Spring at Frog Hollow Farm

I don't know about you, and I'm sure that this will sound odd to almost everyone, but although I love the warm breezes of a spring day, the flowers, longer days and new garden plans that come with Spring, I have a very hard time transitioning from Winter.

I'm one of those people who loves the coziness of shorter days, fires in the wood stove, wool socks and soft, oversize cardigans to wear around the house and the certainty that Fall will always bring us the holidays, my favorite time of the year.

For me, there is that very awkward time between late February and whenever Spring decides to make it's debut - mud; cold weather; gusty, windy days... seeming even colder to me than the winter.  I just feel awkward all around, even though the calendar and Punxsatawney Phil say that Spring has arrived.

It may go all the way back to when I was a little girl, with a new pastel colored dress and shiny new shoes for Easter Sunday. The problem was, we could never depend on Easter being warm enough for that dress, or dry enough for those new white patent leather shoes.  The warm Easters were wonderful; the wintery ones just terrible.

Yesterday evening I went outside when Frog Hollow Farm Boy drove up the driveway.  The weather was warm enough to go out without a jacket, there was no breeze, and the sun was out.  I may almost be sold on Spring - it does take me a while -  and think that perhaps enough time has passed to help me to begin the transition.

I planted some pansies today - large, happy pansy faces - some really pretty deep violets mixed with some softer shades of violet and white.  The cabbage planters even look happier with some flowers!

Hope all is well - ciao bella!

xxxooo

A Frog Hollow Farm Windowscape!

Hello everyone.  I know that I promised to post the final recipe from our cooking class in Florence,

Crema di Ricotta con Salsa Caramello all'Arancia e Mandorle Tostada

(Ricotta Cream with Orange Caramel Sauce and Toasted Almonds)

but if you don't mind, I wanted to share a little windowscape that I created with flowers from our gardens and fields. 

I placed them in a row of 6 mismatched antique milk bottles

on the windowsill over my sink looking out over the porch and fields.

From left to right are 2 bottles of little white field daisies, a bunch of spearmint, a stem of tiny red field flowers (you can't really see the flowers though, sorry), some yellow yarrow, a pretty salmon poppy from FHFB's garden and a spring of sage flowers.

What do you think?  I love these little milk bottles!

Linking in to Tablescape Thursday!

Recipe for the delicious dessert will be posted later today, I promise!!!!!

The Philadelphia Flower Show and Other Things

FHFB and I drove down to the Philadelphia Flower Show a couple of weeks ago. 

Our weekend started with a night at the Borgata Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City with dinner at Bobby Flay's Steak restaurant - I know that I've mentioned before how much I love the Chopped Salad with Lobster - just delicious! 

The next day we drove over to Philadelphia and met our friends Forrest and Stephanie for the weekend - visiting the flower show and hanging out at the Reading Terminal Market - a new favorite place of mine!! 

On Saturday we drove over to Bethlehem, PA for a couple of antique shows that were a bit disappointing but we made everything better by stopping by the Apollo Grill in Bethlehem for their delicious small bites menu - they serve all of the appetizers at the bar - we love to sit and try a few different dishes each time we visit, and we always meet someone interesting! 

This last photo is of one of the displays at the flower show.  It is such a beautiful room - I especially love the walls and how the panels are used to decorate and create structure.  Isn't is gorgeous??  You can see all of the awards that this design won right there in the front, sitting on the floor. 

How can I get this look in one of the downstairs bedrooms? 

FHFB just shook his head when I mentioned this - but I think it's doable on some level, don't you??

Here are a few more photos from the flower show - they are keeping me happy while I watch the snow pile up outside the windows of the great room at my dad's house. I'm hanging out with him for the day.

Thinking about flower gardens and spring entertaining on our back porch!!

I'm joining Seasonal Sundays at The Tablescaper!!

Ciao, bella!

The Beautiful Dominican Republic

The resort we were staying at in early February has beautifully maintained grounds, full of many different types of flowers and palm trees.  Here are some of the flowers and trees that were on the pathways to the pools or beach.  I'm not sure if these are natural to the environment.

 These salmon flowers were all over the place.  They grew on spikes about 12-24 inches high, and looked like they spread pretty easily in the flower beds.

 Do you see the large pods hanging from the right side of this palm tree?

Okay, I usually hate, hate, hate photos of me, but here's a photo of FHFB (always handsome) on our last day at one of the private pools with hammocks and all kinds of creature comforts (I'm the one on the right).  We were ready to catch the transport to the airport.  Two of our beautiful friends were on either side of us but I don't have their permission to put them in my blog so I cropped them out. 

(Hmmmm, afterthought, did I crop them out because they are so gorgeous??)

To tell you the truth, I'm usually pretty ready to go home by this point, and that's after most every vacation. We love getting away and visiting different countries - but the place we love best is our home. That may sound a little corny, but I can't imagine what it's like not to have a place to come home to.  

It's always a great feeling walking into our house after a long flight.

 I feel that I'm living a pretty charmed life.

Ciao, bella!

 

Vermont Vacation

I'm finally sitting down to share our wonderful trip up to Vermont in early September. 

Thirty years ago was the first time FHFB and I took the long drive up to South Hero Island in a very large old Cadillac with a 6 month old baby.  Truth be told I was a little nervous, I didn't know our host (he was another weather friend of FHFB's) and I wasn't sure how baby-friendly the house would be. 

We all fell in love with Lindenmere the minute we drove down the narrow tree lined lane to the magical little house overlooking Lake Champlain.

I can't believe I don't have any photos of the house - it's a summer house built in the 1920s with cedar shingle siding and  wooden windows painted with a simple white trim.

Cedar trees surround the house and lean precariously over the rocks into the lake.  The house is up pretty high so there's no danger of any flooding. 

Our host plants the loveliest garden every year, full of colorful annuals and geraniums that he saves year after year in their clay pots.  He really has a green thumb.

Tomorrow I'll post some photos of the lake and flatrocks.  

Our Vermont host is visiting Frog Hollow Farm this weekend  and we're planning to have a wonderful dinner on the porch.  Hopefully the rain and wind will be out of here and we can all sit snuggled in some sweaters and talk the night away. 

Here's our menu chock full of Italian comfort food:

Frog Hollow Farm Sausage and Peppers

(all the peppers are from FHFB's garden!)

Baked Rigatoni with Bechamel Sauce

Crusty warm semolina bread

Arugula salad with toasted walnuts

Ina Garten's Apple Crisp

(I use less of the citrus zest when I make this absolutely delicious recipe)

The first time I ever made this recipe was about 10 years ago.  We were expecting a phenomenal meteor shower that year, I think it was in November, but I'm not sure.  Anyway, we had some friends coming over at 3:00am (yes, I know, a bit crazy) to sit and watch the show with us.  And I say 'show' because I've never seen anything like it.  The meteors were so numerous and so very bright, they were lighting up the whole field.  It was one of the most magical nights that FHFB and I have shared together - and we had our dearest friends with us as well!  Afterwards everyone came into the kitchen and the aroma of the baking apple crisp was still in the air.  With a steaming cup of coffee the apple crisp just hit the spot - we still talk about that meteor shower and when we do our friends always mention the apple crisp. It was truly a memorable evening! 

(He just came into our office told me it was the Leonids meteor shower in November.)

I hope your evening is memorable as well - there are so many memories to make!

Ciao, bella!

Festive Autumn Door Wreath

I found myself all caught up with everything I needed to do for our Labor Day barbeque tomorrow - how did that happen?? 

Anyway, a few weeks ago I was inspired by one of Yvonne's posts at StoneGable - she posted a tutorial for putting a wreath together.  I found a couple of wreaths at Home Goods that I thought would be just right for my experimenting, and popped over to Michael's to pick up a few silks to decorate with. 

I began placing flowers on the wreath according to Yvonne's directions - and then took a photo before dismantling it and glueing it back together.  (You can see my daughter's copy of Rolling Stone magazine in the background - we are both in love with Jon Hamm from Mad Men.)

The hydrangeas are real - they dry so well for me in the house I thought I'd give them a try on the wreath.  The other berries, etc were all purchased at Michael's. 

Here's a close up of the wreath on the front door to the conservatory.

I really liked the way the colors of the flowers and berries all worked so well together.

Oops - you can see me in the reflection...yikes!

I love having the time to be creative and to make something that can help make Frog Hollow Farm feel festive and naturally seasonal in a simple way, without going too overboard.

Ciao, bella!

The Vegetable Garden at Frog Hollow Farm

Some of my blogger friends have asked to see photos of our vegetable garden. This is really FHFB's garden, he puts all of the blood, sweat and tears into it and I just pick the goodies, find delicious recipes for them and get to take photos of the beautiful harvest. 
This might be a little boring if you're not into vegetables and flowers. 

Let's take a walk!

Zinnias

Sunflowers - lots of different colors

Asparagus, resting and going to seed

Tomatoes - but they're turning red now!

Butternut Squash - first time we've grown it!

Cinderella Pumpkins - I just love these pumpkins!

Blackberries ripening - they take a while.

Rediculous zucchini - I mean totally rediculous!  I'm finding fantastic zucchini recipes in my Pasta Fresca cookbook.  There's also a grilled potato salad that includes grilled zucchini, radicchio (and goat cheese if you want to add it) with a mustard vinaigrette from and old issue of Bon Appetit that's absolutely delicious.

I can send you the recipe if you like! 

Red Onions - for FHFB's favorite tomato salad.

Basil and Green Peppers

FHFB dries a lot of basil and also makes fresh, delicious pesto for the freezer.

Italian Flat Green Beans - the best tasting green bean around!

Cucumbers and Beets 

Herbs - parsley, sage, oregano, thyme, dill and pineapple mint.

Thanks for touring with me - I hope you enjoyed our walk through the garden.

Ciao, bella!

Flower Guide Book

This past spring FHFB and I went on a short road trip down to Red Bank, NJ.  I picked up some Hemmingsley china at the antique stores down there, and mentioned a little flower guide book that I found as well. 

Since it's summer and so many bloggers, me included, are posting wonderful photos of their beautiful gardens, I thought I'd revisit the little flower book and show some more pictures of the beautiful watercolor drawings that must have been inspired by exquisite gardens and gardeners such as the ones I've loved looking at on so many blogger's pages. 
The book is about 3" by 5" with paper pages that are a bit discolored around the edges, just as you would expect with an antique book.  The binding along the spine of the book is a bit worn and broken in one spot. 

Title Page and Front Cover

A.  Wintergreen:  Checkerberry

B.  Trailing Arbutus:  Mayflower

Bull Thistle

Black-Eyed Susan

Butterfly Weed - Orange Milk-Weed

Cardinal Flower - Lobelia Cardinalis

I could look at this little book forever.  Hope you enjoyed seeing these pages from the flower guide. 

Ciao, bella!