Summer Zinnias

Here is a bouquet of some of my favorite zinnias this year.

strawflower

There are also a few strawflowers I grew for drying. 

I placed the bouquet in the cottage corner by some recent thrift store finds. Yes, I found Mason Cash mixing bowls at the thrift store!

In Victory,

Sherry

My Antique Creamer Collection

I have a few antique creamers I have collected from thrift stores to style flowers in. 

I especially love to cut my roses and put them in these creamers.

I only pay two or three dollars for these. This is my "newest" one.

 

That was what was on the potting table last week. I actually potted up some marigold starts too. Work does happen in the shed; the new space is really useful! 

In Victory,
Sherry

Layering the Garden

 

I have always looked at garden design books and been completely underwhelmed. I see amazing borders with all of these flowers, shrubs, and trees that fill in with each season and make a full landscape around the garden. I often look at these and wonder how it is to be achieved without owning a garden center. So, I decided it was okay to start layering and filling in my garden with just what I have: a few spring bulbs from the grocery store. 

It is okay to start small and add a little every year. This has been the way I have approached this. 

A cottage is small and not ostentatious. The cottage garden should be too. 

The cottage garden should be practical and full of things you can use or you enjoy to looking at. I have never had many spring bulbs. So, I have finally added just a few to brighten the spring landscape and give some color to a season that will pass all too fast.

In Victory,

Sherry

Spring Signs in the Garden

 

I took a turn about the garden and found a few things were blooming. I was eager for blooms, so I enjoyed these daffodils first.

I haven't ever had any daffodils in this combination, so I was thrilled to find them.

The red-veined sorrel is up, and I think it is a beautiful plant! It can also go in salad or be made into sorrel soup.

I cleaned some spent flowers out of these pots and I placed homemade wire cloches over them to keep the animals out. I show how I made these here.

New tulips to me; I can't wait to see these bloom! 

This crocus has been in my garden for years.

And much to my delight, after a stroll through the garden I had enough daffodils for a bouquet!

In Victory,

Sherry

Beef and Barley Soup

A really nice, comforting soup for this cold weather is beef and barley soup. I have always loved pearl barley in soup. I also love to make soup! So here is my version of this recipe.

Beef and Barley Soup 

serves:6

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

14 oz. beef chuck roast, I use 28 oz. Keystone beef (I use just half of the can) 

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder (or 2 cloves of chopped )

2 tablespoons onion powder (or 2 large onions chopped)

2 stalks celery, sliced

2 large carrots, peeled and sliced

6 cups of beef broth 

2 bay leaves

1 cup sliced button mushrooms

3/4 cup pearl barley

1/4 teaspoon dried thyme

1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley (or 1 teaspoon dried)

salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Instructions:

In a large pot, heat the oil add the beef and warm up. Then add the garlic powder and onion powder cook for 1 minute. The add the celery and carrots and cook until slightly soft, about 10 minutes. Pour in beef broth and add the bay leaves, then simmer over low heat for 45 minutes. Stir in the mushrooms, pearl barley, and thyme, and cook until the barley is tender about 15-20 minutes. Just before done add the parsley and season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve hot.

Adapted from: The City Tavern Cookbook: Recipes from the Birthplace of American Cuisine 

You can easily make this out of a dry food pantry with the ingredients I have used. I keep celery, mushrooms, and parsley frozen too. I just needed to add fresh carrots. Such a nice weeknight meal that cooks up easily, and all you need to add is crusty bread or a grilled cheese.

Enjoy!

In Victory,

Sherry

Sparkling Cranberry White Chocolate Cake

 

This might be one of my favorite cakes I have ever made. It cooked up like a dream, and the moistness of the cake along with the white chocolate icing just made it fantastic!                      

                                                                                               

I made this as a late November birthday cake, but it is perfect for any celebration this time of year.

The layers of this cake were spotted with fresh cranberries, which gave the cake a tartness that complemented the sweetness of the white chocolate icing perfectly. 

This cake recipe is a winner, and I did something I don't often do: I followed the recipe pretty much just like it was written. The only thing I did differently was glaze the cranberries and leave them in the fridge for just an hour, where the recipe suggested to leave them in overnight. My cranberries were just fine with the shortened time invested in sugar coating them.  The recipe can be found at: Life, Love, and Sugar.

In Victory,

Sherry

Rainy October Day

It was a rainy October day, and this one rose was calling me outside to take some pictures.

Plants I want to try to save have been tucked into the greenhouse for the cooler nights.

Most of the mums keep on giving a beautiful display, while some of them are fading fast.

Pansies are so beautiful in spring or fall. I always have them in my garden.

The purple basil is still satisfying the bees right up till the end of the season. 

Rainy October days are comforting; the garden is saying goodbye to me one flower at a time, and in the spring it will come back one flower at a time after a period of rest.

In Victory,

Sherry

Autumn Spiced Chicken Pot Pie

 
I never roast a whole chicken without taking the carcass and making another meal out of it. It could be chicken noodle soup or this chicken pot pie. I got this recipe out of the fall Williams and Sonoma catalog.

So, after I cooked the honey roasted autumn spiced chicken and we had a meal with it. I saved the whole chicken in a container in the fridge. I pulled it out two days later and put it in the Instant Pot for 30 minutes on manual with 2 cups of filtered water. I let that cool till I can handle it and I then salvage all of the chicken meat off of the bone and reserve the broth. I then throw all of the rest of the chicken away.

Autumn Spiced Chicken Pot Pie with Puff Pastry

serves 6

2 cups of cooked chicken meat (from honey roasted autumn spiced chicken recipe) 

4 cups chicken stock in total (half reserved from cooking carcass) 

1 tablespoon chicken bullion

8 tablespoons butter

1/8 teaspoon onion powder

1/8 teaspoon garlic powder

salt and pepper

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon dried thyme leaves

1/4 cup heavy cream

1 lb. potatoes, peeled, cubed, and parboiled

3/4 cup frozen peas

frozen puff pastry, 1 box set out to thaw

1 egg, beaten

1 teaspoon water

flaky sea salt

Preheat oven to 400°F.

Chop your leftover chicken from your honey roasted autumn spiced chicken recipe after you have used the instant pot to get it easily falling off the bone as described in the above paragraph and set aside. In a large saucepan (I use an 11-inch sauté pan) melt 8 tablespoons butter. Add in the onion, garlic powder, and season with some salt and pepper. Sprinkle in the flour and whisk till you have a roux paste, cook about one minute. Slowly pour in the warm chicken stock-bullion mixture, stirring to incorporate. stir in the thyme leaves, and 1/4 cup heavy cream, stirring continuously until thickened. (about 2 minutes). Add in chicken, potatoes (make sure you parboiled them), and peas. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Keep on low while you prepare the baking dishes. I used 4 mini pie pans and one two person pie pan. It was just what I had. You could also make in 6 cocottes or 6 mini pie pans. 

Divide the filling among the 6 dishes. Cut your thawed frozen puff pastry the size of the dishes and place over the dishes crimping the edges. Brush the top of the puff pastry with the beaten egg mixed with the teaspoon of water. Sprinkle the top of the puff pastry with the flaky sea salt. 

Place the baking dishes on a baking sheet and bake about 30 minutes. Cool 5 minutes on a cooling rack and then serve. 

Recipe adapted from: Williams and Sonoma Test Kitchen. 

I haven't ever cooked a lot with the puff pastry. It is so pretty after baking. I am smitten with it. 

Enjoy!

In Victory,

Sherry

September Baker's Rack

Today I am sharing styling the baker's rack for September.

I have often been very challenged by styling a baker's rack. They are tricky to arrange. This shelf is dedicated to baking supplies. 

I made an upcycled cottage-style skirt for the bottom of the baker's rack to hide the big things like appliances. This was upcycled from a linen shirtdress. It is the skirt of the dress I cut off and saved for years. The buttons down the front were already there, and it made a great cover for this because you can unbutton the skirt and access the things on this shelf.

One shelf has a tea set, of course, to go with what you bake.

And this September I made the Pumpkin Streusel Quick Bread. 

The top shelf is an assortment of things that are useful: a milk pitcher, water pitcher, sourdough crock, recipe box, and lantern for the days that are getting shorter.

And when the pumpkin bread is gone, I will replace the space with a basket of apples for September, of course.

In Victory,
Sherry

Goodbye Summer

I am saying goodbye to summer this week, with a late summer tea in the garden while I am doing a fall refresh.

The cicadas are still singing, the daisies are having their last hurrah, and the rose hips are just starting to blush.

On the side of the roads the goldenrod has started to bloom in full, a sure sign fall is on its way.

The roses are having their late summer blooms and looking rather pretty even if this was a brutal summer on them. The days are getting shorter, and I am ready to embrace fall. 

In Victory,

Sherry