My lovely friend Gina came over on her day off to help me make my next craft project! I love fall colors, and fall weather (except this day we saw no sun...). So I wanted the wreath to represent the loveliness and simplicity of fall.

So here was the process:













There it is the finished product!



 We're having too much fun!

 



On our door!

Maybe my next seasonal purchase would be a pumpkin... glitter pumpkins anyone?? Saw in my Martha Stewart subscription and I HAVE to do it, if hubby doesn't veto =)

Happy crafting everyone!

Love,

Jullie

Summer is also great because it's both me and Mr. Rhee's birthday

And... we also celebrated our 1st Wedding Anniversary this year, we went back to DC for some delicious crab cakes, and went to visit our engagement site: the Jefferson Memorial



Although we had a pretty good season, Fall is definitely my favorite season for many reasons:

1.The colors/ fall foliage

2. The indefinite number of pumpkins, apples, and leaves 

3. The cool air, and many different wardrobe options =)

4. The activities...hiking, apple picking, camping, sight seeing, etc..

5. Crafting, I recently just made my fall wreath, hopefully I'll post about it soon!!!

5. THE BAKING! I have so many new fall treats planned, can't wait to try them!

Today, I will leave you with one of my latest craft projects, a new addition to our living room:

I painted these canvas' with a fun aqua blue and mounted a cute wall decal I got from Single Stone Studios.

I wanted a continuing picture, so it was cut into sections, then mounted, and finish!

Now I look back on it, the color may be a little bright for my living room, but it definitely gives a pop of color! On the plus side it matches my leaves & bird theme. Can't wait until the room is complete!

A lot more to post soon, so stay tuned!

Love,

Jullie

Summer is such season for grilling, and since hubby loves to use his new toy I thought maybe we should combine 2 of his favorites: grilling and pizza. We always wanted to grill pizza, I guess that's the natural step after making oven baked stone pizza. So I used my favorite homemade pizza dough recipe from Annie's Eats (here) and combined some favorite pizza toppings. 

Tonight we made 2 pizzas; Chicken Pesto and Margherita.

After the dough is ready I split in half for my two pizzas.

Meanwhile, I made my special pesto sauce and sauteed the marinated chicken.

Then, while the grill is pre-heating, the flour is rolled out onto a large wooden cutting board, generally sprinkled with flour (you may use the counter).

Once the grill is ready, we transferred the pizza dough onto the grill, and toasted on low-medium heat for 2 minutes on one side of the dough. Then, take the crust off the grill and brush on the pesto sauce.

(love those grill marks!)

After you brush on the pesto (on the cooked side), start decorating the pizza with mozarella cheese and chicken spread over the crust. Place the crust back on the grill with the uncooked side facing down and cook for another 8 minutes.

Keep an eye on the grill to make sure you don't burn the crust!

The finished product! 

same steps as before but instead of pesto we put brushed a little bit of EVOO, then spread the mozarella cheese, sliced tomatoes and fresh basil right before the pizza is ready. 

(hubby doing a fine job of slicing)

And that's it! Super tasty and easy to make!

Hope you get to try it!

-Jullie

Ingredients:
For the crust:
1 large egg yolk
1 tbsp. heavy cream
½ tsp. vanilla extract
1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting the work surface
2/3 cup confectioners’ sugar
¼ tsp. salt
8 tbsp. cold unsalted butter, cut into ½-inch cubes

 

For the ganache:
2 oz. bittersweet chocolates
¼ cup heavy cream
1 tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature

For the filling:

8 oz. cream cheese, softened
½ cup sifted confectioners’ sugar
½ tsp. vanilla extract

2 tbsp. milk or cream ( I used buttermilk)

For topping:

Fresh strawberries, sliced
Melted bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, for drizzling 

Directions:

To make the tart shell, whisk together the egg yolk, cream and vanilla in a small bowl; set aside.  Mix together the flour, sugar, and salt.   Scatter the butter pieces over the flour mixture. Mix together until it resembles coarse meal, about fifteen 1-second pulses.  With the machine running, add the egg mixture and process until the dough just comes together.  Turn the dough onto a sheet of plastic wrap and press into a 6-inch disc.  Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 1 hour or up to 48 hours.

Remove the dough from the refrigerator, make sure it's room temperature before you proceed. Unwrap and roll the dough out on a lightly floured surface to a 13-inch round.  Transfer the dough to a 9-inch tart pan.  Mold the dough to the sides of the tart pan.  Set the dough-lined tart pan on a large plate and freeze for 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 375° F.  Set the dough-lined tart pan on a baking sheet, press a 12-inch square of foil into the frozen shell and over the edge, and fill with pie weights.  Bake for 30 minutes, rotating halfway through the baking time.  Remove the foil and weights.  Continue to bake until deep golden brown, 5-8 minutes longer.  Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

To make the ganache, place the chocolate in a heatproof bowl.  Bring the cream to a simmer in a small saucepan.  Remove from the heat and pour over the chocolate.  Let sit 1-2 minutes to melt the chocolate.  Whisk together until a smooth ganache forms.  Spread the ganache in a thin even layer over the bottom of the cooled tart shell.  Allow the ganache to set before proceeding.

To make the filling, beat together the cream cheese and confectioners’ sugar in a bowl on medium-high speed until smooth.  Blend in the vanilla and milk or cream.  Spread the cream cheese mixture over the cooled ganache in the tart shell.

Once finished, decorate with strawberries, and drizzle the remaining ganache over the strawberries into a cool design and enjoy !

(view from the top right after it cooled)

 (Hubby at our first resort in Fiji)