We have been loving these summer days, especially down in the outer banks hanging out with friends and family. The sunny beach days by the water and the cool nights around the table playing the Mexican Train Game (have you played… it’s addicting) have been the best. My 30 by 30 list has seemed to fall by the way side between vacations and busy work weeks but my #28 – have a signature drink has been one everyone has been willing to help with! So by trial and error at the beach house we have been testing every pinteresty delicious drink around.

While this lavender lemonade didn’t make the signature cut it is still one I would recommend to try during these last few days before fall.

Found this great recipe at onekingslane.com (and cut the servings in half):

Ingredients:

1 cup sugar
4 sprigs lavender (stems and buds), plus a few additional sprigs for garnish
5 fresh squeezed lemons (approx 1 cup) lemon juice (I was excited to use my new juicer for this!)
2 fresh squeezed limes worth (approx. 1/4 cup) lime juice (and this!)

Directions:

Boil about half a gallon of water and the sugar. Remove from heat, and add lavender sprigs along with the lemon and lime juices all together in the pot.

Let the mixture cool to room temperature, strain the lavender.

For a quick way to serve use a shaker after straining (love this new shaker from Shikshook) with ice to chill quickly.

To make this a bit more adult friendly (and what better kind of signature drink than an adult one) I topped each serving off with a 1/4 glass pour of my favorite Prosecco from Trader Joes.  It added a little carbonation and whole lot of deliciousness!

Hope you enjoy!

 

*I received the shaker to test at a discounted rate but all thoughts and opinions are my own.

Summer is coming to end and while I am looking forward to pumpkin spice lattes, football games and cool fall weather I will miss the amazing vegetables from the garden my husband grew out back!  We have been eating out way through countless squash, zucchini, tomato, basil and cucumber recipes.

Last night while mixing and matching some delicious sounding cucumber salad recipes with what ingredients we had left in the cabinets (the struggle of not grocery shopping after vacation) I came up with a tasty little treat I thought I would share!  I even managed to use a new vegetable peeler I received from Raaya without slicing my own fingers in the process(which is a culinary miracle).

So here is my new favorite summer Cucumber and Onion Salad:

Ingredients:

1 large cucumber

1/2 purple onion

1/8 cup balsamic vinegar

1/8 cup extra virgin police oil

1 tbsp dill

2 tsp of sea salt

Directions:

I used the slicer to make vegetable noodles out of the cucumber, then chopped up the onion.  Next I simply combined all the ingredients in a large bowl, tossed it all with tongs, being sure to coat all of the vegetables and served!  Simple!

Hope you enjoy!

Happy Monday!

I am back from the beach and back to the office.  A quick weekend away is never enough but I can’t wait to get back down to the outer banks in two weeks for a longer vacay!  Here is a quick look at the weekend by the sea…

My sister and I started an annual ‘Sister’s Weekend’ in Duck, NC a few years back and I was looking forward to a few days away with her all summer.  We packed the fridge with our favorite drinks and all the appetizers and cheese we could find at Trader Joes!

That night we tested out the local Uber and went exploring (definitely a new adventure for us… we are usually homebodies at the beach).  The friendly drivers and delicious margaritas were so worth it!

I have a few orders coming in for customized t-shirts for some friends so I thought I would play around with some techniques and made a few shirts for me and Beth to wear at the beach.  This lime one may be my favorite!

Now time to finish the laundry that I didn’t finish when I got home Sunday!  Hope you have a wonderful week!