Grilled Vanilla Peaches and upcycled keys and pin necklaces

The Farmers Market: Grilled Vanilla Peaches.  This past weekend was a nice long holiday weekend, Earlier in the week, my neighbor was so kind to give me a handful of fresh white and yellow peaches from a local orchard. I grilled some sausages on the grill last night and decided I should take advantage and throw a foil packet of peaches on as well.  I found this recipe on the Martha Stewart website. At first, it seemed a little misleading to call these peaches "grilled". There certainly are no tell tale grill marks on them. However, I soon realized that this method was a perfect way to end up with soft, juicy peach slices infused with the perfect balance of brown sugar, vanilla and cinnamon.  Ladled over some vanilla ice cream, these peaches were perfection!

Grilled Vanilla Peaches 
8 fresh peaches
Juice of 1 lemon
1 Tablespoon vegetable oil
1 1/2 Tablespoons packed light brown sugar
2 teaspoons water
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon course salt
vanilla ice cream

1.  Peel, halve, and pit peaches

2.  Preheat grill to high. Combine lemon juice and vegetable oil in a bowl.Add peaches; toss to coat.  Place peaches (with liquid) on a large piece of parchment lined foil.

3.  Stir together brown sugar, water, vanilla extract, cinnamon and salt. Brush over peaches. Fold foil to form a packet, crimping edges to seal. Grill, covered, for 15 minutes.

4.  Slice peaches and divide among 8 bowls. Top with scoops of ice cream.

The Find:  upcycled keys and pin necklaces.  This is just a tiny collection of old keys, a pin, and costume jewelry that I found at a few yards sales.  Often I find the best old costume jewelry at yard sales and church attic sales. Thankfully, there are still people out there who hang on to their grandmother's old Naugahyde jewelry boxes filled with treasures. And, thankfully, some of those same people part with the treasures when they decide to clean house. I'm pretty selective when it comes to costume jewelry. Some of the older pieces are made so well and really withstand the test of time.

A little magic and these items are now necklaces.

Roasted Potato Salad with Mustard and Walnut Vinaigrette and a Harlequin Map Table

The Farmers Market: Roasted Potato Salad with Mustard and Walnut Vinaigrette.  All summer long I've been hooked on "baby" potatoes. I get the medley in red, white and purple. When I came across this recipe earlier in the week on Food52, I was more than excited to find a new way to eat my baby potatoes. One of the nice things about this potato salad recipe is that it uses an olive oil based vinaigrette instead of mayonnaise. Now don't get me wrong here; I could bath in mayo and die a happy girl but the vinaigrette seems to nicely enhance the flavor of the potatoes without overpowering them.  And the two types of mustard and addition of walnuts? That's heaven right there.

Roasted Potato Salad with Mustard and Walnut Vinaigrette

Salad

• 4pounds mixed marble potatoes, or other small potatoes
• 1cup walnuts, toasted and roughly chopped
• 1bunch basil, leaves torn into bite-sized pieces
• 1bunch scallions, white and green parts thinly sliced crosswise

Vinaigrette

• 2cloves garlic, peeled
• 1tablespoon whole-grain mustard
• 1tablespoon Dijon mustard
• 2tablespoons lemon juice
• 1tablespoon red wine vinegar
• 2tablespoons roasted walnut oil
• 1/4cup extra-virgin olive oil
• Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

1. Preheat oven to 425° F and line two rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper.
2. Wash and dry potatoes, then spread evenly between baking sheets. Drizzle with olive oil and toss to evenly coat potatoes. Sprinkle with freshly-ground black pepper and sea salt, then roast, shaking the pans occasionally, until potatoes are tender and browning (about 45 minutes, depending on the size of your potatoes).
3. Meanwhile, prepare vinaigrette. Place garlic cloves on a cutting board, sprinkle with a generous couple pinches of sea salt, and chop and mash with the side of your knife until the clove breaks down into a salty paste.
4. Add garlic paste to a small bowl along with mustards, lemon juice, and vinegar. Whisk to emulsify. Add olive and walnut oils and whisk vigorously to combine. Taste and adjust seasoning with additional sea salt and pepper.
5. When potatoes are done, transfer to a large bowl. Add scallions and dressing, and toss to coat. Using the back of a mixing spoon or the end of a wooden spatula, roughly smash some of the potatoes to break the skins. You’re not making mashed potatoes, but breaking the potatoes down will allow them to soak up more of the vinaigrette.
6. Allow dressed potatoes to sit at room temperature for about 45 minutes to one hour. Just before serving, stir in walnuts and basil.

The Find:  Harlequin Map Table and a Bonus Tin Treat.  This week's find was once a lonely dark table shoved in the very back corner of a yard sale.  The design alone called to me from the driveway. I love its simple lines and bottom shelf.

Maybe one day, far , far away, I'll get tired of using maps in my work. But I seriously doubt it. Just looking at a map ignites my wanderlust spark. Lately, I've been knee deep in  bright paints for my Little Free Library design work. On this table though, I decided to go soft.

The fun bonus find for this week is another yard sale find. In keeping with the travel theme, I found an airplane whirligig made entirely of Pepsi cans. I spied this piece on the corner of a front porch and it was getting ready to be put out with the trash. Price = FREE.