Blue Angels Air Show: Happy 4th of July

Happy 4th of July, indeed! My all time favorite July 4th activity is watching The Blue Angels air show in Traverse City.  The Blue Angels come to the Traverse City National Cherry Festival every other year (although they didn't come in 2012 due to federal budget cuts) and they never cease to amaze.

They center their show over Grand Traverse Bay (above).

They fly in a 6-plane formation against the bright blue summer sky.

How is this formation possible?  The formations and proximity to each other blow my mind.  I love it. Love it. Love it. Love it.

Look at this awesome drive by (above) where you can see the pilots!

Look how close the 4 planes are to each other. I don't even want them to fly that close. 

When I went onto the Blue Angel website to give you a link, I noticed that they now have videos that you can watch to see 3 views of each special maneuver: inside the cockpit, from the ground and the pilot saying the verbal cues.

You really must go to one of their air shows if you can.  And wear ear plugs, it will be louder than you think.  But you'll love it. Love it. Love it. Love it.

Martha Stewart highlights Japanese Glass Buoys Just Like Mine

I was so happy to see my antique glass fishing floats featured as a collectable in the July/August 2014 issue of Martha Stewart Living.  I took a picture to show you my glass buoys on a plate next to the magazine article. 

Remember when I blogged about finding them in Leland's Fishtown?  Some people call them glass buoys, others say fishing floats, but lately everyone agrees that they are a wonderful way to add a nautical touch to your home.  

You can get some of your own by contacting Sporck Tile on the Leelanau Peninsula.  They have a large box of them for sale each summer.

9 Bean Rows Pastries are a 10

It was the right thing to do.  When my dad and I stopped into the new 9 Bean Rows location in Lake Leelanau and saw their bakery case full of homemade French pastries, he said he thought that we should sit at a table and enjoy one right then. Amen.  

I had an apricot pinwheel and this sticky-chewy-buttery masterpiece got us talking about how it would be easier to turn down other pastries in the future, now that we have had the best. 

Did you notice the green magazine cover called "Edible Grand Traverse" in my photo (above)? I love this free foodie magazine that is printed by region (I found Edible Seattle in Washington) and spotlights the best and brightest in food and farms. Look for one in your area.

There are a lot of croissants and pastries in the world and I give you my word, the pastries at 9 Bean Rows rival the best I have ever had.

I also wanted you to see baker Jen's beloved baking books.  This is the well worn library of a master.  The most tattered cover belongs to The Professional Pastry Chef by Bo Friberg.  If you want to learn the craft, I would start here.

Portland Farmer's Market: A Foodie's Happy Place

Take everything you've heard about the Portland Farmer's Market, dial it up a few notches, add some goat cheese and you will be close to imagining how great this farmer's market is.

This is the market for every kind of food lover. 10 kinds of fresh mushrooms - check. Organic beef - check. Fresh squash blossoms, ready to stuff - check.

We thought that it would be a fun place to meet up with Dan's cousin and family who live in the area and we ended up spending 3 hours walking around the market, eating, talking and catching up.  What a great way to spend a Saturday in June.

I took a million pictures and I'll highlight a few of my favorite ones together in this post.  The only photo I didn't get? A selfie with Martha Stewart.  No joke! She was in this farmer's market at the same time I was and I never saw her. I just kept hearing people talking about seeing her and showing me their pictures of her. When I tweeted that Martha was at the market too, my followers thought I was kidding. Nope, Martha and I run in the same circles. Ha!

It was the height of peony season and it was all I could do to walk past these pink puffs of delight.  I admired them for a while and got a dose of visual vitamins.  I wanted to buy a wagonful and pull them around all weekend - look at the shades of raspberry and pink!

Then I happened upon Verde Cocina's massive burners loaded with chickens, bacon and vegetables from the market.

I was lured their booth by the sight and scent of this gorgeous pile of fresh vegetables cooking on a giant griddle! I ordered the Buenos Dias breakfast for $10.  It has "Two eggs scrambled with veggies over white bean garbanzo mash, topped with more veggies, ranchero salsa and locally grown and smoked bacon with a homemade tortilla on the side." Un-be-lievable!  

My husband was one happy guy when I handed him our plate.  We shared it and then I realized that I hadn't snapped a photo to show you.  A kind patron let me photograph her plate - mine was similar, except imagine lots of browned pork belly bacon chunks instead of the braised pork. 

It was fresh, loaded with flavor and absolutely wonderful.  I kept thinking "how did they do this?" as I devoured spoonfuls.  The ingredients are simple and the effect is steller. Plus everything tastes better outside!

The Portland Farmer's Market is a great blend of farmers (vegetables), specialty food producers (goat cheese, charcuterie) and bakers/cooks (pies, salad dressings). I love how more and more markets are expanding to include ready-to-eat food.

You could buy a beautiful pies...

Or stock up on organic duck breast, chicken eggs or salami from the Deck Family Farm.

My posse spent so much time sampling and admiring the pate at Chop's booth, I was relieved when we each bought a container of their fresh pate. We bought the Chicken Liver Bourbon Mousse and it was divine.

Somebody make some pickles! Look at these beautiful cucumbers!

Yes, we ate again. Do me a favor and pretend that more time passed than it really did.  We sat on a bench and enjoyed shredded chicken tamales from Salvador Molly.  This is food made with care. Delicious!

When I saw this wagon, loaded with products from the market, I asked the owner if I could take a picture. "That's quite a haul!" She was proud of the bounty she had accumulated and couldn't wait to get home and cook.  Such fun! I look forward to doing this at my own farmer's market when I get home. This year I want to can peaches.

Dan's cousin insisted we try the delicious cookies at Two Tarts Bakery and she was raving about their selection as we walked up to the bakery counter. The baker just looked at me and smiled.  She didn't blow my cover, but she could have. You see, I'd already stopped at her booth when I was wandering the market and eaten one of her lemon bars in the bottom left of this picture. A butter crumb topped lemon bar that really tasted like lemon. Oh yes, I this was a display that I couldn't pass by. 

It isn't hard to take great photos at this market, everything is bright and fresh and ready to eat! If you are ever in Portland on a weekend, you must wander this farmer's market. It really is a good thing.

Milk Bottle bouquet

Okay, they are very small milk bottles, but the idea is the same. Identical glass bottles in a wire basket are a wonderful jumping off point for a casual flower arrangement. My mom found this set at Pottery Barn a few years ago and we keep it full of flowers all summer.

The narrow opening of the bottles help to keep blooms upright and clustered together. Flowers can't help but look beautiful: this grouping is made of roses, lacecap hydrangeas, lupine and lavender. 

If you have blooms in your yard, cut some and make your own beautiful cluster. You'll love it every time you see it.

Maison du Miel: I found this Beautiful Bee Soap at Honey Heaven

It's a bit mysterious and very French.  This is an elegant honey-scented bee-shaped soap that I have gifted to myself.  I bought several on my last trip to Paris at the wonderful Maison du Miel and brought them back as presents for a few lucky girls. I had saved one bee soap and decided this week that, at long last, it's time that he is appreciated.  I have hung my very fancy soap-on-a-rose in the shower at the cottage and I have enjoyed the beautiful honey-scented bubbles all week.  The bathroom has a bit of honey in the air for at least an hour afterwards;it's lovely. The experience is just what I thought it would be when I bought it and I am happy to enjoy it myself.

Sometimes we forget to enjoy the things we have.  We save the special paper napkins or we never light that beautiful candle.  Part of my objective in writing about moments of delight is to remind you that if you enjoy something, you should experience it.  

Spoiling a friend with a helium balloon or a cupcake is wonderful. At the same time, you have to let your friends spoil you, its only fair.  If reading a magazine is a great escape for you, do it.  Use the pretty soap.  Eat the jam you brought back from Williamsburg.  

Go on, you know you want to. 

Seattle: Mediterranean Kitchen in Bellevue

Our dinner at the Mediterranean Kitchen in Bellevue was as good as it looks! Though heavy on the garlic, I enjoyed all of the distinct flavors on my appetizer platter called a Mezza Tray.  My favorite was the Zahrah (cauliflower deep-fried, topped with tahini sauce. Garnished with green onions, radish, fresh crushed mint) - yum!

The platter was obviously meant to be a sampler platter for a whole table, but I thought it would be the best way for me to try a little of this and a little of that.  The Mezza Tray is described as "an assortment of delicious Middle Eastern appetizers: Hummus, Baba Ghanouj, Labnie, Tabouleh, Zahra, olives, tomatoes and cucumbers." I would order it again, that's for sure!

Dan had a pasta dish that he enjoyed and I had a few bites of his chicken to round out my meal. Yum!

My Garden of Eden (Climbers)

You know that I have been on-the-go this year and I was unsure how my roses would fare without my constant attention.

Yep, they're fine.  

Just look at this magnificent swath of Eden climbers that I found blooming as I found them when I got home.  Love love love. Yes, roses need to be watered from the ground (don't let their leaves get wet from a sprinkler) and fertilizer and bug spray is important. But boy oh boy, how could anything seem like too much work when the results are like this.

May you remember to stop and smell the roses.

Portland: A Private Garden Walk

Did you know that Portland, Oregon is known as the "City of Roses?"  When I found out we would be able to sneak away to Portland one weekend and visit Dan's cousin, my first thought was "food trucks" and "farmer's markets."

Then I was at a social gathering going on and on about:

• Spring coming
• caring for orchids
• pruning roses

You know, basic bar night chatter. One of the girls said that I sounded like her parents and all their garden talk. She said that they have a huge garden with a collection of clematis, roses, fruit trees and vegetables on the Tualatin River.

She said that if we had time, we were welcome to visit them when we went to Portland. How fun!  It turns out that their collection of clematis includes more than 300 plants!

I started looking into Portland and found out that it is known as the City of Roses.  I just missed the annual Portland Rose Festival by one week - I would have loved to see the annual rose show! When we drove around the neighborhoods of the city, I noticed large healthy hybrid tea roses blooming hearts out.  What a great city.

We arrived at their address and wow! It is a gardener's paradise. When we visited, so much was in bloom!  

First I'll show you some of the clematis...

My favorite story was that they have both the Princes Charles and Princess Diana clematis (I think this is Princess Diana clematis, below) but they keep them far apart in the garden. Good thinking.

I wish I was able to note which clematis was which as I was taking pictures, to help you with the names, but alas, we'll just have to enjoy them and play 'match game" on Google if we want to find one for our own garden. This lilac blue clematis with the smaller center petals stacked on top was my favorite.

It was fun to see so many different types of clematis wafting in the breeze; thriving in this beautiful landscape.  I heard that several garden magazines beat me to it and have already featured this very garden! You can see why.

The clematis blooms had quite a range of different petal sizes and were in shades from white and pink to lavender and deep blue. Some had wide petals and fluffy stamens and others blooms were small and wispy. What a collection!

In addition to vines, there were some pale raspberry foxglove (below),

and oriental poppies in unusual shades,

and fringed double poppies,

 And the large but paper thin, lacecap hydrangeas. 

I am grateful that these new friends of ours, shared their time and knowledge with us. I could have stayed a week and been perfectly happy weeding and having my way with garden gloves and a clipper. Imagine when the fruit trees are producing!

And imagine being able to eat fresh figs whenever you want!

Oh the arrangements I could make.  And on that note, I'll leave you with one last photograph.  The bouquet of fresh Sweet Pea that they presented to us as a gift.  Gardeners are kindred spirits and I made sure to have a set of my photos printed and mailed (along with a photo disc) to their house as a thank you.

We left their house, stopped at Fabric Depot for a few essentials and then drove north back to Seattle. These delicate Sweet Peas brightened up our hotel room and looked beautiful on the kitchen table for the rest of the week. 

(Sigh) I love this time of year, no wonder I was talking about Spring so much.

David Austin Rose: Magnificent to Behold

O

You are welcome to make this your screen saver.  A pristine David Austin English Rose, blooming with a touch of blue hydrangea makes the shell pink look even prettier.

In April, I made a new friend in Seattle and when a group of us went out to dinner, I apparently mentioned flowers and gardening one too many times. She said "You sound like my parents. You should see their garden in Portland." When I said that I'd love to, she told me even more about them. They are Master Gardeners and have over 300 clematis in their private garden haven on the Tualatin River.  I couldn't wait to visit! 

We were given a private tour of their garden during the second weekend in June.  And, just my luck, the clematis were blooming! I'll tell you more about our visit after the 4th of July holiday.  It was slightly misty that day and you won't believe how well my pictures came out. 

For tonight, I leave you with my favorite type of rose, a David Austin. This image was so lovely, I wanted to post it alone, to give it the attention it deserves. 

Seattle: HummingBird Juice Bar and Cafe in Ballard: Kale Nicoise

I don't seek out organic food or products, but when I find something I'm interested in and it's organic, it's a bonus.  I was exploring the shops on NW Market Street in Ballard when I came across the HummingBird Juice Joint, an organic juice bar and cafe (2242 NW Market Street, Ballard, WA).

I had already spotted Cupcake Royale bakery on the same side of the street, so I thought that starting my shopping trip with a virtuous lunch would be smart.  When I looked at the menu, I knew immediately what I was having. Kale Nicoise salad.

You can see the beautiful greens, nicoise olives, sunflower seeds, cold boiled potato slices, fresh tomato, capers, blanched green beans and a "beet-kissed hard boiled egg," all dressed in a light herb dressing.  It was delicious and I felt that in the days to come, my hair would be shiny, my eyes bright and my conversation sparkling. Surely this was the kind of food I was supposed to be consuming.

Then I went to the bakery... 

Seattle: The Lavender Heart in Madison Valley

I chose this photo of lavender heart-shaped soaps to introduce my post on a delightful shop in the Madison Valley area of Seattle.  The Lavender Heart is a French-inspired gift shop featuring everything from French mustard and truffle salt to gorgeous coffee table cookbooks and lavender sachets.

I love this store and find the owner, Holly, so friendly and interesting that I always talk to her more than I focus on shopping! This last visit I was under strict "weight restrictions" for our luggage, so I soothed myself with a small purchase of LePaludier grey sea salt, for my salt collection.

Holly's shop has beautiful magazine-worthy displays and her inventory is unique and thoughtful. I have seen shop-after-shop in my travels, and the selection of French products and touches at The French Heart is unrivaled. Pick any item in the store and ask Holly about it - it's fun to hear the who/what/when/where and why of the product and why she chose it for the shop.  I plan to work my way around the store, buying some of the beautiful culinary choices that I have never seen before, like drinking balsamic.  I can't wait to try it.

The Lavender Heart also offers French antiques, beautiful cards, artwork and design touches to add interest to your home. I know you are going to love it here.  A shop full of delights on Madison Street.