Sneak Peak at My Fall Home

I'm so excited that September is finally here!  I know that technically Fall doesn't begin for a few more weeks, but that's just a minor detail that I'm choosing to ignore right now.

I have been working like crazy on some new decor for my very favorite season, which means, I've been swapping pillows, rearranging, cleaning and (don't tell the hubby) shopping!!  Over the weekend I went to Homegoods and scored a few really cute decorations for the house.  I'm working on a full blog post with all the results, but I'm not quite done yet.  For now I thought I'd share a quick peek at my fall dining table. Don't mind the unopened packages of pumpkins, I wasn't sure where to put them yet and I didn't want them to feel left out!  I hope my space will inspire you to break out the oranges and golds and maybe even splurge on a Pumpkin Spice Latte!

Happy Fall All!

Stuffed Figs

It's been a while since I posted a new recipe.  Life happens and we all get swept up in the everyday details.  My oldest daughter, Lily Claire started second grade last week and now that she's back to school, I'm hoping to have a little more free time to work on my blog.

I had some figs that came from my father in law's fig tree and I learned how to make this recipe a few years ago when I took some classes at Le Cordon Bleu academy.  It's a special recipe because fresh figs are only available for a few weeks around here.  I hope you can find some at your local farmer's market and that you'll give this recipe a try.  It's one of my favorite appetizers of all time.

Ingredients:
1 pkg (about a dozen figs)
5-6 slices of thin prosciutto
1 wedge of Gorgonzola (or other blue cheese if preferred)
balsamic glaze (reduced balsamic vinegar)

Directions:
Rinse and dry figs, then slice them in half.  Using kitchen shears cut the prosciutto in half the long way.  Cut a small piece of the blue cheese and place on the inside part of the fig, then wrap with a thin piece of the prosciutto.  Bake in a 350 degree oven for about 10 minutes or until the cheese just begins to melt.  Allow to cool and transfer to a serving platter and drizzle with balsamic glaze.

Happy Sunday

Where has the time gone?  This summer has flown by and I can't believe that Lily Claire will be starting second grade in less than two weeks!  We've definitely had a busy summer, but we've also taken some time to relax and play.  My dear friend Laurie Theriault came by a few weeks ago and captured these stunning pictures of my girls, with our sweet first baby, (fur baby) Paris.  I thought I'd share my favorites with you today.

I hope you are all taking a moment to play, relax and enjoy the little things on this beautiful Sunday!

*All photo credit goes Laurie Theriault Photography.

More Summer Vacation

It's been a busy summer around our house and we are making the most of the last few weeks before school starts back. By the way, it sure starts early now days!!  We just got back from a lovely trip to Monterey, and let me tell you, if you haven't been there you have to make plans to go.  Especially if you live in California!  Even if you don't it's worth the visit.  I thought I'd share a few pictures from our trip with you today.

Hope you are all making the most of your summer too!

Quick Office Makeover

The title of the blog post is Quick Office Makeover.  I suppose that is true, however, I started out intending for this to be a quick rearrangement of furniture, but ended up spending most of one day moving things and reorganizing the entire space (not as quick as intended, but quick indeed for the results).  My 12 year old niece has been staying with us for the past few weeks and since we have our spare room set up as an office instead of a guest bedroom, we just threw and air mattress down on the floor and called it good.  Since she's going home today I decided I needed to tackle cleaning up the office and decided I might as well rearrange the furniture while I had my niece here to help.

Well... it ended up taking most of the day and turned into one of those spiraling projects.  You know what I mean, right?  You just wanted to move the book case, but then you decide that you have too many books on it anyway.  Then you realize that you would rather have some of the books in the closet, but there is no space for books in the closet, so you have to take everything out of the closet to make space, then you realize that you really would rather have the card catalog that holds craft and office supplies in the closet anyway, and it would be lovely to have your grandmother's vintage sewing machine within reach so you can fix that strap from your daughter's dress that ripped last week....

Yes, that's how my mind works, which I know leans toward the obsessive side, and makes it virtually impossible to get anything else done until I've completed the project.  Who needs food? water? a shower?

Anyhow, back to the point, which is, I rearranged my office today.  And my craft closet. And I'm pretty pleased with how it all turned out.

Here's a little before with the air mattress on the ground.

I'm still stuck with my iphone camera, but I think you can see the improvement! :)

Summer Dinner Delivery

Things have been so busy around my house that I've left the "Dinner Delivery" part of my business on the back burner lately.  Now that I'm back in the swing of things and finally working out a summer schedule I wanted to let you all know that I'm ready for orders and just posted some menu options for next week (find them here)!  I also wanted to take the opportunity to expand your choices this summer and let you know that I will also be taking special requests/orders.  If you aren't sure what you'd like to order, be sure to browse through the archives or my Recipes section on the blog!

Here's a sneak preview of one of the options for next week!

**Remember you can order one meal or all three! 

Caprese Salad

I'm blessed  to live in a climate where summer means tons of fresh produce.  Although the word drought has become common place, and we can only water two days a week, we are still able to get some of the freshest and most delicious vegetables out there, thank goodness!

Tomatoes are a summer staple at our house and we eat them almost every day, but I think this Caprese Salad may be my favorite way to eat them.

All you need if fresh ripe tomatoes, basil, fresh mozzarella cheese, a drizzle of olive oil and salt and pepper.  Couldn't be simpler! 

How do you use up your tomatoes in the summer?