I found this quote on Pinterest this week and it struck such a chord with me.  I began to think about all of the creative moments of inspiration I have had in the past year or so and they all came when I was just doing the work of design.  Researching, brainstorming, looking at hundreds and hundreds of images and then it strikes like lightening.  The idea forms and the details come one after another and make my heart start to beat faster.  It's part of what I love about this job.  Seeing it all come together is just icing on the cake...and a remarkable team surrounding me.

I would love to hear your thoughts about design and how you glean insight and inspiration in your own work.  

I love iced tea and this recipe takes the essence of summer and distills it down into a glass.  One sip and you will be smitten.

Peach Basil Iced Tea

inspired by Toast on Market

Your favorite black tea for brewing iced tea*

1.5 quarts cold water

12 large basil leaves plus additional for garnish

1 cup peach syrup**

Place tea and basil leaves in a 2 quart pitcher.  Heat 1 quart of water in a kettle.  When boiling, remove from heat and pour over tea and basil.  Steep tea and basil leaves for 3-4 minutes.  Remove tea bags and leaves.  Add peach syrup to pitcher and allow to cool.  Serve over ice with basil leaves and a section of peach as garnish.

*I usually use twice as much tea as recommended and steep for half as long.  I find that I want the strength, but not the bitterness that comes from a long steep.  Also the basil will become more bitter the longer it steeps.

**Peach Syrup

1 cup cold water

1/4 cup sugar

1 medium peach, very ripe, quartered

Place peach and sugar in a pan and muddle the peach.  Add water and bring to a boil.  Remove from heat and steep for 30 minutes.  I do not like my iced tea that sweet and the peach adds sweetness, so I have cut the sugar to 1/4 cup in this recipe.  If you like your tea sweeter, feel free to up the sugar amount.

Summer begins my unending obsession with cool salads and even cooler cocktails.  These fit the bill on all accounts.  The sweet and savory combination of the salad is so refreshing and exactly what I want in this season of melon and luscious ripe tomatoes.  

~Summer Salad~ 

Heirloom Tomatoes, Watermelon, Grilled Peaches, and Pesto Vinaigrette

Serves 4

2 cups watermelon cut into chunks

2 large Heirloom Tomatoes, sliced into wedges

4 large peaches, skin on, pitted and cut into eighths

2 large handfuls of Arugula (or other bitter or spicy fresh greens)

6-10 leaves of fresh basil, julienned

1 small shallot, minced

Pesto Vinaigrette*

Combine watermelon and tomatoes into a large salad bowl.  Salt and pepper to taste and set aside.  Place peaches, flesh side down, on a hot grill.  Grill for 2 minutes, or until grill marks appear and peaches begin to soften and smell highly fragrant.  Remove from grill, cool on countertop or in fridge.  Mix with watermelon and tomatoes.

Toss arugula and fresh basil with 1/4 cup pesto vinaigrette.  Divide greens among four salad plates.  Top with a large spoonful of fruit mixture.  Drizzle with an additional small amount of pesto vinaigrette and garnish with some shallots before serving.

*Pesto Vinaigrette

1/4 cup pesto

1/4 cup champagne vinegar

1/3 cup good olive oil

1/4-1/3 cup cold water

Salt and Pepper to taste

With an emulsion blender, combine the pesto and vinegar in a container.  With the blender running, slowly add the olive oil in a thin stream until emulsified.  Keep the blender running and add water a tablespoon at a time until the dressing has a pourable and thin consistency.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  Dressing will keep for 3-5 days in the fridge with a film of plastic wrap directly on the dressing to prevent air from discoloring the basil.

Paloma Cocktail

2 ounces grapefruit juice

1.5 ounces good silver tequila

1/2 ounce Cointreau (optional)

1/2 ounce fresh lime juice

1/2-1 ounce Tonic Water 

Ice

Place Ice, and first four ingredients in cocktail shaker and shake vigorously for 20 seconds.  Pour contents over ice, top with tonic water and stir.  Garnish with fresh mint and lime wedge.  Be prepared to make many, many more.

I'd love to hear your favorite summer cocktails!  Drop me a line and share a recipe!  

Cheers!

A surprise birthday celebration with all of the fixings for a great BBQ.  Smoked local ribs, mac-n-cheese, baked beans, cucumber and tomato salad, deviled eggs, and corn bread with honey butter were on the menu.  The drink menu included summer ales and hard cider, sparkling wines, and hard lavender blueberry lemonade.  Iced tea with mint and lavender simple syrups was available for all of the non drinkers.  

 

A cigar station was available for anyone that wanted to linger over a good stogie.  

All of the ied beverages were displayed in a wheelbarrow and stayed super cold on the

 hot June day.  

Menus listed all of the offerings and a stone pot held ice for the tea and hard lemonades.

Colorful buckets lined with parchment aper were on each table to hold discarded rib bones.  Floral arrangements of summer sunflowers were on all of the tables as well.  

A variety of toasts were on all of the tables to encourage guests to raise a glass to the birthday boy.  

The home has a beautiful pool in the backyard and colorful buckets held beach towels and a variety of sunscreen and bug spray for anyone wanting to swim.

Kentucky Waterways Alliance had their 20th Anniversary Gala this year and we threw one heck of a party.  These are some of the shots from that event hosted by Christy Brown at her home, Poplar Terrace.

Show stopping cake from The Sugar Woods

Gorgeous menus from Wiltshire Pantry each had a watershed theme and featured local Kentucky Proud products in each of the three food stations.

A Stream Table was present at the event with Kentucky critters in it sourced from all over the state.

Billy Goat Strut played Bourbon Jazz into the night.

Specialty cocktails were featured at each of the food stations. 

Mike Strohm talking about one of the two snakes in the stream table.

The view from Poplar terrace is spectacular and we wanted to make the most of it.  We decided on placing one of the bars and food stations there so guests could check out the vista while they were waiting for a cocktail. 

Silent Auction items were a big hit and the feature item was a rain garden installation.

Cocktail tables were throughout the yard and garden areas welcoming guests into the more intimate spaces of the property.