Road Trip Cookies

The family and I packed up and took a little road trip yesterday to a sandy location.  I cannot tell you how much we need some family time right now.  My husband has been traveling a lot for work lately and the boys and I have really been missing him at home and I know he's missing us too!

For our long haul, I packed these substantial and somewhat healthy cookies to keep us happy in the car.  Made with steel cut oats and dried cranberries, these cookies are the perfect treat for those long stretches of road with no stops in sight.  The drive was long but the look on the boys faces when they see the ocean is absolutely priceless!  

Ingredients:

• 3/4 Crisco® Butter Flavor All-Vegetable Shortening Sticks
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon maple flavoring
• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 1/2 cups steel cut oats, finely ground
• 1 cup dried cranberries
• 1 1/2 cups white chocolate chips
• No stick cooking spray

1. 
   
   Instructions (recipe adapted from here)
   
   
   1.    HEAT oven to 350ºF. Coat baking sheets with no-stick cooking spray.  
   2.    Using a coffee grinder, finely grind steel cut oats and set aside.




2. 3.
   BEAT shortening, sugar and brown sugar in large bowl at medium speed of electric mixer until blended. Beat in eggs and maple. Combine flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt in small bowl. Beat into shortening mixture until smooth. Stir in oats, dried cranberries and chocolate chips. Drop by rounded tablespoonfuls about 2-inches apart on prepared baking sheets.


3. 4.
   BAKE 10 to 12 minutes or until light brown. Cool on baking sheets 2 minutes. Place on cooling rack to cool completely.

Sunday Best

Derek Lam knee length pencil skirt
$295 - shoplesnouvelles.com

Oasis leather wedge
$60 - oasis-stores.com

Reed Krakoff genuine leather handbag
$990 - forwardforward.com

Mirror necklace
$50 - modcloth.com

Stella Dot leather bangle
$39 - stelladot.com

Yves Saint Laurent mascara
$30 - yslbeautyus.com

Clarins face powder
$30 - bloomingdales.com

Life at its Finest

Ahhh, Friday.  Hello friend!  

My iris are finally beginning to bloom.  While everyone else's are fading, mine are still waiting patiently to put on a show.  Perhaps it's because I moved a lot of them last fall?

Yep, that's my soon to be garden.  Hubs assembled the boxes for me and I mixed and shoveled every last morsel of dirt into those babies.  16 cubic feet to exact.  I have the sore muscles to prove it too!  I'm using the All New Square Foot Gardening method so keeping fingers crossed it will be a success.

The boys dinner last night.  (Those are grapes, not olives.)

One of our favorite go-to breakfasts.  

Sometimes I feel completely out of my comfort zone parenting boys.  I wouldn't trade my guys for the world but I grew up on Barbies and hair bows.  I'm considering reading Wild Things.  Anyone read it before or have similar recommendations?  I think it's time I re-read this one too.  I'm a big fan.

Hope your weekend is fabulous!

Closet Talk

This past week I worked on cleaning out my closets.  Again.

Each season I try to let go of a few items.  You know the ones you pass by every single day and haven't worn in two years?  Why do I hold on to some of these things?  

Now that my closets are a bit lighter and I'm transitioning my warmer weather clothes back into the rotation, I'm curious....

How do you organize your closet?

Do you prefer the color coordinated method?

Or do you organize by type of clothing?

via

Or are you an over achiever who does both?

via

Closet organization has never been a strong point of mine so please share your wisdom if you've got a stellar system.  It's time I take control of my closet.

One more thing.  Thank you so much for all your lovely feedback regarding the new blog design.  Y'all are nothing short of the best!

Meet the new peach!

This is something I've been working on for a while and I'm so excited to finally share it with you!  I've always loved my peach logo but I knew it was time for a little makeover.  Thankfully my Photoshop skills have slowly been improving, allowing me to create this little beauty.

I also enlisted the help of Lisa from Elembee Creative to help with some of the other design elements like a new header and a more functional navigation bar with a recipe index and advertising information.  I still have posts labeled by category in the sidebar if you want to search for something by topic.

I'll be tweaking a few things over the next few days but just couldn't wait to reveal the new design.  Thank you  Lisa for putting up with me.  I appreciate your professionalism and lending me your creative talent.  

Cheers to the new peach! 

Sunday Best

Maxi dress
$550 - aliceandolivia.com

River Island wedge shoes
$91 - asos.com

Kate spade bag
$428 - couture.zappos.com

Stella Dot clover jewelry
$49 - stelladot.com

Stella dot jewelry
$148 - stelladot.com

Rebecca Minkoff sunglasses
$150 - rebeccaminkoff.com

Xen Tan bronzing powder
£22 - debenhams.com

Yves Saint Laurent blush
$30 - yslbeautyus.com

Life at its Finest

It's Friday, Friday! What are your plans this weekend?  I really want to spend as much time as possible outside.  Rain, rain stay away!

A few delicious snapshots from this past week.

Macaroons from my favorite local French bakery and hair bows for my visiting niece! 

Pina Coladas for mom, sisters and I.  Cheers to spending time with family!

A great way to start my day.  Coffee and a PB & J English muffin.

And this is so yummy leftover.  I highly recommend you add it to your to-do list.

Hope you'll check back next week to see the blogs makeover!  Until then, relax, unwind and enjoy life.

Penne with Pancetta & Mushrooms

Confession.  I'm not a fan of mushrooms.  But when they're incorporated into a dish and cooked just right,  they're pretty spectacular.

This pasta dish has been haunting my dreams since I spotted it in the most recent issue of Bon Appetit.  Assorted mushrooms, pancetta and a quick wine reduction make this dish oh so good.  It comes together quickly too.  I'd certainly make it on a weeknight or serve it confidently to guests.  My local grocery store already had a pack of fresh, pre-sliced assorted mushroom which was a huge time saver for me.

I halved the original recipe and it made more than enough for two people.  It could probably serve four people if you made a nice salad to accompany it.  Ready to make something fabulous?

Penne with Pancetta, Sage and Mushrooms (adapted from here)


Ingredients:

3/4 cups low-salt beef broth

1/2 cup dry red wine

2 tablespoons olive oil, divided

4 ounces assorted fresh mushrooms (such as oyster, crimini, and stemmed shiitake), cut into pieces

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

4 ounces thinly sliced pancetta (Italian bacon), coarsely chopped

3 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 1/2" cubes

1.5 tablespoons chopped fresh sage

1.5 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary

1/2 pound penne pasta

1/2 cup finely grated Parmesan (2 ounces), divided

1.  Bring broth and wine to a boil over medium-high heat and cook until reduced, about 15-18 minutes.  *Do Ahead* Can be made 3 days ahead.  Cover and chill.


2.  Heat 1 tbsp. oil in a large deep skillet over medium-high heat.  Add mushrooms and season with salt and pepper.  Saute until tender, about 5 minutes.  Transfer mushrooms to a plate.


3.  Add remaining olive oil (1 tbsp.)  and pancetta to same skillet.  Saute until pancetta begins to brown, about 10 minutes.   Discard a few tablespoons of fat from the skillet.  Add wine reduction, butter and herbs; simmer until sauce thickens slightly, about 3 minutes.  Stir in mushrooms.


Meanwhile, cook pasta until almost tender.  Drain pasta and reserve 1/2 cup cooking liquid.  Stir in pasta and 1/4 cup cheese into mushroom mixture.  Stir over medium heat, adding water by tablespoonfuls if dry, until sauce thickens and clings to pasta, about 5 minutes.


Season with salt and pepper.  Transfer to a large bowl.  Sprinkle with remaining cheese.

Stay Tuned...

I've been working hard behind the scenes here at YSP on an overdue makeover for the ol' blog.  I'm really, really excited about it and have enlisted the help of a graphic designer to make this happen!

I can't wait to unveil the new and improved look to y'all.  I created this inspiration board as a little sneak peek just for you!  My hopes is that the blog will continue to be a happy and inspiring place for all of us, myself included.

If you're new to the blog, (hi!) I've also updated the "About YSP" section for your reading pleasure.  Feel free to say hello anytime.  Thank you so much for your daily encouragement and love.

Stay tuned....

Your Southern Peach,

Amy

credits: outfit * pencils 

Meet me in the Garden

It's time to hang those beautiful, understated, elegant ferns!  The boys enjoyed their snack yesterday on the front porch while I admired these heat-loving beauties.  There's something about a Boston fern that just makes me want to lounge on the porch all afternoon. 

For more fantastic fern care tips, Southern Living has you covered.      

Sunday Best

A P C striped top
$75 - barneys.com

Monki pleated skirt
€30 - monki.com

Shoes
€23 - pullandbear.com

Miso shopping bag
£22 - republic.co.uk

Janis By Janis Savitt clear crystal earrings
$75 - ylang23.com

Kate Spade butterfly jewelry
$250 - bloomingdales.com

Nina Ricci floral scarve
$309 - mytheresa.com

Dorothy Perkins tassel belt
$11 - dorothyperkins.com

Benefit Cosmetics lip makeup
$18 - bloomingdales.com

Life at its Finest

How did another week fly by?  I think I need a vacation.  I'm at a point where I feel like I'm going 1,000 miles and hour and need to slow down.

I did find a few moments this week to capture some of the smaller moments.

Like this peony arrangement from my sister.  She's my green thumb muse!

And eating popsicles on the back deck with my favorite boys.

A lunchbox for Luke.  Yogurt, blueberry muffin, mini PB crackers, apple slices and caramel dip.  Oh, and an Easter KitKat.

I have a few iris blooming right now.  I love, love, love iris!!! I can't wait 'til the rest start to show off.

And a friend of mine who always knows how to brighten my day gave me these sweet little baby carrots fresh from her garden.  They were literally gifted in a bucket of dirt.  I spent some time cleaning them up appreciating every bump and curve of their homegrown goodness.

My little sis and youngest niece are coming in town today and I'm thrilled to be spending the weekend just hanging out with my mom and sisters.  We're all so close and I know I'll feel a lot more grounded after some quality family time.

If you're local in ATL and looking for something fun to do, go say hello to my friend Courtney from Pizzazzerie!  She's an entertaining expert and visiting ATL for her PushPops book signing tour.  I wish I could be there personally to give her a warm Georgia welcome but I'm sure she'll be in good hands.

Enjoy your weekend fellow peaches!