Kitchen Updates!

Well, this might be my favorite post ever!  I have finally finished our kitchen and can honestly say that I now have the chef's kitchen of my dreams.  Although, it took over two years to put it all together, it was so worth the wait and I could not be more happy with the end result.  

It is amazing what a difference painting the cabinets, changing the appliances and adding crown moulding has made to this space.  I spend most of my time in this room of our home, which is why it was a priority to us and I can now say that I truly love being in that kitchen even more than ever.

Original Kitchen

Updated Kitchen

Before Painted Cabinets and Crown Moulding

After Painted Cabinets and Crown Moulding

Kitchen Island

Fresh Flowers

Our little Winston enjoying the new kitchen :)

Basil Peach Infused Sweet Tea

Y'all, this is the best sweet tea I think I might have ever tasted and I have had a lot of sweet tea in my day!  I started with my usual base sweet tea recipe which is: 

2 quarts of purified water brought to a boil, 1/2 cup pure cane sugar and 1/4 cup honey or agave stirred in until dissolved and then 5 decaf iced tea bags and 3 decaf green tea bags steeped in it for 5-8 minutes.

Once it cooled I added a bunch of frozen peaches and fresh basil leaves and let them infuse for a few minutes. When it was ready I poured it into a glass of ice and garnished with a basil leaf and lemon slice... YUM.

If you like infused water and/or iced tea, you must try this!

Happy Easter!!!

We had quite a lovely Easter this year minus the clouds and rain (which never happens in California, but never the less had to happen on the one day that is "supposed" to be bright and sunny).  Anyway, besides the weather, we had a beautiful Easter day full of the best F words there are - friends, family, food, flowers and fellowship.   

We started the morning off at church and then the rest of the day revolved mainly around eating!  We had deviled eggs, of course, for apps and grapefruit margatinis made by Amber that were absolutely to die for, followed by a huge meal to feed all 14 of our guests.   

Easter dinner consisted of honey orange glazed ham, truffle mac 'n cheese, scalloped potatoes made by my husband and roasted spring vegetables (including brussel sprouts, carrots, yellow squash, butternut squash, zucchini, red onion and dates, all diced on the diagonal into bite size pieces, tossed in olive oil, balsamic, honey, sea salt and cracked pepper, roasted at 400 until crispy and then topped with freshly crumbled goat cheese) it was amazing.  

Lastly, we finished our meal off with Easter themed cupcakes and lemon curd french macaroons from Half Baked Co. accompanied by homemade strawberry shortcake and banana pudding in mini trifle dishes.  I would say they all went over very well with our crowd :)

Hope all y'all had a Happy Easter!