We are finally having nice weather, so we are working on to freshening up our outdoor spaces. Do you Love Landscape Design and Fresh Appetizers? If so you have come to the right place. I am joining my pals Mary Ann and Annie for our Sunday favorites.
PAUL HENDERSHOT DESIGN ON INSTAGRAM
Paul Hendershot is a landscape designer in Santa Barbara. I love his work and I think you might enjoy following him on Instagram if you love landscape design. You can follow him on Instagram here.
REAL SIMPLE-ARE SILICONES BAD FOR YOUR HAIR
Do you have problems with product building up on your hair? Are all silicones created equal? This article puts the silicone controversy to bed.
OUTFIT OF THE WEEK
It has finally warmed up here. We went from winter to summer. This gauze dress from Michael Stars comes in nine colors. I paired it with the Gap jean jacket (on sale), a BR factory hat (also on sale), inexpensive bag from etsy, amazon earrings and my favorite Olukai sneaks (thanks Wren).
SHOP THE POST
We went to dinner at our wonderful neighbors last night and I decided to make two kinds of bruschetta. I made Ina Garten’s Tomato Crostini with Whipped Feta and my recipe for Fig Mascarpone & Mint Bruschetta (recipe follows). Both are very simple to make. I know this time of year tomatoes are iffy. If you can find the brown tomatoes in your market they are a good substitute this time of year.
FIG MASCARPONE & MINT BRUSCHETTA
Ingredients
- 1 loaf fresh baguette (cut into 12 slices)
- 1/8 cup olive oil
- salt
- 4 ounces mascarpone , at room temperature
- 12 tsp Fig Preserves
- 12 slices of prosciutto
- Fresh Mint
Directions
- Step 1
- Preheat oven to 375°F.
- Step 2
- Slice 12 ½-inch slices of bread from the baguette. Place on a baking sheet, and brush generously with the olive oil. Sprinkle a little salt if desired on each slice.
- Step 3
- Bake for about 10 mins, or until crisp and slightly golden. Remove from oven and cool slightly.
- Step 4
- Spread mascarpone cheese on each crostini. Spread about a tsp of Fig Preserves on top of the goat cheese.
- Step 5
- Fold the slices of prosciutto neatly and place on top of each crostini.
- Step 6
- Place fresh chopped mint on top
REAL SIMPLE HOW TO FALL BACK ASLEEP AFTER WAKING UP
Raise your hand if you have trouble falling back to sleep after waking up. I found this Real Simple article interesting.
That’s it from my desk this week. I wanted to apologize for the post you received yesterday. That was an updated post that was not meant to go out in the mail. If you hadn’t read it before I hope you enjoyed it. If you had I apologize for the inconvenience.
Thank you for reading Do you Love Landscape Design and Fresh Appetizers. As always you can find any of my Sunday faves that you may have missed right here. Let’s pop over and visit Mary Ann and Annie and see what they have to share.
CLASSIC CASUAL HOME
MOST LOVELY THINGS
Hi Cindy,
Good post, as always. I am definitely going to prepare the bruschetta next dinner I serve for friends. I’m ready for spring/summer and determined to buy a pair of Olukai sandals this season.
Have a wonderful week.
Karen B.
Love my Olukai flip flops so am thrilled to know there are sneakers. Thank you.
Beautiful post as always.
Hi Didi
My friend and fellow reader Wren turned me on to them. I love them!!
I will try both bruschetta recipes … a while back I did mushroom and Gruyère bruschetta and others with Brie and spicy cranberry relish. Unfortunately, my toasted baguette slices were a tad too crisp! Broken teeth anyone? My guests were very kind… but I won’t make that mistake again!
I am going to try something new… having too much time on my hands last spring in Heathrow’s wonderful shops between flights, I bought a pair of Ted Baker white sneakers that were on sale. Not sure what to do, they sat in a box until recently. I am now feeling brave enough to try wearing them with casual longer dresses… just as you have shown., Cindy. And this is why we follow you lovely creative stylists!
I read the article and will add my two cents… I sometimes have difficulty getting back to sleep at about 4am ( brain gets busy) and even though this sounds totally counterproductive , it works for me… with just minimal light in the kitchen, I make a decaf Nespresso with 2%milk froth
( often stirring in some cinnamon cocoa powder ) and sip it, sitting in front of our gas fireplace with a blanket tucked around me. In about 1/2 hour, I am cuddled in bed and able to settle back to sleep. 🛌
I can heartily vouch for the Olukai sneakers. Have had 3 pair and they have been so comfy for walking lots on my travels. I used to have a white jean jacket (I think it might have been Gap) but got ride of it at some point. Now I have the Tommy Bahama one or I would get this one.
Thanks for the bruschetta ideas and lovely gardens in SB. So happy for warmer weather!
Hi Cindy,
I am loving all the neutral outfits I’ve seen this year and your pick for this week is great! I bought the hat and I’m going to take your advice on the shoes and try them as they are so cute. I live in Ojai and it seems we quickly dropped from Winter to Summer this year in a week’s time so I’m ready for some Summer dresses. Always love reading your articles and look forward each week to the outfits.
Hi Dani
That is exactly what happened here. We went from winter to summer in a hurry! Love Ojai and now that we are closer we can visit more often!
Your bruschetta looks beautiful, Cindy! There’s nothing I love more than a big beautiful platter of bruschetta to bring or serve at home. I’ll bet there was not one left!
Greetings from AG, I am in a wine group so I appreciate simple appetizer ideas, thank you. With our wonderful weather, what is your latest garden project?
Hi Nancy
I really only have one project. It is the area that was a kitchen garden and modern rose garden. We have torn all of the roses out besides the iceberg hedge which I love, and have planted david austin roses. I will post more as it gets prettier!!
That garden is amazing! Looks like Provence.
The idea of making TWO bruschettas is so fun. Pinning this!