I ♥ Ina

I gave Ina Garten's (The Barefoot Contessa) Fruit Tart with Pastry Cream a trial run last week.

I will be making it for a baby shower in a few weeks and wanted to make sure I liked it. Ina's recipes are wonderful and have never let me down. Still...baby shower guests shouldn't be guinea pigs for a new recipe in my opinion.

OH YUM! What else can I say?

I didn't have a real wide selection of fruit to top it with, but the blueberries, kiwi, and plums were good. I think I'll add some mandarin oranges and red raspberries next time.

Shortbread crust, light, sweet cream, fresh fruit. What can be a better combination in the summer?

To check out the recipes Ms. Garten has on her website right now, go here. And, if you are interested in the tart recipe, just say so in my comment box and I can share it personally with you. (Thanks to my dear friend Rebecca and the signed cookbook she gave me for my birthday one year. So sweet!)

Summer Nights In The Country

In the evening light there is little that hints of the sweat and toil of the day.

The horse-drawn wagons and tractors are silent.

Produce sits perched on roadside stands.

The scene is peaceful and idyllic.

The air cools and carries the hint of a campfire somewhere.

Crickets begin their serenade.

The setting sun illuminates the silos in the distance.

Fireflies hover over the fields.

Livestock dot the pasture, munching or ambling towards the barn for milking time.

A bowl of juicy watermelon before bedtime.

Your children as they "air dry" after their bath, running from room to room.

The windows open while you sleep.

It's a country life...and I love it.

Got Yogurt?

Wah choo lookin' at Willis?!

I can do everything my big sis can...in theory anyway. :o)

Fowl Follow-up

For those of you curious about how our chickens are faring, here are some updated pictures.



See those trees in the background? We live just beyond them.





They're two and a half weeks old now, have been moved out to the pasture, are scratching and pecking and growing fast!



Tyson, keeping a close watch.

I must add that I appreciate and am so proud of my hard-workin' man.

Remember that SUPER hot Saturday 2 weekends ago? Well, he was working all day on this cage, in the stifling heat, figuring things out on his own. (Chris would have helped him but he had hurt his foot pretty badly the day before.)

Thanks hon for making this project happen! :o)

Wordless Wednesday

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz...

Delectable! German Chocolate Cake

I stumbled upon a foodie blog recently. David Lebovitz is an American chef living in Paris, and his blog is full of yummy things.

Like this German Chocolate Cake. OH. MY. GRACIOUS.



It warrants a moment of silence...it's that good.

If you make this cake please follow the dosage serving size information and be aware of these side effects:

This cake may cause delirium, fainting, and irregular heartbeats. In some cases it may produce anxiety. If you find you are sneaking into the refrigerator at 2am because you fear there won't be any left the next day, seek immediate medical attention. Do not eat this cake while driving or operating heavy machinery.

It's now my go-to cake recipe for special occasions. (It takes nearly 2 hours to make, but it is SO worth it.) Let me know if you give it a try!


(I'm still kicking myself for halving the recipe into a 6" round layer cake instead of the 9", but my hips are thanking me.)

A Hit And A Miss

I recently finished two books that I thought I'd review for you. The first I mentioned earlier in my 10th Anniversary post. It is a definate "hit"!


THE GLASS CASTLE by Jeannette Walls


I'm really glad I read HALF BROKE HORSES first. That's the memoir of her grandmother Lily. THE GLASS CASTLE is the story of her parents, Rex and Rosemary Walls and her own childhood. Both books are jaw-dropping, entertaining, and simply unreal!


Unlike HALF BROKE HORSES, this book provoked me. To anger. On more than one occasion.


The parents, Rex and Rosemary, were two misfits peas in a pod! Enablers to each other's disfunctionary ways. I kept thinking, "those poor kids!"


Now, every parent has his/her own style of child-rearing. To each his own. But these two were very bright individuals who elevated their non-conformist, vagabond lifestyle to the ten billionth degree--to the point that it was abusive in my opinion.


But, you have to read the book to really understand how that kind of upbringing made Jeannette and her siblings who they are today. Who's to say what they would have become under "normal" circumstances. I sure wouldn't wish their upbringing on anyone though.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


The "miss" in my opinion was one I hadn't anticipated.


HOUSE RULES by Jodi Picoult


I almost always enjoy Jodi's books and while I did enjoy reading House Rules I can't put it in the same class as others she has written. It was an interesting look into Asperger's but at times seemed a little cliche and did not always ring true. Also the plot was just weak. It was so obvious from the very beginning what the "twist" was that I almost didn't want to finish reading because I knew how it was going to end. And when I think PICOULT, I think TWIST I CAN'T SEE COMIN'.


Proof that you can't judge a book by it's cover--Jacob, the young man who has Asperger's, is 18. As I was reading, I couldn't help wanting to identify with the young boy sitting by the lake as the cover suggests. Errrr!


It just seemed like Picoult rushed this one to meet a publication deadline.


Still, Jodi has a very engaging style and her characters are interesting and mostly very well fleshed out, which kept me reading to the end.


Borrow it from the library if you don't mind a predictable ending. Otherwise, NINETEEN MINUTES, CHANGE OF HEART, and PLAIN TRUTH remain my favorite Picoult's.