2011 Christmas Craft

I'm going to blame Pinterest for my recent craft obsession. Everyone keeps putting up all these adorable DIY projects and I can't help but instinctively think, "I can make that!"... So when I was at Target back in November and they put out this adorable little jingle bell tree I snapped a pic so I could make at home. They wanted 20 dollars for this:

So I took myself to Michaels and bought some supplies. A green tree foam, and a few packages of jingle bells. Turned out I needed 6 packs to cover this baby. I decided to do the traditional colors, but they had the bright jingle bells just like Target as well. I used a votive holder for the base, but you could get one of the small metal pails like the one at Target. Oh, and a lot of hot glue.

I decided to cover the green form with some black ribbon in case any thing showed through, I didn't want the green color to be seen. You can skip this step. I just used some old ribbon I had around and hot glued it to the form. You don't have to be precise at all.

Then I just started dabbing hot glue and putting on the bells. I filled in the spaces with smaller gold bells that had no glitter. But I love the glitter on the red and green ones. It gives it a little sparkle.

Finally, after I had covered the whole thing, and made a few trips back to Michaels for more supplies, I had finished product. The form is so heavy after all the metal bells that I haven't attached it to the votive holder yet. I plan to hot glue it eventually, but for now it just sits on top of the holder.

Ta-da!

Shelley and Kevin's Birthday Feast

This year we hosted an Indian Feast for Shelley and Kevin's birthday dinner. Steven made our favorite Beef Vindaloo (very spicy!) curry as well as East-Side crispy mashed potatoes and my favorite Creamy Raita. We also had naan to scoop up all the yummy food. The dinner was so delicious that we were almost too full for desert. Almost.I made us some ice cream sundaes with magic shell syrup. I have never had magic shell before, but it is chocolate syrup that hardens when it hits the cold ice cream. Amazing! I flavored it with ginger powder and a little chili powder. It was warm and cold all at the same time. The happy birthday couple! I have no idea what we will do for next year. In 2009 we had a French feast, in 2010 we had an Italian feast. This year was Indian. What will 2012 bring? Good thing I have some time to think on that one...

Our Thanksgiving

We were so busy and I was so tired that I only got one photo:Last year I snapped a photo of Steven, Darren and our Turkey during our first black Friday movie marathon. I managed to get the second annual photo as well. Last year we did comedy movies and this year the theme was "Sequels". We were only able to watch a movie that was a sequel to something else. Everyone brought choices and we picked four different ones to watch. This is of course all after I went out shopping with Tara at midnight the night before. Steven and I didn't get home until 3:30 and then he got up and put the turkey in the oven for when our friends came over. Such a nice guy! We had a really great time with Steven's family on Thursday, our friends on Friday and my family on Saturday to watch the Civil War game. Our team lost, but we still had a great time!

Side Project Reveal!

I have been getting really into Pinterest lately. What is Pinterest? Wikipedia says: "Pinterest is a vision board-styled social photo sharing website and app where users can create and manage theme-based image collections." It's basically a big 'mood board'.

I have the app on my iPhone and I'll admit that I've gone bonkers over it. I love checking for new things, like DIY projects for the house or new clothes that I think would add to my wardrobe. The site is constantly updated by a huge number of followers and it's really becoming amazing.

So, I decided that I should try my hand at actually doing a tutorial that I pinned so I took on this little side project while I was baking bread a few weekends ago. I found this great little idea that suggested buying a cheap metal Letter from the hardware store, spray painting it and then sanding off some to rough the edges and get a metallic sheen underneath. A cool and inexpensive way to dress up a room with something that isn't a photo or framed art.

I decided to get a wooden letter and after I painted it, I decided not to sand it at all. I added some ribbon on the back (a sweet houndstooth that someone sent us at work and I snagged for my ribbon collection) and mounted a hook to display it on. The hook is oil rubbed bronze, so it matches our dining room mirror and finish on our coffee table.We also added a second bookcase to the living room which really gives the room balance. I can't believe how much different the room looks having two bookcases flank the sides of the sofa. I didn't take a photo that really shows it, but it's an amazing difference. I will try to post a before and after.

However, adding the bookcase meant rearranging the furniture, so I came up with this layout. I really like the positioning and the addition of the "S". It makes that little reading nook with the wing back chair really come together and look finished. The whole house is really starting to look more finished. I'm still looking for a piece of art to put between the "S" and Audrey... Any suggestions?? Maybe a small cluster of framed objects?On a side note, last week we put on a big event at work and we found these bottles of champagne with amazing bonus ice jackets for Veuve Clicquot. The bummer is that the store only had one left and we had hoped to get 2. Getting to have this again at the event solidified my thoughts that this is the best tasting champagne!

This week, my boss surprised me by buying me a bottle with an ice jacket as a gift for all my hard work in putting on the event! I'm so excited to have this ice jacket to keep on our bar. Isn't this the most amazing packaging ever? Love this ice jacket! So very cute and practical... Tres French.

Boo!

Aren't these pumpkins scary?

I hope everyone had a Happy Halloween!!

Ta da!

When I was in NYC, I had the pleasure of meeting Dan Leader. Dan is the owner/baker for Bread Alone in New York. He was kind enough to give me a copy of his cookbook 'Local Breads' and even autographed it for me!

In return, I promised to use it to further my New Year's Resolution of becoming an excellent bread baker. His advice was to start out with the 4 Hour Baguette. I do love a good baguette, so I figured I would give it a try.

However, I was a little apprehensive about making a baguette because I've read up pretty extensively on it. Julia Child has an incredibly detailed account in her cookbooks. When I read her memoir I nearly died hearing about how her original method included a block of asbestos in order to produce the heat needed, in addition to steam, which produces the most authentic texture. Obviously, I am not located in France, nor do I have a baker's wood fired oven at my disposal, so I'm a slave to what I have available to me as a home baker. Hence, feeling a little nervous about how to get a good quality turn out.

Turns out, I needn't have worried. Other cookbooks have a lot of technical jargon about them. This is where Julia's methods start getting scary. Dan's book was super straight forward and I really appreciated it!

I like the idea of a 4 Hour Baguette. His time line is spelled out and I followed along pretty dang accurately. The start of the process is the least time consuming. Nigella Lawson would consider it "quick, cook slow", meaning that you spend a little time prepping it and then it does its own thing. This gets you through the dough prep, fermentation and first rising. I was able to eat lunch and do some laundry in between bread steps. Then things start to get more hands on. And fun.

Steven was kind enough to photograph for me:

Here I am starting to shape the dough:

The rolling creates the seamless shape of the baguette. I had no idea that there are special techniques for this. All handily spelled out with diagrams in the book.

Lovely cookbook!
Finally, all risen and ready for baking. I slashed those marks quickly and confidently! (Seriously- that's what it says to do)...
Finally, after some not-so-patiently waiting I was rewarded with some delicious looking loaves of bread.

I was worried that my oven wouldn't be big enough to accommodate the cast iron skillet (where you put some ice in to create the steam) and the baking stone, but it worked out. However, my baguettes didn't fit on my stone so I had to improvise. I have a bigger stone which I will use next time. I ended up just placing my baking sheet on the stone directly instead of using it to transfer the bread to the stone. I improvised and it turned out ok. Next time I will know what to do better.
Not too bad for a little Sunday project! I even managed a craft project between risings. More on that when I hang it up tomorrow. I'm going downstairs to enjoy some spoils of my bread victory!

It's Halloween Time!!

I'm going to go out on a limb here and make a generalized statement: Fall is my FAVORITE season. Seriously. I love all things about it. Apples, Pumpkins, putting up decorations, having a great excuse to eat candy, seeing adorable costumes when I answer the door, days getting cooler and shorter, wearing tights and boots, crispy leaves and cider!

This is the time before the threat of snow, red cups at Starbucks and holiday madness. This is the time when we harvest and enjoy relaxing with each other, have dinner parties and don't have to worry about turning on the oven and start canning.

I don't have any photos of our house all decorated yet because I'm still working out what to put where- it is like all my decorations are new and I'm trying to decide where to put what. I also have a large porch to decorate and I'm waiting on my pumpkins before I take photos. Speaking of photos...

I just got these photos from my Mom. Hi Mom! Mom has her own pumpkin patch, which we've visited before, but this year she harvested for us. This is a cell phone pic and I'm blown away by the colors and composition. Good Job Mom!

Isn't this walkway at Mom's house adorable?? I can't wait to see it in person.
More Fall and Halloween time photos to come from me. For now, I'm going to have an apple and relax!