{Blogspiration}2nd Annual Red, White, Blue & You Link Up

Happy Monday! Andrea at Living On Cloud Nine and her fellow Style Sixers are hosting their 2nd Annual Red, White, Blue & You Link Up.
I joined in last year with a round up post of some of my favorite patriotic themed food and crafts so I had to dig a little deeper in the blog archives for this one.

Patriotic Thrifting

I still use a lot of these decorations!

Last 4th of July

We'll be missing our hometown parade and fair this year.  

Target  Dollar Spot-Patriotic Swag
This bunting is still holding up but the pillow didn't survive.

{Get Crafty}Patriotic  Pom Poms
Pom Pom making is such a fun activity, this yarn made it easy!

You can link up all of your red, white and blue posts here.

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Pretty Gardens

We took a drive recently and stopped in at a local shopping area. Most of the stores and restaurants weren't open yet but the grounds looked so beautiful.

It was such a treat to get to walk around the uncrowded pathways.

Music was playing on the speakers and the weather was perfect.

This place is usually mobbed with people so I was enjoying the peacefulness.

The water wheel was still spinning.

It was such a beautiful day!

I also got to visit my mom and took a quick tour of her garden

The hostas were really impressing me because mine are so puny and the deer keep feasting on them.

I think this is a hellebores.

There are so many pretty spots!

If you want to see more of her gardens you can view some of my previous tours here:

{2012)

{2015}

{2017}

I love getting garden inspiration and enjoying other people's mastery!

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{Travel}Day At The Beach

Mr. Click and I had the day off and took a trip to the beach.

 The beaches had recently reopened and were pretty busy but we were able to keep our distance.

 We packed a lunch and spent the whole day there.

 We ventured on the boardwalk and stopped for some coffee.

 What a cute place!

 Their coffee hit the spot and gave me the energy I needed for more beach time.

 The water was still too cold for me but the beach was perfect.

I didn't want to leave!! #ineedabeachhouse

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Garden Progress & Planting Morning Glories

The garden is coming along.

Remember when it looked like this in May?

All of a sudden, it has exploded to look like this.  Let's take a closer look.

We have some heirloom black tomatoes.

I got some free sunflower seeds  and I popped them in the soil, I have a few coming up.

Here's the zucchini.

We have some pots of herbs and more tomatoes.

This pot has some basil coming back from last year.

I love geraniums in the summer!

Here are the peas..they are so sweet!

The hydrangeas and astilbe are looking beautiful right now.

I was excited to find some morning glory seeds because I like to plant them every year.

I always start them by nicking the seeds and soaking them overnight (or longer) to speed up germination.

You can see how they look after soaking in this photo.

I planted them around the front of my porch and they are starting to sprout.

It's very exciting.

Hopefully they'll look like this in a few months.

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{Recipe} Creamy Cauliflower Pasta -Vegan

 This recipe was inspired by Alison Roman's NY Times recipe when I watched a video of her making a version of it.

It looked simple yet scrumptious and I wanted to veganize it for my family.  I made a few swaps- using vegan parmesan for the parmesan  cheese and cashew cream for the heavy cream.

Ingredients:

1 pound rigatoni

6 TBS olive oil, divided

3/4 cup fresh, course breadcrumbs

1/2-3/4 cup freshly grated vegan parmesan like Violife brand, plus more for  serving

1 small onion,  diced

1 medium head of cauliflower,  cut into slices about  1/2" thick

1 cup cashew cream (1/2 cup raw cashews, soaked - pureed with 1/ 2-3/4  water)

1 TBS lemon zest

crushed red pepper (optional)

salt & pepper

To make:

• Make fresh bread crumbs. I toasted some Ezekiel bread and ground it up in the food processor to make mine.
• Make cashew cream, soak cashews in hot water for a few hours, then drain and combine with 1/2 - 3/4 cup  water in a high speed blender until smooth.
• Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil, add pasta and cook until al dente; drain and reserve 1 cup of the pasta water.
• Meanwhile heat 3 TBS of olive oil over medium heat in a large skillet, add breadcrumbs and season with salt & pepper.  Toss and cook until golden brown. Add 1/4 cup vegan parmesan,  allow cheese to melt and form small clusters in the breadcrumbs.  Transfer breadcrumbs to a bowl.
• Wipe out skillet and heat the remaining 3 TBS of olive oil, add onion and cauliflower.  Season with salt and pepper.  Cook, tossing occasionally until cauliflower is soft and the onions and cauliflower are starting to brown and caramelize (about 15 minutes).
• Add cashew cream and lemon zest to the cauliflower, reduce to a simmer and let thicken.
• Return skillet to medium and add pasta to the cauliflower along with 1/4-1/2 cup vegan parmesan and 3/4 cup of the pasta water.
• Cook, tossing to coat pasta and thicken sauce, adding more pasta water by the tablespoon if necessary.
• Remove from heat and add breadcrumbs, more lemon zest, red pepper flakes and more cheese to taste.  Serve and enjoy!

This is a decadent dish but full of healthy cauliflower to offset its richness.  The breadcrumbs really make it special so I highly recommend making your own if you try this.

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Loving Lately

Here's what I've been loving lately.

More nights on the deck.

 Seeing these cuties on a walk.

 My clematis bloomed!

 Enjoying dinners made by the kids like this Mediterranean combo and...

...this tofu curry with roasted Brussels sprouts.

 I found some new chairs (online at Target) to complete the seating out on the deck.  You can scroll back up to the top to see them all together.  I keep moving them around so the arrangement has been evolving.

 Taking some beautiful walks in the park.

 Breaking out the bikes for some rides!

 Making a batch of my Slow Cooker Taco Soup .

 Yummy summer fruits=the best!

 A new candle to enjoy.

 Made some refreshing frosé . (I tweeked my recipe to make it easier and less sweet. Blend frozen rosé with vodka,  splash of agave and frozen strawberries). The new chairs also make good foot rests.

Regrowing scallions-so easy!  What are you loving lately?

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