Weddings with Fox29 Philadelphia

We had a blast! Thank you Fox for choosing us to represent 2014 summer floral wedding trends!

 

Barb and the brides! Left to right: our “Bling” Bouquet with roses and sparkle, “Herb” Bouquet with mint, hydrangea, and roses, “Succulent” Bouquet with roses. We have a style for every bride, every dress, every theme.

Leftover Recipes

Let’s face it, leftovers can be just as puzzling as the initial meal. Great recipes for post-holidays.

Green Bean Potato Salad with Mustard Vinaigrette

This salad can be made a day ahead and is best served at room temp. Feel free to be loose with amounts. Use the leftovers you have.  Great for a buffet, picnic you name it!

8 oz (or leftover amount) green beans trimmed and cut into 1 inch pieces

1-2 lbs small potatoes any variety

4 tbsp light vinegar such as white wine, white balsamic apple cider, herb

1 lg shallot finely chopped or  1/4 cup chopped white, red or green onion

1 tbsp Stonewall Kitchen Caramelized Onion Mustard

2/3 cup olive oil

2 tbsp chopped parsley or other herbs (such as tarragon or thyme)

Want more color? Add some cherry tomatoes!

Left over instructions: Cut potatoes into large bite size pieces. Put potatoes in bowl and pour 2 tbsp of vinegar over. Add beans, shallot and parsley. Whisk remaining vinegar, oil and mustard, pour over and toss together.

Scratch Instructions: Bring potatoes to boil in large pot of water and cook until just able to pierce with fork but not quite done. Add beans and cook for 3 mins and drain whole pot in colander. Dip out potatoes and cut into bite size pieces while still hot. Follow instructions above.

Ham and Cheese Pastry

A comforting use of leftover Ham or use sliced deli ham. It makes an easy lunch or dinner and is kid friendly. Pairs well with the green bean salad.

One square of puff pastry (sold in grocery stores usually 2 to a box) defrosted

Sliced or chopped ham

Sliced or shredded cheese

Lay the pastry on a greased baking sheet or sheet of parchment. Spread the center third with Stonewall Kitchen Caramelized Onion Mustard. Layer with ham and shredded cheese. Put everything on 1/2 of the pastry and fold over like a turnover. Brush the outside with some beaten egg yolk or melted butter and bake at 400 degrees for about 30 mins until golden brown.

Feel free to use your favorite combination of meats or veggies and cheeses. You can also make these individual if your family is like mine and everyone wants something a little different!

Want the braided look shown above?  Make  1 inch cuts along each side of pastry, on the diagonal and fold these up alternately.

 

It’s Prom Season!

The Prom is Right Around the Corner…

Things have changed dramatically (thank goodness) from when I went to the prom.  It was the time for wrist corsages in very dramatic colors and if you weren’t lucky enough to get roses, there was always the carnation.  The music wasn’t much better, but that’s another story all together…

It’s a pleasure to see the classics return with delightful updates.  The traditional boutonniere and beautiful nosegay are back with creative ways to build from the “classic” style with current colors, flowers and embellishments.  Our designers have truly outdone themselves with matching flowers to dresses and designs to the individual.

Tone-on-tone nosegays have been trendy and wonderful way to combine outstanding like-color flowers.  A recent favorite of mine was an all white nosegay with ranunculus, garden rose, and freesia, bordered with lemon leaf.  To match this nosegay to the boutonniere, freesia was fragrant and elegant.

A different, but as popular style of nosegay has been bright and vibrant.  One style I love is full of green dianthus, hot pink roses, purple lisianthus, and cymbidium orchids, accented with jewel accents.  We matched this nosegay with a cutting-edge cymbidium boutonniere.

So let the sky be the limit for your teen’s special night and be sure to order a little something special for yourself while you’re at it!

Easter Egg Leftovers

Are you wondering what to do with all those hard boiled eggs after Sunday? Egg Salad! We went on a hunt to revamp this saturated recipe.

Here it is:

Diced hard boiled eggs

Stonewall Kitchen’s “Lemon Aioli”

Easy. Fabulous. Fresh. Enjoy on a slice of warm toast or croissant sandwich. The aioli is also great to have on hand for the fast approaching grilling season. It is especially delicious on fish and vegetables.

Pressed Flower Easter Eggs

Simple, fast and timeless! All you need are pressed flowers, eggs, and non toxic glue. Unlike traditional dying, this method looks fabulous on all egg shell colors. These also make great host gifts!

Tack flowers lightly on eggs and let dry. We hollowed ours out to preserve for next year! We have lots of hand painted eggs as well as pressed flowers available for sale in store.

Strawberry Rhubarb Pie with Stonewall Kitchen Pie Crust & Oatmeal Crisp Topping

1 pkg Stonewall Pie Crust Mix prepared for 1 crust pie

1 pkg Stonewall Oatmeal Crisp Topping

3 cups cut up rhubarb

3 cups sliced strawberries

1 cup sugar

1/4 cup cornstarch

1 teaspoon lemon juice

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Prepare pie crust and crumb topping per package directions and place in fridge. Gently mix remaining ingredients in large bowl. Pour into prepared crust and sprinkle topping on top of pie. Place in oven and bake 40-50 minutes until filling is bubbling. Cover edge of crust during last 15 minutes if over browning. Let cool before cutting. Pairs fabulously with vanilla ice cream.

Spring Cleaning…Minus the Cleaning

I view spring cleaning a bit differently than most, I leave out the “cleaning” and simply “bring spring in.”  Spring for me is all about scents, colors, and of course, flowers.

We have been counting the days, and now it is here – a new line of Lollia products.  My house is fully-stocked with their wonderful shower gels, candles, perfume, soaps and room sprays (come in and sample the wonderful scent collections). 

I made one of my favorite wreathes out of fresh Pussy Willow and it was sold before I could take it home!  Now that I made another and it is safely in my house, we have more ready for you to purchase here at Valley Forge Flowers.  And, we have added a pussy willow wreath workshop so sign-up and see how fun and easy it is to create this welcoming piece (Sunday April 13^th – be sure to make a reservation, space fills quickly).

I also love to have cherry and apple blossoms branches around the house.   If you are lucky enough and have a blossoming tree in your yard, simply trim a few branches and place in a vase with water.  If the blooms have not flowered yet, you can “force” them by using warm water instead of cold.  This makes for a straightforward and elegant addition to any room.

I like to bring the colors of spring annuals into my home too.  Take a basket, or any container you like, and fill with potted pansies, lobelia, alyssum, primrose, and flowering bulbs.  There is nothing like having an instant blooming garden!  And the best part, you will spend so much time enjoying your spring oasis that you won’t miss that silly cleaning part a bit!

– Barbara