Things that happened in August...

Started a custom nature/irish/japanese jewelry box order 

(was just getting started when I took this pic) ...

Papa Joe's half price pizza on Mondays :) 

My bottle of Inishowen Irish Whiskey was a hit during a little session in our house last week, was inhaled in a matter of minutes actually. This summer was the first time I've gone to Ireland without going to my friend Tina's house in Burt (Co. Donegal), so I was pretty excited when I saw this whiskey in the duty free shop at Dublin airport that's named after the old castle ruin near her house. I didn't even know this stuff existed (neither did she!), it was pretty tasty actually. We still have a bottle of Poitin to work on, I assume it won't go as fast as the whiskey did...but I suppose it depends on the night :)

finished sewing up a handful of purses made with my vintage fabrics...
slowly making a little dent in my stash!

This experimental dinner looks a little creepy, but it turned out quite good actually. It's bacon wrapped red sweet peppers stuffed with cream cheese, salsa verde, garlic, finely diced jalapenos and cheddar cheese. Bake at 425 til the bacon is cooked through and it gets all bubbly. It would've looked nicer, but the filling oozed out and my husband scooped it up and piled it right on top of everything! To avoid having that happen to you, leave the ends of the peppers in tact and just scoop out the seeds so you can fill them (like a little boat). You can modify the filling so many ways, let me know if you try something different :)

my very first tomato plants, still waiting for them to turn red...wondering if it will ever actually happen!

Banana bread that I made just last night. It was good... I think I mixed the ingredients too much though, was a bit dense. See recipe below (and again, let me know if you have a great recipe that you use! I saw one with pudding, bet that's tasty)...

I made this costumey neck piece about 5 or 6 years ago and for some reason stuffed it away with my huge collection of "things to be contemplated/modified/finished etc". I like it, but I guess I never loved it. Still haven't listed it in my shop as of yet...

 a lovely bouquet from my husband...remnants from a gardening mishap in a friends yard :)

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 cup butter or margarine
• 2 cups white sugar
• 2 cups mashed overripe bananas
• 4 eggs, beaten
• 1 cup chopped walnuts
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour two 9x5 inch loaf pans.
2. Sift the flour, salt and baking soda into a large bowl. In a separate bowl, mix together the butter or margarine and sugar until smooth. Stir in the bananas, eggs, and walnuts until well blended. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry mixture, and stir just until blended. Divide the batter evenly between the two loaf pans.
3. Bake for 60 to 70 minutes in the preheated oven, until a knife inserted into the crown of the loaf comes out clean. Let the loaves cool in the pans for at least 5 minutes, then turn out onto a cooling rack, and cool completely. Wrap in aluminum foil to keep in the moisture. Ideally, refrigerate the loaves for 2 hours or more before serving.

Zucchini Bread...my first time!

Not bad for my first try! If I had taken it out of the oven about 5-10 minutes earlier, it would've been absolutely perfect. I used this recipe, but next time I'm gonna try Paula Deen's to see how it compares. The only real difference with hers is added lemon juice and nutmeg and varying measurements of a few of the other ingredients. My house smelled so good while this was baking, you would've almost thought that I knew what I was doing!

I've got a whole basket of bananas sitting here, so tonight I'll make banana bread before the weather goes all hot on us again. Post your favorite banana or zucchini recipes here if you've got one, I need all the help I can get with baking!

xxx

A quick trip through Kilmacthomas and Dungarvan in Co. Waterford

Here's another little taste of  Co. Waterford, featuring the friendly and quaint town of Kilmacthomas and the seaside town of Dungarvan. I didn't get to spend nearly as much time here as I would've liked! Next time :)

Leaving Kilmac and headed to my friends house for the night in Dungarvan! 

  

Delicious dessert made by my friends' lovely daughter, Hannah. She made us all little name placards too :)

 hand out the window shot of the quay in Dungarvan!

Chicago to Dublin to Wicklow to Waterford...

I keep forgetting to blog about my recent trip to Ireland, I've been so busy! Here's a quick peek from my first 2 days there, along with the moon over Chicago as we were leaving :)

The view from my friend Heli's house in Delgany, Co. Wicklow. I couldn't find her [hidden] house, so the local butchers let me use their phone to call her. I then mistakenly called my friend Ruth from Limerick (who was actually in Kildare when I called), thinking it was Heli and we spent the next 5 minutes on the phone in total confusion, her wondering why I would be looking for her in Wicklow! I bought some Thai chili sauce from the butchers for being so kind and left them looking totally bewildered as to what just happened. Still not sure how they didn't know my friend,  the only modelesque Finnish girl in town!

On a walk with a whole crew in Bunmahon, Co. Waterford...there's lots more to this story, I'll make sure to post about it later! (involves me wearing a pair of mens shoes and a mountain rescue mission...type of thing that always happens when I visit).

My friends at The Art Hand have the coolest modern house. This is our fabulous dinner that Miranda, the lady of the house, cooked for us our first night...it was so divine I had to take a pic :)

My friend Bonzie's studio in Waterford City, pretty much the dreamiest little shop in the universe...

Looking out from Bonzie's shop...this is a fraction of the cats that come out from beyond the park gates everyday to get their meals, thanks to the nice lady that lives in the alley...

Geoff's Bar in Waterford has an amazing old atmosphere, the dark woodwork inside is a million years old and their food is really fantastic. Had a nice mellow night with some of my girlfriends here and liked it so much, we went back the next day for lunch...

having my Red Lemonade inside Geoff's...

Walking down to visit Agnes at Vintage Trig... you can find my handmade jewelry in her shop :) Along with the best vintage clothing selection in Waterford!