Faux Spring

We have had so little cold weather this winter.  It's been unusually warm and many flowering plants and trees think it's time to bloom here.  They don't know it isn't Spring so I call it our Faux Spring.

Some Japanese Magnolias blooming closer to downtown are magical right now.  They don't know it's early February.  They don't know people are shoveling feet of snow from their yards a few hundred miles away.  All they know is the sun is shining warm on their leaves and it's time to bloom and give us all something beautiful to look at. It's time to open the brightly colored petals to display for our winter worn eyes.

And it is still winter...no way around it. A frost or dip in temperatures one night will end the kaleidoscope color show of Japanese magnolias, azaleas and camellias blooming. But the flowers don't know it February.  And right now, looking above us on the branches, we don't have to know either.

Lightness and laughter are a short distance away.  My daughter is a wordsmith and wrote the best of this post and a couple of photos included.




Sssh...it doesn't know it's February in this special place I happened upon.








































































White Japanese Magnolia blooms, I think the first I have been aware of seeing around here.









Jan

The Beginning

Today I am showing you some photos from blog posts when I just began. I have many new readers that probably haven't seen these and I wanted to share these with you.  I shared photos with just a couple of sentences in the beginning.

 

 

 

Mercury glass holding red and pink flowers

 

 

 

 

 

This is a Pottery Barn pillowcase just big enough for the tiny table I have. I knew you don't usually hear of anyone doing that!  But it worked perfectly and if you have a  typical side table I imagine the flat sheet would work and it would be already hemmed.   I had berries left over from decorating for Christmas and these are the rose heads I popped off and on the plate they went.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My daughter received these roses and while she was busy I couldn't help but to 'borrow' them and get several shots of them.   I noticed how well they went with a plate I hang over my mantel and I started taking lots of photos.  The colors were complete matches.

 

 

 

 

The Japanese Magnolia painting was done by my daughter.  When our tree bloomed I placed the living flowers on top of the painting along with a painted plate.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When helping decorate my daughter's apartment during her senior year in college this is some of the things bought to complete the look.

 

 

 

 

 

This was put together on a particularly cold day.  I remember how warm the photo felt to me with the black fabric lit up by the warm sun.

 

 

 

This was the first photo I placed on my blog.  I was amazed that I actually got the bee in the photo!

Jan

 

Linking up to: http://www.cozylittlehouse.com/2014/05/tweak-it-tuesday-91.html

Loving this Spring!

Wow! Spring just sprang out! I was riding around and there is so much beauty to take in this time of year. It makes you want to want to gather it all up and bring it home with you to keep! It seems like this has been a much prettier Spring than we have had in years.

The Japanese Magnolia blossoms are sitting on a painting my daughter did years ago of a Magnolia blossom.

Have a great weekend.
Jan

Spring and Salad in the South

Hasn't it been just  magnificent to soak in the sun these past few days. I think we all needed it so. I am sharing a couple of pics from the backyard. Since our Japanese Magnolia is so late blooming, the flowers survived the ice. We were lucky.  The Bradford Pear tree isn't as showy as the neighbors yet, but it's on its way.

Today my daughter, April, is sharing her recipe for a sumptuous salad perfect for springtime!   Merci April!

Recipe

1 container fresh herb mix lettuce

2 pears ( Bartlett and D' Anjou both are excellent for this)

2 small red onions

1 container crumbled Feta Cheese

1 1/2 Cups Pecans

olive oil

Turn broiler on low. Chop  both onions into very fine slices. Save one onion for topping the salad.  Toss the other onion with olive oil until coated and lay on a single layer on a cookie sheet. Broil for 30 minutes or until caramelized and crispy.

Preheat oven to 400 F. Drizzle pecans with olive oil and salt to taste. Bake for 10 minutes- but be careful! They burn very quickly! When you can smell the delicious fragrance of the toasted pecans emanating out of your oven, it's time to take those babies out!

Place lettuce in a small bowl for individual servings or a large platter for a show-stopping presentation. Layer sliced pears around the rim, add caramelized onions, toasted pecans, and feta cheese crumbles. Sprinkle raw onion on top to add a bit more zest.

For the dressing, I turn to one of my favorite cooking ladies: Julia Child! This vinaigrette is just perfect.

Julia Child's Classic Vinaigrette

1/2 tablespoon shallot or scallion, finely minced

1/2 tablespoon of Dijon mustard

1/4 tablespoon of salt (or to taste)

The juice of one lemon

1/2 tablespoon white or red wine vinega

r 1/3 to 1/2 cup of Excellent olive oil or other fine, fresh, flavorful oi

l Freshly ground pepper (to taste)
Shake all of the ingredients in a screw-top jar with great vigor.
If you prefer to mix the ingredients, make a slurry or paste with the mustard , salt, and scallions first. Whisk in the lemon juice and vinegar, and only then begin to incorporate the oil, drop by drop to form a smooth emulsion.
Add pepper and more salt to taste. Lightly dress your salad greens, top with croutons and, if desired, a sliced protein of your choice. Drizzle a few more drops of the vinaigrette to finish.
-From Julia's Kitchen Wisdom

Japanese Magnolia Buds

March 4, 2014

Ice gave us a surprise today. Buds are covered in it and I don't think we will see flowers on this tree this year. But I love buds, any buds! They are a promise of tomorrow!