Grilled Figs Courtesy Of My Friend In California

Got a hot tip from my dear friend who is currently studying in Nothern California where the dinner parties are plentiful and the produce is always on point: grilled figs with goat cheese and honey. Having never seen figs in my local Stop & Shop, I quickly snapped up some black figs at Delicious Orchards, a great source for high quality produce of both the rare and pedestrian variety.

I cut the figs in half, grilled them skin side down for a few minutes, until they started to look juicy, then spooned a little plain goat cheese on each fig, topped with a lot of fresh black pepper, and drizzled some honey over the whole plate. Delicious, and suitable for an appetizer or dessert!

Next time I'll have to get my friend to tell me more about her mom's specialty, Devils On Horseback -- dates stuffed with almonds and wrapped in bacon. I haven't had the courage to try to make them myself, though I am always available to eat them!

Zinnias = Summer = Happiness

The first thing I would plant in a cutting garden.

Finally! Felt Pillows!

Remember all that felt I bought? And those Hable Construction pillows I kept saying I could make? Well I finally got around to making them, with the help of a $6 plain white Ikea pillow cover and a little inspiration from my favorite building art in New York City.

Actually, I only made one so far, but I plan on making a complimenting pillow with an aqua accent color next week while I'm on vacation. I'll be sure to post the finished product on my new couch cover in my newly painted room as soon as it's all together!

Truly Easy As Pie

A great recipe just came my way from The Genius who pioneered the Cereal Bar: Frozen Lemon Yogurt Pie. One of her go-to recipes, she rattled it off to me at a moment's notice in a quick email exchange. I love the ease of it. And now we are even, as I had just dashed off the components of my (well, really I believe it belongs to Mark Bittman) Watermelon-Tomato-Feta salad in a text message, which she was inspired to make when she ran into some watermelon on her way to the yogurt aisle of the grocery store. She threw the salad together, ate some for dinner, and brought it for lunch the next day. No consternation necessary. That's what I'm talking about. All cooking should be that carefree.

As per my directions, the Lemon Pie could actually be a chocolate or any other kind of flavor that you can find in a yogurt. But we all know I love lemons (who doesn't, really?), and that's what The Genius recommended, so there you go. Three small containers of yogurt, 1 container of Cool Whip, and a graham cracker pie crust (I didn't make it myself this time. We are going for easy-breezy this time.) Mix it up, add a little fresh lemon juice and the rind of a lemon, pop it in the freezer, wait, and eat.*

An excellent frozen alternative to ice cream, and all anyone should ask of us in the month of August. When you eat it, it will taste way more complicated. Two thumbs up!

*Don't forget your Lactaid pill.

Rug Love

Put it in the category of things I really can't afford: the Vivienne Westwood designer collection by The Rug Company. Holy smokes this rug would look amazing under my yellow Trina Turk chairs.

You know it's out of your league when they don't even list prices on the website.