Ashley English's Blog, page 25

Mama Love!

Here in the States, it's not just Tax Day, it's also my Mom's birthday! Sending out big love to Huxley's "Gigi." I'm baking her this cake, which I plan to layer with orange curd and strawberry jam and cover over in lemon buttercream. Tomorrow my brother, sister-in-law and nephew are driving up from Charlotte to mom's place in Burnsville for a big family meal. We'll be feasting on Hubs' incredible

Pea Love!

Happy Friday, all. My "Small Measures with Ashley" is up on Design Sponge. This week I'm continuing my "pea love", offering info on building a pea trellis as well as a recipe for a delectable pea frittata.I could eat peas everyday, so deep is my love for these tiny morsels. In fact, I think I'll go eat some now!

Warm Peas & Lemon Balm

Here it is, as promised, a scrumptious recipe from Amy Pennington's Apartment Gardening. I've been given permission to print the recipe in its entirety, so the voice you'll be "hearing" in both the description and the recipe itself will be Amy's. Her affable, approachable, accessible voice makes the book even more attractive than it already is. And so...Warm Peas & Lemon Balm Shelling peas are

Rain chick?

So, about that recipe from Apartment Gardening I was going to post today? Can we take a raincheck/raincheck (explanation forthcoming...) 'til tomorrow? I wanted to take a photo to post with it, but it's been rainy and grey and generally not good for taking photos all day. Tomorrow, though, holds promise! And although today was a wet one, it was an awesome one. Local folks, get to the French Broad

Growing Inspiration (+Giveaway!)

I've been trying to grow things in any spot imaginable for some time now. Whether or not I owned the space made no difference. I'd put tomatoes and herbs in pots and rest them on my stoop or windowsill. Once, I was even so brazen as to attempt to grow green beans, tomatoes, and several other vegetables using only the sunlight filtering in from the small skylight in my 3rd floor apartment (it

For Spacious Skies

A monster of a thunderstorm ripped through our cove yesterday evening. Thunder! Lightening! 60 mph wind gusts! Hail! It was intense. Our German Shepherd, Fly, was terrified. She's one of those dogs that's afraid of storms, while our other dog, Dexter, the Labrador-something-or-other-mix, lay sprawled out on the couch with an expression reading "I could really use another pillow. You mind?". I was

(Non)-Consuming Fiction

A big shout out of love and thanks is due to Katy over at The Non-Consumer Advocate. She sent this sweet little package of children's fiction (that belonged to her own boys when they were wee!) to Huxley. They're penned by no less than Ursula K. Le Guin, the science-fiction legend. Thank you so very much, Katy. Can't wait to start reading these to Huxley!

Whip It Good

Hi everyone! My "Small Measures with Ashley" post is up over on Design Sponge. This week I'm sharing tips on making homemade butter. If you've never made your own butter before, I highly encourage you to jump on it. NOTHING matches the flavor of just-whipped butter. You'll suddenly find yourself coming up with all sorts of "needs" for its use: Naked toast? Put some butter on it! Steamed broccoli?

Wild Eats

Tonight for dinner we feasted on this incredible salad with our entree. Hubs gathered up wild violets from the yard and tossed them with local greens, shaved Parmesan and a homemade honey-tarragon vinaigrette. AMAZING!!! Wild food is: 1) delicious, 2) nutritious, and 3) FREE!!!

Giving & Receiving

If you've followed this blog for any length of time, you've most likely heard me make mention of my buddy Jenna. A kindred spirit going it solo in "Veryork" (where Vermont and New York state rub shoulders), she's my girl. My bud. My homeslice. We're even on nickname terms (I believe I've referred to her as "J-Dawg", "J-Bomb" and more, while she's dubbed me "Boots"). Well, we long ago promised