Grilled Corn Salad

Nothing says summer like GRILLED CORN! I wouldn't say I am the biggest corn fan, I love the way it tastes but I don't really like the idea of corn (the not digesting it part kinda weirds me out) but perhaps I am strange like that. So when I do eat corn, this is exactly how I want it... off the grill! The canned and frozen corn is not making an appearance in my shopping cart.

I first mentioned this dish when I shared the Honey Chicken Skewers recipe, also from Real Simple and I promised to share it soon... hey I wouldn't let my readers down! RS is a pretty awesome magazine.

Grilled Corn Salad
by Real Simple Magazine, serves 4-6

Ingredients:
6 ears of corn shucked
1 Tbsp butter
2 scallions sliced

Grill the corn for about 4-5 minutes on medium high turning it occasionally until it is slightly charred. Cut the kernals off - the best way I found to do this is stand the corn up in a large bowl placing your oven mitted fingers on top pushing down and cut down that way they just fall into the bowl. Or if you have thick skin then maybe no oven mitt is needed. Pull out any strings that got missed when you shucked the corn.

Toss with the butter and scallions and some ground pepper to taste. The recipe also calls for 1/4 tsp of salt added here but I didn't think it needed it. At this point you could tranfer it into a medium bowl for serving. I think it is best served pretty quick after so it's warm (or you can pop a tiny bit more butter in it and warm it in the microwave before serving).

Real Simple says it serves 4 but I think it serves more like 6 as long as you have some other type of side. This is my favorite corn dish and you don't get the corn all stuck in your teeth like you do off the cob :) It does go perfectly with the Honey Chicken Skewers or pretty much any summer main dish... hotdogs, hamburgers, BBQ, you name it! And with only 3 ingredients, it is so easy to make!

Let me know if you try it!

Linking up to these parties:

(M) Motivate Me Monday, Making the World Cuter Mondays, Making Monday Marvelous, Just Something I Whipped Up, The DIY Showoff, Mad Skills, (T) Today's Creative Blog, All Thingz Related, Tip Me Tuesday, Ladybug Blessings, Try it Tuesday, A Little Birdie Told Me (W) Whatever Goes Wednesday, Creations by Kara, Blue Cricket Design, We Did It Wednesday, Wassup Wednesday (Th) Hooking up w/HoH, Somewhat Simple, (F) Remodelaholics Anonymous, JAG Show and Share Day, Frugalicious Friday,  FrouFrouDecor, Fingerprints on the Fridge, FFA Friday, Weekend Wander, (S) Weekend Wrap Up Party, Lamb Around (Su) Sunday Showcase Party, Sundae Scoop, It's So Very Cheri

Blogiversary

Can you believe that 1 year ago I started my blog? It sure is hard for me to believe and I've definitely enjoyed it! I thought it would be fun to recap some of my favorite projects/recipes/posts from the past year for yall:

Our first major home project... a backyard deck

My first furniture redo, nightstand turned play kitchen and probably my fave project over the past year

One of our staples to go along with turkey burgers, herb and cheese oven fries

Guest Project by my mom, Burlap Rosette Wreath

Family Name Blocks I've made a bunch of these as gifts too

Our fun Boston trip

Fabric Rosette Necklace, that I wore at one of my favorite weekends out of the year - girls reunion!!!

Gingerbread House Making Party

The gift that started my love for Silhouette heat transfer (especially on onesies!)

My 3 part series on Ways to Save Money (one tip - plant a veggie garden)

Cake Truffles mmmmm!

My first sewing adventure

Craigslist score worth waiting for

If you want to check out other past posts of projects, decor, and recipes just use the categories in my right sidebar. THANKS to all my readers and followers over the past year!! Yall are the best!! Seriously... getting new followers and getting comments MAKE MY DAY!

Linking up to these parties:

(M) Motivate Me Monday, Making the World Cuter Mondays, Making Monday Marvelous, Just Something I Whipped Up, The DIY Showoff, Mad Skills, (T) Today's Creative Blog, All Thingz Related, Tip Me Tuesday, Ladybug Blessings, Try it Tuesday, A Little Birdie Told Me (W) Whatever Goes Wednesday, Creations by Kara, Blue Cricket Design, We Did It Wednesday, Wassup Wednesday (Th) Hooking up w/HoH, Somewhat Simple, (F) Remodelaholics Anonymous, JAG Show and Share Day, Frugalicious Friday,  FrouFrouDecor, Fingerprints on the Fridge, FFA Friday, Weekend Wander, (S) Weekend Wrap Up Party, Lamb Around (Su) Sunday Showcase Party, Sundae Scoop, It's So Very Cheri

Anytime blocks {tutorial}

I shared part of Baby William's gift with the onesies and shoes and this is what else I decided to do... ANYTIME BLOCKS! I found this tutorial here where they call them All Season blocks and simplified them a bit. I think they are not only for all seasons but just for any possible time you can think of since they spell SO many things!

I got a 3x3 finished wooden post from lowes and had hubby cut it into blocks... it made 14 but I used 13 for this project (never hurts to have an extra in case I messed one up). By the way the 3x3 block isn't quite 3 inches by 3 inches... who knows why in the world they call it 3x3 if it's not but anyway, measure carefully.

I did just a little light sanding and painted each block with craft paint. I chose a bright green color as the nursery walls are a honey beige color and they are going with bright accent colors like greens, blues, red, orange. It took about 3 coats.

I used my handy dandy silhouette to cut out the letters for the 10 letter blocks (the other 3 blocks don't use letters) using white cardstock.

Block 1: H Y E D A N
Block 2: A C R S N I
Block 3: R P E T U N
Block 4: V N L O A S
Block 5: E O M D S R
Block 6: S M K I A O
Block 7: T F B W Y E
Block 8: U A G L Y T
Block 9: P J I H O W
Block 10: F P S C U E

I brushed homemade mod podge (half school glue/half water but then a tad more glue) onto the blocks and stuck on the letters letting sides dry in between.

Then I cut various scrapbook papers the size of a block side for the remaining 3 blocks and adhered it the same way. I did leave one blank side per block in case they wanted plain spacers. Love the smiling Christmas lights!

Then I sprayed on a couple coats of protective non yellowing sealant. The rustic white scrapbook paper with the eye-ish circles on it is probably my fave.

TA-DA! They really do spell so many things! You can go here for the original list of things they spell but they spell a ton of names and other things not on that list. Like Clemson and Tigers and William which are perfect for this gift :)

And they even spell Dangerous E (since Eric had that "hot and dangerous..." song stuck in his head) and that uses all 10 letter blocks haha.

Then they got all boxed up and shipped with the rest of William's gift. Hopefully these blocks can grow up with him in his room or maybe even be passed down to a sibling one day! Go to my friend Shannon's blog to see cute pics of him. Here is one Shannon sent me along with the thank you card. LOVE IT!

 

Linking up to these parties:

(M) Motivate Me Monday, Making the World Cuter Mondays, Making Monday Marvelous, Just Something I Whipped Up, The DIY Showoff, Mad Skills, (T) Today's Creative Blog, All Thingz Related, Tip Me Tuesday, Ladybug Blessings, Try it Tuesday, A Little Birdie Told Me (W) Whatever Goes Wednesday, Creations by Kara, Blue Cricket Design, We Did It Wednesday, Wassup Wednesday (Th) Hooking up w/HoH, Somewhat Simple, (F) Remodelaholics Anonymous, JAG Show and Share Day, Frugalicious Friday,  FrouFrouDecor, Fingerprints on the Fridge, FFA Friday, Weekend Wander, (S) Weekend Wrap Up Party, Lamb Around (Su) Sunday Showcase Party, Sundae Scoop, It's So Very Cheri

Quick Update

We're baaaaaaaaaack! So we just got back yesterday from the most AMAZING 11 days in Italy with Eric's brother and his wife! It was a much needed vacation! I cannot wait to write all about it and share pics soon :)

Of course while I was gone my blog was a little neglected... I had a couple of scheduled posts but didn't do any linking up or reading of blogs so that is why you haven't heard too much from me lately. But now I'm getting back into the swing of things and have some fun posts on the way so stay tuned!

For now, I'll leave you with my favorite italian phrase: CIAO BELLA!

I also really liked Buonasera

ah, I miss Italy! and.... I could really go for some gelato right now :)

Baby boy onesies

My friend Shannon recently had an adorable baby boy, William. They didn't find out ahead of time what they were having so as soon as he was born I got working on his gift. As part of his gift, I made some cute heat transfer onesies using my Silhouette.

Little boat

Gotta have a Clemson onesie since Shannon went to Clemson too (we were roomies on the sorority hall)! AND adorable baby shoes made by my mom and monogrammed by my godmother!

Did I mention they are reversible?!

I absolutely love this one because babies do grow up so fast and because Shannon likes photography. William is going to be one very photographed baby I know! I altered a "shape" bought in the Silhouette store and I think it turned out great.

And last, I gave him the first onesie I ever made actually using freezer paper stenciling and fabric paint. I really like the zoom font. It was just waiting for the perfect recipient.

Lots of precious little boy onesies!

I cannot wait to meet little William in person! Check him out here on Shannon's blog!

Linking up to these parties:

(M) Motivate Me Monday, Making the World Cuter Mondays, Making Monday Marvelous, Just Something I Whipped Up, The DIY Showoff, Mad Skills, (T) Today's Creative Blog, All Thingz Related, Tip Me Tuesday, Ladybug Blessings, Try it Tuesday, A Little Birdie Told Me (W) Whatever Goes Wednesday, Creations by Kara, Blue Cricket Design, We Did It Wednesday, Wassup Wednesday (Th) Hooking up w/HoH, Somewhat Simple, (F) Remodelaholics Anonymous, JAG Show and Share Day, Frugalicious Friday,  FrouFrouDecor, Fingerprints on the Fridge, FFA Friday, Weekend Wander, (S) Weekend Wrap Up Party, Lamb Around (Su) Sunday Showcase Party, Sundae Scoop, It's So Very Cheri

Introducing Kivik

Meet Kivik, our new couch!

We wanted a couch for our upstairs loft area that was affordable, durable, comfy, and fit well in the space. We really liked the idea of some sort of a sectional or chaise. Well, Kivik from IKEA fit all our criteria! It has a nice ribbed texture to it too and is a neutral brownish color (although they had many colors).

It was kinda hard to photograph because of the texture but here it is online.

source

I love that the chaise can be attached to either side of the couch part or it can even stand alone if you wanted it too. The cover is removeable and can be dry cleaned... awesome. Assembly was actually no problem even though as many of you know IKEA directions are only pictures and no words. We are extremely happy with our purchase!

I have big plans/ideas for this room in the future to be very multifunctional! One step at a time...

Craigslist find with patience

Does anyone else struggle with being patient? I do and I am always praying for the Lord to help me be more patient. It seems that things are constantly getting faster and quicker. Even just thinking about logging onto the internet or loading a page 10 years ago vs. today. Today, if I don't get a quick response or don't see something happening immediately then I think something is probably wrong so that timeframe has become the new norm.

Don't get me wrong, I don't think technology advances are bad. I just think it hasn't helped me (and probably others) to be patient with other things. For instance, our home. I would love to just buy all the furniture, decor, etc. needed and call it a done deal but I am learning (or trying at least) to be patient. There is no big rush. Not everything has to be right here right now.

One thing I waited for and the wait paid off was our front porch rocking chairs. From the moment we moved in (almost 2 yrs ago) I have wanted 2 of those wooden rockers for our front porch. Being on a budget and knowing we needed many things for our new home, I decided to look for them on Craigslist. Who knew it would take me until just a week ago to find them!

In the beginning I looked every day and if I did find some like what we wanted they ended up being already sold or too expensive. Many times hubby said "let's just go buy them new if you want them" but no, I was going to be patient about them (also a tad stubborn to I suppose). After awhile I only checked Craigslist once a week and was still just being patient knowing eventually we would have some. Then one of our neighbors who knew I had been wanting rockers, emailed me last weekend and said she just saw some on Craiglist. And they were exactly what we wanted and only $80 for the 2! We picked them up that day!

They definintely need a good wipe down and perhaps a new coat of paint in the future but I'm in no rush :)

Honey chicken and vegetables on the grill

Who is excited it's grilling and cookout season again? ME ME ME! One of the best things we invested in was a nice grill and we love to use it. We once moved it onto our screen porch because we wanted to grill in the rain and we just never moved it back so now we can grill even in the rain.

Here is one of our go-to grilling recipes. What pretty colors :)

Honey Chicken Skewers
by: Real Simple Magazine

Ingredients:

1/2 cup ketchup
2 Tbs. honey
1 Tbs. Worcestershire
1 1/2 lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts
salt and pepper
wooden skewers

Soak your skewers in water and heat the grill on med-med high. Combine first 3 ingredients in bowl and set aside (you can adjust the amounts to your taste - we like a little extra worcestershire). Slice chicken lengthwise into 1/2 in. strips and thread onto skewers (or you can do smaller pieces like we did). Season with a little salt and pepper if you want. Cook the chicken turning occasionally until cooked throughm 6-8 minutes.During the last 2-3 minutes of cooking baste with the ketchup mixture.

We love to also grill veggies and a very simple way to do this is slice up some zucchini and/or squash and thread onto skewers. Season with pepper and oregano and drizzle with a little olive oil. Put them on the grill on med. for about 20-25 min - just test one to make sure it is as cooked as you like yours. We have a wire grill basket we sometimes throw veggies in too instead of the skewers.

I have a wonderful grilled corn recipe (shown in the 1st picture) I will share soon. Updated: Find it here!

Happy Grilling!

Linking up to these parties:

(M) Motivate Me Monday, Making the World Cuter Mondays, Making Monday Marvelous, Just Something I Whipped Up, The DIY Showoff, Mad Skills, (T) Today's Creative Blog, All Thingz Related, Tip Me Tuesday, Ladybug Blessings, Try it Tuesday, A Little Birdie Told Me (W) Whatever Goes Wednesday, Creations by Kara, Blue Cricket Design, We Did It Wednesday, Wassup Wednesday (Th) Hooking up w/HoH, Somewhat Simple, (F) Remodelaholics Anonymous, JAG Show and Share Day, Frugalicious Friday,  FrouFrouDecor, Fingerprints on the Fridge, FFA Friday, Weekend Wander, (S) Weekend Wrap Up Party, Lamb Around (Su) Sunday Showcase Party, Sundae Scoop, It's So Very Cheri