Are you elected to bring the potato salad for the 4th of July Picnic? ...Do I have a recipe for you!

Soon enough we will all be celebrated the upcoming holiday, a time when family and friends get together to picnic and enjoy each others company. Have you been asked to bring the potato salad? I had to make up 45 lbs. last Saturday. Something really funny happened when I brought my special potato salad to a recent party I noticed that my salad was not on the huge buffet table joining the other picnic delights. I didn't really want to ask the hostess but a while later I went inside the house to get something and low and behold her husband was taking the salad out of the cabinet and he proceeded to sit down after he grabed a fork. I didn't really know them all too well so he proceeded to tell me that it was some good stuff and that he wasn't going to put it out on the table it was too good. He did not have any idea I made it. Well I guess he just wanted him some of his own potato salad. Later when his wife figured it all out she called and apologized to me. I kindly told her no  problem. Now I bring 2 different bowls so this savvy potato salad eater gets his own lol.

1. This recipe is really very easy you will need
2. about 5 pounds of red potatoes
3. a stick and a half of butter or margarine
4. red and green onions
5. a slash of white vinegar
6. about 3 egg yolks
7. about 3/4 cup of brown sugar

The procedure is easy first you will cut the potato's into big chunks. Bring to a boil.
once boiled let sit a bit.
Meanwhile heat until melted the butter, once all is melted add the rest of the ingredients a mix well.
Now you pour that mixture over warm potatoes  and mix well. This is a great potatoe salad minus the mayo. You can garnish with a bit of fresh parsley and a shake of paprika.
Be sure to make enough because everyone always takes seconds. What's the name of this , well I guess it's Li's red tater salad! What are you waiting for get to cookin and have fun with it. Happy eating!

Tired old stool gets a marvelous makeover!

Hope everyone is enjoying the summerness! Are you bombarded with rain storms, mosquitoes, kids sleepovers and humidity? Well I have this tired old stool that I bought at a yard sale a while back for 2.00, it is one of the strongest stools I have ever seen. It's along side my work table in my kitchen service room. Their is always someone sitting on it either frosting cupcakes or watching me work my magic. So I thought a vintage style makeover was in order. Here she is with her tired old top and light colored legs.  I came across my grandmothers vintage table cloth. It had some holes in it so I thought it was time to repurpose  the beautiful crocheted lace. So I took some black chalk paint that I mixed myself  about 2 teaspoons of baking soda with about 1 cup of paint. The paint should not be to thick and should go on smoothly.  After the paint was dry I proceeded with the cover I used a piece of burlap, I measured it about 3 inches extra so I would have room enough to staple. The next step I took a rubber stamp and gave her some style. Now it was time to incorporate the tablecloth.

                                                

A Little Bit Red And A little Bit White And Blue!

Today I'm gathering my red, white and blue favorites and some new as well. I made this sign out of old floorboard. "America The Beautiful", and she is isn't she? She has shed her grace on thee and crowned they hood with brotherhood from sea to shining sea!So I put together some little 4th of July love here and there throughout. You would be surprised how many red, white and blue items I have!
I used hot glue to draw these stars on the sign before painting it. It is really great for adding age to something. Are you decorating for July? Go ahead and go shopping in your house for some red white and blues Happy decorating!

I used hot glue to create these stars before painting.

 

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A Tiskit A Tasket A Little Burlap Basket

Raining as usual....so getting used to rainy season. It actually rains everyday, sometimes not all day though. Have you ever needed a little gift for that someone special ? I have been putting together these adorable little burlap flower baskets. They could hang on a door or a doorknob. They are easy and very inexpensive to make. With just the cost of some burlap and some pretty foe flowers and some scraps of materials for the bow you can put this little craft together. The best part is that you can personalize the front with  "happy birthday", or "thank you" or just the gift receivers name.

This is a very simple craft, just cut a desired size square of burlap and form a cone...hot glue the cone shut . Then proceed to do any stenciling  on the front side . The next step is attaching a little handle to hand it up , I used some cording and hot glue. Now it's time to fill with desired flowers. Sometimes Walmart has bags of just the flower tops for 1.00 (it is the flowers that fall off the stems on their displays.) Those work great for this project.If you need a little filler just use some tissue paper and if you like you can spray them with some potpourii spray. Now you can craft a bow out of whatever you like and your done!

Doors galore get a new look!

It's storming like crazy here, that's an everyday thing in this part of the world , good ole rainy season. We never really know if we will lose power or not. I came up with a great solution for my ugly white doors. They are older doors with no personality so I got out my handy wood grain tool and worked some magic! A wood grainer tool can be bought at most craft stores also available at Home Depot. It's a wooden kind of round tool with a handle. It's very easy to do also very forgiving meaning anyway you slide the tool along it usually comes out good. I would recommend that you would take and practice a bit on some cardboard just so you can get the feel of the tool. This door was just plain white so I painted on some light brown paint sparingly though then I run the wood grainer vertically with a rocking motion and incorporate some straight moves as well. It's a good idea to have a couple damp rags on hand one to dab the excess paint

 off of between the wood grainer runs. Also one to wipe some drips off the floor. This brown grained door is in one of my hallways. The most important part is to remember to have light on the base like the white doors and darker on the top like the brown I used. I also used blue on one of the room doors. I hope I have given you an idea to beautify your blahzaa doors. My children are rough on white doors they are always getting scuffed up and dirty. So I hope you will give this technique a try and as always have fun with it!

A close up  I hung a rusty star to jazz it up a bit.

Let Me Tell You About The Newest Fish To Hit The Market SWAI including a out of this world recipe

How is everyone today? I'm still grueling along in this sweltering heat and humidity can't complain though. I think the latest talk I'm hearing is ...eat more fish, vegetables and fruit. So I saw this fish in the market it is called SWAI. It is from Asia and fairly new to us. So the price was right about 3.99 a pound. I serve up a big meal every evening for my family and for which ever friends happen to be here at dinner. I'm not a big fan of frying so I came up with this delicious recipe guaranteed to please. Swai is about 90 calories per serving. It comes flash frozen and the pieces are individually packaged. The fish is a white meat sweet tasting fish. The recipe I am about to reveal is "company" quality. The first time I made it as an experiment just for my family ,the next time I invited company and everyone asked for seconds. As a former B&B manager I am quite fussy about foods and such.

1. The following is a list of supplies you will need :

Swai plan on at least 2 pcs per person

1. Lemons(Lots and fresh)
2. A few Vidalia sweet onions
3. Green onions
4. Butter (a couple of sticks)
5. Salt and freshly ground pepper
6. an oblong baking dish

First step is to slice onions and lemons and butter . This is a layering recipe.
first layer sliced onions then top with lemon slices sprinkle with salt and pepper and then top with cut slabs of butter. Now it's time to place a layer of fish on top of that than just repeat with this recipe more is better.The fish should be in the middle with onions , butter and lemons on the top. Bake covered for about 20 min. at 350 degrees then take cover off and bake about 30 or so more min. when fish is done it will appear very white and flakey, if you like dill you could also incorporate that as well but I would not over spice this dish. Rice is the best choice for a side along with a fresh salad. The best way to cook rice is always 2 cups of water to one cup of rice, just put in  covered casserole and cook along side your fish, couldn't be any easier!  It's really great because the fish kind of makes a sauce that we put right over the rice simply delious. To make it extra special I scoop the rice with an ice cream scooper and the top it with a knotted piece of green onion. Well good luck and I hope you will try this soon!

A Little Spray Paint And Voilla!

It's nearly 100 degrees and the humidity is a killer, its a stay in kinda day. But I have enough projects to keep me busy. I found this little piece but it was kind of dated and the shelves have flamingos, yuk I hate that I like real flamingos but that's it.
                                                                                  I have this Italian glass canister set that holds my flour , sugar and teas. So I got out my flat black spray paint and gave it the royal treatment. I also did a cute little banner to add to the cuteness.  Old and New! It's a great place for my glass canisters. What will you be working on today? Have a wonderful "cool" day!