Modern House Minimalist Design

Try as I might, I have finally come to terms with the fact that I can only manage to shop at one store each week.  And that has to be Publix.  So, after looking around for another solution for organic, local fruits and veggies, I have signed up at Nature’s Garden Delivered . They deliver natural and organically grown seasonal fruits and veggies (and other great meats, cheeses, milks and spices) right to your doorstep!  There are a few different ways to customize your box – fruits only, veggies only, mix of both in large, medium and small sizes.  I went with the medium box and have it delivered every other week for $45.  Our first box had celery, onions, rocky rose potatoes (divine), pink lady apples, red grapefruit, anjou pears, red peppers, green squash, honey tangerines, bananas, tomatoes, red russian kale, green leave lettuce and green onions!  Everything was fresh and delish!  We used every.single.thing. in the box by the time the next one came and...

SPOILER ALET: Please tell me I’m not the only one that didn’t know the handsome and enviable Matthew was going to be killed off in the season finale of Downton Abbey?!?! I mean, I really cannot come up with words to express my supreme disappointment. I immediately booted up my computer to find some answers – I mean WHY would they do that??? Well, it seems he wanted off the show and that was their only way to make it happen. UGH. I have just five words for him… the grass is always greener. Speaking of Downton, did you see the fantastic party printables at Tatertots & Jello ? I wish I’d had a good reason to use them but it seemed a little over the top (even for me) to string them up around my bedroom while I laid here by myself to watch the finale. The student council at the PCP’s school sold lollipop Valentine’s to be delivered on the big day.  The PCP sent a few to kids in his class and besties in other classes and came home with one himself…  From our family friend Jacob:...

I spent last Friday night sipping on wine and tasting all sorts of divine chocolates with blonde AW. She brought over the treats as a “working dinner” to discuss her up and coming foodie blog and, I must say, it was quite likely the best girls-night-in I’ve ever had! The Mo’s Dark Bar (laden with bacon) was like a dream come true, and the salted chowchilla almond bar was simply to die for.  All were from Whole Foods.  What’s truly ironic about me blabbering on about chocolate is that I went the first twenty-nine years of my life not liking the stuff.  I strangely started craving it when I was pregnant with John and have loved it ever since.  (As an aside, I craved Chick-fil-A milkshakes with Whit, gained an obscene amount of weight both times and had humungous 8 and 9 pound babies.  I’m pretty sure I read somewhere that your body craves what it needs.  And my body obvi needed chocolate cakes, pies, bars, doughnuts and milkshakes.) This would make a fabulou...

Although the littles stayed up with us to usher in the new year, it was a relatively quite night over all.  And this first day of January in the South brought dreary skies and the tenth anniversary of our traditional New Year’s Day eats.      I adore the juxtaposition of a little grit and a lot of glam, so silver, crystal and candlelight glittered over a simple length of burlap on the table.  I pulled last year’s Bonne Annee kraft paper pennant out for another go round. Sister and her Mister made the delish pork roast and Honey and I made the rest of our standard fare – hoppin john for luck, bourbon bacon greens (I substitute turnips) for wealth, honey cornbread muffins, the Pirate's House pecan pie (recipe here) , sweet tea and champagne.   Hoppin John 1 c celery chopped 2 sweet onions chopped 1 green pepper chopped 6 slices bacon, ham pieces or ham bone - cooked Salt and pepper to taste (about 1 tsp and 1/2 tsp respectively) 1 c uncooked rice can of ch...

I’ve had a few emails about the oreo cake from the baby’s birthday party and thought I’d take a few minutes to share the details as this was SO easy and would be perfect for a new year’s soiree! Helpful hints: To fit on my standard 11” cake pedestal, I used three packages of Oreos for the two tiered “cake”.  I stacked six layers per tier.  You will want to stack cookies in the center too so it’s an entire “cake” of oreos.  Be warned that this would be tremendously hard to move so I would make the cake where you want it to end up.  In the future, I would use a dot of icing to “glue” the layers together.  This would definitely make it more stable. I carefully stuck the sparklers almost all the way through the top center cookie before placing it on the cake. I used the red filled holiday cookies, but this would be darling in white too!  Now, go forth and make the easiest cake you’ll ever do! xoxo

Right up until the eleventh hour, the PCP had requested rice krispie treats for his birthday snack at school.  And then, at the very last minute, he decided that he “actually” doesn’t like rice krispie treats (huh?  I’m questioning his parentage right about now seeing as Honey and I can tear through a pan in about twenty minutes flat.)  Instead, he wanted to take popcorn in for his class.  (This is the same child that took yogurt in one year.)  As soon as he said it, I remembered a birthday cake popcorn I read about a while back and I couldn’t wait to re-create it!  I'm also thinking this could be a great alternative for kids with allergies! Birthday Cake Popcorn (24 servings) 5 - 3oz. bags of microwave popcorn, popped.  I went all out here and bought the kind with so much faux butter that it pops yellow. white chocolate candy melts – I used an entire 12oz. bag plus about half of another bag that I already had open a little canola oil (or whatever yo...

First things first, thank you to all who thought about and prayed for Bird yesterday.  He has a way to go on his recovery but is relaxing at home on his sofa with Sister, her Mister, Mother and Daddy-O tending to his every need.  As much as Cookie and I wanted to go visit, we think he needs a few more days to rest up for their usual playtime shenanigans.  Keep praying for clean biopsy results over the next couple of days. Now, while cold, windy weather is not my favorite time of the year (as I type my porch curtains are blowing like crazy and my garage door is creaking something awful), I DO enjoy snuggling up in front of a cozy fire with a hot beverage and my cherry pit pac .  These are a few of my favorites… I am admittedly far from a coffee connoisseur, but Keurig Pumpkin Spice with a generous glug of Bailey’s Creme Brulee creamer is a pretty decadent start to my fall mornings.  Thanks bestie C for introducing me to this last fall! On the other hand, I do d...

We kicked off October and our month full of Tricks and Treats with pizza night! We make pizza at home a LOT and I always use Publix’s whole wheat bakery pizza dough and whatever sauce I have on hand.  To make the ghosts, slice fresh mozzarella cheese, cut with a cookie cutter and add olive chunk eyes.  Bake according to the directions on your dough.  Note that I blanked on the whole fresh mozzarella thing this year and used pre-sliced regular mozzarella…the ghosts were barely discernable once it baked so definitely go with the fresh and start with nice thick slices before you cut with the cookie cutter. The littles helped bake up a super spooky dessert pizza earlier in the afternoon.  We pressed sugar cookie dough into the bottom of our pan, added food coloring to cake icing to turn it a gross greenish brown, topped with crushed oreo “dirt” and then decorated with sour gummy worms.  We each had a small slice and then I promptly plated the rest to give to some ...

After having Mother here for a week tending to all of our meals, I had to reorient myself with the kitchen to turn out breakfast this morning.  I fell immediately in lust with Cooking Light’s Chocolate Hazelnut Banana Bread when flipping through the October issue and shockingly had every ingredient on hand! Chocolate Hazelnut Banana Bread (slightly edited from the original to exclude the nuts) 5 tablespoons Nutella 3 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon canola oil, divided 3 tablespoons butter, softened 1/2 cup packed brown sugar 2 medium ripe bananas 2 large eggs 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 3/4 teaspoon baking soda 1/2 teaspoon baking powder 1/2 teaspoon salt 2/3 cup whole buttermilk Baking spray with flour (such as Baker's Joy) 1 ounce bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped 1. Preheat oven to 350°. 2. Combine chocolate-hazelnut spread and 1 teaspoon oil in a microwave-safe dish; microwave at HIGH for 30 seconds or until melted. Stir. Combine 3 tablespoons oil, butter, brown sugar, and b...

The PCP had his very first test last Friday– in spelling!  We practiced all week using flash cards, with me calling out words, and by playing games and taking practice tests on Spelling City .  So, the night before the big test we had a little “Spelling is Fun” themed supper.  This all came to fruition as I was making my weekly Publix / Trader Joe’s run and spied Spaghetti O’s from A to Z.  Let’s just go ahead and say that, while it was cute, this meal was far from gourmet… A black and white gingham fabric remnant made for a cute table runner and I pulled out my Dollar Tree letter magnets to decorate the table. The aforementioned Spaghetti O’s from A-Z made for a kid-tested mother-approved quick fix entree.  Toasted whole wheat bread was cut into each person’s first initial.  Trader Joe’s alphabet cookies made for sweet place cards!   We had so much fun trying to make words out of the letters in each spoonful! Trader Joe’s alphabet cookies and milk se...

The PCP’s teacher professed to be a huge Alabama fan and to love baking so, with football kicking off, I put together a cute little themed treat for her. I put Honey’s extensive sports knowledge to the test by quizzing him on Alabama’s colors, mascot and logo and then pulled together everything Mrs. B will need to bake cupcakes for her team this football season. I lucked out with some serious sales and the grand total for the gift rang up to under eight dollars. The sprinkles and cupcake liners are from Michael’s and the basket is from Dollar Tree. I created labels for the Crimson Cake, Fan Frosting and Spirit Sprinkles and made a set of four different cupcake flags.  (Thanks Mother for cutting them all out!)     And because I did all this work and don’t know a single other Alabama fan, I thought I’d share it out here in the event that any of y’all roll with tide (or whatever it is Alabama fans say.)  :-) Alabama Cupcakes Right before we handed it over I thought to...