Saturday Meanderings

As I write this, we are stuck in Dallas due to the weather and ice storms. Our flights have been cancelled and we are not sure when the airport will open again. Also, why aren’t the airlines subject to price gouging during times like these? A one way flight from Dallas to Phoenix for $4,425.00? Fortunately, we are just adjusting a cancelled ticket but availability is rather bleak. But another week has come and gone and it’s Saturday and time for Saturday Meanderings, where we chat about all good things.

Scones and Lemon Curd

When I get a hankering for something, it’s hard to tell myself no. And anything homemade with love doesn’t have calories, right? Plus the minute I put on my apron, any and all stress melts away. I once took a cooking class from Roland Messier, a former White House pastry chef and purchased his book, Dessert University. HIs scone recipe is a winner and will try and share that with you once I am back home in Phoenix.

Since this book is out of print, you can find it with a google search on Etsy or a used book vendor. There is one available on Amazon here. I tend to alter this recipe into individual scones vs. a bigger round one that you cut into wedges.

I cannot emphasize how easy it is to make lemon curd and you can use it several ways. As a spread on scones, a tart or pie filling, or just eat it by the spoonfuls. It takes 10 minutes to prep and 10 minutes to cook. This recipe is made with Meyer lemons and you can find it here. Just plain yummy.

Trip to Dallas

The reason we are here in Texas is that a dear friend/client of my husband’s is fashion designer, Robert Comstock @robertcomstockfashion. Robert is launching his Fall line and rejuvenating his concept of design and conservation. Robert donates 10% of his profits to The Peregrine Fund, a wonderful non-profit organization that conserves threatened and endangered birds of prey worldwide.

In spite of the weather, several people turned out for the evening event of food, drinks and fashion. Special guests included four birds of prey from The Peregrine Fund for educational purposes. These birds have been rescued and would not survive on their own in the wild. What an experience to see these incredible birds up close and personal.

Our hosts for the evening were Anne and Steve Stodghill, who generously share their truly amazing home for many charitable events. As you can imagine, this was just a treat for me as I love home decor details and art. I love when someone appoints their home to their tastes and styles,vs. what’s trending or popular. Of course, the word fashion and my name never appear in the same sentence, but who doesn’t love a fashion show?

Fun Finds

My friend, Renae from Peacock Ridge Farm must be reading my mind, as I am considering re-upholstering (or making a slipcover) for one of my fabric headboards. Wouldn’t it be fun to change out the look of a headboard each season? I sew a bit~enough to get me in trouble, but I’d really like to try this. See Renae’s post here.

Stacy Ling from Bricks ‘n Blooms recently moved to a new home, which needs some updating. I love the Before and After pictures of her faux painted sun room. Since we are currently painting over the yellow faux finished walls in the pool house, Stacy’s post seems timely. If you have faux finished walls and are considering a change, check out her post.

Animal prints~are they in style? Or not? According to my friend, Google, yes! Animal print are definitely in style, especially this winter. My friend, Cindy Hattersley, a designer, has a great post on How to Style Animal Prints Over 50. Time for me to pull out the limited animal print items and wear them! Plus if you aren’t family with Cindy, has an amazing sense of style. See it here.

Community Service

For several years now, I work tirelessly on our neighborhood volunteer board to help maintain the character and charm of our North Central area of Phoenix. We are blessed to have diverse architecture from small cottage lots to large estates. It is truly one-of-a-kind place that we all call home. With all the new development and expansive, rapid growth of our City, our temperatures are increasing.

However, our generous neighborhood continues to donate funds to buy more trees to keep our neighborhood the 10 degrees cooler it is vs. the rest of the City. In the last year, we have partnered with the City of Phoenix and have planted nearly 100 trees along our main historically designated street, North Central Avenue. It is so exciting to see the results of our labor.

So that’s another wrap-up for Saturday Meanderings! Have a wonderful weekend and can it be true that March is next week?