Cherry Pudding & Vintage Mirro Cake Pan

I swapped out cherries for blueberries for this pudding. The same recipe for Blueberry Pudding but with cherries instead.

How classic is this vintage cake pan? It's a Mirro 8x8 aluminum cake pan in mint condition! I have the typical rectangular version and was excited to find this square version. It's perfect for brownies... and cherry pudding!

It seemed like every baked good at family reunions when I was a kid arrived in a Mirro cake pan. They were made by Mirro Aluminum Company from 1909 to 2003 in Wisconsin. Mirro made everything from canteens to Sno-Coaster saucer sleds. Great. I feel a new collectable item coming on.

Summer manicure

I was really loving my neon nails but summer seemed like the right time to try pale polish with one glitter nail like I've seen on Pinterest here, here and here.

S'mores Dip

A friend on Facebook pointed out this genius idea. S'mores Dip.

It's so easy. A layer of chocolate chips topped with marshmallows cut in half, popped in a 450 degree oven for 5 to 10 minutes. Then dig in with graham crackers.

If you are feeling fancy add peanut butter chips or caramel. So good!

Garden Support

With all the rain we have had this summer, our little square foot gardens are growing at a rapid pace. Aaron built this awesome garden structure for tying up the tomato plants and holding up bird netting to keep the hungry squirrels out. He made it so that I can crank the pipes on top as the plants grow and tighten up the twine. Clever! These along with the other 20 tomato plants I have in pots will have us swimming in tomatoes.

Raspberry mint lemonade & popsicles

Using up some of those raspberries we picked in a raspberry mint lemonade. I grew the mint!

The vitamix pureed those raspberries right up. In hindsight I should have strained out the seeds. It was still delicious and refreshing.

Then I used the leftover lemonade to make popsicles. Pretty tart but Aaron loves sour stuff so he is gobbling these up.

Blueberry picking (raspberries too)

Today we went blueberry picking. Look at these beasts!

Yeeee-ah. The basket was there.

I think blueberry picking is my favorite. No jaggy bushes. You don't have to crouch down (we did just for these photos - I don't know why) And when you get home there is no pitting or hulling. Just wash and eat.

Also, blueberries are practically a superfood. Blueberries are one of the most antioxidant rich foods. They are good for your heart, your brain, insulin production and they reduce the risk of cancer.

You can follow blueberries on Pinterest. Yes, that sounds odd but wow there are some amazing recipes on there! Blueberry pizza! Blueberry ketchup!! Blueberry barbeque sauce!!!

Oh and we picked raspberries too. Don't want to skip over that. G&S Orchards had a selection of raspberries... red, black, purple and yellow. The yellow are so sweet! There were currants and gooseberries too but we ran out of time.

Pinhole shots

It took me too long but I finally got my film from Worldwide Pinhole Photography Day processed and scanned.

Aaron taking a picture of me taking a picture of him.

View from the sidewalk.

A couple shots from Pittsford Farm Dairy.

Only five shots from the roll came out but I was pretty happy I got anything at all!

Cherry popsicles

I finally got around to pitting the cherries we picked. Cherry Chomper is cute but the four-at-a-time pitter got through all those cherries a lot faster.

I used our Vitamix and our Zoku to make cherry popsicles.

In less than ten minutes... cherry posicles! All cherry, no sugar needed.

I had a little extra cherry puree leftover so it was a good chance to use my frozen ring pop molds.

Cute and yummy!

Vitamix arrives

After many months of reading reviews and looking at different models we got a Vitamix!

I thought, how different can a blender be? Hoo boy can it. This puppy sounds like a jet engine. My old blender would start to smell like burning metal when I tried to crush ice. I was contantly scraping down the sides trying to get it to chop everything in the container. The Vitamix did a great job making these smoothies with frozen bananas, cherries and ice. Easy peasy. I'm looking forward to trying more recipes in the cookbook.

National Hammock Day

Today is National Hammock Day!

This is how to enjoy a hammock in the morning.

Here is how to enjoy a hammock in the afternoon.

Smells of summer

It has felt more like fall than summer these past days. There are a couple of things that remind me of the beach and summertime. Hawaiian Tropic smells like the beach and so does this candle.

Sewing afternoon

I have discovered that there are practically no short sleeved, button up shirts for women. So I got a long sleeved one at Target and made it short sleeved myself. While I had the sewing machine out I worked on some other projects...

... like this room divider curtain.

It was so big I had to sew on the floor. This brought the critics around. Look at his face... "This is crooked. Move over and let me do it. Shameful."

This project didn't require any sewing. I made one of Aaron's shirt into a beach cover-up.

I found an excellent use for the sleeves I trimmed off. Nailed it.

Quickie craft - cable holder

This is my first and favorite Starbucks card. I kept it because I like the scooter in it. Today I found an alternative use for it as an iPhone charger cable holder.

Queens of the Stone Age

Concerts was on my summer bucket list. Queens of the Stone Age were booked for the Main Street Armory, and even though it wasn't outside, I was excited to see them.

While we were at the concert I looked up when their first album came out, when I first heard them. 2003! 12 years ago!

As with many concerts, sometimes I couldn't see over the crowd. That is when I appreciate a good light show. Whether I could see them all the time or not, QotSA put on a great show!

Radishes, butter and salt

The first thing out of our garden this summer is radishes. I have been waiting for this radishes ever since I read that the thing to do with radishes... is to eat them with butter and salt!

It sounds odd, but I love trying odd combos. (honey on pizza and ketchup on mac & cheese for instance) It sort of makes sense... the butter tames the bite of a radish. Salt enhances the flavor.

Really you can just serve them with butter, a dish of salt and slices of bread.

Or smear the butter on the radishes and dip them in salt.

I like this method of wedging a bit of butter into a slice cut into the radishes.

Or go all out and make a radish, butter and salt sandwich. That is what I did but with just regular bread. It really is tasty. A nice alternative for our garden radishes.

Bad habits

I'm not sure who started this but now all three have a bad habit of lying on the back of the couch. I am starting to be concerned that they are squishing it down!

Hydrangea

I've had tumultuous relationship with hydrangeas. I love them. I love how big and poufy they get. I love the colors. Hydrangeas seem to do really well in our area. I've seen monster sized ones in our neighborhod.

For the first few years in our first house I planted them every spring and every summer they died a dramatic death. Finally Aaron got me a big hardy one and it took off. That fall we moved. Now we drive by the old house and I can see giant blooms that I never got to enjoy.

He took pity on me and got me three more for this house this spring and I have been watering and hovering and pleading with them to live. Success! I would have liked to cut this one and taken it inside but I don't want to do anything to disturb the status quo.

Hydrangeas come in variations of pinks, blues and white. Did you know you can change the color of a hydrangea? Well not the white ones but the pinks can be make blue and vice versa.

The color of a hydrangea depends on the pH level of the soil. Alkaline resullts in pink, acidity leads to blue. If you want blue hydrangeas add coffee grounds, egg shells or orange peels. If you want pink add garden lime. It's like magic!

Leftover fried pizza

My friend Tina shared a life changing tip with me. She is credited with the quote "Even bad pizza is good pizza." and is someone that I consider to be a pizza expert.

She suggested when you have leftover pizza (if such a thing does indeed occur in your house) instead of putting it in the microwave and creating a soggy mess... heat up a frying pan and fry it!

Start by heating up your frying pan and placing the slices of pizza cheese side down. Place a heavy frying pan on top of the pizza to press it down. This heats up the cheese and gets the pan greased. When the cheese looks to be melting flip the slices, replace the heavy frying pan and let the crust heat up. Keep checking that it isn't burning.

The pizza comes out crispy and I think, even tastier than when it was delivered!

Summer Neon Nails

After months of searching I found the perfect neon orange polish for summer. It's the brand Wet & Wild and the color is "Jail Bait". Not a fan of that name but it is so NEON! I guess it's from growing up in the eighties, but I am a big neon fan.

Eventually I put this on my toes and then switched my fingernails to a hot pink neon. BLINDING!

Beach Mantelscape

Trying to keep that summer vacation vibe going... with a beach mantelscape.

I certainly have enough shells from beach combing for it. And the life size faux lobster? Doesn't everyone have one? Actually I have two. (Our neighbors got them for me... they know me well!)

Cherry picking

Cherry season here started on July 4th and goes until they are all picked. So Aaron and I hustled out to Brown's Berry Patch to pick some.

Yeah, I showed up with the special basket again.

We get a little excited when we see all the cherries on the trees.

I ate a good many cherries right in the orchard.

Does anything look strange in this photo? ; )

It's a bit of a drive but we love going to Brown's Berry Patch. They have lots of different fruit to pick plus an area with goats and bunnies and a shop with ice cream. Ice cream is key.

Brown's Berry Patch has been in operation as a family farm since 1802. Seven generations of Browns have worked here. I think that is great.