“Come, sit thee down upon this flowery bed.” Shakespeare’s Titania in A Midsummer Night’s Dream There is nothing quite like the scent of lavender for relaxation. I have been making lavender linen spray for years, as well as using Mrs. Meyer’s Clean Day lavender scented laundry detergent and fabric softener. Recently Jeff and I have…
Last week Jeff and I went out to lunch for our date day. The Veranda Restaurant, located downtown Red Wing in the historic St. James Hotel, is such a pretty, relaxing place to have lunch on a sunny day. We sat out on the patio under a market umbrella and enjoyed iced tea and salads.…
“I’m having a relationship with my pizza!” ~Julia Roberts playing Elizabeth Gilbert in the movie “Eat Pray Love” Hello friends! This entry has taken most of the summer for me to write, because Jeff and I had never grilled pizza before this past June. On one of my facebook posts awhile back, I asked the…
“My long two-pointed ladder’s sticking through a tree Toward heaven still. And there’s a barrel that I didn’t fill Beside it, and there may be two or three Apples I didn’t pick upon some bough. But I am done with apple-picking now. Essence of winter sleep is on the night, The scent of apples; I…
I was paging through some old copies of Country Living magazine and came across this cute idea from the September 2006 issue. It’s such a fun, useful idea that I had to pass it your way. Repurpose decorative metal serving trays as magnetic memo boards. Use them to hold to-do lists, invitations, or newspaper clippings…
We bought a bubble maker and put it out on the deck… It has transformed our back yard into something magical. My friend Jana visited me last weekend. After she saw bubbles in our back yard she told me that whenever she visits my house she experiences magic 😉 Watching bubbles has become a relaxing…
The movie “Eat Pray Love” was a gorgeous film with breathtaking scenery. It was further improved by this soundtrack. Take a listen. Happy weekend! XO, Melissa
photograph by Melissa Placzek “Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower.” ~Albert Camus This is so simple to make, yet so delicious I’ve made it several times for Christmas dinner. ~Maple Pork Roast~ Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a small bowl, combine: 1 cup real maple syrup 1/4 cup Dijon…
This is a favorite meal in our house. When the pot of soup in the fridge starts getting low, Jeff has been known to start stockpiling it in the back of the freezer with his name written on the freezer bags in bold letters. 😉 ~African Peanut Soup~ In the bowl of a food processor,…
“The Minnesota Cooks program is an annual event held at the State Fair in Carousel Park. The program brings together local farmers with some of Minnesota’s premier chefs as they demonstrate how they use farm fresh, Minnesota grown ingredients to create award-winning fare for their restaurants.” ~Minnesota Cooks website After reading this article, I couldn’t…