1. Tree Pedestal Cake Stand at Once Wed
2. Cardigan with a Twist at Happy Together
3. Little Pink House Tutorial at Sew Mama Sew
4. DIY Floral Printed Shades at Throw it in the Bag
5. Land of Nod Inspired Cushion at Living with Punks
6. Painted Parasol at Alisa Burke

packed a picnic, undeterred by threats of thunderstorms. loaded bikes onto the ferry. arrived at the beach and found shelter under a tree. had some lunch. shared the tree with a large family of biting ants. rode home in a torrential rain. still a lovely day. plus two tasty barbeques and a birthday party. can’t beat that for a summer weekend.

This is a classic family recipe, I think my grandmother’s originally and I have many fond memories of smelling these as they came out of my mother’s oven. We always called them Blonde Brownies, but I have learned that other people often refer to them as Blondies. Either way, they taste delicious. And its a really easy recipe to throw together when you need a sweet treat without too much fuss – I most recently made them to take on our camping trip last weekend. Usually I just add chocolate chips, but the recipe also calls for nuts and I decided to add pecans and some toffee bits just for good measure. They’re kind of like a square cookie I guess, but with a great chewiness and all the brown sugar gives them a really nice rich caramel kind of flavour. Dangerously good!

Best Blonde Brownies (aka Blondies)

2/3 cup butter
2 cups brown sugar
2 eggs
2 cups flour
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 12oz pkg chocolate chips
1 cup chopped nuts (optional)
1 cup toffee bits (optional)

Cream butter until light and fluffy, then add the brown sugar. Add the eggs and beat two minutes more. Combine dry ingredients and then slowly beat into the egg mixture. Spread into a greased 9×13 inch baking pan. Sprinkle with chocolate chips, and nuts and toffee bits if you like. Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes.

ways this weekend made me remember why I love summer :: paddling :: morning lake swimming :: lunch on an island :: brushing pine needles out of a deck of cards :: cooking dinner on sticks :: making friends with a snapping turtle :: asparagus cooked in foil on coals :: evening loons :: afternoon nap in a hammock with a view ::

yep, we’re excited about the pantone for 2010. :: Untitled :: Arachnology-For Supervente :: Flower circles

Vera napkins :: My favorite deer, :: Flower tray :: November Block for Ten Make Two

four pebble pendant :: Untitled :: flowers :: Caminhando

Millies Tree … :: Pom Pom Dot :: for the birds :: Herb print.

I ordered some of that cool chalkboard fabric quite awhile ago with the intention of making gifts for some small people that I know. My nieces already had one of these roll-up chalk mats and I think they got some good mileage out of it in entertaining themselves at restaurants and other places on the go, so I thought I’d try to reconstruct that as a gift for others.

What you’ll need:
15″ x 11″ piece of chalk fabric
15″ x 11″ piece of backing fabric
5″ x 4″ piece of pocket fabric
60″ x 2″ strip of edging fabric (in two or more pieces if needed)
2 pieces of ribbon, 12″ each

To start, turn under the long edge of the pocket piece and stitch a hem. Then fold it in half right sides together and sew the short edge closed, as shown below.

To stitch together the edging pieces, lay the ends out so the strips are perpendicular to each other with right sides together and stitch across at an angle. When the strips are turned right side up, they should now form one long strip with a diagonal seam.

Next, lay out the piece of backing fabric and the chalk fabric, wrong sides together. Now you’re going to sew binding around these pieces – ways to do this are illustrated here and here much better than I can do. As these demonstrate, there are various ways to do binding, but basically what I did is to sew the edging strips to the chalk mat side, 1/4 inch from the edge with right sides together. As you start sewing the binding, fold over the end towards the wrong side so the raw edge will be hidden. When you get to the corners, treat them as you would a quilt with a mitered corner (show in both of the tutorial links above).

When you get to the short side of the rectangle, slide the raw edge of the pocket piece between the binding and the chalk fabric and capture it as you stitch along the edge.

And this is what it looks like when you’re done with all four sides….

Lastly, turn the raw edge of the binding under 1/4 inch and then fold the binding in half, rolling it over to the the side with the backing fabric. Pin in place. On the short edge of the rectangle (opposite the side you have added the pocket) pin the ribbon pieces between the binding and the backing fabric. Topstitch along the edge through all the layers of fabric, around all four sides

Add some chalk and a small square of fabric to use as an eraser (which can both be stored in the pocket), and you’ve got your chalk mat!

We took some sandwiches to the beach on the weekend. After a long search in many stores I think we found one of the only beach umbrellas left in the entire City, so we had a patch of shade to enjoy our picnic under. Unfortunately there were too many geese near the beach to enjoy a swim in the lake, so we took a dip in the pool nearby instead, which was just as nice a way to cool off!

That time of year again for cooking and eating outdoors. Happily, we got an awesome new barbecue this year which should facilitate many future al fresco meals. As an added bonus, the smokiness makes the whole neighbourhood smell lovely.

Grilled Vegetable Ratatouille

Adapted from an Emeril recipe

1 large head garlic, top sliced off to expose tips of garlic cloves
5 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 pint large grape tomatoes
1 eggplant, trimmed and cut lengthwise into quarters or eigths
1 large zucchini, trimmed and cut lengthwise into quarters
2 cups mushrooms
1 medium red or green bell pepper, stem, seeds, and ribs removed, cut in 1/2 lengthwise
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
3 tablespoons minced fresh basil leaves
2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley leaves
1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme leaves
Freshly grated Parmesan, garnish
Salt and pepper

Preheat the grill.

Before preparing the vegetables, roast the garlic. Rub 1 teaspoon of the oil and a pinch of the salt and pepper onto the cut side of the garlic. Wrap in foil and place on the grill. Roast until soft and starting to caramelize, turning occasionally, about 25 minutes. Remove from the grill and let sit until cool enough to handle.

Rub 2 teaspoons of the oil and pinch of the salt and pinch of the pepper on the tomatoes. Place on the grill away from the direct heat (or on the upper rack) and grill until tender and start to char, about 6 minutes, depending upon the heat. (The longer the tomatoes stay on the grill, the smokier flavor they will obtain.) Remove from the heat and when cool, remove the skin and roughly chop.

In a large bowl, combine the eggplant, zucchini, squash, mushrooms, and bell peppers and toss with 2 tablespoons of the oil, 1 teaspoon of the salt, and 1/2 teaspoon of the pepper. Grill, turning, until marked by the grill and tender, 3 to 5 minutes per side. Remove with tongs and dice into 1/2-inch pieces.

In the bottom of a large bowl, mash the roasted garlic and 1 teaspoon of olive oil to make a paste. Drizzle in the remaining 1 1/2 tablespoons of oil, 1 teaspoon salt and 1 teaspoon pepper, and the vinegar and whisk to combine. Add the chopped vegetables, tomatoes, and the herbs and toss to coat. (The ratatouille can be made ahead and refrigerated overnight to allow the flavors to further develop.)

Serve on top of polenta, or tossed with pasta, and top with parmesean.

We headed to the racetrack on Sunday for the Queen’s Plate (the oldest thoroughbred race in North American, we learned, 151 years and counting). Unfortunately we couldn’t handle the crowds long enough to stay to see the Queen or the big race at the end of the day (the place was a madhouse!) but we enjoyed ourselves nonetheless. I thought it was a fitting occasion to gussy up my hat a bit with some fabric flowers, using these templates from martha. I whipped them up in the morning before we left, and they were quite easy to do with a good final effect. It wasn’t quite as fine as some of the more spectacularly feathered hats we saw, but I think it held its own.