Succulent Planter

They have never really struck me in the past, but lately I have really been liking Succulents.  So when I saw the planter make entirely of succulents I got pretty excited and started snapping away!  Enjoy! : )

 

 

 

 

 

 

Black and White Cookies

I wanted to make Black and White Cookies for Father's Day, but as many of you know, my baking skills could use a little work!  And this seems ambitious!

But they came out great!!!!  They were however, pretty time consuming, so not something to make that often, unless my extra special father wants them, in which case I will make them anytime, Father's Day or not! : )

 

Aimee came over to help, although my kitchen is so small, her role became just keeping me company! haha

I found this website, Anne's Eats,  off of Pinterest, and I think it will be one of my new go-to's for recipes. 
 

Black and White Cookies

from Anne's Eats

For the cookies:
4 cups (16 oz.) cake flour
½ tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. salt
16 tbsp. (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened but still cool
1¾ cups (12¼ oz.) sugar
2 large eggs, at room temperature
½ tsp. vanilla extract
¼ tsp. lemon extract
1 cup milk

For the glaze:
2 oz. unsweetened chocolate, chopped fine
¼ cup light corn syrup
1/3 cup water
5 cups (20 oz.) confectioners’ sugar
½ tsp. vanilla extract
Milk, as needed

 

Directions:
To make the cookies, preheat the oven to 375˚ F. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper. In a large bowl combine the flour, baking powder and salt. Whisk to combine, and set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the butter on medium speed until smooth and creamy, about 30 seconds. Add in the sugar gradually, increasing the speed to medium-high and beating until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Blend in the eggs, vanilla and lemon extracts at medium speed until combined, about 30 seconds. With the mixer on low speed, beginning and ending with the flour mixture, alternately add the flour mixture in four additions and the milk in 3 additions just until combined.

I don't have a mixer, stand or hand, so I just whisked and mixed and stirred and stirred, and the cookies still came out pretty good. : )

 

Using a ¼-cup measuring cup and a spoon, place six ¼-cup mounds of dough a generous 2 inches apart on each baking sheet.  With moistened fingers, gently press each mound of dough into a disk 2½ inches wide and ¾ inch thick. Bake until the centers of the cookies are firm and the edges are just beginning to brown, about 20 minutes, rotating the baking pans halfway through the baking time.

Cool the cookies on the baking sheets for 2 minutes. Use a wide spatula to transfer the cookies to a wire rack. Repeat with the remaining dough. Let cookies cool completely before icing.

 

To make the icing, melt the chocolate in a medium bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water. Remove from the heat and set aside. In a medium saucepan, combine the corn syrup and water and bring to a boil. Remove from the heat and whisk in the confectioners’ sugar and vanilla until combined. Transfer ¾ cup of the vanilla icing to the bowl with the melted chocolate and stir to combine. 

To glaze the cookies, place the cookies on wire racks set over waxed paper or foil. Use a small offset spatula to spread about 2 tablespoons of the vanilla icing on half the flat side (bottom) of each cookie. Tilt the cookie and run the spatula around the edge to scrape off excess icing. Allow to harden slightly, about 15 minutes.

 She said milk can be added if the icing gets to thick, but when I thinned the vanilla out, it made the icing too transparent and you could see through it which isn't the look you want it on the cookie. : (

Using the offset spatula, spread the chocolate icing over the other half of each cookie, scraping away excess icing from the edge. Allow the glaze to set at least 1 hour before serving. The cookies can be stored in an airtight container layered between sheets of parchment paper for up to 3 days.

 

 

 

 

YAY   YAY   YAY!!!  Perhaps these should be a father's day tradition. 

(Although as good as they were, I am not sure if they compare to a real bakery one! )

 

 

A trip to the C-I-T-Y

 

Back in April Colin and I headed to the C-I-T-Y for his birthday.  It was nice to be in the sunshine and see bulbs and signs of spring life! Funny to think about that now after multiple 100 degree days, but back in April, green was a welcome site!!!!

 

 

 

 

We went to see Spiderman on Broadway!

 

 

 

After Spiderman we headed to Bryant Park which is one of my favorite spots in the Big Apple.  It is such a lovely example of Landscape Architecture! 

 

 And I KNOW you all love fine examples of Landscape Architecture!  : )

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Passion Flower

When I noticed the Passion Flower vine my boss had planted had started to bloom, I made sure to bring my camera to work to get some shots!  It is one amazing flower!

I might make some note cards out of some of these shots! : ) 

 

Please enjoy the Passion Flower Photoshoot, with some Joe Pye Weed at the end for good measure! : )

(sorry there are so many, I had trouble narrowing them down!)

 

 

 

 

 

 

2012 Vacation One

I am writing to you from vacation! Yay! Today was supposed to be a full beach day, but sadly it is pouring...so I think it might be a full Blog day instead! 
(Unless the sun comes back out then I am off to the beach!)

 

 

Here are some pictures of our first few days on vacation. On the long drive, Colin wanted to find a Chick-fil-a since he had never been to one, and I wanted to find, well anything but fastfood, and had dreams of finding a exit with both a Panera AND a Chick-fil-a, but I figured that would never happen.

 

But we did find one!!! It was a Vacation Road Trip Miracle! Yay!

 

 

 

 

 

Once we got here we soaked up the views and put our feet in the sand!  We haven't had too much beach time yet, so hopefully this rain doesn't last all week! 
Although I did get a few hours of my favorite past time... : )

 

 

My cute boy thought it would be a good time to shave off his beard, whoa, look at that clean face! : )  He also commented on how he was a 'real-merican' with all the red, white and blue he was wearing, then told me he felt like he was weating a bunting! ha! He makes me smile!

 

We were also anxious to use the grill, sadly no grill while we are in an apartment! Burgers, Dogs, Shrimps and Veggies! (Yes there is a burger and dog hiding under all my veggies!)

 

Ok, time to relax, watch the rain, and enjoy vacation...rain at the beach still beats sitting at work!  More blog posts to come since I have the time!  Maybe Ill post pictures of last years vacation! Ha!

 

Birthday Flowers, A Napkin and some Mercury Glass

These pictures are a little random, but pretty, so enjoy!

My Cowoker got me flowers for my birthday!! yay!  And they went perfectly with the cloth napkin I bought a while ago to make this man cave a bit more feminine!!! I just got one to use on the table.

Then I also picked some flowers from around my office! Yay flowers! 

And last but not least...when Colin and I went out for my birthday one of the shops we wandered into had little mercury glass bowls, so I got one.  Something else to put the jewelry that winds up all over the house in! : )

Birthday Take Two

After a lovely day with Colin, I had an hour or two to rest up and change and then it was out for more birthday celebrating! This time with my lady friends!

We had a yummy byob dinner, as always, and it was a great time.  Thank you for coming Ladies!

After dinner, we hit up club fro yo (aka frozen yogurt place that was way too cool for a bunch of 31 year olds! haha)  But it was fun and yummy!

Yay Birthdays!!!!

Pesto

update -recipe edited and fixed : )

I have made decent and not so good pestos in the past...But since I love it so much, I decided to try it again. This time I went to simplyrecipes.com which is one of my main go-to recipe sites. Their guac recipe is now a staple in our house!

It didn't come out amazing, but it was still pretty yummy. I am wondering if the basil leaves need to be ground finer? Either way, it made for a lovely dinner, and I froze some, so it also made for a lovely dinner a few weeks later! : )

Fresh Basil Pesto

from simplyrecipes.com

Ingredients

• 2 cups fresh basil leaves, packed
• 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan-Reggiano or Romano cheese
• 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 3 clove garlic
• 1/3 cup pine nuts or walnuts3 medium sized garlic cloves, minced
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Method

1. Combine the basil in with the pine nuts, pulse a few times in a food processor. (If you are using walnuts instead of pine nuts and they are not already chopped, pulse them a few times first, before adding the basil.) Add the garlic, pulse a few times more.

2.  Slowly add the olive oil in a constant stream while the food processor is on. Stop to scrape down the sides of the food processor with a rubber spatula. Add the grated cheese and pulse again until blended. Add a pinch of salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste.

Yield: Makes 1 cup.

To eat with the pesto..... some veggies and some Costco ravioli's. I heated the veggies in some corningware dishes. I found a whole un-opened set in Colin's cabinets!!!!  He was holding out on me!  I love a lid when microwaving! (I might not have picked the flower pattern, but I am happy I found them!) 

As much as I openly dis Costco, they do have some good ravioli’s! I prefer the spinach, Colin prefers the chicken (per usual). And speaking of both Costco and Pesto, Costco does have a fab pesto...but the container is so big, we would never be able to use it up before it goes bad!

 mmmm I think I need to make pesto again soon!

ps. here is a different pesto recipe you can try....this pesto was good, but doesn't have the traditional pesto taste if that is what you are craving.

Hazelnut Arugla Pesto