Hello all!
It's been a few months - my apologies, but I'm a new mommy and it's been exhausting! Everyone is healthy and happy though so I wanted to do a quick post while I had a minute.
So this is one of the cheapest, most simplistic things I've ever made and iI love using it. I originally made it for our wedding a just a little maintenance keeps it looking brand new.
Supplies:
- cheap picture with glass and a frame you like (got mine on clearance $15 at Garden Ridge)
- chalkboard paint - not spray - $8 at Sherwin Williams
- paint brush
- Crayola chalk
Directions:
- remove picture and glass
- paint the glass - 2 coats according to the directions
- secure back into the frame
I have mine hanging in the kitchen and put quotes on it. Every now and then put a fresh coat of paint to keep it like new.
Yes...it is the evening of St. Patrick's day so I am a wee bit late on this post. Been out of town combined with the time change and the pregnancy exhaustion...excuses, excuses. But we are of course celebrating this most blessed of holidays here at the Haley house. I've been gathering up some great holiday ideas from around the blog world and I've got a couple recipes I've made today I'd like to share too. We'll be having a bonnie Irish feast with friends tonight so I'm providing the Irish Soda bread and some amazing (and ridiculously quick) mint-chocolate chip cookies. My bestie, Ashley (an amazing cook), is making a Drunken Shepard's Pie and a vegetarian Potato & Leek Soup so I will sure to get those recipes from her and post them here tomorrow.
Let's start with the cookies...seriously they took me about 10 minutes to throw together this morning before breakfast and they are AMAZING! They taste just like mint-chocolate chip ice cream!
Mint-Chocolate Chip Cookies
ingredients:
2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 cup softened butter
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp peppermint extract
8-10 drops green food coloring (I sorta lost count and made mine VERY green!)
1/2 cup (or whatever you like:) semisweet chocolate chips
directions:
1.) Preheat oven to 375.
2.) Whisk together flour, bakind soda and baking powder.
3.) In a large bowl, or mixer, cream together the butter and sugar until smooth.
4.) Beat in an egg, mint, vanilla and food coloring.
5.) Gradually add the dry mixture to the wet until combined.
6.) Add the chips as the spirit moves you...I was very spirited this morning!
7.) Drop by the spoonful onto a greased cookie sheet.
8.) Bake about 8-10 minutes or until golden then let cool.
Next we have a favorite of mine, Irish Soda Bread. It just isn't St. Patty's Day for me until I have some of this. Now there are some really complicated, very authentic recipes out there, but we all know I don't do complicated so I like this one from Ms. Martha Stewart. It's spot on with the flavors and turns out perfect every time...and the house will smell just fantastic while it's baking too! I like to serve it with Irish butter (it's usually on the top shelf in the butter cooler at the grocery store) or some lovely Irish sheep's cheese. It will be a perfect accompaniment to Ashley's pie and soup.
Irish Soda Bread
ingredients:
4 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup of sugar
1 tsp salt
2 tbls baking powder
2tbls caraway seeds
4 tbls unsalted butter, cold
2 cups golden or dark raisins
1 1/2 cups buttermilk
1 egg
1 tsp baking soda
1 tbls heavy cream
directions:
1.) Heat oven to 350 and grease a baking sheet.
2.) Whisk together flour, sugar, salt, baking powder and caraway seeds.
3.) Cut butter into flour mixture. You can use a pastry cutter or knives, but I always end up using my fingers - you get a much better feel for where your mix is at.
4.) Stir in your raisins.
5.) In a separate bowl, mix together the buttermilk, egg, cream and baking soda.
6.) Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and mix with a fork until a lumpy dough forms - don't over do it, just get it together.
7.) Form into a loose ball and dump onto your greased pan.
8.) Form it into a good round dome then using a knife cut an X into the center, about a 1/4" deep.
9.) Bake for about 70 minutes, until golden brown. If you aren't sure if it's done in the center, remove it and flip upside down into your palm - thump the bottom - it should sound sort of hollow.
Blog World Round-Up
I live for free printables! I have a couple of frames I use just for holiday prints like these. They are quick cute way to throw a little festive feel into a room.
Hope you found a little last minute inspiration! Happy St. Patrick's Day - we're off to dinner and will post party pics tomorrow. Salinte & Erin Go Braugh!
I'm a deals shopper for sure, but when it comes to Valentine's there are few worthy deals in the dinner department. And the wait! Even with a reservation you will wait forever and a crowded restaurant hardly feels intimate. So for the last couple of years I have resorted to creating a beautiful meal in my own home. These always end up being more memorable (thanks to a fiasco or 2 in the kitchen) and more romantic than any when we've blown a paycheck at a fancy restaurant. My husband isn't the fancy type anywhere. Being able to eat in his slipper spells romance to him! To me, romance is being with my hubby and not slaving away alone in the kitchen after working all day so I'm keeping it simple. My "theme," so to say, this year is his favorite things. I've bought him the autobiography of Tiff Needle, one of all time favorite race car drivers and tv personalities. I've also put together one of these adorable worm pail from Lil Luna:
My hubby loves fishin' and gummy worms are one of the only sweets he likes so this is perfect! I will show you a picture of mine when I photography my V-day set-up here at the house.
Then to top it off I will be making him his very favorite foods. Luckily for me these are both simple recipes that be made ahead...especially good for me because my oven is still dead so I had to take this to a friend's house to bake yesterday!
The main course is the ultimate one pot comfort food meal - chicken pot pie. Haven't met a man yet who didn't include this dish in his all-time favorites so you can't loose! Now I have gone about this the hard way before to no avail. I roasted the chicken, dealt with all the veggies and made the crust by hand. He was not shy to tell me he preferred this one...men...
Veg-All Chicken Pot Pie
2 cans (10 3/4 oz) cream of potato soup
1 can (16 oz) veg-all
2 cups chopped white meat chicken (I hate the canned stuff so I just grab a couple of roasted breasts from my grocery store's hot bar)
1/2 cup of milk
Seasoning salt to taste (I use a combination of Crazy Jane's Seasoning Salt and Trader Joe's 21 Seasoning Salute - yum)
Pepper to taste
2 frozen pie crusts
1 egg, beaten
1.) combine potato soup, veg-all, chicken, milk and seasonings
2.) grease pie dish and line bottom with 1 crust
3.) spoon mixture into dish and cover with remaining crust
4.) pinch edges closed, removing excess, and cut slits in top to vent (or in our case, arrange your hearts with a hole in the middle
5.) brush with egg wash
5.) bake at 375 for 40 - 45 minutes, until crust is golden
6.) cool for 10 minutes and serve hot
Now since it's V-day we need to dress up our pie. I have taken my top crust and used a heart shaped cookie cutter to punch out a series of hearts that I have layered in concentric circles - a la Martha Stewart (see below). The inverse of this idea would be adorable too if you had a very small heart cutter to make small vent holes in an intact crust. Be creative - I've even rolled bits of dough to spell out messages before!
There is only one dessert my husband will eat and that is funfetti cake made with sprite. I went as far as to have a friend make his groom's cake out of funfetti at our wedding...surprisingly a big hit. So that's what he's getting. All I did here was follow the box. Now since it'x V-day I'm making it heart-shaped - an no girlfriend, do NOT go out and buy some expensive heart-shaped pan. Here's what you do:
1.) Bake 2 layers of cake - one in a round cake pan and the other square
2.) Cut your round layer in half
3.) Turn your square into a diamond
4.) Put a little icing on the top 2 edges of your diamond and "spackle"
5.) Fit the 2 halves of the round layer flush with the top edges of your diamond - round humps facing out obviously. Trim edges where needed.
6.) Voila - a perfect heart!
Now couple of other cake decorating tip. I hate icing cake - its messy, a pain and never looks professional. So first off, freeze those layers! About an hour in the freezer will keep the crumbs to a minium. Secondly, take the two minutes to cut some parchment paper and line the bottom outside of your cake so you won't have icing all over your cake plate, or in my case, pizza box) Here's the best one though: an easy shortcut is to cut your buttercream icing with some whipped cream. I throw it all into my mixer and whip it until I like the fluffy consistency. This makes for easy spreadable icing that looks divine!
Naturally I took every Valentine colored sprinkle in the kitchen and threw those suckers on there. That will hide any inperfections!
And Mr. Man is happy with his favorite comfort foods and I'm happy to have spent so little time and money. Plus I'm done a day early! Make this ahead and all you have to do is throw the pie in the oven and light the candles. Don't be surprised if your effort is rewarded by a bubble bath while he does the dishes...
I love wreaths. I just think they're a great way to dress your home up for any holiday and bring a little joy to your neighborhood. It brightens my day to come home and see a cheery display at my front door and I don't believe in decorating your entry way for just the Christmas season. I try to have something bright on my door year round, but I haven't been on my game since Christmas so I decided to do a Valentine's Day wreath. I pulled my inspiration from this Etsy listing http://www.etsy.com/transaction/71291548:
I love her idea and execution. I didn't way to copy her out right and my local craft store didn't carry anything similar to this so I just shopped the sale items until I found a bargain and boy did I! This is a VERY busy month in our household so I don't have a lot of time to invest in this project and we've had several vet bills come up so I wanted to keep it economical too. These two beautiful garlands fit the bill at $12.99 + 40% off.
Supplies:
- 2 garlands of contrasting colors - length depending on the size you want to make your wreath
- 1 round wreath frame
- 1 wooden dowel (I used a 3/8" thickness) - cut 2 lengths of this by placing your dowel across the diameter of your round wreath so they will match the size of round wreath
- wired satin ribbon - length depends on your door hanger and relative wreath size
- saftey wire pliers - they cut through thick wire and twist it to perfection (this is one of my very favorite, cannot-live-without craft tools - they are actually used for wiring bolts and such to racecars so that nothing flies off onto the track - find them at jegs.com - p.s. a pair of these around ensures your sweetheart will be keen to help with your projects!)
- floral wire
- scissors
- lighter
Directions:
1.) Take a length of garland secure it all around your wreath frame every few inches using your pliers and floral wire until you reach a nice, full consistency. Trim remainder.
*Easy does it with the pliers - these are actually made for much more industrial stuff than floral wire - you'll get the hang of it:)
2.) Repeat this process with both dowels using the other color of garland.
3.) Cross your dowels to form your X and secure with floral wire at the cross point creating a loop. Fluff your foliage over your wire to hide when complete.
4.) Lay your X on a table below your O and bring it to where the top of the X is just hanging below the O.
5.) Cut 2 extra long lengths of floral wire - this will depend again on your size of wreath and the "fluffiness" of it - just eyeball it so that when it hangs the O and X are legible and not smushed too close together.
6.) Create a loop connecting it with wire to the top of one X's side then loop around the O wreath where it will hand down. Repeat on the other side so the whole thing is connected.
(I know it's hard to see, but you'll get the idea when you're putting it together)
7.) Take ribbon and fold in half - thread through top of round wreath frame.
8.) Start your bow approximately 6" (again based on your wreath and door hanger) from the wreath and fluff out. Curl your ends around as well as shown in the final picture.
9.) Slightly burn your edges of your ribbon to prevent fraying.
It's finally back! The Walking Dead has been on hiatus Since November, but the new episodes start this today! Being Atlantans, we are particularly vested in this show so several of us are getting together to watch it. Naturally I can't pass up such an obvious theme for a party. Just a low key dinner party full of blood and brains! Here are my preparations to get you started and I will be sure to post our party pics tomorrow. Then it's back to Valentine's Day schemes:)
So to start I'm doing a classic spaghetti bake. It's always yummy, thrifty and feeds a crowd. Here's a great easy recipe I will be following:
Easy Speedy Spaghetti Bake
1 lb ground turkey
1 box of spaghetti noodles
2 jars marinara sauce
1 clove garlic, grated
1/3 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
1 1/2 cups mozzarella cheese, grated
Italian Seasoning mix (Costco has a great one)
1.) mix italian seasoning (to taste) and garlic into ground turkey and brown in a skillet
2.) boil noodles (hint: add a little olive oil to the water to keep the noodles from sticking together)
3.) in a large bowl, mix noodles, Parmesan, turkey and 1 1/2 jars of sauce
4.) transfer to a pre-greased casserole dish
5.) bake at 375 for 20 minutes
6.) top with mozzarella and bake until bubbly and golden
7.) serve with garlic bread
And for my piece de resistance, red velvet cupcakes iced with cream cheese brains! I'm not going to lie, I'm definitely making a box mix and using canned icing. I have a lot going on with V-day this week! My effort will be in piping the brainy swirls onto my cupcakes like in this picture.
I hope you all enjoy these easy recipes and kick back to enjoy The Walking Dead! Eat more brains!
The Next Day....
WHOA!! What a great episode...did NOT see that coming! We had a great time! The hubby said that spaghetti bake was a recipe he'd definatley like to see again and just look at my adorable brains! They were hit. Just as the lights went off and the show came on, I passed them out and we all ate our brains in silent horror:)
Looks like somebody stole one fo my brains....JIMMY!
I promise I wasn't intentionally searching for a theme here, but I found these and couldn't resist! They are SO simple and sweet - I want a pair in every color...and can you really ever have to many hair bobs? I say no...
Pin these to your valentine's and you have a winner. Seriously you will be shocked how easy they are to make!
I love this idea! I want to make this so bad - unfortunately my oven has taken a hiatus...further investigations are required. BUT when she's back on her feet I will be making this for somebody's birthday. Chocolate and strawberries...such a perfect combination!
