Saturday and Sunday in California

Saturday was GORGEOUS. Perfect temperature, sunny sunny skies.

We got a late start and started off at Mumm. They had a few options for tastings and we went with the patio, snagging a table all the way in the back, which meant we had an uninterrupted view of the mountains. You're going to get sick of me saying how gorgeous Napa is, but it really cannot be said too much.

Karin & Lori are master negotiators and managed to talk our server into one free tasting if we bought the two most expensive ones. So we got two of the most expensive and one of the next cheapest. And man, were these good sparkling wines. Prices weren't too crazy either - my favorite was $55 and that was from the most expensive tasting option.

Next up was Flora Springs, where Karin had a hook-up. She had made a reservation for a tasting & tour (free!) that ended up being with a foursome who also had a hook-up. Pair all of that with a kickass employee, Travis, heading all of this and we ended up spending almost 2 hours at the winery. Travis let us taste every wine available and gave seconds whenever someone asked. He also let us have the leftovers from some business lunch so we also got some free sandwiches and cheese from Cowgirl Creamery. It was so much fun.

But we spent so long at Flora that the rest of our day was a little cramped. We managed to squeeze in tastings at two other wineries - V. Sattui and Frank Family but it was the end of their days so we didn't get the personalized treatment the way we did at Mumm and Flora, even though Karin had hook-ups at both places. Oh well. The wine at Frank Family was really good - I'd like to go back when I wouldn't be so rushed. Plus they have these picnic tables set up outside their tasting room which would be great for lunch, though the trees were awesomely moody at dusk.

By this time, all of the tasting rooms were closed and we were all exhausted from running around all day. Time for dinner. Lori wanted Italian so we went to Don Giovanni where we sat outside. It had gotten chilly with the dark, but they had lots of heat lamps. And it was nice to be able to still be outside. We had some awesome homemade pasta, went home and watched a movie. This was why it was so great to have a cottage instead of a hotel room - Karin crashed first and Lori & I were able to stay up without disturbing her.

Sunday was another gorgeous day and our last in California. So sad. We took our time getting ready and closing up the house so I had a few minutes to read out on the front porch. Loved that they had grape vines lining the front path!

We went to Boon Fly Cafe for brunch. There was a bit of a wait, but they had free coffee out on the porch and we were able to walk over to the hotel's store that had all sorts of gourmet food and cute little gift items. As well as a large wine selection, natch.

To start, we got a half dozen of their signature donuts. Little two-bite cuties covered in cinnamon sugar and served piping hot. They were so good I almost forgot to take a picture. But I caught myself before they completely disappeared.

After brunch, we had a little bit of time before we had to get to the airport. We debated which cute little town to visit. We had already wandered around Napa on Saturday and drove through St. Helena so we decided on Yountville.

Unfortunately, Yountville didn't have a whole lot going on. A few shops, but nothing to write home about, at least not that we were able to find during the short time we had available. So then we walked up the street to look at the outside of the French Laundry

and saw their gardens across the street. A perfect way to waste some time. We wandered through the rows looking at all of the cool fruits and vegetables they had growing. Things we had never heard of or had only seen once or twice.

And then we went to see the chickens. Towards the back, they had a coop with maybe 10 chickens, all different types. They were so freaking cute with fluffy feet. Do all chickens have fluffy feet or just these? In this picture, there are three different colors going on, all with fluffy feet.

They were super friendly and came running over to us when we approached. We fed them pieces of grass and talked to them. Could've stayed for hours. I can so see why backyard chickens have become so popular.

But finally we noticed the time and headed out to the airport. Our quick little weekend was over and we were sad to see it go, but so happy that we went!

Friday in California

We woke up Friday to clouds and rain. Not a heavy rain, but an off-and-on spitting type of rain. My least favorite type. But we didn't let that dissuade us from our plans for the day!

Since we had skipped the good dinner option the day before, today we were determined to do better. For lunch, we headed over to somewhere for a food truck rally. We were a little concerned about the rain, but they had it under an overpass and even had a few tables set out. Score!

I went with a sandwich from the Bacon Bacon truck.

LGBT - lettuce, goat cheese, bacon and tomato. Mmmmmm.

 this picture is from Bacon Bacon, but mine looked exactly the same

Washed that down with a Mexican Coke made with real sugar, not high-fructose corn syrup. And I could really taste the difference. Even having it in a glass bottle made it that much better. It was delicious.

All that eating made us hungry so we headed over to the Mission for Tartine. We grabbed some coffee and assorted pastries for our trip up to Napa.

I went with a lemon tart, though I did wait until we were at our cottage to eat it since I was the driver. I wanted to savor the lemony goodness. It was well worth the wait. The coffee was fantastic as well (that I did drink on the way).

We hit some traffic, but still, the drive was super easy. Living outside of DC, I always feel lucky that I'm just 2-3 hours from the beach, but man, if I were only an hour outside of Napa? I'd definitely be the luckiest girl in the world.

Hotels in Napa Valley aren't well suited for three women. There are lots of bed and breakfasts, all with just one bed per room, and a few regular hotels that have double or queen beds. But we picked a weekend that was not only a holiday weekend, but also the Napa Film Festival. So we were out of luck when it came to hotels.

On to rentals. I checked out VRBO and VRConnection and the latter had an adorable little cottage on Cross Street that was available our weekend. Two bedrooms, a stocked kitchen, grill out back and a short walk to downtown Napa. All for less than what a hotel would be. Score!

As soon as we go to the house, Karin & Lori went off to find a winery before their tasting rooms closed while I took a nap. Then we went to Mustards for dinner and had a really delicious steak and root vegetable gratin and drank a bottle of this ridiculously awesome wine Karin & Lori had bought from Miner where they also got a coupon for free corkage at Mustards. Score again!

Thursday in California

Hi, I'm Debbie and I'm a bad blogger. And the only pictures I have are the ones I took on my phone.

But I wanted to jot down the places I went in San Francisco and Napa before I forget and in case anyone reading this is heading out there. Because really, I had a fantastic weekend. Mimicking my weekend exactly would not be a bad thing at all. We did a heck of a lot so I'm going to split this up by day.

Here's Thursday:

Lori and I flew out from Dulles together. Our flight left Dulles at 5am and arrived in San Francisco at 10am. Only benefit was seeing the sunrise through the clouds.

this was after the best colors had already faded, but it took me a while to realize I could take pictures while my phone was in airplane mode

Took the BART to the Hotel Nikko and dropped our bags off after talking ourselves into upgrading to a suite for a reduced price (three mid-30's girls + city-sized hotel rooms = bad news). Walked down Market St. to the Ferry Building, stopping to get our eyebrows threaded on the way. Pored over every stall before sliding up to the bar at the San Francisco Fish Company with a view of the Bay Bridge. Totally did not suck and neither did the Thai-style mussels that I had. Totally ridic.

And the artichoke we shared as an appetizer was also so good I forgot to take a picture until it was almost gone

Needing coffee + something sweet + a long walk, we headed up to North Beach. Walked and walked and walked and walked and finally found Caffe Roma. Cute, not crowded, working bathrooms. Had a slice of super dense cheesecake and a large coffee, which was such a perfect combination. And they had brown sugar to put in the coffee. Not Sugar in the Raw, but straight up light brown sugar. It was a fun combination.

Then we walked and walked and walked and walked through Chinatown trying to find a place that did scalp massages. Doesn't that sound like a dream after a cross-country flight & walking for hours? No luck on the scalp massage, but we saw some ridiculous vegetables while dodging the masses doing their daily shopping and walked down some interesting little alleys and side streets. And walked some more. Eventually we ended up about 6 blocks from our hotel and at Stages, an Aveda concept salon. They had 30 minute head, neck & shoulder massages available for $60. About twice what we were expecting to pay, but by this time our bodies ached even more so we were willing to pay. And our masseuse, Eric, was phenomenal. Like Lori wished she hadn't already named her first born son Eli so she could name him after Eric. Plus they were all just super nice and friendly and didn't care that we just walked in off the street.

By this time, Karin's flight from Chicago had arrived so we all met up in the hotel lobby. Our suite was quite swanky with a TV in the bathroom and everything.

Yup, I watched Jeopardy while curling my hair.

We scoured the internet looking for a place for dinner. Karin & Lori didn't feel like taking a cab so we didn't go to the pop-up restaurant and instead went to Trace in the W Hotel. Okay, this is one place where you should veer from my plan. I wasn't impressed. The food was very good and our waitress rocked, but it just had that whole hotel-restaurant vibe going on. Very posh combined with a whiff of sterile. We left kicking ourselves for not going to the pop-up. Oh well, next time. And there will definitely be a next time.

None of us could imagine being awake for a second more at this point (and Lori & I had been up since 3am Eastern) so we hopped in a cab and went straight to the hotel.

Side note - if you upgrade to a suite, you can convince the front desk to send up a cot for free. So everyone can have her own bed. Man, we are getting old.

More adventures to come!

some of my go-to recipes

The other day I brought dinner to a sick coworker. I debated on what to bring - apparently he's been getting a lot of pasta and also needs something hearty to help him regain weight. I also heard rumors that other folks in his household might be lactose-intolerant. To top it all off, I needed something that would reheat nicely since I needed to bring it into work with me. So what to make?

I ended up going with a bit of a Moroccan feast with a slow-cooker chicken tagine as my entree. I've made this recipe at least a half a dozen times and always have leftover so I know it's reheating capabilities. Bonus is that it's made with hearty chicken thighs and is pasta- and dairy-free. Of course, then I paired it with couscous (tiny pasta) and made a fig compote to go on top of ice cream (dairy) for dessert, but hey - at least the bulk of the meal was right! I also bought some hummos and pita for an appetizer. A three-course meal for a fabulous person going through a really tough time and it took me about 45 minutes on-hand time to make (prep + packaging it up for transport, actual cooking time was about 2 1/2 hours, but I was able to do other things during that time). Not too shabby. And unless he's lying to me, it was a hit.

So then I was thinking about it - what are some of my other go-to recipes? And why don't I share them with the world all in one post? I love recipes. I'll reread my cookbooks over and over again, imagining the possibilities. Some recipes I make so often I don't even need to reference the cookbook - or I've adapted them enough that they don't bear much resemblance to the original and thus referencing wouldn't do any good anyway. Others, like the tagine, I adapt slightly, but overall am pretty faithful to the recipe. And that's okay with me. I don't feel the need to muck around with a recipe if I trust the source. My creativity is expressed in what I pair with the dish and to whom and how I serve it.

I don't normally do jumps, but this is going to be a long one. So here are the recipes you'll find after the jump:

Chicken tagine in a slow-cooker
Spinach pie
Warm pasta salad
Salmon with tomato relish
World's Best brownies (my title, not my recipe)
Rosemary sweet potatoes
Red wine vinegar chicken sautee

this little piggy went yum yum yum yum all the way home

I often buy pork loin pieces (would they still be called chops?) from the grocery store.  I like pork and these are always so pretty.  Nice and lean, pink and shiny - how can a girl resist?  But they're also very thin - maybe 1/2 an inch?  And pork is a toughie because if you cook it too long it gets, well, tough.  But if you don't cook it enough, it's a bad thing.  Not as bad as pork used to be and not as bad as undercooked chicken, but still.  You have to be in a safe range.

Well, tonight I think I solved the mystery.  I cooked up my little pork maybe-chops and they ended up divine.  No real recipe since ATK only has stuffed, smothered or thick-cut recipes.  I actually borrowed the method loosely from a Marion Cunningham cookbook.  She has a recipe for chicken thighs cooked in red wine vinegar that is possibly my favorite food ever.

I made it with a side of spinach, wilting it in the leftover pan juices, and got all artsy and arranged the spinach in a ring around the pork.  It was very pretty.  Too bad I forgot to take a picture. 

It would also be lovely with some couscous.  Maybe let the pork rest on top of the couscous so it'll absorb all the extra juices...  Anyway, on to the recipe.

* Heat up a non-stick pan over medium-high heat until it's super hot
* Spray with Pam
* Salt four pork loin pieces on both sides, add to pan
* Leave in place for 3-4 minutes until nicely browned on one side
* Flip over and let brown for about 30 seconds to a minute (the time it takes to fill the measuring cup for the next step)
* Add 1/2 cup (ish) of water and a tablespoon (ish) of red wine vinegar
* Turn down heat a little and cover pan
* Let sit for a little bit, like the amount of time it would take to run upstairs and change into pajamas (I'm just sayin')
* Come back and check internal temperature
* If at least 140, remove from pan
* Let sit for 5 minutes (very, very important - if you cut into the pork too soon, the juices won't get a chance to redistribute and you'll end up with tough meat. plus you need to let the internal temp rise a bit more)
* Shove into mouth

So freaking good. Really moist and tender and richly flavored. Seemed almost like semi-poached pork, but I guess it was a quick braise? Either way, I'm a fan and will be making it often.

crab cakes & resolutions

I like to center my New Years resolutions things I wish I did more of anyway.  One year, it was to not skip a concert at 9:30 just because I don't have someone to go with.  9:30 Club is a friendly place and it's easy to go by yourself and not feel alone.  It was a fun resolution to keep and easy to keep up after the year passed.

This year I decided I would go to more restaurants.  Doesn't have to mean going out to eat more often, but when I do, to try different ones.  Sure, I love Marvin's mussels, but what else is good on U St?  That sort of thing.

I'm also not opposed to starting a resolution late in the game or getting a head's start.  My second resolution has become to make as many recipes from my new America's Test Kitchen cookbook as possible (and to generally use my cookbooks more).  I had some leftover crab meat from Christmas Eve and decided to make crab cakes.  A good Marylander, I first looked at the side of the Old Bay container, but then remembered that ATK had a crab cake recipe.  And since they also call for Old Bay (a must in a good cake), I decided to give them a whirl.

In the past year or so, I've been very good about my mise en place.  No more forgetting an important ingredient and I love using all my little ramekins!

Crab cakes are great because prep is so quick.  Dump everything into a mixing bowl and then combine with a spoon or your hands.  Couldn't be easier than that.

I originally was making these as appetizer so used one of my scoops to help make them all the same size

and lined them all up on  a cookie sheet before smooshing them into little patties.

After a day's rest in the fridge (was only going to be a few hours, but then my friend called with a design emergency), I took them over to my sister's so I could share them for dinner.  My brother-in-law then took over the cooking, browning them to perfection under the broiler.

I forgot to take a picture of the end result, but my empty plate speaks volumes!

I doubled the amount of Old Bay because I love it - and I don't really trust Yankee tastebuds for a Maryland dish.  It would have been great as an appetizer, but as a main dish, I think I wouldn't have added quite so much - especially because I also put some in the tartar sauce.  I used low-fat mayonnaise and the full amount of bread crumbs and shallots instead of green onions since that's what I had on hand.  But I think I'd do it exactly the same next time because I love shallots.  The recipe calls for a "green herb" and I used parsley.  I'm not opposed to fancified crab cakes, but I was looking for something authentic.   

Overall, I'm really happy with this recipe and with my New Year's resolution!

dinner last night

I made the BEST dinner last night.  If I do say so myself ;)

Traffic was really light so I was home by 7:15.  Kinda crazy because there was an accident on 395 tying up three lanes, but once I got past that, it was practically empty the rest of the way.  But I was still pretty hungry by the time I got home.  I had bought some tomatoes over the weekend and wanted to use them before they went bad and also had a thing of feta cheese that was calling out to me and there was no way I was ignoring that siren song!

My plan was to just chop up the tomatoes and toss them with some pasta and the feta and be done with it.  But then I remembered my brand new America's Test Kitchen cookbook (yay Christmas!) and how I want to make as many recipes from it as possible.

So I pulled it out and looked up the recipe for Pasta Caprese and it was perfect.  Of course, I used feta instead of mozzerella and I didn't have any basil.  And I used two cloves of garlic instead of one.  And a little less shallot.  And I didn't measure the lemon juice (used 1/2 a lemon) or olive oil.  But it was basically the same and phenomenal.  I scarfed it down and portioned the rest for lunches this week.  Today I ate my lunch at 11am because I made the mistake of trying it cold.  And it was just as good so I finished it then and there.  This would make an excellent pasta salad with maybe a few other vegetables thrown in for crunch.

Highly recommend - both the book and the recipe!

cooking with leftovers

I had a TON of leftovers after my party and I always hate just reheating things.  For the first meal or two, it's fine, but then I get bored and usually end up letting it all go bad.  Not terribly economical.

So I decided to be thrifty.  After everyone left my house, I still had gobs of egg nog and gobs of toasted bread.  So I decided to turn it into French toast.

My favorite cookbook is Perfect Party Food by Diane Phillips.  She has EVERYTHING in there and all are able to be made ahead.  (I think my only complaint is that she's too light on salt, but since I now know this, I can easily adjust.)  She has a recipe for do-ahead French toast that's almost more like bread pudding - you mix everything up, let it sit in the fridge overnight and bake in the morning.  And she includes a little note that it can be made with leftover egg nog instead of cream.  Now, she doesn't recommend using overly crusty bread because it soaks up all the liquid and can become chewy, but I figured that I could just add some more liquid in the morning.  Did I mention that I have gobs of nog?

It turned out great.  Just as boozy as it was in beverage form, but then the next time I make this eggnog I plan on cutting back the alcohol even more anyway.  And it would be great with non-alcoholic nog as well!

So that was recipe #1.  I killed all of the toasted bread, a good amount of the eggnog and "left" the unopened can of whipped cream at my sister's.  Fab.  Making progress.

Recipe #2 was dinner.  I was sitting on the couch trying to get inspired to heat up some more of the BBQ pork but it just wasn't working.  I was really tempted to order a pizza, but I have SO much food in my fridge.  Then I remembered the box of whole wheat pasta I bought when doing my party grocery shopping.  I had even put it on my list.  No clue why - I already had a box of linguine in the house, but I just HAD to also have some rotini.  Now I know why because my dinner was insanely good.

From the fridge, I pulled out a clump of garlic, a medium red onion, salami, blue cheese, arugula and sliced almonds.  I put several tablespoons of olive oil to heat and chopped up the garlic and onion.  Four cloves of garlic, which is a lot, but I didn't want to put anything back in the fridge.  I also put the water on for the pasta.  After the oil heated up, I tossed in the garlic.  After a few seconds, the onion went in as well.  I turned down the heat and let it just hang out while the pasta water came to a boil.  Pasta then went in the water and I added a heck of a lot of herbes de provence and a shake or two of red pepper flakes and some salt.  When the pasta was done, I drained it and dumped it in a bowl with the salami and arugula then poured the hot oil on top.  Then I added a Tbsp-ish of red wine vinegar and crumbed in the blue cheese and the almonds.

And OMG it was divine.  Hot pasta salad.  Highly recommend.  It made enough for dinner as well as three generous lunches so I'm all set for this week!  Next up will be trying to figure out a creative use for leftover BBQ...

And with that, I'm off to eat some more pasta salad!

What Would Debbie Do? My mom's house for Thanksgiving

First in an occasional series on how I would redecorate a space

As I touched on in my last post, the Thanksgiving table at my mom's house is a bit random.  A cramped table, too many dishes, a mish-mosh of serving dishes and tablecloth that has been washed one too many times.  Quality linen it is not.

Her china was her mom's, but isn't some special family heirloom.  Nope - it was a giveaway the local bank was doing.  Make a deposit and get a piece of china.  It's not the prettiest stuff in the world, but my grandparents didn't have a lot of money.  And when my mom inherited it, she and my dad didn't have a lot of money.  So even though she's always thought it ugly, it's always been on the table.  Beggars can't be choosers and all, right?

Well, now my mom is in a more comfortable place.  Not enough to go out and buy new china, but you know, she isn't really a china person anyway.  She wants to be, but she's not.  She's stoneware - Fiestaware, to be exact.  She already has a few pieces of it in cobalt and always likes expanding on her collection so I'm going to help her along.

I'll start with a dark purple tablecloth from World Market with matching napkins

The rich colors are still autumnal but will go better with her dishes than the green.  And it's cheap, which is great considering she'll only use it once a year.  Veering a little from tradition which is unsettling for my mom, but I think she'll really like the outcome. 

Then I'll complete her set of cobalt Fiesta dinner plates.  Thanksgiving is a more-the-merrier event so let's give her a total of 16 plates. 

I'm tempted to mix and match a bit, but it's easier to just stick with all cobalt and then she can easily keep expanding after I've finished with this little blog post.

So let's replace some of her tired dishes.  The light turquoise one?  Yeah, it's been passed down, but I don't think it's heirloom quality and is too light for the winter holidays.  Fiesta has a very nice pedestal bowl that would be good in its place. 

Note: the colors in these pictures are all over the place, but they're all the same deep cobalt in real life

So now we have 16 cobalt plates and four cobalt serving dishes (counting the ones she already owns), it's time to shake things up a bit.  But I'm going simple and streamlined so I don't want to inroduce another color.  How about pewter?  My mom loves pewter, it will add some shine to the table and is a bit more rustic than actual silver so will go better with the Fiesta.  How about a couple Revere bowls?  A little expensive at $130 each for the 9" ones (and we might need bigger), but they're gorgeous.

Let's pull out the Jefferson cups she already has and buy some more to make a set and use those for wine.  They're a little more casual, a little more fun and since she already has footed water glasses, a nice contrast.

A pewter gravy boat (with it's own stand since when they're not attached they never end up back together) would round out our glitz requirement for the table.  Two would be necessary, one for either end of the table.

She already has a good selection of small Depression glass dishes that are great for things like cranberry sauce and olives and will add some nice sparkle.  They look fancy, but they originally were as dime store as the Fiestaware.  Love it.  And if we happened to find this one at a yard sale or antique store?  Well, I wouldn't complain.

source

I really wanted to find a platter to replace the plain white one but couldn't find one I liked.  Oh well. 

I think these pieces would help my mom's Thanksgiving table better reflect her personality and she would be more likely to use them everyday.  After all, life isn't all about the holidays!

table centerpieces

I always drool over all the centerpieces displayed around Thanksgiving.  Tables full of flowers and twigs and leaves and mini pumpkins and votive candles.  So pretty!

source

But where does the food go?  And what do you do with all those extra plates when you sit down to eat?  Does the host then have to shuttle them all back to the kitchen?

At my mom's house, there's the platter for the turkey.  Bowls full of mashed potatoes, stuffing, butternut squash, pearl onions, green bean casserole, sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce.  Bowls full of food guests brought - this year it will be Brussels sprouts, a rice dish and a green salad.  A basket of Parker House rolls.  Butter dishes.  Wine and water glasses.  Seriously - no room even for the smallest floral arrangement.  It is not a buffet house or a put-a-little-on-everyone's-plate-in-the-kitchen house.  It's family style and it rocks.  I actually did a whole blog about Thanksgiving at my mom's house a few years ago.  Here are a few pictures showing the crowd at the table:

Then at my house, my dining table is so ridiculously small that as soon as you put one platter on it, there's barely any room left for the plates.  And it's all so squished that it becomes a sea of white instead of clear against pattern.  I should just hang ribbons from the ceiling fan instead of fretting over my lack of a centerpiece (oooh - good idea for Christmas Eve!).  But candles or flowers would block the folks on the ends from being able to get to the food. 

So maybe all those pretty centepieces are from houses with large dining rooms, wide tables and no sideboards.  My dream house will definitely be that way!

dinner at the Mint Green House

I had my sister, brother-in-law and niece over for dinner Saturday night.  I was at the Co-Op on Friday and saw bags of clams for $6.99.  Cooking shows always scare me away from clams and mussels with suggestions to talk to your fishmonger or some other scary thought.  I like my grocery experience to be a bit impersonal - get in, get out, smile at familiar faces and say please and thank you to the cashier, but that's it.  I'm getting better at this, mostly due to the farmer's market and this fabulously talkative farmer, but it's a slow process.  So I'm always excited to find new food items just sitting out there waiting for me!

And clams are SO FREAKING EASY!  I may even talk to someone just to get them again.  Boil up some water & wine, toss the clams in and 5 minutes later?  Dinner.  Sure, I had to soak them for an hour, but I can do that and then go back to wasting time somewhere else.  I remembered too late hearing that one should toss some cornmeal in with the soaking clams so they'll spit out even more dirt, but they weren't too bad.  And I loved the freaky gurgles and bubbles they made.

Sides were leftover macaroni & cheese cupcakes, a loaf of sourdough bread and some green leafy bok choy-ish greens from the farmer's market.  I bought them two weeks ago, but they were still bright and crisp - probably because they were still covered in dirt.  Love getting food straight from the source.

I really like entertaining now that I have a good collection of dinnerware and serveware.  I set my table in less than 5 minutes.  Glasses were clean and in the cabinet, as were the platters and bowls, and the tablecloth was folded up in the dresser.  Reminds me how nice it is to be organized!

I pulled the orange chair up to the table for my niece because she likes to sit in big chairs (and I don't have a high chair for her).  I thought she'd be more likely to stay in her seat if it was one she liked.  Yeah, not so much.  But that's the good thing about having such a small house - she could run around while we ate.  She did sit there for a few moments at a time!

pictures by Alison Gary

outdoor furniture update

My outdoor furniture is installed and has been in use!

I have my two turquoise Adirondack chairs and an end table in between.  This picture makes them look almost green, but they really are very blue.

Underneath I have a brown and tan zebra print rug.  I adore this rug.  It really makes the space.

To the left (as you're coming out of the house), I have the dining table and motion chairs.  I bought tan cushions for the seats and turquoise and green print pillows for the backs.

It all fits, but with the Adirondack chairs on the deck, the table has to be squished in the corner for there to be enough room to walk between it all.  Not really an issue if it's just one or two people eating out there, but it would be hard for someone to get to the chairs in the corners.

I really like this dining set because I can add pillows and cushions to add color, but it's also comfortable without.

Yesterday was Mother's Day and my sister and I took our mom to a Nationals game.  This has become a tradition and we all love it.  But we also like to have brunch beforehand, but restaurants on holidays are a mess so I had them over to my house instead. 

To make enough space, I moved the Adirondack chairs and end table to the yard and moved the table to the center of the patio.  I actually really like them out there and may keep it that way for a while.  At least a few weeks while there's still enough grass to keep the yard from becoming a mud pit.

I just got this tablecloth from Ross ($7!) and I love the yellow on the various blues.  Very Provencal.  It doesn't go with the pillows so I just used the cushions.  See how useful it is to have comfortable-without-cushions chairs?

I ran over to the Bagel Place for 1/2 a dozen bagels (2 everything, 2 Old Bay, 1 plain, 1 blueberry) and a tub of cream cheese. The day before I bought some lox and raspberry lemonade to mix with raspberry vodka I already owned. My wine glasses are polycarbonate ($2.99 at Target), but the plates, water glasses and serving dishes are my everday stuff. They're sturdy enough to survive being outside.  The napkins were my great-aunt's or great-grandmothers.  They're monogramed and incredibly soft from so many washings.  I did have a plastic plate and dish rag for my 16 month old niece, but she likes drinking out of real glasses (with adult help) so she also got one of my bee glasses.  The bottle for water was also bought at Ross for $1.99. I love that place.

Once I was back in my house from getting the bagels, the whole table took about 15 minutes to assemble, which was great.  I love super simple entertaining where it's more assembly instead of cooking.  Brings out the decorator in me.  I love cooking, but I love decorating more!