Friday, September 30, 2011

Pumpkin Spice Creme Brulee

Creme Brulee is Davy's favorite dessert.  Here is a fun Fall twist on the recipe.

Courtesy of bhg.com

Pumpkin Spice Creme Brulee

Ingredients
  • 2 cups whipping cream (no substitutes)
  • 3 egg yolks, lightly beaten
  • 2 eggs, lightly beaten
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1/2 cup canned pumpkin
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon ground ginger
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
  • 10 baby pumpkins*
  • 1/4 cup sugar

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a small saucepan, heat whipping cream over medium heat just until bubbly. Remove from heat; set aside.
2. Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, combine egg yolks, eggs, the 1/2 cup sugar, pumpkin, cinnamon, ginger, salt, and cloves. Beat with a whisk or rotary beater just until combined. Slowly whisk the hot whipping cream into the egg mixture.
3. Use a small serrated knife to cut off the top 1/2-inch of the baby pumpkins. Discard the tops. Use a spoon to scoop out the seeds.
4. Place the pumpkins in a roasting pan. Divide custard mixture evenly among the pumpkins. Place roasting pan on oven rack. Pour enough boiling water into the roasting pan to reach halfway up the sides of the pumpkins.
5. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes or until centers appear nearly set when gently shaken. Carefully remove pan from oven. Remove pumpkins from water; cool on a wire rack. Cover and chill for at least 1 hour or up to 8 hours.
6. Before serving, let custards stand at room temperature for 20 minutes. **Meanwhile, for caramelized sugar: in a heavy 8-inch skillet, heat the 1/4 cup sugar over medium-high heat until sugar begins to melt, shaking skillet occasionally to heat sugar evenly. Do not stir. Once sugar starts to melt, reduce heat to low; cook 3 to 5 minutes more or until all of the sugar is melted and golden brown, stirring as needed with a wooden spoon.
7. Quickly drizzle caramelized sugar over the custards. (If sugar starts to harden in the skillet, return to heat, stirring until melted.) Serve immediately. Makes 10 filled pumpkins or 6 custard cups.
* Instead of the pumpkins, you can use six 3/4-cup souffle dishes or 6-ounce custard cups. Place the souffle dishes or custard cups in a 13x9x2-inch baking pan.
**Culinary Torch Method: Instead of caramelizing the sugar in the skillet as directed in steps 6 and 7, sprinkle sugar evenly over custards. Use a culinary torch to caramelize the sugar.


Thursday, September 29, 2011

Minky Blankets

With Lindsay having a girl, it gave me the perfect chance to make her a darling minky blanket with fabric from The Quilting Cottage.  If you haven't been there, you must go.  It is by the AF Tabernacle and has the cutest fabric.  Hobby Lobby has a great selection of minky as well as Broadbents in Lehi.

To begin, buy 1 1/4 yards of flannel and 1 1/3 yards of minky.  (The minky comes in a wider width).  You want your minky to be about 3-4 inches wider all the way around than the flannel.  Lay the minky on the ground right side down.  Lay flannel on top, right side up, centering on the minky.  Make sure you have 3-4 inches extra minky all the way around.  Trim if necessary.


Starting in the middle of one side, fold over minky, tucking in raw edge and pin.  Hem should be about 2 to 2 1/2 inches.  Continue around blanket.


At corner, pin tuck to make a 45 degree angle.  Pin entire blanket.  Machine sew along the inside 1/4 inch of the minky hem and sew up the 45 degree line to secure the blanket.


Pick some image on the flannel that repeats and stitch it like shown with the bunny.  This will keep the blanket together when washing.  Repeat for each image.


Here is the finished project.  I love how it turned out, and it was a great surprise for Lindsay.  It really is easy to sew for yourself.  Don't be afraid and email me with any questions!


You can use your extra material to make a mini version for a cuddle blanket!

Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Love my new curtains


So here are my new curtains from World Market.  I purchased them at 20% off plus a $10 off purchase, and got them for $50.  The stripe ties in perfectly with my color scheme.


I got a new double rod from Lowes and textured sheers from Bed Bath and Beyond.  Using my two coupons with the sale price, I only paid $20 for the sheers!  I can't believe what a difference the curtains make in the room.  They were a relatively inexpensive upgrade and so worth it!  Thank you World Market for the inspiration!

Tuesday, September 27, 2011

A backsplash for your kitchen


Thanks to our loyal follower Jodi for this tutorial on tiling your kitchen backsplash.  This is her beautiful kitchen!!  We absolutely love how the backsplash ties in so well with the cabinets and counters.  It makes the kitchen!!


So if you want to do your own backsplash, here's a picture of what you'll need as you follow the directions below.  Again, thanks Jodi!

Tiling your Kitchen Backsplash (with staggered mosaic tile sheets)
Step 1: Shopping
Tiles.  Pick out your tile!  I went with staggered mosaic tile backsplash sheets from The Home Depot .  (“Bling!” 1/3” French Palace Stone/Glass) 10.98 per sheet.  We used 30 sheets.  **Using other forms of tiles, like individual subway tiles, has a few different steps… like the need of placing spacers between tiles.
             Adhesive (pre-mixed) or mastic (you mix). I went with pre-mixed Adhesive.  
             A v-notched trowel
             A float
             Grout (pre-mixed or you can mix it yourself).  I bought the pre-mixed Grout.  If you mix mastic and grout yourself, you need a heavy duty stick and bucket, or a power drill with metal utility mixer, and bucket.  One small pre-mixed bucket was just barely enough for our kitchen – any bigger and you would have needed more, in which case, it would have made more sense to mix the grout myself from a bag.
             Caulk (I got the matching sanded caulk, which matched my pre-mixed grout).
             Stone sealer (only if using tiles with natural stone, like travertine).          
Big sponge and bucket (additional rags to wipe excess adhesive or grout).
             Painters tape
             Electric outlet extenders
Borrow or rent a wet saw.  I rented one at the Home Depot.  They have a rental shop on site so you can borrow at any time during store hours. Cost was $37 plus tax for 24 hours.  You can also rent for 4 hours for less $.  (They do sell smaller “dry” saws, or tile cutters, for $20-$90, but are better used for only specific tiles, whereas a wet saw can cut any tile well).
Step 2:  Prep
Determine if your countertop is level.  Luckily ours was.  If yours is not level, you will need to use spacers on the countertop where additional height is needed (otherwise, it could be way crooked by the time you reach the cabinet).
Tape down cardboard or protective paper on your countertop.
Pull out your stove and push aside.  Drill a piece of wood level from one counter-top to the other counter top behind stove so your tiles do not slide down when drying.
Draw a straight vertical line with your pencil on both ends of the countertops to determine tile starting and ending points.
Unscrew all of your outlet face plates.  (I recommend putting in the extenders before tiling!)
Set up wet saw.
Find a partner, which makes it much easier. J 
 Step 3:  Begin tiling
Apply adhesive to the wall in a small working area with your v-trowel (apply only in the area you are currently working, so say, per sheet size) about 1/8 inch thick. 
                Start from countertop and work up.
Begin applying sheets of tiles and press into adhesive.  (Use float to push tiles into adhesive if needed). When you get close to outlets, hold up the sheets to determine which tiles you need to remove from the mesh backing around the outlets; using a utility knife, cut off those tiles w/mesh.  Then adhere that sheet to the wall. The rest of the individual tiles around the outlets will need to be cut with your wet saw one by one!  Hold up the individual tiles to the gaps you need to fill and use a pencil to mark where you need to cut the tiles.  (Some cuts are very small and scary with small tiles! Travertine stone cuts more easily, glass can shatter and so you may need to try a couple of tiles before it’s a perfect cut).   As expected, this is the toughest part.  Not too hard, but tedious work, and knowledge and comfort using a saw. 
                You may also need to cut your last row of tiles directly under your cabinets, which we did (consider yourself lucky if your sheets line up close).  For us, they were narrow and thus more close one by one cuts, and placing each tile individually. 
For all one-by-one cuts, you will need to “backbutter” (apply adhesive to back like you would do buttering toast) those individual tiles with adhesive and place in your desired location.
It took us about 6-8 hours to do all of the tiling. 
You need to let your tiles and adhesive dry for 24 hours before grouting.
Step 4:  Grout
Use your float to grout.  Scoop up grout and begin spreading into cracks.  Then at an angle, push the grout further into cracks.  Once again, work in a small working area.  Wipe away excess grout with a wet sponge (get a bucket of water, and wring out sponge before use).  You don’t want to wipe too much group away so as to pull it out of the cracks, so you may need to go over a spot several times with your clean damp sponge. 
Step 5:  Caulk
Very important to caulk along the base of your tile at the countertop.  Also under your cabinets and along your outside edges. 
Step 6: Seal    
If using any mosaics with natural stone, apply stone sealer as per directions.
ENJOY your hard and beautiful work! 

Monday, September 26, 2011

Pumpkins, Pumpkins


Maceys has a great price on pumpkins, $.19 per pound.  I found all mine there and love them.


They also have great bumpy ones.  Had to talk my kids into these.  Love Fall!!

Friday, September 23, 2011

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

I'd never made pumpkin chocolate chip cookies and wanted an easy, good recipe that turns out...thanks to my sister in law Melissa I found one! 

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies
1 1/2 cups canned pumpkin
1/2 cup butter
1 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 egg
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
 1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1 cup chocolate chips

Mix ingredients and drop on a greased cookie sheet (dough will be sticky).

Bake at 375 for 12-14 minutes.


Thursday, September 22, 2011

Decorative jars...

Ikea has the perfect decorative jars at great prices.  I'd been looking for one with a lid for something I'm doing in Peyton's room and I found the perfect one!  Both of these jars are under $5 and work great for many purposes!

Also just thought I'd mention knobs at Hobby Lobby are 50 percent off this week!  These cute glass ones were $2 each!  And as I said in a previous post they have lots of cute fall decor!

Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Sneak Peek

I have been working on designing baby girl's room for about a month and a half now and have the major pieces ordered...or making plans to be made!  Here's a sneak peek at some of the staples in the room...

To be made by Grandma...
Photo courtesy of Sunnyside Designs2 on Etsy

Sheeting (minus the bumper)


Courtesy Potterybarnkids.com


Crib skirt


Courtesy Potterybarnkids.com


Curtains


Courtesy Potterybarnkids.com
Big reveal coming in a few months! 

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

New Porch for Fall

For my birthday Lisa and Kallee surprised me and redecorated my porch for fall!  It was such a great present!  I love how it turned out!

Lisa found the pillows at World Market...$10 each!  I love the design on the seat cushion.


And what better way to spruce up a pillow than with a fall pick!  Great touch!




I think the owl is my favorite...they found him at Hobby Lobby




I also love the acorn picks...also from Hobby Lobby along with the fall pick behind them. 




I loved their idea to buy a pick with a little more bulk and tie it to my wreath hanger...a new touch that I love!



Thank you to my two wonderful friends for the porch makeover...it desperately needed it and I am thrilled with it! 

Monday, September 19, 2011

A few fun dates...

Just thought I'd call your attention to a few fun things to attend (and a few yummy things to eat!)...

Holy Cow Boutique
September 21st - 24th (this Wednesday-Saturday)
9-8 each day (closing at 5 on Saturday)

The Old Pleasant Grove Rec Center
65 East 200 South

If you've never gone to try the pizza and cinnamon roll twists, make sure to stop by...they are delicious!

These two events are a few months out still, but mark your calendars!  They would be a fun girls day out to plan for!

 
Oh Sweet Sadie Boutique
November 9th-12th
Location TBA (typically near Daybreak)
ohsweetsadie.com

(a few girlfriends of mine frequently visit this show and love what they find!)

Bijou Market
Provo...November 18th and 19th
Salt Lake...November 26th
Location TBA
bijoumarket.com

(Rashelle, one of the organizers, has known Lisa for many years and our husbands all play basketball together...can't wait to visit for the first time this year!)

I tried a great new yogurt place called Orange Leaf in Highland last week.  It's delicious!  They are located in the same complex as Dear Lizzie and Kohlers right along the highway.

If you have a boutique you like to visit each year let us know when and where!  We'd love to hear about them!

Friday, September 16, 2011

Pecan Crusted Pork


Pecan-Crusted Pork with Orange-Maple Glaze

I found this recipe on BHG.com and am excited to try it!

Ingredients
  • 1 pork tenderloin (about 1 1/2 lb.)
  • 1/2 tsp. salt
  • 1/4 tsp. ground black pepper
  • 4 Tbsp. pure maple syrup
  • 1 cup pecan pieces, finely chopped
  • 2 Tbsp. vegetable oil
  • 2 oranges (1 juiced; 1 cut in wedges)
  • 1/4 tsp. ground cumin
  • 1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
1. Trim pork, then cut into 1/2-inch slices. Flatten slices with palm of hand; season pork with salt and pepper.
2. Place 3 tablespoons of the syrup in a shallow dish; place pecans in a second shallow dish. In a 12-inch skillet heat oil over medium heat. Coat pork in syrup, then press in pecans. Place pork in skillet in single layer; top with remaining pecans and syrup from dish. Cook 3 to 4 minutes each side, just until pork is pink in center. Remove from skillet. With a slotted spoon, remove any pecan pieces in skillet; spoon over pork.
3. Stir orange juice, the remaining 1 tablespoon maple syrup, cumin, and cayenne into skillet. Cook, uncovered, for 1 to 2 minutes until slightly thickened. Pour over pork. Serve with orange wedges.

Thursday, September 15, 2011

Fun Finds-World Market

I saw these curtains at World Market at Fort Union and fell in love.  They go perfectly with my family room decor and my curtains need an update.  Well, this last week they were on sale plus I had a $10 off coupon.  Needless, to say I was excited for the bargain!  World Market has great items.  If you haven't been, you must head East on 7200 South and take a spin around the store.  You won't leave empty-handed.  Check back in a week to see the big reveal of the new curtains in my family room!

Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Fun Finds-The Smell of Fall

Lindsay posted last week about her favorite Fall scented candle.  These satchets come from Scrooge and Marleys and have the best Fall scent.  I put two in the kitchen and one in my front room and family room, so the whole house smells like Autumn.  They are about $2.50 and bring my nose such joy!  Get your house smelling the season today:)

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Fun Finds-Apothecary Jars

I found these great, small apothecary jars at Roberts.  They were $11.99 each, but I used the 40% off two items on Tuesday and Saturday to get them for $7.19 each.  I filled them with Goldfish crackers, candy pumkins, caramels, and candy corns.  I love how they look on my counter finished off with a bow.  My kids love helping themselves to a treat or snack.  I love that I can use them year round filled with different treats and colors.  Roberts has a great selection of sizes and the best price when combined with the 40% off coupon!

Monday, September 12, 2011

Fun Finds Week

This week, I am going to feature some of my favorite finds for Fall decor.  I ran around quite a bit last week visiting my favorite spots for home decor and found some great, inexpensive treasures.  To start, this great metal owl plaque comes from Rod Works.  He was only $6 and would make a great addition to your Fall decor.  So, attention Followers from the neighborhood:  if you want Mr. Owl, leave a message telling us how or where you would use him in your house, and we will choose a new home for him!


Can't wait to be inspired by you!  Check back tomorrow for the winner and for another great find!

Friday, September 9, 2011

Peaches!

I have craved peaches this summer.  I'm so happy they are in season right now!  Here's a yummy recipe for easy peach cobbler.  Also, I haven't had the chance to try them yet but I hear lots of people raving about the fresh peach shakes at Taco Amigo.  If you live in the area go try one!  I can't wait!
Courtesy of World Community Cookbook.org
Peach  Cobbler
1/2 cup butter
1 cup sugar
1 cup flour
2 tablespoons baking powder
3/4 cup milk
2 cups sliced and peeled peaches
2 tablespoons sugar (for top)

Melt butter in 9x13 dish.  Meanwhile mix sugar, flour and baking powder until combined.  Add milk and mix.  Pour mixture into melted butter.  Pour peaches into pan of butter and batter.  Sprinkle 2 tablespooons sugar on top. 

Bake for 35-45 minutes at 350 degrees (should be golden brown when done).

Serve warm with vanilla ice cream.





Thursday, September 8, 2011

A favorite fall scent

I took a trip to Roberts yesterday and bought my favorite fall candle...

The Hobble Creek Baked Apples candle is the perfect scent for this time of the year. 

While I was there I walked through their Halloween decor and found this cute tree for $9 to put with my purchases from last year...


I also found out some fun news yesterday.  For those of you who check our blog but don't know me otherwise you probably haven't heard we are having a GIRL!  I'm so excited to share the fun things I plan to do with her room!

Wednesday, September 7, 2011

Fall inspirations...

I pulled out all of my Fall decor yesterday and put it up.  I must say I love September through December in my home because the main living areas change quite a bit for the holidays.  Love to look at something new...

If you are in need of new decor inspirations for fall here are a few beauties from Better Homes and Gardens website.  Visit here for their complete photo collection.

Courtesy BHG.com

Courtesy BHG.com

Courtesy BHG.com

Courtesy BHG.com

Courtesy BHG.com

Courtesy BHG.com

Courtesy BHG.com

Courtesy BHG.com

Having Fall hit my home made me realize I need to go buy my favorite candle at Roberts.  I'll share what that is tomorrow...

Tuesday, September 6, 2011

A few treasures...

Sometimes the perfect decor isn't exactly what you were looking for or the most flashy items in the store...some items in your home can and should mean something to you.
It was hard to say goodbye to the home my Grandma lived in my whole life.  My parents have cleaned out much of it, but there were a number of things left for us to choose what we'd like...


I used to wake up every morning to my Grandparents sitting on their barstools reading the paper.  Now we can fill the space under our bar with them.


This plate hung in her house for as long as I remember.  I can now look at it everyday in the baby's nursery.


To some this might look like an interesting Christmas decoration.  But my Grandma made this with crushed glass and some of her jewelry a long time ago.  It will find a place in my home this Christmas.


As we were loading up the last of the furniture to leave, I was looking around their garage and spotted this lantern on my Grandpa's tool bench.  It's something I've been looking for to put in Peyton's room.  Thanks for the decorating touch Grandpa...

Don't let items go for your home that mean something...even if you don't have a place, make room for it.  This is what a home should be made of.

Monday, September 5, 2011

Labor Day Break

I'm taking a break today...spent 20 hours in the car over the weekend and said goodbye to my beautiful Grandma.  I'll be back to life tomorrow.  Happy Labor Day!

Friday, September 2, 2011

Salsa Time


Here is the best salsa recipe for all those tomatoes you grew this summer.  It yields 12 pint jars and is super yummy.  Pour equal amounts into 2 large pots.  Here are the ingredients and directions:
30 tomatoes blended (Simply fill your sink with water, soak tomatoes, cut off stems and quarter)
4T sugar
1/2 c vinegar
2T salt
2-3 cloves of garlic
1-2 green peppers chopped
4-6 jalapeno peppers chopped (with seeds will be hotter, more mild without)
2-4 serrano chile peppers (with seeds will be hotter, more mild without)
3-4 T cilantro (can be omitted if you don't like it)

Boil fast meaning bring to a boil then keep at medium-high heat (4) for 40 minutes.  Pour into bottles and seal in canner for 20 minutes!