Guess Who?

They’re baaaccckkk!

…and making themselves right at home. Poor Jake, if it wasn’t for that 90lb lab bouncing around, he’d own this house. Instead he hides on the top of the couch while the lab tries to figure out how he got up there.

The beagles are visiting for a few weeks so it’s a full house over here. Baxter is being a very kind host…so far.

It seems fitting that this weekend will be dedicated to working outside since the puppies will be around. With the the 100+ degree heat lately, the grass in my yard hasn’t done well. Even with watering twice a day, it burned. After a few weeks of trying to keep everything alive, I decided to let it go and find another option.

Lowes carries an impressive artificial grass by SynLawn and they recently started carrying pre-cut rolls that you can install yourself. This is perfect as I don’t want to pay for installation since my grass set up is a little different. If you remember, I have a yard covered with concrete so I’m working with DIY grass planters. I’ve done some research and it should be fairly easy to replace the real (dead) grass with the artificial grass over the weekend. It is a little expensive, but it doesn’t have to be replaced every couple months and doesn’t require water. It should end up saving me money in the long run and look nice year round. I’ll share more next week once it’s done.

[the small grass planter when it was first built]

I’ve also recently purchased a new toy, a Cuisinart Immersion Hand Blender in Raspberry for a secret little project I’ve been working on lately. I launched the interest list a few days ago, so I guess the secret’s out. I’m currently writing a recipe eBook that will be available in October, I’ll do a separate post to share more. For now, I’ll just say, if you like this apple butter, then you’re going to LOVE what I’m working on.

Oh, and this happened…

They are just too cute (and on sale/clearance).

 

What are your weekend plans? Anything fun?

 

*some links contained within this post are affiliate.

CSA Box #6

I’m BACK!

 

Although, my return is not nearly as exciting when you realize that I didn’t actually go anywhere. I did spend some time dreaming about a cabana on a tropical beach, but reality is that life became so busy that I just needed to step away for a bit. It wasn’t a planned thing, I kept meaning to draft a post each evening, but it just didn’t happen.

So let’s catch up a bit…

My favorite little beagles stopped by for a visit.

I love this picture because my little lab looks so mischievous as he was sneaking up on Shelby. Luckily they all got along very well, no alpha dog fights this time.

One weekend I spent a ton of time (with some family help) on homeowner chores, like changing air filters, changing water filters, tinkering with the Air Conditioner (which is broken), ripping out the grass in the backyard and laying new sod, sweet talking my parents to come over first thing on a Sunday to take me to Costco so I could buy a new car battery, and building a temporary workbench for the garage. 

I’ve also rekindled my love affair with peonies which have been in abundant supply at both Trader Joes and Fresh & Easy.

I’ve also been focusing A LOT on my eating and running which has been going REALLY well. I’m down 21 lbs as of Monday and I’m loving the food I’ve been eating lately. I’ve also signed up for a few races, but I’ll share more about that in a separate post.

Delicious yogurt and berries which only looks cool because of Instagram magic.

This leads me nicely into my CSA haul from this past weekend, including another gorgeous bouquet which they crafted on the spot at the Farmer’s Market.

Goodies:

• lettuce
• spinach
• cucumbers
• string beans
• summer squash
• kale
• basil
• blackberries
• oranges
• avocados
• strawberries

Fresh Blackberries!!

As I do with all my CSA boxes, I took a little time to wash, chop, and ‘save’ all the lettuce, berries, and basil. You can read more about how I extend the life of my veggies for the specifics. It’s the coolest trick, and a total money saver since I can’t go through all that lettuce in one week.

I also ‘vacu-save’ berries and yogurt into personal sized jars. I agree it looks a little OCD in my fridge, but it really doesn’t take much time. It makes meals during the week so easy. I just grab a yogurt and a berry jar, toss them together and I have a healthy breakfast/snack. The lettuce will last nearly 2 weeks this way and I can use just what I need on a daily basis. I have plans to turn some basil into fresh pesto as well as try my hands at Kale Chips this week.

Around the house, I’ve started on the foyer, the wall is painted and I’m working on painting the bookcases. I’ve also made progress on Spare Bedroom. As a reminder, the room looked like this…

The blinds are now down, window and wall moulding has been installed.

By the way…Frog tape sucks!

I put this stuff up and within 20 minutes it had peeled completely off the wall and fell to the floor. Such a waste. 

I still need to finish caulking the top of the window, then it’s time for paint! I can’t wait, I finally have a vision for this room and I’m excited to see it how it turns out.

Oh, and I recently celebrated the 2 year anniversary of moving into my first home. I plan on drafting up a recap of everything I’ve done to the house in those 2 years in the coming week.

Whip Cream Cake & Puppy Playdate

Yesterday’s BBQ was a load of fun, and we had some really great food. (Don’t worry, the Whip Cream Cake is below!)

The morning was spent sleeping in and running a few errands. I picked up some new flowers from Trader Joes, potted not cut. While their cut flowers are beautiful, they only seem to last a few days which saddens me.

But these will stick around for a while.

I also stopped at Cost Plus for some BBQ goodies and HomeGoods, well, just because they own a part of my soul. I stop there nearly every week, just to browse. I picked up a few Moroccan style candle stars which you’ll see when I debut the finished Master Bedroom. I also grabbed some sweet hot pink dish washing gloves. I hate doing dishes, so maybe the pretty gloves will make it a little more fun.

Source: Casabella

A little later the family arrived for the BBQ. Since it was in the 90’s I had fabric fans set out for my guests.

And some chips and salsa. Three cheers for Trader Joe’s Roasted Garlic Salsa, it’s seriously amazing!

Drinks were made, with Lime vodka and the obligatory paper umbrella.

Then we broke in the brand new grill with steaks and corn on the cob. It was all fabulous!

But let’s face it, the highlight was dessert.

Have you ever seen these chocolate wafers in the grocery store, and thought ‘what the hell do you do with those?’ Well you could check out the steps below..or just follow the recipe on the box…whatever floats your boat.

Ingredients are simple: Cool Whip (Or any whip cream), Vanilla, Chocolate Wafers.

Mix the Whip Cream and Vanilla until combined and smooth.

 

Sandwich the wafers with small scoops of whip cream, stacking them on end. The recipe calls for a single log, but I find that the cake works better in two logs. It helps the rows stand up if you put the edges of the wafers in the whip cream of the other row, alternating the cookies.

 

Mid Assembly, depending on how big you want the cake, you can stop at any time. Reserve the leftover cookies or another purpose.

 

Full package cookies turned into a cake.

 

Use the rest of the whip cream to ‘Frost’ the cake, be sure to cover all the cookies.

 

You can decorate any way you want, but I like to grate any broken cookies over the top of the cake.

 

Now, place in the refrigerator overnight. This is a key step because the moisture from the whip cream and will turn the cookies into cake. If you don’t leave it overnight, your cake may be a little undone, still good, just a little crunchy.

 

The next key to this cake is to cut in on the bias. It will taste good any way you cut it, but it will hold up and look better if you cut at an angle.

If you happen to have any leftovers, store it in the fridge, covered. But I doubt there will be much left.

 

Since I don’t have any kids, this was our version of a ‘playdate’

Baxter had a blast playing with his ‘Aunt’ Shelby and ‘Uncle’ Jake (they are my mom’s beagles)

Shelby took very good care of her brother while they were relaxing. She likes to clean his ears for him.

 

Which wore her out so she napped on my kitchen rug.

But I think all involved had a really good time. (Jake is such a camera hog, poor Shelby could barely get her head in the shot.

 

Addison