Last weekend I worked on a great project, it was a mini garden makeover as a Mother’s Day present for my dear friend Rose. I thought I would share a few pictures from this garden project and give you a peek inside the garden gate of Rose’s kitchen patio makeover. Continue reading A Peek Inside the Garden Gate. A Mother’s Day Patio Mini Makeover
Category Archives: Flower Power
Rose Drop Cocktail
A cocktail with the dreamy fragrance and color of roses? All made with roses from the garden? This is one gorgeous cocktail that looks as beautiful as it tastes. I found this rose infused cocktail recipe in one of last year’s Sunset Magazine’s western edition but couldn’t make the cocktail then as by the time I read the recipe my roses were winding down for the season, however I did save it to make this year when my roses are in full bloom again. Continue reading Rose Drop Cocktail
Pistachio Cake with Rose Petal Confetti
It’s rose season in our area, all I see are roses, roses everywhere in full bloom. Besides making rose bouquets I am also looking for creative ways to use rose petals in edibles. I especially favor my fragrant pink David Austin roses for cakes and ice creams. A pistachio cake maybe? I figured a beautiful backdrop of pale green would look lovely for these rose petals. And so began my hunt for a really good pistachio cake recipe; an all-natural kind, the type of recipe that uses actual pistachios as one of the cake ingredients. Continue reading Pistachio Cake with Rose Petal Confetti
Spring Tea in the Garden
Happy May Everyone!
What a great way to start the month, our weather has cooled down drastically from hot temperatures in the 80s and even 90 degrees last week, to this week down to pleasant 60s and 70s. This was a welcome cool-down for me and my friends as we were hosting a big Spring Tea in the Garden this past Monday, as you can imagine it’s not much fun sitting outside in the scorching heat sipping hot tea. Lucky for us Mother Nature gifted us with the most perfect day ever on Monday! Temperatures were in the mild 70s and the garden burst into bloom from the heat wave we had earlier, all this made our Monday a gorgeous backdrop for our Spring Tea in the Garden. Continue reading Spring Tea in the Garden
Homemade Corsages and the Twins Junior Prom
Last Saturday was the twins Junior prom and what a day it was! Gowns were chosen, nails were done, hair styled, makeup on, jewelry worn, shoes on, only thing left was to eat, which they quickly grabbed a snack, just in time to take pictures at sun down. Hectic, crazy, exhausting though it was, the day ended up with a fun-filled evening of girls, gowns and guys all ready for a night out to celebrate being Juniors and Seniors in High School. Continue reading Homemade Corsages and the Twins Junior Prom
Flourless Chocolate Torte with Spring Edible Flowers
A chocolate torte so easy that all you do is combine the ingredients in one bowl and bake. This is my kind of recipe! I had this delicious flourless chocolate torte a while back when we had hosted a Father’s Day Brunch and our friends Tracy and Carl had brought a decadent flourless chocolate cake for the party. It was so good that everyone devoured it! I’d been meaning to ask them for that recipe but just forgot until a couple of weeks ago when we met them for dinner at their new home and I recalled that chocolate cake. Continue reading Flourless Chocolate Torte with Spring Edible Flowers
Orange and Avocado Spring Green Salad
It’s April and juicy sweet oranges are still available at the markets, and here in our Bay Area I can even pick them up at street corners where vendors sell seasonal fruits such as oranges in March and apricots, strawberries and peaches in the summer. Last week I bought from a vendor on the corner of our local park a bag of over 20 oranges for $5!! What a deal! These were delicious sweet oranges that the family has been enjoying every day and I’ve been adding an orange to my Greek yogurt and granola routine in the mornings too.
With all these oranges in abundance I made an orange salad to take to my good friend Rose’s place for a low-key springtime lunch last week. Continue reading Orange and Avocado Spring Green Salad
March in the Garden 2019. The Month of Freesias
March in the Bay Area has given us a preview of spring. We had lots and lots of rain followed by sunny days with warm temperatures in the 60s and even 70s, followed by more rain, and sunny days, followed by more rain and sunny days – you get the pattern. The warm sunny temperatures brought out heavy pollen days with a few of us suffering miserably with allergies, but the rain following washed the pollen away and gave us some welcome relief, which is when I would walk around my garden to see what’s happening. I apologize in advance if all my eyes caught were colorful blooms, I am a sucker for glorious colorful flowers. Lets just say that despite there being lots and lots of plants in full bloom and all looking gorgeous what stole my heart are these beautiful freesias. Continue reading March in the Garden 2019. The Month of Freesias
January in the Garden. 2019
January has been wet, wet, wet for us here in the Bay Area. Rain and more rain and chilly temperatures made for a tumultuous time in the garden. One of the storms we had was so fierce that one of our eucalyptus trees got ripped off its trunk. The latter part of January however we have had spring-like temperatures in the 60s! The birds were chirping away thinking spring has arrived early. It has definitely been a roller coaster ride weatherwise. Continue reading January in the Garden. 2019
Orange Ginger Dark Chocolate Drops with Chrysanthemum Petals
Here is an easy recipe for dark chocolate flavored with candied ginger and orange peel. The flavors of orange and ginger are so good together in a ginger vanilla orange pound cake that I figured this flavor combination would taste awesome in dark chocolate as well. It’s delicious 😋. Then to add some fall color I sprinkled chrysanthemum petals which really transformed the chocolates into something beautiful. Try it! Continue reading Orange Ginger Dark Chocolate Drops with Chrysanthemum Petals
