Vegetable Inspiration

The summer season has begun!  Our CSA started Saturday, and I cannot tell you how excited I am!  Recently, our farm posted a video for how to make radish butter to Facebook.  Well, I watched it, and tonight I replicated it.  Thought I would share and give my thoughts.  Here's the video:

For my own, I chose some easter egg radishes, because they are beautiful, with the pinks, purples, red and white.  Simply wash them, then cut the ends and tops off.

Then, using a mini food chopper, I minced them up.  You can kind of see the different colors, thought because of the white inside it didn't show up as much as I would have liked.

Then I mixed with softened butter. (Yes, you must use butter!  No margarine or butter "substitute.")

And finally, we spread it on some homemade bread that Nora and I made Thursday.  Sprinkle on some fleur de sel and you have a delicious simple meal.

My thoughts:  The radish butter is divine.  Absolutely delicate and delicious.  (That's a lot of d's.)  However, pairing with a whole wheat bread did overwhelm it a bit.  Next time I'd go with a baguette.  If you're not a fan of radishes, the easter egg radishes do see to be more mild in flavor.  We all loved it enough we'll be trying it with our farm radishes later this week.  So, so good.  If you like radishes (especially the french way with butter and sea salt), then you must try this!

Sunday Brunch Time!

Today we decided to sleep in a bit, and then get up for a large brunch.  I picked up eggs from our local farm on Friday (so they are super fresh and yummy!), and with chard from our CSA, I knew I wanted to do a mixed British and Southern style breakfast. 

First I oven baked the bacon (from our whole pig we bought last year).  Easy peasy.  Set your oven to 400°F and put them on either  baking sheet lined with parchment or a baking sheet with a heat safe cooling rack (like I did).  When the grease dripped down, I tilted it into my cast iron pans for sauteing up the chard with garlic.  Sliced some of the homemade bread, toasted it.  Cut up a tomato.  And G used Smitten Kitchen's method to poach eggs!  (Which turned out fantastic....G says the swirling method made all the difference.)

Nora had the same thing.  She basically ate all the veggies (including wanting hot sauce on her greens), and most of her egg and bacon.

Look at that beautiful egg!

Then I took some watermelon I cut up last night, mixed it with some grapes and the small strawberries from our CSA.  Simple fruit salad for dessert.  

Don't you just love a good brunch?  We're planning to begin hosting them for friends as a way to get together simply. 

Smooth

So, the week of giveaways is extended because I got super busy, went on a mini vacation, and need to stretch it out a bit.  You don't mind, do you?

The next giveaway is for a beauty product I picked up on a whim, but have been loving ever since.  Bliss Spa's maximum moisture cream in the Vanilla Bergamot scent. I've been rubbing it into my skin any time I get out of a shower, and every night, with delicious results.  My skin is softer and smoother!

I struggle to take care of myself and set up a beauty routine, but I've improved much in this area in the last several months.  It's all about making the time, and getting it down where it's just a normal part of your day.  I know I'm not the only one who struggles with this, so I'm sharing the love.

If you'd like to enter to win a tube of this, use the rafflecopter below.  Don't forget to comment when necessary and leave an e-mail address I can reach you at in case you win!  First comment is mandatory.  Thanks for entering and Bonne Chance!

*Runs from June 3 at 12:00 a.m. until June 10 at 12:00 a.m.  Winner will be announced and notified on June 10.

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Re-Visiting Lessons

Last year I did a review for the (then released) e-book Lessons From Madame Chic by Jennifer L. Scott.  It was a great reminder of the way I try to live my life, as well as a few pointers and inspirations to help push me further.  I was re-reading it on my kindle when I decided to do a giveaway for the book here.

Simon and Schuster sent a me a hard copy of the book (thank you!), so I sat and read it a third time.  Seriously worth it.  This is one of the books that I consider an essential part of my collection on all things chic.  As I began thinking about what I wanted to do giveaways of for the kick start to summer this book instantly came to mind, and contacted Jennifer about it.  She got a hold of her editors and they kindly agreed to do a giveaway for two copies of Lessons From Madame Chic!

If you've never read this book, I highly urge you to do so.  It has timeless, invaluable lessons.  Particularly of usefulness for this summer would be her chapters on Le No Makeup Look, where she explains wearing little make-up to look polished but not all made up, and The Art of Entertaining where she describes different styles of entertaining but explains that being confident is really the secret to being a good hostess, not perfection.  As we edge into the season of barbecues and summer get-togethers I think it will be helpful!

All of the chapters are a quick read, making it easy to get a chapter in during a lunch break or before bed. And it reminds you to not be small.  That being chic, having a full life is never something you should apologize for.  You must remember, you are an inspiration to others to live better!  The book can be easily bought on Amazon both hard copy and kindle!  And be sure to visit Jennifer's blog, The Daily Connoisseur. 

The contest will run from Monday May 27 at 12:00 a.m. to June 3 at 12:00 a.m.  There will be 2 winners who will be contacted through e-mail (so be sure to leave that for me!).  Winners will be announced on June 3. Use the Rafflecopter below, and note that the mandatory blog comment entry requires answer to a specific topic!  Bonne Chance!

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Ooh La La

If you follow on the facebook page, then you already know that I asked Jamie Cat Callan for an advanced reader copy of her new book, out this week, called Ooh La La!: French Women's Secrets to Feeling Beautiful Every Day.  Thank you Jamie for sending me the copy and with such a pretty little card too! 

I've read Jamie's two other books, French Women Don't Sleep Alone and Bonjour, Happiness and loved them.  It took me about a day to read it (I read fast) and I was absolutely delighted with the different feel of this book.  For her books, Jamie spends time in France, speaking to French women (not just in Paris), to get a real feel for their opinions and insights.  But this book felt much more insightful to Jamie herself.  It was both a book to help us as women, but also seemed a journey for Jamie as she discovered things about herself.  For instance, when discussing colors it came up that while she loves the boldness of red, blue really makes her glow. And after seeing some photos of her in Malta, where she is currently for a writing fellowship, I think you'd have to agree!

In this life, it's really easy to think you should like something or be something.  Whether it's because you've always been told so, or because you like to categorize yourself a certain way.  I love reading about a woman who is continuing to find her way, even if it goes against the way she had thought was better or wanted it to be. 

The Sensuous Woman chapter speaks to taking care of yourself, for yourself.  The Scent of a Woman had me considering my own personal scent of choice, Coco Mademoiselle, and yearning to go to a place where a true parfum could be made just for me.  And one of my favorite parts of the books is where French women of a variety of ages answer questions for us!  I have great love for elderly women and their wisdom, so that bit just tickled me!

Ooh La La!: French Women's Secrets to Feeling Beautiful Every Day comes out in just 5 days on May 28th.  You can pre-order it for a phenomenal price on Amazon ($11.85 for paperback or $9.99 for Kindle).  I'm also giving away a signed copy to one of my readers!  Use the rafflecopter below to enter.  It will last until May 30th at 12:00 a.m. and the winner will be announced that Friday, the 31st! Mandatory blog comment entry.  Seven chances total to win! Bonne Chance!

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Prep Yourself For Summer!

Source: parisoperahotel.com via vamsi.nags on Pinterest

Summer is just around the corner and it's looking to be a beautiful one.  But furthermore I want it to be an inspirational one.  So, with that in mind, I have been working hard to prep posts to help encourage a more intentional, chic life for both myself and my lovely readers.  And part of the kick-off to that is a couple giveaways happening this week to get you prepped for a phenomenal summer!

To me summer is a relaxing season, where the sun encourages stopping and enjoying life.  Really, it should be a year round thing, but let's face it, it's hard to get excited about walking everywhere when it's 10 below!  But as the weather here in the northern hemisphere rises, so should our reach for a better life.

So, stick around.  Starting later today it begins, and you don't want to miss it!

Mother's Day

This year Mother's Day was hard for me for personal reasons.  But yet, the person who made me a mother, my soul mate Nora, made the day joyful and I found myself breathing through the sucky thoughts.  And Garret made Trader Joe croissants and hot coffee and brought them to me in bed.  Not a bad day at all. 

A friend posted this poem-of-sorts on Facebook and I wanted to post it here.  I found it beautiful. 

"To those who gave birth this year to their first child—we celebrate with you

To those who lost a child this year – we mourn with you

To those who are in the trenches with little ones every day and wear the badge of food stains – we appreciate you

To those who experienced loss through miscarriage, failed adoptions, or running away—we mourn with you

To those who walk the hard path of infertility, fraught with pokes, prods, tears, and disappointment – we walk with you. Forgive us when we say foolish things. We don’t mean to make this harder than it is.

To those who are foster moms, mentor moms, and spiritual moms – we need you

To those who have warm and close relationships with your children – we celebrate with you

To those who have disappointment, heart ache, and distance with your children – we sit with you

To those who lost their mothers this year – we grieve with you

To those who experienced abuse at the hands of your own mother – we acknowledge your experience

To those who lived through driving tests, medical tests, and the overall testing of motherhood – we are better for having you in our midst

To those who are single and long to be married and mothering your own children -we mourn that life has not turned out the way you longed for it to be

To those who step-parent – we walk with you on these complex paths

To those who envisioned lavishing love on grandchildren -yet that dream is not to be, we grieve with you

To those who will have emptier nests in the upcoming year – we grieve and rejoice with you

To those who placed children up for adoption — we commend you for your selflessness and remember how you hold that child in your heart

And to those who are pregnant with new life, both expected and surprising –we anticipate with you

This Mother’s Day, we walk with you. Mothering is not for the faint of heart and we have real warriors in our midst. We remember you."

This year I found myself fitting several of these categories.  Motherhood is not just for those of us with living children, or human children, but for the women who choose to nurture and love the world in a way that will be remembered.  

Happy Mother's Day!

29

 

Source: livecreatingyourself.com via Jenny on Pinterest

At midnight tonight I'll be turning 29.  A year away from 30 and I could not be more excited.  Some women dread 30, while I have been looking forward to it for years.  No joke.  So currently I'm drinking a dirty martini in prep for this new year to begin.

28 has been rough.  But I will say that it has been the year that I began to stop putting up with b.s., even from people I love, and taking better care of myself.  I've begun running again, eating more (because I wasn't meeting calorie qualifications whatsoever), and just learning to say no.  No I won't let someone treat me that way, no I don't need that snack, no I'm not okay, but I'm getting there. 

Because it's not just about physical health.  I'm choosing this 29th year to get good in all areas, including emotionally.  I grew up not feeling like I was able to really be sad, so my sadness transformed into frustration and anger that wasn't good for my health or marriage.  I've spent the last couple years slowly changing that.  It's allowed me to let go of a lot of anger, but the downside is that I've had to address the sadness underneath.  Luckily I have an amazing husband to aid with that, and an adorable Smooshy Smoosh (a.k.a. Eleanor) to brighten my day. 

So this year I'm getting all of my shit together (figuratively).  And with the way I've felt lately, and huge life changes ahead in this coming year (no, not another baby), I feel like I've had weight lifted off and this year is going to be amazing.  So many things in the work that life is brighter than ever!