Spring Scallop Salad- Super Easy!

Caron’s kitchen tested! This spring salad is super fast, and super easy for a week night meal. Tom and I whipped up this healthy seafood concoction in less than 30 minutes. Tom was in charge of searing the scallops, as I am not always very confident about my scallop chef skills…

(adapted from Sunset Magazine April 2013)

The original recipe was created for a 4-person dinner salad, we adapted it for 2, so that we would not have any left over scallops.

Shopping List:

8 large sea scallops

1 ½ Tablespoons Grape Seed Oil

¼ - ½ tsp. kosher salt, divided

1 Meyer Lemon zest or ½ Tbsp. regular lemon zest

1 ½ Tbsp. Meyer lemon juice or 1 Tbsp. regular lemon juice

½ Tbsp. olive oil

¾ cup thawed frozen green peas (the petite kind!)

1 quart mixed fresh Spring greens

4-6 slices of prosciutto, torn into pieces

1. Pat scallops dry. Heat a large frying pan (NOT non-stick) over high heat until a drop of water sizzles when dropped into pan.  Add grape seed oil (it can be heated at higher temps than other types of oil) then the scallops; season with kosher salt. Saute’ scallops without moving them until browned and easily turned.  Should be about 3 minutes per side.  Transfer to a plate.
2. Whisk lemon zest, juice and olive oil with ¼ tsp. kosher salt.
3. Thaw peas if needed
4. Toss Spring salad greens, peas and torn prosciutto with half of the prepared lemon dressing.  Arrange on plates and place seared scallops on top; drizzle with the remaining dressing, and finish with a hint of sea salt to taste.
5. Serve immediately.

Seashell Etched Wine Tumblers +
Ice Bucket for your cold Chardonnay

Hint: Having all of the ingredients ready to go and organized helps, as the scallops sear more quickly

than you think.

A fresh loaf of French bread and a lovely Chardonnay completes your gourmet dinner.  Enjoy!

Coastal Fish Flatware can be found on our site.  We love ours!

  

Spring Table Ideas for the Beach

Spring is my favorite time of year!  Everything is bursting out in blooms, the air feels and smells different and the sun casts a different light...   I have an entire "board" on Pinterest that is nothing but beach tablescape ideas - thought I would share a few of the spring ones with all of you. 

 Great for Easter parties!

Casual aqua vintage bottles, florals and stripes - simply fun and creative!  (love the sweet peas)

Perfectly simple! Blooming Daffodils compliment the rustic, beach-feel table settings in aqua and white.

 Delicate florals mixed with coral - so pretty!

Love those white flowering branches, combined with soft aquas!

  Beach buckets and stripes...

 Aqua and lime - perfect beachy spring colors!

 Pinks and oranges with a tiny gift for your guests!

 Color Inspiration!

 This is so elegant! Perfect mix of stripes, flowers and pretty seashells

 Easter stripes and polka dots

This table idea is my favorite.  I love how cutting early spring blooming branches brings nature into your home.  The aqua, white and pink shades flow together perfectly for a home at the beach.  This is a look that is super simple to recreate, mason jars, white dishes, vintage linens, aqua glass balls (or aqua sea glass chunks would work!)  and flowering branches.  Ah.... this is when I miss my old house and the myriad of plum trees and flowering apples.

All of these ideas, and their sources can be found on my Pinterest Board - "Beachy Tablescapes".

For more inspired beach table ideas  - I highly recommend these blogs!

Between Naps on the Porch

Home is Where the Boat Is

Stone Gable

The Art of Sea Glass

Most of you know by now, that I have a sea glass problem.  It's in all of my coat pockets, my beach bags, my car, and sea glass finds fill countless bowls and endless jars in my house. When Tom met me, he had no idea that he would be constantly fishing pieces of beach glass out of the dryer!  

I started collecting bits of sea glass when I was only 7-8 years old on our beach on the Kitsap Peninsula. And until just a few years ago, I thought I was the only one who had this addiction. Low and behold - there's an entire community of people that are also sea glass obsessed!    

Meet Aileen Cabral, of "The Art of Sea Glass", one of my favorite sea glass artists and now a good friend.  I met Aileen on Facebook, and then met in person at the Sea Glass festival in Santa Cruz in 2010.  Since then, I have been lucky enough to purchase several pieces of her sea glass jewelry. (actually, Tom bought it!) I wear it all of the time - with many compliments!  My newest piece, an adorable little silver octopus is probably my favorite.

We met up at the Cayucos Sea Glass festival earlier this month, and came up with an idea, after a few glasses of wine while watching the sunset,  to write an "interview" - enjoy!

1. How were you inspired to create your company?

I love to make things. I’ve always made some kind of artwork – murals, pet portraits and jewelry. When I started to make sea glass jewelry my friends really loved it, so I made more. When I find something I love, I make a lot of it – thus the need to start a company and sell it.

  

This is me, Aileen on the left

with my friend Kim,

who started me on this crazy

sea glass adventure!

2. How did you start the “Art of Sea Glass”? When?

My “big” start actually came from a little cameo appearance on the Travel Channel – on the show Treasure Hunter, Kirsten Gum. They were doing an episode on sea glass hunting and I made a piece of jewelry on the show. I got over 10,000 hits on my website that year alone. This was about 5 years ago. I still have customers that bought jewelry from me after that show aired – they come back over and over – which I love.

3. What or who do you feel is your biggest influence on your own design ideas?

The ocean is my biggest influence on most of my designs and some ideas were influenced by my oldest dear friend, Kim Ritner – she was the one who inspired me into making sea glass jewelry in the first place. (I used to do a lot of beading with natural stones)

One night we were looking through her stash of sea glass and I started wire wrapping the pieces. After a while I wanted to make more substantial jewelry so I got some books and taught myself how.

4. Why sea glass?

Mostly, because of Kim. She got the book “Pure Sea Glass” years ago and bought a sea glass pendant from an artist. I saw it and said “I can do that” – and I did. I love working with sea glass because every piece has a story and every visit to the beach is like a scavenger hunt.

5.. Do you have a design or artist's mentor, someone that has inspired you to push your boundaries? If you do, who is it and why?

I have a mentor who helped me tremendously with expanding my boundaries into the wholesale world. I met Dee Jansen, another artist, through a forum on WholesaleCrafts.com and she helped me with everything I needed to prepare for my first trade show. I didn’t even meet her in person until a year or more later.

6. What do you think is your true "uniqueness" with your products? What sets you apart from other jewelry designers?

My silver designs are definitely my uniqueness – they are different from most anything else out there that is made with sea glass. I make sea creatures that people just love. I have pendants made from molds of vintage and antique buttons. I come up with new ideas all the time. My jewelry isn’t just a piece of sea glass, it’s a piece of wearable artwork designed around the sea glass.

7. What are you, Aileen, most proud of?  (can be anything!)

I’m proud that I was able to take a little hobby – sea glass hunting and jewelry making– and turn it into a viable business. My jewelry designs are in about 17 shops and galleries right now – and I’m always expanding. I’m actually really amazed that I’ve been able to do this – and I do it all. I’m the artist, photographer, web master, banker and bookkeeper.

8. If you could live anywhere, where would you live and why?

I live in my favorite spot. Channel Islands Harbor. We moved from Horse Property (which was a dream come true) to a harbor house – which is another dream come true. I am so lucky to have the best husband in the world stand beside me. We are both so lucky to have lived in 2 dream destinations.

(Aileen's kitty, Cricket soaking up the sun!)

Check out Aileen's website, The Art of Seaglass, to find out how you too can own a piece of her art!  I promise you that it will soon become one of your favorite pieces in your jewelry box.

Website:    www.artofseaglass.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/Artofseaglass

My Island - Where Art Comes to Life!

Gerri posing with a selection of her fun beach cottage pillows!

We met our friend, Gerri Hyman of My Island Art a few years ago, and fell in love with her bright, colorful  beach cottage pillows,  canvas giclees and pretty floor mats.  I thought you all might like to know a little more about what inspires her to create her incredible whimsical island-inspired designs!

1. How were you inspired to create your company, My Island? 

 I have always been inspired by sea life, tropical foliage, and all things colorful. These subjects have also always been my favorite things to paint so 6 years ago I decided to try "painting for a living" which meant I would paint and then reproduce my paintings onto products.

Blue Crab Art!

2. How did you start My Island? When? Where are you? 

I started in spring of 2007 with 5 designs and 3 products: t-shirts, giclees, and prints. My Island is located in Greenville, SC.

3. We love your bright, colors and whimsical design - why do you think you are drawn to create in "technicolor"? 

Because bright colors are never boring to paint with and almost anything you can create with bright colors turns out happy and cheerful!

Mermaid Art

4. What or who do you feel is your biggest influence on your own design ideas?

I am most definitely influenced by these artists: Diego Rivera and Henri Matisse. More current artists/designers whose work and products I am drawn to are Sally Huss and Laurel Burch.

5. Do you have a design or artist's mentor, someone that has inspired you to push your boundaries? If you do, who is it and why? 

 No not really!

Sea Turtle Pillows

6. What do you think is your true "uniqueness" with your products? What sets you apart from other home decor manufacturers?

 It's certainly the color. I think my art is recognizable because the colors are bright and vivid. I could never paint a sea turtle, pelican or owl in it's "natural" colors!

7. What are you, Gerri, most proud of? (can be anything!) 

 My boys! They are bright, beautiful, insightful and kind.

Striped Grouper Pillow

8. If you could live anywhere, where would you live and why? 

HAWAII-- preferably Maui or the Big Island. I visited there for the first time when I turned 21 and I knew then that I wanted to live there someday. It all comes together there for me; the mountains, the blue water, the foliage, and the climate.

9. Describe your perfect day at your favorite coastal destination… 

 Sunbathing, swimming and snorkeling on a beach in Maui in the morning; a leisurely stroll down the beach in the afternoon; and a ride back home in my Jeep with top down in the afternoon!

10. What would you like to try next? 

 Ceramics!!! I don't know much at all about pottery-ceramics and I'd love to create some pieces. Eventually, I'd really like to have my art reproduced on these types of pieces, too.

Interviewing Gerri was a lot of fun! I for one, cannot wait to see what she comes up with for her next project.  

We have a complete collection of My Island coastal home accessories on our Caron's Beach House site - come see!  Bonus - All pillows are part of our "March Pillow Palooza" and ship for Free using our "pillows" code when checking out.

Happy Monday!

A Cayucos Sunset

Last Saturday night after we had been at the Cayucos Sea Glass Festival,   Tom poured each of us a glass of delish California Cabernet for our walk on the beach.  We walked right out of our hotel room and right down to the sand.  Cayucos has a beautiful walking beach with tide pool rocks and tiny stones worn smooth by the pounding waves.

We strolled, picking up rocks (no sea glass!) and talking to many other beach combers, watching sand pipers scurry in the surf - all of us waiting for the sun to set into the Pacific.

Hope you enjoy our view!

Love this last shot of the sun light hitting the top of the waves.... Honestly, I think I have found my next beach town.  Now I only have to convince Tom that we need to move.

(P.S.  The photography is all mine, and not retouched or altered in any way)

St. Patty's Weekend

It's that time of year again - St. Patty's weekend.  We started a new tradition about 4 years ago, and every year we find a new Irish Pub in the city to celebrate.  If you have ever been to San Francisco, you know what I am talking about, there seems to be a never ending array of choices for interesting pubs and neighborhoods to explore. This year, we are headed to the Haight neighborhood to a highly recommended pub called Martin Macks, should be fun!

We have had some wild adventures in the city, which do not go on the Everything Coastal blog...

One of my long-time favorite customers sent me these photos from her trip last year to Galway, Ireland. She graciously gave me permission to use them.  

I love it when people share a tiny slice of their coastal life with us!

Absolutely beautiful painted wooden boat in Eyrie Square full of blooming summer flowers, 

such a gorgeous display!

Gosh, now I want to go and explore Ireland too.  Have you been there?  What did you do? What would you recommend?  

Have a great time this weekend!  I know we will, but there won't be any photo evidence...

Fabulous design - Liora Manne's LAMONTAGE™ Pillows

As part of our March Pillow Palooza promotion, we wanted to profile some of our favorite coastal pillow designers.  Meet Liora Manne'; she has created an unique process of textile design resulting in affordable, fabulous indoor-outdoor pillows  - perfect for life at the beach!  Tom and I discovered her bright colors and durable, soft cushions at the Las Vegas trade show, and  we were absolutely thrilled about making them available to our customers.  

Born in Israel, educated in the United States and now a true New Yorker, lifestyle products designer Liora Manné has been a study in breaking the rules from early in her career.

After graduating from Georgia State University with a degree in journalism and drama, Liora was anticipating a life in theatre. A textile design class at North Carolina State University changed the course of her career. Intrigued by the dependency of design on cutting edge technology in order to make ground-breaking advances, she pursued a master’s degree in both textile design and textile engineering.

Armed with her dual credentials in art and engineering, and sparked by an insatiable curiosity she headed to New York City to test her creativity. Her first stop was to design textiles for the fashion industry, but she soon found herself challenged to explore something more creative and non-traditional within the textile industry. Liora gravitated toward home fashions, and rugs in particular. Her entry into the area rug business truly changed the directions of the industry. Bold, contemporary colors sparked a revolution in a category dominated by traditions. Today, Liora Manne's LAMONTAGE™ products are featured worldwide.

Liora continues to travel the world to unearth inspiration from sites off the beaten path and to develop both product and technology before it hits the mainstream. The versatility of the products coupled with their international design appeal make them at home in institutions such as the Rubin Museum and Radio City Music Hall in New York City, the Mondrian Hotel in California, Brown University in Rhode Island, and some of the most exclusive nightclubs around the world. They are also in the permanent collection at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.

Each one of her pillows is hand crafted using modern technology of 100% antimicrobial polyester - made to be low maintenance and durable. 

We love the brilliant pops of color and the details!  All come in either 14 x 20  lumbar or 20 x 20 square sizes.  These are only a few of the designs that we carry - all can be found in our new and improved Liora Manne collection.