Summer Tomato Bacon Soup - and I have turquoise hair!

Hello Everyone!
It is almost the end of May and that means two things:  Memorial Day Weekend and the start of Summer!

I don't know about you, but I have a very full weekend of fun planned.  Which means, by Monday, I should be exhausted from my restful week-end.  I wasn't sure what I wanted to put in this post, so I decided that I would put in a little bit of everything.
First, my exciting news, or at least it is exciting for me; after years of wanting turquoise/green hair my husband finally decided that I should go for it and gave me a gift of a trip to Lee Caro's Salon in Baton Rouge.  What I was asking was no small feat.  I wanted to go from red to green and I wanted to do it in one sitting.  It took a team of five skilled technicians and four and a half hours, but I left the salon with the anime hair that I have always wanted!  (And for those of you who are wondering, no my hair isn't brittle, it is just as soft and healthy as it was before.  They are wizards!)

This is me having all of the red pulled out of my hair.  I look like some sort of cyborg.  And, even trying to do Zoolander's Blue Steel pose doesn't make it look any sexier.  And let me tell you, that get up was heavy!

Its hard to tell with my group of four blow drying my locks, but that's me in the center of all that attention, and with lemon lime hair!!!  This was the coolest color I have ever seen, it was not the color that I wanted, but it was fun to have.  Even if it was just for about five minutes

Here is what it looked like when they were finished.  The amazing part to me wasn't the color as much as the 60's flip that they were able to put in my hair using just a brush and a hair dryer.  And it lasted!!!!  I wasn't allowed to wash or get my hair wet for 5 days and that flip lasted!!!  I have to learn how to do that.

In my husband's truck right outside the salon in the sunlight rather than florescent light.

And here's the hair as it looks now.  I love to wear snoods and this one is one of my favorite that was made special for me by Tanis, the owner of the shop Gin Poodle on Etsy. https://www.etsy.com/shop/GinPoodle?ref=shop_sugg  I love this shop! And I love snoods.  I especially love it with my turquoise hair.

I truly love this hair.  And, even though it sounds strange, I feel that it fits my slightly retro sense of style even better than my red hair did.  I don't know how that it is possible, but that is how I feel.

And another one in front of my bird tree!

In keeping with the spirit of green things, I planted my herbs, a couple tomato plants and some cucumbers at the beginning of April and boy are they starting to grow!  They're not anywhere near where one of my friend's garden is.  But I'm not retired and don't have a whole spot of the yard designated to vegetables and hours to spend maintaining my garden - so I'm pretty happy with where I am at.  Although I am thinking about putting in some raised beds this summer.
Here are some pictures of my veggie babies:

Here's a teeny tiny cucumber with the bloom still on the end of it.  This particular cucumber plant is an heirloom variety that doesn't grow huge cucumbers.  I thought that would be cute and adorable for a family of two, so that it what I got. 

These are my cherry tomatoes.  I didn't grow any last year, so I was a little worried that they wouldn't grow, but I have quite a few clumps of tomatoes and I am very pleased with the results.  As I tend to use cherry tomatoes in my recipes more than large tomatoes, I think that I will plant more of these next year,

Speaking of tomatoes, if you garden, you know that first you start off lean and then you seem to have a plethora of the gorgeous red beauties. And you are always trying to find new ways to prepare them because there are really only so many times in a week that you can eat BLTs before you get tired of them.  No matter how delicious they are.  Thus was the case in my kitchen just last week.  I had purchased some beautiful tomatoes from the Farmers Market to make BLTs and then I had a friend give me some from his garden.  They were huge and gorgeous, but I had to find a way to fix all of them before they went bad.  The library came to my rescue.
I had checked out a new cookbook by Meike Peters called "eat in my kitchen".  (This book has some really delicious recipes and I really think that I may have to break down and purchase it - or put it on my Christmas list for things that I really want.)  Of course, I didn't have all of the ingredients the way that she described them in the recipe, so I had to modify the recipe.  So below is my recipe for Fresh Summer Tomato Soup that I came up with instead.

Fresh Summer Tomato Soup with Bacon and Cream Cheese

This recipe is super quick and super easy!  It is a summer tomato soup because you don't roast the tomatoes ahead of time and then skin the tomatoes.  You just let those puppies cook down on your stove top for a little while.  This soup may be thinner than what you are used to in a tomato soup, but it thickens up when you add the cheese.  Remember, this is a summer soup, so you want it to be lighter than it's winter counterparts.

Sorry I don't have pictures for this.  But I had a minor disaster with my new blender and pictures were the last thing on my mind.

Ingredients
1 tbsp. olive oil (If you can find it, use a Tuscan Herb Olive Oil or Garlic Olive Oil)
1 1/2 pounds ripe tomatoes, roughly chopped
2 large cloves garlic, finely minced or flattened into a paste
Kosher salt, to taste
1/4 cup homemade chicken broth, hot  (You can use low sodium store bought chicken broth or vegetable broth, but the homemade is better.)
1 tbsp. sun dried tomato paste (you can also use regular tomato paste)
1 bay leaf
2 tsp. balsamic vinegar (Needs to be a good balsamic that tastes sweet, if it is not, you will want to add more sugar.)
Pinch of sugar
Ground black pepper, to taste
1 handful fresh basil, finely chopped (or 1 tsp. dried basil)
2-3 sprigs fresh dill (or 1 tsp. dried dill)  I actually put more than that in, but I really love the taste of dill with tomatoes

Garnish Ingredients
3-4 slices bacon, crumbled or finely chopped
2 tsp. per bowl cream cheese  (The original recipe called for ricotta, which I think would be delicious!  But, I hardly ever have ricotta in my fridge and I almost always have cream cheese so, cream cheese it is.)

Instructions
1.  In a large heavy bottomed pot or dutch oven, heat olive oil over medium-high heat.  Once the oil is heated, when it starts to shimmer or cold water "dances" when you sprinkle it on the surface of the pot, add the tomatoes and the garlic and saute, stirring occasionally for 4-5 minutes.
2.  Add the hot chicken broth, tomato paste, bay leaf, balsamic vinegar, basil and dill.  Stir until well blended.  Taste with a small spoon to check the seasoning and acidity.  Add a pinch of sugar.  Depending on your tomatoes, you may have to add another pinch of sugar to get rid of the acidity.
Add freshly ground black pepper to taste.  (You may also add salt here, although I frequently don't use any.)
3.  Bring the soup to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer, uncovered for five minutes.
4.  Remove the soup from the heat and remove the bay leaf.
5.  Very carefully pour the soup mixture into a blender or food processor.  Blend the soup mixture until smooth.  (I never find that my mixture is too thick, but if yours is, you can simply add more chicken broth to the mixture at this time.)
6.  Put a fine sieve over the same heavy bottomed pot or dutch oven and pour the soup back into the pot through the sieve.  This is a very important step, otherwise, you will have what my husband and I call tomato "bones" in your soup.  These can be eaten, but they aren't very pleasant so I like to remove them from my soup.
7.  Taste the soup.  At this time you can add more pepper, salt or balsamic vinegar if it suits your fancy.
To Serve:  Put the soup into bowls and top with the crumbled bacon and 2 tsp. cream cheese per bowl/serving.

See!  I told you it was going to be easy!

Well, that is all that I have for tonight.  We have a long weekend coming up, so I may actually get a chance to post again this week-end.  Maybe a Memorial Day weekend post.  If I don't post again until after that, y'all have a great and safe Memorial Day weekend!

King Cake Smoothies!!! And some other stuff I wanted to talk about.

Hello Everyone!
Oh my gosh, I haven't blogged in so long and I feel like I have so many things I want to tell you about, crafts I want to share with you and new recipe ideas to cook, that I don't know where to begin.  So, I am just going to start with some awesome things I have seen lately, and then I will move on to my recipe for a King Cake Smoothie!

First, I realize that I have been derelict in not showing pictures of my newest family member.  In December, my husband and I "rescued" a puppy.  He was a true Christmas baby and turned one year old on December 26th.  At first, he wasn't sure how to snuggle, but once he figured it out, he took to it like a pro and has now become one of my most snuggly babies. So, happy readers, please meet Morris, otherwise know as Moss or Moss the Hoss.

Part of the reason why I have not been consistently blogging in 2017 is because my husband and I were both cast in plays at Theatre Baton Rouge.  So we have almost constantly been in rehearsals most nights since December and will continue to do so until April.  At that time, we are taking a break and taking time to do the things that we enjoy that get put on the back burner when you have shows that you are doing.  And I will probably be able to get back to a more regular schedule for blog posts.
But, don't worry! It hasn't been all work and no play, my husband and I did take the time last week-end, during a four hour window  of free time that we had, to go brunch and look at a house for sale in the area. No, we are not in the market for a house, we love our house, but a friend told us about this listing and assured us that it should not be missed.
Oh my gosh!!!!  This house was amazing! It was built in the 60's and hasn't really been renovated since it was built.  The previous owners had just kept everything as pristine and true to period as possible.  Walking into this house was like stepping into a time machine and, if it would have been furnished, I would have genuinely paid to take a tour of the place.  There were several things that made me swoon, but there were three items in the house that practically had me fainting with delight.
     1.  The aqua tiles in the bathrooms.  I love these!!!  I really want to see if I can do something like this as a back splash in my kitchen.  So far I have only found glass tiles in this color, but I will not give up.

I must have something like these tiles in my life.

2.  The Murphy Kitchen!!!  I adore these but I have never actually seen one in person.  This Murphy kitchen was put in the pool house and is an idea I just may have to steal when my husband and I start creating our backyard oasis.  If you haven't ever seen Murphy kitchens they are amazing.  They have a sink, stove top, oven, cabinets and refrigerator all in one wall unit and take up the space of about one large closet.  In short, they have everything a kitchen could need if you have very limited space in your living area.  I love them and wish they would come back in style.

This one is the one in the house and it is missing a door.  I would find a replacement door and would probably save and spend the bucks to have a professional came and paint it white or aqua.  The refrigerator is under the stove top and the oven is under the sink!

3.  The drop down shower!
Everyone's heard of drop down living rooms, but I bet very few of us have heard or seen  drop down showers.  This is my husband in the shower envying the sheer amount of space you would have to get clean.  And don't you love the art deco railing?  This railing was an element found throughout the house and tied   a lot of the rooms throughout the house to one another.

I could go on and on about this house, but I have some other things to share.

In January, I sat down and did a rough outline of things that I want to blog about this year and things that I want to accomplish for the year.  I try not to make New Resolutions.  I prefer to make New Year's Goals. Last year, my goals were to start this blog, and to try to learn one new skill.  I am so happy to admit I succeeded with both of these goals.  This year, my New Year's Goals are as follows:
    1.  Make my blog easier to navigate so y'all can more easily find any recipes or craft projects that you are interested in.
    2.  Finish painting the trim and detail work in my house and finish the pub library.
    3.  Take one class to learn a new craft or skill.
    4.  Learn how to make soap and bar shampoo and other homemade skin care and cosmetics.
    5.  Find and create more delicious vegetable recipes to eat healthier throughout the year.
I have some others that I want to try to implement, such as flossing more regularly, but these are my must do five.
I am going to document what I find out and learn as I try to implement these items, so don't be surprised if I share some of my failures as well as my triumphs.

Now, on to the food!

A staple of Mardi Gras, other than beads, floats and parades, is King Cake.  In January, we actually have a king cake day.  Bakeries all over the state are kept busy making these delicious cakes, and, for the cakes that are notorious for being extra special delicious, you can wait in line and go into the bakery every day for a week and still not get the flavor of king cake that you are wanting.
I'm not going to lie, in Louisiana it is hard to get back to eating responsibly as soon as the rest of the nation. Don't believe me?  Let me break it down, we have Halloween (Candy), Thanksgiving (All of the Food Ever), Christmas (Cookies, Fruit Cake, Mulled Wine), and then Mardi Gras (King Cakes and Mardi Gras Balls).  This makes it next to impossible to be good.  So, to help myself stay on track, I have created this King Cake Smoothie Recipe!

King Cake Smoothie

I wish I could say that I came up with this delicious idea first, but the sad truth is, I did not. I saw that Smoothie King had a King Cake Smoothie and that it was good. 

I did not take this picture.  I am sorry to whomever I am not giving credit too, but I could not find any information when I found this picture about who took it,

But I thought that I could make one just as good or better at home,  After several test runs, this is the version that I decided was the best.  I have even had the cast of Theatre Baton Rouge's A Few Good Men taste test it for me and they all agreed that it was delicious and even smelled like king cake.

As always with my smoothie recipes, these ingredients are more like guidelines, if you want to change the amounts to suit your personal tastes, do it!  I find it is very hard to mess up a smoothie, so don't be afraid to experiment.

Ingredients

Note:  The amounts listed below are enough to make one smoothie in a small blender.  I like to use my bullet blender, as this makes the perfect amount and I don't have to pour what I make into another cup unless I want to.

I forgot to add pure maple syrup to this picture, but I do use it in my recipe.

1/2 to 3/4 cup vanilla yogurt

1/2 to 3/4 cup vanilla almond milk

1/2 -1 whole frozen banana  (this depends on the size of your banana, if the bananas are small you may use two bananas, I know I have)

1/2 tsp. - 1 tsp. vanilla extract

1/2 tsp. - 1 tsp. almond extract (sometimes I put more, it depends on the mood I am in)

1/2 tsp. - 1tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp. - 1 tsp. pure maple syrup (or more to taste)

Instructions

1.  Freeze your bananas.  I cut up my banana into to coins and put them between two layers of wax paper and put them in the freezer.  Let them freeze over night.  If you are not planning to use your bananas immediately, put them in an airtight container after they are frozen and keep them in the freezer.

2.  Put all ingredients in your blender and blend until ingredients are smooth and become the consistency of a firm milk shake.  Taste.  At this time you may want to add more milk, yogurt, almond extract, cinnamon or maple syrup to suit your taste.  DO IT!!!  The fluidity of the ingredients in smoothies is one of the things that makes them so awesome.  

This smoothie is so good, you will feel like you are being bad.  But you aren't!

That is all for this post.  Since I have the next few days off, I am going to try to get another couple of Mardi Gras posts up,  including instructions on how to make this Mardi Gras Bead wreath for under $15.00!

I may remove the Endymion beads from my wreath, I haven't decided yet.

I hope you enjoyed this post and Happy Mardi Gras everyone!