Company for the Weekend

We’re having company again this weekend --- which got me to thinking about the attention to little details that really seem to make a difference for guests. 

The first thing that comes to mind is clearing off the porch.  We’ve been using the porch like crazy in a last desperate attempt to savor the end of summer.  So there’s a blanket still draped over the rocker where I was snuggled up with my book.  The dog’s extra leash is out there from a quick trip out the other night.  And the beginnings of the falling leaves (just one or two) have blown in against the house. 

Its not a terrible mess, by any means.  But it certainly doesn’t scream welcome – we’re glad you came. 

So for starters --- we’ll be cleaning all of that up.  I’ll be checking that both of the lightbulbs in the porch fixtures work (we don’t want to end up looking like some spooky Halloween house) and checking for cobwebs in the corner (the Halloween reference reminded me to do that)

Then, I’ll make use of the Garden Club coupon from Home Depot to add a couple of potted mums on either side of the door.  That should look nice – and will definitely say Welcome. 

Its good to have guests ---- its even better when they feel that way too. 

Cheddar Scones for Tea

I’ve been on the hunt to replicate a cheddar herb scone that I had this spring at a tiny little coffee house near where I work.  (It has changed hands, the scones are no longer there – and the recipe would not likely be forthcoming anyway). 

Most scones do not impress me – they are dry and crumbly.  I think that coffeehouses sell them that way so that you want more to drink.  Hmmm?

There is a little teahouse not too far from work that makes delightful scones – but alas, not the cheddar herb variety (I’ll be working on getting my hands on some of their recipes in the near future)

I wanted a scone that would go nicely with a tomato sandwich for tea and this really fit the bill. 

I found this recipe from Ina Garten for Cheddar Dill scones – and I adjusted the herbs (not a fan of dill, here) --- I’m pretty happy with it – still not quite the scone I’m seeking --- but good enough for now

Ina Garten’s Cheddar Dill Scones -- adjusted

Ingredients

4 cups all-purpose flour, divided

1 tablespoon all-purpose flour, divided

2 tablespoons baking powder

2 teaspoons salt

3/4 lb cold unsalted butter, diced

4 extra-large eggs, beaten lightly

1 cup cold heavy cream

1/2 lb extra-sharp yellow cheddar cheese, small-diced

1 cup minced fresh chives, basil, and tarragon (heavy on the chives, please)

1 egg, beaten with

1 tablespoon water or milk, for egg wash

Directions

1.     Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

2.    Combine 4 cups of flour, the baking powder, and salt in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Add the butter and mix on low speed until the butter is in pea-sized pieces. Mix the eggs and heavy cream and quickly add them to the flour-and-butter mixture. Combine until just blended. Toss together the Cheddar, dill, and 1 tablespoon of flour and add them to the dough. Mix until they are almost incorporated.

3.    Dump the dough onto a well-floured surface and knead it for 1 minute, until the Cheddar and dill are well distributed. Roll the dough 3/4-inch thick. Cut into 4-inch squares and then in half diagonally to make triangles. Brush the tops with egg wash. Bake on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper for 20 to 25 minutes, until the outside is crusty and the inside is fully baked. Makes 16 large scones.

Cucumber Mint Salad

This is one of our family favorites and its EASY and inexpensive.  But it feels super elegant and ritzy...

1 Cucumber -- peel and quarter lengthwise -- scoop out ALL of the seed and pulp and then slice into little chunks
2-3 stalks of green celery cut into small slices (only use the sweet green part)
Mint -- use however much you like -- we like alot!!  Roll the leaves in your fingers and use kitchen shears to make tiny snips of mint for the salad
1/3 cup of crumbled Feta cheese (I never measure this -- just toss in a handful)

Mix it all together and let it sit while you make the rest of dinner ---
Sprinkle it with the lightest vinaigrette you can find -- we like Vanilla Vinaigrette from Baldwin's Extracts

We serve with grilled meat or salmon and some warm pita breads ---

Free Class with Pottery Barn Kids

Pottery Barn Kids and Real Simple have teamed up to offer an exclusive class designed to make the transition back to school easy, and even fun! Real Simple editors will share their best tips on creating the ultimate study space for your child, getting everyone organized for back-to-school, easy, delicious meals and more.

Attend and receive 10% off featured products and get an exclusive back-to-school guide.

Join the fun Wednesday, August 12th or Saturday, August 22nd at all Pottery Barn Kids stores nationwide.

Space is limited, so call your local store to RSVP today. To locate a store, visit potterybarnkids.com.

Multi-tasking? Try the test

The NewYorkTimes Online has a terrific "test" that you can take to see why texting while driving is such a bad idea (as if you couldn't figure that out).
But since so many people can't seem to figure that out ---- and so many others are lured by the ching of the blackberry or cellphone saying there's a message, and they'll just peek --- I'm glad the NYT did this.
Its almost shocking how quickly you deteriorate with this little test.  Scary, really.  And this is what's happening when otherwise responsible drivers start looking at the cellphone rather than you and me who are sharing the road with them.
Try it yourself.

Entertainment Book

We've always been huge fans of the Entertainment Book.  We started out buying just one -- the edition closest to my husband's office and using it primarily for dinners out and hotels.  As time went by, we found it to be such a valuable resource that we moved to purchasing two books -- one edition near his office and one edition near my work.  
I really thought that we got the most out of our Entertainment books.  We use the daylights out of those things.  By the end of the year, they are a dog-eared mess and barely holding together at the binding.  
I know other people who tell me that they are a waste of money and never get any use out of them.  So what do we do differently??

• we team up with two other couples who also have the book.  We have seasons tickets together to a small local theater.  Each month after the play, we go out to dinner using the Entertainment book deals.  We go to very nice restaurants for very little money.  
• we go out to lunch together -- date night, sort of.  When I'm off and can join my husband in the middle of the day, we pull a lunch coupon from the Entertainment book and head out for a lunch date.  We usually end up spending about $10 for the two of us and we have a nice time together.  
• we utilize the coupons for savings on car washes.  Our Entertainment book has a set of coupons for monthly car washes at great discounts.  We alternate which car gets the royal treatment (they vacuum, do the windows, give you a fancy air freshener in addition to actually washing the car).  It keeps our cars looking and feeling great.  We feel richer and more pampered when our cars look great and feel great to ride in. Plus we're never embarrassed by the dog fur or other stuff in an uncleaned car.
• we use the coupons from the grocery stores and convenience stores.  They're not always for things we really need or want --- the grocery store often has a coupon for free bread -- we make our own so I really don't want or need free bread from the store.  But it makes a great take-along to a pot-luck, or fine french toast for breakfast at work, or a donation to our community dinner.
• We take it along with us when we travel.  You just never know what you'll find when you're out and about.  

But even with all of that usage, I just discovered that I am certainly NOT getting the absolute most out of my Entertainment Book.  I stumbled across a terrific e-book on maximizing the Entertainment Book written by Julie Parrish, one of the founders of Hot Coupon World.  Go here and you can download a copy for yourself.
Julie has me outdone by a mile. She actually buys three of these books each year (a total investment of about $60)  She figures she saves over $4,000 a year.   

There is also a deal going on right now that can get you the 2009 Entertainment Book for free!!  When you reserve your 2010 Entertainment Book, you get the 2009 Entertainment Book for free!  Go here to reserve your 2010 book and get the 2009 book as the bonus.  Can't beat that.

Homemade Ice Cream

We tried making ice cream the other night.  It was a little bit messy, but otherwise absolutely wonderful.  Give it a try --- you'll never go back to store-bought again.

Take a quart size ziplock bag (use the freezer strength and don't skimp on quality --- its going to take some handling)
Pour into it:

• 1 cup of whole milk
• 1 and 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 2-3 tbsp sugar
• your choice of fruit -- about 1/3 -1/2 a cup (we used peaches and some chopped up crystallized ginger)

Seal up the baggie and place it inside of another ziplock bag -- this one a gallon size bag.
Into the outer bag (around the quart bag) put about 4 cups or so of ice and 1/4 cup of kosher salt.
Take turns shaking the bag (don't squeeze it!!)
It will feel like nothing is happening -- and then --- all of the sudden the inside bag will puff up ---
Take the smaller bag out of the big bag and wipe it off (salty ice cream is yucky)
Put it into the freezer to firm up a bit -- about a half an hour or so.

Low Flow Showerhead

This project was so easy that even I was able to do it.  Really ---  with no technical or vocational skills whatsoever --- it was that easy.  
The only tool you really need is an adjustable wrench (that's the one with the twirly thing in the middle that makes the opening of the wrench get bigger or smaller depending on which way you spin the twirly thing -- see I told you.  No skills whatsoever). 
So, first you just unscrew the old shower head. 


That leaves a really ugly pipe sticking out of the wall.  
Take a bar of soap and rub it on the pipe in the wall -- sort of like when you rub a bar of soap on a stuck zipper -- it lubricates it (don't let that technical talk scare you -- I still know NOTHING)
On the package of the new low-flow showerhead there should be a diagram of all of the parts (there's only a few, don't panic) Stack everything up in the order shown on the diagram -- 
Then just screw the new shower head onto the really ugly pipe jutting out of the wall.
Ta da!!  That's all there was to it --- done.  
Seriously --- the benefits to this little home improvement project are several fold: 
1.  You get a new showerhead -- spring for a semi-fancy one -- We are riding on the coattails of luxury after all -- I went for one with the "rain" setting -- it doesn't feel like rain to me at all, but its a lovely relaxing shower.
2.  You do something really, really good for the earth.  As Americans, we use far more than our share of the earth's water -- this cuts that down a little bit without impacting your lifestyle, sense of hygiene etc.
3.  You save money, honey.  Nearly a quarter of the water that you use in your home is in the shower -- if you save that water --- voila, your water bill goes down. If you're like me, you like your shower hot rather than cold.  That means you're heating that water and paying for the gas or electricity to heat it.  If you heat less of it --- voila -- your energy bill goes down too.  

Soothing the Savage Beast

I've always believed that music has an amazing ability to calm both us and our animals.  Our current little terror, Hurricane Ginger, is certainly soothed by her favorite Tim Janis .   We kept it playing in the house during the early days when she was truly terrified by life in her new home and even played it in the car during some of those early rides in the crate.  I've joked several times that I need to figure out how to hook up the Ipod for walks and for obedience classes -- can you put earbuds on a dog??
Now, Paras Lakhani M.D. has gone and proven me right --- The study didn't use Tim Janis (sorry, Tim) it used Handel's Water Music (another lovely piece).  It found that the heartbeats of humans actually dropped to match the pace of the music -- in the case of Water Music -- about 60 beats per minute -- far slower than most of our regular heartbeats these days.
And according to the study -- this has a surprising effect:  it makes concentration and learning easier.
Who knew??

Cheap Chic Daily

I stumbled upon this website recently and its quickly got its own bookmark in my browser --- every day they post some chic little item that is well within the budget of those of us who don't live in Richville.  Some of the picks are a little trendy and youthful for me -- but there are some great finds and fun ideas in the mix a well.  I love the striped Sephora makeup bag -- adorable, chic and only $7.00.

Free Hermes Bag

This is too cute for words --- I read about it here at one of my all time favorite blogs "A Femme d'un Certain Age"  Firstly, I love that phrase in French --- it is a delightful discreet way of referring to those of us who quite clearly are NOT twenty-one anymore. Secondly, this lady blogs beautifully about her life and her sense of style.
In any event, her blog is where I came across this cute, weird Hermes thing ---
Go to the Hermes website --- go there now --- try not to get sidetracked by all of the gorgeous scarves that you cannot afford, please.... Do not click on the online boutique icon --- instead choose the "travel the world of Hermes" icon ---
Once there, click on "I want it, I'll have it" --- and voila, the templates for the Hermes bags will appear --- they're adorable.
I have a wedding shower later this summer --- I'm thinking that this might be the most lovely favor --- depending on how difficult the cut and paste assembly actually is.  Each lady could go home with her own Hermes bag --- maybe a cute scarf (not Hermes) tied to it???  Classy, cute -- and not too expensive.  Very on the coattails.

Sparkling Lemonade

Ah! The joy of simple food (and drink).  This is so simple and easy -- and yet I'm always astounded by how impressed my guests are by it.  I've already made two pitchers of sparkling lemonade this season.  The first was for the Memorial Day picnic at our house.  The second was for a family gathering this past weekend.  The family is well accustomed to my sparkling lemonade (although they all seem to think its far more challenging to make than it really is), so not too many oohs and aahs there.  

This is one of those emergency treats that turns any simple summer meal into a party.  We take it to Tanglewood with us in the summer (almost time!!) and we take it to the beach.  Unless I make it for just the two of us (yes, sometimes) - there are never any leftovers.  By keeping the two primary ingredients in the pantry and freezer, I can throw this together any time on the spur of the moment.  

Sparkling Lemonade

1 can frozen lemonade concentrate (the cheap store brand will be just fine)

1 bottle (2 liter size) seltzer

1 lemon, sliced thinly

That's it --- pour out the frozen concentrate into a pretty pitcher.  Gently pour in the seltzer (try not to let it fizz overmuch or it will get flat quickly).  Gently stir/mash the lemonade concentrate so that it dissolves nicely.  Add the lemon slices to make it look pretty.  

All done!! 

This lemonade is lighter and less sweet than what you might associate with frozen concentrate lemonade.  That's partly because we're using seltzer, which has that tiny bit of bitterness to it.  But its also because we're using more liquid than is generally called for by the directions on the can.  Its light, nicely sweet, but not overly so, fizzy and wonderful.