A Prince in Frog's Clothing

Isn't this the handsomest little frog you've seen in a long time? Beautifully captured by Dario4108 on Flickr.

Cheesecake in a Jar | Recipe

Cheesecake in a Jar
yield | 4-6 servings depending on size of jars used

Ingredients
½ cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
zest of one lemon
2 packages cream cheese, 8 oz each; room temperature
2 large eggs; room temperature
¼ cup heavy cream
1 ½ teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Topping
1 cup fresh berries

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Begin to boil a large pot of water for the water bath.
3. In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with your paddle attachment, combine the sugar and lemon zest and mix until the sugar is moistened and fragrant. Add in the cream cheese and cream together until smooth. Add eggs, one at a time, fully incorporating each before adding the next. Make sure to scrape down the bowl in between each egg. Add heavy cream and vanilla and mix until smooth.
4. Pour batter into canning jars until about ¾ of the way full. Place jars into a larger pan and pour boiling water into the larger pan until halfway up the sides of the jars.
5. Bake 25 to 30 minutes, the edges will appear to be set, but the center will still have a little jiggle to it.
6. Carefully remove the cheesecake jars from the water bath and place on a cooling rack to cool completely. Once the cheesecakes are completely cooled, place them into the refrigerator for at least 5 hours. Top will fresh berries and serve.

Notes:
1. For glossy berries, simply add 1 tablespoon of hot water to ¼ cup apricot preserves. Blend until combined and thinned out. Place the berries in a bowl and gently brush and toss the berries with the apricot and water mixture.
2. If you are not a fan of lemon, simply omit the zest.
3. If you are missing the graham cracker crust, serve with graham sticks.

Nice for your Memorial Day Weekend picnic or cookout. Use red and blue berries for this patriotic holiday. I would dearly love to open my refrigerator and see these all lined up on a shelf. I hope the cheesecake fairies are listening.

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Hidden Hideaway

Take me away to this beautiful portal wherever it may be. This surely must be the way to the secret garden. *

The Secret of Happiness

"The secret of happiness is to make others believe they are the cause of it." …

Double Porch Swings

I hope the owners of this delightful wrap-around porch with the double swings are busy getting it ready for the upcoming Memorial Day weekend. Can you believe it's almost here? I cleaned the porch-balcony floor off my living room way too soon this year and you'd never know it had been touched. It's covered with maple tree sailor seed pods. Luckily the huge shop vac never made it back to the barn. It is still sitting in my kitchen ready for me to give it another go today. 

Now about this double porch swing setup; aren't they too close together? Are they designed for horizontal use only? If you were sitting upright and swinging wouldn't your shins bang into the other swing? Ouch. I'll take the one with the blanket and move the pillows to the other arm so I can recline and look at the ocean. You can have the other one. See you later.

Life's Little Instruction Book | Volume II, Page 38

More great advice from a father to a son. 

More Interior Barn Doors to Love

Sliding barn doors used inside the house are a design element I love and frequently blog about. Here are two more examples you will love that use two different types of hanging hardware. 

Homemade Molasses Taffy for National Taffy Day

Today (May 23rd) is National Taffy Day
It's real. I did not make this up.

Homemade Old Fashioned Molasses Taffy

2 cups molasses

1 cup sugar

2 tsp white vinegar

1 1/2 Tbsp butter

1/2 tsp vanilla

1/8 tsp salt

1/2 tsp baking soda

Click on the link for the rest of the recipe. My brother and I used to make taffy all the time and it was so much fun, especially the pulling part. This is the only recipe I could find that wasn't loaded with food dye and corn syrup and it's the most authentic too.

Today is also World Turtle Day. And you thought it was just an ordinary Monday with no cause for celebration.

Antique Door Hardware as Art

Don't you want to start colleting old door hardware now? It's beautiful with or without the door and it's getting harder and harder to find. Old house parts are big business in architectural salvage. Stop and ask if you can look around the next time you see an old house being demolished. Who knows what you might find and save from being dumped in the landfill? Happy hunting. 

Sunset | California Vineyard

Too beautiful to comprehend. Would this be considered gardening or farming? via

Nancy LaMott: I'll Be Here With You

How is it that I never knew about this song or this departed singer who was still performing 11 days before her death? This is the most beautiful song; a real lullaby for a person of any age. Did you already know about her? If not you may want to read about Nancy LaMott here.

Dog Enjoying the Sunset

I love this dog portrait. The reflected light at sunset and the peaceful expression are perfectly captured by the photographer. Don't you wonder what's on this beautiful animal's mind? 

Best of Burning Man: Art on Acid | Wacky Archives

Best of Burning Man: Art on Acid | Wacky Archives: "The Burning Man gathering is an annual event held in the Black Rock Desert of Northern Nevada. It begins the Monday prior to Labor Day and concludes on the day of the American holiday. This unusual gathering of people from all walks of life derived its name from the ritual burning of a towering wooden effigy."

The desert is the perfect backdrop for giant pieces of way-out art. I'd love to know more about this spectacular elephant house.

All I have to do is ask and usually someone helps me out. Thanks to Lee (see comments) we now have the complete history of the 45-Ton Mechanical Elephant. Thanks so much. 

Sunset with Dandelions

Even a field of dandelion puff balls looks wonderful with this sunset in the background. Goodnight. See you tomorrow.*

Every Baby Needs a Stuffed Toy Owl

These Turkmenian Eagle Owlets were rejected by their mother and are being hand raised at The Linton Zoo and Gardens in Cambridgeshire, UK. There are 3 owlets...see pics of them when they were first born with a stuffed hedgehog (or maybe it's an owl) keeping watch over them. They certainly have grown since they were hatched last Easter.

The Most Successful Essay Ever

Make sure you find the time to watch this commencement address over the weekend. It's really good advice no matter what your age. Now I must go and put on sunscreen.

The Duchess and the Garden

The Duchess and the Garden - N Y Times Slide Show

A project that started at the whim of Jane Percy, the Duchess of Northumberland, has become one of the most ambitious public gardens created in Europe since World War II.

One of the features is a Rose Garden containing 3,000 roses in 180 varieties.

Alnwick Castle, her husband's ancestral home, played the role of Hogwarts School in the first two Harry Potter movies. Tourism to the castle, and to the gardens, has increased because of the popularity of the films.

The project has amassed plenty of admirers, but more than a few critics as well, who have challenged the populist bent of the design and the money required to build it. Its overall budget now stands at £70 million ($140 million). Don't fail to click on the link at the beginning of the post to see all of the photos.

Have a great weekend and do some gardening if you can.

Accessories Fashioned from Food

Blackberry Bag

Watermelon Helmet

Eggplant Shoes

Broccoli Purse

These stunning pictures of accessories made ​​with food are the work of photographer Fulvio Bonavis. See more food-fashion creations.

William Morris Stamp Set | Royal Mail

I've said it once and I'll say it again---The best stamps in the world are issued by the Royal Mail in the UK. This William Morris Stamp Set that was issued on May 5, 2011 is especially wonderful.

Note card sets are available too.
Read about The Million Dollar Stamp.

Yale Opens Online Digital Library with 250,000 Free Images

Zebra oil on canvas painted by George Stubbs in 1763. View a wonderful slideshow showing the great diversity now available from Yale with delightful background music here.

Read complete article.

The Garden Path

This garden path caught my eye this morning and I thought it would be the perfect first image of the day. It's finally Friday after a long rainy week. I don't have much color yet...just some buttercups and forget me nots and of course a few lily of the valley that are in full bloom. I found a friend who is going to let me dig up more from her patch...so happy about that. See you later.

Now if I just had a beautiful breakfast like this. Instead I'll just have to stare at this photo as I eat my oatmeal.

20+ Popcorn Seasoning Ideas and Recipes

Here are a few homemade popcorn seasoning recipes.

Parmesan Dill

1 cup Parmesan cheese (grated)

1 1/2 TBS Dill weed

1 tsp Garlic salt

*refrigerate excess

Parmesan Nacho

1/2 cup Parmesan cheese (grated)

1 tsp Paprika

1 tsp Chili powder

1/2 tsp ground cumin

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

1/4 tsp pepper

*refrigerate excess

Cheesy BBQ

1/4 cup Parmesan cheese (grated)

2 TBS Butter (melted)

1/2 tsp chili powder

1/2 tsp garlic salt

Popcorn Mania: {20+ Seasoning Ideas and Recipes} 
image source

Lady's Mantle after The Rain

Lady's Mantle (Alchemilla mollis) is one of my favorite perennials because of the way rain and dew drops collect on the leaves. The flowers are rather insignificant but they really do look very nice in arrangements. [photo by Rosemary Beck]

This picture from The Herb Companion shows lady's mantle in bloom around the edge of a rock garden and pond. There is a lot more information about this prolific herb here. Now is a good time to buy a clump or two for your garden since June is the month for perennials. You'll be so glad you did.

Must Shield My Eyes. Is that the sun?

I simply couldn't resist using this graphic Piero Fornasetti plate to illustrate how unaccustomed my eyes have become to seeing the sun. It is in and out of the clouds today and the rain has stopped. Hope you can say the same. 

Rose Royce | Cutest Car Ever

Don't you just love this happy little car? What fun it would be to ride around in it and to be able to say that you own a Rose Royce.

Big Fish in Small Pond Meets and Greets Big Dog

 

Here is another unusual interspecies friendship. This carp doesn't seem to be afraid of the dog and the dog seems very interested in getting to know a koi from Japan. I'm convinced that all animals can converse with one another. I just love this photo.

Expecting Noah's Ark any minute now.

I wouldn't be at all surprised if I looked out of my window and saw Noah's Ark in the distance. The never-ending rain all over New Jersey is unbelievable. When I opened my front door this morning to let Webster out there were big bugs lined up waiting to get inside. Oh dear, this is going to be one crazy summer if the month of May is any indication of what's to come. How is it at your house? I found this image on google.com -- it's from a Noah's Ark Theme Park in Hong Kong.

Rain Cat

Bedroom with Framed Maps and Two Good Dogs

I wish I could reach into my computer screen and adjust the bottom right frame just a little bit and pet the dogs too. Don't they look like statues?