Lemons and Tart Shells...

Lemons reminds me of summer. Tangly flavor wants me to sit down by a warm side walk with bare feet to absorb the sun. 

Lemon zest add so much flavor for many treats...

See how I make my shells.

Its already taking shape. Lemon juice, zest, and sugar.

 Looks yummy. Simple pleasures in life.

Quote of the day "compliment everyone you deal with"

Enjoy!

Asparagus, Goat Cheese, and Tart Shells...

I love asparagus they are delicious and some times could be pricey. I know a local farm that you can go and harvest your own asparagus. I would love to go there one day for a picture day. I got mine from the grocery store. I like the skinny kind because i feel they are packed with taste.

Well this bunch needed garlic, sea salt and olive oil. 

Look the grill marks marks are remarkable already...

Goat cheese this is very soft Yummy with crackers with a little bit of crushed black pepper...

Add eggs, milk, onion, black pepper, a little cayenne pepper, and salt. Top it off with goat cheese.

Yummy with a side of Salad...

Can't wait for have this for dinner...

Quote of the day "sit down for your meals"

Enjoy!

If you take me to the Garden Shop...

I know this sounds like if you give a mouse a pancake... but totally different experience. I planned in not to spend so much time at the shop. I love to go here to make my self motivated to do more designing inside my house.   

I would love to create this... and its being added to my to do list...

I am totally in love with these... they are so pretty...

I did finally planted some pansies they are so adorable I love these...

I love this color but I did not buy them this year...

This reminds me of our house in VA... works great with brick front...

I have not tried these in my yard nut love to give a try...

I would love to grow begonias that blooms like this may be in future...

Imagine the work that goes to create this...

I wish I took more pictures but this was so adorable inside with all the garden stuff in its tailgate... Nicolette was happy to stand in front of this...

Quote of the “ Take time to dream” 

Enjoy!

Finally Daffodils...

Yes, all that waiting is beginning to pay off. Well they are not getting much rain but I guess enough warmth in the ground to wake up!

Funny story is I am totally in love with this tiny patch of daffodils from my previous owner. They are beautiful I never seen something like this before. Simply Gorgeous aren’t they.

I was adamant to plant only yellow this year we will see what brings out next year. May be some shades of light yellow would be lovely. 

I cannot wait to see till every thing to bloom...

Quote of the day " say a morning prayer"

Enjoy!

Mani & Pedicure...

After a long time I treated myself for a long overdue mani & pedicure treat. The new shellac is amazing but I have not use it yet. According many that I know seems to lasting for 14 days. I think that is a BIG. 

O.K. lets be realistic I cannot keep my manicure for more than a week if I did it is huge accomplishment. The amount of cooking and cleaning I do it will be a miracle if I did. 

They would not do it on fridays and the weekends I guess those are the big days for salons. I chose the SALES promotion. I really hope I can maintain this till Saturday. After that it is going to be history. 

I always preferred the neutral  minerals than the color on my nails. This weekend I needed some color. I have notice I always gravitate towards same color.

Do you change colors according to the moods or seasons... I would love to hear...

Quote of the day “ plan less"

Enjoy!

Forsythia forcing inside...

Last week instead of our usual walks my neighbor invited me to join with her cit some forsythia. I decided to do so. We drove over to her house and started to trip her forsythia bush.

Sorry no pictures. But now I have this in our family room. They are in full bloom and so much fun to the air. 

I have experience in chopping them down to the ground as well. And planting them in neighbors yard. Here I am trimming forsythia again from another house. I find this very ironic. 

Quote of the day “ finish every day and be done with it” 

Enjoy!

Miso Soup...

I love miso soup. It is a very simple soup that you can make in few minutes and sometimes with what you have. I love to make this entirely vegan. however in some occasions I make this with what ever the fish I have at home.

I have also learned to make this soup with seaweed which is yummy and loaded with many nutrients. When ever I go to Boston I shop at few chinese stores and gather ingredients because they are very in expensive compare to your local grocery international food isle. 

I usually add what ever mushrooms I have at home. After my recent visit to Boston we had oyster mushrooms. 

Silken tofu is so good and and soft just melts inside the mouth. I usually cut them into cubes but if you like firm tofu go for it. 

I like to add a little bit of  chinese chili paste to my miso soup to give little kick. 

This recipe calls for 

Miso paste

Tofu

Mushroom (oyster)

Baby Bock choy

How you make it 

I love to have this warm. This is a fairly easy recipe I have enjoy making. I usually measure 5 -6 cups of water and let it boil and then add my miso paste and using the whisk I whisk it into the water lower the heat and all the other ingredients let it simmer and serve warm. 

Quote of the day “once a week, eat a liquefied diet”

Enjoy!

Spring, Seeds, and Dirt...

I wanted to grow morning glories this year and I found some at the local garden shop which I love very much. I am anxious to see the blooms because I have not encounter anything like this when it comes to morning glories. 

I also gathered some more seeds packets with potting mix

I also over soaked my seeds to the point that the outer skin to break. These were the only seeds that needed to be soaked that explains why I over soaked them. 

Look how tiny these seeds are but they are hopefully going to supply me tomato this summer. I will post the pictures of my seedling as they start to appear. Till then happy germination and let’s welcome spring love.

Quote of the day “preserve nature”

Enjoy!

Spring Center Piece...

I wanted to display my candle holders or the votive holders. I decided to add the candle holders to my spring table runner. 

What more can I add of course the bird house if not it is not completed.

Simple yet springy centerpiece. 

Quote of the day “love each day equally” 

Using two Colors...

Nicolette has begun to use two colors with her painting. She is still getting the concept of using two colors which involves washing the brush. and picking the second color. 

I love to watch her when she is painting and I think she wants me to watch her. She has begun to make association with colors to animals. She was talking to me about a giraffe when she picked these two colors.

Nicolette is getting very comfortable using her brushstrokes. I have to come up with a creative way to use her paintings...

Quote of the day “love each day equally”

Enjoy!

Organizing Teen Magazines...

Niegel has been collecting Boy’s Life for a while and he practically had one organizer. I bought this for him a long time ago and it was black in color. See all these were fitting into this one magazine holder.

I have been slowly working in his room to add shelving, painting, and organizing as well. I bought him two magazine organizer but they were white and it was not working with the one he had,

I spray pain the black to off white. Now they all work together all his magazines are organized. This year we gave the subscription to TIMES and he loves it.

We organized them yearly, monthly and the types in different cases. They all look like this now. He loves how it turned out. Best thing was he can take them out easily for mid-afternoon quiet time during weekends. 

More reading, organizing, staying on top of the world news, and enjoying the ability to find magazines at his finger tips...

Quote of the day “invest your money”

Enjoy!