cereal treat bowls

August 21, 2018

Cereal treat dessert bowls have been popular for a while now. I thought I’d give it a try just once so I could put my own spin on it.

Since everything I’ve seen has been made with plain rice or fruit cereal, I decided to make some cereal treat bowls with a chocolate cereal. And what flavor goes best with chocolate? A darker chocolate? Coffee? Raspberry? Peanut butter? That’s it! I decided on peanut butter.

Peanut butter mousse in a chocolate cereal bowl sounds like a good combination!

I made the standard cereal treat recipe of 3 tablespoons of unsalted butter, 10 oz. of melted marshmallows, and 6 cups of cereal. I lightly sprayed some small bowls with cooking spray (and sprayed a little on my hands as well). Using my favorite little Anthro bowls as a guide, I spooned the mixture into them and used my fingers to form the mixture into a bowl shape. Since I don’t have air-conditioning, I popped them into the fridge for a little bit to set them up.

I chose little bowls to make a nice sized individual serving, but you can make your bowls in any size you’d like! Since I am making a mousse to put inside, I am leaving them as is. If you plan on putting something more liquidy (I know this probably isn’t a word) than a mousse, I would suggest melting some chocolate and spreading a coat to harden on the bottom before adding anything so it will act as a seal and prevent any of your dessert from leaking out.

For the peanut butter mixture – kind of a cross between a mousse and a cheesecake – I beat together 4 oz. cream cheese, 1/2 cup smooth peanut butter, 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract, and 2/3 cup heavy cream till smooth and then beat on high speed for a minute or two. I spooned this into the cups and garnished them with milk chocolate shavings. I think peanut butter ice cream would have been a better choice than the mousse idea. Whatever you spoon into the dessert bowls, be sure to do it just before serving so the bowls don’t get soggy.

Make a cereal treat bowl. Check. Have you tried making one? What did you serve inside it?

Thanks for stopping by! Have a great week!

Remember to take pleasure in simple things, Jackie

P.S. If you liked this, click here to see a similar treat I made recently…peanut butter cereal treat bites.

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white flowers are the best flowers

August 17, 2018

One of the first perennial borders planted by the founders of White Flower Farm was pure white. (For a short time, the owners even considered growing and offering only white-flowered perennials and shrubs..I wish that was carried through!)

I call my all-white garden a ‘virgin’ garden. At White’s, the all-white garden is called a ‘moon’ garden. The white border is planted with a white tree wisteria and looks crisp and refreshing during the day and positively glows at twilight – the reason for its name!

This garden is my favorite at the farm, but visitors can’t get too close to admire it. This changes once a year when White’s has their open house. During the open house tour – and the best part of it – visitors can get up close and personal to the fabulous moon garden!

This year, the open house happened on a rainy day, but I wasn’t going to miss the tour and my chance to get close to the moon garden!

Today, on Friday field trip, I am sharing some photos from the beautiful moon garden at White Flower Farm in Morris, Connecticut. Enjoy!

Thanks for stopping by! Have a fabulous weekend!

Remember to take pleasure in simple things, Jackie

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lesson learned

August 14, 2018

There are some things that are just out of our control. I learned this the hard way recently. I also learned how very lucky I am. The support I have been receiving from my family and friends during this tough time is truly amazing! I am humbled by all the amazing people that surround me.

Thank you. I could never even begin to express the love and gratitude I feel.

As I continue to grow stronger each day and try to get back to my regular schedule, I am happy to welcome you all back into my life. I may be a little slow on the upswing, but I am back!

Remember to take pleasure in simple things, Jackie xo

P.S. I will do the July giveaway I missed while on break next week.

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open house at white flower farm 2018

July 20, 2018

Yes, the day my friend and I planned on visiting White Flower Farm for their annual open house was a rainy day! But, that did not stop us from attending!

We weren’t going to let the rain get in the way of our day off and the fabulous prospect of visiting one of our favorite garden centers in Connecticut!

The annual open house is a great time to pick up some discounted plants, tour the grounds, and enjoy some complementary refreshments!

I purchased one of these ‘Little Henry’s’ to plant in my own yard!

For today’s Friday field trip, enjoy a little glimpse of White’s during this year’s open house. Enjoy!

Thanks for stopping by! Have a great weekend!

Remember to take pleasure in simple things, Jackie

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deviled eggs, hold the mayo

July 10, 2018

People find it hard to believe I don’t like mayonnaise. It’s true.

And, I think the reason I have never been crazy about deviled eggs is because of the mayonnaise in the filling. I’ve always eaten the outside, white of the egg and left the filling!

I decided if the mayo could be eliminated from the filling of the egg, I could enjoy the entire deviled egg!

So, for this year’s 4^th of July celebration, I made deviled eggs…minus the mayo!

My idea was to substitute yogurt – which I do like – for the mayo. I always have plain nonfat Greek yogurt in my fridge. I added that, as well as some fresh herbs from my garden, to the yolks of eggs for my deviled egg filling.

I boiled up a dozen organic eggs and got to work!

Here is what I ended up adding to a dozen egg yolks:

1/3 cup plus 2 Tablespoons organic, plain, nonfat Greek yogurt (you can adjust to desired consistency)
3 Tablespoons fresh chopped cilantro
3 teaspoons fresh chopped mint (plus more for garnish)
1 1/2 teaspoons curry powder
3/4 teaspoon black pepper
3/4 teaspoon turmeric
3/4 teaspoon sea salt

I cut the 12 eggs in half lengthwise. The 12 egg yolks went into a bowl and were mixed with the ingredients above. I mixed well with a fork. (Maybe a mixer could be used here for more of a whipped consistency filling, but I didn’t have one available.) After the filling was mixed well, I piped it (not very neatly, as you can see!) back into the egg white halves and finished with salt and pepper to taste and some chopped fresh mint from my garden to finish!

My deviled egg creations came out really tasty! Now that I have tried a nontraditional filling, I think next time I experiment with deviled eggs, I may just remove the yolks altogether! Alter the spices to suit your taste. (Try the Trader Joe’s everything bagel spice!)

Thanks for stopping by! Have a really fabulous and safe holiday!

Remember to take pleasure in simple things, Jackie

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flowers inspired by paintings

July 6, 2018

Art and the New England Farm is a currently on display at The Florence Griswold Museum, showcasing works by artists from the 19^th to 21^st century. I choose to visit the exhibit on a special weekend – one that also included Blooms with a View.

I was so very intrigued by the display of flower arrangements created from inspiration garnered from the Art and the New England Farm collection, I needed to share some of the works on today’s Friday field trip.

Each floral designer creating an arrangement, chose a painting from the collection to serve as an inspiration for their creation. What a cool art form! Maybe suggest it as an interesting activity for your garden club or even as a fundraising project!

I hope you are inspired as much as I was by this interesting exhibit that utilized flowers in a special way.

Note: The Florence Griswold Museum is an art museum which was the center of the Old Lyme Art Colony, centered on the home of Florence Griswold and the main center of development of American Impressionism. Easily accessible by I95, the museum is situated along the picturesque Lieutenant River in Old Lyme, Connecticut. The current exhibit Art and the New England Farm is on display through September 16^th.

Have a fabulous weekend. Remember to take pleasure in simple things, Jackie

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creating honey pairings

June 19, 2018

Connecticut is lucky to be the home of Red Bee Honey. And, lucky for me, I was able to have the opportunity to visit!

Carla Marina Marchese is the beekeeper behind this iconic brand and I couldn’t ask for a better source to learn about honey!

How did she become involved with beekeeping and honey?

In 2000, Marina was unexpectedly invited to visit a neighbor’s apiary where her first taste of fresh honey from the beehive would change the course of her life. This moving experience inspired her to take a risk and quit her job, build a beehive, and acquire a colony of Italian honeybees to become a full-time beekeeper. It was on a visit to Montalcino, Italy, “The City of Honey”, that Marina became passionate about the diverse flavor profiles of varietal honey determined by the type of nectar gathered by the honeybees.

Today, I want to share the five honey pairings I tasted during my visit. They were all so yummy! I think this will help expand your imagination on how to serve different varieties of honey:

1. orange blossom honey paired with goat cheese and rosemary

2. goldenrod honey paired with strawberries

3. tulip poplar honey paired with brie, walnut and arugula (pictured in opening photo)

4. raspberry honey paired with dark chocolate

5. clover honey paired with coconut and flower blossom

Sounds yummy, right? Honey is the perfect addition to a summer cheese tray!

I hope I have inspired you to look for interesting honey varieties at farmer’s markets and specialty stores (True, quality honey is not sold at grocery or big box stores!) and to think about interesting pairings!

Note: Marina is a member of the Italian Register of Experts in the Sensory Analysis of Honey and founder of The American Honey Tasting Society. Her best-selling book Honeybee: Lessons from an Accidental Beekeeper chronicles her entrepreneurial journey into beekeeping. Marina also wrote the chapter on honey in the international best-selling book Beekeeping for Dummies.

Herbal tea ice pops molded in glass test tubes.

Thanks for stopping by! Remember to take pleasure in simple things, Jackie

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frozen rosemary fudge pops

June 12, 2018

For me, there certainly is a lot of nostalgia associated with frozen treats. When I was a kid, the Good Humor driver would take his dinner break on our corner. And, I could buy a frozen fudge pop from the dairy farm across the street whenever I had enough coins to do so or whenever I could talk my dad into buying. (He would say: “You fly, I’ll buy.”)

These days, I try not to go overboard with the desserts, but I still love anything frozen – whether it be drinks, desserts, or pops. I like to make my own frozen pops now, so I can control what goes into them. And, I love to experiment with a variety of fruits and flavors.

Recently, I discovered a fabulous source for frozen pop recipes – a book called Glow Pops by Liz Moody. Not only are the pops made from these recipes delicious, but they are made from nutritious ingredients! Even if you don’t use the exact recipes in the book, the inspiration for using healthful ingredients in frozen pops is worth its purchase!

One example is my updated, healthful version of the fudge pops from my childhood, adapting a recipe from Glow Pops! Adding rosemary to the flavor profile and finishing them with salt brings these pops to a whole new ice pop level! Yummy!!

Empty a 13.5 ounce can of coconut milk (I buy it in the International aisle at the grocery store – leche de coco) into a pan and heat on medium high heat on the stove. When it boils, turn off the heat and add 3 sprigs of rosemary from the garden – let it sit 20 minutes to infuse the flavor. Remove the rosemary and pour the mixture into a blender, adding 2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, 6 Tablespoons organic coconut sugar and 6 Tablespoons of raw organic cacao powder. Blend until smooth and pour into ice pop molds. Freeze. Sprinkle with sea salt when ready to eat. This makes 4 (4 oz.) pops.

If you need an ice pop mold, Home Goods and Marshall’s always have them. I love Crate & Barrel’s Zoku Mod ice pop mold – it is designed to fit into freezer doors. Crate & Barrel also has a good rocket ice pop mold that is actually on sale right now for $3.47!

Do yourself a flavor (pun intended!) for the summer and get Liz Moody’s book Glow Pops and an ice pop mold! A very small investment for some really huge flavor enjoyment!

Thanks for stopping by!

Remember to take pleasure in simple things, Jackie

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country living rhinebeck 2018

June 8, 2018

My very favorite fair is the Country Living Fair. I love it. And, I have to say that Rhinebeck, NY – which happens to be the closest location of the fair to where I live – is also my favorite location. The Dutchess Country Fairgrounds provide a fabulous event location. The grounds are lush and green and, in addition to all the fabulous vendors, seminars, and demonstrations, the fairgrounds provides great food, free parking, and well-maintained restrooms.

I thought you might like to see a glimpse of this year’s fair offerings, so I am sharing some photos today on Friday field trip. My favorite booth was the one put together by South Porch Antiques. They not only provided a great selection of antiques, but (as always) they also did so in a stunningly visual way.

Enjoy the photos!

P.S. Something really fabulous happened to me in Rhinebeck at the fair and it made me so happy I chose not to skip the fair this year! I met one of my idols! Not only did I meet her, but we shared a hug and I got a chance to talk a little paint with her! You may have guessed by the word ‘paint’ that the person who I met was Annie Sloan! What a thrill! (Thanks to my sweet friend for capturing it on film! xo)

Have a wonderful weekend! Remember to take pleasure in simple things, Jackie

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books to bookmarks diy

June 5, 2018

Aren’t old books beautiful! A vintage book has an appeal that a new book just wouldn’t understand! I love decorating with vintage books…either as is, or by using pieces of them to create a DIY project.

Sometimes an old book will be in such bad shape that only pieces can be salvaged. Even so, there are plenty of uses for its pieces! That was the case with a really old, beautiful book recently. The cover had incredible character, but it was separated from the book. Even though it couldn’t be displayed as an entire book, I knew I had to come up with a use for the beautiful, vintage cover of the piece.

My thought was to cut the cover into strips and make the strips into bookmarks! The bookmarks would have the lovely character of the book’s cover and I would still have the old pages of the book for future projects…lovely, old, worn, faded, vintage pages!

Converting the cover into bookmarks was an easy DIY. First, I carefully cut long pieces with a craft knife fitted with a new blade. Next, I wanted to add a ribbon to the top. Rather than just punch a hole in the top of each strip, I used a grommet tool (you can find one for a few bucks in any craft shop) to add a grommet and make the finished product a little more dignified! I figured a book as old as this one deserved a little dignity!

I added a ribbon I purchased at the craft store. Choosing the ribbon was the most time consuming part of the project! I needed to find just the perfect ribbon! And, I think I did!