Friday, October 9, 2015

Favorite Fall Dinners

Happy fall y'all!  We spent literally ALL of the past 1-2 weeks whipping our Etsy Shop into shape for this season, & ohmygosh did all that autumn theme work put me in the mood for some cider.

One of my FAVORITE things for dinner in the fall is soup.   I'll be the first to admit since finding Bear Creek Chicken Noodle Soup Mix we never make it from scratch, because their pre-made blend is AMAZING & we don't always have the time.

But this past week hubs & I were craving some carbs so I decided to whip up a tray of crunchy toast to go with it.  (Eric loved these so much I only got 1 piece from  the first round so had to whip up a second batch mid-meal!)  Ingredients, as always, below the pic.

Sliced Italian Bread // Sprinkle of: Oregano, Basil, Onion Powder // Drizzle of: Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Heat oven to 350 & put a cookie sheet filled with a single layer of these yummy toast slices in for 5-6 minutes.

Thursday, September 24, 2015

Easy Peasy Panini Recipe

We're TRYING to eat healthier.  But instead of cutting out ALL of our favorite foods I'm instead getting rid of a few & reworking the others into something new.

There are two HUGE panini fans living in our house.  Instead of a press I use our grill pan, which appeared on the doorstep (literally) a couple years ago as a gift.  Ingredients, as always, below the pic & one quick thing- I like to saute up the onions/peppers on the side of the grill pan BEFORE adding them to the sammie.  Side note: I'm totally addicted to onions & peppers.

Ingredients for 5 Sammies: 2 Sliced Plum Tomatoes // Couple Handfuls of Organic Baby Spinach Spring Mix //
5 Slices Deli Ham // Diced Onions & Peppers (for me) // 3 Slices Provolone Cheese (for him) // Half Loaf of Sliced Italian Bread
(NOTE: Next time I'm going to FOR SURE drizzle some balsamic vinaigrette in there too, yum-o.)
I also HAD TO SHARE this super fun Halloween contest we're running now through 10/1.  
Painted by the Shore is giving away 2 sets (yes 2!!!) of candle holders.  
The first giveaway is on FacebookCLICK HERE to enter.  
The second is on InstagramCLICK HERE to enter.  
Good luck y'all!

Monday, September 21, 2015

Vineyards & French Toast

We spent ALL weekend at the vineyard.  How fancy does that sound??  My business, Painted by the Shore (check out our BRAND NEW website here) participates as an artisan in a half dozen wine festivals a year.  I love them all but Stonington Vineyards was the first, plus they sell our work in their AMAZING shop.


All this fall decorating put me in the mood to dig out our own (wherever they may be, just added this book to my reading list courtesy of Little Baby Garvin) & stockpiled some seasonal inspiration on Pinterest (found here).

Because where else would you EVER want to have morning coffee than with those vineyard views?
Then this morning we woke up to (gasp) temperatures in the 50s!!  All those north of us may be laughing right now but after an amazing weekend of 70-80 degree temps this was a serious shock. But Fall days means time for homey meals, so on this 'chilly' morning we started up the griddle for some yummy French Toast (SUPER EASY recipe, ingredients below pic).

French Toast for 2: 7 Slices Whole Wheat Bread // 3 Eggs // Splash of Vanilla Extract //
~1 Cup of 1% Milk // Sprinkle of Cinnamon // Lite Syrup

Wednesday, September 16, 2015

Cheers to Summer!

This summer FLEW by.  Seriously.  The chilly nights are already starting, we've traded central air for open windows & I'm already on the hunt for new filling fall recipes (yum).

But on a hot day this week I had sudden inspiration to use up that orange sherbet from our freezer & make this FABULOUS concoction (recipe under pic)-

1 Quart Orange Sherbet // 1.5 Trays of Crushed Ice // Splash of Vanilla Extract //
Bacardi Pineapple // 1 Cup of Sprite
& blend, blend, blend
The orange makes this cocktail just fall enough to work in September & the taste is pure summer (sigh).  But even though June-July-August passed too quick, we're still so very ready for pumpkin EVERYTHING!!

Cheers,
-KL

Tuesday, September 8, 2015

S'mores & Smokers

Happy Labor Day friends!  This holiday was our FIRST outdoor family/friend gathering in the new house.  I'm amazed it took us this long to hold something but doing so many Painted by the Shore events ties up lots of weekend time.  I dream of having a remodeled ice cream truck turned art shop on wheels (inspiration here), where we can pull into a fair & set up in minutes or breakdown in seconds; giving Eric & I that extra couple hours at the end of the day (#lifegoals).

We started yesterday using our smoker for the FIRST time (big mistake, should have done a test run beforehand) using this Spicy Smoked Chicken Thighs recipe by Recipe Diaries.  Amazing recipe & super easy to put together with all the ingredients, minus chicken, already in our pantry.  

Our mistake with the smoker was treating it like a grill & adding too many briquettes which sent the temperature sky rocketing & crisped up the first batch.  But by round two we had the temp at a steady 250 degrees and that chicken turned into fall off the bone PERFECTION.


I was TERRIFIED of running out of food which was completely unwarranted because we had TONS for everyone & a fridge full of yummy leftovers hubs & I are excited to munch on for the rest of the week.

I also had to whip up a bowl of that Lemon Garlic Zucchini recipe we posted last week (a-ma-zing) & we made full use of the new fire pit with lots of s'more toasting into the night (fire pit DIY here).



Time to print lots of new pics for those un-filled frames I posted last week (here) & get busy filling PS tote bag orders.... Happy 4 day work week all!

Wednesday, September 2, 2015

Friday Favorites

Friday Favorites was meant to start the first Friday after launching Loughs in Love until... we took a last minute trip up to the Cape!  Literally one of those decide 18 hours ahead of time and pray for an opening at doggy daycare kind of trips.

So Friday Favorites is happening on Wednesday this week and I couldn't be more excited to share this AMAZING Grilled Lemon Garlic Zucchini recipe by Damn Delicious.  We tried it hot & cold, fantastic both ways, then brought a huge container full to a party only to turn around 10 minutes later & see it completely gone!!



Of course we also had to share some vacation pics...

Hubs did some amazing research before this trip & found the Hyanis HyArts Shanties.  It's a handful of the cutest sheds you've ever seen in your life packed with handmade jewelry, paintings & a gorgeous letterpress card of the Cape by Joyce Sullivan that came home with us.


Then the first full vacation day started with a sunrise bike ride in North Truro.  Breathtaking views from the beach and we saw a pair of seals popping up in between the waves.  Truly one of my all time favorite life moments.



The rest of the time was filled with grilling, camping fun, the LONGEST bike ride I've been on to date (6 miles woohoo), yummy taffy in Provincetown and climbing the Pilgrim Monument (talk about a work out).  Loved absolutely every second of this trip & can't wait until next Summer to go back.



Monday, August 31, 2015

Backyard Oasis: Part 1

When moving into our new place last winter we DOUBLED the size of our back yard (hallelujah). So after seeing this DIY by Marianne over at Craft Project Ideas Eric and I started to plan out our own Backyard Oasis.  A space that I've always dreamed of having but never in a million years thought we'd get around to creating.

We took Marianne's DIY & made a couple changes- mainly make it bigger.  We wanted our Backyard Oasis to be for more than us.  To surround that fire pit with friends over for beers or s'more making on family holidays.

Here's the before pic (just look at that giant EMPTY space saying fill me with something fun)-


We started with this pile of stones from an Aunt's recently dissembled garden & power washed them to save money, which didn't take too long at all.


While I power washed (for the FIRST time EVER, don't worry friends- hubs gave me multiple demonstrations & warnings on the dangers) Eric dug down a bit for the center of the hole and hammered the back of each stone to force them into that nice round shape.


Three more levels, 4 hours & a LOT of glasses of lemonade later we had this-




The best part came a couple days after that when we stained these two Adirondack chairs & spent our first night outside with the pups roasting hot dogs & toasting Backyard Oasis: Part 1 with a couple beers.

Sunday, August 30, 2015

Loughs in Love

I'm Kristina Lough, wife to Eric, fur-mother to these two sweet Basset mixes and one adorable Bobtail (not pictured, but I'll share one later). Lover of arts & crafts, cooking, all things fun & date night especially.


Eric and I met in high school, dated for 3 months and then ran back into each other at a pool hall 6 years later where I promptly beat him in several games.  We've now been together for nearly 9 years (isn't it amazing how time flies??) & married for 5 this past July.

I have a small business, Painted by the Shore (PS), where I wear many hats (as any business owner knows) and love almost every minute of it (small business owners will understand that 'almost' too).

Our home in Branford CT, is located in the midst of tons of family and friends.  We love the New England lifestyle and atmosphere all the way from the Connecticut Shoreline up to Cape Cod which is a favorite vacation spot.

This blog is going to be filled with my loves & I cant wait to share our DIYs, recipes, garden glimpses & other fun things along the way.

Happy Sunday, friends!
- KL