Weeknight Dining With Chateau Ste. Michelle

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Happy Friday my friends, I hope you have lots of fun planned for the weekend ahead.  Today I’m sharing one of my secrets for a happy life- making the ordinary feel special!  Some nights it’s all we can do to heat up some leftovers and plop ourselves at the table for a meal!  But other nights we love to prepare a quick and easy meal like the one shown that feels decadent and special.  Add a great bottle of wine and some gold flatware and just like that, dinner becomes festive!  And really, with Lou at the grill and me doing a little prep in the kitchen this meal is thrown together in no time at all.  Simple food, the best company and a bottle of wine makes for the perfect meal in my book.

So here’s what’s included in this dinner:  a grilled corn and peach salad (recipe after the jump), grilled eggplant, grilled zucchini, a baguette, green olives, hummus, olive tapenade, and Chateau Ste. Michelle Sauvignon Blanc.  Simple, healthy, delicious.  Do you do things at your house to make weeknights feel special?  It makes a world of difference!  So here’s #AToastTo simple pleasures!  Pop on over here to share your Toast for a chance to win a trip to the summer concert series at Chateau Ste. Michelle!  xx- Sarah

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This post was sponsored by Chateau Ste. Michelle.  Thank you for supporting our sponsors!

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Grilled Corn and Peach Salad

Grilled Corn and Peach Salad

Ingredients

  • 1 bunch watercress
  • 1 1/2 fresh ripe peaches, pitted and sliced
  • 2 ears grilled corn
  • 1 clove garlic, minced
  • 1 medium shallot, finely diced
  • Juice of two sweet oranges
  • 1/8 cup red wine vinegar
  • 1/8 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
  • 1/4 tsp salt

Instructions

  • Prepare the dressing by combining the shallot, garlic, red wine vinegar, olive oil, orange juice and salt. Taste and adjust if you prefer it to be sweeter or more acidic.
  • To prepare the salad clean and dry watercress, removing roots if applicable.
  • Remove husks from corn and grill, giving them a slight charr.
  • Combine watercress and peach slices in a large serving bowl.
  • When corn has cooled enough to handle, use a knife to cut kernels off and add to the salad.
  • Dress to your preference, sprinkle with finishing salt and add a little fresh cracked pepper if you please!
  • Enjoy!
http://ahouseinthehills.com/2014/06/27/weeknight-dining-with-chateau-ste-michelle/

House Update- The Kitchen!

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Hello my friends, welcome to our kitchen!  This is where the REAL magic happens.  I’m talking about cookies, of course!  But in all seriousness, is it not true that whenever guests come over everyone gathers in the kitchen at some point?  Even when it’s a galley kitchen with barely any space to socialize, it’s a hub!  When we moved into the house the kitchen was white (seen above) and in all this time we hadn’t really thought to personalize it much.  I guess it felt like a room of function for me.  A room I loved, for sure, but didn’t know how to put my own spin on.

Truth be told, I still wasn’t really thinking about it the day I was playing around with Benjamin Moore’s amazing tool Design What Matters.  I was having fantasies about mixing things up in the dining room and then it dawned on me- the kitchen is what really needed the paint love!  And, as of course the story goes, it was only a matter of days before this beautiful color (Benjamin Moore “Abalone”) was up on the walls and I was falling in love with our kitchen all over again!  That’s my favorite thing about paint- it’s such a quick and easy way to change up your space.  It’s always so exciting, right?  I love that the color takes on a bit of warmth from the cabinets and the tonality is light enough that it still fits with the rest of the house while also providing a bit of separation.  It’s just amazing what a bit of paint can do to a space!  What do you think, do you love it as much as I do?  xx- Sarah    {more after the jump}

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This post was sponsored by Benjamin Moore.  Thank you for supporting our incredible sponsors!

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Carlos Mora 8/16/39 – 6/3/2014

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I shared Carlos’ passing here but couldn’t bring myself to write about it until now.  I felt like it was a goodbye that I wasn’t ready to say.  I’m still not ready to say it.  I want to cook him a meal and sit at the dining room table with him and watch his face light up in happy surprise when he likes it.  I want to hear him say “Sarita” a hundred thousand more times.  I want to see him and Lou sitting outside deeply engrossed in a conversation, knowing that they would both choose to be nowhere else in that moment.  As anyone who has lost someone knows, there are moments when it’s ok and then other moments when the finality of it all hits like a brick wall right in the face.

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Carlos was with us for 18 days, a far shorter time than we expected or hoped for.  The last week he was mostly unresponsive.  But he found ways to let us know he was with us still.  And then finally, he let go.  I was in my office working, Lou was outside working on a home project.  I randomly decided to check on Carlos and found him still, not breathing.  At almost that exact moment Lou came inside, for a reason he wouldn’t understand until later.  I came into the kitchen and told him I thought that Carlos had gone, tears in my eyes.  Lou came into the room, put his head on his dad’s chest and all was quiet.  And then all of a sudden Carlos took a giant gasp of air, scaring Lou nearly to death.  He jumped back, shocked.  I burst out laughing, I couldn’t help myself.  We can picture Carlos wagging his finger at us saying “I got you”.  We held his hands, we told him we loved him, we laughed and cried.  He took one final breath and was gone, to the sound of our laughter and love.  I don’t think I could imagine a better ending to his story, it was perfect.

But I can’t say goodbye, or I won’t.  Instead I’m going to write about some of the things Carlos taught me.  That’s what he’d prefer anyway.  And of course, more of the photos from his time with us.  (There are even more on Lou’s site if you’d care to see)  Thank you again for all of the kindness during this time, it’s been such a tremendous comfort to us.  xx- Sarah  {more after the jump}

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Let’s Get Wild

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Happy Monday!  I hope you all had a great weekend!  I’m basking in the glow of a lot of pool time, so many handfuls of farmer’s market berries/the sweetest stone fruit, and hours upon hours of watching the World Cup.  For the soccer, obviously.  I’m completely un-phased by the extreme attractiveness of so many of the players.  It’s nothing to me, I’m just really really REALLY into soccer.  You know, for the sport.  Nothing else at all.  You too?  xx- Sarah

Shop this outfit: pants: Alice + Olivia, shirt: Asos, shoes: Zara (similar), clutch (old, another that I like here), bracelets: Miansai

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Honeydew Basil Spritzer

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Are you interested in drinking the most refreshing, delicious thing ever?  ME TOO!  Which is why I’m so happy to share this recipe with you.  There’s nothing complicated about this- it’s just a really brilliant combination of delicious ingredients.  Which is my favorite kind of recipe- cocktail or not!  Oh honeydew basil spritzer, I love you so!  Recipe and more after the jump.  xx- Sarah { recipe and photos by Sarah Dickenson for A House in the Hills}

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Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Flour-less Cookies

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What you’re looking at here my friends is breakfast, lunch and dinner.  Some people call them flour-less peanut butter cookies.  That are vegan and if you play your cards right, free of refined sugar.  I consider them a healthy substitute for a balanced meal (kidding!  kind of…).  A friend passed along a recipe recently for a less healthy version of these and I couldn’t wait to modify it make it friendlier to my preferences.  I hoped desperately that I could switch things around and the cookies would still be as great- and, well,  THEY ARE AMAZING!  And they only take a minute to whip up.  You’re going to love them, I promise.  Make them soon!!!!  xx- Sarah

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