Fox Farm.
I think I will be making this a weekly trip. Even if I can’t get Jared up in time to go. We’re so lucky to have a farmer’s market this close during the summer. I would be crazy not to take full advantage of it.
Memorial Day means the start of summer for me, and it sure felt like it here! When we looked at the thermostat it was 94 degrees outside! We celebrated by sleeping in, getting a few things done around the house and throwing together a barbecue for 2. We bought a new grill yesterday and are loving it (we’ve never had the space for our own grill). The early Ohio summer corn is so sweet, the burgers were topped with fresh lettuce from the garden and I tried a new crispy potato roast.
My white peonies are blooming beautifully and made a lovely centerpiece in a vintage canning jar. And we split our first little strawberry! It was a little tart but I’m hoping they sweeten up.
So, happy Memorial Day from our family to yours! And here’s to a beautiful and adventurous summer!
It’s not quite picnic weather here, but I think this all-in-one picnic kit from Gilt Taste would make a perfect first date (did I ever mention for our first date Jared packed a picnic and took me to a park?). Just add sandwiches, fruit, a sweet treat and a bottle of wine and you have the sweetest summer picnic complete with entertainment for awkward moments (color the paint-by-numbers box with the provided crayons).
On a side note, thanks to Penny for bringing Gilt Taste to my attention. I spent a whole afternoon ogling beautiful (and overly expensive) food.
Finished my day with a couple of treasuries to keep the creative juices flowing. I hope you don’t mind me sharing these. I really love putting them together and I hope you find some new lovelies…
- Night Bathing -
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- I’ve got a brand new pair of roller skates -
For more information on any of these item, please click over to the treasury. <3
I love that colors this rich occur in nature. Put them in a clean white bowl and it only makes them that much more vibrant.
Photo courtesy of Erica Lee via Tiny White Daisies.
Yesterday I spent a good chunk of the evening scrubbing our kitchen down to get it ready for our landlord to show. While cleaning I started pairing down the items on our counter to absolute necessities, and it really got me thinking about the things we have become very reliant on in our personal kitchen. Today I’m sharing my 5 essentials for the kitchen.
- A good cast iron dutch oven. In the winter we use our dutch oven at LEAST weekly. It’s great for simmering soups, stews and pot roasts and is easier to clean and more reliable than a crock pot. Plus you can use it on the stove top or in the oven. We have this Mario Batali dutch oven in white (which isn’t available anymore) but I love this gorgeous yellow one too. It’s pricey, but we have used ours now for well over a year and it looks and works beautifully. I have a feeling this will be a piece that lasts a lifetime or longer.
- A Kitchenaid stand mixer. This was a kitchen fantasy of mine my dear husband made come true last christmas. I have this pistachio one and I love it to pieces. This christmas eve, while my cookies were mixing I was fixing my hair. You can’t beat that (no pun intended). I don’t use it everyday (I wish I could bake that often) but when I do it’s irreplaceable.
- Kosher salt. If there is one ingredient I have learned to love it’s kosher salt. Outside of baking I use kosher salt in place of regular table salt for cooking, seasoning and serving. I don’t know the science but this coarse salt just seems to cook and taste better. I have a potato in the oven right now with the skin rubbed in salt baking up for my lunch. We have a box Morton Kosher Salt in our cabinet.
- An oven to table baking dish. We don’t have this particular Giada De Laurentiis dish currently for sale at Target, but we have a similar on in blue that we use all the time. It’s the perfect size for just the two of us and it makes a meal look pretty and presentable straight from the oven.
- My melamine measuring cups. There’s no particular reason that these William Sonoma measuring cups are better than any other set of measuring cups. They measure the correct amount every time and clean up nicely, just like most other measuring cups. But I love them and wouldn’t give them up for the world. I have no rational explanation, they just make me smile.
Hope your week has started well! I’m off to keep cleaning.