Red, White & Blue-Berry Yummy Tartlettes

I hope y'all are having wonderful 4th of July celebrations!!! 

We're aren't able to go in to visit family for the first time ever, but we've been with them so much lately it feels like we have already celebrated!  The tradition start with Freedom Fest!  We always are excited to go to the parade bright and early in the morning before the day really heats up.  We have on our patriotic red, white and blue along with everybody there!  It's funny how our family sits in the exact same place every year at the parade....ever since I was a baby!  It's always good to see the same people around and catch up with them each year.  After the parade, we walk down to the court square where the street fair is going on.  There's usually a bbq competition that smells and tastes so good, along with lots of local vendors, arts and crafts, free slices of watermelon, and a great band to round off the fun! Following the street fair is cooling off at home with a nap and making the food for the evening family grill-out!  It's so good to spend time with everybody.  We finish of the day with going to see the spectacular fireworks display that's held every year.  It brings everyone out of the woodwork from around the county.  I've always LOVED fireworks!  It's the ultimate sign of the celebration of summer and America's freedom!!!

Truly, until you experience small-town USA celebrations steeped in family heritage and patriotism, you don't know what a thing you're missing!

Last week we had some good friends come over for a potluck supper.  I made fried chicken and baby heirloom tomato salad, Mr. Cozy made sweet mint & lemon tea, and for dessert was homemade blackberry cobbler with vanilla ice cream and these sweet little fruit tartletts!  My wonderful friends brought all of the delicious sides which included fresh fruit, homemade potato salad, buffalo chicken dip, baked beans and garden fresh sauteed vegatables.  It was a delicious feast of summer bounty!

These fresh fruit cookie tartletts are not only cute, but so easy to make and delicious!  I didn't make nearly enough.  I got the idea from Mommy's Kitchen where her adorable looking cookies caught my eye.  She's clearly a great cook with attention to detail.  Although the idea came from her, my cookies are a little different.  I already had some homemade shortbread cookie dough in the fridge, so that's what I used. (I need to tell you that I only had about 1/3 the cookie dough when I made these and modified the amount of filling accordingly.)  I think you could use any sugar cookie recipe or store bought dough, if you like a chewier cookie.  I think the crisp shortbread make them seem more like little tarts.  My shortbread cookies are The Barefoot Contessa's famous recipe and they're very rich, buttery, and wonderful!  Not to mention easy!  The creaminess of the cream cheese topping and sweet fruit on them was a perfect combination of texture and flavor.  This was my first time at a cookie-tartlette like this, and I'm so glad I made them because they're so good!  I think they brought a flair of festivity to the night!

Here are a few snapshots of our patio.  I wish I had my pillows out in these picture and the candles lit. I decorated more just before they came. Some of my flowers look a little over-heated, but with the temps we've had, I can't blame them!!  I love all the shade we have from this huge willow oak tree.  It provides a perfect canopy to be beneath in the summer-time.

Here's a grouping of flowers and my favorite bunny lantern.

The windchime was a gift from my husband, and I really enjoy hearing it sing as it delicately waves in the breeze.  It's such a calming sound to me.  Although we live right in town, I feel as though I have a little oasis right here at home!

This sweet red and white checkered table cloth and cushions are hand made from my great aunt.  I love them sooo much!  I think they fit my ice cream table and chairs just right!  See the little blue bird feeder my parents gave me for Easter?  So cute perched in the flowers!

As I'm typing, I hear the sound of winds and thunder outside, and I'm hopeful we're finally going to get a some rain tonight with this storm. :)  I like being cozy in my house and listening to the pattering outside of God replenishing the earth.

I hope these Berry Yummy Tartletts cookies make it to a celebration on your own patio some day!

Happy Independence Day and God Bless America!!!  

Berry Yummy Tartlettes

Shortbread Cookie Recipe

Filling:

(Please feel free to tweak the sugar and vanilla to your own taste!)

1-8 oz. pkg cream cheese, softened

1/3 c. granulated sugar

1/2 tsp. vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract

Topping:

Strawberries, rinsed, hulled and thinly sliced

Blueberries, rinsed

2 Tbsp. Sugar

Make the shortbread cookies and allow to cool completely on racks. 

Blend the filling ingredients together well with a mixer until very creamy.  (You can do this ahead of time and keep in the fridge if you need to.)

Using a small knife --I like butter knife--take your cookies and spread a little of the mixture over each cookie, but not going quite to the edge.  Sorry, I didn't measure out this part.   Spread the filling on all the cookies before you top with berries in case there's filling left over.  That way you can easily add more.

Add 2-3 slices of strawberries, 4-5 blueberries or a little of each on every one.  Shower the cookies with granulated sugar for a pretty sparkle.  Keep in the fridge until you're ready to share and eat.

I'm linking up with:

Iron Skillet Peanut Butter Cup Brownies

Good Morning!
The weekend is almost here!  Tonight we're having friends over for a potluck style dinner.  It's going to be relaxed, and we're going to eat outside on the patio!  I've already got the mosquito stuff ready to go--they're so bad this year--flowers watered, umbrella sprayed off, and cute new patio pillows that Mom made!  I'm going to make fried chicken, a couple of desserts, and iced tea with mint.  My friends are bringing the sides.  I can't wait....but between extra cleaning in the house and cooking I'm going to be a little busy! 

It's a good kind of busy!

Right now, I want to introduce you to the brownies I made Mr. Cozy a couple of nights ago when he came home from his first day of orientation!  I had him a (favorite!)country style meal of Sticky Drumsticks, fried green tomatoes, buttermilk cornbread, salad and iron skillet peanut butter cup brownies for dessert.   It was quite the meal!

This recipe Iron Skillet Brownies come from Paula Deen's Just Desserts cookbook, which I love!  They're called that because you melt together the butter and chocolate in a cast iron skillet and then mix everything else in there, too.  I didn't have pecans so I substituted them with chopped up peanut butter cup (Reese's) candy bars and crumbled the them over the top.  Ahmazing!!  The brownies are actually baked in a 8x8 baking dish not the cast iron skillet, although it was kinda fun to mix the ingredients for a dessert over the stove top.  Only Paula would think of get out her cast iron for dessert, Ha!  I love it! 

The warm chocolate aroma was wafting through the house as our anticipation was building to take a bite!  With a scoop of vanilla ice cream, and a cold glass of milk, we each ate a piece that left us wanting more!  If you have a chocoholic in the family or are just having "one of those days" I hope you try this easy comforting recipe!  There's nothing better than a rich, fudgy brownie to give you that warm-fuzzy feeling we all need sometimes!

Enjoy:)

Iron Skillet Brownies
2 -1 oz. squares unsweetened chocolate

1/2 c. ( 1 stick) butter

1 c. sugar

2 eggs

2 tsp. pure vanilla extract

1/4 c. unbleached flour

1/4 tsp. salt

1 c. chopped pecans
(I substituted rough chopped peanut butter cups)



Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Grease an 8x8 baking pan.

Melt chocolate and butter in an iron skillet over medium heat.  Stir to prevent scorching.

Remove from heat and stir in sugar.

Add eggs and vanilla.

(Here's where I did things a little different than Paula.  I was leery about just adding eggs to a hot mixture, so I did temper the eggs first.  I cracked them into a small bowl and beat them with a little of the melted chocolate mixture.  Then I put all of the tempered eggs into the pan and everything turned out fine!)

Stir in flour, salt, and pecans. 

Mix well. Pour into prepared pan.

Bake for 40 minutes.  Let cool for a bit and cut into squares.

Yields 9 large or 16 small squares.

You'll have a happy tummy!

The Sitting Room

Why don't you follow me with your cup of freshly brewed Swiss chocolate-orange coffee and have a seat in my new sitting room!  We also call it "the parlour" or my "nook".

This room is still a bit of a work in progress.  We painted the moulding and trim a gorgeous, glossy, antique white.  We had the color matched at Sherwin Williams.  Mr. Cozy actually took a closet door off the hinges & down to the store for them to match it up!!  Ha, their faces when we walked in with this door!  They matched it up nearly perfect, nearly.  It's a bit different, but I think actually like it a little better because the dove white hue makes it appear more historic.  I'm going to gradually paint the rest of the trim in the house this color.

The walls are still the bright white they were when we moved it, but I'm going to paint them a soft color.  Maybe a very pale sage green or a buttery neutral??  At least now with the mouldings painted, I think the white is fine for now.  Bright and airy!

My grandparents just gave us this beautiful little sofa as a house-warming gift, and I LOVE it!  It's perfect in my sitting room, isn't it?  I'm not sure what I would've put in here to sit on it they hadn't given this to me.  It looks brand new, although it's not.  It sits really well, and the fabric is soft with a delicate pattern that I think is lovely!  It's an Ethan Allen piece.  Thank you Grands!

With this room being in the front corner of the house facing north-east, it gets beautiful sunlight in the morning and evening!  I just had to snap some pictures of the light streaming in through the windows.  These photos don't seem to give it justice, but you get the idea. 

I'm thinking about painting and distressing this coffee table.  For now I draped it with a vintage-patterned (curtain, don't tell!) fabric, and placed a tray topped with pretties.  Of course a girl needs her chocolate!

This is one of a set of nesting tables that Grands also gave us.  I rolled up a quilt at the bottom in case I want to snuggle under something while I read my Little Women collection. :)

My sweet, eyelet pillow I just found at an antique store in Glendale, Ky.

(I love that little town!!)

Here's the narrow door (that recently traveled to Sherwin Williams) that goes into a very small, but useful closet. Through the doorway you can see a peak into the guest bedroom.  That's for another time!

Here's my make-shift desk space.  I said this room is a work in progress, but that doesn't mean it can't look pretty in the meantime.  Here's where I'll do much of my downloading pictures and blogging.  I have my cards and stamps organized and ready to write!  I love sending people a card in the mail!  I'm sure my book shelves in here are going to grow.  I can see myself spending a lot of time drinking tea and indulging in  good novel!  It's a tranquil space.

The pair of these pictures were gifts to Mr. Cozy for graduating from medical school.  He is now a pediatric resident, and my Grandaddy picked them out because they have sweet pictures of children!  This one has a scripture, a wonderful passage of promise from the Lord!

"Ask, and it will be given to you

Seek and you will find

Knock and the door will be opened to you"

Matthew 7:7

These prints are dear to me, and I'm so glad to have them in the sitting room!  The colors and illustration remind me of another time.  (There's something about this one that reminds me of Anne of Green Gables.) That's what I want my sitting room to portray, a feeling of yesteryear!  

I love that this picture looks like a mother and daughter together, and it reads "Love Never Ends".

Isn't there something about the Victorian era that's fascinating?!  Speaking of, the show Downton Abbey reminds me of that era.  I am in love with that show!!  I laugh and cry and gasp my way through every one!  The clothes are also beautiful, the manners, the proper English accents, gorgeous English countryside....*sigh 

There's still a little ways to go in this room, but it already has the warmth and serenity that I wanted to create!  I've already had prayer time in it, read, written cards, and Mr. Cozy has played the guitar to our singing in this room.  Just in the past couple of weeks we already made a few memories here! 

 My kitchen is smelling good with Sticky Slow Cooker Drumsticks in the crock pot, and I have an itch to bake something, too!  I'll let you know how that goes.  Enjoy your own home, sweet Friends. The beautifully decorated rooms and the small nooks.  They all tell a story! 

(Not sure what font you're seeing on my blog title and posts right now. I changed my fonts about a week ago and today the new one isn't showing up the right way.  I'm going to try to figure this out!  The woes of blogger!) 

I'm linking up with:

A Taste of Home

This precious cape cod house is our new home!  Mr. Cozy just put a fresh coat of black paint on the shutters last week.  They are working shutters that are probably original to the 1945 house.  I love that they can actually swing open and close!  I think it just adds to the character.  Oh! actually the shutters on the window to the left were completely missing when we bought the house.  We found them behind the shed in the back, and they looked well worn and one was broken in half.  My hubby knew just what to do...so with a little time, wood glue and a clamp, they were good as new within just a few hours!  I'm really glad they're back on the house, because I think they help to show off the pretty windows.  Thanks, Honey, for all of your hard work on the house!

The shrubs were very over grown, but we've trimmed them back so you can see the windows much better.  We also planted a pink pincushion flower right beside the steps.  We hope to eventually add to the landscape more with perhaps some red knock-out rose bushes and other perennials!  There's so much potential here!

The two trees you're looking through in the picture are dogwoods.  The one on the right blooms pink and the left white.  By the size of the trunks we know they're very old, and they're some of the largest dogwood trees I've ever seen!!:)  I'm very proud of them.  I also love the Japanese maple in the front corner of the house, although we need to trim that one branch of the large maple tree that is hiding the Japanese maple and the house a little bit. (Not sure if you can see that from this picture.)  I know...one thing at a time, Leslie!

*Sigh*  I'm so happy living here!  So many things to be thankful for.  It feels as though I have a little piece of Heaven in the middle of the city!  It's all my own...wake me up...and I really a homeowner?!?

I wanted to show you my bounty from the farmers market Saturday, that we can walk to!  Look at how pretty the bunch of carrots are, and the ripe tomatoes came from an Amish stand.  The pretty green tomatoes are from Mr. Cozy's parents' house.  I can't wait to make some fried green tomatoes with those!!  (It can be hard to find them still green like that.)  I thought it was pretty to place everything in my colander, at least for the day!  My friend Shareen does that, and I like the idea.

I'm off to start supper now. Although I'm not sure yet what I'm making, it's going to involve fried green tomatoes!

Blessings! :)

I'm linking up with my friends at:

 

Fresh Strawberry Shortcake Trifle

I could talk and talk to you about this delicious strawberry dessert Mom and I made a few weeks ago when strawberry season had began! Why would I have so much to say? To start, probably because strawberries are my favorite berry....

Strawberries in season are even more reason to celebrate the late spring/early summer season.....

Because the only thing that could possibly enhance the taste of a strawberry would be freshly whipped cream....

I love to watch the frothy goodness turn into decadent fluffy cream...

"Pile it on high!" Mom said to me. :)

And the best thing about this dessert is that it was made in Mom's kitchen, amongst laughter and licking spoons with a view out the kitchen window of countryside paradise.

Strawberry Shortcake Trifle

Sour Cream Pound Cake, cubed

Fresh Strawberries, chopped

                                                                       Sugar/Stevia

For the whipped cream:

Heavy Whipping Cream, very cold

 Real Vanilla Extract

 Sugar

 Spoons for Licking (important!!)

This can't get any easier!

Assemble in layers like you would any shortcake, but in a large trifle dish. I started mine with the strawberries that sat with sugar for at least half an hour to get juicy. Next add cubes of cake, more strawberries and then whipped cream. Start over again with the strawberries. I ended the trifle with strawberries, but made a huge mound of the whipped cream in the center for a grand finale! Delicious!

As a yummy variation, I have toasted sliced almonds and layered that with the whipped cream. If you do that, also add a dash of almond extract to the cream. This variation is unreal!

Serve on a hot day to a relaxed crowd. This is a classic summertime dessert that will be sure to please all!

Don't you love when you serve something so easy, yet beautiful?

I don't have time to chat, unfortunately, but I had to share this with y'all today! We're going back home to visit for a couple of nights. Pa (Mr. Cozy's grandad) is going to look at our antique table. Unfortunately it was hurt in the move. He's a carpenter by trade, and he's the best! Back to the country we go for a bit.

Have a blessed day!

In Our New Home!

Hello Dear Friends,  I've missed you!!!

It's been a couple of months since I've actually posted anything on The Cozy Little Kitchen, though there's much to share.  We've moved!  We now live in Louisville, Ky. in a beautiful, vibrant neighborhood full of historic homes with lively restaurants and shopping only a couple blocks away!  Thanks be to God, we found a cottage that's perfect for Mr. Cozy and I to make into our home!  This is our first house to buy, and I know that it's a gift from the Lord.

I have to interject, Mr. Cozy graduated from Medical School....Woowho!!!

He's going to start working at Kosair Children's Hospital July 1st, and the madness of residency will begin.  In the meantime, we've spent every day together.  It's been wonderful, especially after 4 stressful years of not much quality time at all!  We've been working on our house, painting, cleaning, painting, gardening, painting and decorating galore.  It's so much fun to pour yourself into a place that's your own.  It's so satisfying! 

I cannot share with you enough how many prayers God has answered over the past couple of months.  My hubby graduating from medical school is HUGE!  He will tell you that he couldn't have done it without the Lord to sustain Him.  Also, this house we live in is in a neighborhood that we didn't think we could afford!!  It's a miracle the previous owners dropped the price enough-- right before we were going to give up on it-- for us to have a chance at purchasing it.  God orchestrated the entire thing!  We've looked at this house for a year online, drove past it when we were in town, and prayed over it; all the while it was out of reach for us.  Like I said, right before we were going to give up on it, the price dropped pretty significantly and we were in!  We could make an offer and eventually we got it.  Thank you, Jesus!

(This picture was taken before we actually closed on the house on a very chilly, rainy day in early April.  Notice we have 2 dogwood trees in bloom!)

We knew it had work to be done since it had been vacant for almost 2 years, but the house is full of the historic character we desired and charm that you can't seem to find in newer homes.  (Did I mention it was built in 1945?)  I love that!

....(I feel like I have so much to say, but I can't do it all right now. I just have to touch base with you all!)....

I've got to go get my walk in, then start up again by helping the Hubs paint the shutters with a fresh coat of glossy black!  Have a blessed day my Friends, and I'll be back so very soon!

Beginning of A New Season....in Life!

Here are some pictures of my luscious, fresh strawberry bread I made!  Well, unfortunately with all the chaos and excitement in the move, I lost the recipe to it before I could copy it down here on a post!! :( 

Maybe these pictures will inspire you to find a delicious strawberry bread recipe to make for your family for a special breakfast or-- like I did--an afternoon snack with some tea or coffee!  This one was incredibly moist and I made an orange glaze over the top with just powdered sugar and orange juice.  Believe me when I say that it was all very yummy!! 

I had to throw little Peter Rabbit in this pictures since it's Easter week.  I love this holiday.  Jesus Christ did it all on the cross for us!!  I cannot go on enough how thankful I am that I serve Him!  He is a God of love and grace and He is my Healer and Redeemer!  I could go on and on.  I encourage you to go to church this week and truly soak in the message of Jesus dying on the cross for you and me and rising again.  My friends, it's much more powerful than just a holiday or a story!!! 

I'm excited to share that Mr. Cozy and I are in the moving process right now to go back to the city!  He is just about to finish the crazy-journey called medical school!  (applause and the crowd roars with excitement) 

YAAAAAAAAY!!!!!

Sorry, just a little happy about this.

:) :) :) :) :) :) :} :) :) :) :) :) :)

We're moving for him to complete his residency training.  We were thrilled to find out he got his #1 pick for residency! Mr. Cozy is looking forward to put all of this hard learning into action in the hospital and clinic.  Oh, I guess I should tell you that he's becoming a Pediatrician!  If you knew my hubby, you would know that this fits him so well;  he has always had a big heart for children!  I'm incredibly proud of him for all of this hard work he is putting in for me and our future family!  God has sustained both of us through the ups and downs of the last 4 years. Now we're ending this chapter called school.  I say "we" because it feels like a joint effort.  

Because now he will have an income with residency, not only with I not be the sole provider anymore, but --praise God--I don't have to work!!!  Anyone who knows me very well, knows that I'm a very home-oriented person...or what I like to call a Domestic Goddess!!  Doesn't that have a have pretty ring to it?  (Thanks, Nigella!)

I LOVE making a house, a home.  Not just cooking and baking, but also pouring love into meals for my husband.  I've always wanted to have a nice meal on the table after his long days at school/work.  Now I will have the time and energy to do so because I won't be tired after work (and cleaning and grocery shopping and more cleaning....) myself!

 Okay, call me Mrs. Cleaver, but this kind of stuff is important to me.  
I actually enjoy being domestic. 

There's so much I enjoy doing, I've always kind of thought, I don't seem to have time for my job!!?  I can't be the only one thinking this.  I know that it's a sacrifice financially to not have two incomes, but I've always imagined being the stay at home Mom that my own mom was.  This means a lot to me!

Also, I can feather my new nest all day! 

We are about to BUY OUR FIRST HOUSE!!!!!!

This is a huge thing for us.  We've dreamed all of our little 7 1/2 yrs. of marriage about buying a house and making it our own.  Now we're able to do that!  Yes, we are becoming real adults, Ha!  I know that come with responsibilities, but also privilege.  I feel so blessed that we're at a point in our lives where we're beginning to see some of the "fruit of our labor".  God is faithful!  Our married life has had a bit of a slower start with these milestones, but this is one we're about to hit!

 I'm also anxious to get back into church involvement and not just attendance.  Mr. Cozy will have very long days and weeks in residency.  (It will be extremely gruelling at times.)  So I'll have time to spend with my church family.  That may include worship (my passion!), ladies groups, or just be a help for anyone in need of a hot meal.  I will have the time to do these things now!!  I have other ideas of ways to share myself and fill my days, but there's time to chat about that later!

So, give me a couple of months and The Cozy Little Kitchen will be in full swing in the kitchen, around the house and garden!!!  I can't wait to show you all the little projects we tackle and my cozy decorating ideas! 

Thank you, Friends, for sticking with me during these times of sparse posts and few comments.  I miss being able to blog on a regular basis since all of this packing has started, but believe me when I say, to give me a little while and I'll be back with my Susie homemaker apron on!  Hehe. :)

Happy Easter!  He is Risen!!!