My beach reads!

Here are some of the books I am taking to the beach with me next week. Hopefully they are really good ones and worth the extra weight in my luggage. To me, beach vacation = sitting by the water, reading, breakfast at Peach Valley Cafe, thrift store shopping, and family.

Flowers + antioxidants

I heart eddie ross. I never watched whatever design reality show he was on, but as for his website, it is a daily stop for me as I comb the blog world. I just had to share his latest creation. He used dahlias (from his own garden), snapdragons and purple grapes! I love this so much! What a great way to use food in a non-typical way. It made me think of all the other foods one could use in design. Floral arranging/design is something I have not delved into, but the more I see, the more inspired I am. Maybe one day I will have a real garden of my own...a girl can hope!

A tasty salad

I sort of adapted this recipe from another dish served at Sunspot. It gets better after a couple of days.

• 2 cans of chick peas (garbanzo beans)
• balsamic vinegar
• parmesan cheese (the real stuff...not the stuff in the green can)
• pimentos
• chopped artichoke hearts

Just mix all the ingredients together (adjusting vinegar to your taste) and enjoy. A very quick little summer salad. The picture is not of my salad but it does have chick peas in it so there. (from bonappetit.com)