Yum!

I'm a lover of cookbooks and cooking magazines. My favorites shift over the years and I purge my collection from time to time, but I've held on to many of the Pillsbury Classic Cookbooks that I purchased and often refer to them for new recipes. 

I've made this fruit salad for two recent events and people have asked for the recipe at both, so it's a winner in my book. It's simple, healthy and yummy and you might want to try it this summer.

Fruit Salad with Coconut-Lime Dressing

SALAD:

1/2 cup shaved coconut (I used shredded)

2 cups cubed honeydew melon (I used cantaloup)

2 cups cubed fresh pineapple

1 cup fresh strawberry halves

1 cup fresh blueberries

DRESSING:

1-8 oz container lemon yogurt

2 tablespoons cream of coconut

(from 16 oz can)

2 teaspoons grated lime peel

DIRECTIONS:

Toast coconut by baking at 350 degrees for 5 minutes or until golden brown. Stir once and watch closely

Meanwhile combine all dressing ingredients in a small bowl and blend well.

Layer fruit in glass bowl. When ready to serve, pour dressing over fruit and top with toasted coconut.

The second time I made this I was short on time so I just purchased a fruit bowl from Costco and made the topping. 

Here is Kansas the weather pendulum has swung from cool, rainy spring to oppressively hot and dry. It's a challenge keeping up with the watering but it is relaxing to wander around the yard with a watering can late in the day when the humidity is down. Hope you're enjoying your summer!

Endless Summer Hydrangea

Weekend Work

Seems like the summer weather is finally settling in here and I'm focusing on summer themed items as I craft. Here's a peek at the wool runner I'll be offering on the next Simply Primitives. I enjoyed stitching the little curlicue vines!

I spent some time in the garden, planting flowers and rearranging plants. The hostas next to the house thrive while those in the back of the yard suffer from too much sun and rabbit invasions, so we moved them to hopefully safer and more suitable ground.

Rabbit Fodder

Hostas seem to take moving and dividing really well. A couple of these plants even came from a yard sale! As I've mentioned before, I'm a big fan of foilage plants and I think the hosta's various shades of green and variegated foilage mix well together and have a peaceful, calming feeling, so what could go better than an angel birdfeeder, also in green.

Hucheras

The Winner is...

First of all, thank you to everyone who entered and left such nice and helpful comments. I learned a lot and enjoyed finding a lot of new blogs to visit. Wow, there is a huge amount of talent and good hearted people in blogland! As I mentioned, I compiled all the entries into a document and cut them into strips.

The strips were thoroughly mixed.

 Cookie supervised this formal ceremony, as was appropriate for a tuxedo wearing cat.

Son Mark, a totally impartial judge who doesn't have a clue what Mom is up to but obliged me anyway, carefully selected one strip.

The winner is Barb from Barb's Heartstrokes! Yippee Barb!

I'm still receiving nice comments from people who are finding their way here and I appreciate that very much! Apparently all the sudden traffic crashed my follower gadget, though, so even though the gadget is still in place the thumbnails of followers is blank. Has anyone else had this happen?

Giveaway Has Ended--Processing Entries

Thanks so much to everyone who has entered my giveaway. I am still processing entries, so if you haven't heard back from me yet, please don't think your entry has been lost. I'm responding to everyone who entered and paying reciprocal visits to blogs which takes a little bit of time. I appreciate everyone who took the time to stop by and get to know a little bit about me. I believe blogging is about community so I want to do the same for you. As I read the comments I'm creating a document with a line for each entry.

Entries Processed as of Wed. Morning

If someone has a fairly common name, such as "Linda", I note the date and time of their entry by their comment line so I'll be able to identify the specific person whose entry is drawn. These entries will be cut into slips and I'll ask an impartial party to draw out a name. I anticipate the drawing will take place tomorrow (Thursday) and I anticipate mailing the penny rug on Friday.


If you don't win or didn't get a chance to enter I anticipate doing another giveaway in the fall. It's my favorite season and I have a lot of autumn colored wool that needs to be used!

Giveaway Ending Soon; 100 Followers or 6pm CST!

I'm very overwhelmed and grateful for the wonderful response to this giveaway! I am reading through all your excellent comments (the larger font was one of these!) and checking out each of your blogs as I go. What a joy to find so many new wonderful blogs to visit!  I'm responding to each of your entries (at this point I'm still responding to Sunday entries so don't worry if you haven't heard from me) and I hope to finish this evening, Tuesday, May 24th.

I am almost at 100 and anticipate reaching that number sometime today when I'm away at work. However, you'll have until 6pm Central Time tonight to register for the giveaway. At that point I'll have to shut down the giveaway so I'll have enough time to process the entries.

Giveaway

One of the reasons I began blogging was to connect with others who enjoy crafting. I enjoy being part of a creative community and really enjoy getting to know and being inspired by other crafters. What do you like to see or read on blogs? Do you like to get decorating or gardening ideas, see finished projects, learn new techniques...? Help me be a better blogger by leaving me a comment and letting me know what attracts you to a blog. If you enjoy seeing fancy, decorated cookies, you'll probably never see that here, but I do want this to be readable and worthwhile, so please give me your thoughts.

Celebrate! Penny Rug

The Giveaway: I'll give away this penny rug when I reach the magic number of 100 followers. This is a Maggie Bononomi design and I thought the little stitched "Celebrate!" banner made it appropriate for this giveaway.

The Rules:  You'll be entered in the giveaway if you leave me a comment. Two entries if you comment and become (or already are) a follower. Three entries if you post about my giveaway on your blog. Please let me know so I'll give you credit for that.

A couple of weekends ago, my long time friends came to Kansas City for a visit. We had so much fun! We spent time visiting favorite local shops including Nell Hills at Briarcliff Village.

Spring Urn Design

One of the highlights of the trip was visiting the traveling Princess Diana exhibit. Photos weren't allowed in the exhibit, but the exhibit included photos, videow and mementos from her childhood, charity work, books and books of memorials from around the world and of course a room full of her designer outfits and her wedding dress. 

 I'm so glad Kansas City was one of the locations selected to host this wonderful exhibit and would highly recommend it to anyone who is a fan of Princess Diana and it was a good reminder about what a difference she made through her many charities.

We were lucky enough to enjoy a beautiful, rain-free weekend and spent time catching up over snacks and beverages on the deck. Thanks to my dear friends for making the trek to Kansas City!