Warm and comfy food!

It's going to be a cold weekend, so you know what that means. That's right, low and slow! First I'll make this

Country Pot Roast

.

I have blogged about it in the past and it is the best pot roast recipe I have ever eaten. I heart the Barefoot Contessa!

Then to go with it I think I'll make Mushroom Risotto


Any leftovers and you could make these Fried Stuffed Rice Balls


Oh mama!

And of course a warm and comforting pot of soup! Like this one I've been meaning to make for awhile from Smitten Kitchen.



Black Bean and Pumpkin Soup!
If you like to cook you should really check out Smitten Kitchens blog, she has a recipe file you can scroll through, she take's picture of the food. And all her recipes are tried and true.
I can mix and match the leftover all weekend long! Yum!

A sense of humor is so important!

This cracks me up!

Turquoise is the new black!

I'm digging on some serious turquoise of late. In other words itching for summer!

Just want to nest

I came across another online magazine (thanks Tobi). It's called Lonny and if you like decorating you should really check it out.

I love to decorate, I'm a nester, every room in our home is like a nest. Spring is coming (can you feel it?) and I want to make a new nest. Right now that energy is going into redoing our master bedroom closet. So tonight when I get home from work I'll measure it for the second time. Remember the rule, measure twice, cut once. And by cut I mean buy costly Closet Accessories. It's more work than you might think. Gut it, decide what clothes to keep, pitch, give away. Paint. Install new closet. Re-hang old clothes. Do happy dance, go to bed exhausted!

One man's Disneyland is another man's Townhouse

I found this cool site that shows 34 strange buildings. I personally don't think there as strange as they are amazing.
These are 3 of my favorites.




Would it be wrong to use pesticides if you live in a hill?
That rotating building in Dubai, pretty awesome!
Dubai is that the new Monaco?

Little Fish swimming with the Big Fish

Yesterday I received the necklace kit I ordered from Melanie Doerman. WOW! She is quite the talented lady. Her sense of color is really amazing, to say the least! Her directions are very detailed with a picture for just about every step. Extra pages for variations. Really anyone remotely interested in beading could do one of her kits. Did I mention her sense of color :-)


Click on her name to go to her blog and click on the word "kit" to go to her website. You won't be disappointed.
I mentioned to one of my sisters how wonderful and talented she is. My sister reminded me of this necklace I made and that I'm talented too.

She's right I need to recognize my talent. It's not that I don't think I'm talented but trust me there are some incredible bead artist out there, Melanie's is but one. I don't compare myself to them or try to be like them. I learn from them but do my own thing. And I am proud of the work I've none.
Can I just state for the record, I'm so glad I decided not to photograph my work on the pink mannequin! Wow that's bright!

House Hunting

Someday in the not to distant future we plan on moving back to my hometown of Milwaukee. And when we do I hope houses like these are on the market. Especially the first one.





Oh yeah, with this in the backyard!

And if it was close to the lake that would be nice too!!!
I'm not asking for too much ... am I?

Shopping for inspiration

I'm really looking forward to getting out of work today, cause I get to go SHOPPING!!! That's right it's Tuesday and the DH is going to his folks house. Which means I don't need to make supper, so that leaves me to shop :-}
My first stop will be at the new Crate and Barrel that they just opened. I got a 25% off coupon in the mail! You don't have to tell me twice, I am there, this is one of my favorite stores. I might even buy this, so I can make the Hollandaise sauce I talked about friday.

My next stop will be Anthropologie! Love, love, love that store! Can't wait to see how they have it decorated! That is always inspirational. And look at this sweet top. Not that I need a new one ;-}
Especially at $98!!! I could be just window shopping. Beside I bet I can find one on esty that's even more adorable!

Then the real mission is to buy some clothes for the DH. I was going to buy him a cushion for his car seat for his B-Day, but after reading a lot of reviews he wasn't to impressed with it. So clothes it is.
I'm hoping to find some inspiration along the way. The next bead project I want to make is a necklace. I started one I've had in my mind 3 times now and it's not turning out. Guess that means it's time to move on!

All in all

It was a good weekend. I spent Saturday with my parents and sisters, and that's always fun. I got the humming bird helmet that my Dad made just for me. Remember this blog ? Well I asked my Dad to make one for me and he did. So come summer I'm going to get a humming bird to sit on my finger! Thats right, how many of you (that are laughing right now) will be able to say that before you DIE! DH cracks up everytime he walks past it in the hall, so I think I'll leave it there for a few days :-D
Sunday... OK we didn't make it to the gym and I feel a little guilty about that. But I'll get over it! It was sunny all day so I puttered around the house, a little cleaning, a little cooking, a little beadwork. I Finished up a bracelet I started on Friday afternoon. It was a beauty, made with black, bronze and silver beads. I was wearing it to make sure the clasp worked, it did, but I noticed the silver drops I had used on the ends were losing there silver coating. Damn, damn, damn. Now I can't blame the bead store I bought them from, they wouldn't know unless someone told them, which I plan on doing. But I wish it would happen as your using them! Now I have all the hours in, wasted, the afternoon, wasted, I can't sell it. Good thing I have sisters that love wearing my jewelry no matter what condition it's in! So off it goes to my sister, won't she be surprised! Time and afternoon saved!

Foodie Friday

Thank goodness for fridays! First because the weekend is upon us, yeah!! Second because it's Foodie Friday. I'm more of a listener that a talker so that makes blogging easy for me today. I just talk about some deliciousness I've made in the past, or what to make in the future.
This one I have made before and I think I'll make it again for tonights dinner. (At home it's fishie friday to make us eat more fish)
It's really good and reheats nicely for Sunday breakfast. Don't be scared off by the Hollandaise it's much easier in a blender, tho this time I'll use my food processor. Because I cut the hollandaise in half (to save calories) it didn't come up to the area where the blender blades were. Or get your Julia Childs on and make it from scratch!

Guess Julia was a cat lover!

Summertime and the living is easy...

Every year around this time I get antsy for warmer weather. I want to re-arrange, paint, remodel every room. Change them to bright and colorful rooms. But we all know how expensive that could get. And in reality I like the way our home looks. I'm the type of person that once I'm done decorating and I love it, I leave it like that, for years! But come February all the stores, ads and magazines are showing bright and colorful things. Things that after dealing with winter for 4 months I WANT!
For example I want my front door painted this color! And the blue agave planted to either side!



OK, you could probable only get away with this in Palm Beach or the Caribbean. To that I say when do we leave!!!
Or how about this bed on casters! You could roll it out and sleep under the stars. I love that, just wouldn't work in my house, I could only roll it in front of the bedroom door.


photos from desire to inspire

Kitty's and Bunnies and Hedgehogs Oh My!!!

OMG, Handmade stuffed animals. Are they adorable or what!?


and of coarse mice for my Mom, Hi Mom!


and rabbits, and hedgehogs, o my! Just go to the site there are so many cute ones

Fish dolls

Found this Doll site on StumbleUpon
I LOVE the fish



But I REALLY love how she used toile fabric to simulate tattoo's! How CLEAVER!

Big Birthday Kisses

First I have to say HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my DH, and many, many more!
Second that German Chocolate Cake I made for his birthday was probably the best cake I've ever made!
The "re-vamped" recipe from Cooks Illustrated really change my opinion of German Chocolate Cake. It was really flavorful. They said that the german's chocolate traditionally used is more sugar than chocolate. The substitution made all the difference. That and toasting the pecans for the filling.
On the bead front I did get a little bit of beading in. I'm making a bracelet for a friend of my sister's. She saw the one I gave my sis for Christmas and wanted one just like it. I tweaked it slightly, by using slightly different shades of the same colors. I'll post pictures before I mail it out later this week.
Oh and just a note the cherub in the header IS NOT for valentines day it's to celebrate the love of my life's B-Day!

Happy Birthday to You!!!

FOODIE FRIDAY!!!
OK, let me just start by saying the Beer-Braised-Beef-and-Onions recipe from last friday ROCKS THE HOUSE! It is so easy to make. You don't taste beer at all when your eating it! (Unless of course your having a beer when your eating it!) The only thing was I had to cook it about and hour longer. But that's one of the nice things about this recipe it cooks all day and keeps the house warm by doing so!
This weekend I'm making this



Because it's the DH's birthday!!! And it's his favorite cake. We have this thing we do, when our B-day falls on a friday or a monday you get to celebrate the whole weekend! So sushi on saturday, hash and eggs on sunday and butter steaks on monday! Guess I won't be getting much beading done:-( it's OK DH your worth it!)
OK, OK back to the recipe. If you've never gone to Cooks Illustrated website go check it out. It's the one site that I subscribe to and it is so worth it. Great recipes and video's, taste tests and equipment reviews. It has it all!
I've never though German chocolate cake was anything special. But they tweeked this one to make it taste better. The video shows them making the cake which will definitely help me. I'll let you know if it's a good revamp next week.

Where I get my inspiration

This kitchen has inspired me! No, not to redo my kitchen, we remodeled that a few years ago and I still love it. I'm talking about the color combination of turquoise and red! Don't you love it!



I do love this kitchen too! I found it over at etsy's storque
I think I'll whip up a necklace in these colors! Don't worry I will post pictures.

Never mind

I'm already so tired of the Valentines Day ads. How about instead send something to someone you HATE! Wouldn't that be better? And the stores would still make a profit, who knows maybe even more so! Let Valentines Day be the day you let bygones be bygones. You convert all that hate into, OK you don't have to convert it to love you just need to not hate. I mean really, it would help you, it would help the recipient, and it could help world peace? I love you here's some flowers vs I hate you hears some flowers see... would that just blow someone's mind? OMG that just made me laugh. Can't you just see it, you walk past a women's desk at the office and it's full of flowers in vases. Everyone would think, wow she must be a real bitch! OK so maybe this wouldn't work.

Ta Da... As Promised!

I had so much fun making this necklace! I made it for me, and I love it. The nice thing is I can wear it long or shortened up as it is in the photo's. One of the reasons I feel really good about making this necklace is that, well to let you in on a little secret about me, I hoard beads. And one of my fears is that I will die without making something with all of them. I know most people want to get more important things under their belts, like freedom for all, or peace around the world, before they past on to the day of reckoning. Me I just want to be able to bead all the special beads I save for myself. I'm selfish like that, I'll admit it. I guess that means my reckoning will be swift!




lampwork flower's by Scorpio Beads
I'd really like to thank Nina for inspiring me to make a piece of art, just for me. It was fun to just do, and not think, will somebody like this, will it cost too much? I LIKED it so I DID it! I had know idea how freeing that could be! Thanks Nina!