33 Shades of Green

Tasty Tuesdays: Lemon, Parsley, and Parmesan Pasta

2012-02-07T08:00:00.001-05:00

Welcome to Tasty Tuesdays!

This may be the easiest pasta recipe I have ever made. And, chances are, you already have most of the ingredients needed to make it. Basically, the recipe makes a pesto using flat leaf parsley instead of basil.

{ recipe from the January 2012 issue of Martha Sterwart Living. See it here }

Ingredients:

- 2 cups flat-leaf parsley leaves, packed

- 2 garlic cloves

- 1/4 teaspoon red-pepper flakes

- 1/2 teaspoon lemon zest, plus more for garnish

- 1 teaspoon coarse salt

- 3/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

- 1 pound fusilli or other short, twisted pasta, such as gemelli

- 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1. Make the pesto: In a food processor {or blender}, pulse parsley, garlic, red-pepper flakes, lemon zest, and 1 teaspoon salt until coarsely chopped. With machine running, add oil in a slow, steady stream, processing until blended.

2. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Cook pasta until al dente. Drain, reserving 1/4 cup pasta water.

3. Toss pasta with pesto and Parmesan, then with reserved pasta water. Grate more lemon zest over each serving, and season with pepper. Garnish with lemon slice and parsley leaves, if desired.

What did you cook this week?

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Valentine's Day Ideas

2012-02-03T08:00:00.001-05:00

Can you believe it's February? I can't. January just flew by. I thought I would share a few Valentine's Day idea's.

I made this wreath last year. It took me a looong time but it was a fun project and I really like the end result.

{ Click right here for the original post and how-to }

This paper heart project is easy and fun.

I also made cards using the same technique.

{ See the original post and instructions right here }

A neck pillow would be a great Valentine's day gift for your mom, sister, or friends.

They are really easy to sew and make the perfect beginner project!

{ click here to see the original post and instructions }

If all else fails, just make your Valentine a batch of these Reese's Chewy Chocolate Cookies. Trust me - they will be happy you did!

{ For the recipe click right here }

Tasty Tuesdays: Cheesy Vegetable Soup

2012-01-31T08:00:00.001-05:00

Welcome to Tasty Tuesdays!

I made this delicious soup last weekend. What a great lunch for a cold winter day. It was easy to make and is loaded with vegetables.

{ Original recipe from the Jan/Feb issue of Cooking Light. I did adapt the recipe to include carrots and broccoli }

Ingredients:

- 1 tablespoon butter

- 1 cup chopped onion

- 3 tablespoons flour

- 3 cups chopped redskin potatoes

- 2 medium carrots, sliced

- 1-1/2 cups broccoli florets

- 1-1/4 cups low fat or skim milk

- 1 cup chicken broth or stock

- 1/2 cup water

- 1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese { I used a combo of sharp cheddar & gruyere }

- salt & pepper to taste

- green onion, chopped { optional }

Directions:

Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onion to pan; sauté 5 minutes or until onion is tender. Sprinkle with flour; cook 1 minute, stirring constantly. Add potato, carrots, broccoli, milk, broth, and water to pan; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 10 minutes or until vegetables are tender. Add cheese and salt and pepper to taste; cook 2 minutes or until cheese melts, stirring frequently. Top each serving evenly with 1 1/2 teaspoons chopped green onions, if desired.

Serve up and enjoy! I thought the soup was especially good with a slice of delicious artisan bread.

What did you cook this week?

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Wood Shim Sunburst Mirror

2012-01-29T19:34:00.003-05:00

Happy Sunday guys. Did you think I was ever going to post anything other than Tasty Tuesdays? I wasn't so sure. New job = very little time for blogging & blog reading...it's definitely taking some getting used to!

I made a wood shim sunburst mirror for my mom for Christmas. I may be the last person in blogland to make a sunburst mirror, but I'm definitely a big fan of the sunburst. I have a one hanging over my bed that I bought when I moved six years ago. I remember it was one of the first accessories I bought. Also, I recently was going through my portfolio from college, and in my very first studio class I used a sunburst mirror! I was 18 years old and it was 1995. We had to chose a quote for the project and design a room around it. The quote I chose was "Keep your face to the sunshine and you can not see the shadows" from Helen Keller. Hence - the sunburst mirror! Anyway, my point is - I don't think sunburst mirrors are a trend - I think they are here to stay!

I pinned a sunburst mirror from Shelley of Crazy Wonderful a while ago and kept looking at it knowing I wanted to use her project as inspiration. There are a lot of DIY sunburst mirrors out there, but in my opinion, Shelley's is definitely the best! Her project and idea was the start and inspiration for mine. Check out Shelly's mirror right here.

I started with 8 packages of 15" long shims and a few bottles of Gorilla Glue. I ended up only needing 6-1/2 packages of shims.

I glued the shims together in groups of 5 and 7.

Then I started laying out the pieces to determine the pattern and placement.

After laying them out, I realized that the pattern the shims were creating was going to be too big. Talk about frustrated! I ended up having to saw off a couple of inches from each grouping. Ugh. But, it went quicker than I thought - but my arm was a little sore!

Here's what I came up with:

Next, each piece was primed with Zinsser.

And then, each piece was painted with Valspar's Metal & Patina Glaze in Bronze. I never even knew this stuff existed until I read about it in Shelley's post.

Each piece got two coats of the glaze.

Then I cut a piece of plywood to be just about the same size as the mirror I bought. I can't remember, but I think the diameter of the mirror is 18". I drew two center lines on the plywood to help with the laying out the shim pieces.

Next up, gluing - this part took lots and lots of Gorilla Glue.

No pictures, but after all the pieces were down and glued, I put another board on top and then a few bricks and let it dry overnight. The next day I used more wood glue to attach the mirror. The mirror I bought was white, so I primed and painted it as well before I glued it down.

Here is the finished product. I'm really happy with how it turned out and more importantly, my mom loves it!

Have a great week!

I've linked this project up to Remodelaholic Friday

Tasty Tuesdays: Farro with Butternut Squash & Gruyere

2012-01-24T08:00:00.001-05:00

Welcome to Tasty Tuesdays!

Have you ever cooked with farro before? I hadn't, and I was really intrigued with this recipe from the January 2012 issue of Cooking Light. { click here for the original recipe }

This recipe is like a risotto, except you use farro in place of the traditional arborio rice.

Ingredients:

- 1 tablespoon olive oil

- 1 1/2 cups thinly sliced leek (about 1 large)

- 1 cup uncooked farro

- 1 garlic clove, minced

- 1/2 cup white wine

- 4 cups water, divided

- 4 cups (1/2-inch) cubed peeled butternut squash

- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh sage

- 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt

- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

- 2 ounces Gruyere cheese, grated (about 1/2 cup packed)

- 1/2 cup chopped walnuts, toasted

1. Heat a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add oil to pan; swirl to coat. Add leek; sauté 5 minutes or until tender, stirring frequently.

2. Add farro and garlic; cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly.

3. Stir in wine; cook 1 minute or until wine evaporates. Add 1 cup water; cook 8 minutes or until liquid is nearly absorbed, stirring frequently.

4. Add 2 more cups water, 1 cup at a time, stirring until each portion is absorbed before adding the next (about 30 minutes total). Stir in remaining 1 cup water, squash, sage, salt, and pepper. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 30 minutes or until squash is just tender, stirring occasionally. Stir in cheese; sprinkle with nuts.

Serve immediately.

I really enjoyed this meal - it was really hearty and made the perfect winter dinner.

What did you cook this week?

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Tasty Tuesdays: Celebrating One Year!

2012-01-17T07:55:00.000-05:00

As I was thinking about Tasty Tuesday this week, I realized that we have reached the one year anniversary of it being here @ 33 Shades of Green! Thanks to all of you who come here each week to link up your wonderful recipes and those of you who stop by just to take a look at all the recipes. And of course, thanks to Alicia of Project Alicia for passing along Tasty Tuesdays to me.

I thought it might be fun to take a look back at some of the recipes I've posted over the past year.

{ Sweet Potato and Red Pepper Pasta }

I loved this pasta....I really need to make it again!

{ Beef, Cheddar, and Potato Pie }

Another favorite that I really want to make in the next couple of weeks. A perfect winter meal.

{ Roasted Beet Salad }

I've been making this a lot lately....I never get sick of it.

{ Pizza Margherita }

How can you go wrong with this pizza? You can't! It's delicious and I loved the tomato sauce.

{ Spring Green Risotto }

Amazing risotto.

{ Shrimp Pad Thai }

{ Blueberry Crumb Bars }

These dessert bars taste like Summer. I'm actually still enjoying these. I wrapped individual squares in wax paper and froze them in a plastic freezer bag. They still taste great even after being in the freezer. When I want one, I just pull it out and let is defrost on the counter.

{ Chocolate Cream Cheese Bars }

{ Banana Cream Pie }

Those are just a few of my favorites. And now, I am really hungry!

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Paper Craft: Home is Where the Heart Is

2012-01-12T08:00:00.001-05:00

I made this easy project for my sister for her birthday. Even though she lives in Chicago, she is definitely a Michigan girl at heart!

First, I used Google to search for a Michigan image. I searched for "Michigan map outline" and then clicked on 'images" and had lots of options to choose from. After I found an image I liked, I printed out a few different sizes until I found one that worked. Once I had the right size, I printed out the image on card stock.

Then, I cut out the image, careful to cut out all of the black lines..

I used tape adhesive to attach my image to a piece of card stock.

Then I cut out a heart and attached.

I made this little banner on my computer:

I attached the banner to the mat and framed it up. Pretty easy project, right?

My sister loved it. In fact, it may have even brought a tear to her eye.

In completely unrelated news, I have one week at my new job under my belt! So far, it's really been great. Here is a portion of our interiors library:

I hope you are having a great week!

Tasty Tuesdays: Spaghetti Carbonara

2012-01-10T08:00:00.001-05:00

Welcome to Tasty Tuesdays!

Spaghetti Carbonara is one of the easiest pasta recipes I know. Chances are, you already have everything you need to make it. Don't let the simple ingredients fool you though - it's an amazing dish!

Ingredients:

- 1 tablespoon olive oil

- 4 ounces bacon or pancetta, chopped

- 2 eggs

- 1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese, plus more for garnish

- 1 cup fresh or frozen green peas

- 1 pound spaghetti or linguine

- salt and pepper to taste

1. Combine olive oil and bacon in a medium skillet over medium heat. Cook, stirring occasionally until bacon is cooked.

2. Meanwhile, bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add pasta to cook when water starts to boil. Also, warm a large bowl by filling it with hot water. Set aside.

3. When the pasta is almost done cooking, add peas and cook for a few minutes more until the peas are done. Meanwhile, beat the eggs and Parmesan together in warmed bowl. When pasta & peas are done, drain and immediately toss with the egg and Parmesan mixture. Add the bacon and any remaining fat in the skillet. Add lots of pepper and salt to taste. Serve immediately, garnishing with additional Parmesan if desired.

{ recipe adapted from one of my favorite cookbooks, How to Cook Everything by Mark Bittman. }

Buon Appetito!

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Christmas Wrappings 2011

2012-01-08T19:00:00.001-05:00

OK, so I know Christmas is over and it's almost the middle of January, but I really wanted to post how I wrapped my presents this year.

Every year I pick a theme for my wrappings and go from there. This year it was red, brown, and white.

I made the gift tag above by cutting a rectangle out of card stock, cutting the top corners on an angle, punched a hole at the top and added the white hole protector sticker (can't remember what those are called for sure; you find them in the office supply section), adding a small strip of decorative scrapbook paper at the bottom, and then adding a letter sticker.

I also really like buying chipboard letters and adding decorative scrapbook paper.

{ the burlap ribbon I used got all over the place - see it on the present above? }

I found a really pretty piece of scrapbook paper with a poinsettia pattern all over it. I cut the poinsettias out and then added glitter.

I like to dress up plain, brown paper lunch bags.

Key rings are a supply I always have on hand for wrapping. Just add a sticker or write out something and you are good to go.

No more Christmas until next winter, I promise!

Tasty Tuesdays: Cranberry Ginger Fizz Cocktail

2012-01-03T08:00:00.001-05:00

Welcome to Tasty Tuesdays & Happy New Year!

I had a great Christmas and New Years and spent a lot of time with family. I didn't do too much cooking so I'm going to share this cocktail my sister and I made for our New Year's Eve party. I have the recipe pinned on one of my Pinterest boards and it is originally from Creative Culinary. We modified it and used vodka instead of gin and tried to simplify the directions.

{ makes approximately 6 drinks }

Ingredients:

- 3/4 cup sugar

- 3/4 cup water

- 1 cup fresh cranberries

- 1 lemon, sliced

- 1/2 orange, sliced

- 2 cups vodka

- Ginger ale

- Mint sprigs, for garnish

- Extra cranberries, for garnish

1. Bring sugar and water to a boil in a medium saucepan and stir until sugar is dissolved.

2. Add the cranberries and simmer for 2-3 minutes until cranberries burst. Remove from heat and let cool.

3. Add lemon and orange slices. Use a wood spoon or muddler to mash the fruit.

4. Stir in vodka and let steep for at least 5 minutes.

5. Strain liquid into pitcher.

6. Fill glasses with small amount of ice. Add ginger ale to each glass. A generous splash will do but you can vary depending on taste.

7. Fill a cocktail shaker with ice and add portion of cranberry vodka mixture. Shake and pour into glasses. Repeat until cranberry vodka mixture is used up.

Enjoy!

Now it's your turn - what did you cook this week?

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Hello 2012.

2012-01-02T20:10:00.000-05:00

Happy New Year!

I hope your new year is off to a great start! This year, the new year for me means a new job. Tomorrow is my first day. I am really excited but also a little nervous. I had been at my old job for over 12 years, so it's going to be quite a change for me! I'll be doing the same thing - working as an Interior Designer for an architectural firm. I am very excited about all the new possibilities and the fresh start that a new job brings.

I also wanted to let you know how much your kind words, comments, and emails mean to me. I don't always get the chance to say it, but your comments really do make my day. Thanks for following along here with me!

Do you have any big changes in store for 2012?

Here's to a great 2012!

Made in America Christmas

2011-12-22T18:44:00.000-05:00

Hi guys - welcome to the fourth and final installment of the Made in America Christmas Series. I've really enjoyed searching out US manufactured products. I think I will continue to periodically post about products made in the USA that I really like.

{ You can see my previous posts here: week 1, week 2, week 3 }

Also, head on over to my sister's blog, A Little Ditty to see her Made in America Christmas post this week.

A few weeks ago I came across a company called Hickoree's Hard Goods. They offer lots of made in the USA products. Click here to see all their USA products.

I would love to have Santa bring me this Heritage Leather Co. Bag. I love the simplicity of it.

Also from Hickoree's, this awesome Collectors Set of Crayola Crayons.

The set includes a tin with 64 crayons and 8 retired colors. Fun!

I know Crayolas are for kids, but I wouldn't mind these for myself!

Did you know that the Slinky is still made in the USA? Yay Slinky! Hickoree's offers this Collectors Edition which comes in packaging designed in the 1940s. Pretty cool.

If you want to check out all the products Hickoree's offers from the USA, go right here.

Next up, Anchor Hocking. You've probably heard me talk about them before on the blog - they are a favorite of mine for their simple and functional glassware. Most of their products are made in the USA. I also really like that Anchor Hocking products are inexpensive, and readily available. Target has a great selection.

Here are just a few of my favorites...

I have a few of these Heritage Hill Jars in my craft room. The one gallon size is only $11.99. You can use these jars in just about any room of your house.

Another favorite, the Apothecary Jars. The medium size is only $4.99!

OK, this 44 oz. water pitcher is $5.99! It would make a pretty vase too, don't you think?

I think every kitchen could use a set of these glass mixing bowls. Another great value at $19.99.

Right now you can save 30% of your order at the Anchor Hocking Online Store by entering "endofyear" in your shopping cart.

Stop by A Little Ditty to see my sister's made in the USA pick this week. She promises that she is participating this week - last week she had to skip because she had a crazy week at work!

Have a wonderful Christmas!

Handemade Holidays: Moravian Star Tutorial

2011-12-21T08:00:00.001-05:00

After I posted my Christmas tree last week, I had a few requests for instructions on how to make the paper star. I think it might be hard to write out, but here it goes...

Materials:

- 4 strips of paper; 3/4" wide by at least 17" long

- thread or string to hang

You will find large sheets of paper in an art supply store or the art section at Michael's or Hobby Lobby. I like to use a medium weight paper - not quite card stock but not regular copy paper.

I use a self-healing mat, straightedge, and rotary cutter to cut the strips of paper.

1. Cut both ends of paper strips like those in photo below.

2. Fold each strip, not quite in half, but almost. See photo below.

3. Assemble strips in basket-weave pattern as shown in photo.

4. Here's another photo from a different view. See how the strips are entwined?

5. Pull tight so strips of paper look like this:

6. We are going to make a second basket-weave with our paper strips. Take one of the paper strips at top and fold over.

So that your paper looks like this:

7. Now take one strip on the left and fold over to the right. Like this:

8. Repeat with the strip on the bottom, and then the last one on the right. For the last strip we need to finish off the basket-weave. Do this by inserting it under the other strips. See photo below:

9. So now, your paper strips look like this:

10. Now we are going to start making the points of the stars. Fold strip on upper right hand corner to look like photo below:

11. Now fold that strip straight down to look like this:

12. Fold the entire strip over to the left. Like this:

13. Now fold strip under. See photo below:

14. Now your paper strips will look like this:

15. Turn your paper strips counter-clockwise and repeat:

16. Repeat with remaining two sides and your paper strips should look like this:

17. Turn over and repeat with four remaining strips on back side.

18. Fold strips so they look like those in photos below:

19. Now we are going to fold the 3D points of the star. I think this part is the most difficult to explain - I hope the photos will help make sense of it!

Hold paper in your hand and fold strip like shown in photo below:

20. Twist paper strip until it looks like photo below and insert under fold on the left.

21. Use your thumb to help form the point while pulling strip on left hand side. Pull tight, but not too tight until point is formed correctly. This takes some practice!

22. Turn star clockwise and repeat.

23. Repeat until all four points are complete.

24. Turn over and repeat until the other four points are created. The folding is done - your star should look like this:

{ Yikes, don't mind my dry, ugly hands. I had worked on a little project involving a saw and sandpaper earlier in the day, so that's my excuse! }

25. Now you need to trim the ends of the paper strips. carefully pull the strips tight and trim, careful not to cut your any folds on the star.

Your star is finished! Use a needle and thread to attach a loop for hanging.

I made this green star a few years ago by using wrapping paper. The paper was green on one side but white on the other so I use spray adhesive to adhere two two sheets of paper and then cut into strips.

Good luck - I really hope this tutorial makes sense!

Tasty Tuesdays: Artisan Bread

2011-12-20T08:00:00.000-05:00

Welcome to Tasty Tuesdays!

{ Just a reminder, there will not be a Tasty Tuesday link up next week. I will be back and ready for you to link up on Tuesday, January 3rd. }

Last week at the library I came across the book Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day. I had heard about the book a long time ago and kept meaning to look for it.

I tried out the basic recipe this weekend and was pleasantly surprised at how easy it was and how delicious the bread is.

The beauty of this method is that one batch of dough makes enough for four small loaves of bread, and the dough will last in the refrigerator for up to two weeks.

Ingredients:

- 3 cups lukewarm water

- 1-1/2 tablespoons granulated yeast (the authors say you can use rapid rise yeast or regular

- 1-1/2 tablespoons kosher or other course salt

- 6-1/2 cups unsifted, unbleached, all-purpose white flour (measure with the scoop-and-sweep method)

- cornmeal for pizza peal

Equipment & Notes:

- plastic container for dough storage, at least 5 quarts. I used a large, clean, Rubbermaid container. If I continue to make bread this way, I would like to buy this from King Arthur Flour. Whatever container you decide to use, the cover should NOT be airtight. You want the gases to be able to escape from the container. Just leave the cover open slightly.

- Pizza peel or metal cookie sheet

- Metal baking container - a 9x13 metal brownie pan works well. This is to use in the oven. You will add water to this container when you bake the bread to create steam.

- You can mix the dough by hand in the container you plan to store it in or in a heavy duty stand mixer with a dough hook attached.

- Scoop-and-sweep method: For measuring flour. Scoop flour out of container with 1 cup measuring cup and level with knife. DO NOT pack flour into cup.

- Dough can be stored in the refrigerator for up to two weeks.

- If you don't have a 1/2 tablespoon measuring spoon, just measure out 1-1/2 teaspoons.

- The book authors have put together a great video showing the entire process. Find it right here on their Amazon page. It is definitely worth watching - makes the process seem very easy.

Directions:

1. Warm water slightly. Warm water from the tap is just fine. Water should not be hot, just warm and slightly above body temperature. The authors of the book say that you can also use cold water to achieve the same results. Pour water into stand mixer bowl, or, if you are mixing by hand, your plastic storage container.

2. Add yeast and salt to the water. You can stir, but do not worry about getting all the yeast to dissolve.

3. Measure flour out into another mixing bowl, and then add it all at once to water, salt, and yeast.

4. Mix in the flour (either by and or with dough hook on stand mixer. No kneading is necessary. Only mix until mixture becomes uniform, without any dry patches. With a dough hook this will not take long. If using a stand mixer, transfre now to storage container.

5. Allow dough to rise. Cover with lid (not airtight) and allow mixture to rise at room temperature for 2 hours. Dough can be left out at room temperature for as long as five hours with out harming the end result.

6. Refrigerate. For the first loaf, dough should refrigerator for at least two hours.

My dough looked like this when I took it out of the refrigerator before baking the first time:

To Bake:

1. Remove dough container from refrigerator. Sprinkle flour over part of dough that you plan on using. Grab a chunk of dough and pull up. Cut off, either with a pair of kitchen shears, or serrated knife, a grapefruit size portion.

2. Dust with flour (but do not incorporate) and form ball of dough into a round circle. Fold over edges of dough to the bottom side. Dust pizza peel or metal baking sheet with cornmeal and place dough on it. The authors say that this whole step should only take 30 - 60 seconds. You do not need to work with the dough a lot. Let dough rise for 40 minutes at room temperature. It does not need to be covered.

3. Twenty minutes before baking, preheat the oven to 450 degrees, with a baking stone (pizza stone) placed on the middle rack. Also, place an empty metal baking container on shelf below stone.

4. When 40 minutes is up, dust dough with flour and slash with a serrated bread knife. Either a criss-cross pattern, or scallop pattern.

5. Transfer dough to pizza stone. Open oven and quickly jerk your wrist to transfer dough from pizza peel on to pizza stone. Close oven door. Run tap until water is hot and measure out one cup of water. Open oven door again and pour water into metal baking dish. Quickly close oven door to trap steam.

6. Bake bread for 30 minutes, or until the crust is nicely brown and firm. Remove from oven and cool immediately on wire cooling rack.

This bread was so good! I am really looking forward to making lots more bread like this. And I love knowing that I have 3 more loaves just waiting to be baked right now. I am planning on purchasing the book. There are so many more recipes in the book - everything from pastries to pizzas to flat breads to peasant loaves. I think this would be a great last minute gift for any baker on your shopping list!

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Made in America Christmas: Bauer Pottery

2011-12-15T20:53:00.000-05:00

The Christmas Countdown is on! Ten days. Wow. Is it just me, or was this one of the fastest years ever? Honestly, I don't know where the time went.

My sister and I have teamed up for a weekly series every Thursday until Christmas. We are featuring a few of our favorite made in American products.

For today's made in America pick, I am featuring Bauer Pottery.

Here is a little bit about Bauer Pottery { taken from their website }

"Starting in Louisville, Kentucky, and then flourishing in Los Angeles, California, J. A. Bauer Pottery Company created simple, yet beautiful stoneware from the late 1880s to the early 1960s. With lines ranging from redware flowerpots to brilliantly colored dinnerware, Bauer Pottery was a staple in American homes for many decades. Inspired by the weather and lifestyles of Southern California, Bauer Pottery created many different lines for the home and garden. Bauer introduced new, richly colored styles after the Depression which met with overwhelming success. It wasn't long before all the major pottery companies in the United States began to follow with their own interpretations of Bauer's vision. Today, the work of J.A. Bauer has been reintroduced by a ceramics studio in Los Angeles, located just minutes from the original plant. The new Bauer line, Bauer 2000, is being produced using original pieces as models, with an emphasis on items originally manufactured by Bauer in the 1930s and 40s."

Bauer manufactures a few different lines: Bauer 2000 pottery styled after Bauer vintage American pottery, Russel Wright's American Modern® line of dinnerware and gardenware under the Home by SunsetTM banner.

You may have heard of Russell Wright before. He was an iconic American industrial designer who designed several lines of dinnerware. He believed in easy, informal living and influenced the way Americans lived in the mid 20th century.

{ American Modern Creamer }

I love the creamer. My Mom actually has a vintage one. You can often find vintage Russell Wright pieces at antique sales and vintage shops. Click here to see the entire line of Russell Wright's American Pottery line.

{ Bauer Classic Style Mixing Bowls }

I think these nested mixing bowls are beautiful. The bright colors are so fun. They would make a great addition to any kitchen, don't you think?

{ Monterey Pitcher }

Here's the description of the Monterey Pitcher from the website:

"Fifty-four ounces of lemonade, Bloody Marys, water, margaritas, iced tea, Long Island iced tea, orange juice…I could go on all day. Stands seven and a half inches tall."

With a description like that, how can you not love this pitcher! Comes in lots of beautiful colors too.

{ Cake Stand }

The classic lines of the cake stand means it will never go out of style. I love it! It is also available in several more colors.

{ Swirl Pots }

Bauer Pottery & Sunset Magazine teamed up to produce a line of beautiful gardenware. Click here to see the entire Sunset Collection.

{ Biltmore Pot } and { Garden Orbs }

Bauer didn't forget about Fido - they have an entire collection devoted to pets. Check out the food & water bowls here.

Like color? Bauer's 2000 line is offered in the colors shown below. So pretty. Of course, my favorites are Parrot Green, Chartreuse, and Lime Green.

What do you think? Do you like Bauer Pottery? They offer many more beautiful pieces. Head on over to their website to see their entire product line. You can purchase directly from the website or check out this list by state of stores that sell Bauer. If Christmas wasn't so close, I think I would add a few Bauer pottery pieces to my list!

See the other Made in America Christmas posts here and here.

And don't forget to visit A Little Ditty to see my sister's made in America picks this week. I don't think her post will be up until sometime tomorrow.

{ all photos taken from the Bauer Pottery website }

Holiday Decorating 2011

2011-12-14T11:50:00.002-05:00

Are you ready for Christmas? I still can't believe that it is less than two weeks away! Yikes. Shopping is done but I have not started wrapping and there are a few things I'm making that still need to be finished.

My Holiday decorating is finished. I really don't do too much - just the tree and a few other things.

My tree is a 7' Fraser Fir. I am definitely a real tree girl. Artificial trees just aren't for me. We go to a tree farm every year and cut our own trees. It's a fun tradition.

No new ornaments on the tree this year. I've collected these over the last several years.

I didn't really set out to have a theme for my tree, but I do have a lot of acorn, pinecone, and leaf ornaments.

One year I made a whole bunch of these paper stars.

I posted about my Holiday mantel last week. You can see the post right here.

A wicker tray on the coffee table. I love to place fresh greens in vases.

Leftover cedar branches went in a small vase.

Now, if we could just have some snow, it would feel like Christmas! Today it is pouring rain and is going to reach 50. Not typical for the middle of December here in Michigan!

See my 2010 Holiday decorating here

See my 2009 Christmas tree here

I've linked up with The Nester for her Christmas Tour of Homes. Head on over there and check out all the lovely links!

I also linked up with Rene at Cottage & Vine for her Room by Room Christmas Tour.

Tasty Tuesdays: Bacon, Mushroom, & Artichoke Risotto

2011-12-13T08:00:00.001-05:00

Welcome to Tasty Tuesdays!

A few weeks ago I was browsing the cheese case at the store and picked up a block of Taleggio cheese knowing that I was going to make risotto with it. Taleggio is a soft, sharp Italian cheese. I found this recipe from Framed Cooks for risotto with Taleggio and artichokes. I adapted the recipe to make it my own and also added a few other ingredients.

Ingredients:

2 slices thick cut bacon, cooked and chopped

- 1/2 cup onion, diced

- 2 cloves garlic, minced

- 1 cup baby bella mushrooms, chopped

-1 cup artichoke hearts, frozen or canned (if frozen, thaw before use), chopped

- 1 tablespoon olive oil

- 4 cups chicken stock

- 1 cup arborio rice

- 3/4 cup white wine

- 1/2 cup Taleggio cheese, cubed into small pieces

- 1 tablespoon butter

- fresh grated Parmesan, optional

- green onions or chives, optional

1. Heat chicken stock in saucepan over medium heat and keep warm. Meanwhile, In another saucepan heat olive oil. Add onion and garlic and cook for two minutes over medium-high heat.

2. Add mushrooms and cook until mushrooms are soft. Add bacon and stir.

3. Add rice to mixture and saute for two more minutes. Add wine and stir until wine is absorbed.

4. Start adding chicken stock, one ladle at a time. Stir constantly. Wait until each ladle of stock is absorbed before adding the next one. Continue until rice is cooked, about 20-25 minutes.

5. When rice is cooked, add artichoke hearts, cheese, and 1 tablespoon of butter. Keep heat on low and stir until all cheese is melted. Remove from heat and serve immediately.

6. For serving, top with freshly grated Parmesan cheese and chives or green onions, if desired.

I LOVED this risotto. It tasted just like one you would order at a restaurant - I love when that happens! Definitely will be making this one again.

What did you cook this week?

Party Rules:

- Add a link in your post back to this post

- Add the Tasty Tuesdays button to the post you are linking up

{ I will not be posting Tasty Tuesdays on December 27th. It will return on January 3rd }

Honey Vanilla Marshmallows { Free Printable }

2011-12-10T08:30:00.002-05:00

Last year I made honey vanilla marshmallows for Christmas - they were delicious! In fact, I could use a few right now for my hot chocolate. Yum.

I designed the tag to add to the gift bags I packaged up. I came across the tag on my computer this week and decided to share it as a free printable in case you decide to make your own marshmallows.

To print a sheet of tags, click here

To see my post from last year with the recipe, click here

Print out the tags on a 8-1/2" x 11" sheet of white cardstock. Trim along the edges and use a hole punch to punch a hole in each tag. I used a corner trimmer at each corner to make rounded corners. Use ribbon, twine, or string to attach tags to your gift bags.

Have a great weekend!

Made in America Christmas: For the Kids

2011-12-08T13:36:00.002-05:00

Thanks for the comments on last weeks Made in America post. I'm glad there are others who feel the same as I do about supporting American companies when we can!

If you missed last week's post, my sister and I are sharing our favorite made in America products every Thursday until Christmas. Visit A Little Ditty to see my sister's made in America finds.

Also, I received a comment last week from a reader wondering if I knew of any American made Christmas garland. I searched all over the web and can not find anything. Do you guys know of any? My only suggestion would be using fresh greens. I wish I would have been able to find one for you!

................................................................

For today's edition, I have a few fun picks for kids. Wouldn't you rather buy toys made here in the USA than from China? I know I would.

First up, Uncle Goose. Uncle Goose makes the most beautiful, wood block sets.

{ Classic ABC Blocks }

Here are a few of my favorites:

{ Uppercase/Lowercase ABC Blocks }

{ Nursery Rhyme 28 Block Set }

{ Presidential Blocks }

{ Classic ABC Blocks with Pull Wagon }

There are many, many more sets on the Uncle Goose website. For the Michiganders out there - Uncle Goose blocks are made in Grand Rapids!

You will find a store locater on their website or you can buy directly from Uncle Goose online. Anthropologie loves Uncle Goose blocks - they sell them online.

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I am really happy I came across Green Toys. Their toys are adorable and I love them even more knowing they are made in the USA!

Here's a little about Green Toys { taken from their website }:

"We believe the world would be a much better place if everyone said “please” and “thank you", cell phones didn’t ring during movies, and all toys were fun, safe, and made from environmentally friendly materials. Since it’s probably no use holding our breath for those first two, we’re concentrating on the toys.

Green Toys Inc. makes an awesome line of classic children’s toys constructed from recycled plastic and other environmentally friendly materials. This helps reduce fossil fuel use and reduce greenhouse gas emissions, improving the overall health and happiness of the planet."

Click here to read more about Green Toys Green story and their commitment to the environment.

How cute is this pizza set? It is nominated for the 2012 Toy of the Year Award.

I really like the packaging Green Toys uses and the store behind it.

"Green Toys environmental mission even extends to our packaging. We strive to minimize packaging, and all of our boxes use as little material as possible. All Green Toys products are packaged in recycled corrugated boxes with no plastics, cellophane or twist-ties, and are 100% recyclable. So, not only are they earth-friendly and ready for your recycling bin, they are really easy to open for those little fingers just itching to get at the toys!!"

Brilliant!

You can purchase Green Toys directly from their website by clicking here or see their website for a list of retailers.

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I was really happy to learn that about 60% of Little Tykes toys are still made in the US. Yay Little Tykes! They have a section on their website just for their toys made in the USA. Click here to see the list.

One of the toys made in the USA is one I'm sure we are all familiar with. The Cozy Coupe!

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I love these next items. They are from a company called Camden Rose. Here's a little bit about them { taken form the Camden Rose website }

"Camden Rose is a collective voice of designers, artists, teachers, musicians, craftspeople and parents who chose to bring about a better future for our children. We design and manufacture simple, elegant and unique wooden and textile toys. Green natural materials and USA and Fair Trade manufacturing highlight our “leave no footprint” philosophy"

A small portion of their products are made in Peru through Fair Trade and those items are clearly stated on the website.

How adorable is this knit play food?

{ Knitted Corn, Carrot, Tomato & Onion Set }

{ Knitted Strawberries, Grapes & Pear Set }

Camden Rose has many other products, including wooden baby toys, play kitchens, and dolls. You can find where to buy their products here.

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Lastly, here are a few products from American Plastic Toys. They have proudly manufactured plastic toys in the USA since 1962!

Here's a little about them { from their website }:

"American Plastic Toys has proudly manufactured safe toys in United States since 1962. We currently operate a total of three facilities in Michigan and Mississippi. Our product line includes over 125 different items ranging from a simple sand pail to a play kitchen set.

We assemble 100% of the toys in our product line in the United States. Most of the components in our products are molded in our plants or purchased from US companies. Less than four percent of our toy value content is imported from the Far East. The majority of this small percentage consists of sound components and fasteners. Toys with imported components only represent 25% of our entire product line. None of these components are painted."

{ Deluxe Runabout Wagon }

{ Sweet Petite Trike }

{ Turbo Cycle }

Those are my picks this week. Do you have anything you would add to the list? I would love to hear what your favorite made in America products are.

{ Make sure to head over to A Little Ditty to see my sister's picks. }

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On another note, I want to say thanks to Beverly of A Serene Life For Me. This week Beverly freatured me on her blog. Thank you Beverly for your kind words about me & 33 Shades of Green! Beverly has exquisite taste and her blog is full of beautiful things. If you have a moment, head over and visit her!

Holiday Mantel 2011

2011-12-07T07:43:00.003-05:00

I just finished getting my mantel ready for the season. I decided again this year to leave out red in my Christmas decorations and instead go with green, silver, and white with lots of natural touches.

I bought two bunches of cedar branches {unfortunately I don't have any in my yard that I can cut!}. I knew that I wanted to make a few cedar topiaries, similar to the ones I made last year. I thought about making garland for the fireplace, but decided on just draping the branches across the mantel. Pretty easy, right?

The branches already had a natural curve to them so they drape over the mantel nicely.

Here's an overall view of the mantel:

When I decorate for the season, I try to just use the accessories that I already have and make them work for the occasion. I only item I bought for this years mantel were the cedar branches.

I love these glass candle holders. I've had them in my Christmas mantel every year since I bought them. They are from CB2 and were really inexpensive.

I also really like these mercury glass birds. If you've been reading 33 Shades of Green for a while now, you are probably sick of seeing them! They are from Target {a few years ago}.

I placed mercury glass and silver votive holders all over the mantel. I use these all the time too.

Glass canisters are another mantel staple for me - just fill them up with any element of the season and they are good to go!

This is the left side of the mantel:

And this is the right:

I'm definitely enjoying the festive decorations - I hope you are enjoying yours as well!

You can see my past Holiday mantels here:

2010

2009

I shared this post with the Holiday Home Link Party. This week it is all about mantels over at Southern Hospitality. Head on over there to see all the pretty mantels!

I also linked up the the Christmas Cheer Link Party @ Ten June

Beth is also hosting her mantel link party today @ Home Stories A to Z.

Join the fun at all the parties listed above!

Tasty Tuesdays: Bean & Sour Cream Enchiladas with Homemade Sauce

2011-12-06T08:00:00.003-05:00

Welcome to Tasty Tuesdays!

Do you love Mexican food? Other than Italian, it ranks right up there as one of my favorites. This is a recipe my sister and I came up with a long time ago. I switched things up this time by making a homemade enchilada sauce.

{ enchilada sauce recipe adapted from this one }

Ingredients for Sauce:

- 1 cup chicken stock

- 1 tbsp cornstarch

- 6 oz can tomato paste

- 2 tbsp chili powder

- 1 tbsp cumin

- 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper (not pictured)

The sauce so easy to make: Add chicken stock and cornstarch to medium size saucepan. Whisk until combined. Turn heat on to medium. Add tomato sauce and spices. Whisk together until combined. Continue cooking and whisking until sauce reaches desired consistency. If you do not use sauce immediately, it may be stored in the refrigerator for up to a week.

Ingredients for Enchiladas:

- 1 can refried beans { I like the black bean version }

- 1 cup sour cream

- 3/4 cup chopped onion

- 1-1/2 cup shredded cheese. {cheddar or a Mexican bland works well }

- 1/2 packet of taco seasonings

- 8-10 soft tortilla shells { depending on size, the number you need will vary }

- green onion or chives { optional, for garnish }

{ serves 4 }

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. In a mixing bowl mix together beans, sour cream, onion, 1 cup of cheese, and taco seasonings. Stir until well combined.

{ I froze some enchiladas which is why there are only 6 in the photo above }

3. Spread 1/2 cup of enchilada sauce over the bottom of baking dish. Place some of the mixture in each shell. Roll up and place seam side down in baking dish.

4. Spread remaining sauce over enchiladas.

5. Sprinkle remaining cheese over the top. Bake in oven for 25 - 30 minutes or until hot and bubbly.

Fresh out of the oven:

6. Top with sour cream and green onions if you like. Of course, guacamole is also very good!

I sauteed a red pepper and spinach to go on the the side.

Party Rules:

1. Add a link in your post back to this post

2. Add the Tasty Tuesdays button to your post. You can find the button on my sidebar.

Guest Posting Today @ My Favorite Finds

2011-12-05T10:38:00.000-05:00

How is it already Monday again and December 5th? I am in complete denial that Christmas is less than three weeks away. Yikes.

Today I am guest posting over at My Favorite Finds.

Thank you Carrie for having me over for your birthday celebration!

Carrie hosts a link party on Mondays called Must Try Mondays and a party on Wednesdays called Wednesday Pinterest Favorites. Head on over and join in on the fun. Carrie attended college in Michigan, so we both have a love of Michigan!

Thanks again Carrie! You can see my guest post right here.

Handmade Holidays: Fresh Boxwood Topiary Tutorial

2011-12-04T20:00:00.000-05:00

I made a very easy boxwood topiary over the weekend. Here's what you need to make your own:

- Fresh boxwood branches

- Container of your choice { I ended up using one of my hypertufa pots }

- Floral foam

- Garden clippers or scissors

- Knife

1. Use a knife to cut floral foam to fit into your container. I wanted a cone shaped topiary so I stared with a long rectangle and then after putting it into the pot I shaped the top into a narrow cone.

2. After you have the foam cut to shape, soak it in water for a few minutes. Them place back in pot. You don't want your fresh boxwood to be thirsty!

3. Use garden clippers to cut boxwood into small pieces. Remove leaves close to the ends of stem so that the stem will stick into the foam.

4. Stating at the top, insert boxwood stems into foam. This takes a while, but just keep at it. Maybe put on Christmas music and sip a little red wine or hot chocolate while you are working?

Getting closer...

All done...

Every couple of days or so, run your topiary under running water so the floral foam won't dry out.

Kitchen Favorites {Link Party}

2011-12-02T08:00:00.001-05:00

Welcome to the Kitchen Favorites link party! I have so many favorites in the kitchen - it was hard to narrow it down.

1. Dish Towels

I have a mild obsession with dish towels...it's weird. I just love the colors and patterns. I store my dish towels in the second largest drawer in my kitchen. I realized, as I was taking this photo, that is probably a problem. I would have a lot more room for other things if I didn't have so many darn dish towels! It's hard to tell, but they are stacked 7 or 8 high in the drawer. My favorites are those from Crate & Barrel and Williams Sonoma. Tag also makes cute ones. Tell me I'm not the only one collecting dish towels?

2. Olive Oil

My kitchen would not be complete with out olive oil. I use it almost every singe day for something or another. It's kind of ridiculous how much olive oil I go through for one person. Coming from an Italian family, it's something we have always used, long before it became the "healthy" oil to use. I credit it for my *super* high levels of "good" cholesterol. I buy it in these huge, 3 liter tins. And then I keep the tins when I finish the oil. They are too pretty to get rid off...

Oh look, here are a couple more...

3. Cookbooks

Cookbooks, oh cookbooks. Even though I find most recipes online now, nothing beats looking through a cookbook. Of course, Martha occupies a pretty big portion in my collection. See the one all the way to the left? It's Martha's Healthy Quick Cook. When I was in college they had an offer with Minute Maid to get the book free. You had to save up UPC codes from the orange juice and sent them. I didn't drink juice much, so I made my friend and roommate Ann, save all of her codes so I could send away for the book! Ha!

A few more favorites...

4. Wood Spoons

Wood spoons are definitely my utensil of choice. I just like how they feel. And they get better with age. I have spoons made in Poland, France, and Italy, and one from my Grandma's kitchen that is by far my favorite. And of course, the left-handed spoon my Mom found for me. I love it!

5. Pastry Mat

This pastry mat really comes in handy for rolling out pie crust or pizza dough. The circle templates come in handy too. The one I have is from Mario Batali's kitchen line, but I couldn't find it online. This one from Amazon looks similar. If you bake often, you will love this!

6. Le Creuset Cookware

My collection of Le Creuset cookware is tiny, but I really love it. The butter dish makes me happy every time I open my refrigerator and see the splash of green. And the baking dishes are awesome! They are so nice to cook with and clean up like a dream. The larger one is perfect for casseroles and the small one is just the right size for dips. I am still dreaming of a Le Creuset Dutch oven. I think that would be my dream kitchen purchase!

7. Wine Glasses

See the wine glasses up there on the top shelf? They are the Viv 13 oz wine glass from Crate & Barrel. They are made in Slovakia and are quite a value at only $3.95 each. Even though they are inexpensive, they don't feel like it. So, you don't have to feel bad replacing them if you break one. Not that I would know anything about that...

While we are sharing pictures of cabinets, I thought I would share a few more.

OK, enough of the randomness, on to the rest of my list.

8. Mixing Bowls

As someone who likes to cook, I don't think it's possible to have too many mixing bowls! I use all of these depending on what I'm making.

The green plastic ones are from Williams Sonoma; the green glass are Anchor Hocking; the clear glass are Pyrex; the stainless steel ones are a vintage find from my Grandma's basement. Both the Anchor Hocking and the Pyrex bowels are made in the USA - love that! In fact, there are lots of products in my kitchen from these two iconic American brands.

9. Corkscrew & Citrus Squeezer

My sister got me the citrus squeezer for Christmas one year. I just love the thing. It juices the heck out of limes and lemons. I've never used a better one!

The corkscrew is from Crate and Barrel but it isn't on their website. After going through way too many cheap cork screws I finally bought this one. It's made in Italy and is good and sturdy. In the winter, it gets a real workout around here...

10. Kitchenaid Stand Mixer

I was tired of waiting to get engaged so I could register for one of these! So I saved up and bought it myself. So glad I did because I really love this mixer. I have had it for four years now and I am still so happy with it. Makes baking so much more fun. Here is a model similar to mine.

11. All-Clad Cookware

I can't tell you how much I love these pans. I got tired of waiting for these { refer to #10! } and so I bought them myself. Honestly, these pans make me want to cook more! I researched sets quite a bit before I bought these and decided to go with the 10 piece set from Williams Sonoma. If I had to pick just one thing I wouldn't want to live without in my kitchen, I think the All-Clad pans would probably be it. Although, olive oil would be right up there too!

If you are in the market for a set, pay attention to the sizes of the pans. Lots of other stores carry 10 piece sets, but the sizes of the pans vary. The Williams Sonoma set had the best sizes for me. This set pretty much covers my needs, but eventually I would love to add other size sauce pans.

Those are my favorites, what are yours?

Party Rules:
You must add a link in your post back to this post to to link up with the party. That way more people can join in the fun!

I'm looking forward to seeing your favorites!

{ The link will remain open for one week. }

Made in America Christmas

2011-12-01T13:24:00.002-05:00

My sister and I are teaming up to bring you a Holiday series called "Made in America Christmas". Each Thursday, from now until Cristmas, we will share a few of our favorite American made products - perfect for gift giving!

Earlier this Summer, ABC Nightly news started a made in America series. I love the news segments they have put together. I pretty much get teary eyed at every one! For more information on their series, click here.

According to ABC, if every American spent just $64 on American made goods during our holiday shopping, the result would be 200,000 new jobs. Pretty amazing, right?

My first pick are these beautiful Pendleton blankets, available from Lands' End. The blankets are not inexpensive {prices range from $149.50 - 229.50}, but I think in this case, you definitely get what you pay for. Shown above is the Navy Stripe color. It is also available in a beautiful neutral colorway, called Toasted Rye Stripe.

The blanket is also available in several solid colors, like this chocolate brown:

Here's the description of the blankey for LE's website:

"Pendleton® Mills, the legendary Northwest weaver, creates these blankets for us. With 140 years in the region, the family-owned business has a strong commitment to weaving wool in a way that leaves the smallest possible footprint on the environment. So the Eco-Wise Blanket uses only soft, 100% pure virgin wool certified as Cradle to Cradle® eco-effective by MBDC (a product and process design firm promoting sustainability; learn more at c2ccertified.com). The blankets are so thoughtfully made, the wool can be recycled or even composted — and will stay soft and colorful wash after wash. Whipstitched binding. All sizes are 96" long. Machine wash. Made in USA."

Pendleton has a large selection of many items on their website, including this beautiful throw, called the Stripe 5th Avenue Throw.

Pretty, pretty...

I also really like this throw, called the Merino Throw. It is available ins erveral different plaids colors and is $108

The soap & tea towel pictured above wasn't originally on my list, but I searched the Lands' End website for products made in the USA and this was one of the items that came up.

The Monogram Soap and Linen Towel Set is $29.50 and the monogramming is free. What a perfect hostess gift!

Next up is the Stormy Kromer hat. I read about Stormy Kromer last month {or mayber the month before?} in Country Living. Every month they feature a Made in America product.

Stormy Kromer products are made right here in Michigan, in the beautiful Upper Penninsula. If you are ever in Ironwood, MI, Stormy Kromer offers a free factory tour. Fun stuff.

Pictured are the Original Wool Stormy Kromer Cap. You can buy them right on the companys website for $34.99

You know I love this green one:

The caps are available for both men, women, and kids. This kids cap in red is adorable:

There's a cute story to how the Stormy Kromer company got its start - read about it here.

Those are my made in America picks! Do you have a favorite made in America product?

{ Head on over to A Little Ditty to see what made in America product my sister is featuring. }

Also, don't forget to link up tomorrow morning for the Kitchen Favorites link party. I will have the link up and ready to go at 8 AM EST.

Tasty Tuesdays #47

2011-11-29T08:00:00.001-05:00

Welcome to Tasty Tuesdays!

I don't have a recipe to share with you today {I know, bad host!} but I do want to remind you about the Kitchen Favorites link party this Friday. Check out this post for more information. Hope to see you here on Friday morning with all your favorites!

What did you cook this week?

Party Rules:

1. Add a link in your post back to this post

2. Add the Tasty Tuesdays button to your post. You will find the button and code on my sidebar

Shabby Apple Dress Winner

2011-11-25T17:39:00.000-05:00

The winner of the Shabby Apple Dress giveaway is comment #15...

Congrats to Amanda! Amanda blogs over at Small Talk.

I hope you enjoy your new dress!

Happy Thanksgiving

2011-11-24T09:15:00.000-05:00

{ Thanksgiving tablescape, 2010 }

Just a quick post to say Happy Thanksgiving!

I hope you all have a wonderful day filled with lots of love and family {and good food too!}.

I'm thankful for a lot of things, including this blog. I'm thankful for all of you who stop to visit, all the wonderful people I've "met" through this blog, and all of the experiences it has brought me.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Tasty Tuesdays: Classic Peanut Butter Cookies

2011-11-22T08:00:00.002-05:00

Welcome to Tasty Tuesdays!

*** Have you entered my Shabby Apple Dress giveaway yet? Click here to enter. ***
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Did you expect a Thanksgiving recipe today? Sorry, I was craving peanut butter cookies.

My Aunt Mary gave me this cookie cookbook sometime when I was in college.

It remains one of my favorite cookbooks. If I remember correctly, there were roommates and a few boys who benefited from this book. It seems like I baked cookies quite a bit in college!

Ingredients:

- 1/2 cup sugar

- 1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar

- 1/2 cup butter, softened

- 1/2 cup peanut butter (creamy or crunchy)

- 1 teaspoon vanilla

- 1 egg

- 1-1/4 cup all-purpose flour

- 1 teaspoon baking soda

- 1/2 teaspoon salt

1. Heat oven to 375 degrees. In large bowl, combine sugar, brown sugar, and butter; beat until light and fluffy. Add peanut butter, vanilla, and egg; blend well. Add flour, baking soda, and salt; mix well.

2. Shape dough into 1 inch balls. Place 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheets. Use fork to flatten balls in criss-cross pattern.

{ The mats on my baking sheets are called Silpats. I learned about them years ago from Martha. Thay are a dream to cook with - never any mess on your cookie sheets to clean up! You can buy them at Williams Sonoma, Bed Bath & Beyond, or other kitchen stores }

3. Bake in pre-heated oven for 6 to 9 minutes or until set and golden brown. Immediately remove from cookie sheets and let cool on wire racks.

{ Yield: Recipe claims 4 dozen....I got closer to 3 dozen. }

What did you cook this week?

Party Rules:

1. Add a link in your post back to this post

2. Add the Tasty Tuesdays button to your post. You will find the button & code on my sidebar.

Shabby Apple Dress Giveaway

2011-11-18T08:00:00.004-05:00

I have a great giveaway for you today from Shabby Apple!

Do you know about Shabby Apple? They are an online boutique of beautiful women's dresses.

Here are just a few of my favorites (I could easily spend several hours going through all their dresses...)

{ Confidential }

{ Academy Award Skirt }

{ Hollywood Hills }

{ Mulholland }

Pretty, right? I would love to wear any one to a holiday party this year.

The giveaway today is for the Nothin' Like a Dame dress.

I really like the classic style of this dress with the fun addition of ruffles around the collar. Wouldn't this be a festive dress for Christmas or New Years?

Entering is simple.

Head on over to Facebook and "like" Shabby Apple. You must "like" Shabby Apple on Facebook to be eligible to win. Then come back here and leave me a comment. That's it! One comment per person, please.

*** Giveaway is open to residents of the United States, or those with US mailing addresses ***

{ Apologies to my non-US friends }

*** A winner will be chosen by random on Friday, November 25th ***

*** I will contact the winner via email. Please leave your email address in your comment if you don't have a Blogger account ***

Good Luck!

Fall in Photos

2011-11-16T08:00:00.001-05:00

No words today, just a few photos of Fall in my neighborhood. I hope Fall is just as pretty where you are.

Stop back on Friday for an exciting giveaway!

Tasty Tuesdays: My Favorite Mac & Cheese

2011-11-15T08:00:00.003-05:00

Welcome to Tasty Tuesdays!

The Mac & Cheese at The Green Well is probably my favorite meal in town. I've been ordering it for several years and have a hard time even considering ordering something different when I'm there. I even mentioned The Green Well Mac & Cheese in this post.

I've searched online for the recipe before and never had any luck. I decided to look again and found it right away! And it was posted almost two years ago. That's two years of me missing out on making this amazing dish at home. Click right here for the recipe. As excited as I was to find the recipe online, the exact measurements and directions were incomplete. For the most part, I think I figured it out.

Ingredients:

- Canola oil & olive oil

- 3 slices bacon, cooked & chopped

- 1 cup cooked chicken, shredded

-1 cup snow peas cut in half

- 1 cup shiitake mushrooms, sliced

- 3/4 cup whole cherry tomatoes

- 2 cloves garlic, minced

- Pinch of salt, pepper, basil and thyme

- 1-1/2 cup heavy cream

- 1/2 cup swiss cheese, shredded

- 3/4 cup sharp white cheddar, shredded

- 2 tablespoons cream cheese

- 1/2 cup goat cheese

- 1/2 large onion, caramelized

- 8 oz cavatappi pasta, cooked

{ I left out truffle oil and ham, both are included in The Green Well's recipe }

1. The key to preparing this recipe to to cook several of the ingredients first. Cook the chicken, bacon, and pasta before you start making the recipe. Also caramelize the onion ahead of time. You could even do that a day or two in advance. I think a leftover chicken or a rotisserie chicken would work really well.

2. Heat a large saute pan over high heat and add 2 tablespoons of canola oil and 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Add bacon, chicken, snow peas, mushrooms, tomatoes, and garlic to pan and saute until garlic caramelizes.

3. Add cream and all four cheeses and stir. Add caramelized onions. Continue to cook over medium-high heat until sauce is bubbly and thickens. Add pasta and stir until coated.

4. Serve and enjoy! Recipe makes four servings.

I'm pretty excited to be able to enjoy my favorite restaurant meal at home!

What did you cook this week?

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2. Add the Tasty Tuesdays button to your post.

Kitchen Favorites Link Party: 12.2.11

2011-11-11T08:00:00.001-05:00

Hi guys. Happy Friday! Are you ready for the weekend? I know I am!

I'm going to host a link party called "Kitchen Favorites". I thought it would be fun to see what people like to use in the kitchen. You could link up a post about your favorite ingredients, favorite pantry staples, favorite baking tools, favorite kitchen appliances, favorite cookbooks, or a combination of anything that's a favorite for you in your kitchen!

The party will be on Friday, December 2nd. Just in time for the Holiday season. I'm sure we all do more cooking around the holidays, so maybe you will find a new favorite or a gift idea for your favorite cook!

See you three weeks from today for the party!

Designer Diaries: New Elementary School

2011-11-10T08:00:00.002-05:00

I'm back with another installment in my Designer Diary Series. This time it's to share a little bit about an elementary school I designed that is currently nearing completion.

In the early stages of the design process, I sometimes start with just a palette board. I make up several paint palettes along with inspiration photos for the client to look over. It's a nice way of getting them to chose a direction for their building, without overwhelming them with lots of design decisions all at once.

Here is the board they choose:

{ I've cropped off the titleblock @ the bottom of the board, that's why it looks a little funny }

At the next design meeting I came back with options for the finishes. This is what they choose:

The image below shows a small portion of the school. This is the floor pattern they chose for the corridors:

And here is a photo of the flooring being installed:

I know the quality of these photos isn't the best - this job is out of state so I haven't been able to visit the site to take photos.

The flooring is linoleum by Forbo. Linoleum gets a bad rap because most people refer to sheet vinyl as linoleum. Huge, huge difference - not at all the same thing! Real linoleum has been around long before sheet vinyl and is manufactured of natural ingredients (linseed oil, resins, natural pigments, and jute backing). Linoleum is definitely making a comeback and is once again popular. This building will be LEED certified, so linoleum was the perfect choice for many reasons. I've also specified Armstrong linoleum - both are great manufacturers.

This is the floor pattern they selected for the cafeteria:

Tile behind the drinking fountains:

I know, I'm sure this isn't exciting to you, but I just love seeing anything that I designed! I wish I had more photos of the building to share. So far, this is all I have!

These are a few of the fabrics I used on furniture throughout the building. The top one is from Arc Com and the middle and bottom one are both from Momentum. All three are Crypton - a high performance upholstery.

I just love this one:

And this one too:

This is a very small portion of the complete design. Most people think that interior design is chosing colors and selecting patterns. In reality, it is just a VERY small portion of the process.

Hope you have a wonderful Thursday!

Tasty Tuesdays: Easy Pumpkin Bread

2011-11-08T08:00:00.003-05:00

Welcome to Tasty Tuesdays!

I made this super easy pumpkin bread over the weekend. What is it about fall that brings on the pumpkin cravings? I could care less about it any other time of year, but October and November are all about pumpkin!

{ Recipe adapted from one I found here on Allrecipes }

Ingredients:
- 1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin puree

- 4 eggs

- 1 cup vegetable oil

- 2/3 cup water

- 1 1/2 cup dark brown sugar

- 1 cups white sugar

- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

- 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

- 2 teaspoons baking soda

- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt

- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

- 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg

- 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

For Glaze:

- 2 cups confectioners sugar

- milk or water

- 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour two 7x9 bread loaf pans

2. In a large bowl, mix together pumpkin puree, eggs, oil, water, sugars, and vanilla until well blended. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves. Stir the dry ingredients into the pumpkin mixture until just blended. Pour into the prepared pans.

3. Bake for 60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into center of bread comes out clean.

4. Let bread cool in pans for 15 -20 minutes. When pans are cool enough to handle, turn out bread and let finish cooling on wire racks.

5. For glaze: Put 2 cups of confectioners sugar in mixing bowl. Slowly add milk or water while stirring until glaze is the consistency of pancake batter. Add vanilla and stir until combined.

6. Place wax paper under cooling racks and drizzle glaze over bread.

What did you cook this week?

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2. Add the Tasty Tuesdays button to your post. You will find the button on my sidebar.

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I May Become Additcted to Sewing Baby Quilts...

2011-11-04T08:00:00.002-04:00

I made this baby quilt for my cousin who is expecting her first baby next month. I had so much fun making this and I am really happy with how it turned out. I am seriously thinking about starting another one even though I don't need another baby gift at the moment!

You may have seen the pattern for this quilt out in blogland. It was designed by Vanessa Christenson of V and Co. and was featured on Moda Bake Shop.

My cousin isn't finding out what she is having, so I tried to make this pretty gender neutral - which is much easier said than done! It's so hard to find fabrics that work for both a boy or a girl. It looks a little more "boyish" than I wanted, but hopefully if it's a little girl she won't mind!

This wasn't hard to make - just took a little time.

I had heard good things about spray basting and decided to give the 505 spray a try after reading great reviews online. I LOVED it. So much easier than pinning together all the layers. And especially great for free motion quilting becasue you don't need to keep taking out the pins to quilt.

Do you quilters get nervous when you put your finished quilts in the wash machine? I think I was praying the whole time it was in there that it would come out OK! It did, thank goodness! I love the puckered look the quilt has after if comes out of the wash machine.

My free motion quilting could use a little practice!

Here is the back:

Do you recognize the Amy Butler fabric? I've used it one so many projects. It's a favorite, for sure.

Hopefully my cousin and the baby like it as much as I do!

Tasty Tuesdays: Beer Cheese Dip

2011-11-01T08:00:00.001-04:00

Welcome to Tasty Tuesdays!

Thanks again to all of you who stopped over from Bloggers Blog of Note - I'm so glad you are here! Tasty Tuesdays is weekly recipe link party I host. Feel free to link up your recipes or just check out all the great ones linked up!

I have a super easy and really delicious appetizer for you today: Beer Cheese Dip. Now if that doesn't sound perfect for Fall, I don't know what does!

This recipe was published in the October 2011 issue of Grand Rapids Magazine and is from Chef Justin Golinski of Founders Brewing Co. I adapted it slightly, just changing a few quantities.

I didn't have any Founders beer so I used a pale ale from Bell's.

This recipe is so easy - it only takes a few minutes to put it all together

Ingredients:

- 1 pound cream cheese, softened

- 1 cup smoked Gouda, shredded

- 6 oz of beer, your choice. The original recipe calls for an IPA

- 1 cup baby spinach, rough chopped

- 1/2 medium-sized red bell pepper, diced

- 1 clove garlic, minced

- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

- 1 teaspoon Italian seasonings

Preheat oven to 325. Combine and mix all of the ingredients thoroughly in a medium sized mixing bowl. Transfer to baking dish. Bake 35-40 minutes. Stir once, halfway through cooking time. If desired, set under broiled for a minute to brown top of dip. Serves with tortilla chips, pita chips, or toast point.

See, I told you it was easy!

What did you cook this week?

Party Rules:

1. Add a link in your post back to this post.

2. Add the Tasty Tuesday button to your post. You will find the button on my sidebar.

Thanks!