May Day Baskets

You may remember that I signed up for a pay-it-forward challenge back in January.  I accepted from a friend promising to solicit five more participants and so forth.  Three of the participants are neighbors and I immediately knew that one would get a May Day basket.

This beauty is filled with fresh organic spring lettuce, heirloom tomatoes a squash and zucchini that I picked up yesterday at our local farmer's market.  You can find the accompanying tag over at Skip to My Lou.

  

If you are not familiar with the May Day basket tradition, basically you just leave a basket of goodies on someone's doorstep in hopes to brighten their day.  Some folks "ring and run" keeping the surprise anonymous.  It is all good springy fun!

Happy Spring!

xoxo,
TSS

Nantucket Basket

One of the many things I love about spring is that it beckons the return of my favorite purse from storage - my Nantucket Basket.  I found this gem in Pawley's Island and I just adore it.  I get so many compliments and it goes with everything.

I especially love that the topper resembles the lighthouse of our beloved Ocracoke Island, which is an old fishing village and the southern most tip of the Outer Banks - and me and the hubbies favorite get-away location.  

Should you happen upon one of these fab finds, snatch it up!

Xoxo,

TSS

Lillypocolipse

I knew the Target campaign for Lilly Pulitzer would be popular but I am laughing to myself at the total craze it stirred.  Granted, I am not a big shopper.  I clean my closet out after each season, shop sales to fill in holes and then pick up a few fun things each season.  I realize this isn't the most economical approach to shopping but I have no patience for crowds.  So I am pretty sure my head would have exploded if I had gone to Target yesterday.  Not that it would have mattered, our store was wiped out an hour after opening.

I went online when I woke up at 6am, to make the cheese grits I shared yesterday, and tried to purchase a few things but they were already unavailable online.  My Facebook feed was full of stories of people staying up all night trying to deal with the crashing website and pictures of folks camped out.  Lilly is not hard to find people!  Google is a great source to find discounted Lilly - all sorts of sites can be found with a quick search.  In fact, Miller Monograms is selling Lilly items currently for 20% off.  Check them out on Facebook or the hyperlink above for her website.

In the meantime, curiosity killed the cat and I went to Target this morning to see the aftermath.  To my delight, this lone basket was sitting all by herself on a shelf.  Well, of course I promised to give her a good home. 

Here's hoping everyone that endured the crowds were successful and had a fun girls day.  After all, everything really is better in pink!

xoxo,

TSS

What Can I Bring? Cheese Grits Casserole

We had a fellowship breakfast this morning for our beloved Sunday School teachers who have decided to step down after 9 years of service to better care for their aging parents.  This sweet couple truly are the salt of the Earth and are so loved by my family, our class and pretty much all who know them.  And we showed them our love this morning through food.  Y'all should have seen that spread!

I had to laugh - after the decision was made to do the pot luck everyone said, "what can I bring?"  That response has inspired a "What Can I Bring?" Section to this site.  So my first recommendation will be what I brought this morning - Cheese Grits Casserole.  I mean - you just can't serve a breakfast party in the South without cheese grits.

This picture doesn't do it justice:  grits simmered in chicken broth, salt, pepper, garlic powder, milk, butter, eggs and two kinds of cheese - y'all, it was out of this world.  Needless to say, I'll be having a small salad for dinner.  But do yourself a favor and click on the hyperlink above for the recipe and take it to your next breakfast gathering.

xoxo,
TSS

Farmer's Market Tartine

Our local farmer's market opened this morning for the season much to our delight.  We love walking to our little downtown market to pick up fresh veggies, herbs, cheeses, meats and more.  I can hardly wait to get home and whip something up.

Today's purchases were a bag of spring lettuce, a gorgeous bunch of radishes and a to-die-for section of Black Magic cheese from Cheval Farmstead Dairy.    The cheese is a fresh goat milk with vegetable rennet, coconut shell ash and sea salt. It all begged to be turned into a tartine so I obliged.  A tartine is simply an opened faced sandwich with a spread of some sort with a delicious topping.
And it was certainly delicious.

The highlight though was the obligatory stop to the fresh squeezed lemonaide stand.




So glad to get back into our favorite Saturday morning routine.

Xoxo,
TSS

A

Hello, Yellow!

Spring fever has hit hard!  After a cold, cold winter, I am ready for some fun in the sun.  We've started prepping the yard, courtyard and verandah (which is really simply a front porch but verandah just sounds like the south, doesn't it?) for long days spent outside........but, we must first endure weeks of Mother Nature's pollen.

EVERYTHING is yellow!!!!  My sweet hubby looked like Pig Pen from Peanuts this weekend as he mowed the lawn and blew leaves.  He was completely covered in a yellow cloud.  The trade off is that our Dogwoods, Azealas and Bradford Pears are in bloom.

Yuck, yuck!  Can't wait to get it all over with and washed away.  The good news is that in one week, I will be parked at Target to pick up all the lovely items I have been oogling over in the Lilly Pulitzer for Target look book.  My birthday is Friday and I just think it was so sweet of Target and the folks at Lilly Pulitzer to do this for me - haha.  Bring on the warm weather fun!

xoxo,

TSS