Longing for some “outdoors” time…time when my teeth don’t chatter…

Susan at http://http://asoutherndaydreamer.blogspot.com/ hosts OUTDOOR WEDNESDAY today so please visit all of her participants…

Being outdoors heals my psyche, makes me whole, gives my perspective on life a lift, in other words, “I’m tired of winter”.

I need some spring sunshine, buttercups, forsythia, new puppies or children in our neighborhood. The buttercups are actually blooming in some places here but it has been too uncomfortable to get photos of them so I’ll just reminisce and anticipate spring. All of these photos were taken in our yard so enjoy how things “can be”.

My front yard trees used to look like this…“pre ice storm 2009”

A future post for OUTDOOR WEDNESDAY to see what these trees will look like this summer will be here shortly… (June or so….)

Blue “HEAVEN'”

Blue, white and yellow is my favorite color combination and I’m always drawn to it. Here are some photos of some of my favorite things that are blue.

A Favorite decorative soup tureen

A thrifted framed print

My favorite oil paints…see the blue, yellow and white theme

A woven blue placemat

One of my favorite blue and white Fostoria glass baskets

Blue Haven Progression China by Noritake…I started my collection in 1970

Blue, white and yellow biscotti canister in the background…it probably came from Sam’s or Costco

Blueberries

I Love homemade blueberry muffins…mmm…

INGREDIENTS

1 cup milk 1 egg 1/3 cup vegetable oil 2 cups self rising flour 3/4 cup white sugar 1/2 cup fresh blueberries

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Line a 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners. In a large bowl, stir together milk, egg, and oil. Add flour, sugar, and blueberries; gently mix the batter with only a few strokes. Be careful with the blueberries, not breaking them open. Spoon batter into cups. Bake for 10 to 15 minutes or until evenly brown…don’t overcook or they will be dry. Serve hot.

http://http://www.colorquiz.com/

This is a site that quizzes you on your choice of colors and gives you a psychological profile of yourself…fun, but I wouldn’t take it seriously at all…

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Prepping for the “Foodie Friday”, it’s not all glamour…..

 

Here are my novice preparations for the Foodie Friday….Ms. Gollum makes this look so easy, it aint so yall, took me way too much time, but it sure was fun.

It all began with baking a lemon pound cake…

Lemon Cake
Adapted from ”Barefoot Contessa Parties!” by Ina Garten
2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 1/2 cups sugar
4 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
1/3 cup grated lemon zest (6 to 8 large lemons)
3 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon kosher salt
3/4 cup plus 3 1/2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
3/4 cup buttermilk, at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted.
1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour two 8 1/2-by-4 1/4-by-2 1/2-inch loaf pans, and line the bottoms with parchment paper.
2. Cream butter and 2 cups sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment for about 5 minutes, or until light and fluffy. Mixing at medium speed, add eggs, one at a time, and lemon zest.
3. Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a bowl. In another bowl, combine 1/4 cup lemon juice, buttermilk and vanilla. Add flour and buttermilk mixtures alternately to butter and sugar mixture, beginning and ending with flour. Divide batter evenly between pans, smooth tops, and bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour, until a cake tester comes out clean.
4. Combine 1/2 cup sugar with 1/2 cup lemon juice in a small saucepan, and cook over low heat until sugar dissolves.
5. When cakes are done, let them cool 10 minutes. Invert them onto a rack set over a tray, and spoon lemon syrup over cakes. Let cakes cool completely.
6. For glaze, combine confectioners’ sugar and remaining 3 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice in a bowl, mixing with a whisk until smooth. Pour over top of cakes, and allow glaze to drizzle down the sides. If you like rum, you can add about a 1/4 cup to the sugar, lemon syrup. I use a bundt pan instead of 2 loaf pans but that is up to you. Also I use a wooden skewer to poke holes in the cake all over, this helps the syrup absorb all thru the cake.

Ok…that much was good…

Now Zoe is anticipating the crumbs…

Now, I’m off to clean the table, it also serves as my art studio…I got a little messy but enjoyed painting yesterday…

This is what I painted…its painted on a thrifted silver tray and is done in oils…

Now I’m off to look for props for my pix…gotta look everywhere…birds on the bathroom cabinet???

No, let’s see what else, maybe a vintage glass peanut jar…no…don’t think so…

…well the green glass would look good with my lemons as props and I could use this green glass with it????

…mmmm, still doesn’t seem right…I’ll keep looking…oops, I got distracted… that’s my very favorite Windsor and Newton oil paints…boy I luv them a lot…

…still distracted…loving me these paintbrushes…

This could be why this blog is taking me so long, I keep getting distracted by things I luv…ok, now I’m focused…Blue Haven China…that’ll do it…luv me some Blue Haven and thanks to my Hubby I have lots of it…

gotta get it together…where’s the cake??? Now I have to experiment with the light coming in from the window…

geeze…looks like night, not the middle of the day here…

another try…

Ok, it’s getting closer…gotta tweak it….

I hope you’ve enjoyed helping me to get this post together…I’m hungry, aren’t you?

Outdoor Wednesday—not the ordinary

I’m going to participate in Outdoor Wednesday at A Southern Daydreamers site. I think we’re all dreaming of some beautiful spring and summer weather now but I’d like to show pictures of our recent ice storm. Our area is trying to become a National Disaster Area in order to get some help recovering from this storm. In all the horror of this ice storm there was so much beauty.