Leave me a comment if you want any of these and i will send them to you with one stipulation: That you continue to pass them along to someone else when you are finished.
The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova is still up for grabs.
Jemima J by Jane Green
A Girl Named Zippy by Haven Kimmel.
Clicking on the title will take you to the amazon.com write up of each book.
Friday, August 15, 2008
Another Thursday Night...
We went to a great restaurant last night, Antigua. Immediately upon entering the doors, we both looked at each other and exclaimed, "It smells like Costa Rica in here!". So in addition to the great food and great service, we had an unexpected romantic date as we recalled things from our honeymoon (in Costa Rica).
Then it was back to viewing the Olympics...and more crafting. I made a sleep mask to coordinate with the lounge pants I made earlier this week. It was actually really comfy. I don't know anyone who uses a sleep mask, but its intended recipient will be on some long flights pretty soon and I figure it may be of use. The pattern and directions were also in Amy Butler's In Stitches, which I am finding is really great for beginning projects because the patterns are included with the book and the directions and figures are very thorough.
Mask & Pants:
Giving it a try:
We are very excited as we are FINALLY using the rest of our economic stimulus check to purchase a computer tonight! We have been using my computer purchased my senior year of college, making it slightly outdated ;). WOOHOO!
Then it was back to viewing the Olympics...and more crafting. I made a sleep mask to coordinate with the lounge pants I made earlier this week. It was actually really comfy. I don't know anyone who uses a sleep mask, but its intended recipient will be on some long flights pretty soon and I figure it may be of use. The pattern and directions were also in Amy Butler's In Stitches, which I am finding is really great for beginning projects because the patterns are included with the book and the directions and figures are very thorough.
Mask & Pants:
Giving it a try:
We are very excited as we are FINALLY using the rest of our economic stimulus check to purchase a computer tonight! We have been using my computer purchased my senior year of college, making it slightly outdated ;). WOOHOO!
Thursday, August 14, 2008
Recipe Action
We made this for dinner a few weeks ago and it was pretty tasty:
Mediterranean-Style Pot Roast
1 2-3 lb. boneless beef chuch pot roast
1 TB Cooking oil
1 medium onion, sliced
1 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes with basil, oregano and garlic, undrained
1/4 cup sliced pitted ripe olives (we used kalamata olives)
1 TB Worchestershire sauce
2 tsp dried herbs de Provence, crushed
1 tsp coarsely ground black pepper
1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese
Trim fat from meat, if necessary cut meat to fit into your slow cooker. In a large skillet brown meat on all sides in oil. Drain fat and put in slow cooker. Place all other ingredients except for the feta cheese on top of the meat in the slow cooker. Cover and cook on low-heat setting for 8-10 hours or on high-heat setting for 4-5 hours.
Serve with rice or noodles and top with feta cheese.
Source: Better Homes & Gardens Cookbook
We also made breakfast for a bunch of friends last weekend and both of these received rave reviews:
Brunch Casserole aka Bacon Pie
1 bag of frozen hashbrowns (shredded)
1/4 cup chopped onions
salt & pepper
2/3 cup butter
mix hashbrowns, onions, salt & pepper and press into a 9x13 pan. melt butter and pour on top. bake at 425 degrees for 30 minutes.
12 eggs
1 1/4 cups half & half
2 cups shredded swiss cheese
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
1 cup bacon, ham or sausage
any other ingredients you like - green pepper, mushrooms, etc
mix all of the above and pour on top of the hashbrowns when they are done. bake entire thing for 35-40 minutes at 350 degrees
Source: My mom
Baked French Toast
French toast ingredients:
1 loaf of French bread (13-16 oz)
8 eggs
2 cups half & half
1 cup milk
2 TB sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
Praline topping ingredients:
2 sticks of room temperature butter
1 cup light brown sugar
1 cup chopped pecans
2 TB light corn syrup
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
Slice bread into 1 inch thick slices. Arrange in buttered 9x13 pan in 2 rows, with the slices overlapping. You can also put extra bread in the middle of the two rows - it turns out better if you can cram as much bread into the pan as possible. If the bread is fresh, put pan into an oven (about 425 degrees) to dry out the bread slightly as it turns out better with drier bread. In a large bowl, combine remaining french toast ingredients and beat with a whisk or beater until blended but not too bubbly. Pour mixture over bread slices, making sure all are covered evenly with the mixture. I also like to let them soak and then turn the bread over after a few minutes to make sure the slices are covered with the mixture. Spoon mixture in between slices. Cover with foil and refrigerate overnight.
The next day, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix all of the praline topping ingredients in a bowl and spread over the bread before baking for 40 minutes until puffed and lightly golden.
Source: Paula Deen on Foodnetwork.com
Mediterranean-Style Pot Roast
1 2-3 lb. boneless beef chuch pot roast
1 TB Cooking oil
1 medium onion, sliced
1 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes with basil, oregano and garlic, undrained
1/4 cup sliced pitted ripe olives (we used kalamata olives)
1 TB Worchestershire sauce
2 tsp dried herbs de Provence, crushed
1 tsp coarsely ground black pepper
1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese
Trim fat from meat, if necessary cut meat to fit into your slow cooker. In a large skillet brown meat on all sides in oil. Drain fat and put in slow cooker. Place all other ingredients except for the feta cheese on top of the meat in the slow cooker. Cover and cook on low-heat setting for 8-10 hours or on high-heat setting for 4-5 hours.
Serve with rice or noodles and top with feta cheese.
Source: Better Homes & Gardens Cookbook
We also made breakfast for a bunch of friends last weekend and both of these received rave reviews:
Brunch Casserole aka Bacon Pie
1 bag of frozen hashbrowns (shredded)
1/4 cup chopped onions
salt & pepper
2/3 cup butter
mix hashbrowns, onions, salt & pepper and press into a 9x13 pan. melt butter and pour on top. bake at 425 degrees for 30 minutes.
12 eggs
1 1/4 cups half & half
2 cups shredded swiss cheese
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
1 cup bacon, ham or sausage
any other ingredients you like - green pepper, mushrooms, etc
mix all of the above and pour on top of the hashbrowns when they are done. bake entire thing for 35-40 minutes at 350 degrees
Source: My mom
Baked French Toast
French toast ingredients:
1 loaf of French bread (13-16 oz)
8 eggs
2 cups half & half
1 cup milk
2 TB sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
Praline topping ingredients:
2 sticks of room temperature butter
1 cup light brown sugar
1 cup chopped pecans
2 TB light corn syrup
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
Slice bread into 1 inch thick slices. Arrange in buttered 9x13 pan in 2 rows, with the slices overlapping. You can also put extra bread in the middle of the two rows - it turns out better if you can cram as much bread into the pan as possible. If the bread is fresh, put pan into an oven (about 425 degrees) to dry out the bread slightly as it turns out better with drier bread. In a large bowl, combine remaining french toast ingredients and beat with a whisk or beater until blended but not too bubbly. Pour mixture over bread slices, making sure all are covered evenly with the mixture. I also like to let them soak and then turn the bread over after a few minutes to make sure the slices are covered with the mixture. Spoon mixture in between slices. Cover with foil and refrigerate overnight.
The next day, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix all of the praline topping ingredients in a bowl and spread over the bread before baking for 40 minutes until puffed and lightly golden.
Source: Paula Deen on Foodnetwork.com
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
The Latest and Greatest in Crafting
Here are the before and after pictures of the vent covers in our living room that Nate replaced a few nights ago.
OLD
NEW
We realized last night that we are as far as we can go with our in progress kitchen until the new cabinet is made for the trash. So, I dug out the sewing machine to clear a few projects out of that queue!
This project has been a long time coming. My mom took my sister and I to California several years ago and I found this fabric in the fashion district. It reminded me of "old Hollywood" and I thought it would make a cool robe. So I bought it for my mom or sister to make me the robe. Fast forward a few years and I still had the fabric, but no robe. My mom gave me an "easy-sew" pattern. While I didn't really think it was 'easy', the robe is now finished, with a few noticeable mistakes.
Then I got down to making Amy Butler's wide-leg pajama pants that are featured in her book, In Stitches. The patterns and directions in this book are very easy to use. Here are my finished pants:
I will be making the sleeping mask that is also in the book in the same fabric as the drawstring for a cute gift for a certain someone that I don't think reads this blog, but you can never be too careful!
OLD
NEW
We realized last night that we are as far as we can go with our in progress kitchen until the new cabinet is made for the trash. So, I dug out the sewing machine to clear a few projects out of that queue!
This project has been a long time coming. My mom took my sister and I to California several years ago and I found this fabric in the fashion district. It reminded me of "old Hollywood" and I thought it would make a cool robe. So I bought it for my mom or sister to make me the robe. Fast forward a few years and I still had the fabric, but no robe. My mom gave me an "easy-sew" pattern. While I didn't really think it was 'easy', the robe is now finished, with a few noticeable mistakes.
Then I got down to making Amy Butler's wide-leg pajama pants that are featured in her book, In Stitches. The patterns and directions in this book are very easy to use. Here are my finished pants:
I will be making the sleeping mask that is also in the book in the same fabric as the drawstring for a cute gift for a certain someone that I don't think reads this blog, but you can never be too careful!
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Find your home's "walk score"
Enter your address into this website and it will map out the mileage to the nearest grocery stores, bars, coffee shops, restaurants, etc. The grocery store is a lot closer to us than I would have thought, but we still only score a 37 out of 100 making us 'car-dependent'.
Monday, August 11, 2008
Weekend shopping
What a fantastic weekend we had. Good times with friends, catching some rays, a great long run, Olympics watching, and of course, some home repair. Nate changed the heating vent covers in the living room and they look fantastic. Unfortunately, I did not take a picture of them, but they are similar to the one in the Dining Room.
We also went shopping for light fixtures for the kitchen. Our current light fixtures are in the middle of the kitchen and over the sink. We are toying with the idea of putting some sort of pendant fixture where there cabinets used to be. I don't know if track lighting (see below) or single pendants would be better.
I really like this fixture to replace the one in the middle of the kitchen:
And we also would have a small pendant to put up over the sink as the current light fixture, which we put in last fall, doesn't really fit the space. We did not make any purchases yet, mainly because there are not too many options that we are liking and I am a little nervous that it will be light fixture overload in the kitchen since it is such a small space.
Photos from Pottery Barn
We also went shopping for light fixtures for the kitchen. Our current light fixtures are in the middle of the kitchen and over the sink. We are toying with the idea of putting some sort of pendant fixture where there cabinets used to be. I don't know if track lighting (see below) or single pendants would be better.
I really like this fixture to replace the one in the middle of the kitchen:
And we also would have a small pendant to put up over the sink as the current light fixture, which we put in last fall, doesn't really fit the space. We did not make any purchases yet, mainly because there are not too many options that we are liking and I am a little nervous that it will be light fixture overload in the kitchen since it is such a small space.
Photos from Pottery Barn
Find Your Style
Find your decorating style with this fun quiz. Mine turned out to be "super-cool country" - "minimalism and cottage-style are right for you". Not so sure about the minimalism piece - as that is something I don't consider myself, although i would like to be more minimalist :) However, the cottage-style was right on.
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