Hi, friends! I’ve been quiet in this space the last few days. Trying to rest up after an eventful start to the weekend that included a lovely round-trip to the ER. Nothing major, I’m feeling better so no worries! Just dealing with some leftover lethargy, nauseousness, and loss of appetite {auughhh-IKR??}. Paired with the return of this hot, muggy weather, this little blip has been draining.
I’ll be back soon, until then- stay hydrated, friends…and I’ll be chatting at you soon!
Hugs.
Hey, friends! Can you believe that we’re midway through July? With summer in full swing you’ve undoubtedly taken countless beach, BBQ, and other fun summer activity photos to capture & keep those memories.
Why not turn those photo memories into fabulous summer prizes including an awesome Grand Prize trip for 4 to the Bahamas? Sounds amazing, right? Shutterfly can make that happen!
Here are the deets:
Upload your favorite photo and caption based on the theme of the week to Shutterfly’s Facebook Page under the Summer Sweepstakes tab.
Themes:
Week 1 (7/9)- Americana
Week 2 (7/16)- Great Outdoors
Week 3 (7/23)- Water Fun
Week 4 (7/30)- Sports & Activities
Week 5 (8/6)- Parties & Celebrations
Get a prize from Shutterfly just for entering and you can enter at any point during the 5-week sweepstakes period.
Prizes:
* Instant win prizes just for submitting a photo
* Weekly prizes (contestants can enter one time per week)
* Weekly featured photos: up to 5 weekly entries will be selected from the gallery and featured on the Facebook fan page and awarded a $500 gift card on Shutterfly and a copy of the new Lonely Planet travel photography book.
* Grand Prize trip for 4 to the Bahamas, 4 nights, plus a professional family photo shoot so you’ll remember your vacation forever!
* Check out the Shutterfly Sweepstakes-Official Rules.
So get those memories gathered and uploaded for your chance to win!
**Disclaimer**
I will receive a free 8 x 8 20-page photobook in compensation for this post. That being said, any opinions expressed are my own. I will only recommend products and services that I stand behind 100%. I have used Shutterfly’s photo printing services and photobook printing services and can not recommend their products and customer service highly enough. My hope is that you are as satisfied with Shutterfly as I am.
I always have a book or two laying around-pages dog eared and dust jackets collecting…dust. But, lately, I’ve been inspired by Julie’s 52 Books in a Year series over on Eggs and Herbs to finish them and line up more good reads.
Speaking of good reads….I signed up on the Goodreads site ages ago but haven’t really done anything there so I’ve spent the last couple of days checking it out and queuing up some titles to get into.
First, I must finish what I’ve already started:
The Creative Habit: Learn It and Use It for Life– Not quite what I had hoped for after reading recommendations on a couple of blogs…but there is some useful information there-it’s just not holding my attention for long periods of time in between good info.
Blacklisted from the PTA-Very funny, light read from Arkansas author Lela Davidson {who will be the keynote speaker at the Arkansas Women Bloggers conference in August-which I’ll be attending}. Davidson writes about mommyhood and the modern family. It’s a fun read so far…would be a quick one, too, but I’ve been reading it one chapter at a time right before bed.
You can follow my reading adventures over at Goodreads.
Or, you can check out {and print!} Katrina’s Summer Reading list for some fun, interesting titles if you’re looking for something to devour.
And, as always, I’d love to hear what you’re reading, wanting to read, or have read!
Happy Reading, friends!
There are some desserts that are so complex-tasting that they seem intimidating to me. For me, Baklava is one of those desserts. It’s been on my baking bucket list for ages. With a birthday to celebrate, this last weekend was the perfect opportunity to kick it!
It proved to be so NOT difficult. With a few quick and easy preps {clarifying butter, blanching almonds} is was quite easy to do.
Baklava
recipe slightly adapted from Alton Brown’s recipe on Food Network
Filling:
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp allspice
6 oz. blanched almonds {see note 1}
6 oz walnuts
6 oz roasted & salted pistachios
2/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup water
1 tsp rosewater {see note 2}
1 lb phyllo, thawed
16 oz. butter, clarified
Syrup:
1 1/4 cups honey
1 1/4 cups sugar
1 1/4 cups water
1 cinnamon stick
1 {2 inch} piece orange peel
Directions:
Butter bottom and sides of a 9 X 13 pan. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Place almonds, walnuts, pistachios, sugar, cinnamon, and allspice in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse 15-20 times until nuts are ground to small pieces. You don’t want finely ground or pasty! Set aside.
Combine rosewater and 1/4 cup water in a spritz bottle and set aside.
Trim phyllo to fit in a 9 X 13 pan. Lay down a sheet of phyllo in prepared pan. Brush sheet with clarified butter to coat. Repeat this with 9 more sheets of phyllo {brushing EACH sheet with butter}.
Top with 1/3 of the nut mixture, spread thinly. Spritz generously with rosewater mixture.
Repeat 6 layers of phyllo, brushing each sheet with clarified butter.
Top with 1/3 more of the nut mixture. Spritz generously with rosewater mixture.
Repeat 6 more layers of phyllo, brushing each sheet with clarified butter.
Top with the remaining 1/3 nut mixture. Spritz generously with rosewater mixture.
Lastly, layer 8 sheets of phyllo, buttering each generously with clarified butter between sheets. Butter the top {and final} sheet generously.
Place in oven and bake for 30 minutes. Remove from oven and cut into 12 squares. Cut each square diagonally, making 24 triangles. Return pan to oven and bake for an additional 30 minutes.
Remove & cool for 2 hours.
Make the syrup during the last 30 minutes of cooling.
For the syrup:
Combine honey, water, sugar, cinnamon stick, and orange peel in a 4 quart pan & set the heat to high. Stir occasionally until the sugar dissolves. Bring to a boil and boil for 10 minutes, stirring constantly.
Remove from heat, discard cinnamon stick and orange peel.
After baklava has cooled for 2 hours, recut the baklava following the same cuts as before. Pour the hot syrup evenly over the top allowing it to run into the cuts and around the edges.
Allow to sit, uncovered, to cool completely. Cover and store at least 8 hours (see note 3} or overnight to absorb the honey mixture. Store covered up to 5 days at room temperature.
{NOTE 1: blanching almonds to remove the skins: place 2 cups cold water in a saucepan. Bring to a boil over high heat. Add almonds and cover pot for one minute. Drain almonds immediately. Rinse with cold water. Pinch skins to remove from almond, or place them on a clean kitchen towel and rub gently to remove skins.}
{NOTE 2: TJ Maxx is a great place to find rare items like Rosewater!!}
{NOTE 3: WHO THE HECK can wait 8 hours??? Not us, for sure! We tried a piece each after 3 hours and it was A-mazing! 8 hours allows the honey mixture to absorb more thoroughly though :)}
