Daydreams of autumn.

I have been thinking a lot of the season to come and put this treasury together for inspiration. Classes are gearing up, which means lots of busy days. Back with a recipe Friday.

Morning glory indeed.

I planted my first garden (well, first without my mother and her green thumb's help) this spring. I was worried when I had to leave it for two weeks and I did have a few casualties: sage, basil, chives, cilantro... we barely knew ye. However, my morning glories and moonflowers thrived in my absence and had even reached the top of the trellis when we returned!

Recently, when I took the puppy on her morning romp in the backyard I found the most wonderful surprise: the first morning glory blossom! More have followed and, although I missed a few while out of town for a very good friend's wedding, I can see from the buds that I will be enjoying these for some time to come.

Inspired by their beauty, I created an Etsy treasury of items:

Click on the image to get inspired to grow some morning glories of your own or add a little of their gorgeous color to your life!

An ode to Holland.

First, I must confess: I have never been to the Netherlands. I love tulips, chocolate, and good cheese and yet I have never been to the country known for these things. Further, our good friend, M, came all the way from Holland for our wedding. Obviously, we need to make the trip.

In the meantime, we are so blessed to have a friend who spoils us with treats from the land of windmills and Vermeer (not to mention Rembrandt, van Gogh, and many, many more). Above, you can see one of the first Dutch foods my friend introduced us to: the stroopwafel. Stroopwafels are the most delicious cinnamon-scented cookies with a thin layer of gooey caramel. They are fantastic with coffee, tea, or milk, and even better if you heat them slightly before consuming them to let the caramel loosen up and the cookie to soften.

However, on her most recent visit M brought us something new. In Holland, licorice candy is very popular but in the US it seems like hatred of licorice is much more common. To appeal to our American palates, M brought us coffee candies called Hopjes. They are amazing. If you see them, buy them. Their flavor is a combination of coffee and caramel; we are hooked. Jared doesn't even like coffee and he loves these!

To celebrate this wonderful place (and daydream of a future trip) I put together an Etsy treasury of all things Dutch. To view it, click on the image below.