Margarita Night

In my hood when the weather is warm we
get together for margarita night. This little tradition
was formed when we neighbors kept gabbing
in the middle of the street for hours on end.
People would get thirsty. Kids needed to be fed,
dinner time would come and go and we would all
still be out in the middle of the street talking away.
Sooo, some one suggested "margarita wednesday."
Trash night, when the most people were out and the
chances of an impromptu gab feast would take place.
Wednesday........ lets just say the nights got a little
late so now we have "margarita friday." We have
come a long way from a folding card table, bowl of
chips and salsa, and a picture of margaritas.

Now we play bocce ball....   and

croquet of course......

AND e.v.e.r.y.o.n.e  brings the best food.

Most of our margarita nights are spur of the moment.
So, I usually bring a mix of store bought stuff but,
I try to make it a little special.......

Store bought chicken nuggets.
(have to have those for the kiddies......)
BUT, the sweet and sour dipping sauce, hint
50/50 mix of bbq sauce and...... apricot jelly.
Heat in a pot till combined and reduced a bit,
that's it. YUM....

NO, bake marshmallow oreo treats...

Process oreos in food processor till they look like this.

Yum... you'll need about 5 cups and

6 cups of melted marshmallows....just like rice cereal treats!!!!
fast. fast. fast. and easy.

But, not everyone likes chocolate. I know sick huh.....

So, out comes the fruity cereal.....

Which to choose.....

I made these thin and used a 1-1/4" cookie cutter. Kinda cute
and tasty too. If I do say so myself.

Messy Studio Tour

I have a studio...... a little slice of heaven right in my back yard.

My hubby built it for me.........;)
ALL the materials were rescued from dumpsters.
The roof is 200 year old slate. Rescued from the
dumpster of a church he was renovating.
The siding came from our neighbors addition, the
doors and window, old french doors from another project.
That's him with our oldest in the photo above.
Putting in a little brick patio with left over bricks from
yet another project....

So, lets move on to the inside....I warn you it. is. messy.

Agghhhh, I know....right...... I do not like messy messes......
I'm hoping giving this little peek into my studio, in this unruly
state will help motivate me into cleaning and sorting so I can
redeem my self in another blog post "the clean studio tour."...... maybe...

Part of my ribbon stash.

Behind that kitchen organizer.....
Look for the clue. Yep, you guessed it
more ribbon.

Love, love, love, vintage buttons. Love seeing them organized
by color in mason jars. The jars help keep them organized
beautifully... and with a play house packed like mine I need
all the help I can get.

Vintage shelving from and old garage, love
the green and gray paint on theses....
Yes, they were rescued too.
They hold a ton of reference books and my
millinery flowers.

My desk, yes a mess too. Full of past, present, and
future projects.

I scored this wooden angel at Room With A Past
she is a little girly for my house. So, she resides in
the studio. That's one of the best things about having
a place all your own to create in. You can make it look
however you want even if...... it. is. a. mess.

POPSICLE O'the Week #4 and #5

Remember my pledge to make a popsicle of the week....
Well........ lets just say..... I didn't pledge to blog them.  ;)
I've been a little busy this summer. Well here goes, prepare to be bombarded.

Popsicle #4 Rocky Road

One box jello instant chocolate pudding mix.
Follow the directions on the box to make the pudding.
Add 1 cup mini marshmallows and 1/2 cup almonds.
I pulsed the almonds in the food processor.
Chopping them with a sharp knife will work well too.
Mix and that's it. I filled 6oz cups about 1/3 full. This gave me
8 good proportions.

I really liked the texture of these.


Popsicle #5 Carrot Juice

Shhhhhhh, don't tell!
Have you seen this juice at Trader Joe's.

My kids think it's orange juice.
It's chalk full of goodness.

Just look at those ingredients......
This juice is good on it's own. D.E.L.I.C.I.O.U.S.

For the popsicles......

I used half the container of juice, about 4 cups.
Added the juice of one lime along with the zest, cutting the
sweetness a little. I also added a teaspoon of freshly grated ginger.
The juice would have made a delicious pop on it's own.
I just wanted them to have a different flavor than what my kids are use to.

I uses  6oz cups and filled them about 2/3 full. This gave me 8 popsicles.
Yummy and refreshing on a hot day.

Paris Flea Market

Oooooh la la,

Paris Flea Market is a once a month vintage goods
warehouse sale. The shop is located in Livermore California
and is owned by a wonderful woman named Susan Goodman.
She has the loveliest bunch of consigners helping her keep
the shop full of unique items.

Let me show ya......

SEE! Told ya........

Look at these great chairs...

All these vintage items to craft with......
Lets look around some more.

Gotta love the cows....

Vintage wedding cake toppers too cool!!!

Vintage cameras cooler still!!!!!

Lovely bunches of lavender.... yum.

Loved this little vignette, red and white gets me
every time. See that quirky coffee table....
mine all mine!  ;) Couldn't resist. I love finding
things that you'll never see again.
Those kind of items make a home so much more.

That little house...... maybe next month.  ;)
Check this vignette out.

Even if you leave empty handed (just try)
you will be sure to leave with your head swirling
with inspiration.

A peek at the items awaiting you under the pergola.

Up stairs is the most delicious selection of treats and vintage clothing.

Look at this.......

Can you stand it........... wanna go???

If you like what you saw you should check out
there sister shop too. Room With A Past love this shop.
I used to be a consigner there, before kids. ;)

POPSICLE O'the Week #3

Watermelon........ Yum. Nothing says SUMMER like watermelon.
Left over watermelon from the 4th, plus the abundance
of my mint inspired this recipe. When I say my mint I mean
my friends...... mine is completely infested with caterpillars. sucks..

Recipe made 10 pops, filling a six inch cup about 2/3 full.

10 cups of watermelon processed in the food processor.
then pushed threw a fine metal strainer with a spatula.

The watermelon was so sweet I didn't want to add a lot of sugar.
Needing something to help extract all that flavorful mint oil I made
a "lite" simple syrup.

1/4 cup of sugar
2 cups of water
1 cup of mint leaves
Bring to boil. As the mint boils bruise and crush the mint leaves with
a wooden spoon.

Look at that color and the smell....... amazing, if you like mint.
The bonus of making these pops was my house smelled
like mint all day.

Once the mint extract cooled I pureed the extract and about
five of the mint leaves together. Then mixed that with the watermelon.

I could have drank this.............
All in all I think this has been my fav out of the three
popsicle recipes, so far........ next up is chocolate..... ;)

Summer, watermelon, popsicles life is good.........

Kerstie

July 4th Goodness

Our Fourth was nice but, a little sad.
My husband and other gents from the neighborhood
usually participate in our city parade.This year they
passed....... so sad........ I loved the fact that
these usually serious guys, guys would dress up and
act deranged for the amusement of strangers.
Hum...... maybe they'll be back next year.
So, instead of waking early to do this.........

(last years parade.... pirates......)

I woke early to surprise my guys with these..... patriotic pancakes.

They loved them... super simple and easy.
Trader Joe's mix with a little food coloring and vanilla.
I always manage to sneak in a little ground flax seed
caus I'm sneaky like that!! ;) Don't tell..... please....
AND... the flax seed sort of counter acts the syrup and
whipped cream, right......RIGHT!!
Any way.......


We headed over to a neighbors for a bbq and
chit-chat with friends. All in all a really nice and relaxing day.
Some of my friends have been asking for recipes of the dishes I made.
Sooo, here goes.......

Israeli couscous with sauteed veggies.
I cook the couscous according to the package directions.
Sauteing the couscous in olive oil and adding chicken stalk
instead of water. Much better flavor......
While the couscous is cooking about 12 minutes
I saute the veggies. Half a red bell pepper, half a yellow
bell pepper, and a half a red onion. Once those are translucent
I add a whole zucchini and yellow squash.
To finish it off I add about a cup of crushed olives and
continue cooking until the veggies are starting to caramelize.

Now for the deliciously bad stuff.

S'mores cookies......... yum, yum, YUM.......
Got the recipe here. When it's time to add the piece of chocolate
I added a star marshmallow. Other than that I stayed true to to recipe.
Yum, YUM, yum......

Next up was a popcorn mix.
Had to have something to snack on for the big show.

Not those but, these............

2 bags of microwave popcorn
3 cups of red, white and blue M&M's
3 cups mini star marshmallow
1 bag of melted white candy melts
some sprinkles, mix let cool and enjoy

My friend referred to this little popcorn mix as crack.......
It's not illegal but, it is addicting.

Hope everyone had a Happy 4th..........

Kerstie

Popsicle O'the Week #2

This weeks popsicle was perfect for hot weather consumption.
A cooling blend of lime, cucumber, and ginger.

Recipe...........

1  12 oz can of lime aid
1  Medium cucumber peeled and pureed
1 Tablespoon of grated fresh ginger

Prepare lime aid according to directions on can. Add the
cucumber and ginger, stir and pour into 6 oz cups filling about 3/4 of the way.
This recipe made 16 popsicles.

I loved how the ingredients slightly separated when these froze
giving them a layered effect. Yummy and pretty.

Kerstie