Lilac Treats

 

Hello Friends!

Did you know that all varieties of lilac are edible? 

I just love lilacs so much!! I think they are exactly what heaven smells like. Well that, plus my sugared pecans baking. Lol 

I was scrolling somewhere and read that all lilacs are edible. And then I further read how you can make sugar or simple syrup from them. So I decided to make some sugar for now. I'm still thinking of doing a simple syrup while I still have some lilacs blooming. 

Have you ever tasted something flavored with lavender? I have had a lavender martini. And cookies with lavender. I've also had a honey and lavender latte. All were so delish to me. Not too strong a taste - just a hint of a floral note with the other flavors. So I imagine making something with lilac will be similarly gentle for flavoring. I can tell you the sugar smells amazing!! Here's what I did:

I picked lilac blossoms off of the stem and washed them and put them in my salad spinner. 

then dried them some more on a paper towel

Then layered them in a jar. I read you take about 3/4 c. of sugar to 1/4 c. of lilacs. But I basically just layered a few tbsp of sugar in a jar...added a handful of blossoms, then layered more sugar, then more blossoms etc. Until I reached the top. Then I shake the jar up every day. Tomorrow it will be a week and I will strain out the blossoms and then use the sugar in my baking. You can use it as a 1:1 ratio substitute for your sugar in a recipe. 

Here's some ideas I'm looking at making. You can find them on my pinterest here.

Have you ever tried anything floral like this? Eaten anything with lavender, rose, lilac? Would you? 😉 

Have a wonderful weekend Friends! xo

Wordless Wednesday

 

Happy Homemaker Monday

Hello and Happy Monday! ☀️ 

I hope your new week is starting out with sunshine and happy thoughts. I was busy cleaning and doing some home projects this AM. I'm still working on organizing things around here one room at a time. I have been feeling really good and I've been back to some good workouts each day and it feels wonderful! I also had both of my kiddos around for lunch today and caught up with them. Now I'm finally getting me time and working on this post. 

It was such a fun weekend because my daughter and I went and saw Taylor Swift in concert - and it was AMAZING!! I always really liked her and her music....but I have a whole new appreciation after seeing her perform in person. Holy moly does that girl put on a show! She is unbelievably talented. (sorry for any picture overload I'll share in this post. Lol) She does serious cardio during her show dancing & performing. Then she'll run and play piano or guitar and sing like an angel. She played for over 3 hours straight with only tiny disappearing moments for costume changes. Her backup dancers and singers and staging folks are incredible too. Truly a show of a lifetime and I got to enjoy it with my sweet girlie and with one of Annie's besties - whose Mom is a good gf of mine. So the 4 of us went on a road trip to see her. We saw her concert at US Bank stadium in Minneapolis. We had a stop at my cousin's house, first, to change and leave my car and catch an uber from there. The whole thing was amazing until the concert was over and it was pouring rain and thundering and lightening and we had to walk to get to an uber spot. So it kinda felt like I took a shower with my clothes on...I was that soaked. Lol But it was just part of the adventure and it was an epic day! 

Now on to this week ahead....

THE WEATHER OUTSIDE IS:

ON THE BREAKFAST PLATE THIS MORNING:

wasa cracker with some avocado, everything bagel seasoning & drizzle of hot honey. iced coffee with protein salted caramel creamer cold foam

ON MY TO DO LIST THIS WEEK:

figure out grocery list for later in the week, errands, Annie's summer hockey scrimmages, bereavement calls for hospice work, hospice work at the facility, home projects, visit my Mom

THINKING ABOUT:  

how wonderful it feels to have my back & rib feeling more like itself (I've been putting in a lot of work to strengthen everything)

AS I LOOK AROUND THE HOUSE

It was gray all morning but sunbeams shining in now. My daughter was just needing my help to find something (why can Mom always find things that are right in front of other family members faces?? Lol). Listening to music - currently Coldplay singing

CURRENTLY READING

I have yet to start the new book I'm planning to dive into - been too busy working on home projects 

ON THE TV TODAY:

  HGTV shows (currently loving Vacation House Rules), AGT,  Outlander, And Just Like That, Younger episodes I didn't finish, old movies taped (I just love the old black & whites)

*Matt and I watched a movie yesterday and I made us each a  bowl of popcorn using my my micro popper tool. I then melted butter to pour on top and we put on different seasonings and had some sour patch kids & a few peanut m&m's on top too. We sometimes like to splurge on calories that way and then we don't eat dinner. Do you ever do that? I just love that it feels like we're at the movies but snuggly in my comfy chair. ;) 

ON THE MENU THIS WEEK:

    MONDAY - Cheddar bay biscuits, creamy tomato soup, veggie tray

TUESDAY - pasta with marinara & my fresh garden basil, roasted lemon parm broccoli

WEDNESDAY -  parmesean chicken, salad

THURSDAY - need to get groceries - maybe make steak bites on the grill (i have grill baskets), corn on the cob, roasted red potatoes with ranch, melon

FRIDAY -  out for dinner?

TO RELAX THIS WEEK I WILL:

visit with my Mom, play with my flowers & garden

TIPS OR SOMETHING TO SHARE:

*does anyone know if this works?

FROM THE CAMERA:

showing Matt what we were doing while waiting in the merch line

and he answered back how he was home bonding with Ruby ;) 

at one point I took a shot of Annie & I could see she was wiping away a tear - my sweet girl was so happy to be seeing one of her fave artists that she really admires. 💗 

*sorry if some of the quality of pics isn't great as a lot of these I screen shotted from videos I took

*I had to share some video with you too. I took quite a bit but I thought the 1st one really shows her showmanship and the 2nd one is one of the songs she played from her folklore era - which is my favorite era. 💕 

PRAYER LIST:

 For an end to the conflict in the Ukraine and other areas of the world living in war & fear. For peace and unity in this country, especially from hate and shootings or violence.  For anyone sick, suffering, in pain or fear... that God bring them comfort and peace. For His Light and Love to cast out the dark everywhere. 🙏 

PRAYER, INSPIRATIONAL QUOTE OR DEVOTIONAL:

I hope you have a bright & wonderful week! I'm sharing this with Sandra of Diary of a SAHM for Happy Homemaker Monday.

Wordless Wednesday

 

*Cottage life this week (Matt's family property)

Happy Homemaker Monday

Hello and Happy Monday! ☀️ 

I hope you had a lovely weekend...and that those that celebrated Father's Day enjoyed a wonderful time with the men in your lives. We took my Dad out to dinner and caught up with him and my step Mom. It was so nice. 💕  And we dropped off some goodies for my step Dad. We're headed up to Matt's lake property to celebrate his Dad this week. 😊 

On Sunday morning I gave Matt some goodies too. As he is Bubba and Ruby's Daddy. 😉 And he truly is already kind of a stepfather and wonderful male role model in my kiddos lives. We are so grateful for him and the goodies were from all of us. 💗 

We also had my gf over on Friday night for a BBQ. We did some grilling. Ate out on the deck amid the birdsong. And then sat around the fire talking in the evening and making s'mores. Her crew has been out of town in FL for a big national volleyball tourney...but due to her job she couldn't go. So I made her come spend time with us. Matt and I do a lot with her and her hubby and we've become fast friends. We were talking about the plans we want to do as a foursome this summer too. 

Now on to this week...

THE WEATHER OUTSIDE IS:

ON THE BREAKFAST PLATE THIS MORNING:

yogurt with granola, iced coffee

ON MY TO DO LIST THIS WEEK:

errands, overnight trip to see Matt's folks, home projects, hospice work, helping a friend with a project, go to a friend's pizza party

THINKING ABOUT:  

going on a pontoon ride up at Matt's lake 💕 

AS I LOOK AROUND THE HOUSE

Sun finally came out. It was gray all day. I hear birds singing outside

CURRENTLY READING

??

ON THE TV TODAY:

  HGTV and cooking shows, AGT,some vlogs on youtube, Outlander, And Just Like That starts back this week

ON THE MENU THIS WEEK:

    MONDAY - 

TUESDAY - 

WEDNESDAY -  

THURSDAY - 

FRIDAY -  

*menu all up in the air this week due to little trip, pizza party at a friends one night. Out late for a project for a friend another night - so not sure. Tacos one night at the lake and next day his Mom said fried chicken dinner

TO RELAX THIS WEEK I WILL:

play in the lake, pontoon ride

TIPS OR SOMETHING TO SHARE:

FROM THE CAMERA:

tackle box season

getting used to kitty time over here

PRAYER LIST:

 For an end to the conflict in the Ukraine and other areas of the world living in war & fear. For peace and unity in this country, especially from hate and shootings or violence.  For anyone sick, suffering, in pain or fear... that God bring them comfort and peace. For His Light and Love to cast out the dark everywhere. 🙏 

PRAYER, INSPIRATIONAL QUOTE OR DEVOTIONAL:

Have a blessed week! I'm sharing with Sandra of Diary of a SAHM for Happy Homemaker Monday.