Nectarine and Pistachio Crisp

I'm going to come out and just say it- I think that there is nothing better than fruit and nuts for dessert.  Yes, I do enjoy chocolate- but fresh fruit complemented with a bit of nuts has always been my favorite.  Whether the fruit is fancy and dressed up and baked, or just fresh and paired with ice cream, I'm always in heaven.

It all started while at the local farm stand.  The fresh nectarines were exuding such a strong sweet scent (alliteration!) that I couldn't go home without them.  I bought eight and left a happy girl, dreaming of all the possibilities.

Inspiration struck when I thought back to last summer.  I was helping my friend Julie make breakfast for her guests at the Newcastle Inn.  She took halved peaches and smothered them with a pistachio crumb topping.  She let me have what was left- I couldn't believe something could be so simple, yet so amazing.

Nectarine and Pistacio Crisp
(adapted from this Martha Stewart recipe)

6 nectarines

half lemon

5 tablespoons pistachios
1/2 cup powdered sugar
2 tablespoons cold unsalted butter
1/8 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Cut fruit into bite-sized pieces.  I peeled half of my fruit, but feel free to leave the skins on.  The skin was just a little too tough, and I didn't want that texture to overwhelm the whole dish.  Mix the juice of half a lemon with the fruit, pour into shallow baking dish.  Set aside.

Pulse 4 tablespoons of pistachios in a food processor until there's still a bit of texture left.  Add the rest of the ingredients.  Cut the butter into a few small pieces to make sure it doesn't clump in the machine.  Pulse again until the mixture resembles coarse bread crumbs.  Top fruit with nut mixture.  Coarsely chop the last tablespoon of pistachios and press gently into the topping.

Bake for about 20 minutes, or until topping is brown and the fruit bubbly.  It's a good idea to put something under the dish to catch the drippings if it does bubble over.

Serve warm with ice cream (I like Bryers natural vanilla!) and enjoy!

Show and tell!

It's been a while since I've had a show and tell!  I've been so busy and time is just flying by- I'll be a married woman in no time!  The first two finds are pieces that I just couldn't live without, the last one is will be used for decoration on my wedding day!  Read on!

1.  The red bench.  As soon as I saw this I knew it would be mine.  I don't ever decorate with red, but this piece spoke to me.  I love the sweep of the sides, the fact that you can see the layers of paint under the red and that the bench will just pop in whatever room you put it in- there's no denying the red bench.  It had a sold tag faster that you could say boo.

2.  The stock pot.  Oh, Good God in heaven.  The stockpot.  This was a piece owned by a client of mine.  It hung out in their storage area, was never used, and I distinctly remember telling the care-taker years ago, "Please, please.  If they ever get rid of this please please give it to me.  I love it so much and they'll never appreciate it as much as I do." When she presented me with the pot I clutched it in my little arms and and couldn't wipe the smile off my face.  The stockpot is mine!

3.  The half gallon vintage Ball Jars have made me so so so happy and have reduced my stress levels so much!  These things are huge!  I used my connections at the shop to acquire 33 of these beautiful babies, and I got them for a steal- $8 each!  They're regularly marked at $14 from this dealer, but he has a sweet spot for me- I'm a lucky girl!  When I'm all done with them he'll buy them back for $7 each- I'm basically renting the jars for $1 each!  

And why would I need thirty three ridiculously beautiful blue ball jars for a short period of time?  Because I've finally made a decision regarding the centerpieces for my wedding!  I've decided to use three of these jars for each of the tables.  I'm going with flowers that are in season, chrysanthemum and dahlia.  They're beautiful flowers, and in white and light pink I think they'll look just lovely in the jars.  

I'll be back tomorrow to tell you all about an amazing baked dessert I whipped up the other day-

My Mister is begging me to make another batch!

{My Bigger Picture Moment}

Welcome to Bigger Picture Moments, a weekly writing event sponsored by Bigger Picture Blogs. We welcome you to join us in finding the Bigger Picture amidst the hectic, everyday craziness in your week. Maegan at Madeline Bea: Life Set To Words is hosting this week, and Corinne at Trains, Tutus, and Tea Time is hosting next week; link up and share your moment with us! All are welcome!

(Bear with me!  This is my first Bigger Picture

 and I'm still finding my voice!)

So I'm on my hands and knees, scrubbing a floor that isn't mine, thinking to myself that "it must be nice to have so much money that you can have a monsterous house and not have to maintain it.  Just hire someone else to clean up your mess!"  Bob Marley is blasting through my headphones, singing about oppression and injustice and I'm thinking to myself "Hell yea!  That's right!  I'm oppressed!"  I'm getting all fired up, as I usually do in mid July when it's the middle of the summer and all of my clients are in Maine and enjoying their time off.  And I'm pissed off!  I'm mad about the rich and the not so rich, capitalism and income inequality.  I'm mad at the system, I'm mad that I don't have heath insurance.  I'm mad that I'm cleaning a ten million dollar home and My Mister can't even afford to get the medication for his rheumatoid arthritis.  I'm just mad.   All of a sudden it comes to me.

I need to stop it.  Stop it right now.  Getting mad right now isn't going to change anything.  Getting mad isn't productive, or helpful or even worth the energy.  I actually have really great job.  I am earning a living- way over the minimum wage that most people earn.  I'm taking care of myself, paying my bills and staying out of debt.  I've never felt true hunger, I've never had to skip a meal if I didn't want to.  I've never not had a roof over my head.  There are people all over the country and the world who would love to be in my position, employed by people who are kind and respectful and don't treat me as though I'm beneath them.  

It's so easy to get caught up in the negative.  Most of the time I am happy to do my work, to face every task as it comes and accomplish everything to the best of my ability.  Most of the time I am grateful for the opportunities that I have, but there are times I lose sight of the Bigger Picture.

Honeymoon- the details.

I'm sorry I've been neglecting the blog!  I just have such a small window to really make money and this is it.  By the end of August all of my clients will have gone back home and I wont have any houses to clean!  But really, it's quite a relief when they leave.  House cleaning is hard work!  

So, the honeymoon.  We're both over the moon (haha) about the whole thing, and now the hassles of wedding planning are taking a backseat to the joys of HONEYMOON planning.  I think we'll spend a couple of days in Paris and see the Louvre and maybe Versailles.  Do you have any suggestions as to what we should do?  I'd love to hear all of your suggestions!

After a couple of days in Paris we're going to take a train to Nice and then drive to the house where we will stay for the rest of our trip.  The house is in a little village in Provence.  There are less than 2,000 people who live there!  It's an old medieval hilltop village with the alps in the background.  Sounds awful, huh?

As I said before, we could never afford the expense of traveling abroad for our honeymoon, but with the generous gift of a place to stay we can really enjoy ourselves and not break the bank!  We plan on taking advantage of the local market and cooking our own meals.  I'm sure that we will want to experience some of the restaurants that are available to us, but eating out every night isn't something that we can afford.

Neither of us have experience with the French language, so we're going to take a few sessions of tutoring just to learn the basics.  I think it's really important to at least try to speak in the native tongue and show people that you respect them enough to make an effort.  Even if we butcher the language, I want to be able to ask for a baguette or know how much money someone is asking to be paid.

I think I'm mostly excited to just share the experience with My Mister.  We've never traveled abroad together, so the whole thing is going to be an adventure!  I love to see how he takes things in and has a different perspective than anyone I've ever met.  I can't wait to see what's in store for us!

Today I...

-Woke up super early.

-Brought doughnuts to my mechanic who really helped me out in a bind.  I love it when people go out of their way to help out a person in need!

-Cleaned 5 houses. FIVE.  Good god.

-Took this photo on my lunchbreak:


-Had half of a day-old turkey club for lunch.  Not great.

-Scrubbed more toilets than I care to admit.

-Rocked out to Bob Marley, Wilco and Band of Horses.  All great cleaning music.

-Thought of all of you in blogland and realized that I've been absent for a while now.  I've just been so damn busy!  How are you?  What's new?!

I'll be back tomorrow to tell you more about my upcoming honeymoon to France!

Moons over my honey!

I have some HUGE news, but first I want to thank you so much for all of your comments- I'm starting to feel much better.  There's only one thing that I like about getting sick- and that is how great I feel when I'm back to feeling good.  I've suffered from migraines since I was young, and still the day after a migraine everything is so much brighter!  And more fresh!  And just plain wonderful!

I've been a bit absent lately because of the sickness, yes, but also because I've been super busy.  Between work, and planning the wedding and keeping the rest of my life in check, there just hasn't been a second to sit down and write anything cohesive. 

Want to know what I've been reading/listening/watching?  For starters I'm loving A Year in Provence by Peter Mayle.  Another great book I can't get enough of is Sara Midda's South of France: A Sketchbook.  Her watercolors are beautiful and her sketches make me wish I could draw half as well as she does.   

I've been listening to Yann Tierson's Amelie soundtrack like crazy.  Over and over again.  I really don't ever get sick of listening to it!  There's something new that catches my ear every time.  Whenever I'm feeling down or blue or not quite myself I know that this music will give me a boost in not time!

I'm so in love with the film The Diving Bell and the Butterfly.  I had never hear of the story before I picked the film up at the local video rental shop.  I took it home and was blown away by the film, and then so shocked to hear that it was a true story of a french man totally paralyzed- who wrote his story by blinking one eye.  The book is beautifully written- much better than the film.

Do you notice any one thing that links these reading/listening/watching things?!  

Anything at all??????????!!!!!!!

Did I hear France?  Why would I be so wholly captivated by France?

CUZ THAT'S WHERE WE'RE GOING ON OUR HONEYMOON!!!!!!!!

HOLY SHIT, RIGHT?!  I'm so so so so so so so so excited to be going to France for our honeymoon!  I never thought we would be able to afford a trip abroad for our honeymoon, but a friend of My Mister's family has a house over there and has generously given us a free stay as our wedding gift.  How amazing is that?!  I'll post more details later, but for now would you like to see a picture of the town?  Ok!

I've been bopping around for days now singing in my head,
 "I've got ants in my pants for France!"

Views from my sickbed.

For the past few days I've been ignoring the warning signs- sore throat, runny nose, cranky pants.  And then this morning I woke up and felt like I'd been hit by a truck.  SICK.  Seriously sick.  I went to work, mostly because I had a meeting at 8:30, but really because I thought it would just go away.  It's not going away, and no one could cover my shift.  Ugh- I'm home now. Thank god.

It's amazing out there.  

Drinking lots of OJ.  In the mug?  Chicken noodle soup.

Tonight I will be snuggling with Harold and a box of tissues.  I know I'm sick when I just grab a box off the shelf without trying to find the most attractive one.

Dietgirl and Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone- both borrowed from Implausible Yarn Heather. She's a lifesaver!

And something that always makes me feel better- a Pushing Daisies marathon!  

What makes you feel better when you're under the weather?  

A Beautiful Summer Concert!

Over the weekend one of my friends had a wonderful birthday party!  I have to tell you that I was so happy to be invited- I looked forward to it for weeks!  They served kick ass mojitos and made all of the food themselves.  I had two plates full!  And the desserts?  Good god- talk about Divine! (sorry!  Couldn't resist a reference to one of our favorites!)

Live music was provided by Patrick Fitzsimmons.  I had never heard his music before,  and I really don't know why!    He's music is honest and soulful and a bit sad.  Lovely stuff.


See that lady taking a photo?  She's one of those people that I would love to start a conversation with about photography, but was so totally intimidated that I just got really shy and weird.  Awesome, Kate.  Way to go.

Above is the birthday guy, watching the show.  Already one of my favorite people ever.

Below is another one of my favorite people.  Look at that sweet face!

Thanks guys, for such a fun evening!  I had such a great time!