Archive for the ‘books’ Category

I’ve had a few projects on the brain lately that I finally completed this weekend.  Oh how I love three day weekends.

This pillow that I had seen in this book.  It is not a crafty/pattern book.  It’s more of a lifestyle book.  How to really live at home.  I have gotten several ideas for decorating and simplifying in this book.  I used some of my favorite fabric and linen.  My first time working with linen and I have to say that I love it.  I struggled forever trying to do an invisible stitch and just finally gave up.  I couldn’t quite ever make the knot big enough to not pull right through the linen.  And if you haven’t picked up a copy of this book yet, you really should.  It’s one of my favorites.

I also made some cafe curtains for my kitchen window.

Adds a spash of color to the kitchen and ties in the red from the rest of the house. I’ve been wanting to add some orangey-red (official name) to this space and it just feels right.

For my birthday I was given this sweet mixed media art piece by a wonderful friend.  She’s a scrap booking genius and has started making and will soon be selling her work.  I’ll keep you all posted on this.  She has an etsy shop in the works.  The quote above the owl says “The art of being wise is knowing what to over look.” Wise words.  Very wise indeed.  Sarah and I were talking about our knee jerk reaction to situations.  A constant work in progress for me.  This sweet picture will remind me of that everyday.

It’s beginning to feel a lot like August. Summer in Central Texas can be sweltering. It’s hot, hot, hot. So this time of year we spend as much time outside as possible. Right now it seems like everything is pollinating, birds are migrating, flowers are blooming and the bugs are out with a vengeance. We have these oak trees that surround our property. We are literally engulfed in cedar and oak trees so depending upon the time of year our allergies are irritated. The oak trees are pollinating as we speak. There is a bright green presence lurking throughout the countryside and stuck onto everything.

Also, right now we have these wormy things dropping from the oak trees. In fact, it’s so icky when you walk under an oak tree you are engulfed in their webs. Now I’m sure they aren’t worms and I’m even more positive they aren’t web building worms, but it sure does feel like it. I think they are caterpillars building their cocoons. Nonetheless, I wish it weren’t where we spend most of our time. So now we are sitting under the cedar trees. Thank goodness it’s not cedar fever season.

Amidst all of nature taking its course, we still managed to get outside.

Make a few wishes.

Read Amanda’s new book. Oh, how we need a bigger blanket.

Pick flowers.

And build a fairy house. Yep, you guessed it… under the big wormy webby oak tree. The rest of the time was spent looking for decorating accents for the fairies. Of course they’d like fresh flowers to come home to. Then it was off to hunt through the yard searching for fairies. Maybe we need a vacancy sign.

The house is quiet, except for the pitter-patter of tiny toddler footsteps and voices. All family is now home safe in the comfort of their own homes. As I sit and look around at the devastation around my house, the piles of laundry yet to be done and the presents yet to find a home I sip from my glass of Beaujolais Nouveau red wine, take a deep breath and relax. Home.

This evening we quickly bathed and tucked the kids into bed since they haven’t made their bedtimes in say… about a week. For Christmas, Miles got me a fabulous cookbook that I would very highly recommend to anyone and everyone. The book, My French Kitchen, is written by Joanne Harris who is the author of Chocolat, one of my all time favorite movies. The recipes are simple although you do have to go to Whole Foods to find some ingredients like fresh tarragon. The photography is exquisite and the selections are divine. From creme brulee, ratatoullie (no, it’s not just a movie) and spinach gnocchi. The list goes on and on. Tonight I drug Miles into the kitchen to teach him a thing or two. He was in charge of the chopping of the vegetables and in the middle of dicing the shallots, with tears in his eyes, told me how overwhelmed and grateful he was with the meal. Funny guy.

Together we made filet mignon with a tarragon cream sauce on top of a portobello mushroom served with a side of roasted asparagus spears and sliced baguette. The entire process took 20 minutes. Need I say anything else?

That’s a Texas winter right there my dear friends. It will stay pretty mild here for most of the winter, with a few days really cold and a few days unseasonably warm. This is the view from my kitchen window where I spent part of the afternoon making oatmeal cookies for my book club that came over last night. Sorry I don’t have a fancy recipe for you. I used the recipe from the Quaker Oats box and it was just perfect. It’s the simple things that are the most rewarding.

These cute little guys are my vintage Santa and Mrs. Claus salt and pepper shakers set. They were given to me from my Mema. They sit there and watch over me as I attempt to create our own holiday traditions.

Book club. A good evening with great friends. Using books as an excuse to get together. Shhhh… don’t tell anyone our little secret. Sharing hopes and dreams. Using this night as a recluse. To reinvigorate and rejuvenate the soul. To discuss world issues and solve them from our perch. We are reading The Memory Keepers Daughter by Kim Edwards if anyone wants to read along with us.

Thanks to Amanda over at SouleMama for suggesting Apples for Jam. This is probably the most beautiful cookbook I have ever owned. The vintage pictures combined with her eloquent writing about childhood and recreating those moments is worth the cost alone. Not to mention there are great recipes included. Check it out for yourself!

Ummmm….. it’s Sunday and I’m up at 6 am. What’s wrong with me? Stinkin’ daylight savings time. Ugh.

The UPS man showed up today with BOOKS! I’m so excited I can’t even begin to explain it. So I recently learned about a new book by Jessica Seinfeld titled Deceptively Delicious. The book is full of recipes and tips on how to get your kids to eat their veggies. She suggests you steam your veggies, puree them and then mix them in to all kinds of foods. I went right out to buy a steamer and get steaming. I try and try to get my kids to eat veggies. The only way these kids are going to eat veggies is if I fool them.

Let me tell you that the book is fabulous. It is full of great recipes like pink pancakes which includes pureed beets, spaghetti sauce with pureed carrots and zucchini, chocolate chip cupcakes with pureed pumpkin and yellow squash. Need I say anymore?!? I do know there is some drama about another book just like this that is alleging that this book is just like another book already published. To be honest with you, I don’t care who published this book. I’m just happy to have found a veggie solution!

So tonight I dove right in and made my spaghetti sauce recipe but added the carrots and zucchini. I even used the sauce in the eggplant parmigiana. I fooled everyone! Not only will my kids not eat veggies but Miles is the worst. His mother warned me when we were newlyweds that I would have to puree his veggies for his stuffing at holidays or he wouldn’t eat it. He will pick out every little piece of crunchy vegetable if he can find it. He has gotten better after ten years of marriage but it’s still an effort.

Keegan ate two bowls of spaghetti, Makena finished hers and Miles ate it too! Unbelievable! Miles said he couldn’t tell the difference. I will continue to use this book as a reference and simply stand back and smile as everyone eats their veggies.