My free handwritten font!

Let's continue with the "free stuff" theme here... why not.

I'm slightly obsessed with typography (it's my favorite part of design!), so making my own font has always been on my radar of things to do. I finally started the process a little while ago and have been finalizing on my first creation... a spin-off on my handwriting.

Well, it's finally ready! I figured I'd share it with you all, because who doesn't love a free font? Especially a good handwritten one complete with numbers and punctuation. I'm always on the lookout for those.

Here's my font preview:

You can download it (for free!) here.

UPDATE: There won't be any modifications to this font (sorry, international friends!) but I am working on a new similar font which will have a complete character set with lots of glyphs. Keep checking back for the official release!

UPDATE 2: Yep, I've already submitted it to Google fonts!

While we're on the subject of type... I recently had a customer ask me to design her a poem for a friend's baby shower (she's having a little girl named Eleanor). I had so much fun with it and she was so pleased with the results, I decided to turn it into a template for my shop! Here's how hers turned out:

Isn't it such a thoughtful gift? I think her friend will love it! You can find the new (completely customizable) design here.


Well, I'm off to bed... our AC just broke and it's about 100 degrees inside with 200% humidity... I think it's causing my computer to malfunction... along with my brain... I might have to sleep in the pool tonight... hurry up 3-day weekend!

Homemade Pesto Sauce | Fresh Basil Pesto Sauce | Pasta, Pizza & Shrimp Pesto

If I have pesto sauce in my refrigerator, I know I can easily make something great at a moments notice - Shrimp Pesto Appetizer with Grilled Bread, Shrimp Pesto Pizza, Heirloom Tomatoes with Angel Hair Pasta and Pesto, Corn on the Cob with Pesto Butter...  The list goes on.  

Do yourself a favor, make a big batch of homemade pesto sauce this Summer while the basil is bountiful (read : cheap).  Freeze it in an ice cub tray for perfect individual servings to use at any time.

Homemade Pesto Recipe...

4 cloves of garlic, peeled
1/3 cup of parmesan, grated or in chunks
2 cups of basil leaves
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1/2 teaspoon of pepper
3/4 cups of olive oil

For the pesto, start with a food processor or blender.  Put in garlic and parmesan.  Pulse until the garlic and parmesan is in fine pieces.  Add in basil leaves, salt, pepper & olive oil.  Continue to pulse until a green paste has formed.  You may need to add more olive oil if you'd like it thinner.

Some of my favorite Pesto Recipes :

Heirloom Tomatoes with Angel Hair Pasta and Pesto

 Corn on the Cob with Basil Butter

Shrimp Pesto Appetizer with Grilled Bread

 Shrimp Pesto Pizza Recipe >>

Heirloom Tomato Summer Pesto Pasta | Angel Hair Pesto Heirloom Tomatoes Basil

It may not be burgers on the grill, corn on the cob, or even a margarita on the rocks, but doesn't this just look like Summer?!  During this time of year I am craving tomatoes and basil for every meal.  Last night, I tossed homemade pesto with angel hair pasta and heirloom tomatoes cut into large wedges.  It is the only way to go on a hot summer day when firing up the grill seems unbearable.

Get my Homemade Pesto Recipe >>

The key to success with a fresh dinner like this is : Keep it simple.  The only addition I would add to this would be hunks of fresh mozzarella.  If I was doing this for a dinner party, I might serve it with a skewer of grilled shrimp or scallops. 
Fresh Heirloom Tomatoes with Pesto in Angel Hair Pasta
serves 4
3 large heirloom tomatoes
1 pound of pasta
1 cup of pesto sauce (homemade is so easy - and much better than store bought)
parmesan cheese
fresh basil leaves

Cook pasta 2 minutes short of the directions on the box (or until al dente).  Drain the pasta and place it into a large bowl.  Pour pesto over the pasta and toss.  Add heirloom tomatoes and parmesan cheese.  Toss gently.  Serve with fresh basil and parmesan on top.

Cucumbers and Onions | Classic Summer Recipes

It is true what they say.  It's the simple things in life...

Sometimes the best things in life are so simple... you can't help but want to mess with them.  You try and try to improve them.  But, inevitably, you end up just where you started.

So is the case with Cucumbers & Onions.  You may recall my jazzed up version from the 4th of July complete with red onions, feta cheese and tomatoes.  Well, last week, I went back home to Kansas City where the summer produce season is in full swing.  My mom and I fixed dinner from the garden, and I was in charge of the cucumbers and onions.  I dared not try out my new fancy version - a stickler for tradition, my Dad would not have been happy.  So, I stuck with the traditional, simple, tried and true, Classic Cucumbers and Onions.

View of the corn field over the cucumbers.  My Mom's garden is just to the right of this.

When we sat down to dinner, I was the one who couldn't get enough.  At the table I confessed my mistake of trying to "fix" the classic recipe into something pretty for a party.  Big mistake!  I can't begin to describe the perfect crunch, sweetness, bitterness, coolness and bite this salad has.

Cucumbers & Onions

4 cucumbers
1 onion
3 tablespoons of table salt
1/2 cup of white vinegar
1/2 cup of sugar

Peel and slice the cucumbers and onions.  Coat with salt, cover and refrigerate for an hour or 2.  Rinse the salt off of the cucumbers and onions.  Place in a large bowl.  Combine vinegar and sugar.  Pour over cucumbers and let them soak in the refrigerator for 20 minutes.

Did you notice the tea towel backdrop?  It looks like this one was cross-stitched by my sister, Jill, in 1987.  I think it had a duck and a squirrel on it.   I told you we lived very exciting lives as children...  I love that I found this in my mom's kitchen drawer to be used on a daily basis.

Farm to Table Dinner Party Series : 
Farmer's Market Themed Menu

Classic Cucumbers & Onions is part of my Farm to Table Dinner Party Menu & Farmer's Market Table Setting.  To see the entire menu, click here.

Watermelon Blueberry Popsicles | Summer Homemade Popsicles

Homemade Watermelon Blueberry Popsicles

This was THE easiest thing I've ever done.  They are delicious, beautiful, healthy, inexpensive... did I mention easy?  And beautiful!? 

This is as 'real food' as it gets - cubes of watermelon blended, poured into a glass and topped with fresh blueberries.  No added sugar, no other ingredients.  Pure watermelon.  It is so refreshing - the watermelon, when frozen, has the most amazing texture.  Perfect for kids and adults alike.

But... if you really want to please the adults, add a squeeze of lime and a shot of tequila - Watermelon Margarita Pops!  Who needs jello shots...

Watermelon Popsicle Recipe :



1/2 large seedless watermelon or 1 small
1 cup of blueberries
Popsicle Sticks

Cut watermelon into cubes - Read my Watermelon Cutting Tutorial to make it eso easy!  Puree in the blender.  Pour into small glasses.  Freeze for 30 minutes.  Place the popsicle sticks into the soft frozen watermelon.  Put blueberries on top of watermelon and press it into the top.  Freeze for 3-4 hours.  To remove from the glass, dip the glass into hot water for 5-10 seconds, then twist out with the stick.

Barbeque Ribs | BBQ Ribs | Summer Grilling Recipes

 BBQ Ribs

Summer Party Menus

Summer parties should encompass all of the joys of the season.  What is more Summer that barbequed Ribs?  Ok, now that I think about it... burgers are probably more of a traditional Summer meal.  But we have burgers all of the time, so step up your grilling this year and offer your guests great BBQ Ribs as a special treat. 

BBQ Party Menu : Ribs

- Barbeque Ribs

- Baked Cheesy Potatoes

- Classic Coleslaw
- Watermelon

As I mentioned, Mike ordered some barbeque products from some of our favorite Kansas City BBQ joints.  One of our favorites is Oklahoma Joe's...
  We used the All-Purpose Barbeque Seasoning as a rub on the ribs.  I got our ribs cut at the butcher - they are beef ribs. Giant beef ribs.

Step 1 : Rub with Barbeque Seasoning
Step 2 : Bake covered in the oven for 4-5 hours at 250 degrees.
Step 3 : Grill on a medium flame for 5-10 minutes until slightly charred. 
Step 4 : Brush on BBQ Sauce.  Cook for 2-3 more minutes.
Step 5 : Cover with foil and let set for 10 minutes before cutting.
Step 6 : Cut into single ribs.

We love Gates Barbeque sauce.  It has such a unique flavor - very heavy vinegar and celery seed flavor.

Everyone's had these cheesy potatoes made from frozen hash brown potatoes.  These are always a crowd pleaser - ultimate comfort food.

Like most men, Mike is good with just meat and potatoes.  But when I'm eating spicy BBQ and rich cheesy potatoes, I need something cool, fresh and crunchy.  Enter cole slaw.  I used a basic recipe of cabbage, carrots, mayo, milk, sugar, vinegar and a little cayenne pepper. 

No Summer celebration is complete without watermelon.  Which is great, because it might be the world's easiest food to prepare... besides that it can be messy and, well, watery.  I came up with a really simple way to cut watermelon in a hurry.  

Get the step by step tutorial here!  Don't worry, I haven't gone crazy yet - it is not too complicated (I mean it is just cutting watermelon, after all...), just hard to explain verbally, so I decided to do it visually.  Humor me and check it out - it really will make it easier for you.

Here's the easy-to-pin snapshot for pinterest!

Watermelon | How to Cut a Watermelon | Tutorial | Summer

I used to do a lot of watermelon skewers when I was a caterer.  Watermelon and cherry tomatoes drizzled with balsamic skewers, watermelon, strawberry & blue berry skewers, etc.  All of these variations had one thing in common, how do I cut this giant watermelon into perfect cubes without making a mess... in someone else's fancy kitchen?

 

Here is the easy to pin strip!

Kitchen Progress

I was supposed to be making progress on some of the projects that were already under way but one thing sometimes leads to another.  When I was finishing up painting in the kitchen, I got sidetracked and started a new one.

The kitchen has gone through a few different stages.  This is what it looked like when I bought the house, the scrambled eggs and band-aids color combo.  It's been painted a few times including the hideous tile that was primed and painted BM Decorator's White.

To make room a new bathroom, I gave up about 2-1/2 feet out of the kitchen.

That ended up looking like this.  I had a 1960s dishwasher (used only for storage) on one side of the stove, and a microwave cart on the other.  The old table in the middle of the kitchen that used for prep space was too big for the smaller kitchen.

I tried the green antique console table which looked great but was too low and too small to be practical.

I was lucky to find an old, paint spattered lab table with slate top that was the perfect size and height for an island.  A real bargain found in Maine.  So, as I was painting, I thought this dishwasher and microwave cart solution was just a little too pitiful.  So I scoured the house for Home Depot gift cards and cashed them in for a few adult kitchen cabinets. 

I primed and painted them with Benjamin Moore Rockport Gray.  It was great luck that the top to the old dishwasher and microwave cart fit the cabinets so I didn't have to buy countertop although I have my eye on a butcher block slab at IKEA.

Yes, I've decided to go without a microwave.  Totally old school.

I thought this looked so much better although not a great deal more efficient.  As much I loved my vintage cow print above the stove, I thought open shelving would let me keep things I use everyday (and a few snazzy decorative items) right at hand and open up a little room in the cramped pantry.

Back to Home Depot.

And voila, new kitchen shelves.  The brackets are a 10" wood bracket that I painted Benjamin Moore White River.  The walls are Sweet Spring.  The shelf is 1x8-inch pine to which I tacked a 1x2-inch board on the front to make the shelves look chunkier.  You can see what I mean on the end of the shelf (above).

But from the front, it looks just like thick slab of wood.

I'm still working on where everything goes, but I love having everything at hand.  I also added a vintage metal clipboard that's perfect to keep a recipe at eye height.

I painted the sink cabinet to same Rockport Gray as the new cabinets. The old upper cabinets match the open shelves for a consistent look.

A few weeks ago when I met Carol from House and Home Defined, she mentioned that she liked going antiquing so we made a play date and went to the Cambridge Antiques Market today to look for a few things I wanted for the dining room and kitchen shelves.  

The Cambridge Antiques Market is a multi-dealer store and has a little something for everyone.  This was one of my favorite booths.

I have real weakness for pottery and this stuff was beautiful.

As luck usually has it, you never find what you're looking for but you find a few things you didn't know you needed.

I came home with these old mezzalunas and some weird pair of clippers.  I think they're great as sculpture.

And those have found a home on the wall as you walk into the kitchen.

Carol and I had a great time.  I can't tell how nice it was for me to walk around such a place with someone who shares my excitement and vision for things.  What until you see the little project she talked me into!

I'll add it to the list.