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Showing posts from 2014

Neighbor Holiday Gift.

I have to say this is one of my very favorite things to eat: chips and salsa. It is my dear friend, Betsy's recipe. She made it for my family a few years back for a Christmas neighbor gift, and I had to ask for the recipe, because it was that good. (Not to mention it was completely refreshing to have a non sweet goodie gift for the holidays. I didn't feel like I was gaining a ton of weight by eating this. And you won't either!) I made it for our neighbors, and I thought it turned out so cute with the red/green chips and cute polka dot ribbon... and it doesn't hurt that the salsa itself is red and green! Betsy's Salsa Ingredients : 1 lg. can of crushed tomatoes 1 bunch green onions, chopped 1/2 bunch cilantro 1 small can diced green chilies garlic salt, to taste Directions : Blend all ingredients except garlic salt in a blender or food processor. Add garlic salt to taste. (Don't be shy with the garlic salt.) Serve with your favorite

Sewing: Jungle Baby Set

A friend asked me to make her a set of burp cloths and a taggy blanket for a baby gift. She wanted a jungle theme. I had a lot of fun looking at fabrics online (where I do all my fabric shopping nowadays). These are the ones I ended up choosing: an elephant, citron green scribble, and alligator print from Ed Emberley's Happy Drawing collection. I love them. I bought green minky for the blanket and some assorted ribbons from Hobby Lobby in green, bright blue, and gray. (Finding ribbons that looked jungle-y was harder than I thought it'd be. The geometric ones reminded me of the alligators and felt tribal for some reason, so I went with them!)  I love the blue birds sitting on the alligators' backs. And here they are all bundled up and ready to ship out to a sweet mama to be. I have to say that sewing for babies and their mamas makes me really happy. And looking at these adorable prints almost makes me want to have another baby! (Almost.)  ;)

Recipe Share: Roasted Chicken with Balsamic Vinaigrette and Roasted Baby Potatoes with Herbs

These are Giada DeLaurentiis recipes that are so tasty! I always make them together, (the way she suggests), as they compliment each other so well and they both bake for the same amount of time at the same degrees. If you have people in your family who are weary of eating chicken off the bone and with skin, I suggest making the chicken as directed, then pulling the chicken from the bone, removing the skin, and serving it that way. (I've tried marinating boneless, skinless breasts and cooking them, but it doesn't taste as good.) Isn't this meal pretty? The food is just as delicious as it looks! ROASTED CHICKEN WITH BALSAMIC VINAIGRETTE 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice 2 garlic cloves, chopped 2 tablespoons olive oil Salt and freshly ground black pepper 1 (4-pound) whole chicken, cut into pieces (giblets, neck and backbone reserved for another use) 1/2 cup low-salt chicken broth 1 teaspoon lemon zest 1 tablespoon chopped

Avery's Ariel party!

Things have been a bit crazy at our house lately, as we are preparing to move in a few days! We knew Avery girl's birthday was coming up though and she'd been talking about having an Ariel party for quite a while now. I decided Tuesday of this past week to throw a party together for her since her birthday was yesterday! Somehow, I got it all done. I think I work well with a short time limit - I make decisions faster, and I am able to simplify (well at least a little bit). Here's a photo of Ariel I used for color inspiration in planning this party. I originally thought I'd use turquoise, purple, and yellow (for Flounder) in the color scheme. But as I started gathering what I'd found around my house (the seahorses) and from Target and such, I quickly realized that I wanted to stick with purple and turquoise with white as the neutral. I took these few photos the night before the party when I was staging the food table. I didn't do a whole lot for décor.