Since I have my cute mother-in-law coming for Mother's day I looked through a bunch of my old magazines to find a yummy dinner I could serve her and this is what I came up with. It is from Country Home April 2006. Grilled vegetable Antipasto Salad, Mixed Melon with Basil and Onion stuffed Pork Tenderloin with a mango chutney sauce! What is so great about this menu is that it can be made the day before and served at room temperature.

So there is no fuss on Mother's day and I get to enjoy the day too! I will have all the recipes on our website tomorrow along with some deccadent dessert!!

Have you checked out my Sister Tiffany's blog www.thechildrensnest.blogspot.com
Tiffany the other half of "StyleSisters' has young kids still at home and is always coming up with fun creative things to do with her kids as well as fun inexpensive Do It yourself projects that solve storage problems with kids paraphernalia! Tiffany had to make a robot for one of her kids in about ten minutes before he left for school and it is the cutest thing ever.

This is one of the yummiest salads I have ever tasted!! We had a big family gathering at our mom's house and my niece Madeline made this and it was amazing! I wanted to share it with all of you so you too could taste the deliciousness! It is from Ina Garten's Barefoot Contessa Parties cookbook. All of her recipes are to die for! Enjoy!

3 tablespoons good olive oil
1 small French bread or boule, cut into 1-inch cubes (6 cups)
1 teaspoon kosher salt
2 large, ripe tomatoes, cut into 1-inch cubes
1 hothouse cucumber, unpeeled, seeded, and sliced 1/2-inch thick
1 red bell pepper, seeded and cut into 1-inch cubes 1 yellow bell pepper, seeded and cut into 1-inch cubes
1/2 red onion, cut in 1/2 and thinly sliced
20 large basil leaves, coarsely chopped
3 tablespoons capers, drained
For the vinaigrette: 1 teaspoon finely minced garlic 1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard 3 tablespoons Champagne vinegar 1/2 cup good olive oil 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Heat the oil in a large saute pan. Add the bread and salt; cook over low to medium heat, tossing frequently, for 10 minutes, or until nicely browned. Add more oil as needed.
For the vinaigrette, whisk all the ingredients together.
In a large bowl, mix the tomatoes, cucumber, red pepper, yellow pepper, red onion, basil, and capers. Add the bread cubes and toss with the vinaigrette. Season liberally with salt and pepper. Serve, or allow the salad to sit for about half an hour for the flavors to blend.

Many thanks go out to Kim at http://www.todayscreativeblog.blogspot.com/ for highlighting The Style Sisters on her front page!! It is so fun to see us highlighted on her awesome site!! Kim's site is fantastic! If you haven't check it out you really should you will find amazing people sharing their creative ideas! Kim really finds the greatest blog sites to highlight! Thanks again!!

Aren't these precious!! I love these and think they would be so cute for a little girl's birthday party! If you would like to have the recipe just click here. Gotta love Martha for her great ideas! Have fun with these and be creative!

Found this adorable child dish set at one of my favorite little shops in Chicago. French transportation Mealtime Set from P.O.S.H. Chicago. $49.50
Made of durable, break-resistant melamine, this adorable set has the cutest drawings with their french names. Sure to make mealtimes FUN!
Set includes one each: Tray, Bowl, Sippy Cup, Fork & Spoon.

This portrait was done by our good friend Robyn Serage. Robyn is an amazing artist and really captures people's personalities in her work. Check out our website http://www.thestylesisters.net/ to see more of her work. Not only is she an amazing artist but she is the mother of seven children, an incredible seamstress, Gardener, Robyn has also written and illustrated a children's book (that she hopes to get published soon) and recently made her debut as an actress in her local community theatre! Plus she is an amazing do it yourselfer! See some of the things on our website. We will be posting more of her handiwork throughout the month of May so make sure you check back often.

Here are a couple of other ideas...a wicker basket to corral paper goods and plastic silverware (if you must use it) and a wine tote turned condiment carrier. I love the idea of bringing nice things to the picnic or outdoor dinner instead of a plastic grocery bag. This makes living everyday special by doing things a little nicer. It sure looks good to me!!

I used some of the silk flowers we had left over from my daughter's wedding and made a nice spring wreath for my front door to welcome in spring! It didn't cost me a penny! Using up what you have to create something new. What do y'all think?

This is a photo from one of my neighbors yard...the wind was wild early this morning and some are saying we had a touch down of a tornado! The sirens went off at 3 AM to alert us of the possibility that a tornado was coming our way! My daughter and I went into the closet underneath the stairs with our dog and waited for something to happen. In the little closet we keep water, food, flashlights and a radio. We were listening to the radio broadcasters tell us how much longer we were under the watch and how hard the winds were blowing...up to 100 miles an hour and rain pouring on us 5 to 7 inches! I was literally shaking like a leaf waiting for the tornado to rip through our home! We were very blessed to not have sustained any damage to our property but we feel bad for those in our neighborhoods and surrounding areas. Here are a few more pics...

Tramploline in neighbors pool!

Remember us showing you how to make a cake plate a little while ago, well here are some that I made! I love them! They honestly cost me $1.00-$2.50 each!!! They took no time at all and they are beautiful! I made some cupcakes and had to display them on my newly made cake plate! I really think these would make the perfect wedding gift! I even made some smaller ones that I thought would be perfect for cheese :) Hope some of you have tried this easy project!

This is just beautiful fabric designed by Sandi Henderson at Portabellopixie. Check out her blog with lots more fabrics and patterns for pillows.

Tonight we had a simple dinner.... we grilled a Pork loin roast that was covered in a dry rub of yummy spices and a little bit of olive oil, oven roasted red potatoes with olive oil, fresh thyme, salt and pepper and a delicious salad made of fresh spinach leaves, romaine lettuce, sliced fresh pears and strawberries with roasted almonds in a raspberry vinaigrette dressing. So easy and very little effort. Check our website http://www.thestylesisters.net/ for recipes and more photos of our simple grilled dinner!

How cute are these personalized plates!!!! At http://www.swoozies.com/ there are many styles to choose from....but the best part is you get to choose from a vast array of icons for the center of the plate and wording and fonts!! What a great gift idea!! Plus Swoozies has tons of partyware, totes, bags, invitations, kids stuff etc.. We have highlighted more things on the front page of our website at www.thestylesisters.net These plates make me feel happy and springy!!

SEW SIMPLE!! I saw some really cute chairs with ruffled seat covers from the Shabby Chic website at http://www.shabbychic.com/ and decided to try and make these for my chairs and this is how they turned out. The directions and before and after photos are on our website www.thestylesisters.net so go and check it out.