Porch Living

We have been enjoying our lunch on the porch lately. Asher actually requests to sit out there despite the hot days we have been experiencing. Thankfully, our front porch is on the north side so it stays shady and a breeze often whips around the corner of our house. So, if you are ever walking down our street around lunch time, come on up and we'll serve you some lemonade! :)

1st Birthday Party

A couple of weeks ago we celebrated my neice Skylar's first birthday. The theme was a simple first birthday theme based on this napkin below.

From this napkin, I used the design to create the large cake for the guests and the small cake for Skylar to eat.

I enjoyed adding the detail of the bugs on the side of the larger cake.

The birthday girl enjoying her cake!

Looking forward to making the next birthday cake on my list...but not for another month! :)

Mache Salad

We have been receiving our fresh veggies from our CSA for a few weeks now. This week I was surprised to find what I believe is mâche. Mâche is a tender, heirloom variety of lamb’s lettuce. I had this recipe below (though, I tweaked it a bit)tucked away (from Southern Living) and had been wanting to use it for sometime but had never had the oppurtunity..due to no mâche. What a delicious summer surprise! Even David went back for seconds if that tells you anything!

Ingredients
Chopped pecans
Watermelon, cubed
Mâche
Vinaigrette of choice (I used Trader Joes Balsamic Vinaigrette..mmmm!)
Feta cheese

Preparation
Combine mâche and watermelon in bowl. Add vinaigrette, tossing gently to coat. Spread mâche and watermelon mixture to a platter, sprinkle with peacans and fetta.

Nashville Flood 2010

I have been absent from the blogging world for awhile because of this...

The Nashville flood hit the city hard. This picture of above is two blocks from our home. It is the Farmer's Market that we had just walked to a day before the flood hit. It all seemed surreal and still does when I look back on these photos. It's hard to imagine that we were surrounded on almost all sides of our neighborhood by what seemed like a lake. It took just short of a week for these waters to finally receed. Below is where we exit our neighborhood.

I have been busy with flood relief since this all hit. It has been amazing to see the response of Nashvillians. I helped head up the relief at our church, helping organize volunteers and setting up a donation center. Daily, I would hear the most amazing stories of those being affected and those volunteering and giving of their resources to help rebuild lives. I just wish now that I would have had the time to blog and remember all the stories. My bed won over though! :)
We now have shut down our donation center and are turning our help in another direction. For the time being, I am back to a more normal schedule that I welcome. I am a routine person and found that doing this relief type of work was very "fly by the seat of your pants." I do look forward to finding more oppurtunities to serve flood victims this summer as we shift our focus. While I hurt for those who have lost everything in this flood, I am thankful for the community that was found and united in all of us Nashvillians!