Flashback Friday ~Family Staycation

It's hard for me to believe, but its been a year since several of my family came to visit us last summer. I loved having them all here at the same time. Like a vacation for me at my own house :-) We did a lot of traveling and saw some great sights, but the part I loved the best was being together with them. I took about 1000 pictures that week and I could flashback to some beautiful scenery, but instead I'm flashing back to some smiley happy feel good family photos. See how smiley I was :-)


The trip was planned for my sister's 50th birthday present to herself. She wasn't here on her birthday, but we did get to celebrate our family friend, Cathy's birthday while they were here. Here we are in Port Townsend a cute Victorian town at the tip of the Olympic Peninsula celebrating.



We had some good meals while they were here, but this was my favorite meal the whole time. Ham sandwiches on white bread at a picnic bench by the ocean. It was just one of those warm fuzzy moments for me!


Here are the two birthday girls at the top of the Space Needle



And the three of us standing in front of Mount St. Helens


This is one of my favorite pictures of the week...the girls at the base of the largest Spruce tree in the world.


And posing alongside another giant tree..this one fallen


This one of my Dad in the Hoh Rainforest makes me laugh


We took an awesome Whale watching trip



Lots of photo ops as you can tell by the cameras at the ready!


I hope one day we can do a repeat because I'm ready!


If anyone else has a flashback they want to share please add your link below. It can be a flashback to anything...a favorite recipe, vacation, photo, post..you pick!

Mosaic Monday ~Hydrangeas and Blackberries

I know I've been talking about it for what seems like weeks, but the blackberries are REALLY ready now :-) 8 cups picked in about 15 minutes! I love it. So I do have plans to make some of the expected jelly and pies...can't do without those! But I've also been looking for some other things to do with my abundance. I was searching salads and when I hit on this Blackberry Chicken Salad I knew I had to try it.


This is apparently the signature salad at an Atlanta restaurant called Sycamore Grill. I have never been there, but I guarantee you that if I ever find myself there I"ll be ordering this salad.

This recipe is really three in one and you could make only one or all three and not go wrong, but I'd suggest at least making the chicken salad part...I almost stopped there when I tasted how good it was. But if you have time go for all three. The dressing for the greens is wonderful and I have plenty left over for future salads. And the nuts will be great later on some ice cream.


Blackberry Chicken Salad
From Sycamore Grill, Atlanta
Found HERE at EveningEdge.com



For the caramelized walnuts:
1 pound (about 4 cups) walnut pieces (I used pecans because I'm a pecan kinda girl)
1/2 tablespoon cinnamon
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/2 tablespoon salt

For the chicken salad:
2 pounds skinless and boneless chicken tenderloins
1 cup thinly sliced green onions
2 cups diced celery
3/4 cup mayonnaise
3/4 cup honey
1/4 cup Dijon mustard
1 (12-ounce) bag frozen
blackberries, thawed (fresh works too!)
Salt and pepper

For the blackberry vinaigrette:
1/4 cup white wine
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1/2 teaspoon fresh minced garlic
1 teaspoon fresh minced shallots
1/2 cup red wine vinegar
1/2 cup fresh blackberries
1 1/2 tablespoons honey
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup salad oil
8 cups mixed greens

To make the caramelized nuts: Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a saucepan, combine nuts, cinnamon, sugar and salt and cover with water. Bring to a boil and simmer for 20 minutes. Drain the liquid from the nuts and pat dry. Place nuts in a single layer on a baking sheet. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes or until crunchy, tossing after 10 minutes for even cooking.

To make the chicken: In a saucepan, poach chicken until just cooked through. Cool and dice. Mix with green onions and celery. In a separate bowl, combine mayonnaise, honey and mustard. Add the blackberries. Gently add blackberry mayonnaise to chicken, just until moistened. Add salt and pepper to taste.

To make the vinaigrette: In a small saucepan, bring wine, sugar, mustard, garlic and shallots to a boil. Reduce heat to medium for 5 minutes, or until reduced. Transfer mixture to a blender and add vinegar, blackberries, honey and salt and pulse to combine. Slowly add the oil, while the blender is running, to emulsify.
Toss mixed greens with enough vinaigrette to moisten. Top with a scoop of chicken salad and sprinkle with caramelized nuts. I halved the recipe and it made 2 very large main entree salads or 4 smaller side salads.


For my Mosaic Monday contribution I did this Lacecap Hydrangea mosaic showing it from bud to bloom. I'm always amazed at the end product :-) Check out all of the other great mosaics HERE at Little Red House.

Flashback Friday ~The Fair

Around this time of the year I start getting excited for the upcoming Western Washington Fair in Puyallup, WA. So how about a flashback to last year's fair.


Love to look at the animals, especially cows that stick out their tongue at me


The scones are a MUST have...warm and buttery and filled with raspberry jam MMMMMMMM.


I usually pass up the rides


And the games


And head straight for the Home Arts exhibits


And lets be honest...the food is a big draw


And this is one exhibit I always look forward to. The Farmer's Granges compete with these colorful displays featuring Washington produce


And my visit would not be complete with a tour of the floral exhibit


I always look forward to the display by a local, but nationally known dahlia dealer, Connells. The tuber business is now "retired" so I'm not so sure they will have a display this year. Keeping my fingers crossed though..they are still doing cut flowers so maybe!



So back to the present :-) Here are a couple of things blooming in my yard this week. Randy insisted on taking my pic in front of our monster lily to show how tall it is! Jack in the Bean Stalk high!


I'm so excited to show you my Blue Satin Rose of Sharon that's finally blooming. Its taken a couple of years for it to do anything. It REALLY is this color!


And finally....I don't often share crafts on my blog because, well, I am just not THAT crafty, but I did crochet a little baby sleeping bag/cocoon & hat with bear ears for a friend at work that's having a baby in a couple of weeks that I wanted to share. Jigs was none too amused! On a real baby the little bag can fit under his arms. Its a cute way to keep baby from kicking their blanky off!


Here's a close up of the hat.


If you have a flashback of any kind that you'd like to share please add your link below!



I'm joining in this week for Fertilizer Friday at Tootsie Time
Check it out HERE


And for my scone and corndog I'm joining Foodie Friday at Designs by Gollum
Check it out HERE. She's got the sweetest picnic happening over there!

Mosaic Monday ~Sunday Breakfast & My August Garden

If you read this blog regularly you know that I like cooking breakfast on the weekends and french toast is a favorite. There was a great looking peanut butter french toast recipe that came in my email this morning.

I don't really have much bread on hand at the moment *gasp* but I did have almost a half of an angel food cake sitting on the counter, so peanut butter was out angel food was in! I basically just followed the recipe that's in my head for french toast with the addition of a tiny bit of Amaretto, which wasn't that noticeable but did give it an additional layer of flavor.

Angel Food Cake French Toast with Blackberry Sauce
Feeds 2-3

6 1-1 1/2 inch slices store bought Angel Food cake, several days old
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup cream
1/4 cup milk
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 amaretto (optional)
1/4 cup sugar
1 small pinch of salt

Place eggs and additional ingredients in a shallow dish (I use a pie plate) and beat until well mixed. Soak angel food cake until saturated, but not too soggy. I used pretty old cake, so it was maybe a little sturdier than a fresher cake would be. Have a med-high skillet ready with 1 tablespoon melted butter to grease bottom. Let excess liquid drip off slices then brown on each side. Cook depending on how soggy you like it. I like mine more on the non-soggy side so I go a little longer. Serve with Blackbery Sauce or your favorite french toast toppings.

Blackberry Sauce

1-2 cups blackberries ( or whatever berry you have on hand)
1/4 cup sugar (more if your berries are tart)

Cook in small pot or skillet for about 5 minutes until berries make juice and that juice gets a little thicker. Cool before serving and it will thicken a little more. I put my in the freezer while the toast was cooking and it was good.

So how about a walk around the yard on this hot summer day?
We were in the upper 90s
and the garden was feeling it a little.


But there are a lot of
vibrant RED HOT colors going on!

There are still plenty of things thriving despite the heat
And we will be back to the 70s in just a couple of days,
so they better get sun while the gettings good!



The Lilies are in full swing


Stargazer is looking pretty and pink


The Bee Balm is blooming its little head off.
I have to say that the heat
hasn't slowed the bees and yellow jackets down any!


My black-eyed Susan was slow to open, but
it's putting on a pretty show now!


The phlox is still phloxing up a storm.


Most of the clematis are sleeping now
But I love what they leave behind.
So cute and fuzzy!


The Joe Pye Weed will be making an
appearance soon.


And the fuchsia fairies are doing
their little dance.


The lace cap hydrangeas are almost blooming now.
The plant is huge and has bloomed lightly
until this year!
It's got so many blooms this year I can't count them.


And the Rose Mallow is really pretty right now.
The bee in this photo cracks me up for some reason.
He's taking that corner kinda sharp!


Hope you enjoyed the tour.
I'm joining in this month for
Garden Blogger's Bloom Day which is
a monthly event to show off
what's blooming in our yards at the moment.
Check it out HERE.

I'm also joining in on Mosaic Monday,
which has returned after a brief hiatus.
Check it out HERE.

Flashback Friday ~Blackberry Pie Bars and A Rose

My blackberries are just starting to ripen and plump up. So I thought this would be a good recipe to flash back to. I made this last year for a potluck. We are going to that same get together this weekend. Not sure what I will bring this time, but this would be worth of a repeat.

I found this recipe on a blog called Week of Menus and she found it on Joy the Baker who adapted it from a recipe she found in a book called The Pastry Queen by Rebecca Rather. It's made it's rounds and for good cause! I think these were better the next day..so heeding the advice at the end to wait until you cut is well worth the agony.

Blackberry Pie Bars

Crust and topping

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup cold butter, cut into cubes
zest of one lemon
pinch of salt

1. Preheat oven to 350. On a work surface (I used a cutting board), mix together the lemon zest and sugar. Using the back of a spoon or your fingers, rub the lemon zest with the sugar, thereby releasing oils from the lemon.

2. In the bowl of your mixer, dump in the flour, lemon sugar mixture, cold butter, and salt. Beat with paddle attachment until the mixture resembles crumbs. If you do not have a stand mixer, with a hand mixer beat on low until the mixture resembles crumbs.

3. Set aside 3/4 cup of the mixture for the topping. Pour the remainder into a GREASED or parchment lined 9X13 pan and use your fingertips to press the crumbs into the pan. The crumbs will gradually come together.

4. Bake the dough for 10-12 minutes (at 350) or until the crust is lightly golden. Make sure you get to the golden crust because it really adds a wonderful texture to the bar. Allow crust to cool for 10 minutes while assembling the filling.

Filling and Assembly
2 large eggs
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup all purpose flour
3 cups fresh blackberries (if using frozen, thaw and drain first)

1. Whisk together eggs, sugar, sour cream and flour in a large bowl. Add blackberries.

2. Pour blackberries over the golden baked crust and spread evenly. (This may require some proper distribution of the berries as they tend to congregate in one area.)

3. Sprinkle the remaining dough on top. Bake for 50-60 minutes at 350 until the pie bar is golden brown. Allow to cool at least 1 1/2 hours before cutting.

******************************************************************

For a little garden flashback, lets go back to September of last year. My little mini red rose had a rebloom and I got this neat dew drop shot. Hope I get rebloom like this this year. I cut it way back due to blackspot, but there is still time!


If you have a flashback of any kind please add your link below. It can be a flashback to a favorite recipe, favorite post, old picture, or just a favorite memory. Whatever you feel like flashing back to!




I'm also joining in this week with Foodie Friday over at Designs by Gollum and

Fertilizer Friday at Tootsie Time.

Check out all of the neat posts in these two weekly events.