The City

This weekend P and I were in NYC for a long weekend with family and friends. It was a whirlwind trip and I only managed to take a few pics. We were very lucky to have fabulous, sunny, moderate weather.

{drinks outside at the Boom Boom Room aka room of the Standard}

{view from The Standard}

{walking the highline}

{peonies in bloom}

{columbia}

{riverside park}

{look familiar?}

{tulips}

Not pictured: excellent dinners at Uva (most amazing ramps!), Otto (best spaghetti alla carbonara AND the olive oil gelato - strange but amazing) and The Place (duck pappardalle need I say more?).

Just caught up on Mad Men to continue my New York state of mind (if you watch - yuck Peter!). Have a great week!

xoxo

B

Eggsperimenting {Part Two}

I am so excited to show you my natural dyed Easter eggs! So they are hardly perfect but I love how just spices, fruits and veggies created these. Scary to think what chemicals those store dyes are actually made from. The directions from BHG I used are pretty good.

The deal is - whichever medium you use - you boil it in about 2 cups of water for 5-15 minutes depending on desired color. Then add a few tablespoons of white vinegar. Last bring to room temperature. Add eggs like below.

Let the eggs soak overnight in the dye.

Ta Da!

The pink (beets) were a tie for favorite with the below yellow (tumeric).

For my dye, I used beets (pink), green tea (light yellowish), cold brewed coffee (brown), blueberries (blue) and paprika (orange brown). I also tried red onions which as supposed to make green dye but this did not work for me. That is my only gripe - I wish I had made a good green dye.

I'm bringing the eggs over to P's parents this weekend for Easter brunch. Happy early Easter :)

xoxo

B

Eggsperimenting {Part One}

Confession: I am not a baker. I am a cook that measures a little of this, a little of that. I cook things until they look done at a temperature that sounds about right. This drives P crazy as he is a very precise chef - measures every teaspoon to a T. It makes cooking together very interesting! But every now and then, I recognize that specific directions need followed. One of these is making hard boiled eggs.

No matter how closely I time the eggs and use the tips (start with eggs in cold water, turn off heat when at a boil, for 13 minutes, 15 minutes, add vinegar, etc) they never turn out right. Always horrible and a waste of perfectly good food. So when I saw these directions on baking eggs in the oven instead, I had to try!

I've been dyeing (get it?) to make Easter eggs with homemade natural dye after I saw these great directions. Perfect excuse for mass egg baking.

First pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees. Lay eggs out in oven safe dish (best to use eggs a week plus old - not brand new). Then bake away for 30-45 minutes. In my oven they took 45 but the directions said 30.

The eggs will have some light brown spots when they are fully cooked. You can also try spinning one on the counter. If it's cooked it will stand and spin. If not, it will fall on its side. I also saw a tip that the cooked eggs will float. I do not believe this tip as that never happened to mine.

Place in ice water bath once cooked. The brown spots will disappear like magic!

An (almost) perfect hard boiled egg. I'll settle for this.

The inside is perfectly cooked - no weird gray circle around the yolk. 

Yummy with just salt and pepper. Read here how eggs are a perfectly healthy snack.

Part two coming tomorrow - let's just say the natural Easter egg dye is definitely an adventure...

xoxo

B

Bluebonnets

So pretty I had to share - P's cousin sent us the below picture of gorgeous bluebonnets blooming at their Texas ranch. 

We were there in January and it is amazing the below turned into such beauty!

As a Florida girl - we are lucky to have something blooming all the time - although it is quickly dull green from the heat :) In North Carolina - we get poppies on the roadsides and blooming trees. But nothing is quite as beautiful as this blue field - don't you agree?!

xoxo

B

Happy Hands Happy Heart

My hands are happiest dirty. There is something inately fulfilling about actually doing something with your digits. Something about seeing beauty come from disaster. The warm clean air inspired me to clean my patio of the 25 dead plant skeletons and start fresh! Dirty hands are the wonderful by-product (only took me five days to get them clean). 

In case you were wondering - this is the wheatgrass at five days. Gets brighter every day :)

I planted fresh white geraniums in our planter (hence the dirty hands). Geraniums are like your old best friend from home. They last forever and are always there for you. In all seriousness, they will bloom until September/October and make cute cut flowers in small vases too. 

Picked up some baby heirloom lettuce plants from the great guys at Micro Farm Gardens. They sell plants at the Atherton Market. In the below galvanized container are two lettuces and three spinach plants. The guys even threw in some free plants for my friend and I!

These seedlings are definitely cheating but I think it's ok for now. I have yet to be so ambitious as to grow my own veggies from seed - maybe 2013...

Micro Farm Gardens will also come to your house and build you a above ground garden with plants and everything. My yoga teacher did one and loves it. They also do chicken coops, rainwater harvesting and mushroom gardens. SIGH...

Little bigger after a week! The best part is you can eat the baby lettuce right away. Salad on demand - you only have to cut what you will eat in a serving. Much better that wasting the large one from the store. 

We went to a housewarming party Saturday night at a friend's new condo. I picked up a bunch of market flowers for them and couldn't help but pick up a bunch for our house as well. Look how many flowers ten bucks got below! I like them best spread into small jars throughout the house.

Have a happy Monday - hope yours is a four day week like mine :)

xoxo 

B

Spring Blooms

Happy Friday!

This week everything is IN BLOOM in our neighborhood! We are so lucky to live across the street from pretty 4th Ward Park - even luckier that there are some great flowers for the picking - or as I like to think - borrowing...

From tree branches.

Azalea bush flowers.

The other day I started growing some wheatgrass - once it is a little bigger it looks very spring-y. Wheatgrass is dual purpose - decorative for a table and an ultimate health food addition to home made juice.

DIY Wheatgrass

you will need:

container/pot and soil to fill

organic wheat berries (they are pennies at the health food store!)

water and time

Cover the wheat berries in water an inch or so. Leave overnight.

The next day place them right on top of the soil in your pot. Spritz with water and leave in dark place. Continue spritzing 2x day. You will see the berries start to form a little root. Within a few days, the grass will start growing. Then it is out of the closet and somewhere you can enjoy!

As it grows in light - more exposure will turn the blades a brighter green - like the below examples. Once the wheatgrass is 6ish inches - you can trim down to root and juice. I'll post a picture of mine when full size. The grass will grow back 1x after trimming too!

Here are some great inspirations for DIY wheatgrass:

{What it will look like when grown}

{Could use for earthy centerpieces}

{with other elements for fancy table arrangements}

{or for Easter}

This weekend I'm looking forward to babysitting for my favorite Charlotte families, visiting the Sleepy Poet and maybe going to see Hunger Games....

xoxo

B

Tangy Green Tea

In two short months before I'll be on the beach for our honeymoon! As exciting as that is, I am never excited for bathing suit season. I have been trying to do some small things to prepare - mostly barre classes (my fave!) and things like this drink!

This drink will supposedly detox/de-bloat/increase metabolism/make balloon animals (inspired here). Mostly, I find it to be refreshing and therefore increases water intake! Adds some vitamins too!

Tangy Green Tea

You will need:
few springs of mint
one tangerine
5 green tea bags
10 cups of water
honey (optional if you want sweeter)

Boil the water, then add tea bags. Steep a few minutes.

Will look like this. Then let cool.

Slice tangerine and pick mint leaves. Place in glass pitcher.

Add green tea.

Voila!

Yum! Cheers!

xoxo

b

What are you doing to prepare for 'kini season?