Peach Shortcake

One of the best things about summer is when fresh peaches appear at the farmers' market.  We made a trip Memorial Day weekend and I could smell them before I got inside the vendor's area.  Boy, was I excited.  Peaches surely smell like heaven, ergo:  heaven must smell like peaches.  The wonderful fragrance of peaches is something I look forward to each and every summer.  More than the fragrance of peaches, I look forward to eating fresh, sweet, delectable peaches anyway they can be fixed.

For Memorial Day I made a peach cobbler for us and a gluten free peach crisp for our son in love.  I will post that recipe tomorrow.  The gluten free peach crisp is delicious by the way.  Dan is not a major fan of cooked fruit.  He will eat peach cobbler, but he prefers peaches just sliced and sweetened, eaten mostly over ice cream.  Since we had family coming for dinner this weekend, I decided to make shortcake to have with our peaches.  This recipe is from Paula Deen and it is oh so good and really easy.

Here is what you need:

4 cups Bisquick baking mix
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 cups milk
2 tbsp melted butter
1 1/2 tsp almond flavoring (I used vanilla)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.  Grease a 12 cup muffin tin.  Mix all the ingredients together and pour into the muffin tin.  Bake for 15-20 minutes until brown.  Remove from oven and they look like this.

They look almost like popovers, but are sweet and soft like a big biscuit and they pair with the fresh sliced peaches beautifully.  I just peeled and sliced a big bowl of peaches and sweetened them with sugar and let them sit so the sugar would help draw the juice out.

When it was time for dessert, I sliced a shortcake in half and put sliced peaches and lots of juice on the bottom half of the shortcake.  Put the top on and added a few more peaches.  I made some fresh whipped cream and put a big dollop on top.  Dan added a big scoop of vanilla ice cream to his.  Whatever floats your boat.

I like the idea of the individual short cakes instead of one big cake so it doesn't get all soggy from the peaches and juice before we can eat it all.  You could use any kind of berry on these shortcakes.  How good would they be with fresh blackberries on them when they come in?  Oh my!

If you love peaches as much as we do, you will want to give this recipe a try for sure.  Oh, the pleasures of summer and all the wonderful fresh foods and fruits to enjoy.  It's a wonderful world we live in.

Everyday Donna

Things to Remember:

There is nothing like a warm summer day full of sunshine, toes in the grass, eating a fresh, ripe, juicy peach while the juice runs down your arm.   May be the closest we will get to heaven on earth.  donna

Grilled Romaine Salad - My New Fave

Happy Monday to you all.  Do you ever get tired of the same old salads over and over?   I sure do, so this weekend I tried something new and I have to tell you it is now my new favorite salad.  I had seen Bobby Flay grill romaine on his show on the Food Network and I wondered how it tasted.  Let me tell you, it's easy, super tasty and it will be made again and again in this house.   I put my own little spin on it and our dinner company LOVED it which made me glad I tried it.

Now, I never really thought about grilling lettuce did you?  Somehow it did not sound like there was any way it would be good.  The picture in my mind was super soggy lettuce.  Ugh.  Plain grilled lettuce maybe not, but if you doctor it up this way it is fantastic!  It still has crunch and a bit of a smokey flavor from the grill, the parmesan cheese adds some nuttiness and saltiness, the tomatoes add a wonderful sweet flavor and the tangy balsamic drizzle is over the top!

Here is what I did to make this salad.  I had three heads of Romaine (you know how it comes in a package of 3), so I used them all since there were a lot of us here for dinner.  Cut the romaine down the middle  from top to bottom keeping the root end in tact so it doesn't fall apart on the grill.  Lightly coat the inside and outside of each half of the romaine with good extra virgin olive oil using a brush.  Put it on the grill for about 2 minutes on each side, just to get a little char and some grill marks on each side.  Remove from the grill and place on a plate or in a 9x13 pan.  I alternated the top and bottom of the lettuce slices for interest on the plate.

I had grated about a cup of fresh parmesan cheese and sprinkled it over the cut sides of the romaine as soon as it came off the grill.  The lettuce is just warm enough that it will melt slightly.  I had about a cup of grape tomatoes and I sliced them into small rounds and scattered them over the romaine.  You know, lettuce and tomatoes go together like peas and carrots.

Now, to make the balsamic dressing to drizzle over the lettuce.  Place about 1/2 cup of extra virgin olive oil in a bowl.  Add 1 tablespoon of good balsamic vinegar to the olive oil.  Make a paste from 1 large clove of garlic.  To do this, mince the garlic and place some salt on a cutting board.  Using the broad side of the knife blade, mash the garlic into the salt over and over until it forms a paste.  Add the garlic paste to the olive oil/vinegar mix.  Add a pinch if salt, lots of black pepper, and a tsp of sugar.  Mix vigorously with a whisk or fork until the balsamic vinegar combines with the olive oil.  Simply drizzle the dressing over the cut heads of romaine using a spoon.  That's it.  Your salad is ready and is it ever good!

I cut the long pieces of romaine in half because it makes a BIG salad for one person unless that is all you are having (which would not be a bad thing believe me).  There were a couple of pieces left after dinner and I put them in a corning ware dish and saved them for today.  It was just as good today as it was yesterday.  Yummo!

Next time you are wanting a different kind of salad, this is the one for you.  The  combination of flavors is outstanding.  There is the salty parmesan with the tangy vinaigrette combined with the sweet tomatoes and crunchy, smoky lettuce.  (I do recommend fresh parmesan over the grated kind in a jar.  It has a different texture and I don't know if the pre grated kind will melt).  Words will just not describe this salad to satisfaction, you are just going to have to give it a try.  Let me know what you think.

Everyday Donna

Things to Remember:

Don't be afraid to try new things when it comes to food, you may discover a new favorite.

New Summer Decorations

Hooray, it's FRIDAY!  Are you looking forward to the weekend?  We sure are.  The weather is absolutely fabulous today.  The temp hovered around  70 and it was so nice not to roast so early in the summer season.  It has been awfully hot awfully early.  We got some much needed rain and our garden is looking fabulous.  The squash are blooming, there are some green tomatoes on the vine and some little peppers on the pepper plants.  It won't be long until we will be enjoying some yummy produce directly from our yard.

All of our spring decorations were changed over right before memorial day.  Remember my spring/Easter decorations on this cabinet?  I had a wreath and a small banner on the wicker arch and a beautiful bunny and a little blue bird on the cabinet top.  You can find it in an earlier post if you don't remember.  Well, spring decorations have been put away, and we moved on to our summer Americana theme to celebrate our patriotic holidays, the upcoming Summer Olympics and presidential election.  Actually, I just really love Americana and these events gave me an excuse to make some new decorations.  It really doesn't take much for me.

This cabinet sits inside our front door and is the first thing you see when entering the house.  It is also visible from the living room and the kitchen, so I always like to have something special on it for each season.  On the top of the wicker arch sitting on the cabinet, I made a paper cone wreath in the colors of our flag.  The plaque beneath was made on one of my $5.00 unfinished cabinet doors I found at the Habitat store.  The USA letters came from JoAnn's which I painted, and I highlighted them from behind with some glittered red #40 ribbon that is gorgeous!

The wreath is made on a piece of cardboard from a shoebox and the cones are two sided scrapbook paper that was on sale 5 pieces for a $1.  Total cost for the wreath was $3.00.  I bought 5 pieces of red, 5 white and 5 blue.  That's my kind of price.  Cone wreaths are all over the blogosphere these days.  Most of them are made from the pages of old books or sheet music and I love the way they look.  Since I wanted patriotic colors, I turned to scrapbook paper.  You could also use construction paper, it's just a littler more matte than the scrapbook paper.

To make the wreath, I measured the area where it would hang and drew a circle on a piece of cardboard with a smaller circle in the middle.  After doing that, I decided I would not cut the middle out like a regular wreath, so I simply marked the center of the circle so I would know where I would place the ends of the cones.

Scrapbook paper is 12x12, so I cut each piece into 4  6x6 squares.  Using a ruler, mark 6 inches to the center vertically and horizontally and cut along the lines.  The next step is to roll your cones and you can make them pointed or round, your preference  I liked pointed.  Place a dot of hot glue on the underside of the point where it is rolled around the middle of the cone and hold until set.

To place the cones on the cardboard backing, I started with navy blue at 9 and 12 o'clock.  Then I placed red and white cones alternately back around to the navy blue and hot glued them to the cardboard.  I would recommend laying out your pattern before you begin gluing the cones down.  Paper will tear if you have to move it after gluing it down.  

Ack, I forgot to rotate the picture when I edited it.  So, just look at it sideways and you will get the drift.
Now, it's time to fill in the circle.  Place more red cones next to red, and more white next to white on the cardboard and then glue them down.  Then, you will make a top row by placing cones between the ones on the bottom row.  Lay them out first, then glue them to the bottom cones.   You just sort of have to play it by ear here.  To finish the wreath, I used a big star cookie cutter I have and traced a star on a white piece of scrapbook paper for the middle.   The star covers where all the cone points come together and it looks sort of unfinished.  I put some Mod Podge on the star and sprinkled it with white glitter and glued it to the center of the wreath when it dried.  Ta da!  Done.

You may figure out another way to do your wreath, but this is what mine looks like completed.  It's inexpensive and quite showy, don't you think?  Not bad for $3.00 plus tax.

The red plaque underneath was simply spray painted and then I stamped a line from "America" that says "from every mountainside let freedom ring."  I wrote down patriotic lines that I could think of before deciding on this one.  Even had to sing a bunch of songs through to come up with lines, but it was kind of fun.  Of course, there are some stars stenciled on it!  You know me and stars.   After looking at it, I decided it needed some blue, so I used navy blue acrylic paint and simply followed one of the raised edges on the panel.

The USA letters were $2.99 each at JoAnn's and were all white.  I painted them barn red, ivory, and navy blue and sat them on the cabinet top after they dried.  That glittery red ribbon just ties everything together and of course, it SPARKLES!  What could be better?

Here's a close-up of the vignette.  I like that wicker arch so much, I couldn't bear to take it down after Easter.  It adds height to the cabinet, but is still open and airy and present many decorative possibilities.

I hope this will give you some ideas for things you can do that won't cost a lot of money, but will add beauty and interest to your home.  Be sure and join me next week, we are going to be talking food which everyone enjoys and must have.  I've got some good recipes and summertime ideas for you.  Have a great weekend.

Everyday Donna

Things to Remember:

Surround yourself with things you love and they don't always have to cost a lot of money.

How To Use Metal Leaf

Somehow, it is Wednesday and I am way behind on "things" in my life.  The three day weekend sort of threw my schedule for a loop.  By the way, how was your weekend?  Hope it was spectacular, ours certainly was even though the weather was more like the 4th of July it was so hot.  Thankfully, it is going to cool down a bit this week.

Yesterday, our oldest daughter was in need of our help.  She had a hernia repaired a week ago and still can't pick anything up and she needed to go to the grocery.  She has three sons, one of whom is a 22 month old which proves challenging in the "can't pick anything up" department.   Her pick up limit is 10 pounds and  grocery sacks for a family that size weigh more than 10 pounds, so it was Grandma and Pawpaw to the rescue.  Afterward, we ran some errands and by the time we got home and had dinner, it was time to watch the Next Design Star on HGTV, therefore I didn't get my blog posted.   Time sure can go by in a hurry.  I don't watch much TV, but Next Food Network Star and Next Design Star are two of my "must watch" shows.  Do you have some of those in your life?

Anyway, I wanted to continue my series on Americana decorations that I am using here at the little yellow cottage this summer.  The picture above shows what I am using on the front of the house in honor of the Olympics and presidential election.  I wanted something other than a wreath, so this is what I came up with.  The star was one I have had for several years and it was a rusty red color.

If you don't know me well, you may not know my love for all things stars.  I have them in all sizes, shapes and colors.  Needless to say, I decided to doctor this one up a bit for a more Americana look so I painted it to look like this using acrylic craft paints.

Voila! - that gave it a whole new look didn't it?  I simply used navy blue on the left hand part of the star and stenciled white stars on it when the paint was dry.  Then, I used ivory and painted every other side of the remaining points on the star.  It now has a true Americana look and the cost was only time since everything else was on hand.

I wanted to add USA underneath, so I purchased some mache' letters at JoAnn's for $2.99 each.  I painted one barn red, one ivory, and one navy blue. The front of our house has cedar shake on it which can look rather dark under the porch roof even on a sunny day, so I decided I would put metal leaf on the edges of the letters to brighten them up and make them easier to see from the street.

Metal leaf comes in gold, silver, bronze, copper, and some variegated colors.  I used the gold color.  This is not to be confused with real gold leaf which is no less than 22 carat gold.  Metal leaf comes in packages that you can buy at the craft store and you also need a bottle of Metal Leaf Adhesive Size to apply it.  A package will cost around $8.00 and so will a bottle of the adhesive, but it goes a long, long way.  There are 25 sheets to a package.  Fortunately, I had this on hand also.

This is what the back of the package says about metal leaf.
"What is Metal Leaf?  Metal Leaf is a micro-thin sheet of metallic composition metal packaged and separated by pages of tissue paper.  All through history in the world of decorative arts, gold leaf has played a very prominent roll.  This same phenomena is just as true today as precious metals continue to exemplify quality and good taste.  With inexpensive composition leaf, we are now able to afford that special look in home decor and personal accessories.  Our new products and techniques make the leafing process fun and foolproof with satisfying results every time."


This is how the metal leaf looks in the package.

Each sheet is micro thin, but very easy to apply.  You simply apply the adhesive wherever you want the leaf to show.  I used a small square shader brush and went around the edges of each letter.

The adhesive will be milky looking when first applied  (you can see some at the bottom of the "U").  As it dries, it becomes opaque and very tacky.  After an hour's drying time, you can begin to apply the metal leaf.  You just tear small pieces off and rub it over the adhesive using your finger.

There is little to no waste since you can pick up all the little tiny pieces and rub them over the adhesive. It gives a very smooth finished look and mimics real gold leaf for a miniscule fraction of the price.  Metal leaf can be used on anything - furniture, candles, jewelry, ornaments, picture frames - the list is endless - just use your imagination.  Here are the finished letters.

It only takes a short amount of time to use the metal leaf and it is so much fun.  It's one of those mindless craft projects that has a beautiful outcome.  I attached the letters together using sisal twine and some hot glue and hung them on the front of the house.  Then I placed my Americana star above them.

LOVE the way this looks on the front of the house.  The metal leaf outline makes the letters pop from the street and this wall hanging can used for the rest of the summer.  

If you have objects that you love in your decorative "stash" and don't really want to part with them, find a new life for them by using things like paint, metal leaf, or by rearranging objects from one room to another.  It can save you lots of money and add new interest to your home.  Or, you might consider trading things with friends or family for a new and different look.  Paint and metal leaf can completely change the look of any piece of furniture or object and it doesn't cost nearly as much as replacing that object.  You also have the satisfaction of saying "I did it myself."  Crafts are a way of expressing yourself.  Give it a try, you will be surprised what seeing with "new eyes"  and a little work with your hands can do.

Everyday Donna

Things to Remember:

Crafts make us feel rooted, give us a sense of belonging and connect us with our history. Our ancestors used to create these crafts out of necessity, and now we do them for fun, to make money and to express ourselves.
Phyllis George

Inexpensive Placemats, Napkins and Napkin Rings You Can Make

Since my summer decor theme is Americana, I needed place mats, napkins and napkin holders for our table.  By now, you know that I don't like, nor do I have, a lot of money to spend on things like this.    But, I still like things to look a certain way, so that means a little ingenuity.  I have had red place mats that I have used for several years, but of course this year I wanted to use blue and I wanted to put some kind of decoration on them.  On a recent trip to Dollar Tree, I found these round straw place mats just like my red ones that I paid a LOT more money for and they were only $1 each.  Now that is my kind of price.  They also had these tea towels in navy, red and white that I knew could be turned into napkins.  (I like to use fabric napkins when we have guests).  There were also bolts of #40 ribbon (#40 is 2.5 inches wide) in patriotic patterns that were 3 yards for a dollar which is a great price, so I picked up three bolts because there is always something that can be done with ribbon.

I purchased 6 placemats for our table, 4 tea towels that would make 8 napkins and my ribbon.  My investment was $13.00 total.  Not bad for table decorations.  I paid more than that for 4 red place mats, so count me happy.

When I got home, I had to decide how to decorate my place mats.  I wanted something simple, not too fussy.  We have white Pfaltzgraff Heritage dishes that we have had for 42 years that would be perfect with these colors and complement the Americana theme.  I had a stencil with stars on it that I used to make my flag banner, so I decided I would cluster some of the stars on one side of the placemat and that would be all that was needed.  All it took was some ivory acrylic craft paint that I already had, a stencil brush and a little time and the place mats were done.

The place mats went from this to this.  Done.  Now, to make the napkins.

All I did was take the tea towels and cut them in half.

I opened each towel up and simply turned the cut edge under 1/4 inch and then another 1/4 inch so that each napkin had a finished edge.  Since three sides were already hemmed, I only had to hem one side on each napkin -  fabulously easy and two napkins for $1.00.  Now, I needed napkin holders.  Hmmm. What was I going to use?

I had just finished a roll of paper towels to clean up some paint brushes and I stood there looking at that cardboard roll, when I thought why not?  I simply cut the cardboard along the glue marks where the first towel is attached to the cardboard.  The are evenly spaced and I got 7 pieces of cardboard.  I used a piece the same size from an empty toilet paper roll and I had 8 potential napkin rings.  Cost?  Zip, zero, nada.  Yes!

I simply cut a 12 inch piece of ribbon and used a hot glue gun to run a bead of glue on the inside of the tube near the top edge.

Now, place one end of the ribbon, right side out, on the glue and press it down flat.  I used a pencil so I didn't burn my finger.

Next, wrap the ribbon around the tube making sure it overlaps and completely covers the cardboard tube.  When  you get to the end, run another bead of glue on the ribbon and press the ribbon end onto the glue and trim.

Eight napkin rings for $1.00 is not a bad price if you have priced napkin rings.  They can be quite expensive and these will get us through the summer season.

Fold your napkins however you want and slide your napkin ring down over the napkin.  How easy is that?  You now have place mats, napkins and rings for six place settings.  Napkins will normally cost $2.99 each even in discount stores, so 50 cents per napkin is a great bargain.  If you don't sew, you can use stitch witchery or fabric glue to finish your napkins.  A little paint, ribbon and hot glue will finish the napkin rings and place mats.  Easy Peasy Lemon Squeezy and the cost can't be beat!

Everyday Donna

Things to Remember:


“Life is the greatest bargain - we get it for nothing."    Yiddish Proverb

Olympics, Election - It's Americana

When Dan and I were first married in 1969, the color trends were avocado green, gold and orange.  Those were not my color preferences.  For the most part, I have been an Americana kind of decorator for many years.  Red, white and blue have always been one of my favorite color combinations in home decor and clothing.  Don't ask me why, I couldn't really tell you.  I just love the way the colors go together and of course, they are the colors of our country's flag.  Thanks you Betsy Ross.

Since this is an Olympic year (and who doesn't love the Olympics), and also a national election year, I decided to go Americana in my summer accessories.  Last summer I went with a beach look, lots of shells and aqua blues and that look makes me happy.  But this year, I wanted to celebrate the summer Olympics.  Of course, this weekend is Memorial Day, then there is Flag Day and the Fourth of July coming up - so red, white and blue it is!

I like muted colors so I used a barn red fabric, ivory and navy blue for the banner I made for our fireplace.  I stitched some of the red and ivory together in 2 inch strips to represent the red and white stripes of our flag.  The navy was stenciled with ivory stars to represent the field of stars on our flag.  The banners are 8 inches long by 6 inches wide.  Really simple to do.  Using a hot glue gun, I glued the banners to a piece of sisal twine and attached it to the mantel with some push pins.

The plaque on the mantel was painted on an unfinished cabinet door I found at the Habitat for Humanity store for $5.00.  Actually, I bought lots of these doors in different sizes.  They are cheaper than buying unfinished wood at the craft store.  Just something for you to keep in mind and it helps a great cause when you buy things there.

The plaque says "with liberty and justice for all" which I took from our pledge of allegiance.  I turned the door sideways and then painted the top and bottom edge a barn red color, the two end pieces navy blue and the middle panel an ivory color.  The stars were stenciled in ivory using the same stencil I used for the flag panels.  After painting on the words from the pledge, I waxed the entire panel with Annie Sloan clear wax and then went over it with Annie Sloan dark wax.  If you have never used her products, they are amazing!   The wax gives the plaque an aged look that I really like.

I don't know about you, but I get really excited when it is an Olympic year, especially the summer olympics.  While the national election and politics sadly seems to be very divisive to our country, the Olympics brings out the best in our country, and the world, for a few short weeks.  Cheering on everyone who has dedicated their lives and bodies to the very best they can be is something we can ALL appreciate and politics are put aside.  I have so much admiration for all of the participating athletes!

Isn't it interesting that the host country is England, the country we declared our independence from in 1776?  Just another reason to celebrate the red, white and blue this year!   Can't wait to see what records are broken and who wins medals.  Hurray for the Olympic spirit.

Everyday Donna

Things to Remember:

There is something in the Olympics, indefinable, springing from the soul, that must be preserved.    Chris Brasher

Secret Garden Update - How To Add Lighting Effects

We can now enjoy our new "secret garden" day or night.  All it took was the addition of some lighting and voila!  we are all set.  It is not hard to tell that the lights along the fence are just white Christmas lights, but that beautiful glow under the asparagus fern may be much harder to figure out.

This idea came from The Art of Doing Stuff.com.  She has some incredible ideas, and as we worked on the garden my mind kept going back to her lighting idea and I just knew we had to give it a try.  It is not expensive and is very easy to do.  What do you think makes that beautiful glow?  It's just white globes like you would put on a ceiling type light fixture with white Christmas lights stuffed inside.  

Now you get the picture!  How awesome is that?  They are like your own personal moon glow.  The original post from TADS suggested finding globes at flea markets or antique stores, but we just went to Home Depot and bought two different sized globes.  That was much simpler if you ask me.  They are not terribly expensive (under $20 for the two) and it was one stop shopping.  We had lots of white lights from Christmas, many in unopened boxes, so I used a strand of 35 for the small globe and a 50 strand for the bigger globe.  Just stuff them inside, connect them together by the plugs on the cord and attached to an outdoor extension cord.  Makes sure your lights are indoor/outdoor since they are on the ground!  This is something you can do in any garden space or even along a walkway.  It looks stunning at night!  Now, I want to sing "It must have been moon glow, way up in the blue......"

Since my last post about the "secret garden," I have added a few things.  First, we put down newspaper and wet it.  Did you know that makes a great weed barrier and you don't have to go buy anything special?  It really works.  Then, we covered the whole area with pea gravel to give it an more uniform look.  

Now, hopefully, there won't be much weeding to do.  Weeding is not one of my favorite tasks.  I wound lights through the fence and added a little sign I have had hanging in my garden for years and years.  I just hung it over the fence.  Easy peasey.

Now the cat is out of the bag.  You can tour my garden for a minimum fee of 5 cents!  Is that a major bargain or what?   

You will notice there are a couple of concrete plaques that I added to the wall behind the garden for interest.   Another thing I have had for eons.  I like to decorate outside just like inside.  We spend a lot of time on the deck and in the yard and it just makes everything more visually appealing and homey.

Everything is shaping up nicel.   I am sitting on the deck as I type this looking at my beautiful "secret garden."  I have done a lot of work out of doors the past couple of days, but it makes me so happy. Soon, it will just be summer maintenance only and lots of time to kick back and enjoy the fruits of our labor.  I love spring/summer when we get to that point, don't you?  

This is the garden at dusk.  It's so serene and peaceful (except for the loud music coming from the General Jackson not far from us on the river).   They will begin their cruise soon, so it will be nothing but the sounds of the birds and an owl who hoots now and then.  Oh, and I hear geese honking, now a woodpecker.  Talk about bliss.  

Wish you were here to enjoy one of these lovely summer evenings with us.  There is dessert and coffee (or your favorite beverage) on the deck, the sounds of nature and an occasional tug passing on the river.  Who can complain about that?  Life is  good and we are so very blessed.  

Everyday Donna

Things to Remember:

"The summer night is like a perfection of thought."-   Wallace Stevens