~Peter Rabbit's Garden~

I wanted to share with you photos of our Peter Rabbit's Garden.

I decided to use our raised beds to display the garden in.

I used a chalkboard from Michael's craft store and

 I sewed the jacket.

I cut out a coat template out of blue felt and 

stitched it by hand. There are plenty of ideas on the internet.

I found the felt and buttons at Jo-Ann Fabric & Craft Store.

A galvanized watering can.

I found these wooden shoes at a thrift store.

Peter Rabbit playing in the garden.

In the next raised bed is another bunny scene.

Three bunnies jumping in a row.

I planted carrots and marked them with jute and some corks.

A beautiful day in the Garden.

~Easter Goodies~

Hope you have a wonderful week!

~Cooking with Girlfriends~

I love cooking,

 especially with girlfriends.

My girlfriends, 

Kim and Denise came over and we made homemade pasta.

I have the attachment for our Kitchenaid

 to make fettuccine, lasagna and spaghetti.

We made fettuccine. 

I used Martha Stewart Basic Pasta Recipe.

Denise brought her Nona's tablecloth that she gave to her. 

It was so special making pasta on her grandmother's tablecloth.

Stan made some butternut squash with dill earlier which we used to make butternut squash ravioli.

We made lasagna with the attachment then cut out ravioli.

They were so beautiful laid out on the tablecloth!

We also made ricotta cheese. 

Ina Garten Homemade Ricotta.

It was so good and easy to make!!

Denise made the marinara sauce.

It was delicious!!

I also made a sage butter sauce.

The ravioli were so good that night!!

I also wanted to share with you a cooking class I went to

with the girls in February.

Sur La Table 

near us had a

 Girls Night Out Cooking Class!

Denise, Kim and Me

They grow their own fresh herbs with grow lights.

~Roasted Grape and Brie Crostini~

~Watercress Salad with Champagne Vinaigrette, Toasted Hazelnuts and Goat Cheese~

Chef Yapo taught us lots of cooking techniques in the kitchen.

~White Wine Poached Salmon with Tarragon Beurre Blanc~

~Mimosa Sorbet~

It was lots of fun learning new recipes!

~Roses & Champagne Birthday Party~

I hosted a birthday party for my girlfriend, Yuri.

The theme was

 Roses & Champagne!

I decorated with pretty roses everywhere!

The centerpiece roses were real.

I had fun making the pink tissue & crepe paper ones.

If you go online there's lots of patterns to make them!

The purple roses are from a kit from Martha Stewart! 

The centerpiece was fresh roses.

The wine and water glasses are from Anthropologie.

The dishes are Royal Albert, New Country Roses and 

Royal Albert, Polka Rose.

I had little champagne bottles with their name tags on them.

When the girls arrived, 

I served gin & tonic drinks with

 pretty straws & rosemary sprigs!

I found rose paper plates and napkins for the appetizers.

I chopped up some pistachios.

I made Dates with Orange, Pistachios and Goat Cheese

 for an appetizer.

The recipe is from the cookbook,

The Forest Feast by Erin Gleeson.

I made small caprese salads on a salt block.

I served cooked shrimp on a bigger salt block with lemon & dill.

I made Crostini with brie, walnuts and drizzled honey.

For lunch

 I made Ina Garten's

Zucchini Basil Soup from her cookbook,

Make It Ahead.

Served with Sugar Crusted Irish Soda Bread.

The entree was a 

Chicken Salad

 topped with candied walnuts & edible flowers.

For dessert, 

I made sugar cookies with rose edible wafer papers from 

Fancy Flours.

Pink Chocolate Bark with Sugar Candies.

I used pink chocolate to write out the words,

Rose & Champagne

 to place onto the champagne glasses.

Mary made pretty Champagne jello shots.

She also made the birthday cake.

It was a work of art and delicious too!

Check out Mary's blog:

La Bella Vita Design & Inspiration

The birthday girl,

Yuri

Virginia, Mary, Tami, Linda and Yuri

Mary, Tami, Linda, Yuri and Me

We also made mosaic hand trowels for the craft!

Lots of fun finding vintage plates for the project!

We all had a wonderful time!

It's always fun celebrating birthdays in our group!

Happy Birthday Yuri!