cherry berry spritzer

 

as the weather continuously heats up, we're gonna need a lot of summer cocktails to keep us cool! this one is for the cherry lovers. it is simple, healthy & so refreshing. if you aren't familiar with cherry juice, you can find it in the natural section of your grocery store. it contains no added sugars, just 100% pressed black cherries. it seriously taste like biting into the best summer cherry!

to add a touch of fiz (because every drink needs some fiz) i mixed equal parts cherry juice & zevia's black cherry soda. the cherry juice is quite concentrated, so this helps dilute it. zevia's soda is naturally sweetened with stevia, making it zero calories & no added sugar. i love when drinks (like sangria) include fresh fruit too, so i garnished it with fresh blackberries. feel free to use which ever berries are your favourite! cherries, strawberries, blackberries, blueberries or raspberries will all work for this cherry berry spritzer.

cheers! xo

ingredients

  • 1.5 oz white rum
  • 1/2 oz fresh lime juice
  • 4 oz 100% cherry juice
  • 4 oz zevia's black cherry soda
  • 3-4 fresh blackberries, as garnish
  • sliced lime, as garnish

directions

  • fill glass with cubed ice.
  • add white rum, lime juice, cherry juice & cherry soda. stir until combined.
  • sprinkle in the fresh berries & garnish with a slice of lime.

mini blueberry corn cakes

 

how cute are these little blueberry corn cakes? i will honestly take any excuse to use my lodge biscuit pan & mini cakes seemed like the perfect thing to make in it. they are loaded with fresh blueberries & because the cake is not overly sweet, you can serve them for breakfast or dessert. when serving it for desset i like to dust it with powdered sugar & top it with vanilla ice cream, but if you want to eat ice cream for breakfast too i won't stop you! between the cornmeal & the blueberries, these are like taking a bite into summer.

aside from these little cakes, we are also celebrating the release of my friend maggie pate's new book, the natural colors cookbook (available now for pre-order)! it is not your traditional "cookbook". instead this book explores how to create custom fabric hues using various foods. i absolutely love following her work on instagram as she makes the most beautiful fabrics, weaves & clothing. maggie dyed the linen featured in today's post with blueberries! it creates the most beautiful soft shade of purple. so check out her book to discover how to transform everyday items into custom plant-based dyes. congrats maggie on such a beautiful book:)

get the recipe for those mini blueberry corn cakes below! xo

ingredients

  • 1 cup medium grind cornmeal
  • 1 cup all purpose flour
  • 3 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 3/4 cup cane sugar
  • 1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted & cooled
  • 2 large eggs, room temperature
  • 2/3 cup buttermilk
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 2 cups fresh blueberries
  • powdered sugar, for serving
  • vanilla ice cream, for serving

directions

  • preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  • in a large mixing bowl sift together the cormeal, flour, baking powder & salt. set aside until ready to use.
  • in a separate large mixing bowl whisk together the sugar, butter, eggs, buttermilk & vanilla until evenly blended.
  • slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients until mixture comes together. do not over mix!
  • fold in the blueberries.
  • transfer batter to 8 greased & floured mini cake pans. i use this pan by lodge cast iron.
  • bake for 20 minutes, until the tops are golden brown.
  • let cool slightly before removing from the pan.
  • serve with a dusting of powdered sugar & a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

a modern craftsman porch

 

happy june everyone. porch season is back!!!!

we spent our may long weekend outside getting the yard & front porch ready for summer. i love this time of year. we get to bring the rocking chairs back outside, pot new plant beauties & get everything looking pretty after a long cold winter. this year i was even more excited to decorate the porch as it is our first summer with the new front door we installed over the winter. i wanted to give things a little refresh. the door is very old school modern, much like everything in our house. because our house is an arts & crafts home, i wanted to use that as the inspiration for our porch decor.. with modern twist of course!

for those of you just seeing the front door for the first time, we installed the tumalo walnut knob exterior door set in oil rubbed bronze from rejuvenation. it has held up amazing over the winter & is honestly the nicest door set i have ever seen. i had preordered it the second it came out because it was the design i had been hunting for forever. i want one on every single door! as much as i love my brass, i wanted to keep everything in an oil rubbed bronze finish for outside. we swaped out or exterior lights & went with a very traditional craftsman style: the columbia 7'' arts & crafts lantern wall sconce, also from rejuvenation. it couldn't be a more fitting piece for our house. it reminds me of what the house would have had in 1928 when it was built! i love how it looks against the cedar shake too.

next, onto the decor! to really pull in the arts & crafts vibe, we went with a craftsman arrow windowpane doormat. this doormat is so heavy duty & thick, i can tell it is going to last for years to come. the patern brings in a little something extra, to my usual minimal design vibes. i layered it with a simple black & jute rug to give it more of a cozy outdoor living vibe. luckily our porch is fully covered so i don't have to worry about any weather elements potentially ruining things! the rocking chairs are the o&g rocking chair in ebony. we got them last summer & they are the most gorgeous rocking chairs ever. everything o&g makes is top notch quality & rejuvenation currently has these beauties on sale! we had them in our living room over the winter & it was hard to put them back out because they looked just as good inside. might just have to snatch one or two more for myself!

lastly, we really needed to upgrade our porch plant situation. as a cough plant killer, last year didn't go so well.. but i am trying again! note: it has been three weeks & these plants are as vibrant as the day i got them. some (ok, all) credit goes to justin as he has made it his mission to water them & not let me kill them this year! we got all our potted plants from my favourite local shop oliver & rust. meg, the owner is my go to plant girl. the planters are new to rejuvenation this season. they are the brice collection & come in white or terracotta. you can also get them with or without the stand! i wish my porch could fit even more. i went with the medium + large in white with no stand & the extra large in white with a stand. the extra large stand is the perfect size for a fern! a staple summer porch plant.

if you want to see what our interior front entry looks like, check out the design story i wrote here! everything in today's post is linked below.

xo