Tuesday tip: Ribbon organizer

I love to gift wrap which requires having a good amount of ribbon on hand.  Before I was storing it in big boxes on my shelves which was kind of annoying to access, plus I had to dig to figure out what I had.  We were at Ikea last weekend and I got this curtain rod for $1.99.  Yes, under two dollars.  I love Ikea.

Now all of my ribbon is hanging nicely and organized in my basement just waiting for me to wrap something!

You've come a long way, baby.

Back in April, I took shots of our little fledgling garden and blogged about it here.

Remember how wee it was?

Not any more.  We've harvested our first peppers and tomatoes with a ton more coming in every day!

The 'maters are way higher than the fence now!

Beefsteak tomatoes

Roma tomatoes

Peter (our rabbit) is surrounded by our pumpkin vine gone wild.  There are tons of flowers but so far no signs of pumpkins.

 

  Close up of the much anticipated pumpkins.

MawMaw's Butter Beans...with a few adjustments

My sweet grandmother, MawMaw, hands down makes the best butter beans you've ever had.  I have her recipe but I made a few adjustments based on things I had on hand.  She usually makes hers with Fordhook Limas which you can find year round in the freezer section.  Basically, like any good southern cook, she cooks the sh*t out of them. 

I stopped at a farmer's market and got some fresh limas.  I was doubly excited about fixing this because a) I love me some limas in the some and b) I got a new enamel pot thanks to my thoughtful mother in law.  I've been dying for one of these pots and always pictured having one in red or blue but I adore the green.  Don't you?

Butter Beans

1 pound limas (fordhook, fresh or other)

3 pieces bacon, cooked and crisped

approximately 4 cups of chicken stock

olive oil

1 onion, chopped finely

1/2 cup of wine

salt and pepper to taste

Note: MawMaw didn't use bacon or wine in her limas but I had some of both at home so tossed it in and it was delish. 

Sautee onion in olive oil.  Once transluscent, add the bacon.  Once everything is nice and browned, deglaze the pot with the wine. 

Add the limas and the chicken stock.  Season with salt and pepper. 

Reduce heat and simmer until limas are well done (or not so much depending on your taste). 

Serve along side of something good and southern! 

Rub a dub...sit in the tub?

I have seen some crazy upcycles in my day but this one I saw on Annechovie blew my mind.  Where do people come up with this stuff?

Could be yours for a mere $1700 from RuffHouseArt on Etsy.  It's definitely a conversation piece but I can't imagine the comfort factor is very high...

Happy Friday!

Weeknight Inspiration: Pizza!

If this weren't weeknight inspiration then I might have attempted to make my own dough.  But, for the middle of the week, Trader Joe's dough from the refrigerator case will do just fine.

Obviously you can do this with any ingredients you prefer but here's what we had tonight.

The instructions are on the dough but just remember to let it get to room temperature before you start to roll it out.  I use a little bit of flour on the board and on the rolling pin to let it stick.  Trader Joe's recommends leaving it out for 20 minutes but I think ten works better because the dough doesn't get so sticky.  My opinion anyways...

Pizza Caprese
Exactly what it sounds like.  We were fortunate to have beautiful roma tomatoes from our garden and fresh basil as well so all I needed was fresh mozzarella (TJ's has really good prices on theirs compared to other stores). 

I sprinkled olive oil on the dough and then layered the fresh mozz, basil, tomatoes and then gave it a little sprinkle of salt and pepper and another little splash of olive oil.  It's that simple.

Pizza before cooking

Pizza after cooking.  YUM!

Italian Sausage Pizza with Caramelized Onions and Goat Cheese
To make this even more of a weeknight inspiration, I caramelized the onions and cooked the Italian sausage the night before so it was all ready to go.  (If we have an easy supper the night before (ie turkey tacos) with very little clean up then I'll usually try to prep something for a night later in the week.)

I spread some olive oil on the dough once again and then topped with a thin layer of shredded mozzarella.  I topped with a layer of the sausage and onion mixture and a few grape tomatoes and goat cheese.  I added a small amount of salt and pepper.  

Slightly obsessed.

I saw this chandelier on the Material Girls blog.  I have been looking for something similar because my stepmother found one on Ebay and spray painted it white and I loved it.  I'm not loving the price however.  If anyone locates something similar anywhere for cheaper, sign me up!

I either want it for a bathroom or a guest bedroom.  I picture two of them looking something like this in a bedroom:

Above image via Fric and Frac.  It is for sale at Jayson Garden here.

My Protege

I'm paying forward all the help my nice friends at work gave me to help me get started knitting.  At the beach my little cousin Jillian, age 10, saw me knitting my bunny and she got really excited.  She ran out of the room and came running back in with a hot pink bag full of knitting supplies.  Apparently her teacher had started teaching them to knit at school and Jillian really enjoyed it.  I showed her the bird I made for cute little Woodburn (Emery's cousin).  I blogged about it here but you can also see Woodburn and Eme in action with the little bird in the picture below.

Anyway, Jillian liked it so much that she wanted to make one too.  Except, she's so talented, she made two in the few days we were at the beach.  Check them out!

The one on the right she made all by herself.  She didn't have any stuffing so she stuffed it with toilet paper.  I warned her that was risky being that we were at the beach surrounded by water!  The one on the left I helped her a little with the beak and feet but she did the whole body herself!  A great future is in store for her as a knitter, I think.