first friday fun

a few weeks ago, jason and i got the opportunity to go to first friday in lancaster city. my sister lives in that area and works in a gallery downtown. she's been telling me for a long time, that we should come out for this, so we took her up on it finally. we had a great time hopping galleries, thrift stores and an antique warehouse. (she was there, i promise) i just don't have any pictures of her or jason. whenever i'm back in a city, it makes my heart beat a little faster. i do miss the city life... i love our countryish life right now. i would not trade it. i am just reminded that i need to take more trips into the city more often.

happy birthday today

my two cuties have september birthdays!
bow ties were stitched for the both of them.
had a lovely weekend relaxing.
enjoyed the company of some very dear people.
peanut butter crunch cake! ( enough said)
bones marathon.
doing a whole lot of nothing.
we love birthdays around here!

some days you just need candy.

what does one do with a package of leftover cream cheese... make these yummy, easy, fast, melt in your mouth candies. here is the recipe! enjoy! thanks to my elementary school teacher, for having us make these one time. one time and its been in my memory ever since.

No Bake Cream Cheese Mints ::

4 oz. cream cheese
3 c. powdered/icing sugar
1/4 tsp. mint extract
1/8 tsp. (green) food coloring

You will also need::

medium sized bowl
rubber spatula
cookie sheet

Mix together sugar and cream cheese well. Add in mint, then coloring. Roll into small balls. Dip balls into powdered sugar. Refrigerate 1-2 hours.

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weekending

a couple of weeks ago, i had the pleasure of attending my first produce auction. a small town not to far away from where we live geographically, but very far out of the normal suburban neighborhood. while we didn't end up buying any produce, it was a fun experience. bidding on the seasons freshest produce at a very discounted bulk rate. its definitely something i'd like to do more of in the future.

the rest of the day was spent wandering around rennigers flea market. getting peaches from a local mennonite family, eating tomato sandwiches and peach pie with my friend's grandparents, perusing a fabric store and local natural food store, echo hill. they have an amazing supply of organic flour and grains. i will be making a trip back there at some point. it was a most enjoyable day, discovering some local treasures that were previously unknown to me.

tomato tales

its that time again. tomatoes for all! my parents had a great crop of them this year. so i've spent some days over there making spaghetti sauce. also putting up diced and whole tomatoes for whenever i need them in recipes. i used the same recipe as last year for the sauce. it turned out even better, because the tomatoes where at their ripest.
last evening we enjoyed a dinner outside on our front porch ( our favorite dining spot in the summer). its much to hot most days to stay inside. spaghetti and meatballs, made with our first jar of sauce. so fresh. so delicious. so summer.

making

we have been enjoying summer's fresh produce as much as we can. getting fruits and veggies from my mom, a local produce stand or farmers market. most recently we have enjoyed making our own lemonade. it seems to be my year to have inherited quite a few old treasures. my current favorite being this old juicer. it was passed down to me from a family friend of jason's. the lemonade turned out great. fresh and tart. not too sweet.

i also made eggplant parmesan this week. minus the cheese the dish was all homemade and homegrown. i've been enjoying making things entirely from scratch, when i have the time. its so satisfying, like finishing a project you've been working on for a while, only its takes less time and fills your belly with it's yummy goodness. i hope to be making some more sauce soon. to put some up for the winter.

the small stuff

i'm not going to lie... our living space is being turned upside down right now. i knew this was going to happen. it was inevitable, we knew this as soon as we bought the beautiful wreck. some days i'm ok with ignoring the piles of stuff and debris everywhere. some days i'm not. the wonderful thing is that it is summertime. i can flee the mess. go outside, find some beauty and some order elsewhere. the beauty above is a handmade quilt from my grammy. she recently passed away. sometimes that fact doesn't even register in my heart. for her memories are still very much living in me. her beautiful treasures surround me in my home. i loved her so.

our front porch is a magical place for me. i am surrounded by flowers, trees, the chatter of birds and the subtle voice and footsteps of neighbors walking along the gravel trail, alongside our house. i think i will be hanging out here even when winter comes.

here is the void where the stove pipe use to run into our kitchen. sorry to say, but we have no future plans to cook over a wood stove in our kitchen. progress is being made, in our topsy turvy house.

tales from my week

we are in project mode around here. we've finished tidying up the flower beds as best as we can this year. we have begun working on our kitchen. not a total rehab, just a little face lift until we have have the resources to go all out on it. i'm very excited to see how far some drywall, paint and a new floor will go. i've been sowing more. i made some presents for my niece's birthday,recently.also i have had some pillows sitting in my sowing area for some time. so with a new burst of creative energy, i worked up a pattern on my own for some slipcover pillow cases. pillows for out swing and new outdoor chairs. light yellow, the kind that bounce a little!

i also got spend an afternoon with my girls ( sister and nieces) at saint peter's village. a quaint town not to far from either of us. we enjoyed an exploration of the surrounding forest and a little bolder picnic.

cake chaos

i'm back. i know i took a very long break from this space. life has been chaotic, to say the least. amongst the chaos i've had some cake projects to work on. the first is a graduation cake for my dear friends sister. she is an awesome artist, so i tried to capture some of her current interest all into cake form!

this was a cake for a murder mystery party. it was apparently high school themed. geared for a younger crowd. hence the pom poms.

summer wedding and a vacation too!

my dear friend, got married across from one of the best waterfalls i've seen here on the east coast! the day was a beautiful one. the weather turned out lovely, the couple looked radiant and had the most beautiful vows.

this was my contribution to the day. my mom grew the flowers, i made the cake. together they both traveled very well.

afterwards we went camping at buttermilk falls state park. it was a great vacation. we visited many of the waterfall and gorges in the surrounding parks. went swimming in the waterfalls, took a few hikes and a drive around lake senenca. cooked many meals on the fire, finished a book, had cross-w0rd wars, and many games of rumi
back to work, back to baking.
hopefully i'll post more pictures of both the wedding and camping on flickr soon.