EAB Designs

Our Summer Vacation Destination - Latvia!

Whenever I mention that we'll soon be traveling to Latvia, many people have never heard of the country, or can't quite place where it is.

Latvia is the central country of the Baltic States (Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania) and is located in North-Eastern Europe on the east coast of the Baltic Sea.  Above is the city capital, Riga.

Latvia has an extensive network of rivers, thousands of lakes and hundreds of miles of undeveloped seashore lined by pine forests, dunes, and continuous white sand beaches.  My husband has visited there before but this will be the first trip for the girls and I.  These pictures were taken during his last trip.

We'll be staying in Riga but have rented a mini-van during our stay for visits out of the city. Thankfully, my husband loves to plan trips and always handles all of the arrangements.  The weather will only be in the 70's (a welcome retreat from the hot and humid summers here) and sunset is after 10 p.m. each night!  I'm looking forward to our trip this summer and of course, I'll take lots of pictures.

First Blooms - English Garden Roses

The first blooms on our English garden roses blossomed last week.  They smell heavenly!  I have been cutting some each morning and arranging them in little bouquets throughout the house.

We have nine bushes which were purchased as bare root roses from David Austen Roses.  They range in color from creamy white to subtle shades of pinks.

Sadly, the deer have also discovered my row of lovely bushes and last night they feasted on almost all of my remaining rosebuds.  Time to mix up some deer repellent and hope for the best. I'm so happy I took the time to photograph these, as I will patiently have to wait for new rosebuds to form.

And speaking of photography, I am happily linking up this post to "Photo Feature Friday" at A Rosy Note.  I shot these photos using a lens hood in order to shade the lens from the direct sunlight coming in from the window.  Sometimes direct light hitting the element of your lens can cause a loss of contrast or lens flare.  With these particular photos, I love how it enabled me to create a dark background even though the room was very bright.  To view photos of others participating in "Photo Feature Friday" click on the image below.

Rustic Apple Galette

I've managed to make some creative dinners from leftovers before, but I've never winged a dessert before today.  A few nights ago, Sweet Pea made us the most delicious chicken pot pies.  She doubled the recipe, and there was leftover pie crust wrapped in the fridge.  Today, I came across three granny smith apples that have been in the fridge for what seems like forever - but they were still fresh and crisp.  So I thought, why not make an apple galette.  I've never made one before, but since I do make pies I figured I'd just throw one together without a recipe.  I skinned and sliced the apples, then added sugar, cinnamon, freshly grated nutmeg, orange zest, a pinch of salt and a bit of flour.  Sweet Pea's pie crust rolled out like a dream and I arranged the apple mixture into the center and just folded up the sides.  A quick egg wash, a sprinkling of turbinado sugar (purchased for creme brulees last Christmas) and into the hot oven it went. 

The house smelled heavenly while it baked, and no one was more surprised than me that my simple, spontaneous apple galette was irresistibly delicious.  A welcome unexpected treat for a Wednesday.

DIY Herb Markers

Last year, I fell in love with these garden markers at Thomas Jefferson's Monticello.

This weekend, I was inspired to create some of my own for our herb garden. First I lightly sanded paint sticks and then applied a coat of pre-stain wood conditioner (Mixwax Pre-Stain) to ensure the marker would absorb evenly.

I used a clear grid ruler (one of my favorite tools!) to lightly draw pencil lines as a writing guide. I wish I could write as lovely as the calligraphist who creates the markers for Monticello, but with the help of a calligraphy marker I just winged it. Make sure you allow time for the marker to set before erasing your pencil lines.  I love the "Elegant Writer" calligraphy markers by Speedball Art.  

The last step is to apply a coat of Minwax Helmsman Spar Urethane as a sealant for added protection from moisture, rain and outdoor temperatures.  I'm looking forward to placing these in our herb garden.  When we have friends over for dinner and they ask what they can do to help, I'll often send them out to the herb garden to pick whatever I may need for our meal.  Now they'll know just what herb they're searching for.

Supplies:  Minwax products are available at The Home Depot.  Elegant Writer calligraphy markers can be purchased at Michael's.  A set of 4, with varying widths, is under $10.

New in the Shop!

Just added a few new pieces to my shop featuring lovely Swarovski faceted stones.  Many new earrings will be added over the coming week as well.  The perfect sparkle for summer days and evenings!

Inspiration from the Herb Garden

I love walking out to our herb garden each morning.  The rosemary smelled so wonderful yesterday that I decided to make focaccia bread with fresh rosemary.  It's delicious dipped in olive oil. O Meyer Lemon Olive Oil is my absolute favorite - you will love the subtle flavor of lemon.

We brought home some beautiful eggplant from the market on Saturday, so I decided to make our favorite eggplant gratin to accompany the rosemary focaccia.

Here is the focaccia fresh from the oven - heavenly!  Focaccia, like pizza dough, is one of the easiest breads to make.  If you haven't made bread before, it's a great place to begin.

The eggplant gratin is easy to prepare and is a great dish for company, especially when baked in individual serving dishes.  I have a set of twelve of these French gratin baking dishes. I use them often for different pasta recipes, as well as for fruit cobblers or crisps, and creamy custard desserts. I don't know why, but I'm quite certain that anything eaten out of a little serving dish always tastes incredibly delicious.

A Day of Wine Tasting

Happy May Day!  I hope you all enjoyed a beautiful spring weekend!

On Saturday, we headed out early in the morning to drive to the Frederick Wine Trail, (in Maryland) for a day of wine tasting.  We had never been wine tasting before but were happily meeting up with friends who happen to be wine enthusiasts. We enjoyed driving down country roads and taking in the beautiful rolling farmland which surrounds the family-owned wineries.

The buds had sprouted and the fresh spring grape leaves had just begun to unfurl along the vines.

Time flew by as we chatted with our friends and enjoyed the wine tasting.  After visiting the second winery we decided to stop for lunch and discovered a fabulous restaurant.  If you're ever in the area, I would highly recommend Drover's Grill and Wine Co. - the crab cakes were excellent!

We visited four wineries in all, stopped in at a great bike shop to look at tandems, and then enjoyed another delicious meal in downtown Mt. Airy.  When the day was over, it truly felt like we had taken a little vacation. (Thanks Pete and Kathy!) Oh, and we also came home with three bottles of wine.  Cheers!