A Rustic Pear Galette + a Giveaway for "Sheet Pan Suppers Meatless"!

This post is a sponsored conversation on behalf of Workman Publishing. All opinions are my own.

Happy Friday friends! I'm excited to share a quick, suuuuuper easy autumn recipe with you, in partnership with Workman Publishing! I've always been intrigued by the idea of whipping up a rustic, autumnal galette, but to be completely honest - it seemed too fussy. It seemed like the kind of thing that only *real* bakers can achieve, and I should just stick to by-the-book pies. I was wrong! This recipe was EASY and make me feel like one of those fancy-lady bakers. Come on over to my place, it's getting all FALL up in here!

This recipe is from Sheet Pan Suppers Meatless, a new cookbook by award-winning food writer Raquel Pelzel, which is her latest effort in creating wholesome, meat-free meals using just a humble sheet pan. The one-pan approach appeals to busy mamas like me who have more than enough dishes to clean at the end of the day, but especially caters to vegetarians, vegans, those who follow a gluten-free diet and anyone who's interested in adding meatless meals to their lifestyle. The sheet pan approach uses three techniques to prep all the meals - roasting, baking and broiling, all of which allow the flavors of the food to marinate and intensify, creating savory meatless meal options. Flipping through the book, I was honestly surprised by how many recipes I wanted to try out. I don't follow a vegetarian lifestyle but I can certainly see the benefit in implementing more vegetarian meals into my family's repertoire. Don't laugh - but maybe my galette (which is basically a pie) will be a gateway. Perhaps we will progress to actual vegetables next week ;)

I'm sharing Raquel's recipe today, but make sure to hop on over to my instagram for your chance to win a copy of Sheet Pan Suppers Meatless along with a prize pack! More details below, following the recipe.

Rustic Pear Galette:
Excerpted from Sheet Pan Suppers Meatless by Raquel Pelzel (Workman Publishing). Copyright © 2017.
Ingredients:
- 1 piecrust dough (you can make your own or use a store-bought version)
- 3 medium-ripe Barlette or Anjou pears, cored and sliced into 1/4-inch thick slices
- Finely grated zest of 1 lemon (I adore my microplane grater)
- 1 tbsp. fresh lemon juice
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
- 1/8 tsp. kosher salt
- 1 large egg
- 1tbsp. butter

Method:
1. Remove piecrust from the refrigerator and let it warm up to room temperature.
2. Line a rimmed sheet pan with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat (I have yet to graduate to one of these, though perhaps this should be my year). Place the pears in a medium-sized bowl and toss with the lemon zest and juice, 1/3 cup sugar, cinnamon and salt. Set aside.
3. Whisk the egg, 1 tbsp. water and a pinch of salt to a small bowl.
4. Unroll pie dough onto the prepared sheet pan and pile the pears in the middle. Leave a 2-3-inch border around the edges.
5. Cut butter into small pieces and scatter on top of the pears. Loosely fold the edges of the dough around the pears, pleating the dough as you go, leaving the tart open in the middle.
6. Brush the dough with the egg wash. Refrigerate the tart on the sheet pan for 30 minutes or overnight (if refrigerating overnight, wrap pan in plastic wrap).
7. Bake tart at 400 degrees until the crust is golden brown, 30-40 minutes. Let cool completely on a wire rack, slice into pieces and serve.

---

Giveaway!
I'm excited to offer you the opportunity to win a copy of Sheet Pan Suppers Meatless, along with a Kate Spade cooking mitt and a Sur la Table sheet pan! To enter, visit this post on my instagram and follow the post instructions. U.S.-based addresses only.

---

Summer Garden Update.

We did this thing.

And we might have gone a little crazy.

We had to remove a few trees in our yard. We had a birch tree dying in our front yard, and some red tips rotting behind our mailbox. So when we had the arborist out and got a quote to remove them, we started doing this terrible thing where we dreamed about what would look reeeeeeeally good in place of those trees. Which led to dreaming about what shrubs should go around the new trees and which mulch would look best and perhaps adding a few stones here and there to pull everything together... and somehow we had concocted a full front and back yard landscape plan. All from sitting on our front porch and drinking beer and getting mosquito bites.

Stevie and I are extremely different. We plan differently, we execute our days differently, and we often have these ridiculous arguments over whose way is "more right". But this thing about landscape and outdoor beauty, for some reason, combines our forces in a really agreeable way.

So we just pulled the trigger and went for it.

I often hear people talk about how they fixed up their house before they moved, and by the time they finished the projects, they had fixed up their home so well that they didn't want to move anymore. We don't really want to move anytime soon, but we both really love grass and trees and flowers (and birds and bird feeders and bird watching...), so we decided to invest in some long-term perennials this summer that we can enjoy for many years to come. I can't say that we will live here forever (I truly don't know what the future will bring), but I am loving our outdoor space more and more with each season, and I feel really excited about spending this summer outdoors. Now that I'm not knocked up and trying to avoid potentially zika-infested mosquitos :)

What we did:
We added a pink dogwood tree, a white dogwood tree, a Japanese maple tree and a smattering of blueberry bushes and encore azaleas and knockout roses. We threw in some hydrangeas for good measure and camelias because why not and lorapetalum because we NEEDED them and some geraniums because yeah. Stevie rebuilt part of our fence that was falling over and added a stone walkway because he's my hero. We topped everything off with dark mulch and lined the entire yard with flagstones and oh yeah, we threw in a couple of pallets of pansies because he just had to have them. And like I said, it was so much fun agreeing that I couldn't say no to such things.

So here we are. Spending our mornings drinking coffee in our rockers on the front porch, gazing out on our grassy knoll and our evenings grilling burgers on the back porch, gazing at the wonder of our little Eden and it makes me happier than last year's squirrel-infested tomato garden ever could (they ate ALL my tomatoes, those little rascals). We are enjoying the updates of our home without an impending move ahead of us. And we are well on our way to creating my dreamy English cottage garden (which is the master plan). Little by little, it's happening :)

What are some of your favorite perennials? I know it's not very millennial of me to share about landscape-such things here, because it seems like most people my age aren't into landscape, but I just looooove it. If you're a crazy plant lady, tell me what you're dreaming of planting in your yard!

Planting geraniums.

We scouted them out a month ago. When Daddy was out of town for days and days and I was about to lose my mind a little bit. I loaded up my little men in the car, along with our giant stroller that could double as a minivan on three wheels, and we went to the happiest place I could think of - Pike's Nursery. Everett is truly my son when it comes to plants and greenery and florals and whatnot. He and I are usually the only people at Pike's under the age of 60 but we lovvvve it. (Daxton has not quite caught on to the family adoration for this place, that child better learrrrrrn). We do this frequently, we walk all the aisles and sniff only the beautiful things and discuss landscape color schemes and Everett puts his hands in all the water fountains and I have to keep him from knocking over the $800 stone statues of frogs and it just makes me feel so close to him because it's like, he gets me.

Like, yesterday, he looked at me and said, "Mom, I love those hydrangeas you picked out." What a freaking blessing this blessed little angel from Heaven is. Also, he says hydrangeas like, "high-dangerous" which I love so much so I don't think I will ever correct him.

Anyway, the purpose of our little field trip last month was to scout out the wonders of my favorite deer resistant, all-summer-long-blooming flower - geraniums. We decided that we liked all the colors instead of just picking one type and that we would come back after the 15th of April, when the chance of frost in our area was finally minimal.

We had a good bit of landscaping done this past month - some diseased trees needed to be removed from our property so we decided to get them taken down and add some new flowers, shrubs and trees to freshen the place up. What a difference it has made! With the newborn situation (AKA the not sleeping situation), we opted to have someone help us out with all the work this time around, which I thought would be hard since I love doing all the planting myself but - who am I kidding - it was extremely wonderful to have someone else do it. But me and Everett decided we wanted to plant the geraniums ourselves, because it's kind of become our thing, so we did our thing. Everett used his new gardening gear, courtesy of the Easter Bunny.

I am not winning at life right now. I am not super mom or super wife or super friend or super rested, but I am winning in love, my friends. These little boys fill me with so much joy and I am the luckiest to call them my own. My little Everett has been so good the past few months. adjusting beautifully to having a new baby bro around. He is definitely aware of the attention being shifted from him to Daxton, so Stevie and I are doing our best to be intentional with both of them with our energy and time. It's so good for his heart and mine, finding these little pockets of time where we can do "our things" together and keep our laughter and love at the center of everything.

Things have changed. It's a brand new season. Which calls for new flowers pots. I fear its just a matter of time before I start collecting lawn gnomes, friends.

10 (Inexpensive!) Spring Break Staycation Ideas.

It's time for Spring Break! If you don't have any plans that are beckoning you to the beach (although I'm sure we all wish we had those plans...), I've compiled a list of fun, inexpensive things to do for a staycation. Next week is Everett's preschool spring break, and I was getting a little worried that I would feel kind of trapped at home for a week with nothing to do and nowhere to go. Truth be told, we love to travel, and most of the time I would have planned a trip for the week. However, I think it's really important to be able to make fun at home and explore what's right around at home. I think it teaches kids to be creative with what they're given instead of always needing a new toy or exotic trip to create excitement for them. And let's be honest, I should be flexing my mom magic to make everyday things a little bit more magical :)

Amicalola Falls State Park, in all it's glory.

1. Explore State and/or National Parks.
This is the perfect time of year to visit a state park in Georgia because it's not too hot yet! Come June, you practically need an IV drip to stay hydrated while you hike around, but in April? The weather is perfect (other than the pollen, but hey, you can't win em all). While admission to the park might cost a few bucks, this is a great way to get outdoors with your family and hike, fly a kite and enjoy a packed lunch. A few of my favorites in this area are Sweetwater Creek State Park (we went glamping here once :), Cloudland Canyon State Park, and Amicalola State Park (we hiked this last summer and it was sooo hard!) Also, I like to follow @exploregeorgia on instagram to get inspired about new places to visit in our great state ;)

2. Take advantage of the Local Library.
This might sound a little lame, but have you been to your local library lately? It's worth exploring, especially if you have little kids. Every library is stocked with resources and classes - I had no idea that our local chapter offered so many art & music classes, story time, language lessons and technology-based learning games. Of course, Everett always makes a beeline straight for the giant stuffed animals and then the kid computer (he likes the headphones), but usually I can pry him away to read a few books and try some other activities.

3. Try Geocaching.
Want to go on a treasure hunt? Did you know there are treasures hidden all around you, called "caches", and they are meant to be found? It's a really fun concept! Download the app and go on a "treasure adventure" with the whole family (it's like the first generation of Pokemon Go). If you want to know more about this little activity, you can watch this 75-second video. It helped me realize this is kind of cool and not at all weird :)

Everett learning to throw a frisbee last summer. He makes me laugh so much.

4. Play Sports.
This is not rocket science. Get outside and play! We love to go over to our local frisbee golf course on random week nights, because Stevie is a hippie in his heart and he's teaching Everett how to throw. Play a game that the whole family can enjoy, like wiffle ball (or baseball for those of you with big kids) in the back yard, basketball in the cul-de-sac, or soccer at the park. Sometimes the simple stuff can be really wondrous fun.

5. Back Yard Camping.
Camping with little children can be intimidating, but pitching a tent in the back yard is the perfect solution. You can still use the restroom in the house and cook up a big breakfast in the morning! This is actually a great way to "trial run" a camping experience with your kiddos if you've never taken them before, and it gives you the opportunity to pull out all your camping gear and explain it to them.

6. Explore museums.
Most museums have "free days" during certain times of the month - a list can be found here. I personally love going to the High Museum here in Atlanta, but there are tons of others that are worth checking out, like the Coca Cola Museum (a classic), the MLK Museum, Fernbank Museum and of course, the Children's Museum. Ha, just bring hand sanitizer.

7. Host a Family Film Festival.
It's time for blankets, pillows and popcorn! Vote on 2 movies and make it a double feature with pizza in the living room :) It's not like it's all that different than a Saturday night after the kids go to bed (true story, if you're over here in our shoes), but it's a really fun way to cozy up with the whole family together and watch something fun. We recently watched Finding Dory and Everett keeps asking to watch it again and again.

8. Check out local markets/fairs/festivals.
Our local farmer's market is really fun - there is usually live music and locally-made treats (hi, King of Pops!) to be enjoyed. But each community around the Atlanta area also has a slew of characteristic festivals in their area - check out a comprehensive list of Atlanta-area festivals here. So much fun to be had in the springtime here in Georgia!

9. Go fishing & canoeing.
If you live near a body of water, take advantage of it! Post a quick Facebook message and see if one of your friends has some gear you can borrow. Then trek out to the back yard and dig up some worms for bait (if you have little boys, they will love this). Again, ages of your kiddos matter - I won't be taking a newborn on a canoe anytime soon - but as long as everyone has a life vest, this would totally be an adventure.

10. Go biking and have a picnic.
This one sounds so simple, but it's so much fun. We loved when Everett got old enough to ride on the back of Stevie's bike (this bike carrier and this helmet), and he was totally mesmerized by the experience! Since the weather has started to warm up, they've been back on the bike again lately. We have amazing trails throughout our entire city that we can ride on (one of the reasons why we love living here), but there are also some great biking parks to check out, including Callaway Gardens (where I biked and was so sick last year - that's how I knew I was pregnant!), the Chattahoochee River Trail and the Silver Comet Trail. Pack a delicious lunch and bike until hungry. Make sure to pack lots of water and sunscreen, too.

There you have it! 10 ideas to get your juices flowing, outside of the normal activities like going to the zoo or getting ice cream.

Many thanks to my sister-in-law Lauren, who helped me brainstorm these ideas (so that we don't go out of our mind next week!) Any other ideas you have? Please share in the comments - I'd love to hear from you!

Happy Spring Break, everyone! xox

Upcycled Buffet Table.

When we moved into our house a little over a year ago, we were given a set of dining room furniture. Yes, given. An entire set of furniture. We were crazy blessed, considering we had no furniture to our name at the time. While the furniture was extremely well-made and in mint condition, it was a little old-fashioned for my taste. Visions of DIY projects filled my dreams, and I had grand plans to flip this furniture and give it a shabby-chic makeover. Little did I factor in the 40+ other home improvement projects, a husband in and out of town with his job, and getting knocked up again into that plan. Those things shifted the priority list, and for over a year I stared at this furniture day in and day out, as it towered over me with its mahogany ferociousness.

It seems like it would have a frenchy accent, right?

I would like to say there's a happy ending to this story, but I'm still mid-story. I managed to finish re-doing the dining room buffet before this little guy arrived, and I am so thrilled with how it turned out. However, I still have a gigantic china cabinet and dining room table to finish... so I'm about 1/3 done with the set. But still! Progress!

Here is the "before":

Here is the piece with 1 coat of paint:

And here is the piece with 2 coats of paint:

And here is the "after":

The Process.
To achieve the antique look, I used Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in Pure White. I applied two coats of the paint, using Purdy 1.5 and 3-inch brushes, letting the coats dry for a few days in between. Using a course grade of sand paper, I sanded the areas I wanted to distress, especially the decorative flourishes in the wood. I wanted those to stand out, so I really went to town on those sections. (If I were doing this project again, I would use an electric sander because this part was very labor-intensive).

Then I used the Minwax Wood Finishing Penetrating Stain in Ebony and gently applied it to the entire piece. I used an extremely minimal amount, and even then, I worked in small sections, applying the stain with an old rag and then immediately wiping it off. I used gloves for this part. I found that using the Annie Sloan Clear Wax to wipe off the stain was the perfect way to minimize the intensity of the stain while still letting the pigment soak into the sanded areas. So I went back and forth with two rags, applying the stain, and then rubbing the stain off with the clear wax. This process was the most artistic part of the whole project, because I could decide how dark/light I wanted the stain to look and soak into the wood. The more stain you use, the more distressed and aged the piece looks. The less stain you use, the brighter the white paint looks. So it's definitely a choice. I spent a lot of time pouring over Pinterest DIY projects (check out my dining room board) to figure out how I wanted my piece to look.

I finished the buffet with another coat of clear wax over the entire piece, to seal everything. Then I spray painted the hardware with Rust-Oleum Metallic spray paint in Oil Rubbed Bronze. Overall, I am super pleased with the buffet and I feel like achieved that french provincial look I was going for.

I chose to keep the top of the buffet the original wood, because there was a decorative feature in the grain that I think is super artistic and beautiful. I think the dark wood on top anchors the piece and keeps it feeling "dressy". I decided to move the furniture out of my dining room because it was simply too crowded in there. Now it lives in the living room, and I use it as a bar when we have guests over.

---

Project Cost:

Buffet - FREE
Hardware - FREE (kept the old)
Purdy 1 + 1/2-inch Paint Brush - $9.86
Purdy 3-inch Paint Brush - $15.33
Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in Pure White - $34.95
Annie Sloan Clear Wax - $24.95
Minwax Wood Finishing Penetrating Stain in Ebony - $11.00
Rust-Oleum Metallic spray paint in Oil Rubbed Bronze - $7.77

Total Cost: $103.86

I can't give an exact estimate of how long a project like this should take, because I took a month-long trip to New York in between starting and finishing. Oops. Talking about procrastinating. So in theory, this should probably take 5-7 days total, including the drying time, but it took me all summer long to actually get this thing moved back into my home.

---

Overall, I am really pleased with this furniture makeover. Now I just need to have a paint party to complete the rest of the dining room furniture! Who wants to come over?? I'll buy the pizza and brew ;)

P.S. - When I painted my son's toy cabinet emerald green, and if you're up for braving it, how to make your own chalk paint.