Sunday Baking

I went to the Farmer's Market this morning and there was a special on blackberries. I haven't had a good blackberry pie yet this summer, so I thought I would take advantage of the opportunity, and make a pie. When I got home, I realized I didn't have quite enough blackberries, so I also cut up three small apples from our tree outside to add. Here is the recipe I used:
Blackberry Pie

I decided to get a little fancy and make the crust a lattice one too. It's currently cooling on the countertop...

-K

Floating Away: Island Time

This weekend was a pretty slow weekend at home, so I took a nice little two and a half day weekend in the Sacramento Delta. As much as I love Tahoe, it's hard to make a four hour drive each way (plus traffic) worth a weekend but the Delta is nice because it's only about an hour and a half. You don't need to pack much either- swimsuits are pretty much acceptable everywhere.


Anyways, when I was there my sister and I took full advantage of the snack bar, which definitely brought back some childhood memories. It helped that the special was the Root Beer Float- I swear, I had completely forgotten about these and they are SO GOOD!!! Root Beer and vanilla ice cream go so well together. I can promise that the next time I have friends over, Root Beer Floats will be in the mix.


Try one at home for your own mini vacation-enjoy it outside, preferably by a pool, Then, work it all off wakeboarding

-K

Restore the Gulf

By now I know that a lot of us are breathing sighs of relief that the BP oil leak has been capped. However, that isn't going to fix the fact that an estimated 2.5 million gallons of oil per day have spilled into the Gulf, and it's been around 90 days! I'm not a math major, but that is a lot of oil. The next step is cleaning up the Gulf, and hopefully this video can help persuade you to sign this petition to help.
Restore the Gulf- video
or watch the video at the site!

Just Sign It
Sign the petition now, and you can come visit me for Mardi Gras next year!
-K

P.S. If you're asking for why this is relevant to eating, traveling and shopping, do I really have to explain it? Gulf shrimp, New Orleans (hellooooo) and shopping...

This is from a super cute New Orleans Boutique called Shoefty

Cargo Trousers: Just Like Army Pants and Flip Flops?

I have a new favorite late summer staple- Cargo trousers. Not pants, trousers- but props to everyone that understood the allusion in the title. I was in Anthropologie the other day and saw these trousers, and loved them.

I love that they are something different from jeans, which I feel I wear too much of, but can be just as casual or even dressed up. They're also far more light weight than jeans, so you don't get that suffocating feeling during the summer.
Today I am wearing a pair with a solid tank top, cardigan and metallic sandals, which fits right in at my business casual office.
J Brand also has a pair out that have pockets on the sides- not my fave, but they are supposed to be super comfy. They look good in all of the ads that they have out too.
-K