Wilted Lettuce | Summer Salad Recipes

Wilted Lettuce with Hot Bacon Dressing is one of those things that I've seen at our family's dinner table my entire life.  All of the adults would drool over it and rave about how heavenly it was.  I hated it (though I had never tried it).  Bacon fat?  On a salad?  Sick.

I didn't try it until I lived with Pops (my grandpa) and his wife, Mary Carol, for a brief stint after college.  Every night Mary Carol and I would come home from work and Pops would have a small feast waiting for us... usually fried chicken, grilled pork chops, spaghetti and meatballs, corn on the cob with a stick of butter- all of the good stuff.  Early in the Summer he would make Wilted Lettuce.

Normally I would not have even tried it - I had known for years that it was something I never liked, but for some reason as a guest in their home I didn't feel like I could turn down dinner.  So I tried it.  And loved it.  I asked him what was in it- he assured me I didn't want to know, as Mary Carol and I were constantly requesting healthier dinner options.  He was right!  The ingredient list may seem strange, but you will love the result- salty, sweet, crispy bacon with fresh greens and onions. 

Some purists would say that you can only make "wilted lettuce" with garden lettuce in the Summer, but I make it all year long with leaf lettuce from the market.

Wilted Lettuce
with Hot Bacon Dressing

1 head of leaf lettuce
1/4 cup of green onions, sliced
1/4 cup of red onion, sliced thinly
5 slices of bacon
2 tablespoons of dijon mustard
1/4 cup of sugar
1/4 cup of white vinegar
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/4 tsp cracked pepper

Cook bacon until crispy, rendering fat.  Drain fat into a small bowl and set bacon aside, letting it cool.  Crumble the cooled bacon.  To the bacon fat add dijon, sugar, vinegar, salt and pepper.  If the fat is still hot, just stir together the ingredients until the sugar has melted, then pour directly over washed lettuce, crumbled bacon, sliced green onions and red onions in a big bowl.  Serve immediately.  Don't worry if it is 'wilted' and limp before you get it to the table - it is supposed to be that way!

If you are making it ahead of time, keep the dressing separate.  Microwave the dressing for 20-30 seconds, stir, then pour it over the lettuce, bacon and onions just before serving. 

Landscape Lighting FAQ (& a weekend trip)

Hope everyone had a wonderful Memorial Day weekend!

Ours was certainly "memorable"...

And here we are, it's coming straight at us...

But alas, we were spared from any real damage. It wasn't actually as bad as we had anticipated... although it didn't officially hit until after midnight so we slept through the worst parts.

There were fallen trees, some flooding, debris/branches/leaves scattered throughout yards and a few power outages, but that was the extent of it (at least in our area). We were most worried about our two little baby palm trees that had just been planted, but surprisingly, they held up!

Here's a mid-storm shot of some flooding in our backyard:

 Unfortunately though, there was one casualty. It wasn't even the storm's fault, either. Our friend was helping us prepare by moving the outdoor furniture inside (it wasn't even necessary but he insisted), and dumped an umbrella full of old dirty water onto our sunroom rug.

RIP, Egeby. Fortunately it was only $30 at Ikea. I already have an idea in mind for the perfect replacement. More on that soon.

******

I'll get to our yard lights last, but first, I wanted to share some photos from our 3 year Anniversary trip.

We booked a night at a Bed & Breakfast about 45 minutes north of us, in a cute little town called Fernandina Beach, located on Amelia Island. We headed up there Saturday morning (only had a chance to stay for 24 hours as the storm was coming in Sunday).

The town is very quaint and historical, and we loved wandering through the streets, admiring the old architecture.

Here's the actual B&B we stayed at, Blue Heron Inn.

It was built in 1804 and the owners did a wonderful job of restoring and adding their own touch.

Here was the room we stayed in:

I loved the tall ceilings and the molding.

Our cute pink bathroom:

At dusk, they invited the guests to happy hour out on the patio. That was our favorite part.

Here's a few other neat houses we walked past...

This one had walls made out of recycled seashells!

This one had carousel poles as banisters for the porch...

This one was for sale. I looked it up and it was just 422k (3+2 3100 sf). Even in this desirable area, Florida is cheap!

I also found not one, but my two new favorite stores.

They were both large buildings set up as consignment shops, with different sections for each owner.

I was in beach-rustic heaven.

If I didn't already have a large wall map in my living room, I would have snagged these nautical charts up in a hot second and framed them as a gallery wall.

I loved the way they hung these book pages from the branches... kind of like a beachy Christmas tree.

I was so close to buying these awesome painted driftwood centerpieces... I just couldn't think of where I would put them.

And these vintage oars... be still my heart. $90 for the pair.

I loved this New Orleans bus roll.

Love, love love.

There was another consignment store, virtually identical to this one just a block away (Brad wouldn't let me go back and take pictures though), but it's called Eight Flags Antique Market.

I'm not one to buy anything unless there is a need for it in my home. (I hate clutter and extra "stuff").. so as much as I was obsessing over almost everything, I left empty handed. The good news is, they are only 45 minutes away so next time I have a decorating void to fill, I'll be back.

Finally, we made one last stop at one of Florida's oldest functioning lighthouses...

Fun trip! We'll be back soon.

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And now, an update on our yard. Brad had ordered another set of yard lights and they arrived Friday, so we went ahead and installed them that evening in the new flower beds.

 Here's what the light assembly looks like:

 You thread the wire through the stake and secure it to the base, then stake it down into the ground.

 After wiring everything together, Brad mounted the control box to the side of the house (next to the current box that controls the existing lighting on that side).


Here's the palm tree bed light placement (4 lights and 2 spotlights)

Here they are at dusk:

Here's the full set of 8:

I get questions about this from time to time, so I thought I'd give a quick rundown of our yard lighting FAQ's.

1. All of our lighting is LED. We prefer this over solar and incandescent because a) solar powered lights are much too dim for our liking, and b) incandescent uses more power and can be costly to run.

2. Each kit (which contains 8 lights) costs under $4/year to run (that's if they are running all night).

3. We have 5 kits total between our front and backyards—4 just like the above (with 6 normal lights and 2 spotlights), and one of the kits are hanging lights that we use over our pond:

4. We purchased the kits at different times, from both Amazon and Ebay. Because of this, the costs varied, but they were anywhere from $60-$120 per kit. The pond lights are made by Westinghouse, and the other sets are made by Malibu, but both of these particular styles seem to be out of production.

5. Each kit uses its own transformer, so you must have an electrical source outside to feed the power.

6. Installation is pretty straightforward, but Brad did have to make splices between wires to get the lighting arrangement we wanted. There's somewhere around 5-6 feet of wire in between each light.


That about covers it. Let us know if you have any other questions and we'll do our best to answer.

*******

My family is coming to town next week (all the way from California—it's the first time they are visiting the East Coast) so this week will be spent cleaning and preparing like mad.... which unfortunately includes some redoing of door handles. I'll be back with an update on how all of our spray painted ORB objects are holding up in the next post!

Peonies | 3 Ways to Display Individual Blooms Around Your House

It is finally Peony season in New England.  I say 'finally' because I've been seeing the blooms on blogs from back home for what seems like months.  I have had complete peony envy.  Not only because the season is later here than it is in the Midwest, but because I have no bushes of my own.  Ugh.  I used to at our old house in Fairway.  It was not a mature set of bushes, but it was on its way, producing a handful of beauties every year.  Enough to keep a couple of flowers on my coffee table, bedside table, bathroom vanity and kitchen counter for a couple of weeks.  All a girl needs.



What's worse? Now that our time has come in the North East I have to walk by bushes with their blooms blowing in the wind every day.  You might think that someone who doesn't have peony bushes of her own might enjoy walking by bushes that are in bloom.  No.

 
Here's why : Peonies are a cutting flower, people.  These ladies are meant for the stage.



If you are lucky enough to have a bush with big, lovely blooms- cut them!  Cut them in masses and bring them inside to enjoy.  I'll repeat: They are a cutting flower meaning they are grown for cutting.  They look best in when cut, not on the bush.  Another cutting flower?  Roses.  Roses on a rose bush are not nearly as attractive as when it is cut and placed in a container- alone as a single bud or in a group.

I used to feel guilty cutting flowers and bringing them inside until I came to this realization.  Like all of us, peonies have their strengths and weaknesses.  These girls truly are at their best when they cut and brought inside... in fact they last longer when they are kept out of the bright sun and heat.  Do them (and me!) a favor and go outside with your shears and go crazy.  Cut them!  Put them around your house in every container you can find.  Group them in pitchers and bowls- even vases if you've got 'em  Give them to your friends and neighbors that are not as blessed with your bounty.
 

Me?  I have to buy mine- $5 each at the market.  So, instead of big masses on my center island, I've plunked single blooms in drinking glasses, bud vases and bowls.  I have to say, I really enjoy them as individuals.  It helps me to appreciate these gals and their utter and completely flamboyant beauty.

Still stunning even as she falls apart... if we all were so lucky.

Easy Summer Centerpiece | Planted Herbs

I’m all for things that can serve double duty and make life easier- especially when they are really beautiful and simple to make.  This herb box moves from the window sill in my kitchen to the kitchen table for a last minute centerpiece. 

The long shape and low height of this box is perfect for a casual meal at my rustic harvest table.   You can make this in any shape or size that will compliment your window and your table.  This box is made from wood salvaged from an old barn in Vermont.  Keep your eye out for a unique vessel that you love, or make one yourself!  Your herb box can be made out of any material, as long as there is good drainage out of the bottom, which is easily done by drilling holes.



My herb box has become a fixture in my home, changing with the seasons.  In the Summer, I fill it with fresh basil and keep it out on the patio table all season long.  I never have to worry about putting together a centerpiece when we’re having friends over for a last-minute patio party, and as a bonus the herbs in the box just might inspire the menu.

Of course, you don’t have to only plant herbs in the box.  Late in the Fall, I plant paperwhite bulbs that will bloom just before the Holidays.  It is such a nice treat to have a full box of blooms on my breakfast table in the middle of Winter.


 You'll need...

-wooden box with drainage holes
-potting soil
-5 herb plants
-sheet of metal    

Directions :

Find or build a simple box that will fit on your window sill and will fit nicely on your table.  Be sure to drill several holes in the bottom of the box to enable excess water to drain out.

Create a liner for underneath the box out of a sheet of metal.  You can find tin or another light-weight metal sheet at the hardware store.  With protective gloves on, using a ridged straight edge, bend the sides of the sheet of metal up, so it fits around the box.  Be sure to make multiple folds on each side to hide sharp edges.

Fill the box half way with potting soil.  Plant the herb plants down the center of the box, then fill in with potting soil.  Water generously.