From Our House to Yours, Happy Fourth of July!

Due to a series of events last week, it turns out that we are spending the Independence Day Holiday at home this year.  Actually this is fine with me.....I love to travel and I love to go to special events.....but I like to stay at home as well.  I'm pretty easy that way.

Waiting on the counter for tomorrow are some fresh fruits and veggies that we'll be eating with some traditional BBQ. We couldn't wait....had to cut the watermelon this afternoon....it was calling to us.  Turns out to be the best one so far this season.

We're also having to use some self control with the bowl of strawberries.....okay, actually we have no self control when it comes to these and have eaten quite a few of these already since I took the picture this afternoon. They're very hard to resist, so why not?

I also made a jar of sun tea this afternoon and now have it chilling in the fridge.  Does anyone else like to have a big cold glass of sweet iced tea for breakfast in the summertime?  I grew up in the South and iced tea goes with any meal, right?

Jim or Christopher are usually the ones who man the barbecue  in the family, while I make the sides. I've had my copy of The Summer Book by Susan Branch  for several years now....it's such a cute book I'd enjoy reading it even if I never made any of the recipes.  I have, however, used it quite often over the years so this weekend I pulled it out and chose the "Peach and Plum Crisp" to make for our July 4th dessert.

Here's the finished product when it first came from the oven.  It looks and smells so good that I've included the recipe in this post for you.  In fact, I've had so much fun this afternoon looking through this cookbook with all it's adorable summertime drawings, I've decided to choose something to make from it every week for the rest of the summer.....I'll be sure to share with you when I do. :)

Peach and Plum Crisp

Filling:

4 medium peaches, peeled and pitted

2  1/2 lbs plums, pitted

1/2 cup sugar

2 Tbs quick cooking Tapioca

1 tsp fresh lemon juice

pinch of salt

Topping:

1/2 cup butter, softened

1/2 cup brown sugar

3/4 cup flour

1/4 cup oats

1/4 cup chopped walnuts

2 tsp lemon zest

1/2 tsp cinnamon

Butter a 10 inch glass or pottery pie plate...... I used a different size dish because my 10 inch is broken :(   ...... I think the trick is to make sure it is at least 2 inches deep.  Peel peaches by dipping each one briefly in boiling water. Cut them and the plums into wedges.  Mix together all ingredients for filling and put into the pie dish.  Let stand one hour, stirring occasionally. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Mix together topping ingredients and spread evenly over fruit.  Bake on center rack of oven, placing a cookie sheet on lower rack to catch juices.  Serve hot with ice cream or cold with whipped cream. 

Enjoy and have a Happy 4th!

Sexy Joes for Swimsuit Season

Who among us hasn't decided this time of year that we'd better get busy and lose a few pounds before swimsuit/shorts season is in full swing? Here is a great little sandwich that comes in at only 331 calories and is actually very good. I don't mean to sound surprised, but you all know what I mean.......sometimes the stripped down versions of things just don't taste that good. This is from the Biggest Loser Cookbook. I think it makes a great supper with lemon sliced cucumbers, veggie sticks, or a slice of nice juicy melon......and of course a big glass of iced tea! This "good for you" meal is guaranteed to be painless.

Sexy Joes

Ingredients:

I pound of extra lean ground chicken....

(if you can't find it in the package most butchers at major grocery stores will grind chicken breasts for you)

1 tablespoon of white vinegar

2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce

1 1/2 teaspoons honey

1/2 teaspoon hot pepper sauce

2/3 cup chopped yellow onion

1/3 cup chopped green bell pepper

3/4 cup tomato sauce

3/4 cup chili sauce

1/4 teaspoon chili powder

4 whole-grain or whole- wheat buns

Mist a medium non-stick skillet with olive-oil spray ( or another cooking spray) and set on medium-high heat. Add the chicken. Cook, stirring with a wooden spoon, breaking into large chunks, for 4 to 6 minutes, or until no longer pink.

Meanwhile, in a small bowl, combine the vinegar, Worcestershire, honey, and hot-pepper sauce. Whisk to blend. Set aside.

Drain off any liquid that has accumulated in the pan. Add the onion, bell pepper, tomato sauce, chili sauce, chili powder, and the reserved vinegar mixture to the pan. Stir to blend. Bring the mixture to a boil then reduce the heat so mixture simmers. Cook for 20 minutes, or until the mixture is thickend

Spoon the mixture equally onto the opened buns. Serve immediately. Makes 4 servings.

If you're like me and want to add a little mayo to spread on the buns be sure to add the extra calories........45 for 1/2 Tablespoon of mayonnaise.

Enjoy!

Today I'm linking with:

Foodie Friday, Friday Favorites, Friday Feasts, Food on Friday

Friday Follow, and Follow Me Friday

Don't forget to drop by these great sites!

Takin' Care of Business.....Photo Business that Is

I'm often asked to post more of my Scrapbook Pages so in the future I will try to do that on a regular basis. I've also been asked to do tutorials on my digital scrap booking techniques but I don't foresee myself doing that........there are so many great ones on the Internet already. As anyone can see, though, I do have my own style......very simple, not too cluttered.....most of the time designed to chronicle and tell the story of my family's life during each year. I like to focus on the photographs without too many frills and doo-dads. You can check out other pages I've posted by going to "Scrapbooking" under "What Would You Like to Read?" in my sidebar. I'm always admiring all types of styles of scrapbook pages, and have learned so much from so many talented designers. But ultimately I think it's best to go with your own style........ and in my case I like to actually get pages done! It doesn't really count if all your gorgeous layouts are still in your head! In lieu of any tutorials, however, if anyone has any questions about my techniques you can e-mail me (address on the sidebar) and I'll certainly get back to you.

Here are two pages from a trip we took a couple of years ago to beautiful Prescott, Arizona. It's about an hour and a half north of the Phoenix area, and among other things, has some of the best antique stores and shoppes in the country. Here's a short snippet of that trip I captured one afternoon while we were there.

And as you can see, I like to throw in a little whimsy on occasion! We never found out who the man was but you just wouldn't believe how much he was enjoying his ice cream cone on that hot day in June! :)

Life gets busy and our weeks go by so quickly, and that being said, I'd still like to encourage you to find some time this week to do a few scrapbook pages. If you're like me you took a LOT of Easter photos over this past weekend......take a few minutes to do something with them, whether its adding them to your scrapbooks, making a mosaic with them or simply getting them off your camera and into an "Easter 2010" file on your computer. You know you'll be glad you did.

Enjoy your week,

Today I'm linking with everyone at:

Scrappy Saturday

Motivate Me Monday

Mosaic Monday

Market Yourself Monday

Don't you just love a child's ability to have fun wherever they are, whatever they're doing?

A snowy day at Christopher Creek Arizona

Summer in San Diego

It's a good quality to have, don't you think?

I'm linking today with , Outdoor Wednesday, and Three or More Tuesdays. Be sure to drop by these lovely blogs and take a look. You'll be glad you did.

Shabby Chic?

Is there anything better than a catnap on a warm afternoon? Especially if you can take that nap curled up on your favorite old quilt?

What if that quilt is on the tail-end of shabby? Shall I call it shabby chic?

Yes, I think I will. I've had it for so many years.....didn't pay that much for it even when it was new.....but I've always been in love with it.

White with just a hint of now-faded color. Incredibly soft and tattered.

The years have taken their toll.....but I confess the way I use this little cover has been

the biggest culprit. You see, it's outside a great deal of the time....especially in the cooler months.

Usually you will find it draped across a patio chair or one of my backyard swings.....occasionally spread out on the lawn. I've been known to forget to bring it in (books fall into this category too, but that's another post....more than once I've rushed home in an impending rainstorm to rescue a favorite stack of books. Or been awakened in the wee hours of the morning by the sound of sprinkles on the roof........ only to have to scurry around the backyard in my whatevers gathering valuables in my arms before the downpour!)

 My only excuse is that I use the things I love....and sometimes there are consequences! Sigh.

This summer it has been spread across our bed much of the time. There's a perfectly good white duvet under it that looks ever so stylish on a summer bed.....but it's not quite as old and familiar and cozy. My beloved quilt is shabby chic......that's my story

and I'm sticking with it.

Today I'm linked with Julia at Hooked on Houses

with Kelly at There's No Place Like Home, and with Melissa at The Inspired Room

Ham 'n Cola

It will be here before you know it.........that final holiday of summer.

This is what we'll be having over the Labor Day weekend. Since we're spending the time at home, puttering around the house, catching up on some projects, I think this Slow Cooker recipe is going to work out really well. It's just a little bit out of the ordinary, since we don't have it very often, making our holiday seem a little bit special.....and on top of that, it is so easy that I won't have to pay much attention to it at all. On Sunday of that week we'll be having the ham sliced, with potato salad and rolls, then on Monday the 7th we'll have ham sandwiches , with coleslaw and corn on the cob. On the Saturday before, the guys are making Fresh Peach Ice Cream .........hopefully enough to last the entire weekend.......using the recipe from the post here. So if we add lots of iced tea and lemonade I think we're all set to enjoy a very productive, end-of-summer weekend......my favorite kind.

Ham 'n Cola

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 tsp dry mustard

1 tsp prepared horseradish

1/4 cup Coke

3 to 4 lb precooked ham

Throughly combine brown sugar, mustard and horseradish. Moisten with just enough cola to make a smooth paste; reserve remaining cola. Rub entire ham with mixture. Place ham in crock pot and add remaining cola. Cover and cook on high for 1 hour, then turn to low setting for 6 to 7 hours. * Note: a 5lb pound or larger ham can be used in the larger crock pots.....just use slightly more cola and add an hour or two to the low setting cooking time.

Enjoy!

This post is linked to these delicious sites........just click on each one to enjoy!

Shrimp on the Barbie

For those of you who have been reading my blog for any length of time you know I live in the Desert Southwest where our summers are extremely hot. As you can tell from the Autumn Countdown widget on my sidebar, I am anxious for cooler weather to get here. That being said, I have to tell you that the other nine months of the year the weather is absolutely gorgeous here. That means that we use our grill virtually year round. We enjoy our share of grilled burgers, hot dogs, and steaks.......but there are so many other possibilities. Today I'm sharing quick and easy shrimp on the barbie.......some of you will pick up on that reference to the Crocodile Dundee movies from the eighties with Paul Hogan..... he was Australia's spokesman and the phrase "shrimp on the barbie" became the catch phrase for Australia's tourism adds for quite a while.

My husband is usually the one who does the grilling around here and is an all around great chef in his own right, so today this post is with much assistance from him. There are quite a few ways you can go with this dish, so just pick whichever one you want to try first. Or do several at a time.......these literally take only minutes and with the addition of your favorite sides you'll be having dinner in no time at all.

Shrimp on the Barbie

20 or so medium to large shrimp, peeled and deveined

Wooden skewers

Any of the spices and sauces shown below

First of all, and be sure not to skip this part, soak the skewers in water for about 15 minutes. (obviously this is to keep the skewers from catching on fire.....a great tip no matter what you're grilling ) . Lace the shrimp onto the skewers so that they kind of "spoon" each other. Three or four shrimp will easily fit on a skewer.....be sure to put them toward the top of the skewer and leave a little handle for yourself at the bottom. Brush liberally with any of the spice mixtures, then place on a medium heated grill .Grill 3 minutes on first side, turn them over, brush liberally with mixture again and grill for another 3 minutes. Don't overcook! Test for doneness by breaking one shrimp open; if the inside is completely opaque and no longer translucent, it's done. Grilling time may vary slightly depending on the size of the shrimp, but you want your shrimp to be tender, white, and flaky, not rubbery.

Here are some of the various mixtures to use on your shrimp:

1) 1/4 cup melted butter, juice of 1 lemon or lime, salt

2) 1/4 cup melted butter, finely chopped cilantro, juice of 1 lime, salt

3) 1/4 cup melted butter, 1/2 cup hot sauce (we like Cholula hot sauce),salt

4) 1/4 cup melted butter with favorite Cajun Seasoning, salt

5) Shrimp Seasoning to shake on after you've brushed shrimp with melted butter: 1 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder, 1/2 teaspoon onion powder, 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper, 1/2 teaspoon chili powder, 1/2 teaspoon sugar, 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper, dash allspice, 1/2 teaspoon minced parsley.Mix ingredients and put in shaker.

6) 1/4 cup of melted butter, lemon pepper

7) 1/3 cup olive oil, 1 large clove of garlic, crushed, salt, juice of 1 lemon or lime

Finally, here are some sauces to "go with". The bottled Heinz Cocktail sauce is really very good and these other recipes are easy to whip up for some delicious dipping!

Remoulade Sauce

(from the Outback Steakhouse)

3/4 cup mayonaise, 5 teaspoons stone ground mustard, 4 teaspoons milk, 2 teaspoons minced celery, 2 teaspoons minced green pepper, 2 teaspoons sauerkraut, 1 teaspoon white vinegar, 1/2 teaspoon paprika, 1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper, minced fresh parsley

Make the remoulade sauce by mixing the ingredients together in a small bowl. Cover and chill this sauce until you are ready to use it.

Garlic Butter for Dipping

1/2 cup butter, 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce, 1 tablespoon lemon juice (about 1/2 lemon), 1/8 teaspoon hot pepper sauce, 1 large garlic clove, crushed, salt

In a small saucepan, melt butter. Add remaining ingredients; heat for 1 minute. Serve with shrimp or other seafood.

The smoke from the grill really brings out the flavor in the shrimp so you may just want to simply brush them lightly with melted butter or olive oil and give them a dash of salt before putting them on the grill. They'll taste delicious no matter how you decide to prepare them.

Enjoy! 

A Rare Summer Picnic

Since this week Jim and I will be busy celebrating our August 14th Wedding Anniversary, I will be AWOL from my computer the rest of the week. That being the case, I am linking to several other sites for this post and they are listed at the bottom.......please be sure to check them out! :)

As many of you know I'm hooked on Scrapbooking.............

I've gotten several e-mails lately asking when I was going to post more of my scrapbook pages so I've decided to feature pages from a spur-of-the-moment picnic we had a short while back. Here in the desert there are virtually no picnics after Memorial Day or then again before Labor Day, primarily because of the heat. That's my world. Now picnics and BBQ's around backyard pools are an entirely different story......here in Phoenix people live in their pools all summer. No, the kind of picnics I'm talking about are the" picnics- in- the- park" type of meal. Some years you can't even be sure it will still be cool enough by Memorial Day. Fortunately, in this particular year it was still relatively cool, and when we realized this we headed to Cortez Park at the last minute with a few friends.

As I've said before I now do digital scrapbooking exclusively. While I loved doing it the paper and paste way I found that with the volume of photos I want to scrap it was so time consuming that I would never stay caught up. I scrap chronologically with a scrapbook for every year. I keep each page fairly simple by arranging the photos with whatever clipart strikes my fancy at the time. I don't use this many "talk bubbles" every time but in this particular layout I wanted to use humorous conversation to move the story along.

We had a lot of fun with this insanely large frisby. None of us were used to doing this anymore so it was quite comical in itself.......a fact that was not lost on our teenagers!

You see? Teenagers.....gotta love 'em.

I create the layouts using Photo Shop, print each one out on my regular printer as an 8x8

page, then add to my 8 x 8 sized scrapbook. I also love the fact that I can make CDs of each years albums and keep them in a safe place as a back up "just in case".

The end of a long day......time for a nice siesta under the trees.

I'm leaving you today with a recipe that I took to that impromptu picnic that day...... Janie's Baked Beans. Now these beans are quick,easy, and definitely not baked. They can be prepared on top of the stove or in an electric skillet with not much effort. You can serve them warm, but I much prefer them cold. It's a good idea if you're taking them somewhere other than your own backyard that you chill them first, put in a plastic container and pack in your ice chest. These go so well with any kind of outdoor meal. Yummy and foolproof.

Janie's Quick Baked Beans

I call them this because this started out as

my baby sister's recipe a long time ago....

then I took it over :)

Ingredients:

4 slices bacon, diced

1 chopped onion

1/2 bell pepper, diced

I can pork and beans (31 oz)

3 Tbs dark mollasses

1/2 cup brown sugar

2 tsp prepared mustard

1/2 tsp tabasco

1/3 cup Ketchup

2 Tbsp Worcester Sauce

In electric skillet or large frying pan saute first 3 ingredients until they are tender. Mix other ingredients in, cooking over low heat. Simmer until well seasoned. Serves 6.........but I often double, triple, or even quadruple this recipe for a large crowd. It is very forgiving......you can experiment with each of the ingredients until you get it just the way you like it.

Enjoy!

@ Beauty & Bedlam @The Gypsy's Corner @Blessed with Grace

@ That's My World

@ A Southern Daydreamer

@ Designs by Gollum @ Ann Kroeker @ Momtrends @Vanderbilt Wife

And finally check out Hooked on Fridays @ http://hookedonhouses.net/