Spring Flowers

I am excited to report that spring made a much more dramatic showing in our yard this year compared to last. I'm not sure why, but there were more blooms on nearly every plant and shrub in the yard...and in some cases, we saw flowers on plants that were complete duds last year.

Was it some factor about the weather, the heavy snow blanket for much of the winter, or perhaps our somewhat distracted but nonetheless earnest efforts to weed and compost last year?

Either way, we had tulips spring up that we definitely did not see last year, more prolific oriental poppy blooms, and new lupines appear. Even the crabapple tree, which we had concluded was dead when we first moved in, burst forth with a full canopy of pink flowers.

Here are some other highlights:

*The bearded irises split from my mother's garden and planted near our side door last summer apparently like their new home. The purple ones smell like concord grapes!*

*These deep red roses next to the garage have a ton more buds this year, and thus far have been spared any aphid attack*

*We have more white peonies than either of the pink varieties, and they make such a stunning impact when cut and arranged in a vase.*

(Like that vase? I picked it up for less than $10 at a glass factory in the Czech Republic nearly 10 years ago, and it is one of my favorite possessions. I finally dug it out of the attic this spring and put it center stage where it belongs.)

*The foxglove, which is not typically a favorite of mine, won me over this year*

*Our deep pink peonies hardly did anything last year...just a few small, late blooms. This year was a different story. There must be at least four times the flowers, and they're much bigger. LOVE. Incidentally, I just realized that we only have one light pink peony bush (probably a Sarah Bernhardt?) in the yard. I think we could use a couple more.*

(Another vase related note: I just scored this milk glass cutie at a yard sale for 50 cents! :)

*Last year, I found a tiny fledgling lupine that had sprouted next to our driveway and transplanted it with some compost & TLC. It's about a billion times bigger this year, and much to my surprise, it's PINK!*

*The catmint Steven planted in front of the house last summer is crazy happy. As are the cats if we bring them in a little sprig.*

*And here's one of my faves: an old rose bush with gorgeously full flowers and an amazing scent. Steven pruned the bajeezus out of it last year and it's really paid off. Tons of buds!*

Very happy with the yard this year!

~LT

Shaved Asparagus Pizza

When spring finally comes around, I'm always excited for the roll out of seasonal produce. Asparagus, peas, rhubarb, etc...first ones to the party, ushering in the warmer weather and finally bringing back that fresh produce taste that is so elusive during the winter. Yum. So after coming across this unconventional pizza recipe multiple times (HERE and HERE), I decided to give it a shot. While it was a total pain in the neck to shave asparagus (at least with my peeler), the lighter texture is definitely worth the effort. Steven loved it, and he doesn't really like asparagus all that much...which is why I made a Plan B half of the pizza, just in case, LOL.

And in keeping with the spring theme...a little spring cleaning tidbit for anyone else who gets as excited about sorting as nerdy little LT: a great organization post @ Centsational Girl.

Nesting Instinct & New Vintage Finds

Okay, so Steven & I have both had a mini-meltdown about how bare the renovated rooms in our house are. When we finished the downstairs rooms last December, we figured that we'd find and accumulate accessories, wall decor, etc. bit-by-bit as time went by.

So here it is, 4 months later, and the rooms are still a barren tundra of emptiness! (Save the china cabinet, the wave painting from my mom, and Steven's heirloom wall clock.) We like a clean, crisp, not-too-busy look...but this is ridiculous. And it's not that we haven't been trying...we've hit a couple estate sales (duds), I regularly peruse vintage housewares on Etsy, and Steven...well, let's just say he logs in a lot of time trolling Craigslist for goodies.

Since there's been quite a drought, we decided to turn up the heat a little bit and make it a point to go shopping for house stuff.

On our excursion last weekend, we checked out Wrentham Country Store, as well as a couple of other antique shops in Wrentham. I did not hesitate to scoop scoop scoop when I saw this milk glass compote on clearance for $12 at Wrentham Antiques (which otherwise, was not our type of shopping establishment. Read: furniture costing thousands of dollars).

I just love it, and decided to put it to use immediately as part of a little Spring-inspired centerpiece.

I just picked up some paper mache eggs at Micheal's and painted them with a leftover paint sample from the bathroom renovation. (Santorini Blue by Benjamin Moore. And yes, we did just pick that color for the name of it! ;) It was too dark for the bathroom, but makes for lovely little Easter eggs, which I nestled in some shredded chestnut, also picked up at Michael's.

During our visit to the country store, I picked up this vintage milk glass nesting hen for $15. Another LOVE. How cute and springy is she?

And she's got quite a clutch under there, too! :)

We also picked up some other goodies, which I'll share in a future post. Hopefully this successful shopping trip turns the tides and we can actually decorate a bit in the upcoming months!

Happy Spring!

~LT

Ricotta Tart with Dried Fruit Compote

Steven and I had fantastic date night in Boston's North End a couple weeks ago to celebrate my 30th (!!!) birthday. After a cozy dinner at my favorite Hanover Street restaurant, we stopped for gelati, and after that grabbed some sweet treats from Modern Pastry to bring home. (Yes, we were going full tilt. I hadn't been to the North End in ages!)

At the bakery, Steven was a lucky ducky and managed to get the second to last piece of one of his favorite North End staples, ricotta pie. All of his ooohing and aaahing got me thinking...why not try and make it at home?

Alas, before I came across a recipe for a traditional ricotta pie, I was distracted by this ricotta tart recipe from Epicurious.

The tart itself was super yummy (though the inclusion of cream cheese in the recipe made the texture a little more "cheesecake" than "ricotta tart") and while I appreciated the dried fruit compote, Steven did not love the wine flavor nor the seeds. So, being the clever hubby that he is, he decided to forgo the compote and opted for butterscotch caramel sauce instead. (As in, the one intended for ice cream sundaes.)

Call me a plebeian...but it did taste even better. :)

House Plants and Indoor Air Quality

After reading a post on A Country Farmhouse where Trina shares this little note from her mother...

we checked this book out of the library:

It was very informative and I was amazed and inspired when I read about how fantastic plants are at filtering the air in your home or office and removing airborne pollutants! The book covers 50 houseplants, describing their preferred conditions, transpiration pace, and rates their effectiveness at clearing chemicals from the home. I can definitely see myself checking this book out periodically to review the ratings and add some plants to our home.

(That I hopefully will not kill.)

With so many causes of indoor air pollution being attributed to home improvement materials (paint, caulk, polyurethane!) and new purchases for the home (area rugs, furniture!), we definitely felt it would be a good idea to start adding some green life into the house and picked up some house plants...

*Like our Ponytail Palm*

*And Dracaena-a top scorer when it comes to air purification*

We also have a Ficus that is waiting to be repotted.

(TJMaxx & Homegoods have been failing us lately and we haven't found a good pot yet!)

And we have these guys also making a temporary contribution...

*The impatiens, after its annual haircut*

*And lastly, a poinsettia that somehow has survived since November--

mine are usually a-goner by early February...*

We hope to keep adding to the herd as we finish more rooms--these guys are all doing double duty as decoration and purifiers. What more can we ask for?

If you're interested in learning more about how houseplants can improve the air quality in your home, you can check out the simple guidebook described above or take a peek at this quick guide to 10 Magical Air Cleaning Plants that I thought was pretty good.

Foyer Before & Afters

The foyer may just constitute my favorite Before & After so far, which is pretty funny considering it is the least used room in the whole downstairs (whole house?). But saying goodbye to all of that ambery-orange shellac was sure to result in a truly striking transformation.

(If I do say so myself...and I do. ;)

Carpets out, wallpaper stripped, walls and ceiling replastered, oak floors refinished...

Shellac post and railing stripped and then stained (can you say ELBOW GREASE!?)...

Treads sanded and stained "Jacobean"...

Plenty of white paint to go around and Oyster Pearl by Valspar on the walls...

Sheesh, I'm exhausted just looking at the pictures! And Steven really did most of the hard stuff (particularly stripping/staining the newel post and railing), so I didn't even have it that bad. Anyways, I can't believe how different this room looks!

Garden Wish List: New Plants!

Yesterday I spotted hyacinths and daffodils that have broken through in the yard! Yay! This of course led to fantasies of warmer weather and all of the life that bursts forward with it.

Here are a few perennials that I would love to add to the yard this year:

1. Lots of lavender.

(Preferably the 'Grosso' cultivar, a highly fragrant hybrid with deep purple flowers)

2. Pom Pom Poppies

Bonus if I can find a beautiful salmon color like this:

3. Purple Hydrangea

4. Snowball Viburnum

Pretty sure I've been loving these for years but mistakenly assuming they're hydrangeas.

5. Purple Allium

6. Pale Pink Peonies

We have medium pink, white, and even a deep magenta...but I'm loving this delicate pale pink.

*Sigh*...aren't they all beautiful? I'd settle for 3 out of 6 this summer. And... uhhh...finally getting last summer's roses in the ground. ;-)

Banana Bread Meets a Heavy Dose of Chocolate

Few recipes carry the banner of resource management as effectively as banana bread. I'm always shocked when I peel those completely unappealing brown bananas and find still-perfect banana flesh. And to think I almost threw you away.

I used this banana bread recipe, which is a complete deviation from the banana bread (or more often, zucchini bread) that I grew up with. No cinnamon or related spices, no nuts, no vanilla...but featuring lots of chocolate chips.

So it's basically chocolate chip bread with mashed bananas.

Nothing groundbreaking here, but a great way to transform those past-their-prime bananas into something you WANT to eat. This loaf didn't even last a whole day in our house...

Inspiration: Master Bedroom

Steven and I are finally starting to think about the master bedroom renovation and we're searching for inspiration pics. I was surprised to see that we are both gravitating towards all white/off-white/creamy bedrooms.

It seems like something that's really hard to get right...creating warm, light, inviting room of "whites" as opposed to a stark, sterile, unfinished looking room of white. So here are some pics that caught my eye, and I'm essentially studying them to try and figure out exactly what it is that I like about the image and what the secret is. I think the key might be using multiple warm off-white shades and lots of different textures to keep it warm and cozy looking, and not like a hospital ward.

*Okay, so I know this is not exactly a white room, but there's some quality about it that seems very neutral and appeals to me*

*I've posted this one before, and I still love it. It's a very light room, but if you look, the wall does seem to be covered in a creamy off white wallpaper with a white floral print. Maybe it's just the crisp linens that catch my eye?*

*So it's not a bedroom, and it IS really white...and yet I love it. It seems to have multiple shades & textures despite being so monochromatic. And I think something about the light finish of the settee grabs me.*

*Another non-bedroom shot, and a little too French for me...but look at all of those neutral and off-white shades combined into one space. Perhaps a little too much beige, too...but there's definitely a lesson to be learned from this pic.*

*And just for illustration...this is a "NOT IT" picture. Nice in its own way, but too white and too bleak to be what we're looking for.*

*So far, this image comes closest to capturing the white/off-white, neutral bedroom colors that we're drawn to. There's a lot of texture in there between the draperies, linens, upholstered skirted bench, the jute looking rug, and the rustic looking headboard...perhaps therein lies the key?*

Well, I'm certainly going to keep looking for more inspiration pics...and hopefully soon I'll find the one that captures the exact look we think we want. If anyone happens to come across any good images of dreamy creamy bedrooms, please do send them my way!