Monthly Archives: February 2012

Feb22

Warning: This Post Will Clog Your Arteries

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I’ve been debating whether or not to rehash a recent breakfast we enjoyed with our Wilmington houseguests.  It was certainly delicious and hearty, but I didn’t want to be responsible for anyone going into cardiac arrest.  With that being said, the following recipe actually came from another set of friends who enjoy this protein-rich dish quite frequently.  Seeing as how they still remain in good health, I’ve decided it’s safe to spread on the blogosphere: Scottish Eggs.

What exactly are Scottish Eggs?  Its a softboiled egg wrapped in sausage, dipped in yolk wash, dipped in panko bread crumbs.  The most redeeming quality of this dish is that at least it is baked, although I’ve since learned that they can be fried as well.

In reality, they are quite tasty. I was skeptical at first (to say the least), but gave it a whirl with a little dollop of whole grain mustard.  Suprisingly good! If you want to give it a go yourself, here’s how you do it:

Ingredients:

  • Soft boiled eggs, shell(s) removed
  •  Ground sausage (like Neese’s)
  • Egg yolk wash
  • Panko bread crumbs

Directions:

Pre-heat oven to 375 to 400 (mine was on 375 since it’s gas).

First and foremost, if you’ve never soft boiled an egg before all you have to do is place your raw eggs in a pot covered by enough cold/room temperature water to cover the eggs.  Bring it to a boil, boiling for only 2-3 minutes.  Immediately drain the water and cover the eggs with ice to stop the cooking process.  Once cool peel the shells off carefully.  Pack the sausage around the eggs and then dip in the egg yolk and then the panko bread crumbs.  Place on a cookie sheet lined in aluminum foil (to prevent staining of your pan) and cook for 35 minutes.  Remove from oven and serve with whole grain mustard. Enjoy! (and be sure to go for a long walk afterwards)

Feb21

Utterly Pink

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I am not a “pink” kind of gal.  In fact, I’ve always had a bit of an aversion to the color.  When I was a kid my parents asked me what color I wanted my room painted. My answer? Blue.  It’s not that I think that all shades of pink are horrendous and I certainly don’t judge folks who think it’s the cat’s pajamas.  I just don’t want it in my house.  That is until I had a kid (soon to be kids).

Now that we’re mostly settled into the new place I figured it was high time to get Roscoe’s room in order.  Of course I asked him the same question my parents asked me at his age: what color do you want your room?  His answer(s)?  Pink and purple.  Seriously.  I don’t buy into that whole gender specific color theme junk so it’s not like I cared that he likes those colors, but why pink?  My least favorite color and that’s what you want?  My response was that he could pick one of those two and that purple sure was nice.  He insisted on the pink.  Of course.

 Luckily for me Roscoe was willing to compromise.  We decided that one wall would be pink and then the others blue, although even this plan got modified in the end.  Here’s the room before (complete with plaster repairs to fix all the previous resident’s nail holes).

So what exactly was the end result?  One wall ended up pink as planned.

 

One wall stayed the original green upon Roscoe’s request.

The last two walls were painted turquoise (left over from another project) and blue.

I stencilled the walls using orange and white paint in order to tie all the disparate colors together.  All in all, it turned out better than I imagined when Roscoe insisted all walls be different.  I don’t even think the pink looks that bad! I suppose the saying that anything in moderation really holds true…even for pink.

Feb16

Full Bellies, Warm Hearts

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We had a wonderful Valentine’s Day on Tuesday although a bit more low key than in years past- I suppose that happens when you have a kids?  Anyhoo, our celebration plans weren’t extravagant by any means; a card exchange, smooches and hugs, and a decadent meal we planned to cook up ourselves.

As I mentioned yesterday, we scored a major deal at the local farmer’s market this past Saturday: two for one grass-fed rack of lamb!  For only $14 buckaroos, we could eat the equivalent of a meal that would easily be $70 for us in a restaurant.  Aaron and I got down to business with our rubs/glazes, with Aaron opting for a garlic dijon mustard blend and me going with a mint/olive oil/sal and pepper blend.

With Aaron manning the grill preparations, I got the sides ready: baked potatoes and Tom Ka Gai (Coconut and Chicken Soup).  I found my recipe for the soup here, and subsituted light coconut milk for the full throttle version.  With Roscoe on table setting duty we all contributed to making an excellent meal.

It was, to say the very least, absolutely delicious.  All the flavors melded wonderfully together and Aaron cooked the racks to perfection.  And for dessert?  Homemade creme brulee of course!

 It was a superb lover’s day meal if I may say so, better than going out to celebrate not just because of the food but rather because of the company of my family and the intimacy of our own home.  Cheers!

Feb14

Love Is In the Air

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Happy Valentine’s Day! It’s time once again to overindugle in conversation hearts, confessions of affection, and googly eyed adoration.  While I wouldn’t qualify this day as my favorite holiday of the year, it is nice to have an annual reminder that we should vocalize and express our love for the special persons in our lives.  We can too easily get caught up in daily doldrums and stresses and  fail to adequately display our care and concern for our friends, family, and significant others.   With that being said, lots of kisses and hugs to my wonderful husband, son, family, and friends- without you life would not be as magical or meaningful!

Mushiness and gushiness aside, I do have a rather appropriate recap to share.  This past weekend we hosted our housewarming party for the new pad, complete with a vday theme.  We called it our housewarming/lovefest and certainly felt the love from everyone who attended. (While I realize hosting a housewarming two weeks prior to my anticipated delivery date was risky, the good news is that the party did not have to move to the hospital.)

The Invite

A quick shot of the decorations (although minus the tissue paper pom-poms we made)

We were also very fortunate to have some very special folks as visitors this weekend- our wonderful friends The Pohlman’s who came from Wilmington, North Carolina to celebrate with us.   They made the weekend quite memorable with good conversation and company.

As for celebrating today, Aaron and I are going to enjoy a quiet night in with a planned feast of grass-fed rack of lamb, creme brulee, and a good bottle of wine (confession: I will be indulging in one glass).  Roscoe has his own celebration at school and will likely come home wired from all the sugar and sweets.  His valentine’s for his classmates are of course homemade (surprise!), but I thought they turned out rather cute.

But enough rambling about love for one day!  I hope everyone has a wonderful day and takes time to show appreciation for the special people in their lives. xoxo

Feb8

Sheets & skirts- Exciting!

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This past weekend Aaron and I not only created a reading nook for Roscoe, we also worked on the nursery for baby.  While I am not ready for the big reveal yet, I will share a super duper easy project: making your own crib sheets.  You may be asking yourself why I would even bother making them, but I do have my reasons.  For starters, crib sheets ar $15 a piece and they aren’t even organic!  To me, that’s highway robbery when I can make my own for roughly $7 a sheet and 30 minutes of my time.  The other factor is that I have a specific color scheme and vision for the nursery which the crib sheets I found online and in stores don’t do justice.

After a little perusing on the ole web, I decided to follow the tutorial on the blog ”Everything Your Momma Made & More“.  It was easy to follow and, better yet, offered lots of pictures so I could verify I was doing the right thing.  In all honesty, it really was insanely easy to make a crib sheet.  Here’s how mine turned out:

Since I am already on the topic of crib bedding, I’ll also share with you pics of the crib skirt I made.  I picked up the fabric for a bargain at $4/yard.  It wasn’t at all what I was looking for, but when I saw it I knew it was perfect.

 When I began measuring the crib dimensions so I could make my skirt, I quickly realized that a traditional skirt made to drop on all sides wasn’t going to work as expected.  The reason being is that the mattress springs left no place for fabric to slip through on two of the four sides.  Behold Exhibit A.

While I could have just as easily given the old heave ho to the idea of crib skirt, I knew I needed the extra storage space under the crib minus the eye sore it would cause.  After all of 40 seconds of deliberation, Plan B was hatched.  I’d just sew two additional panels and tie them on to the sides.

Turned out pretty well in my opinion.  But enough sneak peaks at the nursery!  It’s time to get on with the day with the promise I’ll be back soon to show off the nursery in it’s entirety.

Feb6

Nookie Time

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No, not that type of nookie- get your mind out of the gutter! I am instead referring to the the nook where wholesome activities such as reading and quiet time can be indulged.  That’s much more exciting than any hanky panky, right? *crickets*  Anyhoo, Aaron and I worked dilligently this weekend to transform an awkward spaced into something that was not only useable, but rather funky cool as well.

The space in question is at the bottom of the stairway and one where we believe used to be a seperate entrance to the home many years ago.

Whatever it’s purpose was at one time, now it was just a bizarre little alcove that was pointless as it was.  So what does a gal do?  Jump on the ‘net of course and begin googling/binging the heck out of small space/nook/alcove ideas.  Lo and behold, after a few queries and clicks of the button I found an idea I was smitten with: a reading nook!

 My first thought was cute! My second was more considerate: how perfect a spot for Roscoe (particularly with a baby on the way who is about to shake up life as he knows it)!  So I enlisted Aaron’s help and we got to work this weekend.  First steps included taping off/painting the area with paint leftover from the front sitting room.  Then I used a concentric circle design circle to add a little pizazz (not the best photo, however).

Next, it time to put Aaron to work and bring the landing level with a piece of plywood.

I won’t bore you with the next steps other than to say that it involved installing a seat, upholserting said seat in some remnant fabric, hanging curtains, etc.  Before I reveal let me first say that one of my favorite aspects of the inspiration photo was the word “Nook”.  I am rather giddy lately over letters/words so, of course, had to incorporate this element.  Lucky for us, the antique shop literally right up the road sells a bunch of old marquee letters.  We snatched up the letters for a steal at $29 at hung them up as the crowning glory of our project.  Behold:

 Did you notice the bent spoon at the bottom of the picture? That was my clever husband’s idea to provide Roscoe a spot to hang his jacket(s).

Now it’s time for the big reveal!  Woot woot, here it:

 

I don’t feel like these shots really do the space justice, but 1) my camera is just a point and click, and 2) it still isn’t complete!  We still need to build some shallow book shelves and install a light for the interior.  All in all, I’d say it was a job well done and, if Roscoe is the judge, it is an uber success!

Feb3

No Rest for the Weary

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It is Friday once again (holla!) and I am stoked about the ensuing weekend for multiple reasons. First and foremost, I am finally on the up and up after several days of dealing with a flu-like bug.  Secondly, I am gung ho to get some projects underway that I have been wanted to tackle since we moved in.  I drew up a list yesterday of everything I wanted to do although I must admit I don’t think Aaron was as excited about it as I was.  Before I share let me just say this- I don’t expect to get through everything on the list, but I did want to at least prioritize my top objectives.

Hit up Yard Sales

  • Treasure targets:
    • Small dresser/bureau to serve as a changing table for baby
    • Small  table/garden stool for downstairs guest bathroom

House Projects

  • Paint Nursery
  • Start work on building out stairway reading nook
  • Get couch from in-laws
  • Organize craft room

Exploring

  • Take long walk on Greenway
  • Walk downtown to explore shops

Other:

  • Visit garden nurser(ies) to find a large, tall, thin plant for the living room mantel
  • Set-up Crib; purchase mattress

Am I a dork? Of course.  Nevertheless, I’ve got my self-assigned mission for the next two days and will look forward to reporting back next week.  Til then, cheerio!

Feb1

Hang Ups

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My last post I waxed poetic about our recently painted entry and front parlour/office.  The change in color had a dynamic effect on improving the atmosphere and feel of the rooms.  While I consider the front parlour/office essentially done in terms of decorating, the front entry still needs a little TLC.  With the walls now a creamy off white (Valspar’s Honeymilk), I am planning on (eventually) undertaking Plan B- which is using this concentric circle stencil randomly applied on the walls in a high gloss version of Honeymilk for  a subtle effect.

While I am excited about getting this project underway it is a tad lower on the project priority list than say getting the nursery together (which I haven’t even attempted to do).  Hence my stencilling shall have to wait, but that hasn’t prevented me from imagining what the front entry will look like when completed or what it still needs in terms of decor.

My plan is to keep the furnishing in this room fairly simple so the first feelings we have upon entering the home are reflective of simplicity not clutter.  Besides the bench and teacart, there won’t be much else in there except one desperately needed item: a coat rack!  Aaron and I both found ourselves tossing our jackets and bags on the bench since we had no where to properly place our discards of the day.  After a little perusing on the ole internet, I found this beauty- a coat rack that Aaron can easily make using plywood, a skill saw, and my drawing skills.

 I haven’t exactly informed Aaron he’ll be making this in the near future, but I’m sure he won’t mind (he’s rather accomodating that way).  While I did like this particular rack the best, here are some other beauts I found in my search that would have been just as simple to recreate.

Like this one made out of rebar.

Or this one out of old spoons.

I love this one by artist Dominic Wilcox using old paintbrushes.

I even liked this irregular picket style one, but mostly for its vivid color than it’s actual design merits.

Once we get our little coat rack completed, we’ll have a fun and functional way to store our daily necessities.  The best part is that we’ll also have solved our entry clutter dilemma at a fraction of the price it would cost us for this coat rack at retail.  I simply cannot imagine paying $600+ (seriously) when we can recreate a near exact version for less than $40.  All you need to save some moolah is a little ingenuity and willingness to sacrfice convenience in favor of time- a price I am more than willing to pay.