pleasure in simple things

homemade ice cream on the beach

July 7, 2015

Did you enjoy your weekend? Mine was the best! So many of my family members were together and the fireworks were the best I’ve seen…all in all; a great holiday!

Today, I am trying to catch up with work and with household chores, but I am taking some time to share a recipe for the ice cream I made over the weekend.

Going into the weekend, I was having some trouble deciding what flavor ice cream to make. I thought I would try making s’mores flavor. It seemed like a challenge. Maybe roast some marshmallows first and add marshmallow, graham crackers, and chocolate chips. I still need to give that a try at some point!

What I decided on for the Fourth of July was a ‘Ferris Acres inspired’ coconut chocolate chunk. You may remember Ferris Acres from this post (click here). I am not sure if it was the flavor or the work that went into the cranking that made it so good, but I thought it came out perfect! (I do need to give some credit to my daughter’s boyfriend – I had some helpers, but he did the lion’s share of the cranking!)

Coconut Chocolate Chunk Ice Cream Recipe (makes 5 quarts)
5 cups of milk (*see note below)
1 14 oz. can coconut milk, unsweetened
4 eggs
1 Tablespoon pure vanilla extract
2 ½ cups sugar
4 cups whipping cream
¼ teaspoon salt
1 14 oz. bag sweetened, flaked coconut, roughly chopped
3 1.5 ounce bars Ghirardelli Intense Dark Evening Dream 60% cacao bars, roughly chopped

*I substituted some of the 5 cups of milk with the coconut milk. I used the can of coconut milk first and then added enough milk to make 5 cups of liquid.

Beat eggs until foamy. Gradually add sugar, beating until thickened. Add cream, vanilla, and salt and mix thoroughly. Pour into ice cream maker canister. Add milk and stir well. (If your maker has a fill line, do not go over it.)

Put covered canister into fridge, as well as the prepared coconut and chocolate, until really cold.

Prepare in your ice cream maker. I use a hand crank using ice and pour salt over the ice. I used two bags of ice for this batch.

After the ice cream is done, stir in the cold chocolate and coconut and set the canister in the freezer overnight to set.

Eat plenty and often. ;)

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

Sharing with Sand & Sisal, Elizabeth & Co., and Coastal Charm.

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american waters: a marine exhibition

July 3, 2015

For today’s Friday field trip, I am very excited to take you to American Waters: A Marine Art Exhibition in Old Lyme, Connecticut. This summer exhibition of work by the country’s premier maritime artists is on view in the Lyme Art Association’s beautiful sky-lit galleries. American Waters represents a showing of the very best of fine contemporary American marine paintings. A jury exhibition of marine art by the Association’s member artists are on view alongside art by invited artists from the American Society of Marine Artists.

One of my very favorite pieces from the collection is View from the Top by James Magner.

Here is a detail photo from the piece. I wish I had the budget to purchase the entire collection of over 120 works (which I don’t), but if I had the budget to purchase just one for myself, this may very well be my choice!

Remember that these paintings are far more magnificent in person than a photo could ever convey. Also, in the gallery the pieces are all displayed in frames. Here, I chose to show them to you without the frames since I thought the frames were distracting in a photograph. With that being said, here are some of my other favorite works.

Discovery by Shauna Shane

Beached by Joan Poarch

Meandering by Kim Muller-Thym

Dog Days by Catherine Puccio

Solitude by Faripour Forouhar

Morning Light by Kent Winchell

Slack Time by Deborah Kotchen

I hope you enjoyed sharing some of the wonderful works on display at The Lyme Art Association. If you live in Connecticut or are passing through, be sure to stop by the exhibit – it is easily accessible off I95 and well worth a visit.

I am very much looking forward to the Art Association’s upcoming exhibition Summer Days, Starry Nights & Connecticut Pastel Society opening on August 14th. If you want more details about upcoming exhibits, check the website by clicking here for more information.

Thanks so much for stopping by! Have a wonderful holiday weekend!

Remember to take pleasure in simple things, Jackie

Sharing with Thoughts From Alice, Finding Silver Pennies, and House of Hipsters.

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july book giveaway!

June 30, 2015

Talk about pleasure in simple things – what could be better than a juicy, vine-ripened heirloom tomato? Colorful, tangy, juicy, and sweet, heirloom tomatoes are the essence of summer! This month’s giveaway book selection pays tribute to this wonderful summer staple! The title of the selection is The Heirloom Tomato Cookbook by Mimi Luebbermann with luscious photographs by Dan Mills and Robert Holmes.

From soups and salads to main courses and desserts, heirloom tomatoes are as versatile as they are colorful, with dozens of different flavors, sizes, and colors to explore. This wonderful book includes recipes, gardening tips, wine pairings, and tomato lore.

Cooking and gardening expert Mimi Luebbermann has created a wonderful resource for cooks and gardeners alike! Leave a comment on this month’s giveaway post to be entered to win this marvelous book! Good luck!

Thanks to everyone for your interest in the June giveaway Vibrant Food by Kimberley Hasselbrink. Click here to see more about this book. The winner of this June giveaway is Kara from Arizona! Congrats!

Instagram lovers, read on! In keeping with this month’s giveaway title, our Instagram challenge for July is to tag tomato photos this month! Use #pleasuregram to share the best captures of this wonderful summer food! Thanks so much for stopping by! Remember to take pleasure in simple things, Jackie

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patriotic driftwood bubble wands

June 26, 2015

The Fourth of July at the beach is great! And, just like in the rest of the nation, some serious red, white, and blue action is going down! It starts early in the day with the kick-off red, white, and blue parade. The kiddies dress themselves, their bikes, their dogs – and just about anything else you can think of – in the colors of the day! Once the evening arrives, a magnificent display of fireworks is the crowning glory of these patriotic hues.

The relaxed vibe at the beach makes it easy to create – most times using items found on the beach. A classic example is the crab catcher. This handy item is crafted from an old wooden clothespin and some string. When baited with whatever scrap of meat or meat related product can be salvaged, it works its magic!

Another handy item for the beach is a bubble maker aka bubble wand. For the holiday, this can be a fun patriotic craft! Using some dish detergent (1 tablespoon dish liquid per 1 cup water) and some homemade bubble wands, it is super simple to create some fun in the sand. Running along the beach after bubbles can keep the young (or young at heart) occupied for hours!

Bubble wands are easy to make using pipe cleaners and driftwood. They can be decorated with shells, scraps of ribbon, or any other number of items washed up on shore. Some crafters take time for elaborate decorations. while others work fast; anxious to get to the bubble part! (Yes, the star shapes do work to make bubbles, but are much more complicated for young fingers to create.)

For today’s Friday field trip, I wanted to show you some of the wands I made at the beach. You can use wire or stiff ribbon – anything that will hold its shape. I used items I already had. The smaller ones here are made with a sparkly wired ribbon and the others are made with metallic pipe cleaners.

I like to make the bubbles by dipping the wands into a shallow container of the bubble liquid; especially for the larger bubble wands. This makes it easy to dip the wand and the shallow container helps avoid knocking over the solution. Remember, the larger the wand, the larger the bubble!

And, for some extra night time fun, break open a glow stick to add to your bubble solution for some glow-in-the-dark bubbles!

I hope I have inspired you to create some bubble wands of your own!

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

Sharing with House of Hipsters, Thoughts From Alice, Craftberry Bush, Nancherrow, and The Shabby Nest.

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baby robins are born

June 23, 2015

How was your Father’s Day weekend? As I suspect it is for most gals that have lost their dads, Father’s Day is kind of sad for me. When my children were small, I was wonderfully distracted by helping them with festivities to celebrate their dad. As they get older; not so much.

This year, I had a wonderful distraction. Over the past weekend, I was able to watch a new dad take care of his two babies! The dad I am referring to is a father robin and he has been caring for his two little newborn birds in a nearby primrose bush!

The little newborns are so cute – in an ugly sort of way, of course. I will have another 10 days or so before they leave the nest and I am enjoying the show! Both parents are frantically back and forth to the nest, feeding the little tikes.

When the parents are away from the nest, the babies stay very still and look like they are hiding. Instinctively, I think they must stay still for protection. As soon as the parents come close, the little ones have their mouths wide open and are ready to accept the next morsel!

You may have seen the Instagram video (click here and click follow to see Instagram postings) I posted a couple of days ago with the actual birth – it took the little babies a good part of the day to peck through the shells. When they were done, the father cleared the broken shell pieces out of the nest. (Dad on clean up? Doesn’t really translate to most human families lol!)

Because of the position of the nest, I have had a really easy time viewing the process…the best of any other year. I sneak peeks occasionally, when the parents are off on their food quests. The next milestone for me will be to see the babies open their eyes – this should happen in a day or two!

I hope you enjoyed seeing this year’s Father’s Day tribute. ;)

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

Sharing with Sand & Sisal, Coastal Charm, and Elizabeth & Co.

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ikea dresser redo with annie sloan

June 19, 2015

This Ikea dresser has really made the rounds! In its first life, it was a dresser in a young boy’s room. It performed that job marvelously, then made its way to a college apartment. Here too, it was a sturdy piece that provided plenty of storage.

But, when it crossed over into ‘adult’ life, it was time for a makeover! Join me in my painting studio (aka: my backyard) for Friday field trip today to check out how some Annie Sloan paint and a few new knobs have updated this Ikea piece.

The first thing it needed was a little cleaning and some wood fill in a few spots. And, because it was crafted of a knotty wood, I knew it needed to be sealed to prevent any knots from showing through the paint. So, I applied a coat of Zinsser primer sealer.

After that, I used two coats of Annie Sloan French Linen – one of my favorite colors for a beachy look!

From here, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to add an anchor…or, maybe some stripes? I decided finding knobs would be my first order of business since purchasing twelve knobs at a decent price was not going to be easy. The dresser came with wooden knobs and I was hoping not to reuse them. Unfortunately, every knob I liked was $6 or $7 and purchasing twelve at this price was beyond my budget!

I started contemplating making some knobs out of rope; thinking I may try to make some monkey’s fist knots and started researching how to tie them.

Then, I got a call from a friend who said she found some great rope knobs at Home Goods and they came in packages of 6. When I discovered the knobs were actually monkey’s fist knots and each package was $12.99, I knew these were my knobs!

After purchasing two packages of the knobs, I knew I wanted to do a grain sack style stripe to coordinate with them, so I masked off and painted the stripes using Annie Sloan Old White paint. It is easy to mask stripes with blue painter’s tape, but it does take a little patience! After the stripes were dry, I mixed a wash of Old White paint and water (approximately 70% water). I painted this over the piece, working a section at a time and wiping it off with a cloth after painting it on with a brush. I love the way the wash gives some depth to the piece and helps with the beachy vibe.

Next, I added a coat of Annie Sloan clear wax. After that, I did some distressing, concentrating on roughing up the white stripes. After the distressing, I added a second coat of clear wax.

Doesn’t it look great? I am finishing it off by using some old nautical maps for drawer liners. :)

Thanks for stopping by! Have a wonderful weekend and remember to take pleasure in simple things, Jackie

Sharing with Finding Silver Pennies, Nancherrow, Craftberry Bush, The Shabby Nest, and French Country Cottage.

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9 special diy ideas for father’s day

June 16, 2015

It’s a cold, miserable day today. After arriving home from work, I should really be outside painting furniture or finishing my current read. Instead, the weather has kept me inside. Yes, I could be binge watching the third season of Orange is the New Black, but instead I am looking through some old posts to find some fun things to make for Father’s Day.

I put together nine favorites from my archives to help inspire you to make something special for Dad this year on his day!

Edible gifts are popular with any Dad. Here are a couple ‘over 21’ beverages that are sure to be a hit. Click here for a recipe to make homemade Bailey’s Irish Cream and click here to learn how to make some great jelly shots shaped like fish!

This zip code tray is a stylish and super practical place for Dad to leave his keys. It also is a great way for Dad to remember where he left his keys! Click here for instructions.

A tie dye shirt is as much fun to make as it is to give! The whole family can enjoy making Dad a piece of clothing dyed personally for him! Click here for easy instructions!

Making coasters for Dad is easy and fun. Click here for several great ideas. Old cardboard, jar tops, and discarded six-pack packaging are a few of the items that make creative coasters!

Any gift is more special when it is presented in a special way! Click here to learn how to make your own gift wrap and click here to see how easily you can create a unique paint can gift package!

If your Dad is more the entertaining type, here are two great gift ideas. Click here for ideas for creating your own napkin designs. Another great idea is to make a set of forks for seafood dinners…the fun part about this gift is that it is created using something from Dad’s garage! Click here to find out more!

I hope you enjoyed these few DIY ideas from the archives to help make Father’s Day a little more special!

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

Sharing with Coastal Charm and Elizabeth & Co.

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jaws 40th anniversary party with printable

June 12, 2015

Duh-duh, Duh-Duh, Duh-DUH! (Click here for more!) That’s right…40 years since the movie Jaws hit the theaters for the very first time! No doubt, the movie needs to be watched (for the five hundred and thirty ninth time?) on June 20th to mark this very special day!

My family is one of shark fanatics…we anxiously await Shark Week on Discovery Channel each year…we have had the pleasure of eating a dinner of freshly caught shark (by my fisherman dad), AND, we know most of the significant (as well as the not so significant) lines in the movie Jaws by heart! So, in honor of the Jaws anniversary, Friday field trip will go back 40 years this week to pay tribute to this cinema classic.

Granted, many of us in New England have had issues with going in the water since watching this movie – particularly after the very first viewing.

A 40th anniversary viewing party is in order and there will be plenty of themed snacks and fun trivia contests! Some of my family members are impossible to stump, but I keep trying! Why not send your party invite on a beach ball? Blow up a small beach ball and add the party details with a permanent marker. Then, deflate the ball before mailing…fun!

And, who could resist these fun ice cube trays!

So, amidst all the decorating you may do for your viewing party, a little candy treat favor is fun to add to to the mix. For my candy bags, I have packaged up blue gummy sharks and candy beach balls. There are so many candy options you can use if you prefer to substitute what I chose to use. You can even do Swedish fish or goldfish crackers –really, any beachy item will work!

I piled mine up in a beach bucket and added it to my Jaws themed décor. The printable I have included here is sized for 8 1/2″ x 11″ paper – I prefer the weighty paper of a card stock, but you can use regular weight paper if you prefer. Four treat bag headers print out on each page. After cutting the paper in four, you can fold each piece to use as a header for a Jaws themed treat bag! Purchase cellophane bags that are the same width as the headers and trim to the length needed based on your contents. I use a couple of staples to attach the headers – first using a blue permanent marker on the staples so they coordinate a little better with the blue on my header design.

Click here for a free printable of the treat bag toppers.

“You’re gonna need a bigger boat!” Happy Viewing!

Thanks so much for stopping by. Remember to take pleasure in simple things, Jackie

P.S. If you’d like me to send you a copy of my Jaws trivia contest, just shoot me an email and I will email it to you!

Sharing with House of Hipsters, Thoughts from Alice, The Shabby Nest, Craftberry Bush, and Crafts a la Mode.

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country living magazine fair 2015

June 9, 2015

I am so lucky. I get the chance to attend the best fair ever! The Country Living Magazine Fair is held in four spots across the U.S. each year and one of the locations is the Northeast!

The Dutchess County Fairgrounds are located in Rhinebeck, New York and each year, for three days in the beginning of June, it is host to the Country Living Magazine Fair.

The Rhinebeck countryside pleasure in simple things blog

Driving through the Rhinebeck, NY countryside.

This venue is amazing. Think lush, green grass and beautiful landscaping – with views of rolling hills. Think real, (not portable) nicely maintained restrooms. Think great food. (maybe a delicious chicken lemongrass salad for lunch?) Think free parking. Yes, it is amazing.

The Fair provides tons of great inspiration and shopping, seminars and demonstrations, and a chance to meet the magazine’s editors as well as some fun celebrities.

So, as I attempt to settle down from my busy weekend exploring the Country Living Fair and the community of Rhinebeck with friends, I am sharing some of my weekend inspiration with you.

I hope you enjoy these few photos from my weekend. You can also find some additional photos on Facebook by clicking here or on Instagram by clicking here.

vintage bride and groom pleasure in simple things blog

A vintage collection of wedding toppers caught my eye in a little shop in the center of Rhinebeck.

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

Sharing with Thoughts From Alice, and Finding Silver Pennies.

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shaved brussels sprouts salad recipe

June 5, 2015

Do you like Brussels sprouts? It is a strange thing with this particular vegetable – I don’t enjoy eating whole Brussels sprouts, but I can enjoy eating them when they have been shaved or shredded. So, when I see a recipe that includes a shaved or shredded Brussels sprout, I put it in my ‘give it a try’ file since I know veggies are super good for me!

Many times I will try a recipe from my file and it doesn’t pass the taste test; granting it acceptance into my permanent recipe file and making it part of my regular repertoire.

Today, for Friday field trip, I am taking you into my kitchen and sharing a recipe that made it into the permanent file – big time! It is a cold salad using Brussels sprouts that is not only quick, easy, and delicious, but requires no cooking! It has a marvelous crunch factor that makes it very satisfying and reminiscent of a slaw. With picnic season in full swing, this salad is the perfect easy- to- prepare side dish to bring to an outdoor party!

I like to make a double batch of this recipe each time I make it. For me, this is easy to do on the ingredient end because my grocery store sells a 2 lb. bag of Brussels sprouts and an 8 oz. size of Manchego. I really have no trouble getting through a double batch pretty quickly…it is great to pack up to enjoy at lunchtime!

I have to warn you that Manchego cheese is one of the more pricy cheeses, but it is so worth buying for this recipe – a perfect taste pairing with the Brussels sprouts and almonds!

Shaved Brussels Sprouts Salad
1 lb. Brussels sprouts, trimmed and thinly sliced (I shred them in the food processor)
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
2 Tablespoons red wine vinegar
Kosher salt and black pepper to taste
4 oz. Manchego, shaved (this too, I shred in the food processor)
1/3 cup sliced almonds, lightly toasted in a 350 degree oven and coarsely chopped.

Toss the Brussels sprouts, oil, vinegar, 1 teaspoon salt, and ½ teaspoon black pepper in a large bowl. Let sit 8 to 10 minutes to let the Brussels sprouts wilt slightly. Add the Manchego and almonds and toss to combine.

*this recipe is adapted from one in one of my favorite magazines – Real Simple.

That is it! Quick and easy! Enjoy!

If you should find yourself with some Manchego left over, be sure to try this Crostini recipe!

Thanks for stopping by! Have a wonderful weekend and remember to take pleasure in simple things, Jackie

Sharing with House of Hipsters, Coastal Charm and Sand & Sisal.

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homemade ice cream on the beach

american waters: a marine exhibition

july book giveaway!

patriotic driftwood bubble wands

baby robins are born

ikea dresser redo with annie sloan

9 special diy ideas for father’s day

jaws 40th anniversary party with printable

country living magazine fair 2015

shaved brussels sprouts salad recipe