weekend.

I had the kind of Memorial Day weekend that will forever stand out in my mind. Besides having a  full apartment (two out-of-town guests, one being my sister who has since left for Paris, plus two new temporary roommates, amazingly fun for someone who is used to living alone), we spent most of the weekend two ways: 1. outside on water and 2. eating Mexican food.

To top it off, we spent Memorial Day floating down the Edisto River for five hours, tied to twenty of our friends. At the risk of stating the ridiculously obvious, it was seriously one of the best days of my life.

scenes from franklin.

1. Jasper as Simba.
2. Catnap on the screened-in porch.
3. Cherries.
4. Pa Pa Al opening gifts.
5. Backyard paradise.
6. My dad, as the family sommelier.
7. More catnaps.
8. Candlelit summer supper.

big girls small kitchen (+ ginger cookies)

Much to my excitement, the girls of Big Girls Small Kitchen released their first cookbook. Aside from their straight-forward-but-still-creative, healthy-but-still-delicious recipes, Phoebe and Cara are wonderful writers -- and they include tons of personal stories, like cute first dates with shy smiles and pancakes.

They've also been making videos in preparation for the book debut, showing how to do basic things in the kitchen like make a grilled cheese, plain or fancy. (I can't help but smile when I watch them, they are so adorable.)



Check out the book for this ginger cookie recipe and tons more, but for now refer to their blog post about the six best jar cookies (including double ginger snaps and coffee sables filled with chocolate ganache).

P.S. Their "sexy-ugly onion tart" makes me laugh every time.

summer suppers.

My flight back to Charleston was originally scheduled for Sunday afternoon. Sunday morning, I changed it to Monday. Monday morning, I pushed it back to Tuesday. I just couldn't bring myself to leave.

I appreciated home this time more than ever. I don't know if it was the magic that is our backyard or the fact that I won't be back for a while. Either way it was an idyllic week, marked by beautiful outdoor dinners with roasted veggies, caprese salads, white wine, and strawberry cake.

strawberry cake, sort of.

For my Nan Nan's 80th birthday, I wanted to make a cake. I do a lot of baking (obv), but I hardly ever make cakes. Cakes are an intimidating commitment that can so easily go wrong. But in my head, this strawberry cake (Nan's favorite) was pretty and pink and perfect, topped with eight symmetrical strawberries.  But then real life happened, and stupid me forgot to line the pans (all three of them) with parchment paper.

Disappointed that I couldn't decorate my pretty pink cake, (but excited at how delicious it still tasted) I went a different route; individual strawberry cake trifles. With a layer of cream cheese icing (dyed pink), a layer of cake, a layer of icing, a layer of cake, a layer of homemade whipped cream, and a layer of fresh strawberries, it was hard to feel sad about the picture-perfect cake for very long.




(I used Deb's recipe for strawberry cake and cream cheese icing, as well as her recipe for homemade whipped cream, which is so worth the easy process as it blows store-bought whipped cream out of the water.)

weekend.

Coming home at this time of year seems sacred in some way. Our backyard feels like paradise and I rarely step inside. The days pass by in the dreamiest way -- porch naps, swimming, sunshine, reading.

Since finishing school, I can't read enough; it's the best feeling. This weekend I started and finished Christina Haag's poignant memoir about lost love and her long-time boyfriend, JFK Jr. It's so beautiful that I want to read it over and over again.

*this time last year at home, when I was about to take off to Scotland and France

scenes from franklin.

1. Cozy nights with friends and my mom's amazing food.
2. My beautiful baby sister, who somehow is not a baby at all.
3. Jasper James.
4. Pre-thunderstorm joyrides in the bug.
5. Unbaked chocolate wafers (for future ice cream sandwiches).
6. Moody table scape for the yummiest family dinner.