Making Potato Salad with Homemade Mayo

Not my potato salad, from lynn.gardner via flickr

Like I mentioned yesterday, my wonderful husband, Brentan, is here with a short guest post with his super delicious and popular potato salad. This time he made it slightly differently with homemade mayo. It truly made it stand out from past versions! Take it away, Brentan.

-Liz

This weekend I was in charge of both potato salad and pulled pork for our summer weekend BBQ.  I spent most of my time on the pork, and yet it seems the potato salad was the life of our party.  Producing it was simple enough:
INGREDIENTS:
- 1 big ol bag of red potatoes…I think I used about 10-12 small to medium spuds, cut into chunks
- about 1/8 of one very large red onion, nicely diced
- dill (maybe 2 tablespoons?)
- mustard (4 tablespoons?)
- salt (a pinch?  if you cant tell by now I don’t really measure things….)
- 6 hard-boiled eggs
- homemade mayo (1/2 lemon, 2 cups veggie oil, 2 eggs)
INSTRUCTIONS
- cook them taters.  Boil some water, salt it, add the potatoes (covered with water), wait until they are tender to a knife point and the skins are starting to detach…~30 minutes
- Drain the potatos and let sit and cool
- Add the chopped onion, dill, and mustard
- Loosely chop the 6 hardboiled eggs and add to the potatoes
- Make the mayo: Crack the 2 eggs into a food processor and pulse until mixed.  Then turn on the food processor and slowly add the 2 cups of veggie oil until its emulsified…then squeeze in the 1/2 lemon
- Add about 2 giant, overflowing, hopping spoonfuls of the mayo to the potato salad
- mix it all up, refigerate to let flavors meld, and enjoy!
- Finally, look confusingly at the ~1.5 cups of remaining homemade mayo and invent ways to use it in the next 48 hours before it spoils (or, you could just make less mayo….)

Linking to:

BBQ Summer Party

I mentioned in one of my previous posts that I hosted a little get together over the weekend. In addition to cleaning up the backyard and house, we cooked and cooked for some delicious food. My hard lemonade, the pasta salad, and the potato salad were definite highlights! Brentan spent quite a bit of time making mole and pulled pork which made for some good sandwiches.  He has a special guest post tomorrow to share his famous potato salad recipe!

It was a beautiful day and so nice to spend it outside with a few friends!

Have you been to any outdoor summer parties lately?

-Liz

PS. You can see my inspiration for the party on my pinterest board!

More Cool Pots

I spotted these cheerful lime green planters in front of a store front in Santa Barbara last spring. I love the bold, bright color! They scream welcome, welcome welcome!

Look at this clever re-use of an old wooden crate. Succulents never looked so good!

Here is a flash back from the past… a terrarium. I use to make these as a teenager back in the 1970′s. Mine never looked so cool. I’m going to make some again. all you need is a largish glass jar or bowl, some potting soil, gravel or stones and small succulents. They need very little tending and can be neglected for weeks on end.

Thanks, Liz, you got me thinking about sprucing up my summer pots. Succulents are so easy so hardy and look so fresh.

`Peg

How To Make Festive Summer Planters

 

 

I made a run to the garden center this weekend to brighten up the patio a little bit for a summer BBQ get together. I picked up some bright dahlias and planted them in these super cheap, but pretty, planters I found at Ross (which just opened up a few blocks from my house!). I matched them with some succulents and purple Alyssum for a colorful impact. Note: I put shorter plants in front, with the taller dahlias in the back. It makes for a nice composition.

These flowers are annuals, so after they start looking spent and no longer flowering, I’ll switch them out for other seasonal flowers.

I learned to make pretty flower planters from my mom. See that pretty garden in the header, up there? Yeah, that’s just part of her massive garden. She’s a  certified Master Gardener.

So, to answer the title of this post, ‘How to Make Festive Summer Planters,’ you need to learn from the best. Or just find some colors and flowers you love (dahlias are one of my favorites, and just happen to be in season right now), and play around with them to make a nice composition. I placed the flowers in their pots in the larger pot to determine an arrangement first.  Have fun, because flowers are fun!

-Liz

 

 

Breakfast for Dinner: Huevos Rancheros

You might have been able to tell by now that my household is a Mexican food-loving household. I’ve made canned salsa, mango salsa, mole, am inspired by Rick Bayless, but a simple favorite that I’ve been cooking more and more is Huevos Rancheros. One night, with nothing in the fridge to eat, I whipped up this fast dish for dinner. My husband is pleased, and I get a super tasty, super easy meal.

How to make Huevos Rancheros Alexander:

1. Fry some eggs. Do not break yolks.
2. Assemble fried eggs on burrito sized flour tortilla (my fav tortillas are from the local and delicious Mexico Tortilla Factory)
3. Smother with cheddar cheese, homemade spicy salsa, and sliced avocados. A squeeze of lime juice or sour cream add some depth if you like.

And that’s it. Super easy, super delicious.

 

Wine Tasting Notes: Foxen 2009 Sauvignon Blanc

A Cold Glass of 2009 Foxen Sauvignon Blanc

This second installment of Wine Tasting Notes comes straight to you from Foxen Winery on the Foxen Wine Trail in Santa Barbara County. Brentan and I took some time on our drive down to LA for the 4th of July to stop in some of California’s best wine country! The day was hot, one of the hottest of the year, and temperatures probably hit 105 when we were tasting in Foxen’s shady shack.

I learned about this remote little wine trail from Sunset magazine, but as Brentan and I traveled along it, we saw some familiar faces:

The little barn on the side of the road, Foxen, was featured in the movie Sideways. As we passed more people, we saw a few people with Sideways wine tour maps and guides! I couldn’t believe people were taking notes from a movie! But the wine at Foxen was delicious. Every bottle we tasted (which was 6 or 7) was great. Smooth with a good finish. And the tour was progressive, from their little old barn, to a new (air conditioned) tasting room and storage facility half a mile away.

The best wine was the Sauvingnon Blanc made specifically for the shack (as indicated by the ’7200′ on the bottle), probably since it was chilled and a nice reprieve on such a steamy day. It was also quite delicious on a warm Sunday evening like today, before and with dinner. Very citrus-y and crisp, it had a light, sweet, and slight oaky finish and a honey, floral aroma. In this acidic wine I tasted pears and lemons, for another perfect summer wine!

One other thing that I need to mention about Foxen- they’re eco friendly. I tasted a dry-farmed wine (made from grapes that aren’t irrigated (intense flavor!)) and their new facility is solar powered. Go green!

 

Price: $25 suggested retail on the Foxen website.

 

Value: Delicious for a nice evening or dinner

 

Score 4 of 5

 

Goes well with: A cold glass on a hot day, you’re eco-conscious best friend.

-Liz

Painted Floor Cloth

I saw some beautiful painted floor cloths at  a Craft Show that I attended this past winter.  Since then, I have been inspired to make one for my laundry room.  I checked out some instructions on the web to get an idea of how to make one but of course, I improvised with the materials I had on hand. Here is how I did it.

Step ONE –  Wash a piece of heavy weight natural canvas. I happened to have some in my fabric closet. I tossed it into the washing machine to shrink it and take out the sizing. It came out of the wash much smaller and a bit tangled.

Step TWO – Smooth out the tangles and begin to iron it FLAT. I ironed and ironed and ironed until I thought my arm might fall off. This is a crucial process because the rug needs to lay smooth without wrinkles or buckles. Take your time and do this well.

Step THREE – Fold all edges under about 1 inch. Take care to miter the corners for a nice finished look. To do this, fold a  triangle at each corner, then fold the two sides in to meet. There should be a diagonal line like the corner of a picture frame. You can trim away a bit of the triangle to take out some bulk. Then sew.  I first Zigzagged the unfinished edges before I straight sewed the hem. Make sure that your rug is square and even. I have read that you can staple the canvas around a hollow door to create a perfectly straight line for the hem. I did not do this because my rug was not the right size but if you have something like a door that is the correct size, this seems like a good idea.

Step FOUR – Prime the canvas. I rummaged around my left over paint and found some white ceiling paint to prime my canvas. I used a roller and painted both sides. I did this on my basement floor with a piece of plastic under the project. I think I put 2 coats of primer on each side. This is important because canvas is porous and needs to be sealed before the real painting can begin. My 48″ X 58″ canvas used up about three quarters of a gallon can of paint. It soaked and slurped up that much!

Step FIVE – Now the fun part can begin. I found this pattern from a rug that I saw at Anthropologie. You can take inspiration from books, fabric, china; look around. Once again, I used wall paint leftover from a different project. I was feeling mighty fine since I was using all found materials that were tucked away in the far corners of my house.

Step SIX –  Paint the background color first. Let paint dry before applying the next color. Experiment and play. Let the rug dry thoroughly (over night) before the next step.

Step SEVEN, EIGHT, NINE and TEN – Brush on a finish coat of Polycrylic water based Minwax protective finish. Let each coat dry before the next. I did this over the course of a few days.

Ta Da! You are done. Use a non skid pad underneath the floor cloth because it can be slippery. Wipe clean when necessary. Enjoy!

-Peg

Bedroom Decorating: The White Box Challenge

In honor of HGTV’s premier of Design Star tonight, I have a special new project of my own: the Guest Bedroom White Box Challenge.

White Box Challenge

I started yesterday by emptying out the guest room of everything except the white bed (yep, even that mirror left after I took the photo), so I could paint and redecorate. It may take me more than 2 days, and I will shop at stores other than the dollar store, but it’s my house and I set the challenge rules! My budget: $200.

It took 3 trips to Home Depot to get the right color and painting into the night, but I’m keeping it a secret so you can see a dramatic reveal when I’m done. It may be months, so I’ll try to give you a few sneak peeks as I go along.

But what do you think I’m going for? The original idea from last year of a modern, urban oasis:

A feminine vibe with florals and antiques, like the mood board here:

Or something else entirely?

Wait and see!

-Liz

Summer Homemade Plum Jam

My backyard plum tree has been producing like crazy this summer! I think it liked all the spring rain we got here.

I’ve been trying to find new ways to use the plums. So far I’ve taken a bunch to work, given them away to friends, and even gave a few away to a nice couple Brentan and I met wine tasting in Santa Barbara county last weekend! I’ve also learned how to make jam and made two batches of homemade plum jam.

I modified a Martha Stewart plum jam recipe with the recipe for stone fruit jam on the pectin package to make my summer plum jam. You can easily recreate it with about 7 cups of fresh stone fruit, pectin, sugar and lemon juice!

The jam has already gone on lots of toast, in a baked brie, and on a pb&j sandwich, and I have to say it is the perfect mix of sweet and tangy. Yum!