Heather Bullard

Couscous Salad Recipe

 
One of my favorite side dishes is couscous. Mostly because it takes 5 minutes to prepare and goes with just about anything. I often make up different salad recipes with it and thought I'd share one that's a big hit with my family and friends. Please take liberty with the ingredients as they're meant as a guide really and not an exact science. But trust me, it's very delish!

Couscous Salad

1c whole wheat couscous
1/2c dried cranberries
1/4 to 1/2c feta cheese
1/4c chopped red onion
1/4 to 1/2c chopped toasted almonds
2 tbs chopped fresh flat leaf parsley
1/2c light greek salad dressing
salt & pepper to taste 

Cook couscous according to package instructions. Toss with remaining ingredients and let chill 2 or more hours. You may want to add a bit more dressing after it chills. Enjoy and Bon Appetit!

Night Walker

 
The heat has been soaring in the triple digits for a of couple weeks now and it has turned me into a night walker. Like a nocturnal creature I venture out just as the sun is setting for my evening stroll. As I reach the top of the hill the summer sunset casts its pinkish orange hues and other nights I'm a bit late and I'm greeted by the twinkling lights of the city below.

The neighborhood smells of chlorine filled pools, night blooming jasmine, and the occasional bbq. And you can hear children laughing, pots & pans clanking and tv's blaring through the glowing houses. Occasionaly I'm offered a "Good Evening" from other night walkers or from those out watering the dry patches on their neatly manicured lawns.

Soon it will cool down and I'll return to my morning jaunts but I have to say...my evening walks have been a very relaxing way to end my day.

Baking in Mason Jars

   
Sometimes in producing a story I come across a surprising glitch. Case in point are these two images I recently shot for a story in Flea Market Style magazine. The glitch here was the fact that we found it is not recommended to bake in mason jars. After contacting the manufacturer we were told there's risk of the glass exploding during the baking process. Surprising to me since I baked the ones pictured here and have seen dozens of others do the same without any problems. But I suppose there are always exceptions.

  
So in an effort to protect public safety and the risk of liability we decided not to use these images. Of course, there are plenty of others I shot that made for a lovely story. I hope you're able to pick up a copy of the fall issue and sit back with a cup of coffee and enjoy it!

Would love to know your experience in baking with mason jars.
Any tips? Any tragedies?

How To Dry Hydrangeas

 I received a question from a reader (Hi, Debra K!) from this post about how I dry my hydrangeas. So I thought I'd share a few of my simple tips with you:

• Cut your hydrangeas in the very early morning or cool part of the evening.
• It's best to trim off all the leaves and keep the stems 12" or longer.
• From experience the water drying method works best for me.
• Place cut flowers in a vase with 2-3" of water.
• Don't refill, instead let the water evaporate. This make take a few weeks.
• Drying them upright in water allows the flower to retain it's large shape.
• Once dried, their color will last for about a year before they start to fade.

Happy Friday

          
Anyone up for a weekend of glamping? Yeah, me too. Especially if someone else did all the prep work and all I had to do was show up in my cute camp wardrobe with books in hand...ready for relaxing. But that's just plain fantasy now isn't it ladies. Because we all know this glamping thing is entirely our fault. No man would ever dream this up on his own. He'd be too busy fishing.

Hope you all have a great weekend. See you next week!
Image Via: Clayoquot Wilderness Resort

The Day Off

 
Yesterday my college girl and I decided to take the day off together. With school starting back up in a few weeks I know to take full advantage of our time while we have it. We decided to go down to Balboa Island for an impromptu picnic lunch. So we loaded up the beach bag my friend Trish made for me and hit the road. She'll make one for you too if you'd like...they come in lots of great colors! 

 
The Union Jack bed coverlet was a Rose Bowl find from last summer and has been the perfect beach blanket with it's generous size and lightweight fabric. I actually walked away from it at the flea market and couldn't stop thinking about it the entire day. Glad it was still there when I went back. It was only 15 bucks!

 
Our not-so-fancy lunch consisted of leftover grilled fajitas from the night before which I have to say tasted very delicious as a cold salad. We packed them up in recycled jam jars since I try to avoid plastic whenever possible. 

 
After lunch she wanted to stop and get a frozen banana for dessert. So we walked down to the 2 famous Balboa Bar ice cream shops that compete for your business. They both claim their own fame as being the "Original". And after 60 plus years in business it seems their friendly competition is still working for them.

 
Her frozen treat was a small Everything Banana...apparently she likes her bananas the same way she likes her bagels. Minus the onions and poppy seeds.

 
 From there we went on to the movies to see The Help which was soooo good. You must go see it. Must. It is such a poignant and heartfelt story about the civil rights movement in our country. But then, you probably already knew that since millions read the best selling book!

We had a fantastic day together but by far, the best part for me were the hours of talking we did in the car ride. Chatting about childhood memories, future hopes, dreams & plans, funny college friend stories....basically those small everyday moments that make up a lifetime. I feel so blessed to be able to watch it unfold right before my very eyes. 

Monday Agenda

 This is what's happening in my world this week...the opportunity to do what I love. I have a few projects and shoots to finish up and found this quote very inspiring for a Monday. Even if you're not doing what you love there is still the ability to dream, pursue and acheive it. So let's go tackle this obstacle!
What would you LOVE to do?

Art print by Puffed Peonies is available here. 

Q & A and a Chicken Update

  
 I've been getting lots of emails from folks wanting to know how The Girls have been doing. I'm always afraid of posting too much about them that I end up not doing so for months. So yesterday we wrangled them up and took a few photos. Here's Ruby (above) our sweetest girl who sometimes acts like she's our dog. And even though she's the runt she lays the biggest eggs. Don't know how she does it! She's also the most curious and I've even found her perched on the family room mantle. We get a lot of laughs with that hen!

 
The Twins, Marshmallow (left) and Souffle (right) have had quite the summer. Marshmallow is our broody bird, meaning she sits on the nest all day and will even settle on top of the other girls eggs. We've had to "quarantine" her in an outdoor airy pen for a day or two to stop the broodiness. It works like a charm and each time she goes back into the flock like nothing happened. Her twin Souffle is best friends with Lola (below right). They stick together all day and at night Lola will sleep on the perch with Souffle tucked underneath her wing. So cute! 

 
Butter (left) is still our squawker. She sort of acts like a grumpy old lady with her quiet clucking murmurs when you approach her. Sometimes I wonder what the heck she's saying in her native chicken speak. She's also very greedy and fast with the treats. The others have to be very quick or else Butter will get the worm...or carrot or corn kernel. But she is very reliable laying petite pinkish brown eggs almost daily.

Which brings us now to our dear Lola. You might remember my shocking discovery a few months back, well Lola is still laying eggs without shells. We've tried giving her more oyster shell, more sunshine, calcium, etc. and none of it seems to work. The Man wants to barbeque her and taunts me saying she'd be very delicious because she's so big and plump. Terrible!

 
The Girls and their home Chez Poulet also got a very nice little feature story in Country Living Magazine this summer! Looks like the chicken craze has really hit the nation. Go homesteading!

And lastly, we've decided to add a perimeter fence around the coop. To be honest, dealing with the droppings on my patio just wasn't for me. We still need to level the dirt and add lots of plants for them to wander about. I'll be sure to post photos when all the landscaping is complete!

 
And since I get so many chicken email inquiries...I thought it would be fun to take your questions! Do you have something you've wanted to ask me about the chickens, coop or our suburban farm life? Just ask away in the comment section and I'll answer them there!

Fuji Camera Winner!

 Hi Everyone! Appologies for not posting this on Monday. Can't believe I forgot! 
Drumroll....The winner is:
Marianna:
I love to photograph my kids! what a great giveaway! 8/3/11 2:51PM
Congratulations Marianna! Please email your address to me so I can send your prize package on it's way!
Thanks so much to all of you who entered...more giveaways will be coming soon!

Smitten: Beg Bicycles

 
Oh, my word...these bicycles and their absolutely most adorable accessories have me completely smitten! Take a look for yourself!

 
  
 
Have you ever seen bikes presented in a more charming way? They are from the UK based company Beg Bicycles. While you're over there take a peek at their lovely blog and gallery. So dreamy! 
I want one of these in the worst way. You too?