• Welcome!

    So glad you dropped by! There is always something brewing here at the painted apron, cooking, painting, party planning, gift making, organizing, tablescaping...I hope you will spend a few minutes here and find some inspiration for your next creation.

Take-out Tuesday, Incredibly Easy Scalloped Potatoes

This recipe is adapted from Easy Potatoes Au Gratin created by The Lazy Gastronome Scalloped potatoes are thinly sliced potatoes, layered with cheese and butter or cream Potatoes au Gratin are basically the same, sliced potatoes baked with cheese and usually bread crumbs which gives them a browned topping after baking Instead of cream in … Continue reading

Sunday Supper, Hoisin Pork and Zucchini & Corn Sauté

You are going to want to put this on your menu asap! It’s easy, it’s delicious, it’s a little bit different, and it’s Summer on a plate! Pork tenderloin is cut into chunks, marinated for 6 hours, and grilled* Serve it with a simple sauté of corn and zucchini and you have a winner of … Continue reading

Fearless Friday, Cantaloupe

The hardest thing about art for me is deciding what to paint! I often scroll through Pinterest, Pixabay, and Unsplash, and see what catches my eye I saw this fruit still life and fell in love with the cantaloupe I decided not to sketch it, and just jump right in Simple strokes Building color as … Continue reading

Tales of the Traveling Tote, June 2023

Happy June! It’s time to share more adventures of our Traveling Tote! We are a group of 10 that share a love of MacKenzie-Childs We all have the same large Courtly Check tote bag We post about where our totes have been every 3 months and host a giveaway We also have names for our … Continue reading

Take-out Tuesday, Cheesy Zucchini, Corn, & Bacon Casserole

I hope you had a wonderful Memorial Day if you are in the USA! We celebrated with family and friends at the beach, with lots of great weather and food ~ I made a zucchini casserole for a side dish one night This casserole features many favorite ingredients, Summer corn and zucchini, bacon, and pimiento … Continue reading

The Organized Life, June Paint Bucket

It’s time to start thinking about what to cook in June! You can see photos of all the recipes below in the June section of my Monthly Paint Bucket The flavors of the month are Corn and Zucchini wonderful summer vegetables! Appetizer Grilled Peach Crostini with Marscapone & Honey from Vindulge BBQ Chicken and Corn … Continue reading

Fearless Friday, Still Life in Gouache

I am experimenting with Gouache painting Gouache is an opaque watercolor medium It thins with water to make a wash like watercolor, or can be applied directly When applied with just a little water it is not transparent, similar to acrylic I used this is inexpensive set For our painting today, I chose this still … Continue reading

Recipe Box, Loaded Spinach & Artichoke Quiche

When you don’t know what to make for dinner, make a quiche! Quiche makes a delicious one dish meal Plus you can make it ahead of time and bake it when you’re ready This one is loaded with fresh spinach, artichoke hearts, corn, onions, bacon [not pictured], ham and cheese You can make it in … Continue reading

Easy Recipes for Memorial Day

We will be spending Memorial Day at the beach, and being the first weekend of Summer, we won’t be the only ones! We always cook, the restaurants are much too crowded My son, the chef, and I like to think about the menu in advance so I have been looking through my recipes, collecting easy … Continue reading

Red, White & Blue Decor Ideas

I can’t believe next weekend in the USA is Memorial Day weekend! Where did May go?? Do you have special plans~ Have you done any patriotic decorating? I am going to the beach house in a few days and will be getting out the red, white and blue! Here are some easy decorating ideas that … Continue reading