favorite recipe alert

"should be knee high by 4th of july," that is what my sister-in-law says.  she's referring to corn.  she grew up in iowa.

the best recipes are the simplest.  the kind of recipes that call for ingredients that can be purchased at any grocery store...fresh ingredients.  you can substitute canned or frozen corn for this recipe, but you will be doing your mouth a disservice.  take the extra time to cut fresh corn off the cobb, you will be glad you did.  i highly recommend this corn cutter thingy.  it makes the job easier, not that cutting it off the cobb with a knife is hard. 

the flavors of this recipe are made for each other.  toasted walnuts, fresh crunchy corn, feta, jalapenos.

be nice to your friends and family, remove the seeds.

i use a mini food processor to chop up the jalapenos.  i don't like to have burning fingers for days on end.

the recipe is from real simple.  real simple, like ina garten, never let me down in the recipe department, probably because they both like "real simple" ingredients.  this salad is one of my favorites and i've made it for years.  there is a simple dressing you can make to put on top, lime juice, evoo, salt, and pepper, but if the corn is sweet enough, i think you can omit the dressing.  it is that good.  hope you enjoy.

having too much fun to blog

treasure time

a couple weeks ago i was doing some organizing in my pantry and i hit the jackpot.  i felt like i won the lottery.  over the years i have accumulated quite a collection of table linens.  while trying to find a home where all my linens could live together in harmony, at the very bottom of a large stack of napkins, i'm talking a really large stack...150 napkins...from my wedding (crazy i know, who buys/makes linens for their wedding?!  the fruit loop writing this blog does, but that is another post)...i found all of these.  the colors are as vivid as they appear in these pictures.

vintage, unused napkins, and tea towels

beautiful designs and colors

they belonged to my grandma.

i have so many unanswered questions about them.  where did they come from?  who gave them to her?  did her and my grandpa buy some of these amazing textiles on one of their trips?  i want to ask my grandpa if he knows, but i'm not sure i can go down that road with him.  just mentioning her name will bring him to tears and she's been gone for over 15 years.

most of them have some kind of needle work on them.  this one does not.  i wonder if my grandma had plans to add something to this one or if she liked it the way it is.

so pretty for spring or easter.

maybe these were a wedding gift to her and my grandpa.

some of them have notes still pinned to them.  this one says, "notice the design in the center."  it is very difficult to see because they are woven into the white part of the linen, but there are giraffes on this one.  i was surprised to see giraffes because in my mind giraffes don't really jive with the red design at the bottom.  where did these come from?  this looks european to me, but i'm wondering if my grandma picked this one up in africa?  she loved africa.  besides sewing, traveling was her thing.  she had one of those license plates frames that said "i'd rather be traveling".

then i came to these.  the linens with the notes had to be given to her because this one has a note that was written to my grandma, i'm assuming from her mother.  the handwriting is identical to my grandmother's though.

i'm going to see my grandpa this weekend.  i'm still on the fence about asking him about these.  i'm just glad i ended up with them even if i don't know the story behind them.

smiles,

amber

summer fun

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it was so hot last week, my girl and i made it to the beach three times.

not a whole lot of creating going on lately, but lots of summery fun.  i buried her.  she buried me.

have you ever seen sand crabs this big?!  kind of gross.

it was just the two of us over the weekend.  my husband was traveling for work.  i try to make things as fun as possible when he is gone.  maybe i'm overcompensating, but it just feels better to eat donuts at the beach, stay up late, and to let my girl sleep in my bed (for some reason her room seems like it's miles away when my husband is gone).

we went thrifting, to the movies, on walks, just a bunch of fun.

hope your week is off to a great start friends!

last friday night

this song makes me want to put on some heels, drink champagne, and dance on the table.  happy weekend!

i have something super cute to show you

ball mason jar salt and pepper shakers!  aren't these cute?!  i'm kind of on a mason jar kick right now.  i've replaced all my old cafe glassware with ball mason jars.  i love making cocktails in them and i can't wait to try one of the many recipes i've seen that involve baking and serving directly in a mason jar.

so how about some salt and pepper shakers too!  i ordered these on ebay for $3.95.  they are from the 70's as you probably can tell by awesome retro box they came in, but they are new.  i normally like to grind my salt and pepper but it is also nice to have some simple and casual salt and pepper shakers in the mix.

recipe for a great holiday weekend

sun, fun, friends, and food.  hope you all had a great weekend!

Happy Birthday America!

slaw

have you already done your grocery shopping for tomorrow?  do you have your menu planned?  if not, add this to your list of yummies.  i made this homemade coleslaw the other night and it was so good.  i don't remember the last time i had coleslaw.  it isn't really something i consume on a regular basis.  it was so good i will be making it again for the 4th of july festivities.  the only thing i changed about the recipe was i used half a head of regular cabbage and half a head of purple cabbage.  what's on your menu for the fourth?  anything special or classic all american goodness?

have a great one friends!  stay safe too!