Monday, June 26, 2017

A Quick Summer Dessert with Fresh Strawberries

It’s strawberry season here and the last ones that I bought are possibly the best I have ever had in my entire life! Let me show you the quick dessert that I whipped up with strawberries.

strawberry shortcakes

I started with a small pound cake that I purchased at the store.

purchased pound cake

I sliced the cake into 1/2” slices.

sliced pound cake

Next I used the dessert dishes like a cookie cutter to cut each slice.

cutting the pound cake

I put a layer or slice of cake in each dessert dish.

dessert dishes with pound cake

Next I sliced fresh strawberries and placed them around the outside edge of each dish.

strawberries added around the edge

I added a layer of instant vanilla pudding that I had just mixed up.

the pudding layer

I added a dollup of whipped topping.

a dollop of whip topping

Of course I added a fresh strawberry on top.

whip cream and a strawberry on top

I made these ahead of time and let them sit in the refrigerator for a couple of hours. The juice from the berries had moistened the pound cake and it was delicious! This is a great way to support your local strawberry farmer!!!

Happy summer!

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Tuesday, June 13, 2017

Home Tour: Charleston Symphony Designer Showhouse 2017

I have had an unusually busy spring this year and am just now getting to sharing my photos from the Charleston (SC) Symphony Designer Showhouse. This is an annual event held each spring and  it is always a delight.

exterior 2

exterior 1

main piazza 1

The main piazza right by the front door was spectacular! Don’t you just love that sofa swing?

main piazza

parlor 2

Just inside the entry to the left was a parlor. There was an unusual wall treatment on one wall. It had a framed panel and had some type of raised painted stencil as seen in the photo above.

parlor 1

parlor 4

parlor 3

Notice the statue in the fireplace in the photo above.

downstairs bath 2

There was a full bath off the parlor. I love the wallpaper in this room.

bath wallpaper

downstairs bath 1

Across the hall from the parlor was the living room.

living room 1

living room 2

The dining room adjoins the living room.

dining room 2

It was decorated with bright colors and contemporary furniture. The art piece of Iris Apfel was made of bottle caps!

dining room 3

Across from the dining room was a beautiful kitchen.

kitchen 1

kitchen 2

There was also a powder room on the main floor.

powder room 2

powder room1

The man cave was located at the back of the main floor.

man cave

There was also a ladies study and powder room.

ladies study 1

More beautiful wallpaper.

ladies study 3

ladies study 2

There was also a back piazza.

back piazza 1

back piazza 2

Let’s go upstairs.

laundry3

These 2 pictures above and below are of the laundry room. The washer and dryer were beneath the cabinets in the picture above. The picture below is of the art on the wall. Pardon the glare but it was a very elegant laundry room! Beautiful cabinetry, great wallpaper, subway tile backsplash, a chandelier, under cabinet lighting, wonderful art, no detail was overlooked!

art 1

The master bedroom and bath were on one side of the upper level.

master bedroom 2

master 1

I believe that there was an armoire on either side of the fireplace since there were no closets!

master bedroom 3

master bath 1

master bath 3

master bath 4

master bath 2

There was another wide central hallway upstairs too.

upstairs hallway

upstairs piazza 1

Another great piazza was on the upper level.

upstairs piazza 2

The teen room and hall bath were on the other side of the upstairs hall.

teen room 1

teen room 2

teen room 3

teen room 4

hall bath 2

hall bath 3

hall bath 4

There was also a guest room and bath upstairs.

guest room 1

guest room 2

bath 1

I hope that you enjoyed the tour as much as I did. I wil close with a shot of the view out the front door.

main piazza 2

I hope you are having a great summer!

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I will be linking to Wow Us Wednesday at Savvy Southern Style and to Grace at Home at Imparting Grace. Click the links for lots of inspiration.