Holy Hydrangeas!

Oh it's my favorite flower, blooming in abundance in my yard.  I love them so much that I cultivate them so I can have even more!  Below is my favorite white hydrangea.  It's an Annabelle that was given to me in remembrance of my Grandmother.  I love that the flower heads are huge, pure white and don't wilt in the heat.  The flower in the front is probably 8 inches across.

This is the hydrangea that was at our house when we bought it.  I don't know which type it is, but it is a true blue.  When I wasn't sure if we should get the house, this bush is what pushed me over the edge.

This is Hydrangea Macrophylla Blauer Prinz - Notice how large each of the flowers are on the flower head?

Hydrangea Macrophylla Ayesha.  I find the way the petals cup to be really sweet.  I had never seen this particular plant before so I had to snap it up when I saw it on Hydrangea's Plus site.

This hydrangea was a gift to my from my sister in law.  My daughter is thrilled by the pink shade.  I don't know the variety, but it's is pink every year, and more compact than my other plants.

If you are interested in hydrangeas, I highly recommend Hydrangeas Plus.  Their site is very informative and they have many plants to choose from.  What is your favorite flower?

Wedding Cookies

I just finished these cookies for a wedding and thought I should share them with you!  They are decorated with royal icing, dragees, pearls and Disco Dust.  I found the dragees and pearls at Fancy Flours and the Disco Dust at Sunflower Sugar Art.  I spread the royal icing on and let it dry.  Then I sprayed the cookies with PME Lustre Spray in Pearl for a little sparkle.  I piped on some lines of icing and sprinkled on the Disco Dust or placed pearls and dragees on the intersections.

Cookies to Celebrate a Birthday

A good friend asked me to make cookies to celebrate his sister's 50th birthday.  I found these champagne flute cookie cutter and couldn't resist them.  I used edible pearls to make the bubbles.  Using more than one size pearl helps the illusion.  I had to incorporate some glitter too!  (Disco Dust, available here.)  I have to share a new find.  PME Lustre Spray.  (You can purchase it at Country Kitchens Sweet Art.)  One quick spray and your icing becomes pearlized and a bit sparkly, but not too much.

Since the party will be around the pool, I tried some summery colors for the rest of the cookies.  these incorporate more of a freeform icing style for the relaxed nature of hanging out poolside.

I ended up spraying all of the cookies with the PME Lustre Spray after I took this photo.  It pulled everything together with a touch of sheen.

The Best Breakfast: Petit Provence, Portland Oregon

While visiting Portland, we ate out a many different restaurants, and Petit Provence Boulangerie and Patisserie was the standout.  Many a morning I wake up thinking of the display of pasteries, and the excellent breakfast I had there.  I had the Risotto Cakes with eggs.  So incredibly yummy!

Just to make you salivate, here is the description of this flavorful dish:

Slow simmered risotto rice with bacon, asparagus, mushrooms, red onions and fresh basil finished with cream.  The risotto is then formed into cakes, lightly breaded and grilled to perfection.  Topped with poached eggs with crowd pleasing provencal potatoes and butternut squash on the side.

The cases at the front of the store were filled with the most beautiful pasteries.

How pretty are the checkerboard cookies?

I can not get over how fancy the script is on these lemon tarts.

The empty trays prove how popular this eatery is with the locals.

This wonderful pear pastry was sublime.  I can proudly say there was not a crumb left!

Portland, Oregon!

I'm just back in from visiting my sister in Portland, Oregon.   We saw some beautiful gardens, ate at some wonderful restaurants, shopped at some super cool stores and experienced a few museums.  The Hollywood farmers market near her house was a lushness of fresh veggies that I just have to share...

I love the colors of these radishes.  They were truly perfect, not a crack among them.

Everything looked so fresh and inviting.  If you are in Portland, you must stop by!  http://www.hollywoodfarmersmarket.org/

Teacher's Gifts

The end of the school year is fast approaching so I thought I'd share what I am doing for teacher's gifts this year.  I often hesitate to give actual gifts, because no matter how nice you think the item is, it just might not be someone's taste.  I picked out something I thought would be useful, yet fun.

I found these wonderful baskets on Etsy at SewCute Thread's shop.  These baskets could be used to carry items to the classroom, the beach, on a picnic or the farmer's market.  My friend and I went together on these gifts, so we were able to fill them with some flowers and beautiful note cards from Target's Liberty of London line.  (On clearance!)  What are you gifting your child's teacher this year?

A Thank You to Mothers

A very happy Mothers Day to all moms out there!  It's only my 7th chance to celebrate the occasion, and as such I still think of it for a day to thank my mom and mother in law for all that they do.  Especially for what they have done to make me and my husband the adults we are today.  Our meal of choice is brunch because is it fun to make (and eat!)  I am lucky to have an abundance of pansies in the garden to decorate with so I added them to the watermelon, strawberry and kiwi salad.

My daughter helped decorate the table with more pansies.  Very elegant.

My husband treated us to his special handmade crepe recipe.  I especially love the crispy edges!

A strawberry coulis for an angel food cake.  I just threw some strawberries, lemon juice and a pinch of sugar in a bowl and pureed them with a stick blender.

I made some simple drop scones to tide the kids over until breakfast was ready.

2 cups all purpose flour
1/3 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/3 cup butter
1/3 cup orange juice
1/3 cup milk
2 tablespoons grated orange peel
1/2 cup chocolate chips.  (Or white chips, dried cranberries or raisins)

Heat oven to 375 degrees, grease cookie sheets.
In a large bowl, combine dry ingredients well.  Using a pastry blender or fork, cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.  Add orange juice, peel and milk and stir until just moistened.  Stir in chocolate chips and drop by heaping teaspoonfuls on greased sheet.  Top each scone with cinnamon and sugar and bake for 8-10 minutes.  Serve warm.
*adapted from Pillsbury The Complete Book of Baking.

Some pretty gerbera daisies, one bouquet for each mom.

The grandest gift of all, handmade cards from my children.