Sunday is the official first day of summer, but school is out, gardens are growing and the weather here says otherwise. Even though it is a bit too warm to eat outside, that doesn’t stop me from wanting to create a cheerful summer breakfast table.

The Tablecloth

I am so fortunate to have this brightly colored vintage tablecloth from my Aunt Gail’s belongings. Since it didn’t appear to have been laundered for quite some time, I did wash it in cold water on a delicate cycle and then hung it on the line to dry. I love how the fabric matches the foliage! With a quick iron, the table cloth is clean, fresh and ready to go.

Vintage linens can be found in many thrift stores. The patterns and colors are so rich and beautiful. Even though there are many online, I personally like to see them in person so I can handle the fabric and view the colors. And they are so affordable. A few are for sale and can be found in my Store tab above.

The Dishes

Layering dishes gives the table setting some substance and I start with a buttercup yellow charger. These handpainted Italian chargers are from Pier 1 Imports many years ago. You can find similar ones here.

Next, of course is a blue and white plate. These are again, an old purchase from Horchow and each plate is a different pattern. You can find a similar plate from this incredible selection here.

For the smaller plate, I select a pretty gold rimmed clear glass on from Leslie Roy (no longer in business).

The Centerpiece

Since I love my tulipiere, it is the perfect blue and white vessel for the centerpiece. Filled with yellow bells from the yard, it is set off to the side in order to allow visibility between the place settings.

Not familiar with tulipieres? Click here.

I also add some daisies in small glasses for added color.

The Meal

Since this is breakfast, a gorgeous juicy Ruby red grapefruit is a great way to start. The mint garnish adds a bit of contrast.

Fresh lemon slices on the edge of the water goblet add just a bit more yellow to the table. The large size coffee mugs are a gift from my friend, Anne.

My homemade granola is sooooo good and you can find the recipe here. You can make it as is or add other ingredients…but it’s another recipe I can guarantee you will love.

Isn’t this just a summery setting?

Other small items complete the table. The mini pitcher is for milk for the granola and I like to have regular milk and oat or almond milk as alternatives. If you haven’t made your own nut milk (super easy), here is my recipe. And here’s a cute blue and white creamer on Amazon.

The sweet vintage place card holder is a gift from my friend, Janie. I didn’t use a place card as I think it is perfect just as it is.

This table is set in our living room corner near the east and south windows. Perfect light in the morning to have our breakfast and celebrate the summer season.

Do you have breakfast on the run? Often, that is the case with me. It is nice to sit down at a lovely table and actually take the time to enjoy this meal.

Have a wonderful day, my friends!

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This post shared with Between Naps on the Porch Tablescape Thursday #664

Has anyone else had a strange week? Is there a full moon? Anxiety levels seem to be up this week and I am SO happy it is the weekend. Happy Saturday to you and thank you so much for joining me for another week of Saturday Meanderings, where we chat about all things taking place this week.

If you have had a crazy week and missed my two blog posts you can see them here. The Room by Room series featured our master bedroom (click here ) and if you are thinking ahead to Memorial Day you can find patriotic table inspiration here.

A Week of Flowers

This week I received two beautiful flower arrangements. One from my blogging friends expressing their condolences about the death of my sweet aunt. This white themed bouquet is full of lilies, ranunculus and snapdragons. You have heard me rave about The Bouqs before and these flowers did not disappoint. Thank you, friends!

The next arrangement arrived yesterday from a local florist, Camelback Flowershop. Typically local florists tend to be expensive and the bouquets are underwhelming. But I must say this stunning arrangement from my sister, Joanie, is just gorgeous. The color combination of dusty pink with a soft orange is unexpectedly unique. Roses, tulips, wax flowers, ranunculus, stock, hydrangeas and pincushions create different textures and aromatic scents. Such a thoughtful gesture!

The sunflowers planted from seeds from Floret Farm are bursting in the garden now. A bit of a low yield, but I am so happy to see some results of my planting labor.

Recycling Flowers

This week I made another big batch of chicken potpourri with dried flower petals, lavender and calendula. Now that the weather is getting hot, we tend to see more bugs in the hen house. Placing the potpourri in the nesting beds does help in reducing the pests. Plus I think our eggs taste better when laid on a bed of rose petals!

Results of the Fast Metabolism Diet

Several posts ago I shared the book, The Fast Metabolism Diet by Halie Pomroy. This 30 day program allows you to eat a lot (3 meals and 2 snacks per day) without counting a calorie or fat-gram. There is a great deal of scientific information (which, quite frankly I skipped over) about the mechanics of the body and how the metabolism works. The purpose of the program is to keep your metabolism guessing in a very specific and deliberate way.

The author states you can lose up to 20 lbs. in 28 days and I do believe you can. Eating specific foods on specific days is the key (i.e. Monday and Tuesday, lots of carbs and fruit). Haylie also claims that not only will you lose weight but your cholesterol will drop, blood sugar stabilize, energy increase, sleep improve and stress melt away.

Actually, I did enjoy this program. I do not recommend it if you are traveling or on holiday. The challenges for me include eating every few hours, which is hard if you are on a plane or staying with friends. Do this program when you are at home and can control your environment. I didn’t lose 20 lbs. but I did lose somewhere between 10 and 13 lbs. (different scales). The recipes are tasty and fun. I am now off the program for 10 days and haven’t gained a pound….so I’m hoping this means my metabolism is fast again?

Going forward, I may do this the first week of every month because I do like the structure of it. If you decide to try this, please let me know what you think.

Did You Know?

According to an article published by theKitchn.com the best place to store cucumbers is….drumroll please……room temperature and not in the refrigerator. This is based on a study by University of California, Davis, which determined that cucumbers are sensitive to temperatures below 50°F. When stored at room temperature, cucumbers thrive and last longer. Stored below 50 degrees, they’re prone to developing “chilling injuries,” including water-soaked areas, pitting, and accelerated decay. No wonder my cucumbers don’t last long.

How Often to Clean your Sheets?

In a recent article by Food 52, the question is “how often do you wash your sheets?” According to the National Sleep Foundation, it’s best to wash your sheets once a week. Why? Because because your bed collects lots of stuff while you sleep ~sweat, skin cells, soil, food crumbs, makeup, dust mites… you get the picture.

Pillows collect the same icky stuff mentioned above so the recommendation is to wash them every 6 months (pillow cases weekly).

Blankets or duvet covers should be laundered 2 to 3 times a year~think seasonally. Time to do laundry.

Thinking Ahead to Summer

Remember when you were a child and school was finally out and you were so excited about summer? Those lazy, hazy crazy days of summer that seem to have lasted forever? I want to re-create that this year. It is so insufferably hot in Phoenix that most of the summer is spent indoors in air-conditioning. Though we do have some travel plans, I am longing for cool days at the cabin, easy brain-candy summer books to read and lots of watermelon.

Shortly I will be creating my summer reading list so if you have a book that is not controversial, not political, but a fun read (can be a mystery or thriller), please do share. And the goal is to start painting again! I don’t understand why I am not painting so getting motivated again is definitely a goal.

Well that wraps up this edition of Saturday Meanderings. After a controversial week, I am turning off my phone and just chilling. Cannot wait! Sending you big weekend hugs!

At our house, May equals fresh peaches. Generally, and depending on the weather, the first two weeks of May is when our peach tree is abundant with warm, juicy fruit. The only downside is that the fruit tends to ripen all at once. If you don’t glean it from the tree, then it becomes bird food.  

Peaches may be firm one day and ripe the next.  And unlike store-bought peaches, we pick these fuzzy fellows when they are soft and juicy.  We call them the “bend over and eat” peaches because if eaten upright, you will need a face wash and a shirt change from the abundant juices.

I cringe when I try to squeeze a peach at the grocery store and find it hard and an odd color.  But, with fresh peaches, they need to be used quickly~~or canned for storage.

We use the peaches in many things~fresh pies, peach crumble and cobbler, and peach jam. But one of my favorite recipes is for Peach Salsa.

This recipe uses the freshest ingredients. I’m not one who likes really hot things-that are so spicy that you can’t feel your lips. Instead, this one is just plain flavorful.

Simple ingredients and the rest is just chopping. I like to leave the peaches in slightly bigger pieces for texture and flavor, while finely chopping the onions and serrano chiles. Also, I don’t peel the peaches, however, you can if you’d like.

For those of you who have rubbed your eyes or elsewhere after chopping chiles, you know how important it is to wear gloves.  The seeds are the hottest and it’s easy to get the chiles’ juices in the wrong places. You can adjust the heat to your personal preference by adding more chiles or red pepper flakes.

Toss all ingredients into a bowl and mix. Serve with your favorite tortilla chip.

Doesn’t this look delicious? It is another winning recipe. I didn’t need to can any of it as it disappears quickly.

In addition to tortilla chips and tacos, this salsa is great with grilled pork loin, fish or chicken.

The inspiration for this recipe was found in Canning for a New Generation by Liana Krissoff.  A few years ago, I spent the summer learning how to can the abundance of fruits and vegetables from our garden.  This is an excellent addition to your pantry and the recipe can be easily doubled.

Have a happy Tuesday. I am finally back in town and will share my story on my Saturday Meanderings. In the meantime, it feels good to be home. Enjoy!

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For many years I did cook for large groups of high school athletic boys, in addition to my family of 5. However, since we are now empty nesters, a meal may consist of cheese and crackers and a glass of wine. Funny how one adapts! But having a house full of guests this week, with healthy 25-26 year old young men, I am quickly reminded of how much they love to eat. Here are a few of my “go to” recipes for feeding a crowd.

Breakfast

Generally, I like to do a breakfast spread that can stay out for a few hours to allow our guests to come in and eat when they want. This egg casserole is delicious either hot or cold.

Depending on the size of the piece, it can feed a lot of people. Since it is an easy recipe, it is generally served at our July 4th brunch and holiday weekends. See blog post and recipe here.

We are also blessed with having a lot of oranges from the orchard. The trees need to be gleaned when the first orange blossoms occur. So there is a wheel barrow full of them and perfect for squeezing fresh orange juice~again something that can be made ahead of time. Or it’s fun to engage your guests into squeezing the fruit too.

For beverages, everyone gets a quick tutorial on how to use the Nespresso machine so they can help themselves to coffee, espresso or lattes in the morning. The coffee station has everything you need from German rock sugar to Torani flavored syrups. Coffee cups are handy and available.

Other Breakfast Ideas

Homemade granola (see recipe here).

Quiche (use store bought pie crusts for extra ease).

Breakfast pizza with store bought pizza dough (add bacon/sausage, eggs, cheese, herbs).

Lunch

Lunch has been relatively easy with this group of friends because they love Arizona tacos~something difficult to find in Washington, DC. Taco crawls to different places are a way to taste the authentic Mexican food which is abundant here.

But if I need to prepare something, I would suggest a sandwich bar with deli cuts of meat, lettuce, tomatoes, spreads (mustard, mayo, pickled onions) and a great bread or bun (or homemade sourdough bread)! A few bags of different chips and you are good to go.

Another easy solution is the heating up the pizzas I recently found from Naples, Italy. They come directly from the source, packaged beautifully in quantities of 8 and a wonderful item to keep on hand in your freezer. Add some more toppings and 10-12 minutes in the oven and you have an authentic Italian 10″ wood-fired pizza. I am getting ready to order another batch from Talia di Napoli. See resource here.

Dinner

You can’t go wrong with steaks on the grill and a big salad. I also just tried Rachel Ray’s lemon smashed potatoes, which can be made ahead of time. Everyone said they were delicious as I could not indulge being on my Fast Metabolism diet. Here’s the recipe and sorry, I failed to take any pictures of them.

One recipe that is simple to make and does feed a crowd is lasagna. Using store bought tomato sauce and oven-ready lasagna noodles (see here) helps with the quick preparation of this dish. The tomato sauce I always use is Rao’s, if I don’t have any homemade sauce available. You can find it at most grocery stores, Costco and on Amazon here. It does not contain any sugar (check the label as most pasta sauces have lots of sugar).

What makes this recipe flexible is that you can make it with zucchini instead of pasta. Also, you can add beef, turkey or sausage if you like or not. I find it helpful to make a smaller casserole of vegetarian lasagna at the same time. Both freeze well too.

Lasagna, a big salad, garlic bread and a nice bottle of red wine and dinner is served.

Desserts

Whipping up a batch of chocolate chip cookies takes me approximately 17 minutes from start to finish. How do I know this?

While in high school, my son would ALWAYS ask me to make cookies. One night, I was very tired and getting ready to head to bed and he made another cookie inquiry. I suppose I could have said no, but I knew he had more studying to do. With his help, we made them together very quickly….about 17 minutes.

Having the ingredients on hand makes a difference! I sprinkle the top with Maldon smoked sea salt flakes for an extra flavor. You can source it here.

Another easy dessert is a Fruit Crisp. Apples, pears, peaches, cherries…really any fruit works. With a crispy, oatmeal/brown sugar/butter topping, all you will need is a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Here is the recipe to my favorite peach crisp. Just substitute another fruit and double the recipe if you are serving many.

Hopefully with the world opening up you will be entertaining with lots of people soon. Fresh food sources are the key to making great food! Do you have any tried and true recipes for feeding a crowd? If so, please do share.

Have a wonderful Wednesday!

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P.S. Just a reminder that any words that are italicized bring you to the source. If it is a product on Amazon, please note that I am an Amazon Affiliate. If you purchase something through my website, I receive a small (very small!) stipend, which doesn’t affect the price you pay at all. My goal is to make sourcing the items easy for you. Thank you for your continued support.

Happy Easter (or Passover) weekend! The weather is certainly warmer in Phoenix but hoping it will get back down to something less than 88 degrees. Our Easter dinner will be small but we will do all the traditional family events just the same. Welcome to Saturday Meanderings where we chat about all things good and wonderful this week.

Amazing Online Magazine

I just discovered Chic & Country magazine and I am SO impressed. This virtual magazine comes out quarterly (I think) and you can access it anytime.

Chic & Country is a magazine about country style interiors with a touch of French chic and Nordic whites, featuring house tours, home stories, decor ideas, food recipes, flower design, gatherings’ styling, gardens and unique travel destinations. The subscription is $20.00 a year. This is my new go-to read just before bed. Here is the link.

Doing a 5K

My daughter has a goal to do 52 hikes annually. And she’s added a few 10Ks as well. As a result, I am supporting her efforts to be more active so I am participating by signing up for the same races~but only the 5Ks. I can no longer run, as my knees cannot tolerate the impact after multiple knee surgeries. In completing the Shamrock Run last month, I received this Mr.T-like medal and cool t-shirt, so I am looking forward to participating in the Hippity-Hop run today.

A 5K sounds impressive but it is only 3.11 miles and my fast walking time is about 50 minutes. The good news is that I can log my time and get another t-shirt and medal!

Disappointed with Results

One of my garden goals this year is to grow abundant amounts of strawberries. Typically I will buy starter plants from our local nursery, but this year I purchased strawberry starter roots online from Gurneys. Twenty root stock and crowns arrive and I plant them according to the instructions.

All the strawberry plants showed good signs of growth for a few weeks and now nearly 50% of them are dead. Literally. No reason, as I am taking care of them. Every day I go out to my garden another plant has died. So I am supplementing with locally grown starter plants from Whitfill. Live and learn, I guess.

Best Cake Ever

Hands down, my new favorite cake! I made this for my daughter’s birthday in March and am excited to make another for this weekend. It is a London Fog Cake~ a chocolate cake with coffee, smothered in Earl Grey tea infused buttercream and then drizzled with salted caramel sauce. Oh my.

The recipe is from my favorite cake cookbook, Layered, by Tessa Huff. Truly a winner. And if I have shared this with you before, it’s worth repeating…..it’s that good!

New Eating program

My metabolism is very slow, unfortunately. Unlike my son, who has an extremely fast metabolism, mine just chugs along. Barbara, from Mantel and Table, recommends this program to me to jump start my metabolism. We are both doing it for the next month.

I am completing my first week and love it so far! Grounded in real science and written by nutritionist, Haylie Pomroy, it’s a 28 day program. The hope is to mix things up and get my metabolism working at an optimal level. Will let you know how it goes! Here is a link to the book if you are interested.

Annual Lamb Cake

As a child, I have fond memories of Mom’s lamb cake at Easter. Made in a cast iron mold, this cake is now an annual tradition in our home. I will be baking it on Saturday, with an orange blossom cake recipe. So excited to try this new cake as right now, our orchard is filled with orange blossoms. If you would like to see a post on how the lamb cake is made, click here. Isn’t he cute?

Easter Dinner table

Since we are expecting a few more guests, Easter dinner will be in the dining room. A few weeks ago I did a post on a yellow and blue Easter table (see here), but for Sunday, this one is more blue and pink.

If you missed the post this week on these sweet decoupage eggs, click here. The block print tablecloth is just the right shade of blue for Spring. The bunny plates from Pottery Barn connect the patterns and colors in the Royal Doulton Juliet plates. Scattered about are birds, bunnies, and even a stone frog.

That wraps it up for Saturday Meanderings. I hope you have a glorious and blessed weekend. My goal is to stay away from my phone and social media and just relax a little. I know I will be making adjustments to the Easter dinner so I do not stray from my new eating plan, but it will still be wonderful to share it with family and friends.

This post shared with Between Naps on the Porch Tablescape Thursdays #654

Currently, if you don’t make your own bread, you are probably thinking that making your own bread requires too much time and hard work. Not true! There are ways of making your own bread that suit every schedule and lifestyle.

During the pandemic and being sequestered at home, more people are learning about making bread. You can too.

No-Knead Version

It doesn’t get any easier than this. Revolutionized in 2008 by the book Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day (here), you can make artisan bread with minimal effort.

It is as simple as tossing flour, yeast, salt and water into a bowl. Mix to create a shaggy mess and leave alone for 12-16 hours. Form into a ball and bake. See my detailed blog on Making and Baking a Simple Bread post here.

With this toss it and leave it recipe, you can add other ingredients too if you’d like. Another book recommendation is from my friend, Rick. He loves the best-selling book, Flour Water Salt Yeast by Ken Forkish (link here).

Sourdough Starter

Using sourdough starter is how I make my bread. The process is much longer but I enjoy scheduling this into my week. The evening before I make the leaven (sourdough starter, flour and water) and let it sit overnight or at least 12 hours.

The next morning I create the dough, which consists of leaven, flour, water and salt. During the rise, I add other ingredients. The rising process begins and generally by late afternoon I am baking bread.

The ONLY recipe book I currently use is Tartine Bread by Chad Robertson (link here), mostly because I love the very detailed tutorial photos. I’m not confident enough yet to branch out to other styles of bread baking.

The benefits of sourdough bread far outweigh the work. I typically make Lemon, Rosemary and Gruyere or with a dried fruit (cherries, cranberries) and a nut (pistachio or walnuts). Plus I love one with black/green olives, lemon zest and walnuts! Sometimes I make one loaf and use the rest for fresh pizza dough.

Since we don’t eat a LOT of bread, the loaves get sliced and put into the freezer. Perfect for morning toast.

Sourdough bread is a great alternative to conventional bread. Its lower phytate levels make it more nutritious and easier to digest. Sourdough bread also seems less likely to spike your blood sugar levels, which makes it an option for those monitoring their blood sugar. As a result, I rarely use commercial yeast anymore.

For another post on Sourdough Starter Basics, click here.

Other Methods

Even though I do own a bread machine, it is collecting dust in my basement. I love personally interacting with the dough and watching it transform over time. However, I did use the bread machine when the children were younger as they loved coming home from school to the smells of freshly baked bread.

Apparently you can also make bread in your crock pot. Again, this is something I have never done. But if you try it please let me know. Here is a link to Kitchn’s recipe.

Mental Health Benefits of Baking Bread

According to the Huffington Post, in 2017, five people who were mental health residents at Bethlem Royal Hospital in London spent six two-hour sessions baking bread by hand and answered weekly questions about how they felt. They reported feeling happier, creative, and having a sense of achievement. They also revealed that baking bread made them feel more relaxed and less anxious, and that they had a sense of purpose.

I know when I feel out of sorts or stressed, I put on my apron and start baking or cooking. It truly is better than snapping at someone.

Tips for Successful

Since I have been making bread from scratch for a few years now, I have experienced both success and failure.

One loaf was rather flat after baking. I reviewed all my steps and knew I made it correctly. And then I looked at the bag of flour which was in the freezer. It was dated 2013! How gross is that, especially since it was 2019.

Make sure all ingredients are fresh

Make sure ALL your ingredients are fresh, especially if you are using either fresh or dried commercial yeast. Check the expiration date. Since yeast is a living organism, it loses its potency and ability to rise over time.

One way to find out if your yeast is stale is to sprinkle a small spoonful over very warm water (not boiling or hot), then sprinkle sugar over the yeast. Do not stir. Cover, and wait ten minutes for the yeast to rise and become frothy/bubbly over the water and sugar. If it does, the yeast is active.

Flour has a long shelf life but generally goes bad after 3–8 months. I always freeze my flour. Freezing flour doesn’t affect its qualities if you let it ‘come back to life’ before using. If you use cold flour to bake, your baked good won’t rise. They may also turn out heavy and rubbery.

Why Temperature is Important

Check the temperature of your water before you add it to the yeast. Too cold and the yeast will not activate. Too hot and you will kill the yeast.

Room temperature is equally important. Too cold and your dough will not rise. Double check your recipe for room temperature suggestions. During the winter our kitchen is always cool; but we have the opposite problem in the summer. Drafts and changes in temperature will affect your rise.

Salt and Yeast

After watching too many episodes of The Great British Bake Off, I noticed Paul Hollywood always recommends putting your salt on the opposite side of the bowl from the yeast. Salt can retard yeast growth.

Makes Great Gifts

My neighbor recently had a large flood in her home, resulting in significant damage. Feeling rather helpless, I baked a loaf of my sourdough bread. Coupled with a jar of homemade apricot marmalade, I dropped it off to share my sympathies for their crisis. What better gift than comfort food?

I love getting homemade gifts. Not only do you receive something lovely, but knowing someone spent the time, energy and effort to make it, is priceless.

It’s Never Too Late to Start

Last year I shared my sourdough starter with Ursula. Ursula is the same age as my sweet Elisabeth, and they attended grammar school together. From what I hear, Ursula is an avid bread baker. Such a wonderful lifelong skill. Just think about it: with four simple ingredients you can feed others. Amazing!

I hope this post is encouraging you at least try making bread at home. Here is why: it is satisfying and rewarding. In this crazy world where few things feel good right now, I feel pure joy when I pull a loaf out of the oven.

Please share any bread making experience you have! I would love to hear your stories.