Mini Fruit Tarts

Hi there!  I am such a fan of mini desserts.  So easy to pop into your mouth and just perfect for entertaining.  I'm over at I Heart Naptime today sharing these mini fruit tarts.

They'd be the perfect addition to everything from your weekend BBQ to a graduation, end-of-year, or dinner party.  Head on over for more details and the recipe.

My Favorite Herbs for Cooking + Weekend Projects

Hi everyone!  Hope you enjoyed the weekend.  I had my hands in a bunch of different things, including my annual planting of herbs in pots.  I've been doing this for years now and I love having all my favorite herbs for cooking right at my fingertips.

It also saves a ton of money over the course of the late spring, summer, and early fall.  The potting soil and herbs cost me around $20, which I could spend a week buying small little containers of herbs at the grocery store.

My favorite herbs for cooking, and ones that also tend to grow really well in pots, are chives, flat leaf parsley, rosemary, basil, mint, thyme, dill, tarragon, and cilantro.

Try planting your own this summer if you want to cook along with me and save yourself some money.  All you need is some good potting soil, pots, and the herbs.  I water them every day or every other day in the summer and that's about it.  Believe me...if I can grow these, you can grow these!

The chives come back on their own every year.  I planted the parsley and rosemary in small pots on their own this year because I usually try to bring these two inside in the cold months and keep them going in a sunny window.  The mint and basil are together in a large pot because they both tend to grow big and tall.  

I also got some work done on a few other projects this weekend.  Here are a few peeks.

A new coffee table for our screened porch, made almost entirely with things I had lying around:

A lacquered wooden tray made from scrap materials:

Spring cleaning and sprucing of the screened porch:

Can't wait to show you full details on all of these soon!

Mushroom, Asparagus, Radish, and Arugula Salad

This springy salad has become a quick favorite (well, for me at least, and the rest of my family ate it without complaint!).  For me, it bridges winter, spring, and summer cooking perfectly. 

Hop over to Honey We're Healthy today for more details and the recipe!

Fabric Love | DIY Box Cushion Cover

You might remember this post from March where I shared some of my favorite fabric pairings with you and also told you that I was using the Duralee Kilburn and Dwell Vintage Plumes fabrics on a mudroom bench makeover for an old high school friend.

I finished it and sent it off to her a couple weeks ago but staged it in Ada's room first (the bench at the end of her bed is exactly the same size as my friend's bench) so I could share the photos with you.

I just love these two fabrics together.  I'm still searching for the perfect place in my house for that peacock fabric.  There must be a place.

For the bench cushion, I followed the same basic instructions I did when I reupholstered our sofa cushions, which you can find HERE.

For the pillow, I used the Dwell Vintage Plumes fabric on the front and ivory velvet on the back with a zipper at the bottom.  I didn't take great process photos so will have to share a tutorial on that with you another time.  I think it makes sense to cover the back of a pillow in a coordinating fabric when the front fabric is on the pricier side.

Do you love these fabrics as much as I do?  The Duralee Kilburn one has always looked like a cool cross between geometric and giraffe to me and I think the Dwell Vintage Plumes fabric is just drop dead gorgeous.

That's all for today, hope you have a great one!

Potatoes I Dream About

I realized I promised you the details on these potatoes a couple weeks ago and then they somehow slipped off my schedule after sharing my favorite steak marinade and this delicious Greek chopped salad.

And, believe me, you do not want to be deprived of these potatoes.

I've never loved potatoes.  I've never not liked them either, they were just kind of "blah" to me.  More an afterthought than something I really wanted to make.

These potatoes I really want to make. 

This is barely even a recipe, more a technique for cooking them, and one I'm sure a lot of people already use, but it was news to me, and I can't get enough.  They're crispy on the outside and soft on the inside, almost a cross between a french fry, hash browns, and roasted potatoes.

You be the judge...make these and tell me if you start dreaming of potatoes.

The Best Crispy Potatoes
Ingredients
1 lb. russet potatoes, peeled, rinsed, cut into 1/2" cubes
1/2 c. olive oil
4 large cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp. kosher salt
fresh ground pepper

Preheat oven to 450º.

Place potatoes in a large pot of cold water.  Cover and bring to boil over high heat.  Once boiling, lower heat to barely simmer and cook covered for 5 minutes.

Immediately drain into a metal colander and give them a good few shakes to rough up the outside of the potatoes (this is what gives them those delectable crispy edges).  They should look a bit crumbled on the outside but still generally holding their cube shape.

Pour onto a nonstick baking sheet or one lined with nonstick foil and add olive oil, garlic, salt, and pepper to taste.

Bake in oven for 30 minutes, remove, toss gently with a rubber spatula, and return to the oven for another 15 minutes, until golden and crispy.

Add more salt to taste and serve hot.

*These will still taste good the next day but won't have the crispy outside.  I usually try to make only what we'll eat in a sitting.

Click HERE for a printable recipe.

And unrelated to dreamy potatoes, thank you to Kristin for inviting me to be part of her "Great Reads" series today!  You can see it HERE.