Friday's Fancy

Today I leave you with a little inspiration

Have a blessed weekend!

a New Way of Cookin'

Hello Friends! Here we are in the last week of summer. Some kids are already heading back to school. Seems as we get older the time goes faster and faster. But I must confess we are entering my favor season of all... Fall!

To close out our summer the Hubby and I splurged on a new grill. A Traeger Wood Pellet Grill to be exact. It is a grill, BBQ, smoker, and a wood-fired convection oven all-in-one. 

What I love is the Traeger Wood Pellet Grill is simple and safe to operate. When it is turned on, the igniter rod is activated, the auger begins to feed pellets into the firepot, and the draft induction fan feeds air into the firepot. The igniter rod glows red hot for the first four minutes of operation - just long enough to ignite the pellets in the firepot. Then you set the thermostat, let it preheat, and you are ready to go. No more worries about propane.

We could not wait to start cooking. I used it to make my fried eggplant, without the frying.

Before I started the grill I lined the grill plate with aluminum foil. It took me longer to cut and bread the eggplant than it took the Traeger to heat up. Before I new it we were smoking. Our grill came with mesquite and hickory pellets, I used mesquite pellets. (we got ours through QVC - through the end of August it is the best deal around)

Don't they look so perfect and golden brown. And the taste, oh my what flavor, just a hint of the smoky mesquite.

Just look at these beauties...

Our first official dinner we made on the Traeger was BBQ Chicken with some veggies. I used boneless chicken breast and slathered them with BBQ the last 10 minutes. I combined potatoes and onions with olive oil, salt, parsley and garlic. And finally some green beans drizzled with a little olive oil and sprinkled with rosemary.

Look at this masterpiece...

Is your mouth watering? Mine is just thinking about how good this was. It was so easy, no flare ups, supper great flavor, and the chicken was juicy.

I can not wait to create more delicious meals on our new grill!

What is your favorite dish to grill?

Have great week,
Luanne

Friday's Fancy

Happy Happy Weekend Eve!!!

I think maybe I will start 

my weekend tomorrow

with a

Bake Potato Sunrise.

Looks delicious, right?

It is half of a baked potato stuffed with scrambled eggs.

We topped ours with bacon and shredded cheese.

What would you tops your with?

Enjoy the weekend

Luanne

a Day at a Festival

Hello Friends! I hope you enjoyed your weekend! The Hubby and I had a very laid back weekend. We are in for a week of humidity, so there is no turning off the air conditioner in sight.

Last weekend the Hubby and I went to the North Branford Baked Potato and Roasted Corn Festival. It is in its 14th year and brings tens of thousands of visitors, over four days, to the typically sleepy farm town.

Emerging, almost overnight in a hay field at the former Augur Farm on Rt. 22, is a gathering of dozens of food vendors, craft vendors, a midway with rides, potato sack races, corn shucking contests, tractor pulls and a classic car show. There are local and far flung bands that perform and a spectacular fireworks display on Saturday night. And of course, there are plenty of baked potatoes and roasted corn.

As we entered the fair we were greeted by a display from local garden center, Van Wilgens.

First order of business, check out the food vendors. It's why you go to a fair, isn't it?

 
I instantly spotted this little grilled cheese stand called Monster Mouse Grillhouse.
This was the first stop where we enjoyed a grilled cheese sandwich with fresh tomatoes and fried pickles. What a great way to start off the fair! (this was our pre-lunch snack... lol!)

With our bellies full (for the moment), we set off to catch the tractor pull competition. But first they had to prep the field. Bring on the back-hoe.

 
 Now for the tractors...

This boy was only 13 years old and drove a tractor better than most people drive cars.

We then headed out on a hay ride. What a gorgeous day, slight breezy and the field was beautiful. We even passed over a small brook.

Now it was time for lunch and a fresh squeezed lemonade.

We got our lunch from this place called Chompers...

Yes, you read it correctly... Crunchy balls of goodness!!!  And they were.

Ours was filled with bacon cheeseburger and came with a kickin ketchup. They were fabulous!!

We took a stroll through the midway rides. These kids were having a blast.

 
There were many local artisans with an array of crafted items for sale that we checked out. 

Of course we could not leave the fair without taking home a little goodie.

 
Oh YUM!!!!

The Potato and Corn Festival is certainly a weekend chock full of events ~ we had a blast!

           Have a blessed week,

 

Friday's Fancy

Happy Friday Everyone!

Hope your week went well.

Our tomatoes are ripening!!!

It is so exciting coming home at night

to see more ripe tomatoes to pick.

Last night we enjoyed a grilled cheese

with sliced tomatoes.  Yum!

Simply Beautiful!

Next week I will share our visit to the Baked Potato and Roasted Corn Festival.

Until then have a great weekend!

Friday's Fancy

Wahoooo it's Friday!!!

Whew what a week.

We had some hot temperature here!

When it is hot I always look for a quick and easy meal to make for dinner.

Thus, my love for the pot stickers.

A quick saute, add veggies and rice...

Walla.... a delicious meal lickety split.

Have a fantastic weekend!

My Garden

Hi Everyone:

It seems like the summer is zipping by. Even though fall is my favorite time of year, I do love when my garden is in full bloom.

Our tomatoes are growing wonderfully. We were able to pick one and it was delicious.

 

The others are slowly growing. We look anxiously everyday to see if we can pick one. Not yet, hopefully soon.

Aren't they looking great!!!  Oh, the tastes of summer...

I planted a variety of flowers this year petunias, inpatients, begonias, and others I can remember their names. We have day lilies that come back every year. I just love them, no fuss, no muss, they just look beautiful year after year.

Below are a few close-up of my blooms this year...

I have to say, those blooms make me smile everyday, especially when I come home from work and these are what greet me along my walkway. Then my heart overflows as I enter my home and there are by my beloved Hubby and Otis. They just make my heart swell.

Hope the summer is treating you good. I cannot believe it is August already...
What has the summer had in store for you thus far?

            Enjoy the week!

Friday's Fancy

TGIF!!!

 

Wow what a busy week this was for me.

I am certainly not complaining because it is a good kind of busy.

My new job is going well and my freelance is picking up.

The only down fall is, it keeps me from blogging and crafting.

 

Try as I might I still cannot add more hours to my day... lol

 

Since it is Friday, I will leave you with image...

 

 

 Enjoy the weekend!

 

Friday's Fancy

Exciting News...

We Picked our First

Ripe Tomato!!!

 

 

and even better yet

we turned it into 

something delicious...

 

 

Oh I am in heaven!!!

Happenings...

Hello All! I hope you are enjoying your summer. We have has a few hot and steamy days here, but they say the next few days are going to be dry and gorgeous. Keeping my fingers crossed.

Last week we celebrated my Hubby's Birthday on Wednesday. In between the time he left for work and the time I left I decorated our dining room table so he would have a little surprise when he came home.

That afternoon, I got a cute text from him when he arrived home, saying thank you and how special I made him feel. There is no better feeling than making the one you love feel loved a whole bunch!

So what might you ask are in those presents.... Well, My Hubby just loves his ice cream, so when I was thinking of what to get him for his birthday (and since he did throw any hints my way) I bought him an ice cream maker, a Ben & Jerry's recipe book (his favorite ice cream company), and all the fixing to go with it.

He was so thrilled!!! He checked out all the recipes and decided he wanted to make a sorbet first. So the next day, after work, I stop at a local farm stand and picked up some ripe raspberries. We got out all the ingredients and we were off making sorbet.

I got him the Cuisinart ICE-21

Can you believe the color... no food color here, only fresh raspberries. It only took about 15 minutes for the sorbet to come together. When it finished it is like a soft serve consistency, so we put it into a container and placed it in the freezer. After an hour it was ready.

OMG guys!! It tasted fantastic, such a punch of flavor, not at all like what you get from the store.

We took last Friday and Monday off to have a little stay-cation. On Friday, we headed out about 10am and stopped for breakfast at our local diner. We then took a rural route north and passed by farm stands and such. We stopped by a local orchard for some cider.

We sat outside enjoying the view and great weather (it was dry, breezy and in the upper 70s) It was a top ten perfect summer day.

Of course I had to take a goofy picture.

This one is for my Mom, as her and I have this running joke about sunflowers!!! Love you Mom!

The Hubby and I had such a fantastic time together, no real destination, laughing, and joking. We ending the day with a great dinner. Sometimes the best times are the ones that are not even planned.

Enjoy your week!

Friday's Fancy

Since today is Friday remember to...

KEEP

CALM

AND

EAT

CHEESECAKE!

I made this beautiful for our 4th of July Celebration.

Yes, it did taste as good as it looks!!!

Have a fantastic weekend!