Wordless Wednesday...

I wish I was at home cuddling them instead of here at work.

Tuesdays At The Table - Confetti Barley Salad

Welcome to another yummy Tuesday, gang! I've been trying a lot of your recipes lately and want to (again) thank you for all the great stuff that you continue to contribute to Andrea's weekly meme. :-)

We've had a few new people join us in the last few weeks; WELCOME! Please share your favorite recipes and/or food tips, then link up and visit all the other contributors. I want everyone to have as much fun as possible and perhaps get a few new followers!

This week I decided to share something healthy since the past few weeks (or, um, month have been junk food).

Confetti Barley Salad

4 cups water
1 cup dry pearl barley
1/3 cup dijon mustard
1/3 cup olive oil
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary leaves (or 2 teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary)
2 teaspoons grated orange peel
1 teaspoon sugar
1 1/2 cups diced peppers (red, yellow or green)
1/2 cup sliced green onions
1/2 cup sliced pitted olives (optional)

Rosemary, orange peel and tomato slices to garnish.

In a saucepan (3 quart or so), bring water and barley to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 45-50 minutes (when barley gets tender). Drain and cool.

In a small bowl, whisk mustard, oil, vinegar, parsley rosemary, orange peel and sugar until combined. Set aside.

In a large bowl, combine barley, bell peppers, green onions and olives. Stir in mustard dressing and toss to coat well. Garnish and serve. (This tastes best when it's been refrigerated for a few hours to absorb all flavors.)

What's cooking in your kitchen?

Musical Monday - Weather With You

Ah, it's been another wonderful summer weekend. Bright and sunny; hot and humid; fun-filled! Fine, I admit I don't like humidity...but otherwise; a gorgeous weekend!

I hope you all had fabulous weekends too!! :-)

This weekend I did all my usual errands, plus a field trip to the airport and Billy's 6th birthday party. The trip to the airport was to get my grandmother who was coming back from Cincinnati. The airport always has such energy, that I can't help but be happy when I'm there. I really had the urge to just jump on a plane and go. Anybody else have wanderlust or the urge to just get up and go? Somewhere...anywhere?!

Billy's birthday was great! I can't say enough how lucky Kirstren is to have this little boy as her son. He's AWESOME! Below is a picture of the cake she made. Didn't she do a great job?

Crowded House must be making another comeback. I heard this song twice in UK based concerts in the past few days (Isle of Wight and Glastonbury Festival...both in Scotland).

How was your weekend?

P.S. Did you remember to enter my giveaway?

Coming Soon - A Product Review

I've never done a product review, and am so excited that Living Rooms Direct contacted me to do one on kitchen furniture (and accents)!

There's a first time for everything and this site has some amazing things. I know what you're thinking. Wait, if this place is called Living Rooms Direct - how did you get asked to review kitchen accents? You know, I don't understand the full progression & understand that it links to Kitchen Accents Direct... am really happy they asked me. Everything on their site looks so great.

What will I review? I don't know. There are a few things that really interested me, but I asked to be surprised.

When will I do the review? I'm not sure. It depends on what they send me and when it arrives.

Do I promise to be honest? YES!! I will tell you all the good, the bad and the ugly. (I'm really hoping that nothing classifies as bad or ugly though.)

I leave you with a few things that I saw and loved....

I can't wait to see what they send me!!

Followers, Follower, Followers... Oh My! (A Giveaway)

When I wasn't paying attention - I somehow got 100 followers. You are all fabulous, and I decided that I should have a giveaway to celebrate! Many thanks to those of you that not only read, but comment on my posts. Let me also encourage any blog stalkers to come out of hiding now. :-)

While I'm at it, let me share that I won Kathie's 100th follower giveaway! She is awesome and I feel so honored to have won "Your the Balm" lip balm and Strawberry Angel cupcake soap. Both items are from Margarita Bloom and smell heavenly!

What can YOU win, you ask? Vanna, show them the giveaway booty....

A quick reference deck of summer cocktails. Drink up and enjoy long after summer is over!

It's just not a giveaway if I don't include something from Burt's Bees.

A pretty green journal with Queen Anne's Lace pattern...

...and its matching pen.

A cute notepad that you probably can't read (sorry!). It says "She packed up her potential and all she had learned, grabbed a cute pair of shoes and headed out to change a few things."

The opportunity to wash away your sins in one handy pak! (No, I'm not mocking religion; I just thought it was cute!)

A magnet with one of my favorite quotes.

My standard giveaway rules apply with one little twist.

You get ONE entry for commenting.

You get ONE entry for following me.

You get ONE entry for blogging about my giveaway or putting it on your sidebar.

There are two ways to get super special bonus entries: A. If a commenter tells me that YOU sent them to me! or B. You share with the group YOUR favorite quote! (It can be about love, life, work...ANYTHING! A big hug for Jane, from whom I stole...or um, borrowed this idea.)

All entries must be in by midnight EST on Wednesday, August 26th. A winner will be announced on Thursday (or very soon thereafter).

Tuesdays At The Table - Peanut Butter & Butter Scotch Rice Crispy Treats

Howdy, ladies! I hope you all had fabulous weekends. It is hazy, hot & humid here in the Northeast for the better part of the last week... ICK! It almost makes me want fall to come breezing in. Almost!

This week I'm sharing one of my "go-to" recipes. You all have them; that thing that you've made so many times that making it is just second nature. One of those recipes for me is peanut butter and butter scotch rice crispy treats; so quick and so easy. Just thinking about them makes me hungry!

Peanut Butter & Butter Scotch Rice Crispy Treats

1 package Butter Scotch chips (11 oz)
1 HEAPING cup of peanut butter (your choice of smooth or chunky; just don't do low fat - TRUST ME!)
6 cups of rice crispies

In a microwave safe bowl, slowly melt the butter scotch chips. Once melted and all lumps are gone, mix in your peanut butter. Gradually add the rice crispy treats and mix until all rice crispies are evenly coated. Use Pam or butter to lightly grease a 9 x 13 pan. Turn mixture into pan and refrigerate for a few hours or until the bars are set (HINT: The glossy texture of wet chips/peanut butter will turn matte.). Cut and serve.

I suggest keeping these refrigerated when not serving, as they melt pretty quickly in the summer heat. :-)

What's cooking in your kitchen this week?

Andrea has been getting her toes wet in the bloggy world again; drop by and say "HI!".

Musical Monday - A Punk (Vampire Weekend)

Happy Monday, ladies! It's been a great (but H.O.T) weekend!

I started my Saturday by visiting my hairdresser and getting a trim & highlight. I just love it when someone plays with my hair! The highlight of Sunday was going to the beach with Kirstren and her son. I didn't get burned (ok..maybe a little pink in a few spots) this time. Way to go SPF 70!

The theme of my weekend was vampires.

I read 2 and a half Sookie Stackhouse (aka Charlaine Harris' "Dead" series) books.....


Ordered Tru Blood from the HBO website as a little gift to myself and Kirstren.....

Am super excited about the new episode of True Blood...

and I'm sharing a song from Vampire Weekend with you now.

What did you do this weekend? Any other True Blood fans out there?