August is like the Sunday of Summer…..unknown

I am finally back in town.  As much as I love to travel, transitioning back home is a bit of work. Luggage to unpack, bills to pay, dead plants to discard, laundry to do~~in addition to the mental shift of getting back into the swing of things.

My latest adventure was to Washington, D.C. where I helped settle my oldest in his very first post-college apartment. He starts his new job soon and is embarking on a wonderful journey in our nation’s capital. His apartment is in a fabulous, hip section of the Navy Yard, close to the Metro and numerous restaurants.

But he needed everything-sofa, bed, dresser, desk, television console, coffee table, kitchen island, and assorted 1st apartment things.  Thankfully, IKEA is an affordable option and was only 30 minutes away.  However, we opted to assembly everything ourselves. What were we thinking? Who knew a sectional sofa came in so many pieces?

Here is the apartment on Day 5~~the good news is that we (my son, his roommate, and his mother) worked well together and got it finished! #loveIkea #hateIkea #exhausted

We are experiencing exciting weather in Phoenix.  It is our monsoon season= rain/wind/flooding.  We’ve also had a few haboobs ~~ intense dust storms.  Bella Terra is looking quite tired this time of year due to the heat and the unpredictable weather. The minute the yard is picked up and cleared, another storm blows through.

The wind has been so strong that part of the hen house room came off and a garden obelisk toppled over.

My middle daughter has moved back home and is living in the guest cottage for her last year in college. She surprised us (long story) with this sweet little bundle.  Meet Hemingway. He has his own Instagram account….Hemingway, the GSD. (German Shepherd dog).  After our initial shock, it’s hard not to love him. #puppylove

My youngest daughter has already started her senior year in high school.  We are knee-deep in the college application process….sigh.

August is one of those months.  It’s part of summer but no more summer vacations.  Routines and schedules are back.  Traveling is over.  But it’s too hot here to really do anything exciting. Temperatures will not cool down for another month or so.

I’ve been reading ALOT and must share these two books with you.  They are part of a trilogy but I haven’t gotten to the 3rd book yet.  Recommended to me by my friend, Rick (who always has the best book suggestions), I cannot put this series down.  If you like fast paced, espionage thrillers, these are a must read.

About the author.

Jason Matthews is a retired office of the CIA’s Operations Directorate.  Over a thirty-three-year career he served in multiple overseas locations and engaged in clandestine collection of national security intelligence, specializing in denied-area operations.  Matthews conducted recruitment operations against Soviet-East European, East Asian, Middle Eastern, and Caribbean targets. As Chief in various CIA Stations, he collaborated with foreign partners in counterproliferation and counterterrorism operations.

Summer = Strawberry Shortcake.

I have fond childhood memories of picking strawberries at Malerba’s Farm in Norwich, Connecticut.  Unfortunately, this time of year, there are NO places to pick strawberries in Phoenix.  It is too hot.  However, the local grocery stores have California-grown berries that actually taste like strawberries. I researched a good recipe on the internet and found this one from Two Peas & Their Pod.

Preparing the strawberries is very easy.  Hull and slice or quarter the berries.

Sprinkle the berries with sugar and stir.  As the berries sit in the sugar, they will macerate and get juicy.

As you know, grocery stores offer those spongy individual cakes for this, but nothing beats a homemade biscuit. The prep time for this recipe is approximately 40 minutes…and well worth it.

In a large bowl, sift together the flour, sugar and baking powder. I like to use unbleached all purpose King Arthur Flour.

In order to have flaky biscuits, it is critical to cut in the butter correctly.  You will want to mix it sparingly, allowing for chunks of butter.

Add the heavy cream and vanilla and mix until just combined.

Lightly knead the dough together to incorporate all the crumbly dough pieces. Do not over mix.  Press the dough into the circle, about 1-inch thick and cut into rounds.

Place the biscuits on the baking sheet and refrigerate for at least 20 minutes. Brush with heavy cream and sprinkle with sugar.  The recipe calls for turbinado sugar (which I didn’t have), but I used coconut sugar instead. My guess is any sugar will do.

Bake the biscuits until golden brown, about 15-20 minutes.  Let cool completely.

Cut the biscuits in half horizontally.  Spoon the strawberries over the bottom of the biscuit and add a dollop of whipped cream.

Fruit is nature’s candy.  Enjoy it all this summer!

Strawberry Shortcake recipe by Two Peas & Their Pod.

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I find it intriguing the way some people creatively make a living.  Imagine having an unfulfilling job only to leave it (after careful planning) and going to Paris? That is exactly what Janice MacLeod did and as a result, she wrote her first book and memoir, Paris Letters.

This is a book you continue to ponder long after the last page is read. Without giving too much of the story away, the author decides to change the course of her life.  In doing so, many unexpected gifts occur along the way.

Her journey leads the author to establishing her own business~~creating and writing “Paris Letters”~~yes, the snail mail kind.  You can sign up to receive your very own Paris letter from the author~~either just one letter or a 6 to 12 month subscription.

In the day and age of social media and the internet, it is such a gift to receive a letter in the mail. Excitedly, I signed up to receive a year of Janice MacLeod’s monthly Paris letters.  This can be done through Paris Letters Press on Etsy here.

If I didn’t read this book, I would have never known that a monthly subscription like this even existed!

I must admit I was waiting for the mail to come every day since I signed up…..and my painted letter arrived yesterday!

The envelope felt very Parisian, with lovely stamps.

Of course, how can one read a letter from Paris without having some French wine? It’s been so hot in Phoenix that only a very chilled bottle of rosé will do. Not the sweet one, but the dry version from Provence.

Isn’t this just beautiful?

Janice does the illustration in watercolor that accompanies the letter.

Wouldn’t this be a lovely gift for a relative or friend? If you know of someone who would appreciate getting a beautifully illustrated letter in the mail, this is perfect!

Since I enjoyed her first book so much, I just completed her second book, A Paris Year.

Unfortunately I read it on my Kindle while on vacation, therefore didn’t get to appreciate all the color pictures and illustrations in the book. If I were ever to go to Paris, I would bring this book as my guide.  Janice goes through each day of the year detailing the sights, activities, and the nuances of Paris.

I received 3 things from this experience.  1) Found great books to read and lessons to contemplate; 2) Discovered Paris Letters and subscribed; 3) In my own way, I am helping a small, creative, business owner.

Happy Tuesday!

My dear friend, Susan, gave me a gift of gouache paints for my birthday.  I had no idea what gouache paints are and am a bit reluctant to use them. However, I did bring the paints with me on vacation, thinking it is a wonderful time to try something new.

Supplies you will need

This gouache kit contains 24 artist colors and can be found here. In addition, Susan also provides me with an airtight paint palette (here) and aqua-flo brushes (here). For a minimal investment, you can start painting with gouache too!

And I can always use a watercolor paper journal! This one is 8″ x 8″ and can be found here.

What are Gouache paints?

Gouache paints are more opaque than watercolor.  The opacity of gouache comes from the white pigment or chalk that is added along with the colored pigment and binder in order to make it less transparent. So like watercolor, you add water to determine the strength of the color.  I have little to no experience in watercolor, so this was a bit of a stretch for me.

Since we have been enjoying time by the Pacific Ocean, I am inspired by this artwork from professional artist, Gail McCormack.

Creating a sketch

I first sketched the image on these watercolor 100% cotton sheets (in the art journal).  The image above is rectangle, yet my sketch pad/watercolor sheets are 8″ x 8″.  I tried to adjust the image to fit into the square space.

Mixing the Colors

This is the first time using this airtight palette.  Apparently it keeps colors fresh for weeks, has a removable tray for easy cleaning, and can be used for oil paints as well. The individual wells make mixing colors and adding water easy and neat.

With a variety of colors to choose from the Reeves gouache kit, some are very familiar, and others I have not used before.

I mix a small amount of Blue Lake, Ultramarine, Medium Yellow, and white to get the sky color.

I quickly realize that watercolor goes on very differently than acrylics or oils.  For me, it seemed a little harder to correct any mistakes. Next I paint in the ocean using a darker, richer shade of blue.

I struggle with making the sand color so light, as there is only one small tube of white paint, which I use sparingly.

Creating a proper flesh tone color is always interesting~~here I use yellow, white, and burnt sienna.

The fun part is painting the bathing suits and hats. I think the variety is cute and whimsical.

Finishing

Though I am not completely satisfied with it, here is the watercolor to date.  Still trying to figure out if I can fix some of the glaring mistakes, but that may require some research.

But I’m happy taking the leap to try something new.  If you are to compare the original by Gail McCormack, she has done a much better job with the values and colors. But heck, she’s a professional artist and I am just starting out. What I love about her painting is that she also captures the serenity of the sand and ocean with her softened edges.

I hope you are trying something new and creative this summer! That’s what summer is all about~exploring new adventures.

If you enjoy this post, please share on Pinterest.

What is summer without a peach pie?  This year our tree didn’t produce enough peaches. My husband bought these beauties at Costco.  Unfortunately, they weren’t ripe and too hard.  I needed to make the pie the next day so I threw them into a paper bag, added a banana, and viola! In just one overnight, they were ripe-not too much so-but perfect for pie making!

I have made many peach pies before, but because they are SO juicy, the bottom crust often suffers from the wet and soggy syndrome. Since this pie was to be dessert at a friend’s house, I was determined to resolve that.

I googled a recipe from Serious Eats, as I have had good luck with them in the past.

Using my very easy pie crust recipe (see recipe here), I made the dough using my food processor. While the dough was refrigerating, I prepared the peaches for peeling. I typically don’t peel my peaches so this was a first for me. Note: Peeling is optional.

Drop the fresh peaches into a large pot of boiling water.  Do not crowd the peaches.  Boil for 30-40 seconds.

Remove the peaches and immediately place in an ice bath. Cool for 1 minute.

The skins will easily separate from the fruit.

The recipe calls for each peach to be cut into 8 pieces, but these were exceptionally large peaches so I cut them into chunks.

Add the cornstarch, sugar and lime zest and mix.  I’ve not used lime zest before so I was interested to see how it would impact the flavor.

Fill bottom crust with peach filling.

I made an extra effort to keep the pie crust chilled as much as possible.  I cut the top crust into strips for a basket weave pattern.

Apply the strips one at a time.

Alternate lifting up and laying down each strip until you have successfully completed a basket weave pattern for the top crust.

Trim off the excess pie crust edges.

Using a fork, crimp the outer edge of the pie to seal in the filling.

Brush the crust with a beaten egg and salt.

Sprinkle with sugar and then chill the entire pie for at least 20 minutes.  I did 40 minutes.

Place in the preheated 425 degree oven for 15 minutes. Then drop the temperature to 375 degrees and bake for 30-40 minutes until golden brown and the filling is bubbling over.

I added a pie crust shield to prevent the edges from browning too quickly. I wasn’t as wide as the pie dish but I believed it helped.

Here it is! The juices were bubbling and dripping out of the pie. Note to self: while pie is baking, put a pan beneath it or a piece of foil as the sweet drippings were stuck all over the bottom of my oven.

We brought the pie with some homemade vanilla ice cream to friend’s house so I do not have any pictures of a cut piece.

However, it was DELICIOUS!  Lots of peach pie juice, but the crust was NOT wet or soggy.  I believe keeping the crust chilled and then chilling the pie before baking was the key. Also, there wasn’t any noticeable lime zest flavoring~~I will assume it just enhanced the peaches.

Couple of points:

1. I used a 9″ deep dish pie dish.  The recipe calls for a 9″ pie pan.
2. I didn’t weigh my peaches so it’s highly possible I had over 4 lbs.
3. The recipe instructs you to turn the pie dish while baking.  I did do this and the pie appeared to brown evenly.
4. You can do any top crust you would like.
5. Usually I add pieces of butter to a peach pie but didn’t do so this time.  I didn’t impact the flavor at all.
6. The pie had quite a bit of juice.  However, the bottom crust was not soggy. Yippee!
7. The homemade ice cream was done in a Cuisinart Ice Cream maker.  It took 20 minutes to make and a few hours to freeze.  Was really worth it.

Classic Peach Pie Recipe from Serious Eats

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I first tasted these delicious lemon ricotta pancakes at Shutters on the Beach in Santa Monica, California many years ago.  These pancakes are so light and lemony that I can literally still taste them in my memory. My desire to make them at home is impetus for purchasing the restaurant’s cookbook, The Summertime Anytime Cookbook by Dana Slatkin.

With our hot summer weather, the last thing you want is a filling meal in a hot kitchen.  We search for light, tasty, and healthy recipes.  Not so sure how healthy these are but they do pass the light and tasty test.

This recipe is perfect for breakfast, lunch or dinner.  The batter can be made the day before and refrigerated~~allowing for preparation flexibility. Ingredients are pretty straight forward~cake or all purpose flour, butter, eggs, lemons and lemon extract or oil. Of course, I love using this microplane as a zester, making for quick and easy fresh lemon zest.

One key to making these light and fluffy is beating the egg whites and then carefully folding them into the batter.   Pour 1/2 cup of batter onto a griddle or pan.

Cook until bubbles begin to form on the tops of the pancakes and the bottoms are golden. Be careful flipping them, as they are delicate.

Continue cooking until the pancakes are golden on the other side and dry in the middle.

The recipe says to sprinkle with confectioners’ sugar~~oops, I forgot to do that.  However, they were still amazing when served with warm maple syrup and fresh berries.

The recipe states it makes 6 large pancakes, but we made 10 smaller ones with the batter.

I really hope you try this recipe~~it’s one of my favorites!

Lemon Ricotta Pancake Recipe from The Summertime Anytime Cookbook by Dana Slatkin

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