Cabbage Salsa

This is such a fresh, unique summer dip. And a great way to eat cabbage. Every time we serve it people love it.

1 head green cabbage
green onion (2 or 3 finely chopped)
peppers (red or yellow, diced)
tomato (diced)
1/2 bunch of cilantro (more if you like it)
black beans, black eye peas (1 can each, drained and rinsed)
Mezzetta tamed jalapenos (chopped)
1 c. white vinegar
1 Good Seasons Italian Dressing Mix (click the link to see what the packet looks like)
couple tablespoons of jalapeno juice
fresh lime juice

Chop it all up. Mix up dressing packet with vinegar, jalapeno juice & lime juice. Toss and serve with tortilla chips.

I'm sorry that these ingredients and amounts are not precise - start with as much cabbage as you'd like and adjust the other ingredients accordingly so you have a nice variety of textures in each bite. Feel free to leave questions in the comment thread.

Mmmmmmm, summer!

Going Dark

Happy Monday! I always love thinking about our friends around the country (world?) logging on to see what's new at Bloom. "What will it be today?" I imagine your curiosity. (Smile)

Well, today's news is that Anne and I are taking a two week sabbatical from our daily posting schedule.

There are just too many real-life things that need our attention - pools to swim in, projects to complete, gardens to tend, stars to gaze, trails to hike, children to savor (and prepare for school,) Summer evenings to enjoy...you know, the same things you need to be doing during these last few weeks of summer; we hope you live big in them.

We also wanted let you in on a little secret - when we come back we'll be celebrating one whole year of Blooming...and it's going to be exciting and fun and give-away laden. On that note, if you are an Etsy shop-keeper or offer a product or service that Bloom readers would love and you'd like to sponsor a Bloom-versary giveaway, shoot us an e.mail (aplacetobloom {at} gmail {dot} com) and we'll coordinate it. If you'd like to write a guest post at Bloom, feel free to contact us about that as well; we love your recipes, your deep thoughts, your celebrations, your helpful tips, the beautiful things you create.

Thanks so much for sharing this last year with us; you've made it wonderful!

We'll see you back here on August 30th.

xo,
Em & Anne

Summer Movie Night

Here's a fun idea for a summer party. My friend, Jessie, put on an outdoor movie party for her sister's 15th birthday. It was a blast, and I loved how Jessie made it darling but kept the cost low.

Jessie put up a bunch of twinkle lights, rolled out a red (butcher paper) carpet, set up camp chairs and blankets, and used a giant white sheet for a screen. (If you don't have access to a projector, you could always make it an indoor movie event!)

Jessie kept the food simple. Renting a popcorn maker for $30 was her biggest splurge.There were popcorn cupcakes, too (those are marshmallows on top). (Jessie found these popcorn cupcake cups and a few other perfect decor items at Oriental Trading.)

I adore the old-fashioned look of all the sweets in glass jars and containers... and ice cold soda in a vintage party bucket.

I love how Jessie made most of the decor with cardboard and paint. Low budget perfect.

Whether for a birthday party or another event, it's perfect for a summer night. And there are only so many of those left...

Summer Salads

I am swooning over this Mediterranean Summer Salad (via Sunset) - can't wait to try it.

I don't know about where you live, but in my neighborhood - it's triple digit hot. And when I'm brainstorming dinner ideas I want light, fresh and no oven required. Thus, we eat lots of salads during the summer months.

Wanted to share of my fave Summer Salad ideas/recipes with you. (Click links for recipes).

First from My Kitchen Cafe - I have yet to be disappointed by one of Mel's recipes - we must have similar taste(buds):


Pesto Pasta Salad


Gourmet Green Salad

And from Rachael Bailey, whose culinary opinions I also trust:

Dijon Fruited Salad
Just right for summer.

I'm not a huge fan of store-bought dressing; just haven't found many that I like. So I'm always glad to discover a great homemade option. Here are a couple of my favorites:

Emeril's Balsamic (sooooo yummy!)
**The recipe calls for 2 teaspoons of brown sugar. I use 2 tablespoons. (To be totally honest, the first time I made it, I read the recipe wrong, but I've been making it with a more generous portion of brown sugar ever since; I like a sweeter vinaigrette).**

Rachael's Red Onion Vinaigrette (this and Emeril's Balsamic are probably tied for my absolute favorite salad dressing. Seriously, try them - you will love.)

What are you eating on hot summer evenings?
What are some of your favorite salads?

Happy Independence Day!

"I like to see a man proud of the place in which he lives.

I like to see a man live so that his place will be proud of him."

-Abraham Lincoln-

Happy 4th! Make it memorable!

xo,

anne and em

Patriotic Eye Candy

Most of the time I want something more than just "cute" out of a blog. But every now and then I hop on the world wide web (usually late at night :) and all I want is eye-candy. Just pretty pictures. Maybe some lovely food to look at. Things I can try, or not. I just want to be dazzled.

That's what you're getting at Bloom today - Red White and Blue eye candy to help you find your patriotic sparkle. Enjoy!

For recipes, instructions, or more info:

Star Medallions
Lemonade
Watermelon Lemonade
Can-do Patriotic Cans
Patriotic Bunting
Flag Cake
Old Glory Cherry Blueberry Pie
All Star Burgers


Stars & Stripes forever!

Summer Reading

As a second grade teacher, I didn't issue much homework. (I don't believe in much homework for the younger grades.) But every night, without fail, my students were to read for at least twenty minutes. I'm sure any of you with children in school are quite familiar with the routine! But then summer comes, and between pool parties and popsicles and family camping trips, it can be really easy to let that good habit slip. And what a shame for summer to become a time of plateau (or worse!). Today I have a few simple ideas to make summer reading fun and memorable. (And don't click away just yet if your children are tiny. These apply at all stages of literacy.)

1. TIME--Make sure reading happens every single day. Set a specific time if that helps.

2. TO, WITH, and BY-- In all of my literacy education, the real buzz phrase was Balanced Literacy. One aspect of that means that there should be reading to, with, and by. In other words, every day you should read aloud to your child (even with older children--choose some fun family chapter books), aloud with your child (this is called shared reading, and is most important for emerging readers), and your child should also read by himself. (Even if you don't have an independent reader yet, try to help your young child learn how fun it can be to sit alone with a book and tell himself the story using the pictures.)3. CHART PROGRESS--Obviously there are a zillion ways to do this. A sticker chart, a paper chain, a simple list, etc. My favorite way is to make a looooong caterpillar. Each book gets written on a circle, and up it goes on the wall. For Blaine's we're using dark green circles for the books I read to him, and light green circles for the books he reads to me. So fun!

4. USE YOUR RESOURCES--Most local libraries have a summer reading program. Sign your kids up! There are usually special activities, prizes, etc. Plus, a trip to the library can really break up a long, hot summer day!

5. CELEBRATE--I'm really big on internal incentives. In other words, the ultimate goal is for our children to love reading and to feel good about themselves as their reading skills improve. But I also understand that little rewards go a long way. Help your children set a goal for their summer reading. Depending on the child, it might be to read a certain number of books or pages, or maybe to advance reading levels or improve comprehension. Celebrate with a family party or special meal out.

As with everything, your excitement will set the tone. The more you love to read and learn, the more your children will.

More summer reading ideas? Pray, tell!

-anne

Cute up your front porch--Part 2 (Flowers)

Once we had our comfy chairs done, we needed some color and texture. We got it with potted flowers and hanging flowers.

Potted flowers
I love giant pots, but didn't know what to plant in ours to really fill it out. Then I saw a whole article on the subject in my Better Homes and Gardens. According to BHG, there are three elements to a pot like this. You need a thriller, a filler, and a spiller. (Don't you love that?!) For my thriller, I chose these tall, coral geraniums. Aren't they gorgeous? (Next year, I think I'll choose an even taller thriller.) For my filler, I used purple and white petunias, and they are doing their duty! (Note: these are wave petunias, not cascading petunias.) And, can you see my spiller? It's the chartreuse sweet potato plant in the bottom right corner. Once they get going, they'll spill down the pot. Beautiful! (You can also get sweet potato plants in a deep purple color--also gorgeous.)


Hanging flowers
The main thing to know with hanging flowers, is that you need a flower that will cascade. You can buy something already potted, of course (like these charming purple geraniums I got for my birthday).
But often hanging plants are really spendy, so this year I made this hanging petunia pot on my own. Using a basket from last year's hanging plant, I filled it with cascading petunias (not wave petunias). They will continue to grow and cascade as the summer goes on, until you can hardly see the basket. So great!
Now, I have a sunny front porch, so I chose sun-loving flowers for these hanging pots. In truth, my absolute favorite hanging plant is fuchsia. If you have enough shade, get one!

So do you want to see the big reveal?

Remember, we started with this:
And now, we've got this:

Now I just need to hang up my American flags...

Cute up your front porch--Part 1 (Furniture)

Now that it has finally warmed up around here, I just want to be outside all day long. Taylor and I have decided that nothing promotes outdoor living like cozy furniture and pretty surroundings. We are dreaming of a big back patio some day. Someday. But for now's time and budget constraints, we've successfully cuted up the front porch.

We started with this.

Then, for the jaw-dropping steal of $9 each, we bought two solid wood adirondack chairs.

Taylor and I are big on buying real wood furniture. If you're willing to wait for good deals and fix up older stuff, you can furnish your whole home (and porch!) with wood furniture that will last a lot longer than particle board. (That's not to say we don't own any particle board furniture. It has its place!) If you can't find a source in your area for new (and inexpensive) wooden patio furniture, try thrifting. I recently spray painted my in-laws old, weathered adirondack chair, and it looks fabulous.

Our chairs came disassembled, so Taylor spray painted them before putting them together. We used Rustoleum for both our primer and paint, and we have been thrilled with it.

To finish them off, I pulled my IKEA pillows off my couch (didn't really like them there anyway) and decided they belong outside now.

I love the gray with the green.

Come back tomorrow! I'll show you what Better Homes and Gardens taught me about adding color and texture with flowers to finish off the porch.
xo,
anne

For Dads

Feeling a little unsure of what to do for the dads in your life this weekend?

Here are some ideas we've collected...

Food
Maybe you already make him breakfast and dinner every day. So go all out this Sunday. Try cinnamon rolls or coffee cake for breakfast. Have your children serve it to him in bed (of course). For dinner, make something special that you know he'll just die about, even if it stretches your culinary abilities. One year, when I was still a total amateur in the kitchen, I did this. Blew Taylor's mind. Working the grill is sure to please. Try these instructions for the perfect steak.

Gifts
It's always tricky to find something he will genuinely love and actually use. When possible, I try to give Taylor something that relates to fatherhood. Last year, for example, I gave him a rad Charm City Cakes t-shirt, because he makes awesome custom cakes for all of the kids' birthdays. And, if you have sons, the BEST gift you could give their father is The Dangerous Book for Boys. It's full of classic activities that are perfect for father and son to do together.

Traditions
Of course, more important than anything, we want Father's Day to be meaningful and memorable.

One darling idea we spotted on babycenter.com came from April Crevani, a mother in New Jersey. She said, "I take a picture of my children holding a 'Happy Father's Day' sign. Their dad keeps the pictures in a small photo album. When he adds his new photo each year, he looks back at the old ones to see how the kids are growing." (Lots more ideas from babycenter here.)

Along those lines, last year Emily interviewed her son, Henry, asking him questions about his father, Nate. (What's your favorite thing about daddy? What does daddy do at work? What's dad's favorite food? What do you like to do with dad?) She videotaped the interview and the family watched it together on Father's Day. Isn't that darling?! Em suggests, "You could really go all out and make a movie party out of the interview-watching." Love it!

And you, what will you be doing for dads this year?

Friday Forum: Making a Memorable Summer

Wow. Amanda has put together an amazing schedule that is going to make her family's summer awesome. (Take notes!) But she still needs some ideas. That's where you come in.
Okay, Ladies. I’m in need of a little help here. Last summer was a complete disaster, which I attribute to the fact that I had a baby in June--too pregnant to want to do anything at first, then the rest of the summer I was with a newborn. Needless to say, my other kiddos were not too impressed with their summer break lived out in the confines of our backyard.

Now that I’m back to “normal” (Is there such thing--seriously??) I’m determined to make it a GREAT summer for all six of us. It will require some major organization, and some great ideas…which is where YOU come in! Here’s my plan so far:

Summer Planners. The girls are used to keeping a planner at school, and they work so well I decided not to fix it if it ain't broken. They each get a folder with a printout of their daily chores for the week, and have to keep track of completing them. (Did you know there was a study done—forgive me for not having a reference—that shows endorphins are released when you mark something off a list??!! See, I’m not crazy after all.) Points are assigned to each chore and are awarded for completion, then they can be used to buy rewards (books, computer time, etc.). We've had GREAT success doing MyJobChart.com, but having them printed out and in their folders will keep them from wanting to get on the computer 15 times a day. I'm also adding a Math worksheet and some kind of Language Arts worksheet (superteacherworksheets.com is a great reference) each day, just so they retain what they've learned over the school year. (Lest you think I'm a mean mom, making my kids do homework all summer, please know that these worksheets will take less than 30 min. to complete both, so it's not like I'm some Nazi Mom....mostly. Besides, they’re still young enough that they think doing homework’s fun!)

Weekly Theme. We've decided to pick a weekly theme--one the girls are interested in and want to learn more about--then all of our activities for the week will be incorporating our theme somehow. For instance, last week the girls picked Horses as our theme, so on Wed. we went to the library and picked out all sorts of books on horses and borrowed My Friend Flicka from the library as well. Friday, we were lucky enough to find that the Miniature Horse Show was going on up at the County Fairgrounds, so we packed a picnic lunch and went to go see them. We found an owner who was kind enough to let 7 little kids under the age of 8 maul...I mean pet... her horse and get pictures with him...they were in LOVE!

Weekly Schedule. I read a study once (apparently I read a lot of those…) on the affects of anticipation, where one group of kids were told months in advance that they were going to go to Disneyland, while another group wasn’t given any notice, just taken there one day. Years later, the group that was given a chance to anticipate the trip was shown to have remembered greater details about the trip, shown greater satisfaction in and happier memories of their vacation, and had better and happier memories of those they went on the trip with, than the group that wasn’t given any notice. Because of this, I try to let my girls anticipate upcoming activities as much as they can, and I think because they’re really just little people, they like to know what’s going on and what to expect. So, here’s what I’ve come up with (though, I'm not naive enough to believe that it will work out like this every week, all summer long) :

Monday--Swimming Day. We have a membership at the City Rec. Center, so I figured we better let the kids use it too! I'm excited that my former swim instructing/lifeguarding skills can once again surface, but I'm really hoping not to need the latter…

Tuesday--Movie/Book Report Day. We'll either borrow or rent a movie that has to do with our theme for the week. I love that the library has lots of great choices. Not only do they have a few popular movies, but there are lots of educational DVD's that the kids are WAY excited to watch. We borrowed one on the life of butterflies and moths, and they watched it 5 times before taking it back. Since the kids will have borrowed at least one book on our weekly theme, I figured their “homework” for the day can be a book report. Great way to practice handwriting as well as reading comprehension! (My 4 y.o. LOVES drawing pictures about the books she’s read, so it really works for any age!)

Wednesday—Library/Picnic at the Park Day. Every Wed. the library does StoryTime, where they read a few books, blow some bubbles, do a little relaxing yoga (seriously!), then make a craft to take home. It's nice to let someone else do the reading for a while, and we can return our books and get new ones for the week while were there. My rule for this summer is 3 books each. One from the library's reading list they provide for each grade level, one having to do with our weekly theme, and one that's just whatever the heck they want. I'd love to let them get more, but that's 15 books already, and I have to carry them AND the baby back to the car, AND keep track of them once they're at my house for the week, so...limits are essential. After we’re done at the library, we’ll take our picnic to the park where we’ve invited ALL of our friends to join us, so it’s not only a great playdate for the kids, but great mom time with my friends as well!

Thursday--Project Day. My girls have such imaginations! Thankfully they really like to express themselves through making things. I'd like to keep to our weekly theme when doing our projects, but frankly, I'm not sure if I can come up with a unique project every week that sticks to that, so we'll just go with the flow on this one. For this week, we're going to decorate our Summer Planners, and I may even break out the forbidden paint and markers...maybe. J

Friday—Field Trip Day. We'll plan some sort of outing, hopefully theme-related, that will get us out and doing something we wouldn't normally do, for instance, the Miniature Horse Show. I'm really hoping to mix it up and let the girls experience all sorts of different things. Of course, most of these things will have to be free, but I'm up to the challenge of finding some jewels out there!

I must say that I’m so totally excited to let this summer be about doing things with and for my children! Now that most of them are in school, I’m feeling a bit like I need to soak them up as much as I can while I have them. So, I guess what I’m hoping all you Bloomies will help me out with is sharing some of your uber-creativity and imagination in finding some great ideas for themes, projects, and field trips, as well as letting all of us in on the way you’ve planned out your summer.