Manic Monday

So I fully intended to post yesterday evening about the recipes I made for Thanksgiving... and our Christmas decorations... and our new apartment layout... and generally what's been happening with life... but we ended up heading out to do some Christmas shopping as soon as I got off work, and didn't get home until late.

I would promise a post today, but I'm teaching this evening, and then making some curtains, so it will most likely be tomorrow.

BUT!!! It will be a mind blowing post :)

Recipes I'll be sharing:
Parmesan Roasted Butternut Squash
Potato Gratin with Mushrooms and Gruyere
Maple Torte
AND from last night's dinner... Butternut Squash Orzo with Parmesan. (completely unrelated to the first recipe... I just really like the butternut and parmesan combo.)

ALSO! I'll be sharing pictures of some crafty projects I'm working on... as well as some AMAZING vintage finds from McCart thrift :)

 In the meantime, I love you all! Have a fabulous Tuesday!

xoxo
schmash

Thanksgiving fail?

So, who actually expected me to post those recipes on Thanksgiving day? Not me. haha. It was worth a shot though!

But I'm going to make it up to you! Here's the tour of our apartment (the new setup), and our Christmas decorations!

 

Yay!

Nut and Bee.

omgaaaaaaah.

I just found the CUTEST shop on etsy. Maybe it's just my style, but I LOVE these cute prints! Some of them are really too precious, and others are cracking me up! Someone please buy me EVERYTHING in here. K thx.

nutandbee etsy shop

nutandbee website

 

I mean, seriously. What's not to like???

Thanksgiving

That's right, it's already here! Since I've been so fail at posting the last week, I'm going to preempt my post-feast laziness by giving you a preview of the recipes that I WILL be posting tomorrow. Possibly after a nap. No, definitely after a nap.

That way I can't back out and just NOT post! My plan is foolproof, and my logic is flawless, I know.

What I'll be making tomorrow:

Potato Gratin with Mushrooms and Gruyere

link

Parmesan Roasted Butternut Squash

link

Coriander Roasted Cauliflower

(from a previous post)

Maple Cake (minus walnuts)

link

Let the feasting begin!! I can't wait. Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday!

A little sunshine for ya :)

Ok, so I fail on the posting this weekend/week. I've got a BUNCH of pictures to share with y'all, when I get my camera back from Mom on Thursday. Until then, please enjoy this video. It makes me smile and crack up laughing :)

Love love love!

I just had to post this necklace. I'm in love with it.

Trapeze Artist Necklace

It's so lovely! I just couldn't resist showing y'all :)

I've also followed a lot of fun new blogs recently, you should check them out!

xoxo
schmash

Pictures!

Here is the slideshow! I'll be posting some of my favorites when we get the digitals. Brad is such a genius, he really captured who we are! I love these pictures, I'm so excited we've got some current ones. Enjoy :)

http://garybradford.zenfolio.com/p248933035/slideshow

Happy Friday!

I caught my microwave on fire right before work! Weeee!

It's cool. I smothered it, and opened the windows to let the apartment air out. It's kind of freezing outside though... so I tossed another blanket into the puppies' crate before I ran out the door. They like to snuggle, plus, they have fur coats. They'll be great.

In other, non-combustible news, I'm working on some tshirt designs for a startup nonprofit called Love Help Teach. It's aimed at providing living necessities (shoes, shelter, food), education and medical services to the children of a Roma (gypsy) village in the Ukraine.

The foundation is being started by a friend from work's aunt and uncle, who travel to the village several times a year. The process of starting the foundation began when they were unable to adopt a little girl from this village, but wanted to improve her (and all the other children's) quality of life. Their main focus is children, but they do provide for the needs of adolescents and adults in the community as well.

They do not, as of yet, have an official website, but I'm going to get as much information as possible from my friend at work, and I'll be updating about the foundation (as well as posting design ideas) along the way.

For an article with basic information on the Roma people, and their history and presence in Ukraine, see this article.

I know, it's wikipedia, but if you're careful to check the sources cited and use other references to verify the veracity of the article, wikipedia can be a great tool. Anyways, this isn't a research paper, this is my blog. So there.

Thrifty Love and Delicious Wednesday

I finally remembered to grab my camera from my parents' house yesterday!

So here you go, a couple of the thrift treasures I picked up this weekend with Michelle Coiner! Lovely, lovey vintage green polka dot wrap dress:

 

Even though I really suck at tying bows... I love the bow detail. I think that's my favorite part :)

This lovely bag, which, I'm not sure is actually vintage, but is gorgeous and the perfect size for me to carry me around every day.

 You can already see I've stuffed more "stuff" into it than it was every meant to carry... but eh, what can I say? I like my stuff.

And HERE.... drumroll please... is what I made for dinner tonight! Creamy chorizo and chicken soup! Adapted from this recipe.

I tweaked just a little... I sauteed the chicken with onion, and I scaled the recipe down a bit so it wouldn't make such a huge batch (it still made a TON!!). The chorizo I bought was pretty spicy, so I omitted the mexican stewed tomatoes, and I added a can of corn.

I think it would be really easy to make vegetarian, or even vegan. Instead of using chorizo, add a can of tomato paste, and instead of chicken, use tofu. If you live somewhere that doesn't have a ton of hispanic influence... coughcough.... Australia... you'd be able to add a teaspoon of paprika and cumin, and you'd be good to go with much the same flavor!

And one of my personal favorite ways to eat cauliflower... coriander roasted!

1 head cauliflower, rinsed and cut into florets
2 Tbsp. EVOO
1 tsp. truffle oil (or not... I just like the taste!)
2 tsp. ground coriander
1 tsp. paprika
1/2 tsp. cumin
pinch nutmeg

After rinsing and cutting the cauliflower, pat dry and set aside.

Combine oils and spices in a glass bowl or jar, let sit for at least half an hour.

Preheat oven to 425. Line a baking pan with foil. Toss cauliflower with oil and spice mixture to coat thoroughly, spread on baking sheet. Bake for 20 min, turn cauliflower, bake additional 10 minutes, or until crispy.

Voila! Enjoy :)

xoxo
schmash

Photos!

We just did a photo shoot with the ever-incredible Brad Martens, of Gary Bradford Photography.

We haven't had pictures done since... oh... our wedding... so we thought it was about time! Brad's work is absolutely stunning, so I can't wait to see what he does with our pictures. We went downtown and did a lot of urban, rooftop kind of stuff. I can't wait to see them!

I'll post previews as soon as I get them, but in the meantime, you should check out his website and get a sneak peak of the awesomeness that is in store!

Gary Bradford Photography

Do it!


xoxo
schmash

Thrift Weekend

Had a LOVELY time thrifting with Michelle Coiner this weekend! I found LOTS of lovely things, which I will share with you when I get my camera back from Mom :)

Also... lots and lots of cooking yesterday. Salted caramels, roasted winter vegetables, baked turkey meatballs, and red velvet cake. I don't think I'll post pictures of those... as they disappeared at the dinner party for which they were created! I'll post recipes when I post pics of the thrift loot!

Thinking about steering the blog in a crafty/handmade/cooking direction... thoughts?