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Tag: fourth of july


the party flamingo

3
July

party flamingo in for the night

Since today’s post is right during the holiday week, I’d like to introduce you to our new addition for the holiday.  Here, my friends, is Floyd!  He really has a way of getting people together and making them smile!

building the party flamingo

Standing over 15 feet tall, he has an imposing presence.  He can keep a very large group entertained and is very accommodating – providing his own cooler and plenty of seating with multiple cup holders!

the beginnings of Floyd

da da...

inside of party flamingo

height of the party flamingo

Floyd or no Floyd, I hope you are enjoying your weekend as much as we are!  Thanks to my son for including Floyd in our holiday festivities!

party time on the flamingo

Have a fabulous and safe 4th of July!

anchored for the night party flamingo

Remember to take pleasure in simple things, Jackie

P.S.  Click here for the link if you want to order your own Floyd – have him delivered close to where you will use him since he is pretty heavy.  He comes with an electric pump, so you will need to be near an outlet or have an extension cord to get him inflated.

Comments Off on the party flamingo | food & festivities, holiday, sand & sea

homemade ice cream on the beach

7
July

eating homemade ice cream on the sand pleasure in simple things blog

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!

cranking homemade ice cream pleasure in simple things blog

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!)

homemade coconut chocolate chunk pleasure in simple things blog

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.

pleasure in simple things ice cream makingPrepare 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.

finishing a homemade ice cream pleasure in simple things blog

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.

2 comments » | food & festivities, holiday, recipe, sand & sea

diy patriotic spoons

11
June

patriotic spoons

We make a lot of hand churned ice cream in my family and the batches are huge…so, ultimately we eat a lot of ice cream also.  A really fun thing to do when serving ice-cream, particularly at the beach, is to decorate disposable spoons for the occasion.  This is a fun and easy way to add a festive spirit to your beach or yard get together. 

For our upcoming Fourth of July bash on the beach, spoons of the patriotic variety are in order! 

DIY patriotic spoons for Fourth of July

patriiotic spoon

I am providing some easy DIY directions for you to make patriotic spoons, but there are so many more ways you can personalize spoons with your own colors or themes just by using different colors, motifs, or letters…so be sure to experiment!

Here are the supplies my project required:

  • disposable wooden spoons*
  • permanent stamp pad ink in red and blue
  • a sponge cut into a thin rectangle, approximately ½” wide and at least 1” long
  • a pencil with an unused eraser
  • an X-Acto knife
  • natural twine
  • red & white baker’s twine
  • glue

I used the X-Acto knife to very carefully cut a star shape into the eraser of the pencil to use as a stamp. Then I cut a strip of sponge ½’ wide to use as my stripe stamp.

These two stamps will serve as the way to imprint the stars and stripes on the handles of my spoons.   

Using the stamp pad ink, I added the stripes and stars to the spoons using my stamps.  Using permanent ink ensures the ink doesn’t come off on hands or clothes should the spoon handles get wet.

star stamp for decorating spoons

stripe stamp

striped spoons

Striped disposable spoons are easy to make and give a festive flair to any get together!

For a fun addition, I added some twine “finger grips” to some of the spoons by simply wrapping twine around the spoon a few times – adding a dot of glue on the beginning and ending spot of the twine.

patriotic spoons

That’s it!  Easy, right?  And so cute!  They are hard to throw away! 

DIY patriotic spoons

Going back for seconds on the ice-cream?  Don’t want to lose a favorite spoon?  You can always wear your spoon as a necklace ; )just add some extra twine!  Problem solved.

patriotic spoons

Hope you enjoyed this easy tutorial on making patriotic spoons for your Fourth of July shindig!  You can easily make up some forks and knives also! 

*P.S.  I get my spoons at Garnish. 

Thanks so much for visiting!  Remember to take pleasure in simple things, Jackie

 Sharing at City Farmhouse,  The Shabby Nest, Finding Silver Pennies, and Craftberry Bush.

3 comments » | diy, food & festivities, holiday

happy 4th!

3
July

1 comment » | inspiration

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