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Peach Cobbler

I'm as much of a Chocolate Girl as I am a Red Girl.  If I ever find myself on Death Row and ordering my last supper it will surely be 17 Lobsters(with a pound of Echire butter to dip them in) and 4 lbs of Leonidas  chocolates and since it's my last supper I'd have to add my favorite pan of Peach Cobbler.  There is no rhyme nor reason as to my liking of this dessert.  I don't like anything else "fruity" but I adore this.  I made it the first time I fixed my husband dinner before we were married.  It's one of those "go to" recipes as is the cookbook it comes from....Virginia Hospitality.  I fixed it today for dessert after a late lunch.  My husband has a 12 hour duty at FEMA in the Command Center gearing up for Hurricane Dolly(7pm-7am)...he then gets to board a plane bound for Tampa for 4 days with our daughter, Caroline, and granddaughter Maddie, before returning home on Sunday with Mad Maddie in tow.  Thank God the flight is only 2.5 hours....she's a wild one and hates to sit still!!  That man deserves dessert today!!!

I've promised a couple of my friends the Peach Cobbler recipe so here it is.......but first here's a picture of todays featured dessert......... My walls are not the color represented by this picture(pee yellow)....a new little camera and still not able to figure it out!

Peach Cobbler a la Virginia Hospitality

3 cups fresh peaches, sliced

1 tbsp. lemon juice

1/2 tsp almond extract(the reason it's so good!!)

1 cup flour

1 cup sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1 egg, beaten

1 stick of butter, melted

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Butter 10 X 6 baking dish.  Place peaches on bottom.  Sprinkle with lemon juice and extract.  Mix dry ingredients.  Add egg and mix with a fork until crumbly.  Sprinkle over peaches.  Drizzle with melted butter.  Bake 45-50 minutes or until golden brown.  Top with ice cream or fresh whipped cream. 

Enjoy!!!!!

Sadie and a Swap

Feeling rather creative and most of all brave, I signed up for Artsy Mama's Sweet and Sinister swap!  I'm already starting to scour back issues of Somerset for ideas and even threw a little blank notebook in my purse in case an idea comes to mind while I'm out.  I think it will be lots of fun........ And since I'm on a roll I signed up for a dress form party over at Tiffany's. I'm going to work on Sadie this week and pretty her up even more than she already is(if that's possible) and get ready for the big event!  Might have to take her outside for her pictures so I can show her beauty in natural light.  I even found a new hat for her while I was out and about on Friday.  Be sure and stop by Tiffany's blog on Friday and check out all the Dress Form ladies in their Summer finery! 

Richmond Finds

It's hot as hell here today so rather than be practical and stay inside where it's cool I took off to Richmond via Ashland to do some thrift/antique shopping.  I was looking for a bucket bench for my screened in porch to house a rather large collection of German beer mugs that I've collected over the past few years.  I found just what I was looking for and of course lots that I wasn't but had to have.....typical of me!  This weekend is going to be spent cleaning windows and cleaning hard wood floors(our entire house has hard wood floors which is great until you have to clean them).....not exactly my favorite way to spend a weekend but necessary. I snapped some pics of my treasures from today..... I'm going to hang things off of the candy display...I've never seen one like it before! I got this little plant stand for a whopping $5....love it when that happens!  Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!!!

Tomatoes and Doll Heads in the 'burg

Last week my friend, Virginia, and I treated ourselves to an afternoon of antique shopping and lunch in old town Fredericksburg.  We first hit the Farmer's Market and were thrilled to see that just about all of our favorites were "in".  I've been a regular customer of C&T's since we moved here..... These aren't much to look at but they are delicious and they don't get red...they turn almost black.  These are just the most delicious tomatoes! And then my favorite part of the market... They pick their corn fresh every morning and it's as sweet as sugar!!!  After we hit the market and had lunch we went to my favorite antique shop downtown and we both left happy girls!  Here's Virginia with her find.....it's not really old but she teaches high school fashion merchandising and marketing and this is perfect for her class displays!!! I found this..... She's old and has a wooden "neck" that's covered in linen.  I wanted to display her so I pulled out one of my Grannie's cake stands and put her under a large bell jar and I think she's just adorable.... My husband thinks she looks like a science experiment that didn't work.  He doesn't always share in my enthusiasm when I find something a bit out of the ordinary.  I think he'll really start taking a liking to her when I fancy her up for the holidays with beads and hats and such(I have big plans for this little gal)! She also needs a name...something sweet and endearing....any suggestions?

Week in the Life Album

I finally finished my Week in the Life Album that I'll be teaching at Scrapdoodles on July 17th @ 7pm.  It was lots of fun taking pictures each day and keeping receipts and then putting it all together.  We'll do it backwards for the class...make the album first...but I wanted a completed example for the class.  It will be in the store tomorrow!  I love the instant gratification when I finish a project!  Makes me feel like I've accomplished something.  Here's a little peek at my finished album...................oh and I have a new little camera...the cool green Nikon Coolpix S52(I wanted a little one to keep in my purse as my D50 is just too big to tote around) and I don't have the settings down yet so forgive the poor lighting in these pics!

Bits of my Red World

In keeping with the Red theme this 4th of July weekend I spent Saturday redoing our bedroom...in red.  While in Dallas a couple years ago I had the pleasure of visiting Peacock Alley.  Their bedding is just beautiful and I fell in love with their Matelasse coverlets.  So I was in Tuesday Morning a couple weeks ago and what should they be putting out but an entire section of Discontinued(not seconds)Peacock Alley bedding.  I was literally taking things off the poor girl's table quicker than she could price them.  It felt almost as good as scoring a great find in a junky thrift store!! Here's a picture of our new room. I'm off to get ready to head to Richmond to see the Richmond Braves play the Pawtucket Red Sox.  Of course I'll be wearing my bright red, in your face Red Sox shirt....it never shows the ketchup that drips off my hotdog or the beer stains when my husband jumps up to cheer and splashes his beer on me...just another reason I'm a Red Lovin' Gal!

Snippets of the 4th

I love the 4th of July!  I'm not sure whether my affection for this holiday is because of the delicious barbeques or simply because it lets me fill my home with even more of my favorite color...perhaps it's a combination of both! I took a little time this morning and snapped some pictures around my home of some of my red/white/blue decorations.

My first born found this wonderful cake stand for me for Mother's Day...the perfect shade of yellow for my newly redone kitchen! These bowls are filled with beach glass and broken pottery(1800's) that the girls have found throughout the years while walking along the waters edge.                                                                                   I found this well loved little boat at a junk hole in St. Louis in January                          My great grandmother's old cake stands................................. This is an older Nancy Thomas folk art piece.  I got it for Jordan's first Fourth of July.......

Bear and I a couple years ago.

  Hope you have a wonderful and safe Fourth of July!!!!!!

Garden Treats

I have a friend who has an exceptional green thumb.  She has an awesome vegetable garden and is most generous in sharing the fruits of her labor with me.  These are the first round of tomatoes.......those in between sized ones...not Cherry and not Beefsteak.  They are delicious and I added some herbs from my very own little herb garden to them and then doused them in a delicious Balsamic Vinaigrette(I promised a friend I would share the recipe).  The plate I served them on are part of my collection of Diner Dishes....albeit not one of the better ones!

Dana's Balsamic Vinaigrette a la William Sonoma

3 tbsp. Balsamic Vinegar

1 tbsp. Dijon Mustard

2 tbsp. EVOO

3 tbsp Canola oil

1 tbsp finely chopped fresh herbs

Mix well......serve.....enjoy!

The Pink Side

I fell in love with this dress yesterday at a wonderful little shop in Leesburg, VA.  They say change comes in subtle ways sometimes.  A little of this and a little of that and then "poof" you wake up one morning and you're just a glimmer of the person you once were.  Oh my...could it be that this Red lovin' girl is starting to cross over to the Pink side???

Lunch in the 'burg

I took my favorite 19 year old out to lunch today.  Our town has a wonderful historical downtown with lots of little eateries and shops.  Jordan and I have a favorite restaurant, Old Town Grill and Cafe.  The owner/chef is a guy named Daniel Battista...he was born here in the 'burg and attended culinary school in South Carolina and then spent several years working at Robert Redford's Sundance Resort.  His restaurant is small and not fancy but the food is outstanding!  Here's Jordan with one of their signature salads....  After lunch we strolled down Caroline Street and hit several antique shops. A little side note about Goolrick's....it has the oldest running soda fountain in the nation.  It's been serving customers since 1863!  When the girls were younger it was their very favorite place to eat because they could sit at the counter and they adored their chicken salad sandwiches and chocolate cokes!!! So tomorrow afternoon I'm off to have a Sleepover at my friend, Tess's, in Manassas.  It's a late little birthday celebration with her and we're going to eat and drink and play.  Wednesday morning we're getting up and heading to the sweet little town of Leesburg, VA to shop and have lunch and do some antiquing.  You can bet I'll have my camera and I'm hoping to come home with lots and lots of fun treasures!