2011 Shade of the Year - Announced!

Pantone just announced it's 2011 color of the year

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and I'm so excited to share it with you today!

A.M.A.Z.I.N.G.

It's called 'Honeysuckle' and I think I'm completely in love.

Being the somewhat girly gal that I am. . . I love a good pink, in any hue. . . this Honeysuckle shade that they are now broadcasting around the globe as 2011's color is simply fabulous!

What do you think? Have a great start to the week, friends! I'm off to Dallas for a great conference with some inspiring people! More to come later this week. . . .

Run. . . Don't Walk . . . to H & M this fall for the perfect late summer dresses!

Looking for the perfect late summer and early fall dress?

.It seems this seasons "now" color is this fun nude, tan and peachy color. . . and just about every little shop is showcasing this fun shade in their window displays today!

So if you're anything like me. . . you've been eyeing these little frocks and thinking you might need one or two to fill that color void in your closets!

So here goes. . .Listen to me on this one. . . you will want to run. . . not walk. . . do not stop for starbucks or gelato. . . but literally head to your nearest H &M . . . as soon as humanly possible!

. Why you ask? . Well, to put it lightly, I hit the jackpot on cute dresses at H & M this week and I have a feeling you will want to check out a few of them yourself!

Check out a few of my favorites. . . .

{Check out this sweet little beauty here at H & M for only $39.95!}

{Newsflash - perfect Saturday Market or out to a quick low-key dinner dress! I love this little one and would you believe it comes in six colors, and would you believe {hold onto your seats!} it's only $14.95! I die and go to heaven, I swear.}

{I love this little one - over dark tights or a skinny pair of jeans with heels - love it! Would you believe it's only $34.95 - I told you that you'd want to run there for this little beauty!}
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{Last but not least. . . I adore this one! This one is only $49.95 and it's cute as pie! Race to H&M now!} .
So - race to the nearest H & M and enjoy your quick little shopping trip! It sounds like the perfect Saturday trip to me - cute and affordable . . Enjoy!
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Happy weekend, fabulous riends. . .

Daily Inspiration: Caught Smiling. . . .

Today I caught myself smiling. . . in the middle of the day. . . swamped with papers, files, emails - buried in work and personal life. . . and I caught myself smiling.
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Yesterday, Ben and I celebrated our third anniversary and today we celebrated our third year as a married couple. Time sure does fly. As much as I love the memories of our nearly perfect wedding day, I cherish the walk out of the church and the days that followed, even more. {Hence, the picture above.} I married a guy who loves me for who I am, values my somewhat quirky sense, my need to always strive for more, my experimental cooking, outrageous need to travel, shop and move 1,000 miles per minute . . .
and still always challenges me to be the best side of me. . . a good friend, strong woman, determined employee and mostly a loving wife.
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That, my friends, is why I caught myself smiling.
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I am blessed. I love you babe and I'm so glad to have you in my daily life!
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xoxoxo

Today's. The. Day.

I've been missing my sweet blog, so TODAY, yes TODAY, I decided to check it out again! I've been spending a ton of time working, traveling, spending time with familiy, working on new house updates, developing plans for a new backyard oasis and loving life more than ever! So TODAY is the day that I come back to blog for a quick minute, to share a few fun updates wiht you all . . .
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It's officially spring here in our great state, sunshine, trees budding, tulips popping, storms and all. But most importantly it means its time to start channeling the daily sunshine. . .this means new recipes, brighter colors in the house and inviting friends over more . . . all of my favorite things! So here's a glimpse into what we've been working on lately in the nicol household. . .
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Currently we're channeling a new guest bedroom. . .what do you think of this fantastic new Amy Butler wallpaper? . I'm sort of in love, but I made the mistake of buying my bedding first and now I'm really trying to match paper to bedding. . . ridiculous, I know. . . but its the truth! So the sample is on its way and we'll know soon if its a match made in heaven or not!
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We're also in the beginning stages of working with landscape artists from Gardens of Growth to begin designing our backyard oasis, complete with a secret garden seating area, a new blue stone patio and some fantastic plants! Don't you just love this bluestone patio look? More pics to come as it progresses, I promise. . .
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Lastly, we've been cooking a ton and we're ready for spring and summer cooking! Is it CSA time yet - it must be coming soon - we've signed up for Seldom Seen Farms again and we simply can't wait to get our box of fresh, organic veggies soon!
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It's good to be back for the day. . . hope you all are well! Cheers!

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Gray Paint, White Trim, a Fab Painter and a Little Love. . .

It's official. . . I'm a slacker, when it comes to my blog - sorry friends, but work, family, travel and entertaining have called. . . But I have a few things I've been dying to post. . .

so here goes!

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Our bedroom is finally finished friends. . .what do you think?!?

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Our favorite painter (should you ever need one in Indianapolis - check Tony out!) from Tony, from Thatcher Painting, did a FABULOUS job updating our bedroom with its new beautiful gray hue. . . and I'm in love.

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The trim turned out AMAZING - thank you to my sweet hubby for all the man hours he put in measuring, cutting and nailing this stuff up - but my goodness - its lovely isn't it!

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(sorry the bedding looks wrinkly in this picture - not sure why - it really isn't in real life?!?)

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The lamps in the room were picked up at the pottery barn outlet (in Cincinnati, who knew, right?) and at the restoration hardware outlet

(in Philadelphia - must travel; will buy cute things!)
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Since everything was so straight and blocky looking - I thought we needed a fun, rounded, girly mirror - What do you think? It's from Ballard Designs. . . and so are the candle sticks on the dresser. . . .This fun bubble glass lamp is from restoration hardware. . .
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Our new - upholstered bed - by Bernhardt. Love. Love. Love.
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The bedding is from Restoration Hardware . . .simple and subtle, yet makes a statement right?.
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I'm obsessed with our new bedroom furniture - I adore the straight lines with the curved edges, its part of the Westwood Collection by Bernhardt. . .
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The best part of the bedroom is its something we did together - I love it! P.S. I tried a new feature on my camera to take these pics - I promise not to use it for everything, but I think it sort of creates ambiance - right?!? Maybe not. But whatever - no time to retake pics today!

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Still on the hunt for a fun rug and maybe even a neat little chair to go on the right side of the bed in a little area that is open. . . any ideas?!?

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Thanks for following along. . . share your inspiration with us, we'd love to have it.
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Favorite Recipes: Grilled Dinner! Marinated Chicken, Grilled Beets with Feta, Grilled Zucchini and Grilled Pineapple with Honey

A couple days ago, we made one of the most delicious dinners we have in a long time - so I was dying to share these recipes with you all! This is the perfect fall Sunday dinner, for sure.
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Grilled Marinated Chicken Breasts with Grilled Beets, Zucchini and Pineapple with Honey

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Grilled Marinated Chicken Breasts
Ingredients:
-4 Chicken Breasts
-3/4 cup Italian Dressing
-Orange Zest (as desired)
-1/4 cup Olive Oil
-1/4 cup Dry White Wine
-Splash of Balsamic Vinegar (to taste)
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Directions:
In a gallon size ziploc bag mix the italian dressing, orange zest, olive oil, white wine and a splash of balsamic vinegar. Place small fork marks in each chicken breast, so marinade will soak into chicken. Place chicken breasts in ziploc bag with marinade. Allow chicken to marinade as long as possible - anywhere from 30 minutes to 24 hours.
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Grill chicken on indirect heat (I know - can you believe I even know what this means!) and grill until meat is tender and ready to serve!
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Grilled Zucchini:
Ingredients:
- Zucchini- Lemon Juice-Olive Oil
-Lemon Pepper Seasoning
-Parmesan Cheese (Optional)
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Directions:
Cut up zucchini into small pieces - either quarter size or in strips. Mix zucchini pieces with lemon juice, olive oil, and lemon pepper seasoning (to taste). Once all zucchini is coated in mixture, place in grill basket and grill until desired tenderness. Serve on plate and sprinkle with parmesan cheese.
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Grilled Beets with Feta Cheese. (Follow instructions from prior post to grill beets)
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Grilled Pineapple with honey, lemon juice glaze:
Ingredients:
- 1 can of Pineapple Rings (or Fresh )
-1/4 cup honey
-3 Tablespoons Lemon Juice
- 3 Tablespoons of Butter
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Directions:
Melt butter and then mix with honey and lemon juice. Place pineapple ring in honey, lemon mixture and then place each ring on grill. Brush pineapple rings when turning. Serve alone as a dessert or over ice cream.

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Literally, I sort of can't believe I made this. . .not only did it taste delicious, but it looks beautiful! (I'm a sucker for pretty meals - I'm not gonna lie!)Your guests will be wowed for sure. . . its not only a beautiful meal, but it tastes delicious and it can all be fresh, if you choose!

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Great summer or fall meal. . .
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Enjoy, friends. . .

Daily Inspiration: Just Can't Get Enough. . . Grill Love!

This summer we bit the bullet and purchased a brand new grill! Originally I could think of nearly 10,000 other things I'd rather spend a large lump sum of money on. . . I wanted to redo a couple more rooms, buy some new dresses and shoes, travel, etc. Shoot, I wanted to do anything but spend a bunch of muu-la on a 'GRILL!'

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However, Ben, my sweet husband, had been eyeing a new grill for quite some time, but we wanted to wait until our old, cheapy grill bit the dust. So we purchased this beauty. . .the Weber Genesis E-320. I grew up in a family where grilling was muy importante! My dad is a Weber Grill Master and my mom is pretty handy with the grill as well! This new beauty has all the bells and whistles that my hubby desired and even a few that excited me!
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Prior to purchasing, I only really cared about the color. We chose this beautiful copper color, because I thought it would look nice outside our brick house - literally people - that is what I cared about at the time!

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Needless to say, after purchasing this beauty, I've fallen in love. . . maybe even more than my sweet hubby!
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We grill nearly 75% of our our meals now and we could not be happier!
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So if you are in the market - we'd highly recommend this beauty. . . she leaves beautiful marks (so your food is PRETTY!), she is large (so you can grill tons of fun things for yourselves or for entertaining!) and she cleans really easily too!
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If you're looking for some inspiration - check out this delicious meal we made a day or two ago! The recipes are coming soon!
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Have you found any great recipes for the grill? If so - please share!!

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I hope you have a great start to your week!! Thanks for following, friends. . .

Sweet Secret Ingredients For a Perfect Bridal Party!

My sweet sister recently became engaged to a fabulous mate and they are now in the process of planning a wonderful wedding here in Indianapolis! Sarah, the bridey, is a thoughtful, caring and creative person - probably one of the nicest people you'd ever come across, actually. So it is extremely important to her to make every detail very special, unique and most importantly, heartfelt.
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A few short weeks ago, Sarah and Mike began the process of asking the bridal party. They wanted it to be unique, creative and special. So they 'cooked' up a few ideas and this is what they decided upon. . .
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Mike presented his men with cigars and said something like. . . "Sarah, said I had to find smoking hot groomsmen to stand by my side on our big day, now I'm not sure about the hot part, but you can definitely be smoking! Will you be a groomsman?" Now, it sounds a bit corny - but you have to know Sarah and Mike - this was absolutely adorable and all of his friends jumped at the opportunity to partake in this fun event! Oh and the cigars. . . they were top notch and a BIG HIT too!
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As for Sarah, she wanted to send a little something to her lovely bridesmaids. . . . . .Sarah is not only witty on paper, but she's also a mean cook. . .so this is what she chose to do. . .
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(This is what I received in the mail from, my sweet sisty!)

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(This is what the note card said. . . adorable!)

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(She had these potholders made from a local friend that we have who is a quilter. Sarah picked out all of the fabrics and then Tisha from Quilt Therapy made them all for her! P.S. They are great potholders and she sells them ridiculously cheap - so check her out!)
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(Then the bridey boxed it all up and sent them out!)

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Such a neat way to be asked to be a part of something so special. . .I cannot wait to see what else she and Mike will 'Cook' up for their big day!

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What did you do to ask your bridesmaids?

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Enjoy your day. . .

Gigi's Cupcake Coupon!!

Earlier this week I blogged about how I had found a new little cupcake shop here in Indianapolis! Well, today, in my inbox I received this fantastic coupon from Gigi's! (click here to see print it off for yourself!)
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Buy Two Cupcakes and Get One Free!
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What a deal!!

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. It appears it can be used at any Gigi's location - so visit the website and see where you can find the closest Gigi's. . . trust me, you'll be pleased!
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Enjoy those cupcakes and save a few bucks too!

Bedroom Redo . . . Part 1!

There is nothing like a little home decorating to consume your days and give you a goal! We've got a bunch of little projects currently going on and I'm eager to share a the finished projects with you all soon. . .

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But for now, I thought I'd share a little glimpse into the projects. . .and give you a sneak peek at where we're heading!
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Our biggest project has been our master bedroom redo!

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We're having the walls painted in a light gray color, keeping the white trim and then also repainting our bathroom in a slate gray color! We chose a light gray wall color and a slate gray wall color for our master bathroom. I used Sherwin Williams, but had them match the Restoration Hardware paint colors. LOVE. Love. LOVE.
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But we're not just leaving those plain old walls. . . no way, jose. . . we're spicing them up with some delightful trim in neat rectangular shapes! (Installed by none other - my sweet(and handy!) hubby- ben). Check it out!
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We searched high and low for the perfect trim - literally we visited every hardware store and lumber yard here in Indianapolis - it was nuts. We finally found the perfect wood at Menards. But of course they had a limited quantity - so I literally drove to every Menards within 1.5 hours of Indianapolis and bought them all out! No seriously, I did. CRAZY.
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Ben cut the wood, glued and nailed it up! Amazing. Then we had it painted white, like the trim in the rest of our house! Check out these pictures. . .
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(Yes, that is my sweet hubby sawing wood on our bedroom floor - not the safest, but it sure did work out!)

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(Another view of the handyman at work!)

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(Half the trim is up. . . prior to the paint!)
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(And a quick glimpse of the finished product. . .khaki walls now gray, with white trim!)
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(And a final look. . . beautiful!)

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What do you think?!?

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Excited to see more? Keep following along - I've got more updates on the way!

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Enjoy your day. . .

A New Cupcakery Has Come To Town!

There's a new cupcakery in town - have you checked them out?

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Gigi's is a great new cupcake shop - and they've recently come to Indianapolis!

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I originally fell in love with them on a business trip to Nashville . . . so I was thrilled when I saw a new 'Gigi's Cupcakes' pop up in Indianapolis!
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With flavors like Grasshopper, Chocolate Salted Carmel, Wedding Cake and my favorite, Red Velvet. . . who can resist?

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If you like beautiful cupcakes - Gigi's is your place! Gigi started her cupcakery after beginning her own cleaning business at the age of 15. She owned and ran her own business for over 15 years. It wasn't until she made some cupcakes for one of her clients that her talent as a baker was recognized, and at that point she was encouraged to open her own cupcake bakery in Nashville, TN. Gigi is a true entrepreneur, someone who believes in using her god-given talents and a person who does not want to work for anyone else!

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Make sure to visit Gigi's soon and Check them out!!

To.Die.For - Grilled Beets with Peaches, Rosemary and Feta

Hello friends! Long time, no speak! I'm back today and here to share a delicious recipe with you all!

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In our CSA box this year we've been enjoying a delightful assortment of fresh vegetables every single week (courtesy of Seldom Seen Farms). The great thing about a CSA is that it forces you to try new items and experiment with them a bit. One of the items that I have fallen desperately in love with this season, are the beets. Who would have thought. . . I've always appreciated the bright magenta pigment, but never actually thought I'd enjoy their taste. . . I was wrong folks, dreadfully, wrong.

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I'm sort of obsessed with beets now. So below, you'll find a delicious recipe for roasted, grilled beets with fresh peach, feta and rosemary. OMG. To. Die. For.

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To.Die.For. Beet, Peach, Rosemary & Feta Side Dish Recipe:
Ingredients:
-Bunch of Beets (3- 4 beets for two people, depending on size of beets)

-1 Ripe Peach

-Fresh Rosemary

-Feta Cheese

-Olive Oil

-Sea Salt

-Ground Pepper

-Lemon juice

-Honey
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Directions:

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Clean the beets, by brushing under cold water. Slice beets, the thinner the better. Lay out aluminum foil, drizzle with olive oil. Place beets on oiled aluminum foil. Lightly drizzle beets on foil with olive oil. Sprinkle with sea salt, rosemary and pepper. Fold aluminum foil packet so that all it is closed into pouch. Place on medium-high heat on hot grill, for 25-30 minutes. Every 10 minutes shuffle around beets in aluminum foil packet, so they do not stick to the bottom of the packet. Beets should be soft when ready to be taken off of grill.

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Mix small amount of lemon juice and honey, stir lightly. Dice small peach. Mix lemon juice mixture into diced peach.

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Place beets on plate, spoon diced peaches onto beets, sprinkle feta cheese (to your desired liking) over beets and peaches. Serve immediately.

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Watch your spouse, significant other, or guests enjoy this delicious and easy dish! (As you can see - I served it with grilled chicken, corn on the cob and a glass of white wine - hello, yumm!)

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Enjoy. . . .