Travel Tuesday - The San Juan Islands

images found via yahoo

I want to visit the San Juan Islands. Don't they look beautiful? Now I just need to find a Rick Steves type guide for the Pacific Northwest - any suggestions?
-c

ikea curtains

I bought these curtains from Ikea this weekend. I need to put them up to see if they will match my bedroom, I am not sure if I am sold...

Wheat Grass

I am very excited for spring. It keeps promising me it has arrived but a rainy day like today is not the spring I am seeking. I am excited to play outside and begin planting.

The other day I saw on We Chirp ( a fun blog you should check out) a link to Dandee's etsy shop and the above pictured can of spring. After a phone call to my mother, who called our ultimate crafting source of knowledge, my aunt, I learned how to grow wheat grass. It is so easy and perfect for spring.

First you need to buy hard red winter wheat berries. You can buy these at any organic health food type store such as Whole Foods or Wild Oats. After procuring the berries bring them home and soak them in water for 24 hours. Next drain the water.

You can plant your wheat grass in any type of container with very damp soil. I really like the container that Dandee used or you could use a shorter pan so that you can keep your grass short and put Easter eggs in it.

Whatever you choose, you want to take the wheat berries and sprinkle them over the dirt. The first time I did it I was not very liberal in my spreading and it is not as thick as I would like. So I would spread it over the dirt very thick like in the picture below.

After you have spread it out take a piece of plastic wrap and place it down right on the wheat berries. You want to keep it very moist so that they will sprout. You will want to leave the plastic wrap on until they have started sprouting. During this time you want to make sure it stays very damp and moist. You can either sprinkle some water on by hand or a squirt bottle would work well. You don't want it to drown in water, just to be damp.
And pretty soon the wheat berries will begin sprouting.
and blades will begin to pop up! (this is the one where I did not put enough wheat berries on)

And Wheat Grass! It grows really fast. I just keep the dirt damp by watering it every day or two. I have already cut my daughter's (the one in the red dixie cup) down.

If you are really healthy, I hear drinking shots of wheat grass is all the rage. But I'm just really trying to grow some spring inside.

-C

*Just a little note, you remember Guest Blogger Camille? She will be a regular contributor now. So any references to "my children", it's all her.

getting ready for summer

I think this is one of my favorite Martha ideas, ever. I will be searching eBay for oil candles.

I think these are very clever and fun napkin rings, found here and here.

I love this candle centerpiece. I will be trying this watermelon drink this summer, my husband is obsessed with watermelon and this could be a fun twist.

grown up color

I was reading an article about "grown up color" on House Beautiful today and I was intrigued. I like the idea of using bold colors, but I think that you probably have to have some good natural light to pull it off. What do you like, neutral colors with bold accents, bold colors with neutral accents, or just neutral or bold? You can see the article here.

garden style

Click here and take the quiz to find your garden style...

photo found here

summer dinner

I saw this picture on Design to Inspire and I fell in love with the ambiance the hanging candles creates.

annual plants

Globe amaranth and Begonias


Cockscomb/celosia (this is a good one for adding a different texture to your garden) and a classic, Geraniums



Heliotrope and Snapdragons



Impatiens and New Guinea Impatiens


I think this is a good example of a diverse garden, you have different sizes, shapes, colors and textures. When you are planting your flowers, it is always a good idea to dip the roots in fertilizer (like miracle grow) before planting, if you do that and continue to fertilize you will get more and larger blooms.


You can read more about annual plants here.

grilling

Grilling season is almost here and I am excited. Ever since my husband found a free grill on Craigslist last year we have been obsessed. We grilled our dinner probably 4 times out of 7 last summer. Here are some recipes that I either love or want to try.

Chimichurri is an Argentine concoction that is simply amazing. I love it. My brother makes traditional Argentine steak sandwiches with a thinly sliced piece of steak grilled, rustic white bread, provolone cheese and a tomato and puts chimichurri on the steak and bread. You will smell like garlic for days, but it so good.

Balsamic Chicken Bruschetta, this is one of my favorite blogger recipe finds. I usually just make the balsamic mixture and grill it but I am sure it is even better with all the trimmings.

Kofta and Spanakopita Burgers- I have new obsession with Greek and Middle Eastern food and conveniently it would seem that More than Burnt Toast shares this obsession, along with her delicious recipes.


Grilled Asparagus- I love grilled asparagus. I want to try it with the lemon chive twist that this recipe gives, but I usually salt and pepper and then throw on some freshly grated Parmesan. I want to get one of those vegetable things for our grill this summer.



Grilled Flat bread- This looked so good I had to include it. They used it as an appetizer but I think it could easily be substituted for a main dish with a salad on the side.


Rosemary Chicken Skewers with Berry Sauce- I think skewers are the best. They are easy and usually quite good. Plus they are fast.

Grilled French Bread Pizza- I liked this take on pizza, although I would probably only use the concept, not the recipe. This seems quick and easy and sounds better than the English muffin pizzas.

White Pizza- I love white pizza. Although I would make many changes from the recipe. Starting with my recommendations. Cheese- the four cheese shredded cheese from Trader Joe's. Pizza dough- herb dough home made or from Trader Joe's. Chicken- grill my own.

Grilled Steak- I found this on Martha Stewart's site, the blue cheese is what sold me.

i found it!

I was blog hopping today and I found the perfect wall color on My Happy Little Life (see here). It is not overpowering but it is not white! Yep, I'm sold.

inauguration day

I finally got the picture of the cake I made for the office Inauguration Day Party. It was very tasty. I learned three very important things while making this cake.
1- It is essential to melt or soften butter when making frosting so you don't have small chunks of butter.
2- Icing between the layers would make it much better and not taste dry.
3- I really need cake decorating bags and tips, the zip lock bag didn't really cut it.
And actually I learned a fourth as well, make sure to count the stripes correctly, even late at night.

around the blogging world...

Some blog posts to love,

Favorite Fabric and Books on Design Mom

Gardening and Elements of Style on Black Eiffel

Asian Lettuce Wraps with Dipping Sauce on My Kitchen Cafe

Tips for Decorating a Small Space (third post down) on Interior Candy

photo found here.

spring is here

I love this cardigan and these shoes that I saw in Boden's latest catalog. Especially the shoes.

st. pat

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

photo found via flickr.

le creuset

I love Le Creuset products. I love the bright colors. I really want a stockpot for my soups and roasts, it looks like it could make a mean pan gravy. When I was looking at the stockpots I saw the mini tart pans and fell in love with them. I have a friend who uses her mini tart pans for creme brulee, measuring food while cooking and all other manner of things. I am always envious of her small tart pans. I found these at Sur La Table, but I have seen them at Home Goods for far cheaper.