north AL

We have made the short pilgrimage to North AL once again! The purpose of this visit is to celebrate Father's Day with Daniel's dad. (and to eat all the awesome food we are always served up here!! shhh!! don't tell!) For lunch, we consumed massive T-bones hot off the grill and fresh blackberry pie from the berries he grows behind the barn. It's so pleasant up here in the foothills of the Smokies....the sun is setting, the air is thin, and relaxation is seeping into our bones....but wi-fi is sketchy, so my posts may be few and far between for the next few days! Cherrio!

birthdays and blackberries

Please excuse the cunctation of this post! I was drooping so badly last night that I just didn't have it in me to wriggle down on the floor and belly up to my laptop to blog! (the only position so far that my laptop wants to take a charge in is half-on half-off the rug with the cord curled up and around a chair leg!!) But I do have fun things to write about so here goes! On Wednesday, several of us girls celebrated Monica's birthday at the Coffee House. Had a delightful time savoring coffees, smoothies, friendships, belly laughs, and pie! I sure hope this coffee shop will last! It's a charming lil place... Moni surprised me with an early bday present of $$ and a vibrant, yellow Paris wall print which I ADORE! Can't decide where to put it; I want it in every room!! The $$ will be stashed away to be used for a few art classes...Thanks again, dear friend!

Neil, my mom, and I had picked piles of luscious blackberries Tuesday eve, so since I had them handy, and I needed to make cupcakes for VBS, I decided to tackle this blackberry key lime cupcake recipe that had snagged my eye on pinterest. Some of the comments were a bit dubious, but I figured a little recipe tweaking would help the finished results! (one comment was "help! this filling taste like Lysol!!) I did mess with and make changes to each the batter, filling, and frosting recipes. I will post it with my tweakations. Still in a weird food mood and in need of a fruit salad to take to Kevin's for supper, I mixed 1 pkg cream cheese with 1 cup sugar, added 4 8oz. tubs of Cool Whip, and a splash of clear vanilla. Divided the fluff mixture in half, and added blackberry pie filling to some, and mandarin oranges to the other. The orange fluff tasted a touch blah, so I melted some o.j. concentrate and threw that in! I guess it was improved! :) This salad idea stems from the lovely strawberry cheesecake fluff we've had in Guntersville...nothing like taking dessert ingredients, mixing them together, and pronouncing it "salad" and part of the main course! I won't fuss about it, anyway! Two desserts in one meal is right up my alley! Needless to say, by the end of the day, it looked as if a Blackberry Bomb had dropped on my kitchen!!

Key Lime Cupcakes with Blackberry Frosting

recipe from Baked Perfectionmakes 30 cupcakes

1 cup butter, softened

2 cups sugar

3 eggs

2 teaspoon vanilla extract

4 tablespoons key lime juice

zest of two limes

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

2 cups buttermilk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease or paper-line 30 baking cups.

In a medium bowl combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. In a separate mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar. Beat in the eggs, one at a time. Add the vanilla, key lime juice and lime zest; mix well. Add the flour mixture to creamed mixture alternately with buttermilk. (batter will be thick). Fill muffin cups with 1/4 cup of batter. Bake at 350 degrees F for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool completely, cut out small hole on each cupcake, then fill and frost as desired.

Blackberry Filling

recipe from Baked Perfection1 32oz container frozen blackberries

1/2 cup sugar

Juice of one lemon

3 tablespoons cornstarch

pinch of salt

Place blackberries in a small bowl and sprinkle with sugar, let thaw. Drain blackberries, reserving liquid. Squish the blackberries and push through a fine mesh sieve to remove the seeds, set aside. Add enough water to the blackberry liquid to equal 1 cup. In a large saucepan, combine the blackberry liquid, lemon juice, cornstarch, and salt. Heat and stir until the mixture boils and thickens. Cool completely. Refrigerate until ready to use. (This can be made several days in advance and any leftovers works well on toast, on pancakes, or mixed in plain Greek Yogurt.)

Blackberry Buttercream

recipe from Baked Perfection2 sticks butter, softened

1 tsp clear vanilla extract

2/3 cup blackberry filling (seedless blackberry jam or preserves can be substituted)

pinch of salt

6 cups powdered sugar

4 tablespoons whipping cream

Beat butter and vanilla until creamy. Mix in blackberry filling and salt. Add powdered sugar 1 cup at a time, beating until combined. Add cream 1 tablespoon at a time until you reach desired consistency.

Yesterday, after rescuing Roxie from the clutches of the airlines, we ended up at Dharma Blue for lunch. It fit the ticket since we both wanted a unique, cozy, cafe instead of a bustling chain restaurant. I would describe it as a chic, Southern bistro. As you can see in the pic, we could have dined on the porch in the sweltering humidity, but we declined, and basked in the AC surrounded by vivid shades of turquoise and aqua walls adorned with the abstractest of artwork. Lunch was lovely; Roxie had the quiche of the day, and I the fried green tomato club which was ravishing!

Our next stop was DUH.  We had a mutual desire to explore this store based solely upon its eccentric name! It did not disappoint!! This next passage describing the place is transcribed from their website, which I definitely recommend you to browse about it a bit on. http://www.duhpensacola.com/

Philosophy

Welcome to duh for garden and home. Our store in Pensacola, Florida offers an eclectic collection of furniture, home accessories and found objects from all over the world. Our collections emphasize texture/pattern and natural design elements from a mixture of cultures and eras. Our belief is this defines today's way of living in a comfortable, relaxed style with an elegant presence.

The philosophy at duh is simple. Look to neutrals to create a calming home and keep the design clean and sophisticated. Introduce materials such as wood, shell, glass, iron, stone and linens. Make your interior appear collected with a mix of new, vintage, and antique treasures. Above all else - surround yourself with things you love!

After a healthy dose of shopping, we soothed our weary souls with ice cream from the Marble Slab Creamery before heading home to open our birthday presents!!! I LOVE the paisley platter!! Thanks again, Roxie!

I shall end this giganoramous post with a hearty farewell! I must needs get busy with my breakfast of coffee and a blackberry cupcake. :)

a quick lil post-it note

Good morning!

Thought I'd quick stop by and say Hi before I head to P'cola to the airport to pick up my "kindred spirit birthday twin" Roxie!! :) So excited!
I will blog about yesterday tonight.....twas a "Birthday and Blackberry Day."

tea-time!

            sweet, iced tea.......
                        sweet iced tea!            
      three of the most beautiful words in the English language!

Since my mind is in a bit of "teaopia", I will blog about tea tonight! Please bear with me....as I tea along here! :) The day began with a hot brew of Lipton's finest loose tea leaves with cream and sugar added. ( I take my tea like the Brits! But where are the crumpets?!) Mid afternoon, I simmered some mint leaves to make mint tea. My made-up recipe was 1/2 cup mint leaves, 2/3 cup sugar, and 2 quarts of water. I must not have the right touch though...my mint is "apple" mint; maybe that was the problem! Anyway, try as I might, I couldn't get it tweaked to where I could appreciate it! Even with lots of sugar, and a splash of apple juice, is was barely "tea-olerable!" (I need some help, Shelley! What did I do wrong?!) So after that fiasco, I made some "regular" sweet, iced tea! Good ole orange pekoe and black! Being me, I don't have a favorite brand; it varies from the cheapest Piggly offers - "Best Choice", to "Luzianne", to "Lipton", or "Red Diamond." The current box is "Leroy Hill - Hill and Brooks." Do y'all have a favorite brand or method to make good, strong, Southern, sweet, iced tea??? Whew! What a lot of adjectives!!! My method is pretty mediocre - I grab a quart Mason jar, fill it with tap water, and zap it in the micro for 5 minutes, (IMPORTANT! Do not omit next step!) then gently bring tea bags to nose and inhale deeply the deep, dark, musky scent of tea....and let your mind wander to faraway places with strange sounding names....then JOLT back to reality and plunge the tea bags in to the hot water, (I do apologize for my obsessive compulsive smelling disorder! But you should try it next time you make tea! :) You know you want to, and no one is watching, and so what if they are! If sniffing tea bags makes one certifiably crazy, I am a lost cause!) After the tea has steeped 10 minutes or half a day or so, pour it into a 3 quart pitcher along with a heaping cup of sugar. Liberally add ice and water to fill 'er up! Pour yourself a glass, and sit on the porch and rock awhile! Nothing hits the spot like a cold glass of iced tea on a hot summer day! Pleas tell me in the comments how you make or take your tea.....I'd "tea-otally" love to hear all about it!

life goes on

My blogging has been a bit sporadic of late. I intend to mend that. We managed to stay afloat during the torrential downpours of the weekend. Diesel and Leroy were delighted at the turn of events which allowed them some quality "indoor" time! Even though I enjoyed having Daniel home today yet, I am ready to see the sun! It's still cloudy out, but at least it's not raining liquid sunshine anymore! I had a rare cleaning/organizing attack in the kitchen Saturday night around 10:00 and am so pleased with the result! :) It's amazing how much room I actually have in the cabinets when things aren't strewn haphazardly about! Most of the cabinets are still in dire need of a cleaning fit, but "easy does it" is my style! (Don't wanna get burned out right away!) I baked a carrot cake this morning and delivered it in Atmore, then had lunch with Danl and Anthony at Jalisco's. LOVE their chips and salsa! Hit the spot! Dirt Cheap was next on the agenda. Felt like a good amble was timely since I've been so good at staying outa there for a while now! I was rewarded with a woven basket - $1.50, a green plastic organizer thingy - $1.25, 2 dishtowels $.50 each, and, most exciting! (NOT!) laundry detergent $2.99!!! Neil is spending the evening with us while Wade, Rhonda, and Jacob are at VBS. They should be here anytime now. Maybe he'll want to go pick some blackberries with me....I've been hankering after a fresh blackberry cobbler with ice cream and an iced coffee on the side.....It's definitely time to make Pioneer Woman's iced coffee again! That recipe will be posted here shortly since I've been waking up with cold coffee on my mind instead longing for my normal hot brew.

carpe diem!

The past few days have been nothing to blog about! Other than the occasional oops such as leaving a halogen light bulb in a precarious position which resulted in it shattering to the floor in a wide explosion of glass shards! Believe me, that was a strawberry-blonde move I wished I could redo! I grumpily cleaned up glass from behind the toaster on one side of the kitchen to under the Kitchen Aid mixer on the other! Otherwise, I seem to have been swamped by feelings of complete uselessness and exhaustion....(know the feeling that follows previous fun-filled days?!) and since nothing but the bare necessities of living were staring me in the face for a change (I did babysit Jackson and Mckenna yesterday; loved being with them again!), I succumbed to complete laziness and finished reading through a series of books by Shayne Parkinson on my Nook. They were quite fascinating - life in New Zealand at its best! Just sitting around without much zest for life doesn't hold much appeal to me for very long though! That is one thing I love about blogging; it makes me want to live a life worth blogging about! So today, I charged myself up with chocolate peanut butter oatmeal and lots of coffee for breakfast, and am ready to go out and seize the day! :) Who knows what all I will get in to?!

wedding weekend

Back on the blog and happy to be home! :) This post is giving me fits because I've too much to blog about this go around! My computer has finally given up the ghost and I am mourning its painful death which has left a sad dark hole in my life. So I better get my tears dried while I use Danl's laptop for a bit. The past weekend was wonderful; every minute was packed with family, friends, and fun! We left out Thursday morning. (gave me quite the feelings of de ja vu to be traveling with my parents again after being married for 7 years!!) We stopped in Hebron, KY, for night; then took in the Creation Museum the next day. It was spectacular! I loved the 4-D theatre, and the amazing "Garden of Eden" in the outdoor part of the museum. My big mouth scored us some free tickets to the planetarium show which was interesting as well! Friday evening found us in Washington Court, Ohio, where we were pleased to make acquaintance with the lovely Lydia and adorable lil Kaycie! She is a doll! It was beyond delightful to see my Smith family again, and other friends that fell into the "long time no see" category. We tried to make the most of the time together; which resulted in the beds at the Holiday Inn Express not having to support our sleeping selves for very many hours! Saturday morning began with a bustling breakfast. (I wonder if the hotel staff were quite frazzled by the swarms of Mennos downing coffee!) The wedding was soon over and the happy couple were on their way to who knows where! :) The rest of us chatted the afternoon away at the hotel before eating a much-waited for steak supper! Like usual, I gobbled so many soft steakhouse rolls that I could barely down my steak and loaded baked sweet potato! The next highlight was taking in a few runs of the nearby truck pull! That was exhilarating! I love me some diesels - I enjoy taking interest in them since the hubs does! Vanessa and Seth agreed to let me tag along home with them. (hope they survived!) We finally headed for home  Sunday morning almost 2 hours later than the intended time, but we treasured more good belly laughs and lingering goodbyes. The following hours on the interstate dragged along, but the company made up for it! Finally the welcome sight of the Wind Creek Casino peaked on the horizon....and I was soon home sweet home with Danl and the dogs!