SALADS, CHEESECAKE, EGGPLANT, FLOWERS AND SNEEZES!

 

Hello everyone!  I hope you are having a good start to the week.  I'm just miserable over this weather and that's just not me.  Not that I never get miserable but I take the weather with a grain of salt-there's very little you can do about it.  But we were teased all last week.  Friday was exceptionally warm, almost 80 degrees.  I cleaned up the patio and The Husband and I brought out the patio furniture and umbrella.  I was going to cook salmon on the grill and then it just clouded up and now our forecast has predicted rain, gloom and doom for the next two weeks.  So I awoke to gray skies and wind this morning.  Even the dogs sulked. 

The Husband and I have so much to do on the weekends as we are both not the type to go out and about on weeknights.  He's spent from work and I also feel like my day needs to wind down.  So Saturday we went out to a furniture store to look at chairs for our not-so-much-as-even-started den.  Lately with all the plans and decisions and choices we have to get going with the lakehouse, sometimes we have to focus on this house.  I think we are just bouncing all over the place.  We didn't find/agree on anything as far as chairs for the den, a sort of reading-television room.   It seems sometimes we have to just step away from all of this to live peacefully if you know what I mean.  A lot of head butting. 

We had dinner at The Cheesecake Factory Saturday after looking at chairs.  I've had the French Country Salad before and simply love it.  No guilt and so good.  We ordered the Avocado Egg Rolls as well.  I found a "copycat" recipe on Pinterest, if I make them, I'll share.  The dipping sauce isn't right so I'm going to fiddle with that.  

 

We always try to save room for the cheesecake and it never happens.  And yes, we should get a piece to bring home but we never do.  I had pity on my man and made this yesterday.  It's from Susan Branch's first cookbook (sorry no link), and I think it's great.  I know you saw my Easter cheesecake mess but I swear, The Husband cut this last night with a machete or something similar and it ended up looking like this.  Still, it was heavenly.  Do you know you can get graham cracker crumbs as opposed to the crackers?  No pounding and pulverizing...just add your melted butter, no waste.    

 

I mentioned in this recent post that I was looking into some natural home remedies for skin care.  I was happy with the response I had from some of you ladies and many of you shared your tried and true skin care regimens.  I love that, we share so much on our blogs, maybe we need to delve deeper in to other aspects of our lives.  Personally, I've always taken what I think is very good care of my skin.  Washing morning and night, never sleeping in makeup and moisturizing like a maniac as my skin is super dry.  I do know skin care is changing by leaps and bounds especially in research of the benefits that retinols, collagen and oils have on the aging process of our skin.  But I regress, I'm not liking the additives and fragrance in many products.  While I don't argue with good science, I'm looking at some natural products and remedies.  And I'm methodically doing my research. 

As I wrote about in the post I linked, I ordered benonite clay from Amazon.com. as well as some raw apple cider vinegar.  Mixed in equal parts you have a sort of mud-like substance and I used The Husband and Abby as my victims.  They were elated with the results.  The clay cleaned their pores like a sponge soaking up all the bad stuff in their skin from years back.  They both agreed that the clay mixture on their face was soothing, tingling and a little pulsating-like it was really working.  Afterward, I massaged a bit of pure jojoba oil into their skin.  This is fast absorbing and works above and beyond so many oils: Argan, Moroccan, tea tree, sesame, olive and even coconut oil.  These are all great but the advantages of jojoba far exceed the others.  Loving it.  I mix it with my body lotion and use it everywhere. You can use it a alone as well, it absorbs quickly and a little goes a long way.   I'm sure you can find any of these products at your local health food shop.  I'm elated in finding new things that work.  I love my Neutrogena, Garnier and Olay, science is good.  But it's so cool to find out that ancient remedies work even now.  Jojoba is in my favorite shampoo, but now I'm a step ahead by massaging the pure oil into the ends of my hair to make it healthy, shiny and smooth.  Oh, and at a fraction of the cost.  

 

We spent some time last week looking at tile for the upstairs bath and powder room downstairs.  I'm looking for beachy colors.  It's hard to tell from this pic but it has some blue, grays, greens and beige.  I love the irregularities of the tiles, too.  The Husband and I don't agree a lot on what we like but we are getting better at listening, understanding and appreciating what each of us wants.  And we know when to walk away away from each other, if you know what I mean. :)

 

Have you ever seen or had white eggplant?  I saw these at my grocery store last week and I always get such a kick out of trying the unusual.  I thought these looked like little baby beluga whales  Ha!  And how to prepare them?  Absolutely no idea.  By the way, these look huge but the aren't.  They're on a small cutting board. 

I finally did make them very much like regular eggplant.  Peeled 

and cut lengthwise, then again in 1/2 slices.  I tossed them in a large bowl with about 2 tablespoons of olive oil and a mix of chopped garlic and a blend of Italian seasonings.  I baked them at 350 for about 10 minutes and then let them have a little broiling for about 5.  I love that they didn't suck up the olive  oil, nor get watery.  Just delicious.  I'd love to use them in a recipe, have to work on that.   So good. :)  

 

These are the forsythia I cut and brought in last week.  I had daffodils as well.  I'm so looking forward to my tulips, I have such a great variety and they last so much longer.  

We were fooled by temperatures  last week.  But it was just so much fun to have Milo and Layla in the yard, romping and lying in the sun.  At least we had a few good days.  I have a lot of things going on this week, a hair appointment, doctor and dentist appointment, and errands galore to run on Friday-that will be my day.  Still, I like getting out each day, the fresh air does us good no matter how warm or cold it is.  I can live without the allergens.  Like most of you I'm going crazy.  :( 

Let's hang in there with the wonky weather, it is only April after all.  The upper Midwest is know to get snow around this time! :(

See you soon!

Jane x