Recipe Loves {& Fails}

For those that know me, you know I cook a full meal maybe once a month. But this weekend, I was cooking up a storm! I decided to use a standby recipe from my mom for dinner Friday night and to also try some new ones I found on Pinterest {we have family coming in for the holidays and I wanted to try some breakfast dishes}.  Here’s our thoughts:

Turkey {or Chicken} Corn Chowder - This is my all-time favorite soup and I love that we get three or four meals out of it – recipe courtesy of my mom.

  • 2 cups left over turkey or chicken shredded {I used a rotisserie chicken from Target minus the skin}
  • 1 medium onion
  • 1 stalk celery, chopped
  • 3-4 potatoes diced
  • 2 cans of chicken broth (15 0z)
  • 4 cans of evaporated milk
  • 2 cans of cream style corn ( 15 0z)
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp pepper
  • 1/2 tsp paprika

Preparation:

  1. Saute chopped onion in 2 tablespoons of butter until tender and set aside.
  2. Peel and dice potatoes into small pieces (should equal 2 cups). Dice up the celery.  Cook in chicken broth until tender.
  3. Add evaporated milk, cream style corn,onions, salt, pepper, paprika and chicken.  Cook over medium heat until thoroughly heated.  I usually add  a couple  teaspoon of chicken bouillon granules, depending on if I think it needs a little more flavor or not.

Overnight Peaches + Cream French Toast - This was very good and easy to make, but if you’re not a fan of quiche or bread pudding you won’t like the texture. I would probably add one extra can of peaches, because I want peach in every single bite.

peach french toast

  • 1 8-oz. loaf French bread, sliced
  • 8 large eggs
  • 2 cups whole milk
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 2 15-oz. cans sliced peaches packed in juice, drained
  • 1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1/2 cup heavy cream
Preparation
  1. 1. Butter a 9-by-13-inch baking dish. Arrange bread in a tight, flat layer in dish.
  2. 2. In a large bowl, whisk eggs with milk, sugar and vanilla until blended; pour over bread. Arrange peaches on top and sprinkle with brown sugar and cinnamon. Cover tightly and refrigerate for at least 8 hours.
  3. 3. Remove baking dish from refrigerator 30 minutes before baking. Preheat oven to 350°F. Pour cream into a small pan; bring to a boil over high heat. Cook until reduced by half, about 10 minutes. Drizzle over peaches and bake, uncovered, until casserole is lightly browned on top and just cooked through, 45 to 55 minutes. Let stand for 10 minutes before serving.

To Die For Blueberry Muffins - My husband claims he is a blueberry muffin connoisseur and he feels like these lived up to their name. We had them for breakfast this morning and he is excited there are enough left over to eat the next few mornings. I think mine actually looked better {and fuller} than the photo below. I read a lot of the reviews and the key is to not overmix the batter.

blueberry muffins

Original recipe makes 8 large muffins

  • 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 3/4 cup white sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/3 cup vegetable oil
  • 1 egg
  • 1/3 cup milk
  • 1 cup fresh blueberries
  • 1/2 cup white sugar
  • 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1/4 cup butter, cubed
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Preparation

  1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Grease muffin cups or line with muffin liners.
  2. Combine 1 1/2 cups flour, 3/4 cup sugar, salt and baking powder. Place vegetable oil into a 1 cup measuring cup; add the egg and enough milk to fill the cup. Mix this with flour mixture. Fold in blueberries. Fill muffin cups right to the top, and sprinkle with crumb topping mixture.
  3. To Make Crumb Topping: Mix together 1/2 cup sugar, 1/3 cup flour, 1/4 cup butter, and 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon. Mix with fork, and sprinkle over muffins before baking.
  4. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes in the preheated oven, or until done.

Mac N’ Cheese In a Mug - I also learned a valuable lesson today when I tried another Pinterest recipe: don’t assume the recipe in the description is correct – you need to click through to the actual link and find the original recipe.  I decided to try the homemade Mac N’ Cheese in a mug.  FAIL.  And what a mess {see below}! I remade it yesterday with the correct directions and it was still just okay.

mac n cheese 2 mac n cheese

My Christmas Wishlist

Following are some of my top picks for my Christmas wishlist.  Two of these items {both involving sequins} were already purchased by me for me during J.Crew’s most recent sale and with my rewards card.

  1. Gold Dot Pajamas - Affordable and the cutest pajamas I have seen all year!
  2. Rubber Boot Tray - With hardwood floors in the entryway, this is a great solution to keep wet shoes off the wood.
  3. USB Power Outlet - We seem to use the same two outlets {on our island and near our nightstand} so there are never enough charging stations. This helps solve that problem.
  4. Polka Dot Letterpress Coasters - I can always use more fun coasters.
  5. Mumford & Sons – Babel CD – Because I love their sound.
  6. Chalk Markers – The necessity was discussed here.
  7. Sequin Stripe Shell - Because it’s cute. And I’m obsessed with stripes. And sequins.
  8. Corkcicle - To keep my white wine COLD ;)
  9. Multi-Purpose Cable Clips – $2.50 for a six-pack and the only way possible I can keep my nightstand/powercords organized!
  10. Hope in a Jar – My go-to face moisturizer.
  11. Powermat 3X - Great for traveling, this can charge multiple devices without an outlet.
  12. Michael Kors Phone Wristlet - On business trips, I always like to downsize my purse to the minimum necessary at dinner time – phone, ID, credit cards and a lip gloss and I am in need of a black version.
  13. Polka Dot Sequin Top - Because it is amazing and cute.
  14. Essie Nail Polish – I love all of their fun colors and I have found this brand to be the most durable.

I also added several favorite store gift card to my list.  Do you have any other fun finds you hope to discover under the tree next month?

Pretty Pantry

I’m continuing my mental redecoration of our new house – this is what happens when I have four-day weekends. Today’s project is the pantry. I have mentioned before that our future pantry also has a laundry hookup {which we do not plan to use – the current homeowners don’t use it either}. Here is a picture of the space last time we went through – the arrows point to the area for the washer/dryer hookup {I think they would have to be stackable} – they have temporary shelving in place there now:

I’ve been contemplating various ways to effectively use this space. I think I have ultimately decided that our wine refrigerator will fit nicely in place of the laundry unit {it is currently in the basement in our house because our kitchen doesn’t have space for it}. Above that, I am thinking a countertop area, topped with a chalkboard wall.

After using my own chalkboards, I started to become anti-chalk as much as I loved the look. It makes SUCH a mess! But then I saw this post at Honey We’re Home and the chalk markers made a quick appearance on my Christmas list. Turns out this is how Starbucks and other restaurants get all those fancy chalkboard drawings without the mess! I would love to have a giant chalkboard available for quick notes, grocery lists, reminders, etc. Here are some inspiration pictures I have pinned this weekend.

The first several can be found on my new ‘Pantry‘ board on Pinterest. The first is my most perfect find for the overall look:

Love this one with such a simple message from Jones Design Company:

What do you think? Are chalkboards overdone? Still fun?

Jackpot

You would likely all laugh at the number of times I have reviewed the photos of our new house that I took last time we were there. Unfortunately, in my mind, I feel there aren’t enough. I could tell you every little detail of each one. I have issues. A week or two back, I went to pull more photos from the MLS listing and saw that it was taken down already. Little things had been bugging me, like ‘how open is the staircase on the main level’ – thought as I was wondering if I could add garland to the banister next year. It’s the little things in life!

But, on Sunday, I struck the jackpot when I realized I had already downloaded them a month ago. So, for your viewing pleasure {or annoyance given how many times I have already posted photos} here they all are from the MLS. Probably more than you ever hoped to have to see!

I’m like a kid waiting for Santa Clause. The anticipation is killing me! And now, I will try not to post any more photos until we are actually moved in! Key word try.

Entertaining Shelves

With all my excitement over the dining room design, I’m eager to get one room finalized shortly after we move in. And since I will have virtually everything I need to wrap up the dining room, it has become my main focus. I am thinking that above our buffet {which will be placed where their cabinet is in the photo below}, I would like to have some shelving for our wine glasses – a sort of mini bar area. I wouldn’t necessarily need the wine racks shown, given that our buffet holds plenty of wine – but I wouldn’t be opposed to two stacked wine glass shelves. Following are some good options I have found online.

 

Pottery Barn Holman Entertaining Shelves:

Pottery Barn Rustic Wood Entertaining Shelves:

Crate and Barrel Mounted Stemrack {I would have to stain this one}:

Sears Nexxt Pinot Wine Glass Shelf {this one is a little more modern than I am looking for but the price is attractive}:

Sears Nexxt Ellington Wine Rack:

Not a ton of options out there, so if you know of any other good sources, let me know! Currently I am leaning towards the first one because I think it will look good with our buffet and I like the shelf on top that can be used for additional tools and/or decorations.

Last option? I may make my own like I Heart Organizing did:

O Holy Night Print

For those of you that loved my O Holy Night canvas I got from my parents for my birthday, you can now purchase an 8×10 print version here from Jones Design Company for only $19.99. They offered something similar last year, but it was just the PDF and it came in brighter colors. This year’s looks identical to the canvas, but as a print. I really can’t think of a more perfect Christmas decoration!