Orange Creamsicle Cookies

Now that spring is officially here, official spring activities abound.

Like softball!  Pre-game pep talk on the mound.  That's my baby with the red cleats.  I'd post a better picture of my pitcher-baby, but she has forbidden me.

And baseball!  I coach a town baseball team of 13- to 15-year-old boys.  We had our first practice this week and I have to tell you that by the end of the practice my face hurt from smiling so much.

Today's practice was cancelled due to the rain.  I made a double batch of Orange Creamsicle Cookies, I was planning on bringing them for the boys to munch on after practice.  I'll have to bring them to tomorrow's practice instead!

This is one of the many recipes that I have pinned on Pinterest.  The picture looked so good, I just had to try it.  I'm happy to say, they taste as good as they look!  You can see the original recipe from Baked Perfection by clicking here.

Baked Puff Pancakes With Strawberry Sauce

Yep, I'm still overdoing the strawberries.  At just about every nearby supermarket, strawberries have been on sale for at least a month and they're pretty much the first thing you see when you walk in the door.

And I just can't stop buying them.  Fortunately, I haven't even come close to running out of ways to use them in my cooking!

Today, I'm using them to make a sauce for my puff pancakes.  You can use any fruit you like, and frozen fruits work well, too.  But c'mon, admit it.  You want to use strawberries, too, right?

Random Thoughts

Well, I did not realize that there was a limit to the amount of photo space on my blog account.....until I tried to write tonight's post (earlier this week) and blogger wouldn't allow me to download any photos because my space was all used up.

First, I blamed it on my new camera.  All this time spent wishfully thinking about how nice it would be to have a camera that would take pictures that didn't look like they were taken under cover of darkness.  I thought it was more than a coincidence that my storage space filled up two days after I started downloading the new photos. Nah.  Turns out it was just a case of bad timing.

After a bit of research I discovered that there is a 1GB limit to photo storage on blogger, and I've apparently reached that limit.  

What to do?  Do I have to stop blogging?  Do I blog without pictures?  Terrible as my pictures are, I think a blog without pictures would be worse.  You would be stuck with my lame attempts to engage you without the lame photos to drive my lame points home.

I was relieved to discover that I could purchase 20GB of additional storage for a nominal annual fee.

Gratuitous photos of my sidekick, Gus, will continue to appear here regularly.

Lots of time spent outdoors lately.

Temps this week were in the EIGHTIES.  Which is like, practically unheard of in New England during the month of March.  We have been sleeping with our windows open overnight.  ALL NIGHT LONG.  I don't think we have ever, ever done that in March.

I've been doing lots of cooking, but almost everything I've cooked lately can be found in the archives of this blog.

Pasta With Creamy Pesto Sauce.  Click here to be taken to recipe.  Well, the recipe that I posted has chicken in it, but this week I made it without meat.

 And earlier this week, I made Apricot Chicken Sandwiches, because I felt like the beautiful weather called for something fun.  Click here to be taken to the recipe.

Here's a shot of the yummy inside of the sandwich.  I was going to change the ugly pictures in the earlier posts, but then I thought I'd leave them as they were, because we can all use a laugh now and then.

I'm still trying to figure out the new camera, but I'm liking the pictures I'm taking now a heck of a lot more than I did with the old camera.

Almond Cake With Fresh Berries

This has been such a busy week! 

1. Temps in the '60's!  I finally put up my new window boxes.

My parents came for a visit and I took advantage of my Dad's handy-dandy skills.  Took the two of us about an hour to drill and hang six boxes.  

Without him, who knows how long it would have taken me?  And how many sighs of exasperation and shakes of my head did he save me from?  Thanks, Dad!  

2.  The only baking I've done in the last few days is a batch of dog cookies.  Click on the link to be taken to my favorite doggy recipe.

3.  Caitie is home for spring break {yippee!}, and we have been out all day, every day this week.

4. Wednesday was my wedding anniversary, Mr. Terrific and I have been married for 25 {wow!}

years.

Which brings me to 

5.

Mr. Terrific bought me a new camera!

So awesome!  --yet terrifying, because I  have really gotten into a groove of blaming my lackluster photos on my old camera.  What if I continue to take drab pictures with the new camera?

Yesterday, I charged the battery and tried to work my way through the manual, which is over 300 pages long.

And then, last night, I proceeded to have one dream after another, similar to those dreams where you're trying to run {but your legs won't move} or you're trying to scream {but no sound comes out}.   I suppose some people might call them nightmares?  Well last night, in multiple dreams, I was trying to take photos with my new camera but the camera wouldn't work.  Knobs were falling off, buttons refused to move, the lens refused to focus.  All night long. 

So a few minutes ago I grabbed the camera and took this picture:

And this one:

I took them just to prove to myself that the camera is working.  I still have a lot to learn, but I think that maybe these pictures--taken on this overcast, rainy day--are quite a bit better than my usual dreary photos.

And since I made (and took the following photos for) this Almond Cake last week, I'm hopeful that this post will be a last hurrah of dim, dark and drab photos.

Stuffed Mushrooms!

I was at the hair salon last week, and Karen, the miracle worker who was applying her magic to my tresses, asked me what my plans were for the weekend.

I told her that the highlight of my weekend would be dinner at a friend's house on Saturday night.  I would be bringing appetizers. 

Karen, bless her coiffure-rescuing soul, follows this blog.  "What are you going to make?" she asked.

Artichoke Dip and stuffed mushrooms, I replied.  Artichoke dip, because Mr. Terrific likes it so much.  And stuffed mushrooms, because I love mushrooms.  

And then the questions started.  How do you cook them? What do you stuff them with?  I couldn't give her the exact measurements, because when I make stuffed mushrooms it's one of those recipes where I just throw everything together until it feels right and looks right and smells right.

I promised Karen I would measure the ingredients when I made the mushrooms, and then I would blog about it.  So Karen, here is the recipe I promised you!

Strawberry/Spinach Salad with Poppy Seed Dressing

We've been eating a lot of strawberries lately.  It seems like every local supermarket has run a special on strawberries within the last few weeks.

Today I walked into the supermarket and strawberries and blackberries were on sale.  For someone like me, who has had spring fever for two solid months already....well, all I could think was, "the more, the berrier!"  Ouch, that was pretty lame, I know.

This is the look that Gus gives me when I make a bad pun.

It has been exactly one year since Gus was sprayed by a skunk.  No matter how much he tries to coax and cajole us into letting him out when he catches a whiff of his stinky little friend, we've managed to keep him skunk-free.

As usual, I digress. Back to the berries.  I made a very simple salad of spinach and berries topped with a sweet poppy seed dressing.  Goodness, gracious, me-oh-my, it was soooooo good.

Slow Cooker Parmesan Honey Pork Roast Recipe

Today's recipe is for yet another slow cooker pork roast, but what's not to love about a meal that you can throw together in the morning and then just forget about it for six hours?  And in the meantime, it makes your house smell really good!

This is another recipe from my recipe board on Pinterest.  It's nice that I'm finally starting to cook all these recipes that I've been pinning.  Let's see, this is the second Pinterest recipe that I've made this week, I probably pin one or two recipes a day, at this rate I should be caught up...never.  Oh, well, the browsing and pinning is fun, and even if I "only" make two recipes a week that are worth keeping, I still think it's a win-win situation!

Blog Anniversary, Etsy And A Giveaway!

I'm just a few days away from my blog anniversary.  I can't believe it's been a year already!

And--today I crossed another one of my New Year's resolutions off my list.  I've opened a shop on Etsy!  Someday, I will figure out how to add a link to the sidebar on this blog, but for now, you can click here if you want to check it out.

For now, I'm just listing some of pillows that I've made using scraps of vintage linens and tablecloths, fabrics from the '30's, '40's and '50's.

They've been piling up.

I still have more to list, so stay tuned!

I thought I would celebrate my anniversary and the opening of the Etsy store with a giveaway.  The winner will receive..........a pillow!  

Pillow #1:

The center of this pillow is a trail of embroidered roses from a vintage linen table runner.  Framed with pink stripes and a vintage-inspired floral print.  Surrounded with fluffy pink vintage pom poms.

Pillow #2:

A patchwork of vintage chenille squares, framed with new, fluffy white chenille and vintage pink pom poms.

Pillow #3:

A bouquet from a vintage tablecloth, framed with polka dots, rick rack, ticking stripes and vintage pom poms.

All of these pillows have a slip opening in the back, and each pillow measures approximately 19" x 19".

If you would like to win one of these pillows, here is how you can enter:

Leave a comment, telling me which pillow you would like to win.  You can elaborate as much as you like, or simply write "#1," "#2," or #3."  And if you also become a follower of this blog, you will be entered twice.  (And anyone who currently follows this blog will also be entered twice if they leave a comment!)

Winners will be drawn on Saturday, March 3.  Good Luck!

Today, I'm also linking up with Sue at It's A Very Cherry World for her Rednesday blog party!

Strawberry Lemonade Bars

I finally got around to making one of the many recipes on my "baking" board on Pinterest.  I have been spending way too much time surfing the site, pinning recipes I'd like to try, crafts I'd like to make, projects I'd like to do, flowers I'd like to grow, decor I'd like to have and plenty of other pictures that make me go "ooh" and "ahh."  (I'm not kidding; I named two of my boards "ooh" and "ahh.")

But anyway, back to the recipes.  One of my New Year's resolutions was to go through the recipes I've collected on Pinterest and make one dessert and one main dish or salad per week.

Here we are, eight weeks in, do you think I've made sixteen recipes?  Nope.  This weekend I made my first Pinterest recipe.........and I'm happy to say it is a keeper!  Can you imagine the pressure that I put on that recipe?   If it failed, then the chances were pretty good that I would nix that New Year's resolution.

Here is a picture of the Strawberry Lemonade Bars.  Now for those of you that are thinking, "My, how  Fran's photography skills have improved!"--you need to know that this is the picture that was taken and posted by kandktestkitchen .  If you click on that link it will take you to the original post and recipe.

And for those of you who prefer your photos a bit more dim and drab, accompanied by awkward attempts at witty repartee...........well, I thank you for that.  :)

Avocado Caprese Salad With Olives

A few months ago, I discovered that I do not hate avocados.

I thought that I didn't like them.  Once upon a time, I can't even remember when, or where, or who I was with, or what I was eating, but I know there were avocados and I definitely remember I didn't like the taste.

And I've hated them ever since.  

Last year, I was talking with a dear, sweet friend of mine and she mentioned a recipe that she was making and there were avocados in it and I can't remember what I said but it was something to the effect of, "BLAH.  NOPE.  ICKY-EWW.  GROSS-ME-OVER."  And she replied (I remember this, verbatim):  "WHAT?  DON'T TELL ME YOU DON'T LIKE GUACAMOLE!"  And I said, "Not if there are avocados in it."

Well, this conversation sort of stuck with me, because she is a dear, sweet, trusted friend and I value her opinion, even if it's the opposite of what I think I believe.

So, to shorten this very long-winded story, I will just cut to the chase:  A few months ago I tried an avocado again and discovered that I LOVE AVOCADOS.

What was wrong the first time?  Was it a rancid avocado or bad seasoning or something else?

Who knows? 

The point of my rambling is this:  You may think that you don't like avocados, but maybe you need to try them again.

And then, like me, you will find yourself adding them to every possible recipe you can think of.  Like Caprese Salad.

I've blogged about Caprese Salad before.  But this is the version I make now........now that I've started adding avocados to every salad I make.......... ever since I discovered that I don't hate avocados.