Cucumber Lemonade

So, back in Roswell, GA there was this amazing restaurant, Relish. I'm so sad and shocked to find out that it is now closed! Such fond memories... Summer Brunches with Grandmother Mary, New Years Eve with Mom, Tom, and Zach, Stasia's Bridal Lunch. Their menu featured savory southern recipes with a modern spin. I loved their cucumber lemonade served in mason jars! Well, I picked up a couple delicious cucumbers at the market, so I decided to make some cucumber lemonade. It's such a refreshing summer treat! Here's how it goes...

First, wash and cut up your cucumbers.
Place in blender (you'll want to split it up into a couple batches). I'm sure you could use a food processor, too. Just keep it going until you have cucumber mush. Place in a strainer over a bowl and let it sit for about 15 minutes. I used the back of a large spoon to squish out some more juice. turn the mush over and squish some more.

Isn't this a beautiful green color? I think it looks awesome! Note: I used two large cucumbers and got 1 1/3 cups of juice.

Use the ratio 2/3 cup cucumber juice : 1 1/2 cups lemonade. Garnish with cucumber and lemon slices.
If you want to go the extra mile, serve in mason jars =)

Confession: I used crystal light powdered lemonade mix. (I am hanging my head in shame) BUT it was still delcious! So, I imagine it only gets better using fresh lemons and real lemon juice!

Strawberry Pie

although I wasn't with any of my moms for Mother's Day, I was with a couple moms from church at our community group-- they loved this pie!

::ingredients::
2 lbs fresh strawberries (about 4 pints), plus 4 strawberries reserved
1.25 cups milk
3/4 cup sugar
5 TBS cornstarch
3 TBS freshly squeezed lemon (1 lemon)
2.5 cups graham-cracker crumbs
10 TBS unslated butter, melted
1 cup heavy cream
1 TBS confectioners' sugar

::directions::
1. Remove tops from strawberries. Place 2 lbs strawberries in blender and blend on high until pureed, about 10 seconds.
2. Combine milk, sugar and cornstarch in a saucepan and whisk until dissolved. Add the strawberry puree and lemon juice. Cook on high heat, whisking continually, until the mixture is think and bubbling. Remove from heat. You must whisk the entire time or else the milk will burn on the bottom of the pan, and you will see black stuff floating around... gross.
3. Place graham-cracker cumbs in a deep pit plate, drizzle with melted butter and mix until all crumbs are moistened. With the back of a spoon, press evenly into the bottom and sides of the pie plate to form crust.
4. Pour strawberry filling into crust and let cool completely (about 30 minutes). Cover and refrigerate over night.
5. Just before serving, place heavt cream in a mixing bowl and blend with electric mixer on high until stiff peaks form. Stir in confectioner's sugar.

6. Using a spatula, spread whipped cream over the filling. Slice reerved strawberries and garish top.

Printers Drawer Jewlery Display

On our honeymoon in Chattanooga, Zach and I found this printer's tray at an antique shop. I'm now kicking myself for now buying all the trays they had. I think it was only $15 or so. Anyhoo- here are the pics as promised...

I love it! I used to have all of my jewelry spread between 8,000 little jewlery boxes. I would open one up and just see a mound of necklaces. I was so overwhelmed, that I just wore my good ol' standby, pearl studs. This is my effort to actually wear the jewlery I own. So far, it's working! I've been pairing up cute earrings and necklaces with all of my outfits! Now that it's all laid out in front of me, I can see what I have to work with. Zach even picked out some earrings for me to wear the other night- how sweet!

Zach drilled a few holes, and I screwed in "mug hooks" to hang earrings in the little "boxes" and neckalces from the bottom.
It was ridiculously easy!
Have I mentioned that I love it.... =)

Pasta Carbonara

My June issue of Martha Stewart Living just arrived in the mail this morning... I can't wait to read up on some wonderful summer ideas! She always has yummy recipes for me to try and creative projects to work on! I made this a few weeks back, and it got rave reviews from the hubs. I was cleaning out my fridge and found a pound of bacon, so I googled... did you know that Martha Stewart has an entire archive of bacon recipes? Well, this is one of the ones I tired...

Pasta Carbonara

::Ingredients::

coarse salt and ground pepper
4 slices of bacon, sliced crosswide into 1/2 inch pieces
4 shallots, halved and thinly sliced (if you can't find shallots, use garlic and white onion)
1 box (10 oz) frozen peas, thawed
1 cup half and half
18 oz angel hair pasta

::Directions::

1. Set a large pot of salted water to boil.
2. In a skillet, cook bacon over medium heat until crisp, about 5-7 minutes. With a slotted spoon, transfer to a paper towel lined plate to drain. Leave fat in skillet. 3. With a slotted spoon, transfer to a paper towel lined plate to drain. Leave fat in skillet.
4. Add shallots to skillet, season with salt and pepper. Cook over medium, stirring occasionally, until they begin to soften, 1-2 minutes. Add peas and half and half. Simmer until thickened, about 2 minutes. 5. Cook pasta until al dente. Reserve 1/2 cup pasta water and drain. Return to pot. Pour suace over pasta, and toss to combine. Adding pasta water a little at a time to coat. Sprinkle with bacon and serve!

Crafty Weekend

What a fun, productive weekend! Zach and I went for an early morning bike ride downtown to grad breakfast. He found a restaurant, Bagels and Noodles. I admit, I was skeptical of the name, but it was delicious! I had the most amazing fresh strawberry cream cheese on my bagel- yummmm. Since the bagels were such a hit, we had to try the noodles. So, back we went after church. We ordered our usual (because we had to compare to our go-to noodle place, chopstix) Beef Pad Thai and Chicken Lo Mein. A-MAZ-ING! The real test is cold leftovers tomorrow morning, but I have a good feeling. It has a "hole in the wall" feel, and we love supporting a local restaurant.

Also, watch Food, Inc. Seriously. It will change your life.

So, Zach has been "in the zone" studying- headphones in, taping away on his computer... so a friend of mine, Kaitlyn, came over and we got crafty! I so enjoy her company, and we had a great time catching up on life and working on our project. This was my inspiration for our project. Mine is by the door for our keys, and Kaitlyn's is in her kitchen for her aprons. The mason jar will soon hold fresh blossoms =)

I went to Lowes and got a 1x8 board cut into 4 1 foot sections, 4 3" pipe clamps found in the plumbing aisle and 4 hooks-- total cost, $16. We already had jars, paint and brushes, so that part was free!

Zach drilled holes in our pipe clamps so we could hammer it into the board.
Our finished pieces! Yay!

I also re-purposed my printers tray that was once a decoration above my sewing machine into a jewelry display. Pics to come...

Easter Weekend

Zach and I headed to Pensacola for Easter weekend to spend some time with his parents. We had a great time! Caryl has a wonderful garden. She is growing cucumbers, peppers, tomatoes, squash, lettuce, and a variety of herbs. I picked some lettuce and basil to bring home with us!
Don't be fooled by this picture, Zach did not help out in the garden this weekend. Sonny completely rebuilt this tractor last summer, and it's now up and running!

However, Croom did help us out!
Picking basil for pesto!

The squash plants were HUGE!She had two different kinds of basil- sweet and african blue. We made pesto out of each to taste the difference. We determined that the afrian blue (picture on left) has a stronger flavor than the sweet (picture on right), but they have the same flavor. It would be ok to mix the leaves in the same batch of pesto.

African Blue Basil

Sweet Basil Ingredients

2 cups packed fresh basil leaves
2 cloves garlic, we used more because we love garlic
1/4 cup pine nuts
2/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil, divided
salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1/2 cup grated parmesean cheese

Combine the basil, garlic, and pine nuts in a food processor and pulse until coarsely chopped. Add 1/2 cup of the oil and process until fully incorporated and smooth. Season with salt and pepper.

If using immediately, add all the remaining oil and pulse until smooth. Transfer the pesto to a bowl and mix in the cheese.

If freezing, transfer to an air-tight container and drizzle remaining oil over the top. Freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw and stir in cheese.

I also got a bike! Yay! That's two things off the wishlist! Zach got a new TV a few weeks ago, and now I have a bike that is new to me! Sonny and Zach made an awesome bike hanger for us to store our bikes in our Florida room. I love having handy men around!

My Favorite Things

So, I was thinking that I'd do a "My Favorite Things" blog every now and then. Thoughts? Pro? Con? Well, I've totally been digging everything on this list lately...

1. Green Machine Naked Juice. It DOES look really weird, but it is awesome! And I know there is broccoli on the front picture, but there are not veggies in this drink. It's a really refreshing green apple flavor Yum! I've been having these for lunch when I'm traveling.

2. KitchenAid Mixer. As you can probably tell from previous blogs, I've been baking a lot. And Zach even baked cookies the other night, too!

3. Five Fingers. Zach got a pair for Christmas and loves them. So I took the plunge and got some, too! My niece, Sierra, calls them "flippers". I haven't taken them for a run yet, but I've enjoyed wearing them around town.
4. Clinique Lip Smoothies. This is a treat for your lips! For me, a lot of glosses dry out my lips or aggrevate the situation, but this has vitamin C which apparently is a chapped lip remedy. I usually layer chapstick under a gloss but not anymore! It's a little stickier than I prefer, but I can apply and re-apply all day and have awesome feeling (and looking lips). Muah!

5. Fresh pasta. We eat pasta because it's fast, easy, and cheap. Publix has a BoGo deal every week on the pasta you boil. BUT if you can find fresh pasta (which you also have to boil) it will change your life. It doesn't even compare to the solid pasta you boil!
6. Lost. So I've caught the bug. I know I'm a few years behind on the Lost craze, but we started watching from season one and obsession is an understatement.