Cold Care

In the office early this morning, and the cold I've been trying to avoid the past few days is here now. Sniffles, coughs, but it's not so bad. Mostly a little annoying! This tea is doing the trick, but that name needs some work Just call it Cold Care, all the soothing sips and none of the offensive language.

Be back tomorrow with some pictures of food. I know what you like!!

Peeking in

Just to say that this rose syrup seemed odd when I picked it up, but it's become a favorite. Drizzled over yogurt, mostly. Now that it's colder in the mornings, I'll try it on oatmeal. Also good whipped into a cake batter! You can buy it here: www.junetaylorjams.com

Weekend, in review

This weekend was spent mostly with family and lounging on the couch. We shared some very messy food with friends on Friday, and it was pretty good. On Saturday it was all family, all the time. 3-year old soccer, shopping fun, a nap and then a retirement/birthday dinner. On Sunday, I watched two  movies with the theme: "Woman Does Evil, Mean, Nasty Things to Another Woman/Her Family". Single White Female and The Hand That Rocks the Cradle (both made in 1992!). Snaps are below!

Family

frittata makings (Yukon Golds, baby kale and a mustard/pesto mash-up)

Noahman and human jungle gym

Basically gross. Sorry I'm not sorry for posting this!

Champion

My flawfree queen, my flawfree Coke Zero

Recipe hunting

Welcome to Fall!

So, it's been a few months! Earlier this week a friend of mine asked "Is your blog dead?" Well, no! But, it's a fair question. Life's been busy and a little heavy lately. Some trips were taken, and some thing needed to be taken care of. But, now we're settling in for some travel-free weekends, some weeknights at home and out and about in Jackson and I'd like to say Hey! Let's talk more often! Below are some iPhone snaps from the past few months. We'll start back up next week with weekend posts, nail polish conversations, bread recipes and the merits of fall/winter sangria.

Spillway Sunset

Cactus margarita (somewhere in the Mississippi Delta? Or maybe in Tennessee?)

Beginnings of Apple Spice Muffins

Noahman and A, New Orleans

A and some snouts, snuggling

Gambling!

Herbs for dumplings

Best friends bring each other the best gifts

Green Frog Coffee in my hometown (drank over a much needed catch-up session with my brother)

On the Road to Providence

Post-travel madness baking session with Bailey to supervise

A blurry but delicious anniversary dinner (grilled veggies, risotto, the best white wine and plenty of jokes)

Summer Drinks

I thought it'd be nice to share some favorite summer drinks we've shared over the past few months. Pretty much all of these are best reserved for the weekends, unless you have a particularly forgiving work/school schedule during the summer. I generally stick to wine or beer during the week and mix up a pitcher of one of these to enjoy (and share!) over the weekend.


Pimm's Cup -- You need a bottle of Pimm's No. 1 and Ginger Ale or some kind of Lemon-Lime Soda. 1/3 Pimm's, 2/3 mixer. Top with cucumbers and strawberries. Or don't, it'll be delicious either way. We generally make these in a big pitcher to share with friends. Use plenty of ice, the Pimm's is a lower alcohol content so this is nice for day drinking (sorry, Mom, but yeah, day drinking).

Cherub's Cup -- recipe is here. Delicious, I like it with unflavored vodka best, but have had it with Hendrick's and that's pretty good as well. Also a good "pitcher" drink.

Dark and Stormy --2 oz dark rum, 3 oz ginger beer and a squeeze of lime juice. I use whatever dark rum A's got around, since this is the only time I drink it. A quick Google search tells me that people want you to use Gosling's Black Seal, so maybe try that? Don't used spiced rum or light rum. Make sure you get ginger beer not ginger ale. I like the Fevertree Ginger Beer. The whole thing is a little spicy and a little sweet.

Summer Sangria -- I just mix up: a bottle of white wine (nothing expensive or fancy), 1 cup of St. Germain or 1/2 cup of Hendrick's gin or 1/2 cup of Cathead Honeysuckle Vodka, and a bunch of sliced up summer fruit. Especially peaches. Depending on how you mix it up, maybe not a great day drink. Or a perfect one, I'm not here to judge you!

 

Weekend, in review

All iPhone photos again! I promise to take the nice camera for a walk this week. I have some nice snaps to share, but it's too nice around here to sit at the laptop. This weekend we hosted a grilled cheese brunch, cleaned up our yard (a total mess post-travel), took Bailey for a haircut, spent an entire day watching Justified and drinking wine with friends, and I played with nail polish with a buddy. Photos below! (Not sure why, but they're posting out of order)

Brie, spinach, apple, onion grilled cheese

Green water (more coming later, super simple)

A and Bailey, chatting between Justified episodes

Orange Fizz, a little less red in person

Puppy cut!

Summer drink

Return!

There's much to catch up on! I've been on a few trips and been in the hectic pace of a workplace in some transition. To review:
I spent a magical weekend with my best girlfriends on the Mississippi coast, eating donuts, drinking coffee, playing with nail polish, cuddling a sweet pup and sipping a delicious white wine/vodka/berry concoction. Being with those girls is always the best antidote for anything that ails us!

Just last night, we got back from a vacation to Vermont with A's family. The lakehouse is on Thompson's Point at Lake Champlaign. All of A's siblings, our nephew met his grandmother at the lakehouse for four days of sitting in the breeze, splashing in kayaks, swimming, wandering around downtown Burlington, eating mountains of ice cream, and making trouble with all of his Vermont cousins and their children.

I seem to have forgotten to take any photos my coast weekend, but I'm going to pull some from my other friends and put them up tomorrow (these sweet girls are too beautiful to not share!). For now, here are some Vermont snaps.

All photos are from the iPhone/Instagram, Noahman's the only kiddo pictured because I didn't ask permission to post any of the others, but there were seven other children between the ages of 3 and 10 all chasing A and his brother around. I preferred to drink beer and offer some post-crazy hugs and rocking.

Morning run path

Granny+Belle

A+Noahman, exhausted

Maple syrup cotton candy

View from the porch

Burlington Church Street

Cookie Love cookie sundae

Homeward Bound

A+Noahman at Burlington Farmer's Market (my favorite photo from the trip)