Humble Beginnings; Eggstravagant Easter Eats

 Hello + Hello!

How are you doing? 

I'm doing pretty well myself, other than the fact that my laptop is experiencing major technical difficulties.  

Boo!!!!!!

So, today I'm posting from my good old iPhone. I'm sure the format of this post won't be the same as normal, 

but please bear with me ok?

I wanted to encourage those of you who might be uninspired to celebrate Easter this year due to financial woes, tough times or just plain busy-ness. I've got a simple little recipe that's sure to knock your socks off & not even come close to breaking either your time or financial budget this weekend.

I'm a really big fan of fresh eggs from our chickens. They are really laying good right now too (bonus!) so I decided a simple but sophisticated recipe was in order. Sometimes fresh eggs don't peel very well when boiled... so although I love Deviled Eggs... they don't really turn out so pretty for Easter brunch. Thus the following recipe:

Egg Salad on Toast Points with Dill & Fresh Cracked Pepper

If you don't have chickens, no worries...simply grab a dozen eggs at the market for a few dollars & get started. 

You'll need:

1 dozen hard boiled eggs finely chopped

1 dollop mayo ( about 1cup )

1-2 T. yellow mustard

1 tsp. dried dill

Mix ingredients together to taste, adding more or less mayo or mustard. Set aside.

Next, toast your bread until medium brown. Trim off edges & cut diagonally into triangles.

Then spread egg mixture onto toast points. 

Last, sprinkle your toast points with:

1 green onion chopped fine

more dried dill

fresh cracked, or regular black pepper 

salt to taste

Eat within 1 hour or toast will become soggy.

Don't forget to add garnishes such as grape tomatoes, cucumber slices or mini carrots. Serve with tea or coffee & Easter candy. 

Relax & enjoy your day... because after all

HE LIVES!!

XX 

Trish

The 32 Things I've Been Doing Since We Last Spoke

 

 Hello + Hello!

How have you all been lately?

Long time no speak...

yeah, I know....my bad.

Quite honestly I needed a little break from the internet/blogging,

but...just for a bit.

I guess I should've given a warning...but you know...it just didn't happen.

WHAT DID HAPPEN HOWEVER

was a bunch of stuff!

Whew...have I been a busy little bee.

In addition to my normal everyday job at

Grandiflora

this is what I've been up to while not

mothering...or wifey-ing

(is that a word?)

Ha ha ha!

 

>>>>>--------------->

 

Anyway...here goes:

Above you'll see that I painted a dresser for my son's room.
I also did a bit of fun painting for Etsy & Grandiflora items.

Next, I ripped up a neat old butterfly book and went a little

crazy with the gold and white washi tape!

I love how it turned out!

Then I started on some projects I can't reveal yet....at least not fully.

Isn't blanket stitching just the most relaxing thing?

I tried my hand at making a grocery tote from vintage sheeting....

it was actually going quite well

( I don't sew....no....frankly....I don't like to sew...not enough patience.)

until the machine decided to be stupid and I almost

threw it through a window!

(Well not really....but I thought it sounded like a good idea at the time.)

Needless to say,

I may be calling up one of my seamstress friends to finish it for me?

 I feel that I've been surrounded by books and magazines lately as well.

Truly I've not had the chance to really enjoy all of these lookers yet...

but everyday I savor a page or two!

I have been out picking and thrifting for finds lately.

Most of them go to one of my Etsy shops....but a few I either keep,

or send into Grandiflora.

I love shipping out orders from Etsy

&

washing and caring for the sweet vintage items.

A couple of other things I've been up to in my silly life are:

taking care of the t-shirt ninjas that seem to have invaded my life...

they demand fresh Asian food...mainly Spring Rolls.

I roll my eyes every time they get their swords out!

 

Our Chickens seem to have forgotten what a nesting box is....

or maybe they are practicing for Easter?

Again,

more photography for Etsy of this lovely vintage wallpaper.

Found a funny old photo strip pic of

hubby and I in 1992!

( Buah ha ha!)

Another chair that needs a little help...son picked it out for me.

(Frankly was pretty impressed with his selection!)

And....last but not least,

the new glasses arrived.

It's been mostly rainy lately....so it seems all I've been up to is

using the front of my shirt as a windshield wiper.

But there was a day or two when I was able to pull out the

new prescription sunglasses!

Whoo hooo!

 

>>>>>--------------->

 

Well,

I hope you're all enjoying your early Spring?

And....

that you're going to have an excellent weekend!

I hope to see you back again sooner rather than later...

but here is to a much needed break.

Cheers my friends!

T.

xx

The 14 Things That Made Me Smile This Week

 

 

 Hello + Hello!

Dropping by again to share a few things that made me smile this past week...

14 things to be exact.

Personally, I enjoyed a bunch of junking this past week.

Treasures were everywhere!

I was able to find an antique shell encrusted box for my bathroom cabinet;

it was labelled 1930, Paris. Pretty amazing huh?

It has old mirrors that are losing their silvering on the sides,

& it's in perfect shape....for only $3.00!

Whoo+hoo!

I found a vintage granny square afghan in disrepair, so I decided to disect it...

now I'm waiting on the inspiration I need to decide what to do with the pieces!?

I found hoards of good vintage fabrics & items for my Etsy shops too!

Now that I've washed them all, I need to figure out which ones are staying and which ones are going to need to find a new home.

I treated myself to a few cheap thrills too!

I bought a new necklace with colorful beads from my own shop

Grandiflora

&

some sweet little primroses for my window sill.

($2.00 well spent!)

Other than that,

we've been trying to keep up with our chickens & their

egg production!

Whew!

>>>>>--------------->

While I was at work this past week....

I took a few snaps of the new items that keep pouring in from our

January buying trip to Atlanta.

New jewelry, scarves & purses showed up;

as well as new votive cups, flower pots & candles too!

I love to do the displays when I get the chance to.

Taking the photos for the shop is also pretty fun.

But,

going to market & buying all this product has to top the list.

Grandiflora

could never be accused of being a boring place to

own, or work at!

We have LOTS of fun there together as a family,

 and with

our employees who are basically our friends too!

 

>>>>>--------------->

 

Hope your week was just as fun as mine,

&

I wish you a wonderful weekend filled with joy!!!

Cheers,

T.

xx

Easy & Delicious Bacon-Ranch Quiche

Hello + Hello!

How are you all doing this new week?

I am slowly recovering from being sick upon my arrival home from

market this past week.

I've been trying to ward off the yucks with healthy eating, rest & lots of staring out the window.

Ha ha ha!

You see, it's been very sunny cold and frosty around these parts

(rare for Western Washington I assure you...we usually get rain!)

 

 

It's been fun to watch the chickens out the window...bobbing around for bugs & tidbits.

They have been laying like crazy!

 

We have 8 hens for 4 people,

so we have an abundance of eggs in the house.

As I began to feel like I could get up and about again,

I decided to use up some eggs & make a

Quiche.

It turned out so good that I decided I'd better share the simple recipe with you all!

As my friend

Janice

likes to remind me.....I cook without recipes & add dollups and pinches

to my so called

"recipes".

I will try my best to share the recipe here with you in a more

"exact"

way.

 

Bacon Ranch Quiche

Preheat oven to 400*

(Remember, all ovens vary!)

 

Ingredients:

1 T. butter

1 dozen to 18 raw eggs

6 slices of bacon, cooked and chopped

2 cups fresh raw spinach chopped

1 T. dried onion (or 1/4 cup chopped raw onion sauteed)

1 package ranch dressing dry seasoning packet

3/4 cup sour cream

1 & 1/2 cup shredded mozzerella cheese divided in half

 

Instructions:

 

Place 9x13 glass baking dish in oven with butter, set to melt. In bowl beat eggs, add sour cream & ranch seasoning; mix. Take pan out of oven and swirl butter around to coat all sides and bottom of pan. Sprinkle half the cheese on the bottom of pan; gently cover with egg mixture. Evenly sprinkle the onion, bacon, spinach and remaining cheese on top of egg mixture. Gently press ingredients evenly into the egg mixture to lightly cover.

Bake for 20-25 minutes until center is set and cheese is beginning to brown around the edges.

Note: if you added 18 eggs, it may take longer to cook.

 

Variations:

 

I honestly think you could vary this recipe in a number of different ways:

1. Italian sausage, Italian dried dressing packet & parmesean cheese with chopped tomato!

2. Ham & cheddar with broccoli.

You get the idea.....

 

I hope you enjoy this little recipe....I know my little boys and hubby snarfed it down

so fast, it made my head spin!

 

Cheers!

T.

xx

 

 

Simple Domestic Finds Equal a Happy Trisha

 

 

Hello + Hello!
How are you today?
I just wanted to stop in with a few Instagram photos and say happy Tuesday!

>>>--------->
I was so excited to find green eggs from our Americauna chickens this past weekend, that I thought I should pop by and show you how sweet petite they are! After I took this photo we cooked them up and ate them for dinner. They were delicious! I'm so happy to have green egg chickens in my flock now!



 

I also had fun this past week spending a day out with my mom thrifting. I was so happy to find this lovely quilt for about 10 dollars! Some days it's the simplest things that make me the happiest... chickens, eggs and quilts!
Wishing you many happy domestic treasures this week!
T.
xx

Gravensteins Oh How You Bring Me Back...

 Gravensteins.

If you know what one is....then I really don't think you'll need to read this post....

'cause you'll just

"know".

However...if you are unaware of what a Gravenstein Apple is, then you should stick around!

In my honest opinion...there is no other apple which captures the

crisp tart sweetness of

Autumn,

other than the humble

Gravenstein.

Sadly,

the Gravenstein apple doesn't travel or last very well.

They are the apple to eat immediately...to be savored during a sunny

Indian Summer afternoon

in September.

If you search your local

Farmer's Markets,

You may be lucky enough to find someone who would share some?!

Good Luck!

:)

I have such wonderful memories of picking Gravensteins up off the ground at my grandma and grandpa's home.

Their tree was HUGE

(or at least it felt like it to me!)

The Gravensteins were like

GOLD!

If one fell, it was ok to eat...but never, never should you try to climb the tree and pick one!

Horror of all horrors!

Gravensteins weren't just any ol' apple....no, they were the best of the best!

They were made into every possible concoction that my grandma could think up.

My personal favorite was:

Grandma Stremler's Apple Sauce Cake

Mmmmmmmmm.....

When we purchased our home just over 10 years ago

( a 1913 Craftsman Bungalow)

We were thrilled to find a Gravenstein Tree!

I knew instantly that I would be content to call this place my home....it just felt

"right" to have a Gravenstein Tree in my yard.

:)

So,

Now that I have little ones who can appreciate the

"finer things in life",

I do the same thing my grandma did:

Which is,...first make apple sauce...then cake!

Elliot and I realized that the chickens were pretty

HAPPY

in the backyard one day....and after much

chuck-a-cluck-a-lucking,

we found the chickens

(and Fuzzy the Turkey)

gobbling up our apples off the ground!

OH NO NO! I cried!

Those are OUR apples!!!

:)

So,

we captured our little cluckers

(and our one BIG gobbler)

and put them back where they couldn't get our precious

Gravensteins.



The sad unfinished chicken coop.

If you see my husband....tell him I really want it finished soon...the chickens should start laying anytime now...and I want to celebrate with an attractive coop in my back yard!

There is supposed to be a cupboard with doors under the nesting box for feed,

some trim, board & battens, & especially stain!

I want cute little shrubs

&

a little sign too!

Hummmmmm......

We'll see when that happens!

My hubby has been hunting for almost 2 weeks!

The good news?

He shot his Bull Elk (5x5 point) at about 35 yards with a bow and arrow!

So,

our freezer is

FULL.

We'll see when the chickens....who lay humble eggs....will get their due!

Stay tuned.....

:)

Girls Day Out!

 I've got a few new friends as of June...they talk and talk, eat nothing but organic foods, and generally have stolen my boys away from me.

 Their names are Danni, Cami, Zebra, Batty, Goldie, and Speckles.

We also have a Turkey of a new friend named Fuzzy.

 Well these girls really like to get out once and awhile...actually every day to be exact.

After they convinced my hubby to build them an apartment complex (they promised to pay him in eggs this fall) they set to wandering around the yard eating my weeds and flowers.

I hear them getting really excited about bugs and worms too.

Poor Olive the WonderDog sits by the window and whines to chase...but even she must wait her turn to have at the fenced yard.

The girls have taken over.

Goldie the Wonder Chick

(to be precise)

has taken over!

She's the leader of the pack...and the "Golden Girl" if you will.

:)

It will be an exciting year here for the girls, I hope they don't complain too much this winter.

My hubby has promised to finish the complex & stain it too.

Boy those girls sure are demanding!

I must admit I'm a little jelous.

;)

T.

xx