roasted BLT salad

Roasted BLT Salad

Serves 2 as a meal

I have always wanted to roast romaine lettuce . . .

Ingredients

6 slices bacon

1 cup cherry tomatoes halved

4 teaspoons olive oil

1 cup gourmet croutons

1 head romaine lettuce, quartered lengthwise

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

In a large skillet cook bacon until crisp; drain on paper towel. Break into large pieces; set aside.

{Reserve 1 tsp bacon grease}

2. Meanwhile, line a 15x10x1-inch baking pan with foil.

Toss cherry tomatoes with 2 tsp of the olive oil and add to baking pan.

Bake tomatoes, uncovered, for 10 minutes.

Transfer tomatoes and their juices to a medium bowl.

3. Place romaine quarters on the baking pan. Brush with 1 tsp olive oil and 1 tsp bacon grease.

Return pan to oven and bake 5 minutes or until romaine is browned on edges.

4. Add croutons to the medium bowl with the tomatoes. Toss gently to combine.
Let stand 5 minutes to allow bread to absorb some of the tomato juices.

5. Transfer roasted romaine to 2 serving plates. Top with tomatoes, croutons, and bacon.

Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Adapted from a recipe in January 2013 Better Homes and Gardens

Leisure House 03

Let me show you the guest room in our Leisure House . . .

We searched long and hard for bedding that was

calming, relaxing and inviting without 

being too "beachy cute"

All the lamps in our house are gifts from our Wine-on-Wednesday friends.

Scrabble tiles welcome family and friends.

Hmmm - family get 13 points, friends 11.

Wonder what that means?

Our goal is to keep this dresser empty so guests

can unpack their clothes and feel right at home.

The little containers are from IKEA - aren't they cute?

A place for laundry and 

a place for a suitcase.

Beach towels and a beach bag fill these drawers.

A little rug to wipe the sand from your feet as you get into bed.

We have no carpeting in this house.

All rooms have the same laminate flooring.

Our guest room has a television.

I love how you can hide away the cable controls.

Cute little night stands round out the room.

A ceiling fan to keep our cool guests cool.

Ready and waiting . . . .
{well, except for a window treatment - still looking}
The windows all have wooden blinds
and most have valances.

Side note: I love the Bahama Blue furniture in this room and

if we had found this first it would have been in the Master Suite.

in the rough on the fairway

Last week the PGA was in town.

We don't usually watch golf but I found myself rooting 

for the second place player heading into the final round

and was glued to the TV for the rest of the tournament.

Jason Dufner was down by 2 strokes 

but in the end he won with -10 under par

{photo credit: msn.foxsports.com}

Dufner showed so little emotion the whole time

Amazing . . . 

Then I read this little quote in Time magazine

"For me, golf is a little bit more boring 
[than football, basketball, football]

I hit it in the fairway or I don't."

Isn't that just like life?

Either you are in the rough or on the fairway .

I love his 4-5 "waggles" before each swing.

Side note:
Two years ago in Atlanta, Dufner had a four-shot lead with four holes to play and lost in a playoff to Keegan Bradley. Keegan was among the first to greet Dufner this year congratulating him on his win.

Leisure House 02

Last year Mr. Corners and I purchased a new home near my sister in Florida.

We live in an 1865 Victorian house so this brand new modern home is a fun change.

Our rule when furnishing it was -  no antiques and nothing "used".

Decorating a 1056 square foot space was fun but challenging.

I can't imagine how people furnish a larger house!

Our home is in a community of wonderful people

with activities to keep fun loving retirees busy every day.

One of the best perks . . . .

Only 1.8 miles to three different Gulf Coast beaches.

I look forward to blogging more about The Leisure House in future posts
but for now this quote from Southern Living Magazine
is a perfect introduction . . .

"I never wanted the seriousness of a real house or anything 
in it to be so precious or valuable that it must be revered.
We like to think of ourselves as living as if we were on vacation."

lark rise to candleford

My new favorite TV show is

Lark Rise to Candleford

showing on PBS

I have just discovered that I am watching the third season.

Apparently, it ran for four seasons so . . . 

I will now be looking to secure sets 1-2.

From Wikipedia;
Lark Rise to Candleford is a British television costume drama series, adapted by the BBC from Flora Thompson's trilogy of semi-autobiographical novels about the English countryside, published between 1939 and 1943

The series is set in the small Oxfordshire hamlet of Lark Rise and the wealthier neighbouring market town of Candleford towards the end of the 19th century. The series chronicles the daily lives of farm workers, craftsmen, and gentry, observing the characters in loving, boisterous, and competing communities of families, rivals, friends, and neighbours.

Did you recognize Mr. Bates from Downton Abbey?

In this series he plays Robert Timmins

grilled chicken salad with feta, fresh corn, and blueberries

Grilled Chicken Salad with Feta, Fresh Corn, and Blueberries

Prep Time 20 Minutes {not including grilling}

Servings 6           

{photo credit: the Pioneer Woman}

Ingredients

4 chicken breast halves grilled

2 ears fresh corn grilled 

2 stalks celery finely diced 

2 Tablespoon red onion, finely diced (optional)

1 cup blueberries

1 Tablespoons fresh dill, minced

Dressing:

2 Tablespoons mayonnaise

2 Tablespoons sour cream

1/4 cups crumbled feta

2 Tablespoons half-and-half

1/2 Lemon

1/2 teaspoon sugar

salt and pepper 

With a very sharp knife, shave kernels off each corn cob. Set aside with the onion, celery, and chicken.

Mix together mayonnaise, sour cream, feta, and half-and-half. Stir in sugar, squeeze in lemon juice, and add salt and pepper.

Slice chicken on the bias into small pieces. Put in a bowl with corn, celery, onion, and chicken. Stir to combine. Pour half the dressing over the ingredients and toss gently. Add more as desired, but don't overcoat the salad.

At the end, toss in the blueberries to lightly coat them in the dressing.

Divide salad onto six plates and then sprinkle individual helpings with plenty of fresh dill.

{Adapted from a recipe by the Pioneer Woman}

J. Adam Giese

Our whole family loves J. Adam Giese

{Freelance Director of Photography, Field Producer and; Steadicam Operator}

Ben met Adam at Dilli's Childcare when they were infants and they have been fast friends ever since . . .

through their infancy, childhood, adolescent years, high school, college, and now into adulthood.

Adam took over 500 photos at Benjamin and Lindsay's wedding.

Such a talented young man.
We have had fun viewing, sharing and posting them.

You have seen many of his photos is my last few wedding  posts.

Here are just a handful more to share with you.

I will post more in the weeks to come on our family website.

{here comes the bride . . .}

{confession - photo shopped double chin - wish it were that easy to really get rid of it!}

We are so grateful to have these - thanks Adam!!

{Adam at work - senior segment producer NBC Universal}

Rule # 3 from the Pioneer Woman Blog:

Be varied.

Change things up.

Offer a smorgasbord of content.

Never blog about the same topic twice!

{guess I have broken that rule so - next post, a great recipe btw from Pioneer Woman}