Summer Sizzle

Nothing says summer’s here quite like the first barbeque of the season. Don’t get me wrong, we are lucky enough to grill pretty much year round, despite the wet weather and sometimes snow. Our grill has also served us well in times of power outage. Having a side burner to boil water for tea certainly comes in handy when the power goes out.

Our family cooks all kinds of stuff on the grill. Some of the family favourites include asparagus, bell peppers, potatoes, whole salmon, pineapple, bananas, peaches . . . you name it, we grill it!

One of the easiest (and fastest) things I like to grill are pesto prawn skewers. Each year, my mom and I make our own pesto using basil grown in the garden. We freeze it in ice cube trays to make ideal portion sizes. Defrost the frozen cubes in the sun, add a bit of olive oil to make it more spreadable, add in the peeled prawns and toss to coat and all the hard work is done.  Set the bowl in the refrigerator to let the prawns marinated and absorb all that basil goodness.

Successful skewers begin with soaking the wooden skewers in water for about an hour. This keeps them moist and prevents them from burning when on the grill (yeh, I know . . . there are metal skewers out there especially designed for grilling…one day I’ll pick some up). Then I thread the marinated prawns onto the skewers, usually six per skewer. In a package of 31 – 40 count prawns, I end up with six skewers. I line them up when I put them on; tail ends all facing the same direction. Then it’s onto the grill they go, at a 90 degree angle from the grill slats so that they don’t fall in as sacrifice to the Grill God (that’s what asparagus is for).

Prawns cook quite quickly on the grill, depending on your temperature. Essentially, the prawns need to turn from translucent to white and firm with pink veining. This usually takes about two or three minutes; flip the skewers, baste with pesto marinade, and two or three minutes more.

You can serve the prawns as they are on the skewers, and use a fork to pull them off. Often I’ll put these out as an appetizer while preparing the main meal. Or, I’ll take them off the skewers and add them to the top of a salad with other grilled seafood such as scallops, salmon and a white fish like halibut or cod.

They also work well on a bed of pasta (remember that side burner I mentioned? Perfect for boiling pasta) with the grilled bell peppers and asparagus.

Grilled prawns lend themselves well to a variety of dishes and are a great way to start your summer grilling season . . . (or throughout the year)

a bit of bliss . . .

. . . .oh, if only these beauties could speak . . .

Shoes . . . again

Sigh . . . . note to self. When you see a pair of shoes that catch your attention while travelling and they are on sale (well, actually, they don't necessarily have to be on sale). . buy them. Just buy them. These lovelies were in a store window in Amsterdam last year in May. Pay special attention to the pair in the center with the satin and silk two tone rosettes. Yes, the one with the yellow SALE sticker . . . .

The other day I was looking for a pair of shoes to wear with a blush and copper toned dress. Do you think I could find something I liked? that wasn't the same price as a mortgage payment? No, of course not.

I'd like to run away to . . . . .

It's Monday. I say it again . . .It's Monday. After a late night and an early 5am morning in order to do homework assignments, I am starting to feel the effects of too much to do and too little sleep. I have just two more weeks of pattern drafting and couture hand sewing classes and then I am free for the summer. Then I need to begin filling orders for pants and dresses for the fall collection.

If I could pick up and run away . . .

I like the dreamy-ness of this photograph, the subtle grace and whistfulness.

To walk barefoot on the sand in a beautiful frothy dress by Vintage Precious without cares. Bliss.

In the meantime, I will have to be content with a second cup of tea and some sinful chocolate caramel biscuits to get me through the day (store bought, I'm afraid).

Travel Memories . . .part 1

Ever gone back and looked at your travel pictures and thought . . ."I wish I could just hop on the next plane" ?. In 2008, I spent five wonderful days in Paris. When I saw this picture from my trip photos, I was instantly filled with a desire to pack a bag and vite, vite on y va !

Sweet and Pretty . ..take 2

Today's edition of Sweet and Pretty is brought to you by veroque, and is a pair of wire flower and green Swarovski crystal earrings. Prefect with summer and those flirty little dresses!

Wire Flower Pendant and Green Turquoise Swarovski Crystal Earrings

Stay tuned for more interesting Swwet and Pretty finds to come . . . . .

It's a Cinch !

Call me crazy, but I like corsets. That symbolism of ultra feminine suppression to me is just . . . ultra feminine. 

I own several corsets, both steel boned (where the steel ribbings are inserted all the way around) and steel / plastic boned (where only the front ribbings and stays are steel and the rest are flexible plastic). And while I’m not a tight –lacer by any means, I do like hug of a properly fitting corset on my body, not to mention what it does for my already hourglass figure or how it makes me feel. . . like I want to bust out in cabaret tunes.

Corsets have also improved my posture. Working at a desk most of the day, there is a tendency to slouch over and not sit up straight. I find I am less tired and my shoulders are not as sore on days that I’ve worn a corset. My “work corset” is an under bust style, making it easy to breathe while still providing support to my back and core. And most importantly, people at work don’t see the top or tail of it peeking out of my suit jacket. Not that there’s anything wrong with showing off a great corset. Just maybe not in a meeting discussing Bailed Waste Productivity Forecasts.


Then again, maybe that would make the meeting more interesting.