5 Ideas for Preparing your INCOMING Crop of Tomatoes

If you are anything like me, once those gorgeous fresh tomatoes start rolling off the vine in mass quantities, or if you simply have a hard time resisting to buy them at your local farmer's stand, it can become a little overwhelming trying to figure out what to do with all of them. Of course you can always jar or freeze them, but what other ways can you enjoy the freshness of an amazing summertime tomato plucked straight from the vine?

Well here are five of my all-time favorite recipe ideas from both 21 Rosemary Lane and TheBigGiantGoodBasket , for preparing this fantastic yet nutritious summer fruit. 

Starting from the left...

This tower can be a meal in itself, or served as a classy  pre-meal appeteeezer!

This Greek tomato  salad is a great side dish idea for any summer cookout!



Another appeteezer here...love the idea of pairing the creamy avocado with these sweet cherry tomatoes...Yum! So perfectly bite-size!



My tomato basil soup also contains a touch of Parmesan cheese. Just the right amount of comfort in this favorite comfort food.



And lastly the classic pairing of tomato, mozzarella cheese and basil tossed with a home creation of garlic infused olive oil.

All you need to do is click on the image of the recipe you'd like to check out, and you will be flown first class to that post. 

Super easy right?? And the recipes are super easy as well.

Good luck harvesting and enjoying those oh so juicy tomatoes!!

XO

New Blog for the Styling 50ish Woman

One of my favorite bloggers Pam, of the the wonderful home interior blog BeColorful, announced today the launching of her new blog titled...

A 50ish Life

Don't you just LOVE her header? 

I have been a follower of Pam's for almost 2 years now and I have to tell ya that this gal has great style and a unique flair with regard to everything and anything she does. So it doesn't surprise me that she has created a fashion/fitness blog for today's 50ish woman.

As Pam so beautifully describes what her new blog is all about...

"A 50ish Life is where I hope to bring you flattering style trends, shopping suggestions and sites along with new ideas to refresh your existing wardrobe. I welcome suggestions from you and hope you will follow along as we both weave our way through the green lights,  caution signs, and detours that make up our life and style adventures."

I am so looking forward to following Pam's blog and hoping to learn a few things about how to spice up my own wardrobe and and to stay hip as I begin to move through this most marvelous decade of my life!

Who doesn't want to be Fab and Fifty? or even fab and forty?...heck for that matter who doesn't want to be just plain fabulous???

Hop on over and check out 
A 50ish Life
 and have a great week!!!

XO

Niagara Falls. Ontario Canada

XO

Sharing at these blog link parties...

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Cedar Hill Ranch

Beachy Chevron Burlap Wreath made with Love

Last fall our dear friends Peggy and Ken almost lost their family's beach home to superstorm Sandy. (To read about how these DIYers refurbished and refurnished this home on a pretty tight budget, just click here.) They literally spent every weekend over the winter and spring months repairing and rebuilding the home. Well I really wanted to make something to compliment the home and congratulate them on their new and improved beach bungalow.

Using some of Peggy's favorite colors which she infused into the home in the way of the interior furnishings and accent ideas, I came up with this burlap wreath creation.

 Along with the cute little starfish, Peggy selected this chevron print burlap for the background of the wreath. I then was responsible for the overall design. 

Nothing says "beach" to me more than flippy floppys, so I grabbed a pair of little girls flips in a fun orange at my local Walmart. I then found the kid's sunglasses there for about $3.00 and on the same trip I picked up some ribbon in orange and yellow.

So I had my yellow and orange colors, but I also wanted to bring in one more color from their living room...that beachy blue! I decided to add the first letter of their family name to personalize it for them and painted it a gorgeous aqua. 

By the way this is the wire ring I used...

Now that the wreath is completed I am super excited to give it to them!

 If you wouldn't mind indulging me for a moment, I'd like to add a very personal note to this post.

 Eight years ago by complete chance, Mr. Rosemary Lane and myself met Peggy and Ken. And as the years have gone by and children came into the picture, our friendship with them has grown and deepened to such an incredible level of trust and love. We have been through so much together as Peggy and Ken both suffered family losses over the past year in addition to the devastation superstorm Sandy wreaked on their beach home. When my sister's husband Charlie was diagnosed as terminal with stage 4 lung cancer in 2010, they were there lending their love and comfort to us and Kim and Charlie every step of the journey. Our two families constantly lean on one another for help and support, almost to the point where it is hard to tell where one family ends and the other one begins. We have become that meshed together in our lives. Chris and I often say that God's hand was at work the night we met this amazing couple, and we thank Him every day for placing such beautiful and loving people in our lives. 

So this is for you Peg's and Ken...with much love!

XO

Sharing this post at link parties over at these super blogs...

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