i so enjoy these threads still. I have not had time to take many pictures lately. When I do, they are mostly of the kids and that gets boring for others. :)

So today I am sharing what made my morning....

The perfect perfume as far as I am concerned. I just got it yesterday. Brings me back to sunny fun days at the beach in college. Perfect blend of vanilla, coconut, suntan lotion and beachy smell to me. :)

I don't know what the heck limited edition means when it comes to perfume, but it sure got me to order another one ASAP. :)

Here is a link that might be useful: Vanilla Summer

Now that sounds like the perfect perfume for me................Thanks for the trip back to the beach.

A butterfly was nectaring on my patio plants this crystal clear morning -- such beautiful light! I bought this annual flower because it attracts bees, dragonflies, butterflies -- but forgot the name of it. Does anybody know?

Cat_mom, I was eyeing that Pavlova recipe in HB this summer. How was the taste? Yours is even prettier than the magazine photo!

Still having fun looking at everyone's pictures -- so nice to see a slice of your lives.

DD and me.

Looking at the pic, I feel the need to explain that yes, we do slather the child with sunscreen but she's Korean and tans instantly no matter what we do!

awm03, thank you so much! *blush*

It was VERY delicious, scrumptious actually! Might need to make it again--soon!

Today is a fiddle in the kitchen day. Topped up the granola. Started sourdough starter. Cleaned up the bean sprouts. And it will be my first attempt at clam chowder hubby fell in love with it a few years ago at a seafood buffet. ( I am not really into seafood) I won't be tasting along the way I hope it is what he has been dreaming of.

that's a fantastic butterfly pic!! (and lots of other nice pics... i will have to look at previous threads too...)

it's been beautiful these last couple of days... this is on a walk down by the river.

Aw, love the feet on the bench. Sweet.

I was sitting on my porch when a giant green trailer rolled by just now. That's odd in itself since my street is a quiet one. Turns out it is a giant video game on wheels. My neighbor hired it for entertainment at her son's birthday party.

It's a riot. Inside are about six giant video screens and a big couch. The kids all get controllers and can play video games in there. What a great idea. The kids are having a ball. First they had pizza on the front lawn. Easy peasy birthday party.

This is what I saw:

Here's a closer shot of the game going on inside the truck.

They can choose the games according to the ages of the players. Some people have rented them for grown up parties. The link is below in case you're interested. So, that's my slice for the day.

Here is a link that might be useful: Game Truck

Sueb, that pic needs to be framed!

Ahhhh, grouting is done! Tomorrow we start moving things in, well I've already hung some art up because I couldn't stand the bare walls any longer, and I get to think about re-arranging furniture :)

I really need to paint this room, but it took me forever to find a gray that wasn't too blue or green. I believe that I'll think on that some more and do it in the fall/winter, when we can open windows!

beautiful pics cont, here is dinner tonight....chilly in AL....go ahead and laugh,,,upper 60's is WAY cool for here in Aug.

homemade chicken soup and a baguette that didn't sell at my farmer's market booth...

this is what did sell ! I am ecstatic about how well it is doing. Have lots of orders every week now...and DH wants to leave town and go biking ! Yikes...what to do ???? :)

Trailrunner, put a stamp on those and send them up there to Connecticut. And put a stamp on that soup, too. mmm

Chilly here in NY, too, C. I made Tortilla Soup last night, so we had some last night and tonight. It definitely hit the spot!

awm03 - beautiful picture! It's a verbena bonariensis... usually just called "verbena." I'm sitting here enjoying everyone's special slice-o-life and the cat sleeping on my lap is enjoying every minute!

This post was edited by merrygardener on Fri, Aug 16, 13 at 0:17

Thanks so much, merrygardener! Ah yes, verbena bonariensis, or vervaine, as it was labeled at the nursery. It's a wonderful plant -- long lasting, attracts nice critters, adds height. Just lovely! I'll plant lots of verbena next year for sure.

Thank you again, and please kiss your nice kitty on the forehead for me :)

Field of sunflowers growing just down the road from us:

{{!gwi}}

And a simple lunch: Tomato-Corn Pie made with homegrown tomatoes, corn, thyme, and fresh eggs from our hens. (the olive oil crust was a bit crumbly)

{{!gwi}}

Cozy-beautiful sunflower picture, but bittersweet, reminding me that summer is coming to an end. You lunch looked quite tasty.

Cozy farmhouse,

Those sunflowers are superb.

Ohh and the pie!!!

Would you care to share the recipe for the corn pie? Always looking for veggie options.

The sunflowers look so much better in person, my poor quality cellphone photo does not do them justice. I love their cheery "faces".

ellendi, here is a link to the recipe for you.

Here is a link that might be useful: Tomato-Corn Pie

I see signs of an early fall.

Lovin' the food porn!

Making gumbo with the last of my garden okra.

Those leaves turning scare me .........................even if they are beautiful.

I am sooo behind with these posts! What a great way to catch up on a Friday evening.

Been really busy lately, have a job next week styling photos for a catalog shoot, oh wait, an "International" catalog...lol. It's an outdoor setting, focusing on what is underfoot, that's all I'll say.

The art director wants the scene to look like a Vineyard in Tuscany....Anyway, my kitchen looks like Home Goods and Pier 1 threw up in it.....

This thread has been like sitting on a bench down town inside the Art Gallery except......much more fun!
What great lives we mostly live............family, love, travel,
food and homes (spelled as where the heart is).
I hope I never forget to start my day with a big Thank You because I'm so blessed and it looks like sooooooo
many on GW are too!

As citywoman says...what fun to come back and check in as often as possible. Almost at an end to V...hope we can keep it going !

DH made steaks on the grill pan and homemade fries in our deep fat fryer...we love the built in as we use it more than if we had to haul everything out ! Not sure my waistline needs them but boy...they were yum ! Curry catsup for the condiment....be glad to share how you make it if you like. We got used to it in the Netherlands when we had patat frites. c

Curry catsup - a big improvement over mayonnaise! Please do share, trail.

"This thread has been like sitting on a bench down town inside the Art Gallery except......much more fun! "

Yes! Great way to put it.

java...here you go ! Make Alton Brown's curry powder and then add it to taste to Heinz catsup...I also add a sprinkle of sugar as it sweetens the spices a bit. Hope you enjoy !

Here is a link that might be useful: Alton Brown curry powder recipe

Been wanting to post this one for awhile... I call it "fabric indecision".... Sigh...

Bee's room full of stuff reminded me once again.... anyone else have an area like this?

This post was edited by gooster on Sat, Aug 17, 13 at 14:45

Junky pic to say thanks for the inspiration. Trails bread pic made me research artisan breads so for the first time I am attempting Sourdough Bread - no knead kind. It has taken a few days but tomorrow it gets baked.

Catmom's pavlova has been haunting me too so I bought the eggs today.

Bee I'd be super happy to find that kind of puke in my kitchen.

CLBlakely--separating the eggs is the hardest part! The rest is easy, just messy! LOL Post pics when you make it!

Always have the eggs chilled to separate and warm to beat them. Never separate over the bowl...use a new container each time just in case ;)

Glad you were inspired to bake bread !! Please post pics. c

Consumed my entire week, but it was soooo worth it.

Congrats to the happy couple pesky! :)

C--did all that, still managed to lose two! Considering I doubled the recipe, not horrible odds!!! LOL

Congrats Pesky all your hard work paid off. Pics are lovely.

Pesky-the pictures are beautiful. It looks like it was a wonderful ceremony. Best wishes to the happy couple.

What a perfect day. You were especially lucky with the weather.
You can see the joy in the photos. And that pug! All details accounted for.

Please feel free to laugh. There are several things that went wrong. Not enough flour, house to cold and starter that was not fully started. But on the flip side it does taste great. On to the next experiment LOL

CL...what recipe were you using ? Perhaps I could help...let me know..taste is everything ! c

I used this youtube recipe but it was way too much water. Plus someone on the cooking thread thinks my starter did not have enough natural yeast yet. Plus my house is only 65 degrees. I will try again in a day or so when my starter gets better.

Here is a link that might be useful: no knead sourdough

There are a number of problems with what she is doing. First it is best to use weights to make this kind of bread...you can't just say " about 1/3 c of starter " . Won't work. This is supposed to be a very wet dough. So her measurements for water aren't off but she didn't allow for the wet starter ! You are starting with something that is quite difficult unless you are used to working with wet doughs. Jim Lahey has a wonderful and easy wet dough to try first before you use a sourdough wet dough . He doesn't use weights but his formula is impossible to mess up. I would be glad to give you a perfect formula for a sourdough boule like you are trying to make and it is tried and true as I use it all the time. The weights are very accurate and it is fool proof.Do the link first a few times though.

The other problem with her starter/possibly your starter is the way it is being fed and stored. It has to be fed = parts water and flour every single day. It has to have 1/2 of it thrown out every single day for the first week and then add in the new flour and water. This makes it very healthy and prevents over-growth of unwanted bacteria and helps the good yeast thrive. Another thing is how it is stored. It must only be lightly covered. It has to be really stirred every day and kept only lightly covered as yeasts are aerobic and need oxygen to thrive.

I don't know how she got her starter going. I have a t&t formula for that too :) Mine has been growing very happily for 4 years and I use it weekly.

There is something wrong with the Youtube as I kept getting an echo and couldn't get it to play right so I gave up ! The temp in your house isn't too cool. A healthy starter loves cooler temps. Try the link below a few times and get used to wet doughs and then I will give you a wonderful sd formula !! Let me know how it goes. c

Here is a link that might be useful: Jim Lahey NYT

This sweet kitty showed up at our door yesterday afternoon. Made himself at home as you can see. He wanted to go back outside after his little "cat nap". Haven't seen him since.

sparklebread, that is an amazingly adorable photo. Maybe he's far from home, stopping by on his journey back there.

We have lift off but I cheated I added a 1/4 tsp of yeast. I think I need to see what starter should look like before I use it by itself again. Tasted great but could still add more flour as it spread more than rose but it has a great texture this time. I promise to change the subject next time.

sparklebread--the young folks call it "couch surfing" as they travel around and stop to sleep on people's couches (of course the owner of the couch knows they are coming).

Ok, so here is my day yesterday. Last photo of the day that was taken just for me. We felt just as wilted as the grape leaf in the photo. Anybody want to photo shop a good leaf in there? (Stuff looks a lot better "on set" than it did on my kitchen table, huh?)

My sunglasses with DD reflected in them.

cl..here you go..I made these pics previously for someone to see what the starter should look like before feeding and after...I don't know what you started with or what your feeding/storage situation is. If you keep it on the counter it has to be fed at least every 24 hrs. When it is still developing it won't rise bread unless it is at least a week old and you have fed it as I mentioned before. You have to promote the good yeast/bacteria. Here are couple pics.

This is before feeding :

this is after 6 hrs ...you can see it has "fallen" a bit. It doesn't affect its ability to rise bread if it has started to fall.

Hope this helps. I feed my starter one time and it rises to fill the container in a couple hours or less. My rye starter is slower takes over night. Because mine is so old it needs only the one feeding.

I would be glad to help you troubleshoot your recipe and share a really good one if you will email me through GW. You are on the right track ! c

My son spent the summer in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, and was treated to this double rainbow

{{!gwi}}

I guess I'll close out this thread with my pic of the day. The weather is soooo exquisite today...blue sky, low humidity, comfortable temps, and the air smelled so clean. So DH and I went for a hike at a nearby state park this a.m. It was so enjoyable. I took this snap of a lagoon along the way. Just a luscious walk. But already the colors in the trees and the angle of the sun are starting to hint that fall is on the way....