Friday Favorites: The Bee's Knees

The last Friday of February – how can that be?! I remember when I was a kid feeling like January and February seemed to last for.ev.er.. That is so not the case anymore – wow!

Today’s Friday Favorites are all “The Bee’s Knees” – some literally about bees and others just awesome events from the week that they deserve to be considered “the bee’s knees!”

This week on the blog, I’ve been reflecting on my niece’s third birthday. My mom and I had fun brainstorming a theme and planning the celebration together. We settled on “It’s Fun to BEE Three!” and that party is my first favorite this week.

Check out all the party details here.

Yesterday, inspired by the bee theme, I shared a recipe for a Sweet Honey Paloma. It is delicious, and definitely a favorite.

Get the recipe here.

This past weekend, Chelsea and I were able to get away for the the three-day weekend to Seabrook, Washington. Seabrook is a little beach town on the Pacific Ocean coast, and it is incredibly charming. This was our second trip there, and we loved it even more this time. The town is still relatively new (it was established in 2004), so it is continuing to grow and add new businesses each year. Currently, there is the vacation rental shop, a little grocery store, two restaurants, a bakery, a gift shop, a pet store, a kids shop, a bike rental shop, a pottery painting place, a spa, and a candy store (the essentials, really ;)). The town is totally pedestrian friendly – in fact we only drove our car once the entire time we were there, and that was to venture out of town for a bit. Seabrook is for sure a favorite this week! Here are some snaps of the cute little town.

Around the town…

The shops…

The beach…

Learn more about Seabrook here.

While in Seabrook, we stayed in the most adorable little house, and that’s my next favorite. Each house in town has its own unique and clever name, and the house we chose was called “Compass The Time.” It was perfect for us because it was pet friendly, close to the beach, and had a hot tub – win, win, win! Check out this cute little house.

Get rental details about Compass The Time here. I highly recommend it. Our time in Seabrook and this house were both the bee’s knees! 😉

My final favorite this week is an amazing Corn and Cheese Chowder that Chelsea made for dinner last night. And it’s yellow, so it stays with my theme of bees, right?!

I’ve been battling a bit of a cold and it has been snowing off and on, so corn chowder was the perfect cozy dinner.

soup

Here are the ingredients:

4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) butter
1 whole onion, chopped
3 slices bacon, cut into pieces
3 whole bell peppers, finely diced (red, yellow, orange)
5 ears corn, kernels sliced off
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
3 cups chicken stock or broth
2 cups half-and-half
1 heaping cup grated Monterey Jack
1 heaping cup grated pepper Jack
1/3 cup sliced green onions
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

And here’s how to make it:

In a large pot, melt the butter over medium-high heat. Add the onions and cook for a couple of minutes. Add the bacon and cook for another minute or so, and then add the bell peppers and cook for a couple of minutes. Finally, add the corn and cook for a minute.

Sprinkle the flour evenly over the top and stir to combine. Pour in the chicken stock and stir well. Allow this to thicken for 3 or 4 minutes, and then reduce the heat to low. Stir in the half-and-half, and then cover and allow to simmer and thicken for 15 minutes or so.

Stir in the cheeses and green onions. When the cheese is melted and the soup is hot, check seasonings. Add salt and pepper as needed. And as a final touch, Chelsea adds a sprinkle of paprika!