Sea Salt Caramel Rice Krispy Treats

If you've been following my blog, you know that I usually like to warm you up with a few photos before I get to the recipe of the day.

 You can pretty much count on the photos falling into one of two categories.

1.  Whatever happens to be blooming in my yard. (a.k.a. Flowers That I Haven't Killed...Yet)

or

2. My dogs.  Here's Clyde on the 4th of July, visiting my parents in Connecticut.  

You may think that you've just viewed the warm-up pictures, but today I've got something even better. (And best of all, I am going to share some photos that were taken by others, people who have much better skills with a camera than I could ever hope to have!)

There's been a little bit of Hollywood action here in our little Boston suburb for the past couple of days.

My facebook newsfeed has been completely flooded with pictures that my friends have posted of Robert Downey, Jr.  By all accounts, he is a really down-to-Earth, humble guy who freely steps into the crowds to sign autographs.

The above picture was taken by my friend Kerry's cousin, Reilly.

Kerry was stuck at work and is insanely jealous that Reilly was so close to one of her all-time favorite actors.

  And I'm sure Kerry is also jealous that Robert Downey, Jr. was looking right at our friend, Cristina, when she took this picture.

Cristina's son, Jake, got an autograph.

The name of the film is "The Judge."  My friend, Tracey, captured this scene outside the courthouse.  Tracey's a true rock star with her camera.

Final shot:  Tracey's daughter, Lily, getting an autograph and a little face time with a movie star.

Thanks to all of my friends for letting me share their pictures!

Okay, before I give you the recipe, I need to tell you that it's one of a gazillion recipes that I've been pinning on Pinterest.  Actually, I didn't even pin this one, because when I pin something I never look at it again.

I went right to the recipe, printed it out, and made it.  Click HERE to go to Redbook Magazine's recipe for Salted Caramel Treats.  Go ahead.  You have to click on the link.  I'll wait.

Okay, now that you're back I will explain why you needed to click on the link.  I wanted you to see how beautiful and perfect the treat looks in that picture.  I know that I'm always telling you how terrible a photographer I am, but I need to inform you that no amount of mad photography skills could ever make the treats that I made look so perfect.  (And the fact that I scorched my caramel didn't help.)  Do you think they actually photoshopped all of the flaws right out of that treat? I mean, caramel is really gooey, right?  That picture is the smoothest, most ungooey-looking caramel I have ever seen.  Where am I going with this?  The point of all this rambling is that although my treats hardly resemble the flawless treat you see in that picture, it doesn't matter.  Flaws and all, these treats are out-of-this-world yummy!

Crab Cakes and Dill Sauce

It's no secret I'm a terrible photographer.  Just scroll through my blog and you'll find proof.

Yesterday, I thought I would work on my skills and attempt to photograph some of my deck plants.  This was the first (and only) photo I took:

When I was looking through the viewfinder, I was thinking to myself, "Wow, it's so sunny I can hardly see."

Yep, not only am I a terrible photographer, I'm a clueless one as well.

I snapped the photo, then pulled it up onto the screen to check it and thought, whaaat......turns out my lens was all fogged because it was so humid out.  Note to self: allow the camera a little bit of time to adjust to the temperature change on a hot and humid day after it's been sitting in an air-conditioned house.

Live and learn.

 Temps were about 10 degrees higher today, but there was less humidity so I was able to get the shots of my flowers before they die.

Because they ARE going to die.

Killing plants is another one of my specialties.

You'll notice that my containers are heavy on the moss rose (portulaca), which is sun-loving yet drought-tolerant.  My kind of container plant!

I've been cutting my dahlias to take into my house.  It seems that every bloom that I cut is quickly replaced by two more.  I cut all of these and took them into my house.

 I love how perfect they look when they are wide open!

I sat down to write this blog post and my shadow, Clyde, sat down next to me and then promptly fell asleep.

He is at an age where he is never willing to sit for me to photograph him.  So I grabbed a photo while he was sleeping.  And the whir of the camera woke him up,  Oops.

I'm sure if he could speak, he'd be saying, "Huh?  Why'd ya wake me?  It's only my 13th nap today."  And if he could speak, I am sure that his voice would sound exactly like Homer Simpson's.  That's the voice that I imagine in my head when I imagine him talking.  Sort of a dopey voice, because he's a dopey dog.

NOT that I hear voices in my head.  Only Clyde's voice.  The voice that I imagine he would have if he could speak.

I'll stop now.  And give you today's recipe, inspired by the fabulous crab meat that I bought from the seafood vendor at the farmers market.  Crab Cakes and a yummy dill sauce.

Alcohol-Free Pina Coladas

Summertime makes me so happy.

 What's not to love?

 Sitting on my deck, surrounded by flowers.

 Love. It.

 Even the window boxes that I put up this year are filling in nicely.

We spent the past weekend in Vermont, Erin had a softball tournament there.  It was wonderful to spend some time with our favorite softball families.

 We spent a lot of time hanging out on the hotel balconies, enjoying the view and the cool breeze coming from the river.

 We spent more time at the ball field, though..........three games on Saturday and Erin's team was seeded #1. That led to more games on Sunday.

Have you ever seen a more spectacular view at a ball field?

On Friday night, we were all sort of exhausted from traveling.  We went out for dinner and then called it a night, as we had to be at the ball field by 7 a.m.

 Look at the size of this bug on the window!  (For those of you who are wondering, the bug was on the outside.)  It was HUGE.  Probably about 3 or 4 inches long.  I couldn't help but snap a picture.

The table by the bug was not occupied while we were eating dinner, but as our group of twelve was leaving there were people being seated by the bug.  The woman that was sitting at that window was oblivious to the creepy-crawley bug on the window, but I think at some point she would have noticed and I like to imagine that she let out a nice shriek.

I admit it, I smiled (okay, I smirked) as we walked past the Inferno with its promises of "music, temptation and booze."  

This pina colada recipe that I'm about to give you is family-friendly so there is no alcohol in it........but if you're tempted to booze it up, add a splash of rum!

Shrimp & Potato Soup

Will it really reach 90 degrees on Monday as everyone seems to think?

I figured I should take a few pictures of the blooms and blossoms in my yard before they wilt and drop from heat exhaustion.

None of the tulips have opened yet, I'm hoping they can hold on until after the heatwave!

My niece has adopted a puppy.  Meet Milo!

They live about 100 miles away, I'm afraid by the time I meet him in person his puppy days will be behind him.

Fortunately, she's posting lots of pictures of him on her facebook page so I get to "oooh" and aaaaah" over him all day long!

I made this pillow for the bottom of his crate.....puppies should be pampered, don'tcha think?

I decided to pamper myself a bit tonight!  Mr. Terrific and Sean went to the Red Sox game (Go Sox!!), Erin was out with friends, so I only had myself to cook for.  I'm the only seafood lover in this house, so unless I want to listen to a chorus of groans I rarely prepare anything remotely fishy.  

Tonight, I seized the opportunity to get creative in the kitchen without having to worry about pleasing anyone other than myself!

With the warmer weather coming, I figure that my soup-making days will be on hold for the next five months or so. The only seafood I had in the house was some shrimp in my freezer, but I had enough ingredients on hand to put together a really yummy soup!

Grilled Cheese Panini with Avocado and Prosciutto

Today I decided to snap a few photos of the flowers that are blooming in my yard.  Everything is blooming so early this year, I wonder if it will continue at this early pace?

I snapped this photo a split-second before Gus came and dropped his frisbee on these daffodils and flattened them.

These daffodils were facing downward so I held my camera on the ground to get this shot.

These white daffodils with the pink centers are my favorite.  I'm thinking that I might have to cut them and bring them into the house where I can enjoy them.

The inspiration for today's recipe came about when I was standing in line at the deli yesterday.  The deli clerk was slicing prosciutto di Parma for the woman in front of me.  He was slicing it so thin and perfect.  I bet you could've read a newspaper through the slices, they were so transparent.  It was out of my control.  I had to buy some.

Then, I had to figure out what to do with the prosciutto.  My favorite thing would be prosciutto/mozzarella asparagus wraps , but unfortunately the rest of my family doesn't share my enthusiasm for asparagus.     

So I just started pulling some of my favorite things out of the fridge (fresh mozzarella) and the fruit bowl (avocado.....I'm still obsessed) and the bread box (awesome ciabatta) and decided on panini instead.

It was sooooooooo good.  In fact, it was such a perfect combination of salty/chewy-crunchy/melty-creamy that I made another one just like it today.