Greek Pesto Fettuccine with Toasted Pine Nuts and Feta Cheese

• 16 oz fettuccine
• 1 cup of Pesto (recipe link below; or you can use a store bought pesto)
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 zucchini, cut into 1 inch pieces
• 1/2 yellow bell pepper, cut into 1 inch pieces
• 1/2 orange bell pepper, cut into 1 inch pieces
• 1 bundle of aparagus, tops cut into 1 inch pieces
• 1 can artichoke hearts, quartered
• 1 cup of grape tomatoes, halved
• 1/3 cup kalamata olives, halved
• 1/4 cup pine nuts, toasted
• 1/2 cup feta cheese, crumbled

Bring a large pot of water to boil and add the fettuccine, cook until tender. Drain the pasta and toss with the pesto.  Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a large saute pan and add the first 5 vegetables. Saute until tender. Add the tomatoes and olives, stirring to heat through. Toss the vegetable mixture with the pesto fettuccine and then top with the toasted pine nuts and feta cheese. Serve warm. 

Pesto recipe by Ina Garten

Casey and I had this pasta dish at a restaurant in La Jolla, and I decided to recreate it at home. It is a really easy recipe to make and can serve 6 to 8 people. You could even toss chicken into the pasta as well.

Mason Jars

Lots of mason jars to put to use after Carley and Matt's wedding. I started putting them to use last night to hold some lemonade. I garnished the drinks with lemon slices and mint leaves. A simple summer drink, but the jars and straws make it more fun! Planning to add some wire to others to hang in the trees out back with candles.

Summer Side Dishes

Green Bean, Corn, and Tomato Salad

Grilled Onions and Peppers

Grilled Corn on the Cob

The recipes for each of these summer sides can be found on marthastewart.com by clicking on the links.

Watermelon Mint Margaritas

Use leftover watermelon to make this slushy summer drink.

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Freeze: 4 hours
Yield: Makes 5 cups

Ingredients

• 4  cups  seeded and chopped watermelon
• Fresh lime juice
• Sugar
• 1/2  cup  tequila*
• 1/4  cup  sugar
• 1  tablespoon  grated lime rind
• 1/4  cup  fresh lime juice (about 3 limes)
• 2  tablespoons  chopped fresh mint leaves
• Garnish: fresh mint sprig

Preparation

1. Place watermelon in a single layer on a baking sheet. Freeze 4 hours or until firm.
2. Coat rims of cocktail glasses with lime juice; dip in sugar.
3. Process frozen watermelon, tequila, and next 4 ingredients in a blender until slushy. Pour into glasses. Garnish, if desired.

*1/2 cup orange or apple juice may be substituted for tequila.

 

Southern Living, JULY 2006

Felt Flower Flip Flops

My sister-in-law Carley is getting married this weekend and I put these flip flops together for the bridesmaids to wear after the ceremony. I made these flowers with felt and used a template I already had cut out from a previous project that I made from the purl bee's site. If you'd like to print out the flower shape template you can find it here. It was originally used for a party garland that is soo cute, check it out at the purl bee. I found a mustard yellow yarn to tie the flip flops together, and also to loop under the flowers. Each set of flip flops has a different button for the center. I used thread to fasten the button, and the yarn to attach the flower to the flip flop.

Chemise

I was inspired by a chemise I spotted at Anthropologie a while a go and ever since then I have been wanting to create my own. When I found this lace back tank for only $6.00 I thought it would be a good time to try. I bought a large size so that it would fit longer like a dress and added the ruffles to the bottom. I found some silk fabric at Joann Fabric and also bought some fray check that I brushed along the edges after cutting 2, 2inch wide strips. Can't wait to sleep in my new chemise!

Blackberry Salad with Toasted Walnuts and Raspberry Balsamic Vinegarette

This is a good summer salad. I got the recipe from my Mom, and she got it from Central Market in Fort Worth, TX. It's really easy and quick to put together.

Ingredients:

• Spring mix lettuce
• Fresh blackberries, rinsed
• Green onions, chopped
• Walnuts, chopped and toasted
• 1/4 cup Olive oil
• 3 tablespoons Raspberry balsamic vinegar
• Salt and Pepper

 Toast the walnuts over medium heat. In a bowl toss together the first four ingredients. In a smaller bowl whisk together the olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper. (Or you could use a store bought raspberry dressing) Pour the dressing over the salad just before serving and toss.

Popcorn

I love popcorn. And I really love popcorn from the Crazy Stir Popcorn Maker! Now I only want this kind of popcorn. My mother-in-law got me hooked and since I have gotten this Popcorn Maker many of my friends have run out to buy one. It's addicting. There is a trick though, you have to use the white popcorn kernels. So good!!!

Yo Yo Necklace

I did a post a while back about making a fabric yo yo, and I have made some earrings and hair clips that I posted to my etsy page. However, I have been wanting to make a yo yo necklace for a while now, and just now got around to it! I've seen some around in stores and online, but wasn't sure quite how to put one together. I found a tutorial here by Hideous! Dreadful! Stinky! Now that I have made one, I would love to make more. We'll see when I get around to it...

Grilled Turkey and Vegetable Kabobs

This marinade is really good! You can use it for this kabob recipe and also for just marinating chicken on the grill. I got this recipe from my Mom, so I am not sure where it originally came from.

Marinade:

• 1/3 cup lemon juice (or lime)
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 3 tablespoon catsup
• 1 clove fresh minced garlic

Kabobs:

• 1 1/2 lbs. fresh turkey breast skinned, boned, and cut into 1 1/2 x 1" pieces (I have also used Chicken in place of the turkey)

Vegetables:

• Mushrooms
• Bell peppers (red, green, and yellow)
• Red onion
• Zucchini
• Cherry tomatoes

Directions:
In a medium bowl combine all the marinade ingredients. Stir in turkey pieces. Cover, and refridgerate for 3 to 4 hours. Drain and reserve the marinade.
Assemble the kabobs- turkey on skewers and vegetables on separate skewers. Brush kabobs with marinade and grill for 15 to 20 minutes, until tender.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

 Ingredients:

Makes 24 cookies

• 1 cup peanut butter
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup packed light-brown sugar
• 1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips
• 1 large egg, beaten
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees, with racks in upper and lower thirds. In a large bowl, combine all ingredients and stir with a wooden spoon until smooth. Divide dough into 24 portions, about 1 heaping tablespoon each. Roll each piece between your hands to form a smooth ball. Place dough balls, 1 inch apart, on two ungreased baking sheets. Using a fork, press on dough in two directions to form a crosshatch pattern.
2. Bake cookies until puffed and lightly golden, 10 to 12 minutes, rotating sheets halfway through. Let cookies cool on sheets. (To store, keep cookies in an airtight container at room temperature, up to 3 days.)  

Recipe is from the Everyday Food Magazine, March 2010 issue by Emeril Lagasse

Hudson's Robot Party

Pictures by Session Nine Photography

I have posted a lot of robot party ideas in preparation for Hudson's Birthday Party. Now here are pictures from the actual party. Everything turned out great, I think all the kids had a good time. We had a lot for them to do. I made homemade play dough and put star shaped confetti and star cookie cutters on the table with it. I also had a table with foam shaped stickers, crayons, markers, and card stock for the kids to color and make robots with the shapes. I painted and cut holes in boxes to make robot bodies for the kids and adults to dress up in. Then taped polka dot wrapping paper on the wall for pictures to be taken in front of. We had a rocket tent out back for the kids, a water table, fun music, and other toys. The party bags had glow sticks, a small tin of "nuts and bolts", a wind up robot, robot tattoos, and stretchy robots.  It was a fun day!


Linking up here!

Mason Jars

Such a cute idea, especially for the summer time! 

Found this idea on TheBridalBlog.com via Brides.com

 These floating flowers look so pretty!
Found this picture on Casasugar

Simple, Affordable, and Beautiful
Found on intimateweddings.com

Here's a DIY Mason Jar project by Heather Bullard.
Click here to find out how to make one!

I recently bought 150 mason jars for my Sister-in-laws wedding. I love the look of the old fashioned mason jars, and think it is so fun to look at all of the creative ways you can now use them! For the wedding we are going to be using them as lanterns hanging in the trees, to create a lit pathway using candles, and hanging on the chairs going down the ceremony isle with fresh flowers. We found the mason jars at Costco in packs of 12. They come in two different sizes, costing about $7 to $8 per 12 jars.

DIY Water Bottle Labels

I recently took some pictures of my brother and his fiance Tara so that they could have some pictures to frame at their wedding. After taking them Tara thought it would be cute to print labels for water bottles with some of the pictures on them. So, I began searching the web for templates and came across a template with a damask patterned background on the ruffledblog.com. I changed it up a bit to have only the damask background and added pictures to the majority of the labels.

Jewelry Making Ideas

Bracelet Belt: 

Using satin or velvet ribbon you create a belt by looping it through the ends of a bracelet.

Bib Necklace:

Take an old necklace and glue it down to a piece of fabric for a newer style.

Beaded Flower Necklace:

Attach a few feathers and a flower to a chain necklace.

All of these jewelry ideas and more can be found on Marthastewart.com. Click on the links above for more detailed instructions on how to make the jewelry. 

Easter Egg Treats

I had a lot of marshmallows left over from Hudson's birthday party and thought I should put them to use. I found this cute recipe idea on the Kellogg's Rice Krispies website.

Rice Krispies Treat Recipe

Ingredients:

• 3 tablespoons  butter or margarine
• 1 package (10 oz., about 40) regular marshmallows OR 4 cups miniature marshmallows
• 6 cups Rice Krispies®

Directions:
In large saucepan melt butter over low heat. Add marshmallows and stir until completely melted. Remove from heat and add KELLOGG'S RICE KRISPIES cereal. Stir until well coated. Then using 1/3-cup measuring cup coated with cooking spray divide warm cereal mixture into portions. Using buttered hands shape each portion into egg shape. Cool. Decorate with sprinkles, frosting and/or candies. Best if served the same day.

Tara's Bridal Shower

This past weekend we celebrated with my brother's fiance, Tara. We had a bridal shower and bachelorette party. It was a lot of fun to spend the day celebrating with her and be able to meet all of her friends and family. I made the cake for her shower, and had a lot of fun making it. It only needed to serve 25 to 30 people, but I ended up making enough cake for about 90! I just wanted to make it three tiered, so there were lots of leftovers. The color of their wedding is the purple color i used on the cake and they are having orchids in the wedding. Tara made a wonderful suggestion for the cake flavor and filling (that I believe they are having as their wedding cake). I made white cake with a lemon mousse and raspberry preserve. It was a really good combination of flavors!

At the shower they had a champagne bar, where you could make your own champagne drinks. They had champagne flutes out, with different recipes to follow. This was such a cute idea! They had all different mixers; orange juice, a peach puree, strawberry mixer, pomegranate juice, pineapple juice, and other fun things to add.