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lemon lavender cookies

This light, lemony summer cookie (recipe here) is delicious with a cup of tea mid-morning, or afternoon. My husband declared it my best ever (he is honest about my cooking, when it works and when it doesn't!). After ordering the edible lavender buds for this dessert recipe, a few weeks ago, I was happy to be able to use them again (though the recipe says you can use regular flower buds from the garden). Once you've made the dough it…

guest bathroom beauty

This guest bathroom was dark and narrow when we first moved in (see before photo below) so, without doing a full remodel, I replaced the vanity with a pedestal sink and removed the large mirror glued to the wall. The room instantly felt bigger. I love the feeling of 'furnishing' a bathroom, which a framed mirror and artwork help to create. To keep the room in line with the rest of the house all base boards and molding were removed,…

DIY chevron stripe cork board

I was inspired by those clever jewelry storage solutions collected here, last week. First, I did the clean-out. I dumped all of my bangles, earrings, necklaces, and bracelets in one place and wiped out the drawer, trays, and Ikea jewelry tree I'd been using. The best part of this process was finding pieces I'd completely forgotten about! I weeded out the out-of-fashion, the tired-looking, and the broken, only putting back what I really love plus a couple of sentimental items.…

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summer chicken satay with peanut sauce

Australian actress, director, writer, and producer, Jane Kennedy has turned her hand to cookbooks filled with delicious recipes, minus the boombah. Boombah: (adj) Word to describe food that makes your arse huge. I've been making these recipes for more than a year now and my whole family loves them. This is an unapologetic wake-up call about eating less fattening foods but it is hilarious at the same time. You'll be laughing while you cook yourself slim. The book is available…

organize your jewelry

Shadow boxes to show off your most striking pieces My jewelry drawer hadn't been organized for way too long and, judging by how many times I haven't been able to find that second earring or spent ten minutes undoing a knotted necklace, today was the day.  I'm posting links to some of my favorite creative and clever jewelry storage solutions to inspire us all! (click on each photo for the source) Recycled picture frame with wire Ice cube trays to…

flower style

I love these white mini hydrangeas and I've found that my local supermarket sells good quality, long lasting flowers (roses from there last weeks!) at very reasonable prices, but I don't like giving posies, in their rubber bands and supermarket packaging, as gifts. These bunches are often quite small, so I cut away all of the original wrapping and combined two bunches of mini hydrangeas. I keep a roll of clear cellophane and natural  raffia on hand so I can re-wrap…

Nectarines Poached in Lavender-Honey Syrup

  This delicate and pretty dessert (recipe here) tastes as lovely as it looks, a perfect way to finish a summer-time lunch or dinner for girlfriends. It's delicious and reasonably guilt-free. These edible lavender buds need to be special ordered from The Spice House (mine arrived in a couple of days). They are a good thing to have in  your spice collection and can be used to create lavender ice cream among other yummy delicacies.  **The only things I changed…

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sunny corner

This sunny corner of our home wasn't horrible before (see before photo below), but it was a bit blah. My goal was to make it a place that attracted us to it with comfy chairs, a good solid table, and an area rug to make it feel cozy. The original cracked, old, travertine tile was swapped out for large format, gray, matte tile. I added natural roman shades mounted at the top of the large picture windows, which keep a low…

grilled pork tenderloin with cherry salsa

This delicious summer-time recipe was a big hit at my house last night. The fresh cherries and cilantro are perfect with the tender pork straight from the grill.  This is an easy one to throw together in less than an hour but you could save time by marinating the tenderloins a day ahead and keeping them in the fridge and making the salsa early too. I cooked it on my indoor grill but it would make for glamorous outdoor grill fare,…

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the ‘no more dieting’ app

Counting calories bores me to tears but, after countless crazy fad diets, I've come to the conclusion that it's only about how many calories I eat every day. I've had the Lose It! app on my iphone (free for iphone and android) for nearly four years now and it actually works. Each day I type in what I eat and the app makes that process as pain-free as possible with it's bar code scanner, it's massive data base (it includes chain…