I Had A Plan

This is what the 4th of July looked like at my house.

After hurricane Harvey last year,

I think it's safe to say the whole city has/had PTSD.

The last I heard, no homes were flooded,

just a lot of high blood pressure!

It has continued to rain off and on.
Today the sun is shining and I had a plan.

After feeding the kitties and the fish, 
getting my morning walk done,
and all the morning ablutions (love that word).

I walked over to Eclair Paris to have breakfast.
I had Eggs Benedict as usual.
I took my Mindful Magazine with me to read
and laughed out loud several times while reading an article on meditation.
(Been there and done that!) 

I came home with two sinfully delicious desserts.

I saved them both.

Until...

I decided to try this one.
This is the owners new favorite.
Orange with a surprise!
I ate the top -- could taste the orange...
then the cream layer ... more orange
and got to...

Surprise!

I reached the strawberry custard layer.

Wow! 

I can see and taste why it is her new favorite.









But, I guess I'm old fashioned.
I still like the lemon tart the best.

Wishing YOU well and much joy!

Mosaic Monday

Keep In Touch

Little Things Thursday

Share Your Cup Thursday

Independence Day

The Fourth of July

 – also known as Independence Day or July 4th – 

has been a federal holiday in the United States since 1941, 

but the tradition of Independence Day celebrations goes back to 
the 18th century and the American Revolution. 

On July 2nd, 1776, 

the Continental Congress voted in favor of independence, 

and two days later delegates from the 13 colonies adopted 
the Declaration of Independence, 

a historic document drafted by Thomas Jefferson. 

From 1776 to the present day, 

July 4th has been celebrated as the birth of American independence, 

with festivities ranging from fireworks, 

parades and concerts to more casual family gatherings and barbecues.

Wishing YOU well and much joy on this Independence Day.

Happy 4th of July!

Wishing YOU well and much joy on this 4th of July.

This and That

I hope all my friends in the U.S. and Canada enjoyed their holiday weekend.
This is what happened around Twisty Lane. 

1. One last lunch to celebrate my birthday
and my friend's birthday.
We were about six weeks late, but it's never too late to celebrate.
We went to Little Liberty.
(Perfect for the 4th of July weekend.)

We both ordered the Hawaiian Poke
(raw fish salad appetizer)
with tuna, tamari, cucumber base, mango and avocado.
Delicious and it all was on my diet!

2. I finished reading Clammed Up (A Maine Clambake Mystery) by Barbara Ross.

A good read for the 4th of July weekend.
Clammed Up is the first in the series.
I thought it was amazingly good for the first book in a cozy series.
Clambakes, Murder and Recipes -- what more could one want??!!

3. I was ready for the 4th of July.

Uncle Sam was flying high over the bunting clad balcony.


4. I made a quick trip to Ross.
It's right next door to Michaels (more yarn).
I figured, why not!
Sometimes I find something, sometimes I don't.
I found these kitchen towels.

I watched all the fireworks at home on tv -- switching between channels.
No way was I going out in the heat, humidity and crowds.

5. Several of you wanted to see the crochet lovie blanket.
I finished one of the owls and have a panda started.
Too cute!
All finished in time for the baby shower.

Wishing YOU well and much joy!

Willy Nilly Friday

Five On Friday

Home Sweet Home

No Place Like Home

Make It Pretty Monday

One Month Down

and one more month to go in the

Index Card a Day Challenge (ICAD).

Here are the cards from the last week.

ICAD # 29 for June 29, 2014. 

Something different this morning. 

I've been making a lot of pesto this year and thought I'd share the recipe with you. 

Pix from a seed pack and a rubber stamp. 

(You can use any nut that you like if you don't have the pine nuts ... like walnuts ... just be 

sure you aren't serving your pesto to someone who has "that" nut allergy.)

I like garlic with my basil!

ICAD #30 for June 30, 2014: Nap. 

A quick watercolor sketch of Mina napping. 

(I did this on a 4x6 index card I bought for last year ... horrible -- so light weight you can almost see through! No wonder I used so much book paper last year!) 

ICAD # 31 for July 1, 2014

Another flimsy card so I torn a book page and placed it on first.

Gesso, then stenciled the stars.

Sharpie markers and an image from the Graphics Fairy.

ICAD # 32 for July 2, 2014: Each End Up. 

This is one of those cards that I just kept adding layers to not liking any of it until the end. There's book paper, acrylic wash, fluid acrylic (blue), rubber stamps (red), stencils (arrows), more acrylic paint, and the stars are cut from another Index Card that I had yellow and orange acrylic smushed on. Each End Up -- no right or wrong end up!

ICAD # 33 for July 3, 2014: 4th of July. 

One more holiday card. 

This is the last one as I've used up all the images I found at the Graphics Fairy! 

Acrylic paint, Stars are cut from another index card, fluid acrylics.

ICAD # 34 for July 4, 2014.

 I wasn't going to do another 4th of July postcard, but I had already finished the image transfer. 

Liberty Bell stamp, rubber stamp, cut stars from another index card, fluid acrylic.

ICAD # 35 for July 5, 2014: Nature Study.
I love nature studies and I spent the day yesterday with a stack of napkins cutting out birds, butterflies, "nature stuff". 

Rubber stamp, fluid acrylics, torn ledger paper scrap, napkin images.

Wishing YOU well and much joy.

Be sure to visit Tammy to check out the Index Card a Day Challenge.

You can start anytime.

It's fun!

Creative Every Day

Summertime Tea

It's Summertime around here.

Highs in the 90s and lets NOT talk about the humidity.
Anytime is a good time for tea, even the summer.
I start the day with a hot cup of tea and then lots of iced tea during the day.

This is called Chickadee Tea Service for one.

I found it at the Victorian Trading Company.

(Just in time for my birthday!)

The service includes the lidded mug, saucer, and tea strainer.

It's made by Grace.

I'm in love with the little Chickadee.

The little Chickadee looks good on my red, white and blue crochet placemat.

But it really looks nice with Star Spangled Girl!

All set for the 4th of July.

Wishing YOU well, much joy and a wonderful cup of tea!

A big thank you to our tea party hosts:

Tea Time Tuesday

Teacup Tuesday

Friends Sharing Tea

Tuesday Cuppa Tea

Share Your Cup Thursday

KaBoom!

Happy 4th of July!

ICAD #34 made with junk mail 

Celebrate!

Wishing YOU well and much joy.

This and That

It's Friday and that means time for Random Things.

Thank you, Nancy for hosting.

*

I made a quick stop at Michael's early this week.

I was looking for a couple of sheets of 22 x 30 water color paper.

As I was dashing through the store on my way to the cashier, I stopped dead in my tracks.

I could not believe what I was seeing.

The FALL decorations were out.

Pumpkins and all.

Ack!

**

It is too hot to cook.

So, I've been having a slice of wonderful rosemary/thyme bread

 with black peppercorn chevre and tomatoes all from the Farmer's Market.

My Farmer's Market Meal.

Oh, my -- sinfully delicious.

I think I'm going to add some wine!

***

Hard to believe that the 4th of July is just around the corner.

My fingers have been itching to do a quick crochet project.

Last year I made red, white and blue placemats.

While I was cleaning out a closet,

I found a Leisure Art leaflet with holiday hot pads.

I thought the watermelon and star patterns were perfect for the summer festivities.

The watermelon was easy, 

but the star has a few glitches I need to work out.

****

My basil was ready for picking so I made pesto yesterday.

Yum! 

*****

I don't think my Japanese Maple is going to survive.

I've babied it through the long hot summers and our drought,

but it looks pretty sad this year. 

I had to trim some dead branches. 

I'll keep trying.

I talk to it every day.

Telling it how pretty it is and how much I'd like it to stay around.

I guess I could start playing music outside.

I wonder what it would like to hear??

The sound of rain, I bet!

Wishing YOU well and much joy.

Enjoy the weekend. 

Happy Summer Solstice

Happy 4th of July!

Daisy Yellow ICAD Central!!

It's Almost July!!!

It's almost July.

Time to think about the 4th of July.

I was wondering what I had in the house that was red, white and blue.

First, a short story.

Do you wonder why you keep junk things?

I was going through a box I'd brought in from the garage.

(Yes, I'm still shredding and throwing and it's probably why my back is complaining.)

I found a bunch of old calendars.

Some of them were cat calendars and since I love kitties, I knew why I'd kept them.

I'll do something with them one day ... I hope.

Then I found a 1994 (really!!!) Annie's Victorian Village Calendar.

Looking through the calendar of lovely photos, 

I found at the very back Place Mat Patterns and Tea Room Restaurant Recipes.

Now it starts making sense!

I stopped when I saw this photo.

From the Annie's Victorian Village 1994 Calendar

I'd found red, white and blue place mats -- perfect for the 4th of July.

Photo from Annie's Victorian Village 1994 Calendar

Here's my crochet place mat made from the newly found pattern

 and the red, white and blue kitchen towels I already had. 

The kitchen is going to look good for the month of July!

The  crochet pattern for the place mat was very easy.

The original called for worsted yarn and I used Lily Sugar 'N Cream cotton yarn

It's beginning to look a lot like July!

And feels like it ... high today projected to be 101 with feels like temp around 110.

Iced tea anyone?

 Time for me to hibernate!

Wishing YOU well and much joy!

I'm linking for the first time with:

Happy 4th of July!

Wishing our beautiful country a Happy Birthday!

From Better Homes and Gardens

I love baseball and thought this was the perfect centerpiece

for the holiday.

 

 

A little red, white and blue from my Flickr.

Have a wonderful, long weekend with family and friends.

Stay safe and cool!

Thank you to our hostesses:

Mary for Mosaic Monday

and 

The Tablescaper for Seasonal Sunday.

Postcard Friendship Friday

Postcard Friendship Friday is hosted every Friday by the lovely Beth.

If you like postcards (or even if you don't), you'll want to visit!!!!!

With the holiday coming up,

I went to the New York Public Library site to find a 4th of July postcard.

When I searched on 4th of July Postcards, this is the only one that popped up.

Have a safe, wonderful weekend.

Eat lots of good food (good for you or not).

Happy PFF!

Grilling ...

Grilling in this heat? You must be kidding. The weathermen say it's going to be 110 degrees in the shade! I know. It's the 4th of July. Celebration day. Hamburger and hot dogs on the grill day. Not in this heat. I had planned on grilling. This recipe arrived in my email from Whole Foods. I was craving portobello mushrooms and thought this would be a good deal. But ... things change!

Recipe:

Portobello and Pineapple Teriyaki Veggie Burgers

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Items to add:

• 4 (5-inch) portobello mushrooms, stemmed
• 1 (20-ounce) can pineapple rings, juice reserved
• 3 tablespoons soy sauce or wheat-free tamari
• 2 tablespoons light brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon finely chopped garlic
• 1 tablespoon grated ginger
• 1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
• Canola oil
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• 4 whole wheat hamburger buns, toasted
• Green or red leaf lettuce

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Serves 4

This method uses leftover pineapple juice from a can of pineapple to make a simple teriyaki sauce.

Ingredients

4 (5-inch) portobello mushrooms, stemmed
1 (20-ounce) can pineapple rings, juice reserved
3 tablespoons soy sauce or wheat-free tamari
2 tablespoons light brown sugar
1 tablespoon finely chopped garlic
1 tablespoon grated ginger
1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
Canola oil
1/4 cup water
1 tablespoon cornstarch
4 whole wheat hamburger buns, toasted
Green or red leaf lettuce

Method

Using a small spoon, delicately scoop out and discard the dark brown gills from the underside of each mushroom. Wipe mushrooms gently with a moist paper towel to remove any remaining debris then transfer to a wide, shallow baking dish along with the pineapple rings.

Put 3/4 cup of the reserved pineapple juice (save remaining for another use), soy sauce, sugar, garlic, ginger and sesame oil into a small bowl and whisk together to make a marinade. Pour marinade over mushrooms and pineapple, cover and set aside, turning occasionally, for 1 to 2 hours.

Grease grill grates with canola oil and preheat to medium high heat. Meanwhile, drain leftover marinade from mushrooms and pineapple and transfer to a small saucepan; bring to a boil over medium high heat. In a small bowl, stir together water and cornstarch then whisk into marinade and boil until thickened, about 1 minute more; set aside.

Working in batches, grill mushrooms and pineapple, gently flipping once, until hot throughout and tender, 3 to 5 minutes. Transfer to buns, top with lettuce and serve with teriyaki sauce on the side, if you like.

Nutrition

Per serving (about 12oz/341g-wt.): 360 calories (80 from fat), 9g total fat, 1g saturated fat, 0mg cholesterol, 990mg sodium, 65g total carbohydrate (6g dietary fiber, 38g sugar), 8g protein

The grilling was definitely not going to happen. But, I had the portobello mushrooms, a can of pineapple chunks and all the other ingredients, so I decided to roast the mushrooms in the oven.


I roasted them at 425 degrees for about 8 minutes. They were delicious. We both loved this meal. We had couscous and asparagus and with the mushrooms thought we had died and gone to heaven. Definitely a recipe that is a keeper. I'm looking forward to actually grilling the mushrooms ... sometime in November!

Finally, a Happy 4th of July to you!
Have a safe and fun filled day.
Remember what this day is all about.

Joy to You!