Seasonal Saturday & Fresh, Clean, and Pure Friday!

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It's the last week of my university's Spring Semester and I have not been able to respond to each of your comments and to the new followers for the last few weeks.  I'm going to try to catch up this weekend.  Last week so many awesome, and I really mean awesome posts were shared on this blog get-together.  Who to choose to feature was a huge delimma.  So I decided to feature 3 food blog posts instead of one.  Hope that's OK!

Nancy from "Nancy Creative" kindly shared a mouthwatering recipe for fresh Blackberry Crumble that sounds outstanding.  I'm ready for berries aren't you?  And my family is always in the mood for a fresh dessert like this.  Isn't it colorful and pretty?  What a beautiful plate too!

Michelle's post from "Ms. Enplace" compelled me to think of the Easter bunny with her recipe for Roasted Carrots in Thyme (just cuz we associate bunnies with eating carrots)!  Since it's Easter, I thought this would make an excellent veggie side dish!

Jessica from "Kitchen Belleicious" shared a unique recipe for Sun-dried Tomato, Spinach and Artichoke Wonton Lasagna that sounds and looks wonderful, especially made for her husband who doesn't eat meat on Fridays during Lent, which part of my family also observes.  This recipe is full of delicious spring ingredients too!

April joins in from "The Life and Times of a 21st Century Housewife" with not only a post about her spring garden in How Does My Garden Grow?, but she also speaks about a British garden initiative, The 'One Pot Pledge' which is to "get everyone growing something to help feed themselves, even if it is just some salad on the windowsill. It’s good for your health, the environment and your soul". Cool stuff!

You really should look at what Anna did to her kitchen in this kitchen makeover over on "Ask Anna". What an amazing difference!  And yes, Anna, I completely agree with you:  It looks totally Fresh!  I bet she just loves being in her bright new kitchen!

I love how Jill over on "Real Food Forager" dyed Easter eggs in a completely natural way.  This woman is totally serious about doing things as clean as possible.  I wonder how the robins' eggs are so naturally blue . . . is there a natural way that we can achieve that color too, Jill?  Well done!

A big welcome to J.T. sharing a post from "Bubbling With Elegance and Grace" in which she openly discusses her lifestyle approach to achieving a life of self-esteem, inner beauty, fashion and gratitude.  What a beautiful soul!


I'd like to wish all of you a Happy and Blessed Easter, BUONA PASQUA or Passover and a wonderful weekend with your families, friends, and loved ones.  I cannot wait to see some of your posts next week on what you served for your celebration, how you decorated, and maybe some tablescapes . . . and more!

Now go ahead and link up another great post or two.  Please copy and paste the button with a link on your post or at least just a link back here so other's can join in.  For those who are new, I ask that you do not link up posts related to giveaways, coupons or sales, or trying to sell stuff.  Thanks for your blog kindness!

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Creamy Cucumber Salad with Fresh Dill

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As the weather begins to warm up, I like to serve cold salads in numerous ways.  One of my favorites is Cucumber Salad in a Creamy Dill Sauce.  This week I was flipping through a cookbook given to me from my God-Daughter for a Christmas gift . . . "Barefoot Contessa Back To Basics" by Ina Garten, and found her version of this chilled salad.  Ms. Garten, just like me, says that she loves cucumbers.

Her recipe is different than most traditional recipes in that she uses hothouse cucumbers and yogurt to create a "lighter and sweeter" flavor, rather than mayonnaise and/or buttermilk.  There is also no sugar in this, which you might want to add if you like.  One of the noticeable differences unique to her recipe that really makes a huge difference is that she drains the excess liquid from both the cucumbers and the yogurt.  This produces a more silky, creamy sauce that is far less runny!

I also used some fresh dill from my garden instead of the jarred variety.  Ina states that this cucumber salad is perfect to pair with grilled chicken and guess what we had for dinner?  Grilled chicken!  So I had to try her recipe!  This recipe makes quite a lot, so I recommend cutting it in half if you don't have many people to serve.

Creamy Cucumber Salad
very slightly adapted from Ina Garten's "Barefoot Contessa Back To Basics"

4 - 5 hothouse cucumbers, seeds removed and thinly sliced with peel left on
1 - 2 small red onions, thinly sliced and then cut into half rounds
1-1/2 Tbsp. Kosher salt (I used sea salt)
1 cup plain whole-milk yogurt (reduced from 4 cups in the original recipe)
1 cup sour cream
(or 2 cups of sour cream with no yogurt)
2 Tbsp. champagne vinegar (or red wine vinegar is fine too)
1/2 cup minced fresh dill
1 tsp. sugar (optional)
1-1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper (I used 2 - 3 tsp.)
2 tsp. sea salt (my addition, since it's in desperate need of it)


In a LARGE bowl, mix the cucumbers, red onions, and 1-1/2 Tbsp. of salt.
Pour them into a large colander and suspend over another large bowl.
Wrap the bowl and colander with plastic wrap.
Place this in the refrigerator to DRAIN for at least 4 hours or overnight.
Discard the liquid that collects in the bowl.
Pour the yogurt into a sieve/fine mesh strainer that is lined with a paper towel and suspend over another medium sized bowl.
Wrap the bowl and sieve in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 4 hours or overnight.
Discard the liquid that collects in this bowl too.
When the cucumbers are ready, roll them up in paper towels or a clean kitchen towel.
Press the paper towels/kitchen towel lightly to remove most of the liquid from the cucumbers.
Place the cucumbers and yogurt in a large bowl.
Add the sour cream, vinegar, dill, 2 tsp. sea salt and the pepper.
Toss well.
Refrigerate for a few hours to allow the flavors to blend (this is a very important step not to ignore!).
Sprinkle again with salt and freshly ground black pepper if you prefer.
Garnish with snips of fresh dill for color!
Serve chilled.

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Almost Wordless Wednesday on The Acreage

Whenever I need to feel more joy in my life, I just go outside and enjoy whatever may be in bloom or season.  Here is what brought me some smiles this week when I needed it so much.  I hope you enjoy too.  I want to thank all of you for your kind thoughts and support the last two days.  It means so much to me to have 'met' all of you and have you as my friends, even though we are miles apart (but close in heart and spirit)!
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Purple Iris from my father-in-law's garden in Ohio that we transplanted here.

Blue and white Iris that I can't remember the name, sorry!   :-(

"Nelly Moser" Clematis climbing on our lamp post.

One of the harmless little critters (a chameleon) that visits regularly.  

He/she is so cute, huh?

Have a beautiful day everyone!

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