Straight from my iPhone camera,  here are a few inspirations from my recent trip to Europe!! Enjoy!

Here I am at the Rodin Museum in Paris, which I adore.  If I were to design a house, this would be it– I think it is architecturally perfect.  C’est magnifique– n’est pas?

I think this bird topiary is fabulous.  I love the juxtaposition of the whimsical topiary with the more classic sculpture to the left.

This pathway caught my eye for a few reasons.  The uniformity- the choice to use just one type and color of flower to line the hedges makes it visually striking.  I feel it is always more effective to use a single color in landscaping.  Secondly, I am a fanatic about perfectly manicured hedges!  In this picture, you get a sense for how visually important it is to create a straight line, without a leaf out of place.

The sheep grazing in this roadside field added country charm to my drive.  It is amazing how they clump together so organically and perfectly- it appears to be right out of a pastoral painting.

I visited Highclere Castle; the film location for one of my favorite TV shows, Downton Abbey.  The exterior of the building looked so majestic in person!  Downton Abbey returns to the air in the US January 2013… I can hardly wait!

I love to travel and I am so thankful for the chance to seek new inspirations abroad.   Let me know what inspires you when you travel!

Today’s sweet ending is a food truck that New Yorkers have come to love, Wafels & Dinges. Started in 2007, prior to the huge surge in gourmet food trucks Wafels & Dinges offers various types of Belgium wafels  and you can choose toppings such as, dulce de leche, nutella, strawberries and whipped cream to put on your wafels. With 5 carts and 2 trucks stationed in various locations Wafels & Dinges is easily accessible from anywhere in New York City. Be sure to take a stroll around New York City and enjoy this fabulous sweet ending!

Today’s sweet ending is inspired by the summer olympics, which start today! Since the olympics is taking place in London I wanted to share a typical London pastry that everyone knows and loves, scones. To make the scones appropriate for summer, I decided to include a recipe for strawberry lemonade scones. These scones are perfect to serve if you are having people over to watch the Olympics. Enjoy this “gold medal” worthy sweet ending!

Strawberry Lemonade Scones
Courtesy of:  muchkinmunchies.com

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour*

2 tablespoons sugar

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup unsalted butter (chilled, not softened), cut into cubes

1 cup diced fresh strawberries

1/2 cup freeze-dried strawberries

1 generous tablespoon lemon zest

2 eggs, beaten

1/2 cup heavy cream

Topping:

sugar

Sanding sugar

Cream

Prepared lemon curd

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. In large bowl mix together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. With pastry blender, cut in butter cubes until mixture has coarse crumbs. Gently add both kinds of strawberries and the lemon zest. Make a well in the center of the mixture and set aside.

2. In a medium bowl, mix together eggs and cream. Add egg mixture to flour mixture. Gently stir until moistened.

3. Place dough onto a well floured surface. Gently knead the dough by folding and pressing it about 7 times, turning the dough a quarter turn after each fold. Move dough to a lightly floured parchment-lined baking sheet (or stoneware baking sheet without parchment). Pat dough into a ¾ inch-thick circle. Cut circle into wedges and separate each slightly.

4. Brush wedges with cream and sprinkle with sugar. Bake 16-20 minutes until golden brown. Drizzle scones with lemon curd and top with sanding sugar. Makes 8-12 scones.

Today’s sweet ending is a lemon cake with a twist! It is served in a mason jar, which makes it the perfect dessert to bring to a picnic. Mason jars are great because they not only make desserts or drinks look special, but they are also an easy and portable way to serve cakes. Lemon cake in a mason jar is a fun summertime sweet ending.

Sunny Lemon Cake in a Jar

1 lemon cake mix

Zest of 1 lemon

1 tub cream cheese frosting

yellow coloring

Mix cake mix according to package directions. Add the lemon zest and tint to a nice, bright yellow with the food coloring. Bake according to package directions. Cool cakes completely.

To assemble jars, crumble cake into large pieces. Fill the bottom 1/2 of the jar with cake. Top with a thin layer of frosting. Add a second layer of crumbled cake on top of that, then finish off your jars with a final layer of frosting. Add sprinkles, if desired.

Twist caps onto the top of your jars. Store at room temperature for up to 24 hours, and in the fridge for up to three days. Because you aren’t sealing the cakes into the jars, this treat is best when not mailed via snail mail.

Makes 3 medium-sized cakes-in-jars (shown in picture) or 6 small, cupcake-sized cakes-in-jars.

Nothing is better on a hot summer day than ice pops. The great thing about ice pops is that they are extremely easy to make and can be made in so many different ways. Making ice pops is also a fun activity kids and they are the perfect dessert to serve at your next summer party. Below are some fruit pop recipes.  You can buy ice pop molds from rightstart.com.  Enjoy this nutritious and refreshing sweet ending.

Here are recipes from Martha Stewart for Tie-Dye Fruit Ice Pops

Blackberry Tie-Dye Pops

Makes 1 dozen 1/2-cup pops

9 ounces (1 1/2 pints) blackberries

3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

32 ounces low-fat or nonfat vanilla yogurt

1. Place 7 1/2 ounces blackberries in a food processor. Process until smooth, then pass through a fine sieve into a glass measure. (You should have 1/2 cup puree.) Stir in 2 tablespoons lemon juice; set aside.

2. Blend yogurt with remaining tablespoon lemon juice in a blender until smooth.

3. Layer each 1/3-cup pop mold with yogurt and puree, adding rest of berries along the way. Swirl mixtures together with knife.

4. Let freeze 25 minutes, then insert wooden pop sticks halfway and freeze overnight. Pops will keep, frozen, for at least 3 weeks.

Plum or Raspberry Tie-Dye Pops

Makes 1 dozen 1/2-cup pops

1 pound black or red plums, pits removed, cut into pieces, or 3 pints raspberries

2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

32 ounces low-fat or nonfat vanilla yogurt

1. Place plums or 2 1/2 pints raspberries in blender or food processor. Pulse briefly, then puree until nearly liquid, about 1 minute.

For plum pops: pass puree through large-mesh sieve to remove skin.

For raspberry pops: Pass puree through a very fine sieve to remove seeds; you should end up with 1/2 cup. Add 1 tablespoon lemon juice.

2. Blend yogurt with remaining tablespoon lemon juice in a blender until smooth.

3. Layer each 1/3-cup pop mold with yogurt and puree, adding rest of raspberries along the way. Swirl mixtures together with knife.

For today’s sweet ending I wanted to share a quintessential summertime dessert, the peach pandowdy pie. July and August are the peak season for peaches in the US and baking them in a delicious pie is just one way to enjoy their flavor. I especially love pan dowdies because they have broken up pie crusts on top which are dunked in the fruit filling after baking. One of my favorite peach pandowdy’s is from Buttercup Bakeshop in NYC. This dessert shop is owned by Jennifer Appel, who started her baking career as a partner at Magnolia Bakery. She branched out on her own and Buttercup Bakeshop opened in 1999. It has since become well known for her cupcakes and various pies, such as the lime pie with gingersnap crust and the chocolate pudding pie with graham cracker crust pie. Buttercup Bakeshop’s peach pandowdy pie is the perfect sweet ending during these hot summer days. Here is a recipe from allrecipes.com if you’d like to make your own pandowdy! http://allrecipes.com/recipe/peach-pandowdy/

Original Recipe Yield 6 servings

Ingredients

6 cups thickly sliced peaches

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1/2 cup white sugar

1 tablespoon cornstarch

1 cup all-purpose flour

2 tablespoons white sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon unsalted butter

1/2 cup heavy cream

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).

2. Place the peaches in a medium bowl. Sprinkle lemon juice over them. Mix together 1/2 cup of sugar and cornstarch. Sprinkle over the peaches, and stir to coat. Spoon into a 2 to 2 1/2 quart casserole dish.

3. In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, 2 tablespoons of sugar, baking powder and salt. Cut in butter with a fork or pastry cutter until it is in fine crumbs. Make a well in the center, and pour in the cream. Stir with a fork until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl.

4. Roll out dough on a floured surface until it is just big enough to cover the baking dish. Cut a 2 inch cross in the center. Place over the peaches, and tuck in the dough around the sides. Turn back the corners of the cross to reveal the filling.

5. Bake for 40 to 45 minutes in the preheated oven, until filling is bubbly, and top is golden brown.

With 4th of July quickly approaching I thought it would be fun to share some festive desserts. These sweet treats are easy to make and are the perfect addition to any fourth of july party you are hosting or attending. Check out I’m Simply Me for more fun patriotic dessert ideas!

I’d like a Fourth of July wedding, hold the cheese. It is possible! An Independence Day wedding doesn’t require an American Flag wedding dress… although they do exist. (Please resist the urge.)

For a low-key celebration, summertime and outdoor beauty are your perfect backdrop; use rustic red and a royal navy as accent colors for a picnic reception with all the fixin’s. Or go for a nighttime beach ceremony, a large tent on the sand for guests to dance the night away and a grand fireworks display to celebrate. Don’t forget the sparkler send-off when you & your honey make a getaway!

Holiday events don’t have to follow the holiday traditions to a ‘T’, but you can use the aspects you love most to make the day a perfect blend of both for your celebration.

Today’s sweet ending is perfect for all of you New Yorkers who are starting to migrate to the Hamptons for the summer. This past weekend I had the most amazing cinnamon rolls from Round Swamp Farm, which is located in East Hampton. The cinnamon rolls are freshly baked each morning by Lisa Niggles. Lisa’s mother, Carolyn is the owner of the establishment. Lisa’s beautiful assortment of freshly baked pastries and cookies is sure to make any trip to the Hamptons much sweeter!

…and it’s the table! The difference between ‘Place Cards’ & ‘Escort Cards’ is distinct, and as I have come to realize– people often interchange these terms unknowingly. Below is a quick tutorial on each term and the proper wording to use on each.

Escort Cards: These cards let each guest know which table they are assigned. A classic escort card is a small envelope with the guest name on the envelope and the table assignment on the inside card. (You can either write “You are seated at table __” or you can just provide the table assignment.)

Formal wording on escort cards: Mr. and Mrs. Robert Smith. Informal alternative: Mary and Robert Smith.

Place Cards: The place card in on the table at the place assigned to the guest. Guests should alternate, male and female.

Formal wording on place cards: Mr. Jones, if there are two Mr. Jones at the table then the first name is used, ie. Mr. Mark Jones. Informal alternative: Mark Jones or Mark. The important thing is to be consistent.