Summer Greetings & my Pampered Chef Adventure!

I don't know about you all but my 2017 is going by soooo fast!  I am shocked that it has been so long since I posted...apologies!

Lots of changes for me...good over all for sure!  The one I really want to share with you all is my adventure as a Pampered Chef person.  I have been a fan of Pampered Chef for over 20 years...which is crazy that I am old enough to use numbers like that...LOL!  I think that stuff sneaks up on a person for sure.

My children are both off to college and I was ready for a new adventure plus like a said I just love their stuff.  What really, really sold me was their amazing spiralizer!  I have been trying to incorporate much more veggies in my diet and I love spring rolls...total win, win with this amazing tool.

When doing spring rolls I have learned it is all about the prep...so I get all my veggies spiralized, the carrot, english cucumber or zucchini, poach my shrimp in lime juice with minced garlic, julienne some cabbage or iceburg lettuce, sweet red peppers & sweet onions, make lime wedges and have fresh basil and yummy slices of avocado on hand.  I simply put the strands of rice vermicelli into very hot tap water and put a lid on the container right when I start my prep.

Then you just quickly dip your wrapper into a bowl of room temp water, lay it on your plate and start assembling & wrapping your rolls.  My favorite dipping sauce, by far, is a mixture of 2 parts Lighthouse Ginger Sesame dressing, 1 part soy sauce with a dollop each of Garlic Chili Sauce and Sesame Oil - so yummy!  I use this also on any leftover veggies or vermicelli threads as a cool sauce...tasty with just a little kick to keep you alert!

I hope you have enjoyed this little tutorial.  My plan is to try and share a product I love and how I use it each week.  So many things have me excited...next week is the cold brew coffee maker and how I do iced summer coffee...very refreshing!

Thank you for stopping by and I hope you will enjoy these little tutorials...it is a bit out of my comfort zone but 2017 is all about learning new things for me!  Enjoy your weekend!

Appetizer Turns Meal...

 

This is a wonderful addition to your holiday bounty.  So much cheaper to make than to purchase in those little jars!  If you are not a fan of Velveeta you can substitute 2 cups shredded colby cheese but I love the super smooth consistancy of Velveeta. Enjoy!

Pendleton Round Up Time!

Our little slice of heaven in Pendleton is a sweet 1915 home on the historic North Hill.  We love our Farmhouse  Arts & Crafts home and love sharing it will our family and friends. Traditionally during Round Up we have a few or maybe more (wink!) show to join in the fun. 

If you haven't been to Pendleton you really should come by and check it out.  The Round Up itself is an amazing tradition and the Happy Canyon Pagent should be seen at least once in your lifetime...it is literally history brought to life!  We also have lots of fun on Main Street that is loaded with performers and street fair vendors, its our own little Pearl District!  We also have the Professional Bull Riders (PBR) event and a concert, this year it is Jake Owen & Lonestar. I hope you'll join us!

Roses, Herbs and Spring

I am so excited for spring...I have been plotting my garden for a couple weeks. I went to a vertical gardening class tonight and I can't wait to be able to put the big concrete wall in my back yard to use!  Check this out, so clever...can not wait to use it...I am thinking three types of basil, sweet marjoram and then rosemary for the top:

I also eagerly await planting my heirloom tomato seeds in my aerogarden to get them all ready for spring..Black from Tula grows amazing here and the taste is out of this world-plus it is really pretty.  I grew one called Violet Jasper last year that I am looking forward to planting again, a lovely salad tomato, cuts up into four nice wedges for the salad bowl and the taste is wonderful.

My lovely Eden Rose will hopefully bloom this year.  I have picked out a corner trellis design to build that will coordinate nicely with what I have in place now so I am glad to have that figured out.  Here is a picture of the Eden Rose so you can understand why I am so very excited to see them bloom:

 Happy Garden Planning!

I have been a bit shy sharing some of the things I like to do here on the blog.  I have been super happy contributing my ideas and participating in the First Citizen's Banquet here in Pendleton.  It's truly amazing what these civic minded people have been able to accomplish.  One of the cool side things that comes out of this annual dinner is a table decorating contest.  Basically different area entities, businesses & groups, etc., sign up to sponsor a table for 10.  Part of the process is to create a themed centerpiece and coordinating individual settings.  Of course everyone hopes to win but in the end its all about making it a special and festive night for the evenings winners, the citizens and those there to honor them. 
I have been fortunate have been asked to design the table for the Pendleton Cattle Baron's for the last several years.  I would like to share this years table with you all.  I created each item on our "Take Time to Treasure Yourself" themed table, as well as creating a raffle prize display.  It was fun, we were able to create it fairly thriftily, considering it was for 10 plus a center prize!  Thanks for sharing this with me and please excuse the photo quality, my iphone and I need to have a talk!

was the overall look, everything was a play on "treasure"

 I created custom labels for the handmade spa kits containing a candle with custom labeled matches, bath salts and sugar body scrub.  They also got a candy box with the center "treasure box" image on it and filled with dark chocolate coffee beans!  I know I keep using the word custom but it truly was!

this was the raffle prize we provided as well-a lucky party of four is going to have a blast mid May! I am pleased how it turned out and happy to have been asked to contribute!