Summer in the Mitten

Lake Michigan from the pier @ Holland State Park, Holland, MI

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Michigan (The Mitten State) in the summer is a wonderful place to be.  We Michiganders wait patiently all winter for the glorious days of summer.

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Summer in The Mitten means:  Days spent enjoying the beauty of Lake Michigan.  I feel blessed to live only 30 minutes from the Big Lake.  The beauty of the Great Lakes never ceases to amaze me.

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Grand Haven State Park, Grand Haven, MI

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The pier @ Grand Haven

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Taking a dip: World's Cutest Brother, Me, Baby Sister

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Summer in The Mitten means:  Beautiful flowers all around.  I have three huge hydrangea bushes and I love cutting the massive blooms to bring inside.

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I'm also loving my zinnias which just started to bloom this week.  These are from the Seeds from Italy that I started indoors this spring.

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Summer in The Mitten means:  Golf.  Lots and lots of golf.  We love golf in my family.  I've played pretty much my whole life and usually play 2-3 times a week in the summer.

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World's Cutest Brother taking a shot.

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My brother is a lefty (like me, but I play golf right handed) and he has a great swing.  He hits the ball much further than I ever could at 9!  This summer he said to me:  "I wish Dad had taught you how to play golf left handed so that we could share clubs!"  Me too, E, me too.

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My Dad watching my brother tee off.

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Summer in The Mitten means:  Fresh produce making its way into every meal.  What could be better?

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First harvest of my tomatoes.

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caprese + spinach salad

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Fresh Michigan blueberries

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Summer in The Mitten means:  Riding bikes. . .

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. . .on the bike trail. . .

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Blurry picture because I was riding my bike while taking pictures - not something I would recommend!

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. . .to the ice cream shop for Hudsonville Ice Cream - made in Michigan!

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I hope you are enjoying summer as much as I am!

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Weekend Kitchen: Tomato, Brie, and Basil Pasta

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In an attempt to keep up with my ever growing supply of fresh basil, I made this pasta dish for dinner the other night.  I thought it was good and it was probably the quickest pasta dish I have ever made!  I used whole grain pasta, but if I make this dish again I think I would use regular pasta; I thought the whole grain made the overall dish a little dry.
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*Recipe came from the July 2010 issue of Sunset Magazine in their Fast & Fresh section.  It was submitted by reader Colleen Clark of Loveland, Co.  No, I don't live in the West, but I really like Sunset magazine! 
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Ingredients:
- 12 oz. orecchiette or shell pasta
- 4 oz. brie cheese, sliced
- two large tomatoes chopped (or 1 qt. cherry tomatoes)
- 1 tbsp. minced garlic
- 1/4 c. extra-virgin olive oil
- 1/2 c. fresh basil leaves, sliced
- salt & pepper to taste
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Cook pasta according to package directions.  Drain and return to pot.  Add remaining ingredients and stir to combine.
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Can you believe how easy that was?
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I served this with mixed greens drizzled with fresh lemon juice, olive oil, sea salt, and pepper. 

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I'm linking up with Alicia over at A Beautiful Mess.

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I've also linked up with Michael at Foodie Friday.

Home Tour: Screen Porch

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Last month, my home was on tour over at Remodelaholic (Thanks Cassity!).  I thought that I would share my home, room by room, over here at my own blog. 
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First up - the screen porch.  In the summer, this is my favorite place to be.  It's a great place to drink coffee in the morning and the perfect place to end the day with a glass of vino.  
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I love filling the porch with lots, and lots of plants.  Maybe too many (but can you ever really have too many?!).  The porch faces South, so it gets a good amount of sun during the day.  Everything grows really well in there.

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I hang a fern in this spot every year and then over-winter it inside. 
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Do you see the snake plant (sansevieria) behind the impatiens?  It gets to spend each summer "on vacation" in my screen porch.  It's the highlight of it's otherwise dreary life spent indoors in my half bath.

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The resin wicker furniture came from Pier One a few years ago.  I made the throw pillows with outdoor fabric from JoAnn's.  The coffee table is by Smith & Hawken from Target.
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I bought the outdoor rug from Grandin Road three years ago.  Unfortunately, it is showing some wear spots, so I think this might be it's last year in the screen porch. 
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I hope you enjoyed the tour! 

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I'm linking up to:  The Boardwalk Bragfest @ Bobbypins Boardwalk, Whatever Goes Wednesday  @ Someday Crafts, Show Us What You're Working On @ Me and My Bucket,
It's a Hodge Podge Friday @ It's a Hodge Podge Life,  Favorite Things Friday @ A Few of My Favorite Things,  Feature Yourself Friday @ Fingerprints on the Fridge, Frugalicious Friday @ Finding Fabulous, New Friend Friday @ The Girl Creative & Trendy Treehouse, Make it for Monday @ Cottage Instincts.

Making Hypertufa Pots

*Today I am sharing my guest post that was posted last week over at Remodelaholic.

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I made these hypertufa pots after seeing this article in the March 2010 issue of Martha Stewart Living Magazine.  My Mom and I made hypertufa pots a few years ago using a similar method.  They were larger than these and not quite as cool!  When I saw this article I knew I had to try again.  It's actually a pretty easy project.

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Supplies you will need:

- Various containers.  You can use almost anything but I collected plastic and cardboard containers.  I also used metal but it didn't work for me (more on that later!).

- Peat Moss

- Perlite

- Portland Cement

- Mold Release Spray (I ended up using a no-stick cooking spray after researching online.)

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The perlite, portland cement, and peat moss are all readily available at Home Depot or Lowes.  Make sure that you use real portland cement and not a quick-set material.  Also, you want to use peat moss that is finely ground and not in large pieces.

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In order to make your mold you will need to nest two containers together.  Both should have sides that are straight or taper out and make sure that there is a gap of at least 3/4 between them.

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Mix together equal parts perlite, peat moss and portland cement in a large container.  The amount you use of each does not matter as long as they are equal parts.  I used 2 quarts of each.  A wheelbarrow would be great to use for mixing, but I don't have one so I used an old rubbermaid container.

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Make sure you wear gloves!

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Slowly begin to add water and mix until mixture is the consistency of cottage cheese.

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Coat containers with mold release spray.  Pour mixture into the outer mold until it is an inch thick.  Add the inner container and start adding mixture around all the sides.  You can fill the inner mold with sand or water to steady it.  Pack mixture in tightly.

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This is what my containers looked like after I had added the mixture.

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Cover the containers with plastic.  After 24 hours remove the inner mold.  Replace plastic.  After 36 hours remove outer mold.  This is where I had a little trouble.  I was able to easily remove the plastic and cardboard containers.  But the one metal container I used would not come off.  I guess I should have followed directions and used mold release spray.  Stick with cardboard and plastic and you won't have any trouble!

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After removing molds, you can drill holes using a masonry bit in the bottom of the container for drainage.  Also, use a planer file or sand paper to smooth out any rough edges.

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Recover containers with plastic and let sit for several weeks in order to finish curing.

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Finally, your pots will be finished!

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Aren't they cool?

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I planted with succulents and placed the pots in my screen porch.

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I am just thrilled with these little pots.  I love how they turned out!

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