I made a wrap for lunch yesterday that was kind of everything I like.  The wrap itself was made with honey wheat, oat bran and flax.  Then I put a little mustard on the bottom, then beet humus, fresh garden lettuce, tomato, fresh garden cucumber and red onion.  And I drizzled just a little home made vinaigrette over it.  I had my favorite sparkling water with lemon with it. I call it my “spa wrap” because I used to see ones like them made when I worked at a spa.

At my favorite farm stand, sunflowers are only $1.00 a stem and I want to get a few stems to put in a blue mason jar.  Love sunflowers. ❤

I like the above idea to put on a chalkboard for the Fall season.  Wow, tomorrow is the first day of September, already.

I like the above idea to put on a front door.  Easy to copy from crafts found at Michaels Craft store.

Pumpkin Whoopie Pies are always fun to make this time of year.  King Arthur Flour has a really good recipe for these on their website.  I also pinned that recipe and several other pumpkin whoope pie recipes on my Fall recipes board on my pinterest.

I love pumpkins and Mums for Fall decor.

On Tuesdays, Melissa D’Arabian has a live cooking demonstration from her home in California on Facebook.  This week she took a 5 lb container of ground beef and made 6 prepped meals that could be put in the freezer and used for the week.

She divided the ground beef into 6 separate, almost 1 lb chunks.  She put 3 of the chunks in a big pot and just browned it while she was working on the other 3 chunks that she divided into 3 bowls that had a beaten egg and chopped garlic in each bowl.

She made Italian meatballs and barbecue meatballs that she put in freezer bags and labeled for the freezer.  For the Italian meatballs she added parmesan cheese and Italian seasoning.   And just barbeque sauce to barbeque meatballs.  She said that you could also use ground turkey instead of the hamburg.  She used 85/15 ground beef.

When she froze the meatballs she put the meatballs in the freezer and she put them in so that they were like in the photo so they wouldn’t lose their shape.  I like the Italian meatballs idea the best and would be great to have for pasta with a good pasta sauce.

Then she made a meatloaf with one of the bowls of ground beef.

With the ground beef that she browned on the stove, she divided it into 3 separate freezer bags and labeled one for Taco Night, one for Sloppy Joes and and one for Slow Cooker Chili.

She put all the recipes on her website which is melissadarabian.net.

Melissa is so awesome.  I have a personally signed cookbook from her that I won on a contest that she had on her website.

Something really cool is that Melissa went to UVM in Vermont for college.

I like all her ideas and her cook books and her Tuesday night live cooking demonstrations are really neat.

I like the above slow cooker recipe that I came across that is just chicken, potatoes, carrots and green beans that makes an easy and tasty meal.  I put that recipe on my crock pot recipes on my Pinterest.

I also like the roasted veggies and cous cous recipe that is one of my new favorites.  It’s awesome for using Farm stand veggies up.  I put that recipe in my veggie board on my Pinterest.

I also saw an idea for making your favorite salad with the dressing in the bottom and putting the salad in mason jars for the fridge to use when you want a quick salad.  You just have to shake the bottle and voila. I also like the turntable for the fridge.

And I like the fridge storage ideas for using dollar store containers to make the fridge organized.  She also put a placemat under the storage containers.

And that is my Wednesday musings for today.

If you want to add value to your house, it’s my opinion that the kitchen and the bath are what sell a house.  The above spa bathroom for a master bedroom would be what would sell me in a New York second.  I love the natural light and colors.

And then a spacious walk in closet would be a plus.

The above kitchen would be the ultimate with the bay window and breakfast nook.

I would have the above chandelier over the breakfast nook and cathedral ceilings that showed open beams and white ship lap boards.

A walk in pantry with a wine cooler.  Everyone has different taste, but that’s what I like.

I’d love a stove like the above.  The gas burners are awesome and then a grill and two ovens.

I got a King Arthur Flour catalog in the mail yesterday and read it cover to cover.  They had all kinds of Fall ideas with apples and pumpkins.

Love the apple pie and Apple Cinnamon baked oatmeal idea in the catalog.

Love the pie tools.

The Fall pumpkin ideas are awesome.

I want all those spices…….and I love everything in that catalog.

Then the pie tools.  OMG.  Love them.

That bread machine and all the bread mixes.  So awesome…….<3

The sourdough starter and crock plus the recipe book that comes with them.  So cool.

And then the bread tools.  I could go on and on, but those are just a few of my favorites from the King Arthur Flour September catalog.

And that’s my musings for the day.

I found this old photo of the town where I was born.  We moved from there when I was 3 years old.  But I can remember loving to go into J J Newberry’s 5 & 10 store.  I loved the toy section of the store and always had a hissy fit if I couldn’t have a new little 10 cent plastic baby doll wrapped in a bunting.  I remember the Opera House movie theater that was in the building by that tower clock.  I loved the cowboy movies and I remember being scared by the tigers in the Tarzan movies.

I remember the frosty mugs of root beer from the A&W when I was a teenager and how the root beer was sooo good.  I also remember being a car hop and how heavy those mugs were to carry when there were like 5 huge full mugs on a tray.  They used to have fried bread dough that was scrumptious.  There still is an A&W Rootbeer stand in Middlebury, VT.

I remember the Super Duper grocery stores that my Mom like to shop at.  You don’t see that store anymore.

I remember as a little kid the Woolworths store and also Fisherman’s that were so fun to browse around in.  I always got ten cents worth of M&M’s that they weighed and put in a little bag at the candy section.  Sometimes I got ten cents worth of peanuts.  As I got older and a teenager, I worked and earned my own money and liked the expensive department stores and wanted designer and spent every cent I had on clothes, lipstick, make up and magazines.  Also 45 rpm records with rock n’ roll music.  The 5 & 10 stores were mostly gone by then anyways.  I can remember friends that got me interested in a more sophisticated taste.  One of my friends got to be CEO of a computer company in Boston and got a doctrine degree in her education.  She has a BMW roadster as one of 4 cars and has two houses.  One in Vermont and one in Massachusetts.  She met her husband in college.

While I got my education from the school of hard knocks.  Oh well.

My kids used to love the Toy Castle in Claremont, NH.  They had a toy train inside with tracks that went around the whole store.  The tracks were following the walls and about eye level of a tall adult.  All kinds of toys inside and the whole atmosphere of the place was awesome for a child.  That building is long gone.

I loved, loved, loved Borders book stores.  So sad when all those stores in my area are gone.  The cafe part where you could get a coffee or an ice tea and just sit for hours looking over books that you wanted to buy.  I always bought a book and had a hard time figuring out which one I loved the very best and was a must have.

As far as I can see as an older person that has been around for awhile, that there is a trend on almost every business.  The stores start out doing really well.  Then between being taxed to death and if they rent a space, the rent being way much, they just can’t make it.  I think that is wrong.  The politicians running the government locally do not have a clue as to what they are doing.  Sad.

I loved an Olive Garden Restaurant that was in Keene.  Beautiful building and the food was really good.  Keene, NH taxes businesses so much that there is no way they can make a good profit.  That business went out within just a few years.  As for an Olive Garden even thinking of coming to Vermont, they don’t even think it.  Vermont has driven every business out before they even think of coming here.  At least New Hampshire is doable to make a small profit for a business.  I actually don’t know how any business stays afloat, especially a restaurant.  Food prices are crazy to say the least.

And that’s my thoughts for today.

Some fond memories of Sunday mornings.  That’s when you have bottomless cups of coffee and have long, leisure talks with your loved ones.

Easy blueberry muffins was a tradition for Sunday morning that we had.

Along with easy scrambled eggs.  Nice little traditions.

I love fresh fruit cups.

I would like a farm porch like the above for Sunday morning breakfasts.  Simple and just fun.  Enjoy the Sunday paper.  So relaxing.  Would have a screened in porch.

Grilling for Sunday lunch.  What a nice Sunday tradition and picking up fresh veggies from a local farm stand.

Then take the bikes and go for a long bike ride and watch the sun set.

Summer Sunday traditions. ❤

Love sitting on a deep porch while it’s raining. ❤

Rainy days should be spent at home with a cup of tea and a good book.

I can remember one of my favorite memories as a kid was when my folks rented a cottage on a lake on my Dad’s summer vacation.  There was a screened in porch that looked over the lake and one day when it rained, my Mom made corn chowder for lunch for my brother and I and two of our friends that we had water skied on that beautiful lake with their boat the day before.  With the soft rain coming down and that chowder and good times laughing and enjoying that beautiful lake and wonderful friends.  Always will remember my Mom’s corn chowder and the love she put in her cooking.  She was the best cook ever.

Being out in the rain isn’t bad if you have the right gear.  A rain jacket and rain slicks work pretty good.

I like a good fowl weather jacket.  I wish that I had a jacket like that with me when I was at a sports event and unexpected rain came up.  Got drenched before.

Then you just have to dance in the rain.  Kind of fun, anyways.

Little kids love the rain just like baby ducks.

I always open my window just enough to hear the rain.  Then I feel cozy and safe from the elements of pouring rain and yet I can enjoy the sound of the rain.

Lots of colorful flowers around.

I like the colors that compliment each other.

Simply pretty.

Corn on the cob is so sweet and delicious this time of year.  When I was at the farm stand yesterday, there was a man in line behind me that must get the same thing every day.  The clerk said, dozen ears Gary?  He nodded and was off to his car with a smile on his face after paying the clerk.  Butter and Sugar Corn on the cob with melted butter and sea salt.  Simply one of the deliciously sweet and fun sides for this time of year.

I like Frittatas.  But my favorite is to sautee sliced onions and sliced mushrooms and then add the beaten egg and Vermont Cheddar Cheese cut up in little chunks.  Then I save some of the cheese to put on top.  I use a small fry pan that is oven proof and after browning the bottom of the Frittata, I put it under the broiler for just a few minutes.  It puffs up golden brown with melted cheese and is scrumptious.

I like the above hanging plant idea.  I love that planter with the ivy.

I love how the Woodstock Inn has Kelly Gardens and they grow all the veggies that their Chefs use in their awesome recipes.

Then the Woodstock Inn has flower gardens and they use the flowers for their tables.  So beautiful.

I like sun catcher planters with ivy in them.  And the above one has a little Spider Plant in it also.  I’ve taken baby spider plants that fell off a big spider plant and rooted them in water and then they grow into a huge Spider plant that can be replanted and it has new baby Spider plants on it.

Woodstock, Vermont is beautiful this time of year.  All the little shops have window boxes and I love the white Hydrangas and the covered bridge that is right in the middle of the town and they call it the “Middle Bridge”.

I saw a neat recipe that uses zucchini that looked good and is easy to make.  They put capers and olives in a bottled marinara sauce.  Then they baked Cod in parchment paper and put it over zoodles.  I pinned the recipe on my Pinterest Zoodles board.

Because I love all things French, I think the above is the ultimate key chain.

And that’s my thoughts and inspirations for the day.

I was out and about early this morning and on my way back I took the NH side home and went by Morningside Flight Park and saw a Hang Glider being pulled through the air by an airplane.  They go up about 2000 feet.    So fun to see.

And then in the same area, there was a Paraglider just circling along in the air.

I collect coffee mugs and I really like the above mug.  It’s made in Italy and I love the lemon on it.  I love the blue and yellow colors.

I love the color blue and blue Morning Glories are one of my favorite flowers.  I think that the above stained glass is beautiful.  I know just the place I would put that if I owned it.

I just love Farm Stands that are everywhere this time of year.  My favorite farm stand has a bundle of greens that have about 5 kinds of lettuce and 2 kinds of kale in the package for only $1.99.  It’s like going out in your garden and picking lettuce only they grew it.  Then they had cucumbers, peppers, tomatoes and red onions fresh from the garden.  I had some mushrooms that I added to the mix.  I made the freshest and most fun salad ever for lunch today.

I like the above quilt pattern.  It’s a pattern from the 1930’s.  My Mom one time told me that her and her cousin made a butterfly quilt when she was a kid.  I never asked her the details, but in my mind and knowing my Mom’s taste I think that it must have been like the above quilt.    I love the colors and I love the pattern.

My favorite place in the world is Nantucket island.  I love the above pillow that is needlepoint from a Claire Murray kit.  I have a Claire Murray circle rug that is similar to the pillow only it’s not needlepoint and I just love it with the catboats and lighthouse.

And that’s my thoughts for today.

Have you ever noticed how it’s almost impossible to find a nice dress that fits and is flattering?  Also how Kate Middleton has dresses that are so ladylike and stylish but also very expensive.  It’s my opinion that if you can find a pattern and fit it like a tailored dress that it would be the ultimate to add to your wardrobe.  What makes a dress expensive is the material and fitting it just right.  Style Arc, which is online, has the above patterns and I pinned them to my Sewing and Crafts board on my Pinterest.

A pattern for the above designer dress that probably cost a ton of money is a nice find. I think the pattern is about $16.00 and it’s from Australia.   I like the color of the dress and she has a light pink shoe that looks really nice with it.  It’s a Roksandra llincic design and so totally stylish.

I like that sweater and it would be awesome to wear shopping.  I found a pattern for that and pinned it on my sewing and crafts.

I like the above hairstyle.  It just looks so elegant.

I like the Heather dress that is another Style Arc pattern.

I also like the Kate dress pattern the Style Arc has.

Simplicity also has a pattern that is really stylish looking.

I found some Butterick and Vogue patterns that were really nice, also.

Why not dress like a Duchess.  Her clothes are tailor made designer.  To buy them would cost a small fortune.  But to copy the look and have lots of stylish clothes by tailor making them yourself would be a fun and creative idea.  The material that you can find out there is endless and for me it would be trial and error, but fun to try.

I saw a recipe for Taco casserole that sounded really good.  They put Bisquick over the taco flavored ground beef that they put 2 envelolpes of taco seasoning in.   I think corn bread would be good, also to use in place of the Bisquick.