My favorite things from JUNE!

June is well over and gone, but that's not going to stop me from telling you what I loved about it!

Lately, I've been very in love with aloha prints (more on this later.) I found this beautiful pink floral blouse at JCPenney last month and I've adored it ever since.  In the store, it was paired with a matching maxi skirt, but I really like the casual look I get with blue jeans! I paired this outfit with my vintage Hush Puppies suede oxfords. I bought mine at a thrift shop near my house in perfect condition for seven dollars. For dressier occasions, I wear this top and shoes combo with a navy and white polka dotted skirt. I liked wearing this outfit when I was downtown getting coffee and thrift shopping with a friend!

During June I baked a lot of goodies, but I think my favorite was the Swedish prinsesstårta. I was searching for some Swedish pastry recipes to try out and this one caught my eye like no other. It was beautiful and delicious; plus, the assembly was pretty simple. The layers were spongecake, lingonberry jam, whipped cream, more spongecake, vanilla custard, a HUGE dollop of whipped cream, MORE spongecake, all covered in tinted green marzipan! I have to say, after making this cake, I have a new found love for almonds! I put almond extract in practically everything! I found a very good video tutorial, but it's in Swedish. You can get the general idea of what to do just by watching though!

This month I've fallen in love (once again) with Altar'd State department store.  I took my little sister shopping and I wish we had gone there first on our trip! She found some cute dresses and tops with tassels. I really loved that all the clothes were very fun and cute, but still modest! The only thing I didn't love was the pricing. For a girl who loves thrift shopping, $70 seems like a bit much for a simple cotton dress. We visited the store when there was a MASSIVE sale going on, so I felt good about all the purchases!  They have some really precious pieces, so you should definitely check them out online or in store if there's one near you! 

This month I tried some delicious sodas from Joia all natural sodas that I found at World Market. My favorite flavor (not pictured) was the lime, hibiscus & clove. It was so fresh and had a wonderful flavor. I had the grapefruit, chamomile & cardamom flavor with a lamb bacon burger (recipe found in Bon Appetit Magazine's May issue.) The blackberry, pomegranate & ginger flavor was not my favorite. I love all those things individually, but the soda was just too sweet for me. These sodas are perfect for a summer barbecue and/or pool party. They're refreshing and fun and oh-so yummy! The colors are so fun and festive.

I made some super tasty sweet buttered polenta pancakes during the month of June! Polenta is just cornmeal that has been cooked down to a thick porridge originating in Italy. I bought my polenta at World Market pre-packaged in a tube, but you should be able to find it most grocery stores. I sliced the polenta into 1/4 inch thick discs and cooked them in a buttered skillet until they were crispy on the edges. I served them with a pad of butter, a sprinkle of powdered sugar, summer berries, and copious amounts of maple syrup. These were a yummy, but healthy alternative to regular pancakes; and they were easy to make too! This was by far my favorite meal from June!

Peace and LOVE. XXX.

I'M CUTTING OUT SUGAR!... starting tomorrow.

I've had this brilliant idea to cut out refined sugars from my diet. As I'm writing this, though, I'm eating a bowl of icecream and last night I took it upon myself to make meringue cookies. This "reformed diet" idea may need to wait for a bit. I think healthy eating is something I'm definitely going to start incorporating into my life more, but I sat down with the February edition of Southern Living Magazine only to stop myself on the first page when I saw a recipe for cotton candy meringues! Making these little sweets was the best and worst decision of the week.

To make these, you'll need:
4 egg whites
1/4 tsp. cream of tartar
1 cup sugar
2 tsp. cornstarch
1 tsp. white vinegar
1&1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
OPTIONAL food coloring

To start:
1. Pre-heat oven to 250 F. Beat the egg whites with the cream of tartar until stiff peaks form.
2. Mix the sugar and cornstarch together, then gradually beat the mixture into the egg yolks.
3. With a rubber spatula, gently fold the vinegar and vanilla into the egg white mixture.
4. On a cookie sheet lined with parchment, place dollops of the mixture. I chose to pipe mine out with a bag and Wilton's 1M piping tip.
5. Bake for an 1 hour and 15 minutes. Turn the oven off, but leave the pan in for 1&1/2 hours. The meringues will be good up to five days in an airtight container.

I separated my batter into three different bowls and added food coloring to them. In one bowl, 2 drops red & 1 drop blue. In the second bowl, I added 2 blue, 1 green and 1 yellow. In the last bowl, i added 2 red and 2 yellow.  I didn't fully fold in the coloring so it was a little stripey! I layered the different colored mixtures in the piping bag so they would come out all swirly and pretty!

These would be really nice to serve at a wedding or baby shower. You can add practically any flavoring or coloring. They are just so fun. They look really sweet and dainty and taste similar to Lucky Charms marshmallows. If you're having less sugar (starting tomorrow,) like I am, I highly recommend that you binge a little on these first!

Peace and love. XXX.