Monthly Archives: June 2011

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csa 2011: third share

June 30, 2011 6:10 am \ 1 Comment \ Carol B.

Tuesday was CSA day, so after I picked up the boys from camp we headed over to the farm to pick up our bi-weekly share.

I might have squealed a little when I saw that PYO flowers had started! Granted, this week it was just five stems, but it was enough to fill my little pitcher that sets on our kitchen island.

The vegetables were beautiful: two heads of lettuce (I picked one head of romaine and one head of red leaf), 1/3 lb. of spinach (the last until fall), a small head of broccoli, a head of cabbage, a bunch of scallions, a handful of basil, two garlic scapes, one zucchini (or you could have chosen one yellow squash), and a bunch of beets.

Being that neither Drew nor myself are huge beet fans, I am going to pickle this bunch and see how it goes. Otherwise, the veggies are pretty straightforward and easy to use up!

Posted in: CSA, Food & Wine \ Tagged: eat local, food, hudson valley

afghan update

June 29, 2011 7:00 am \ 2 Comments \ Carol B.

This is one sad looking little afghan, isn’t it? Sigh… so much for my goal of one square a month! I really need to get back on track. Honestly, now I’m not even sure I like the blue so much. But I’m just going to keep on going. I can always redo a square if I need too later on. My mom is crocheting the same pattern, but in just one color and she is so far along and it looks so pretty! She didn’t like a few of the squares in the sampler, so she substituted other squares that fit. I might end up doing the same. A couple sets of instructions are very confusing. I’ll either save those for last, or not do them at all. Well, I’d better get hooking!

Posted in: Crafting, Knitting & Crochet \ Tagged: afghan, crochet

bandana dress

June 28, 2011 12:44 pm \ 1 Comment \ Carol B.

I have so many sewing and craft projects in my “to do” pile, that I get dizzy thinking about them. But since I had the luxury of kid-free time today, I thought I’d tackle one that promised to be quick: the bandana dress.

I’ve read tutorials for bandana dresses and pillowcase dresses and honestly, I think the end product looks pretty much the same, but since the bandana version did not require any cutting, I went with this tutorial from Trey and Lucy. And yes, it was every bit as easy as she makes it sound! I spend more time fussing with the ribbon and getting the bows just right. Truth be told, I would prefer to have lime green ribbon, but white was the only thing in my stash that matched. I can easily switch it out later. Also, I think the 1.5-inch ribbon is a little overwhelming. I’ll have to see it on Laura. The next one (because there will be a next one, oh yes!) will use narrower ribbon.

The cool thing about this dress is that you don’t really have to use bandanas. Just cut fabric you like to the size of a bandana (well, I suppose you’ll want to sew back the raw edges, but you know what I mean. I can’t wait to make these using holiday or seasonal fabric. I think this type of dress will look really cute over a turtleneck in the winter!

And, of course, I’ll have to make a hair bow to match

Posted in: Crafting, Sewing \ Tagged: boutique bows, easy projects, ribbon, sewing

summer!!!

June 27, 2011 8:27 pm \ Leave a Comment \ Carol B.

Well, summer is here. The kids are out of school, the temperatures are warm, and the humidity is on the rise. I’m having a little summer break myself. The boys have day camp all week, and Drew’s mom and aunt wanted to take Laura for a couple days. Today I cleaned the house from top to bottom, did a ton of laundry (and put it all away), had the piano tuned, and even had time for a little relaxation. Some women might want to indulge in dead sea mud masques, but my perfect afternoon was sitting on the deck with a glass of ice water working on my afghan. I’m terribly behind in this crochet project, but hopefully I can work up a few squares this week and catch up. I’d also like to do a little sewing tomorrow since I have one more day “off.” Hopefully I’ll have a couple projects to show you this week!

Posted in: This & That

father’s day weekend

June 22, 2011 7:27 pm \ 1 Comment \ Carol B.

Playing catch-up here, so bear with me! I hope you all spoiled your dads on Father’s Day weekend. I hung out with Big Z on Friday and Saturday and had a great visit with my family. Drew had been camping with Jake and came home on Sunday morning. I’d been joking that he was going to get zumba dancing lessons as his gift, so he was relieved when the kids gave him his real gift. I’d ordered this copper guitar pick for him and he loved it! I also arranged to have our piano tuned. It is long, long, long overdue. He will finally enjoy playing the piano again

His mom and aunt came up for lunch and I whipped everything together pretty quick (since I myself got home at 9 a.m. from Massachusetts). I made a beef tenderloin, black bean salad (with the addition of spinach), scalloped potatoes, and creamy fruit salad (a recipe Lisanne gave me years ago — it is one of our favorites!)

For dessert, Drew’s mom brought a cheesecake. It was super yummy! (In fact, there is still a little left in the fridge and I intend to have a piece tonight!)

I tried to give my guy a nice, relaxing day, even though he still had to put away all that camping gear! Did you do anything special?

Posted in: Family, Food & Wine, Holidays & Entertaining \ Tagged: food, holidays

free subscription to martha stewart living

June 21, 2011 2:44 pm \ Leave a Comment \ Carol B.

Act quick and you can get a one-year subscription to Martha Stewart Living free from Rewards Gold! I’ve earned several magazine subscriptions from them by taking surveys and there are no catches.

Just fill out your mailing information, refer one friend, and take a short survey on breakfast foods complete with four short answers about your favorites. This was available for a period last night, and it is just available again, so I’d jump on it if you’re interested!

Free 1-year subscription to Martha Stewart magazine

Enjoy!

Posted in: Shopping & Deals \ Tagged: hot deals

csa 2011: second share

June 21, 2011 2:36 pm \ Leave a Comment \ Carol B.

Well this post is obviously a week late! Last Tuesday’s farm share was filled with beautiful veggies, as usual. There was lettuce, spinach, arugula, Chinese cabbage, scallions, garlic scapes, and a choice of radishes, salad turnips, or beets. I chose radishes not only because I love them, but because there were some purple ones! (If radishes were an illegal substance, I’d be looking for the top drug rehab treatment centers, LOL!)

I can’t wait for the summer squash to start rolling in. Hopefully next week! And flowers… oh, I’m really looking forward to fresh zinnias and cosmos!

Posted in: CSA, Food & Wine \ Tagged: food, hudson valley

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