Stylehouse

Hope Everyone Voted!!

2010-11-02T18:20:00.004-04:00

Election day is one of my favorite thing!! I took a big nap today after I voted they keep saying it's going to be a long night!!!!

Happy Halloween!!!

2010-10-31T17:32:00.006-04:00

Happy Halloween everyone!

I'm spending Halloween cleaning the house, watching scary movies, handing out candy and recouping from my day in Washington DC "Restoring Sanity and/or Fear"(more on that later!)

This my poor attempt at pumpkin carving. I think I need a little practice.

I found a few pictures of some really great Halloween decorating ideas.

I always loved flower boxes.

This is my favorite. Such a cute idea!

This maybe Halloween over kill but cute anyway.

Clean and simple. My favorite green.

Great way to display house numbers.

Mision Cumplida!!!

2010-10-13T21:52:00.000-04:00

Vacation!! part 4 & 5

2010-10-12T11:28:00.005-04:00

It's taken me 2 days to get these videos to upload. These are the last 2 from our trip to DC. Hope everyone enjoys!

Summer 2010-Trips

2010-10-08T20:47:00.004-04:00

We took our annual trek with family and friends this year to Cape May, New Jersey. We got to stay with friends part of our trip and family the rest, best of both worlds. I'm always up for something different so this year I rented a bike and peddled around Cape May(mainly to the beach). It was so inexpensive and you know, very green!!

One really neat thing happened while we were there this year. Diners, Drive-ins, & Dives tapped at one of the restaurants we've been to a few times over the years since staying in Cape May! So if you every get a chance make sure to eat breakfast at George's Place, they have the best banana stuffed french toast.

The BFF and I took her kids to Philadelphia the day before school started. It's really fun being a siteseer in a city you been to millions of times. I highly recommend visiting the "City of Brotherly Love" when ever you get a chance.

Summer 2010-Making

2010-10-07T06:51:00.002-04:00

Made a few pillows and covered the bench in the foyer over the summer.

Looking back over my pictures there was a lot more activity in the kitchen then I thought. I had a bumper crop of cucumbers so canning dill pickles were a must. This was a first for me.

Summer 2010-Gardening

2010-10-06T09:55:00.003-04:00

We had a really great garden this year. I think I finally got into a good gardening grove.

Changing

2010-10-05T10:42:00.002-04:00

I decided the blog needed an update and plus I found the new fun pages feature. I have the pages set up but I still need to finish construction...stay tuned!

Hiatus is Over!

2010-09-29T21:59:00.002-04:00

Sorry I've been away. But life this summer has been crazy busy! I'll be posting regularly starting very soon. Which I'll be starting with the last movies of my Washington DC trip!!! Stay tuned!

See you soon!

Free Personal signatures - cool!

2010-09-29T21:54:00.001-04:00

TEXTAREA_ID

Back to DC! Vacation part 3!!

2010-07-18T10:44:00.004-04:00

This was my favorite day. We went to the National Museum of American History, the Washington Monument, the WWII Memorial, Lincoln Memorial, and the Vietnam War Memorial.

Happy 4th of July!!

2010-07-04T10:03:00.002-04:00

Hope everyone has a great holiday!!

The next 2 weeks I'm going to be catching up on my blogging. I've been canning, sewing, cooking, and gardening. I also need to post the last 3 parts of our epic vacation! Hopefully you'll come back and enjoy!

Nap time...zzzz

2010-06-07T08:17:00.004-04:00

Since it's Monday I thought I would get back to posting a kitty collage. There are 2 more parts of our trip to DC but I felt like taking a break to share a few pictures of Starbuck.

I made a new cushion and pillow for the wicker chair in the living room a few weeks ago. Now it's Starbuck's throne. Her nap time has been taken there everyday since I finished the project.

Hhuumm...to be able to live like a cat!

Vacation!!! part 2

2010-05-26T19:16:00.003-04:00

We were a few miles from downtown DC, but we were lucky enough to be walking distance from the bus stop which took us straight to the Metro! If you every want to travel to DC stay on the outskirts and take advantage of the Metro.

So this day we went to the Smithsonian and visited the Air and Space Museum, the Museum of Natural History and the National Archives.

At the Air and Space Museum we watch a 3D movie in the IMAX theater about the Hubble telescope. It was very cool! The Natural History Museum had a new exhibit on the origins of humans. We had lunch there as well. All the Museums have a cafe or cafeteria. The best thing was most of the food was local, sustainable and organic. Plus the majority of the paper and plastic ware was made of recycled material and was biodegradable. I wasn't able to take any pictures at the National Archives so I was only able to take one of the building.

Vacation!!!

2010-05-14T00:26:00.004-04:00

We're back from a great vacation! And of coarse I took lots and lots of pictures. I thought the best way to share them would be to make a few short "movies/slide shows", with relaxing music.

We spent the week in Washington DC. It's on of my favorite places to go. We stayed at the Wyndham Vacation Resort located in the National Harbor which is on the Potomac.

The first couple days we were there the harbor was having an art festival. It was so great. There were so many different types of artist displaying their work, anything from abstract to traditional, paint to photography, and sculpture with all kinds of different material.

I let the husband pick the restaurant for lunch. He did a good job picking the place. It's called Ketchup. Their known for their different flavors of homemade ketchup and they were fantastic! The flavors were regular, chipotle, sweet chili, maple syrup, and honey barbecue. Now I want to make homemade ketchup!!

Hope everyone enjoys!

Happy Earth Day!

2010-04-22T08:18:00.003-04:00

Happy Earth Day!

15

2010-04-15T21:18:00.003-04:00

So we were married on Tax Day. I don't even think we realized it at the time. If I would have remembered it was Tax Day at the time our favors would have included some clever way to use tax forms.

Sewing Project

2010-04-01T08:03:00.004-04:00

I can't believe I've had this chair for 17 years. I got it at IKEA around the time my then soon to be husband moved in together. It seemed like the BFF and I took weekly trips to find bargains to fill our new apartments! Back then you could furnish an apartment for $100.

Well in the last 17 years I could never find a cushion I liked or would fit. So I decided to make my own, finally.

We got this cool hounds tooth in my favorite green at the fabric store a few months ago.

(I used my cool macro lens for some of the pictures)

March

2010-03-30T10:54:00.002-04:00

March's flower of the month is a Daffodil. You know it is spring when you see these flowers pop out of the ground. Time to plan the garden!

I know she wants me to leave her alone!

2010-03-15T15:03:00.003-04:00

I can't help it!

Friday's Favorites

2010-03-12T22:50:00.006-05:00

On my birthday the BFF took to one of my favorite places, Reading Terminal Market. We had a great time! Not until we got there did we realize the Philadelphia Flower Show was going on at the convention center only a block away. So traffic was crazy, parking was limited, and everyone decided to eat lunch at the market.

If you're ever in Philadelphia the is a must see. Along with the other hundreds of sites.

40? Really!

2010-03-02T21:43:00.006-05:00

So today was my birthday. 40...Yikes! I had a great day. Spent the day in Philly with the BFF(I'll blog about this later) and then the evening with the husband. I got lots of birthday messages from friends on facebook, texted and voicemails. Multimedia birthday greetings are the best. My favorite message was from my Mom. She calls around 5:35pm and leaves this message every year..."It's 5:35 and I've had my last contraction and then they knocked me out, Happy Birthday!"

Here are a few fanous people I share a birthday. My favorite is Dr. Suess and Bon Jovi.

The Cats are Starting to Hate Me!

2010-03-01T08:54:00.003-05:00

My camera is at the ready at all times. When ever there is an opportunity I take it, mostly with the cats. I never thought an animal would get tired of getting its picture taken! Well I think they have gotten to that point. Oliver most of all. It takes me forever it get him to look at me. Maybe I need some new subjects. I wonder how the husband would feel about another cat and a few dogs?

Snowmageddon!

2010-02-26T22:34:00.005-05:00

So with in a week we got a total of 30+ inches!

Now according to the fellow that correctly predicted these storms is now predicting a whopper around the 6th or 7th of March! We'll see.

February

2010-02-26T20:44:00.005-05:00

I know February is almost over. But I wanted to let you know the flower for the month, which is Viola.

Some of the species of the Viola are commonly know such as; pansies, violets and heartsease. Pansies are one of my favorite. I can't wait until I can plant them again. Whenever the snow melts!

Tuesday's Tip

2010-02-02T15:00:00.006-05:00

Along the edge of fabric, which is called the selvage edge, you'll find a lot of information. Including manufacturer, most of the time the name of the fabric, and a really helpful color chart. This is a great tool for picking out coordinating colors and fabrics!

Kitty Collage Monday

2010-01-25T08:32:00.001-05:00

Always a cool cat!

January

2010-01-21T15:34:00.008-05:00

If you haven't noticed the picture in my heading is a bunch of carnations. Carnations or Dianthus Caryophyllus are the birth flower of January. A lot of people a not fans of carnations. They are thought of as cheap filler flower. I think they get a bad wrap. If you get a large bunch all the same color and put them in a simple pretty vase you be very pleased. Give carnations a chance the next time you need to buy flowers.

A New Year and A New Computer!

2010-01-20T20:38:00.008-05:00

The worst of the worst happened a few months ago, well not really the worst of the worst even though at the time it felt like it. I had an accident with my laptop and the screen went kaput. I was glad it was only the screen so I'm able to retrieve the hundreds of pictures that I've stored. So now I have a new laptop and an external hard drive. Since I wasn't able to share my Christmas with everyone I've made a few collages .

Just a few decorations and some new ornaments. My favorite new one is the pirate flag.

This is a family cookie exchange I hosted. We all bring a different type of cookie and also make sugar cookies cutouts. We bake and laugh.

Every year I spend about 10 days and become a slave to my kitchen aid making cookies for gift. Previous years I've made up to 1500 cookies. This year I was only able to do 1100 since I was sick for a few days in the middle of December. The featured flavors this year were chocolate chip, oatmeal raisin, sugar cookies, almond biscotti, peanut butter, peanut butter blossoms, white chocolate chip and macadamia nut, russian tea cakes, and snicker doodles. One thing I did this years was to make the dough ahead of time freeze it and just bake it later. This was such a time saver!

Just a few pictures of Christmas critter! Boomer is in the center with the antler. She is the only one of the 3 cats that will let me put them on.

Just a few shots of Christmas dinner prep. But I got to a point were I was all hands on deck and had to focus on the rest of the dinner.

Twenty days late but here are my resolutions for the year:

1. blog more!

2. get into shape (I think a lot of people have that one)

3. make sure I mail everyone's Birthday card on time (I'm the worst at this)

4. keep a food journal (I think I'll add this to the blog)

5. learn to crochet (like I need to add anymore to my plate)

6. take lots and lots of pictures

Hope everyone is having a great New Year so far!

Friday Favorites

2009-11-06T20:37:00.004-05:00

I've never kept it a secret that I'm a hugh Sci-Fi geek. So when I found out they were remaking the 1984 TV series V, the excitement could not be contained.

The series from 84 was beyond cheesy, ie old Star Trek cheesy times 2! There was big hair and shoulder pads, bad acting and bad effects. None the less I loved it! It was only on for one season but it was a good one.

If anyone else is a geek like me and haven't seen the new V. I recommend it!!

Kitty Collage...

2009-09-28T19:04:00.002-04:00

The 4 faces of Boomer

Name: Boomer Scout Arnold

Age: 1

Hobbies: Finding new places to sleep

Likes: Food and being pet for hours

Dislikes: Loud noises

Future Goals: Sleep even more

Tuesdays Tip...

2009-09-22T17:16:00.003-04:00

Just a short and sweet tip this Tuesday:

Make sure you know the facts before protesting!

Just one of many crazy and ignorant signs this summer.

Kitty Collage?

2009-09-21T20:19:00.004-04:00

I'm going back to my usual schedule with of Monday's Kitty Collages. Although as you can see, no cats. I just needed to show everyone how much fun Howie had at the beach.

What I did this summer...

2009-09-17T13:20:00.007-04:00

I remember every year during the first week of school one of the assignments was to write about what we did during the summer. Now that my hiatus is officially over, here is my assignment.

Not much has changed with the kitties. They spent their summer, sleeping, sunbathing, and eating. They were able to have a couple of supervised outdoor adventures. Since we live near a very busy highway the outdoor activities consist of hanging on the deck.

The husband and I decide to make the garden bigger this year, two times bigger! And yes, twice the work. Even though the work was doubled I was glad we did, it was a big success. This was the third year we've had a vegetable garden and it is still a learning process. So I spent a lot of time reading as much I could on gardening. My biggest issue has been starting my plants from seed. With all my new knowledge I'm hoping next spring I'll have a better attempt.

Tomato blight was a huge problem on the east coast this summer and many people's tomatoes were hit hard. This also included Martha, which she blogged about in August. I however was fortunate enough not to be effected by the disease. I really had tomatoes coming out my eyes!

I added another job title to my belt this summer, "nanny". I know, what! If everyone remembers my BFF is a photographer and has been very very busy.(click on "BFF" and check out her blog) She needed a sitter for a couple days a week and I had some free time. My "nanny" days were spent outside playing, going to petting zoos, taking the kids to farmers markets and being able to be a kid a couple times a week during the summer.

This is "the first day of school" picture Jen took of the crew. I spent most of the summer trying to get them to call me nanny Bridgette, but no luck!

Since I had such a productive garden I was in the kitchen a lot. Here are a few things I made that I really liked.

This is a corn salad I decided to make while I was freezing corn. I used green peppers, tomatoes, onions, parsley and black beans. The dressing included lime juice, vegetable oil, cumin(a lot of cumin), salt and pepper. It was very refreshing.

With all of those tomatoes of course I canned. These are the plum tomatoes. I like these the best since the plum or Roma tomato is not as watery as others. They will make great pizza and pasta sauce.

A favorite during the summer was simple sliced tomatoes with salt, pepper, and a really good EVOO(ugh... I can't believe I just ripped off Rachel Ray).

Zucchini was a real bumper crop as well. There was a lot of muffins and breads made. But just slicing it lengthwise, brush it with olive oil and season with salt and pepper, plus use some garlic powder. Then trough it on the grill. I used a few squirts of lemon juice to finish it off.

Another great recipe I used for zucchini is one the BFF found on Allrecipes for zucchini patties. I did change up the recipe a little. It calls for 1/2 cup of flour, I used bread crumbs instead and still included only 2T of flour. Plus I cooked them in olive oil rather than vegetable oil. I think the olive oil gave it a better flavor. I served it with sauteed cremini mushrooms and marinara sauce. So good!!

Trying to figure out what to do with all the vegetables in the garden was a challenge all summer. I did discover a frittata was a great thing to make and fill it with a ton of veggies and herbs! This was a good "go to" dinner when time was not my friend.

Ever since I was little someone in my family has always made Blueberry Buckle during the summer. One day mid-July I went and picked blueberries at Ontelaunee Orchards which is only 10 minutes from the house. Ontelaunee is a Native American word for "little maiden".

It was a hot day, not sunny but hot. Which was a change since our area was unseasonably cool and wet this year. I started picking around 9 am. I don't even remember what time it was when I was through, but I ended up with 15lbs. I was so hot I'm surprised I did have a heat stroke. And if I know I wouldn't have been arrested I would have picked blueberries in my bra and underwear!

The biggest thing this summer which I wrote about in an earlier post was my ditsy OMG moment of leaving the sink in the guest bath filling for 2 1/2 hours, thanks to Michael Jackson's funeral. It was the worst thing ever. The water went from my second floor ALL the way down to the basement. This happened in beginning of July and the cleanup and repair just ended last week.

We had to replace the entire ceiling, tray ceiling, and two sections of the walls in the dining room. The entire downstairs was painted since our floor plan is open. All the carpet was replace in the entire house. That was a pain. I felt like we moved out and then moved back in. The funny thing is, I can say that now, we were going to paint the downstairs this summer and we just talked about replacing the carpet before we put the house up for sale. I may have done it subconsciously.

The finished product is great. They installed the carpet better then the contractors that built our house. I would have loved to put in hardwood floors but I couldn't see spending the money when we plan to sell in a couple of years.

The last couple weeks of the summer were great. We spent it in Cape May, NJ for our annual vacation with family. Cape May is the oldest resort town in the US. And while we were there the town celebrated it's 400Th anniversary. Days are spent at the beach. The evenings we stroll down to Sunset Beach(click here to read about the neat attractions which includes a concrete ship, Cape May Diamonds, and the Flags Ceremony) or going to Washington Square Mall.

Everyone in my family loves to cook so we make very elaborate meals all week. The restaurants and shopping are great. It's one of my favorite places to go.

I hope everyone enjoyed my summer recap. I've decided to spend more time taking pictures and blogging. So come back again! Always leave a comment. I love to hear what on your mind!

Summer Update Part Deux!

2009-07-08T11:18:00.005-04:00

Oh boy, has it been a busy 2 weeks. I decided until the end of summer I will only be updating the blog ever 2 weeks.

For the holiday I had to make pies. So I made blueberry and 2 crumb top apple. I always use Martha's Pate Brisee. This is such a great pie crust! As always everything needs to be cold cold cold! I think the easiest thing to do is have a mise en place and put it into the the freezer to chill everything. I do freezed my butter completely before cutting it up, then it goes back into the freezer with the other ingredients.

Unfortunately I wasn't able to take a picture of the baked pies, they were gone by the time I got around to it.

This is across the street from my Grandmother's. Every year since I can remember there has been a fair during the week of the 4th. And on the last night they put off the fireworks.

It's great, we have a front row seat for the fireworks. Plus if you didn't get enough food from the picnic you can run across the street to get a funnel cake!

I took over a 100 pictures of the fireworks. These are just a few.

No we didn't get dogs *sigh*. I just thought I would add the kitties' doggie cousins to the kitty collage!

So here is the awful news. The other day I was doing laundry and was filling the sink, yes I forgot it was on and it flooded every were!!! So this was day one of the process. I'm sick!!

Summer has started!

2009-06-22T10:07:00.004-04:00

Summer has officail started and I have no time to blog! I can't believe it's been 2 weeks the last time I posted!
So I put together a few collages of what I've been up to.

Of course I had to do a kitty collage!

The vegetable garden is doing well. Only exception is I lost a few things to the bunnies!

We've been having so much rain the last few weeks and I so glad my flowers have survived!

Just canned and froze strawberries this weekend. Since the weather has been so rainy I wasn't able to go out and pick my own this year. I went to an Amish stand and bought a big flat. I get so excited about making jam, then I look at a the stems!!

Here is the recipe for the strawberry jam

7 cups of crushed strawberries

5 cups of sugar(more suger can be used)

1 package of pectin

1/4 cup of lemon juice

Mix all ingredients and bring to boil. Boil for 5 minutes, remove from heat and rest for 5 minutes. Test the gelling on the back of a spoon.

Pour into prepared jars and seal. Boil in canner for 10 minutes.

Weekly Kitty Collage!

2009-06-01T11:33:00.002-04:00

Just a usual morning of rolling around!

Friday Favorite!

2009-05-29T11:04:00.002-04:00

So I'm less then a year away from turning forty. I am now noticing the years walking over my face. One area I've notice a change has been under my eyes. I've been trying different lotions and potions to halt the march, but haven't found anything that really works. A few week ago the BFF turned me on to this eye cream. I have to say just using it for a little over a week I have notice a difference. This is the first product that has worked and worked that quick.

Two for One...

2009-05-28T09:03:00.005-04:00

Since the holiday was on Monday I didn't do my usual "Kitty Collage". So I decided to have a "Two for One".

This is a series of photos documenting Starbuck's afternoon ritual of napping and sunbathing. It's the same every sunny afternoon. Snooze, snooze, roll around, roll around, STRETCH.

Every weekend, either a Friday night or a Saturday night I make homemade pizza. It's better and heathier than getting take out. I use Martha's recipe that I found on her website.(I'll blog my pizza making later.) I normally use the Muir Glen pizza sauce which is really tasty. The other day I decided I wanted to make my own sauce. It came out really good. As usual when I make up my own recipe or through things together I do it by taste the first time before actually writing up a recipe. Here are the basic ingrediants;

tomato puree

tomato sauce

diced tomatoes

chopped onions

minced garlic

olive oil

dried basil

sugar

salt/pepper

Happy Memorial Day!

2009-05-25T18:46:00.002-04:00

Hope everyone is having or has had a happy Memorial Day.

Friday Favorites!

2009-05-22T17:06:00.009-04:00

I confess, I'm a hugh trekkie! I absolutly love "Star Trek". I've seen every episode of the original series and the "Next Generation" a 1,000 times. I own all the movies and have watched them more times then I can count! So when I heard a couple years ago there was going to be a new "Star Trek" I was a little apprehensive and a little excited. So I crossed my finger and hope for a good story and lots of action.

When I found out the J.J. Abrams( he created a great show and another favorite "Lost") was doing the new movie the excitment level went up a few notions. As time went on there were rumors the story line would be about the orignal crew when they first enter the Star Fleet Academy, again the excitement level was growing. But when I found out Zachary Quinto (he plays Sylar on "Heros") was going to play Spock , oh boy! What a great choice!

So on May 7th we got ticket to a prescreening at the IMAX theater in downtown Reading. I was so excited I couldn't stand myself!

People were dresed in there Star Fleet finest and the anticipation was electrifying.

It didn't disappoint! The movie was excellant. It had the feeling of the old "Star Trek" but wrapped in a really cool new bow.

Now if you are not a "Star Trek" fan you need to go just to take a look at the new Captian Kirk, Chris Pine! Hubba! Hubba! So this is another favorite!!!!

Gardening...part 1

2009-05-21T21:11:00.003-04:00

I planted the garden yesterday. The hubby and I enlarged it at the end of the season last year from 6'x12' to 12'x13" and added two more 3'x3' squares for herbs.

So the next step is to plant some flowers around the boarder and I'll be done!

Kitty Collage!

2009-05-18T08:18:00.003-04:00

Starbuck, "Look at me, LOOK at ME!"

Oliver, "No."

Friday Favorite!

2009-05-15T23:01:00.002-04:00

I consider myself pretty organized, except for my purse. No matter how hard I try, it just can not stay organized. Then I came across the butler bag!!

I don't know about anyone else but I leave the house with everything and it feels the kitchen sink! My intentions are always good, taking things out only to have them make their way back into my bag. Were do you begin, what's not important!?!

HALLELUJAH!!

This style they call the "hybrid". I think it has that everyday feel. It does cost $165.00. well worth the money!

Top of the Muffin to You!

2009-05-13T08:54:00.006-04:00

I get so excited when I have some old bananas. This recipe is fantastic! I use it for muffins and bread. And this is a staple for my Christmas baking. It also freezes great.

1 cup butter, softened

1 1/2 cups sugar

2 eggs

2 cups flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp. salt

3 to 4 very ripe bananas mashed

1/2 to 1 cup of chopped nuts(optional)

Perheat oven to 325

Grease and flour pans, set aside

Leaving the mixer on the entire time. Cream butter and sugar. Add eggs one at a time. Add dry ingredients and blend well. Add mashed bananas and most of the nuts, save rest for the top of the muffins or bread.

Pour into prepared pans.

Muffins 30-35 mins, makes 18 muffins or loaves 55 mins, makes 2 8 inch loaf pans.

The top of muffins or bread should be browned.

Enjoy!!!

Weekly kitty collage!!

2009-05-11T07:08:00.002-04:00

Boomer enjoying the rare bit of sun from last week. I love a rainy day, but over a week of either cloudy days or rainy days was a little much!

Too little time!!!

2009-05-04T16:19:00.001-04:00

It's going to be another few days until I can put some time into the blog. I've been sooo busy! Until then have a great week!!

Kitty Collage!

2009-04-27T08:48:00.001-04:00

Friday Favorite!

2009-04-24T08:28:00.002-04:00

So my favorite thing this friday is cold medicine! It started off as a head cold and now is in my chest..yuke. I've been resting the last couple of days and today, but tomorrow morning our development is having a yard sale. Thankfully I have a my yard sale merchandise all ready. I'm hoping for a good day, the weather is going to be fabulous in Southeastern Pa this weekend!

Kitty Collage

2009-04-20T08:53:00.002-04:00

Laundry day!

* Just a side note since I didn't get to do my "Friday Favorites", I love these laundry baskets. They are Martha Stewart Everyday from Kmart.

14 Years Goes by Quick...

2009-04-15T11:35:00.002-04:00

When you're happy as a clam!!!!

My husband can't every forget our anniversary since it's tax day!!!

Kitty Collage!

2009-04-13T10:14:00.001-04:00

Happy Easter!!!

2009-04-12T14:24:00.003-04:00

Wishing everyone a Happy Easter!

Wallpaper Woes...

2009-04-08T10:01:00.005-04:00

So we built our house about 8 years ago. We never intended to stay more than 7 to 10 years. But now with the economy and the housing market we decided to just hunker down for a few more years.

When I first started to decorate the downstairs I was really into the whole "French Provincal", reds, yellows, and blues. In my kitchen there is a weird shaped wall which holds the pantry. I decided to paint it red. It balanced the room with the red drapes I made in the living area.

3 years later...tired of the red. I found Barefoot Contessa and her fabulous East Hampton home and I wanted that east coast casual feel. I changed the red drapes with oatmeal color linen and found a wallpaper in a wonder tone-on-tone green(working for Waverly is very dangerous)which was like the wall in Ina's kitchen. Even though the wall is really small it was not a fun task hanging the wallpaper.

Another 5 years...regretting the wallpaper(still loving the color). I didn't think about splashing and stains that would occur and not being able to clean it off. So here is the step by step process of removing the wallpaper and painting stripes the exact color as the wallpaper. I should have done this from day one. If you can believe this was an easier project than hanging wallpaper. My suggestion if you want a stripe wall, paint!

Raiding the Pantry & Freezer Soup...

2009-04-07T10:53:00.004-04:00

The other day I didn't have anything planned for dinner so I searched around the pantry & freezer for some inspiration. I had homemade chicken stock, cheese tortellini, chicken and spinach.

I cooked the chicken in the stock then shredded. Seasoned the stock to taste. Cooked the cheese tortellini in the stock, added the shredded chicken and spinach. Served with shaved Parmigiano-Reggiano.

Kitty Collage!

2009-04-06T22:01:00.002-04:00

So only one kitty made to the collage the week, because she so quirky!

Friday Favorite...

2009-04-03T09:41:00.002-04:00

If you love coffee the is one of the best coffee makers that I've come acrossed to date! I got this as a birthday present from the BFF.

Not only can you make coffee, but hot chocolate, hot tea, or even just hot water!
It's great for entertaining, no worries about making more coffee if the pot is empty and people can help themselves if you're having a casual get together.

5 Minute Bread

2009-04-02T07:47:00.004-04:00

My Father-in-law gave me a copy of "Mother Earth News" with an article and recipe about a 5 minute bread that you don't to have knead. I thought I would try it out. It was pretty good and easy. The only thing that takes 5 minutes is mixing all the ingredients. The instructions are very lengthy so I'm posting the link if anyone wants to try it out. Have fun!!!

http://www.motherearthnews.com/Real-Food/Artisan-Bread-In-Five-Minutes-A-Day.aspx

Spring/Summer Wreath...

2009-03-31T11:13:00.003-04:00

I've been searching and searching for a wreath that I liked since the end of Christmas(which is how long my wreath from Christmas has been up, plus it was a real wreath and really dead!). Finally I decided to make one. I'm not one for fake flowers, but for a wreath real flowers are not an option. I wanted something that I could be used up until fall and with my favorite green. I'm pretty pleased with the finished product!

Weekly Kitty Collage!!!

2009-03-30T15:53:00.001-04:00

Friday Favorite

2009-03-27T08:54:00.006-04:00

Since summer is around the corner I had to share on of my summer favorites. A friend introduced this scent to me a few years ago and I haven't used anything else during the summer since. This also reminds me of the Seinfeld episode were Kramer pitch a perfume to Calvin Klein called the beach!

Veggie Chili

2009-03-26T15:52:00.003-04:00

I try to make at least 2 to 3 vegetarian meals a week, to the dismay of my meat loving husband. One of my favorite cool weather meals is chili. I decided to make a veggie chili for the crockpot the other day. I love using a crock pot, it's so handy for busy days!

It turned out pretty good. I topped it with cheese and a bit of sour cream. I had a large amount leftover and I potioned it into individual containers and stored in the freezer. My husband said it was really good reheated a few days later.

3 med. carrots chopped

1 red pepper chopped

1 green pepper chopped

1 small to med. onion chopped

1 can of corn drained

2 T canned jalapeno peppers (I use mild)

1 28 oz can diced tomatoes (I drained some of the liquid)

2-3 15 oz tomato sauce (depending on how thick you prefer)

1/2 cup red wine

2 tsp cumin

2 T chili powder

salt/pepper to taste

1 can dark kidney beans (all beans undrained)

1 can light kidney beans

1 can great northern beans

1 can black beans

Mix all together in Crockpot and cook on low for 8-10 hours (the longer the better)

Top with cheese and sour cream, serve with cornbread

Enjoy!!

Weekly Kitty Collage!

2009-03-23T09:54:00.002-04:00

What do you do on a rainy day?

2009-03-19T20:26:00.003-04:00

So on this rainy day I decided to finalize my vegetable garden layout. It's much bigger than last year. And I'm added more aesthetics, which thrills my husband, a little more work.

What a Busy Week!!

2009-03-17T11:16:00.006-04:00

I've had such a busy week. Instead of my usual one day a week at the fabric store, I was there 3 days, I had 2 houses to clean, and I've been helping my BFF Jen with her new office/studio at our local arts center called the Google Works. I love this place, there are artist, writer, composers, and even glass blowers that have studios. It's free and you can wonder around watching people work, not only that but there is a theater were they show "arty" films. I keep calling it the Soho of Reading. The space is almost set up. We took several trips to IKEA just to find those right furnishings that have that downtown feel. I can't wait to take pictures!!

I have some collages of random things, plus the weekly kitty collage.

It's that time of the year for planning the garden. I've been looking through my seed catalogues and my Father-in-Law already bought me some seeds. I enlarged my vegetable garden at the end of the season last year so now I need to replot were to plant my bounty.

These are shots when Jen and I went to check out the studio. The kids are hers, Ryan and Josh. There was an artist renting the space previously and was moving. Google Works was an old factory that made protective eyewear, hence the name Google Works.

I took these on a quite rainy day, I love how much they love each other. I'm so glad I took them both. It upsets me to think if I didn't get to them first they could have been split up.

Kitty Collage!

2009-03-11T03:25:00.003-04:00

Only one kitty made the kitty collage this week...Oliver! Around Thanksgiving Oliver hurt his leg and had to have an operation on his knee. The operation went well, but a week after he started to not use the litter box! Well I'm happy, way happy to say after 2 months of changing litter brands, changing litter boxes, keeping him sequestered in the guest bath and several visits to the vet, he started to use the litter box for 2 weeks now!!! I decided to dress him up in his springy tie for these pictures. I can't believe he stayed still!

Self Portrait

2009-03-05T20:09:00.004-05:00

I was messing around with the camera on Monday, a very snowy Monday! This is the result a, self portrait on my 39th Birthday!

Behind schedule!!!

2009-03-04T09:58:00.003-05:00

I almost forgot to post a weekly kitty collage! Monday was my Birthday and I decided to disconnect as much I could. We had a snow storm so traveling was out. So I relaxed at home the entire day. The dishes piled up, I only cooked dinner and I didn't even make the bed!

Enjoy the collage!!!

Fastnacht Day......

2009-02-24T21:48:00.005-05:00

Fastnacht is German for "Fast Night". It is a yeast raised potato doughnut that the Pennsylvania Dutch eat to celerbrate Shrove Tuesday. I never heard of these until I moved to Berks County 17 years ago and I only grew up 30 minutes away!

The weekend before Ash Wednesday, churches and groups in the area spend 24-48 hours making thousands of these doughnuts!

To eat a Fastnacht the proper Pennsylvania Dutch way, slice it as you would slice a bagel. Spread with butter (optional), plus table syrup such as "Mrs. Schlorer's Turkey Syrup®" or "Golden Barrel Table Syrup®".

Although doughnuts with holes are frequently sold as "Fastnachts" in supermarkets this time of year, those who know their doughnuts will tell you that a real Fastnacht should never have a hole in the center. All the syrup leaks out of a Fastnacht with a hole in it!

I just thought I would share a regional tradition that I find unique. I found a recipe if anyone wants to try them out.

2 cups milk
1 cup mashed potatoes (no salt, milk, or butter added)
1/2 cup sugar + 1/2 tsp. sugar
1 stick margarine
1 packet rapid rise yeast
1/4 cup lukewarm water
6-1/2 cups flour (divided, 2 cups + 4 1/2 cups)
1 egg
1-1/2 tsp. salt
1 can (3 pounds) Crisco® or similar vegetable shortening for frying
Preparation - Scald the milk. In a large mixing bowl, combine the scalded milk with the mashed potatoes. Add 1/2 cup sugar plus the margarine. Mix with an electric mixer. If the mixture is still warm, cool to about room temperature before proceeding with next step. - Dissolve the yeast and 1/2 teaspoon sugar in barely warm water. Add to the potato mixture and mix well. Add 2 cups flour and mix again. Cover with a towel and let rise for 25 minutes.
Add the salt and beaten egg to the mixture. Add 4-1/2 cups flour, stirring it into the mixture with a large spoon. Turn onto a well floured board and knead for about 3 to 5 minutes. Add a small amount of extra flour if necessary so the dough can be handled without sticking to your fingers. Grease a large bowl. Place the dough in the greased bowl. Cover with a thin towel, and let rise in a warm, draft free place for about 2 hours or until it is at least double in size.
On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough 3/4" thick. You can use a doughnut cutter to cut the dough or cut as typical Fastnachts - Cut the dough into 3" to 4" wide strips, then cut the strips into 3" to 4" pieces. To allow the center of Fastnacht to fry completely, cut a small slit in the center of each piece, using a sharp paring knife. Arrange the pieces of dough, about 1-1/2" to 2" apart, on large wax paper lined trays. Cover each tray with a thin towel. Place the trays in a warm place for 45 minutes to an hour, or until the dough pieces have raised to about double in size. (In the picture on the right, the dough has raised sufficiently and the doughnuts are ready to fry.)

Heat the shortening to 365º. Deep fry until both sides are golden brown, turning one time. Drain on white paper towels. Cool completely before serving. Store in a covered, airtight container.
Makes about 20 to 24 Fastnachts, depending on size. This recipe can be doubled with no change in preparation directions.
To use this raised doughnut recipe, for glazed doughnuts:Beat together: 2-1/2 cups confectioners' sugar, 4 tablespoons margarine and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Add enough milk to make a thin glaze. Drizzle the glaze over the slightly warm doughnuts or dip the doughnuts in the glaze.
For powdered doughnuts:Shake slightly warm doughnuts in a bag with confectioners' sugar, or a combination of confectioners' sugar and cinnamon.

*recipe courtesy of Sandy Moyer

Weekly Kitty Collage!!

2009-02-23T09:59:00.002-05:00

Weekly Kitty Collage!!

2009-02-17T14:03:00.002-05:00

A Must See Video.....

2009-02-14T11:58:00.004-05:00

My Aunt sent me a video of my cousins new dog, Eddie. She lives in Texas and this is the second dog she have found and rescued.

This Howie, the first dog she rescued. She found him when he was a little puppy. He is one of the best dogs I've ever met! I want to steal him!

Now this is Eddie. Lindsey saw him in the same area for a week. She picked him up and hung flyers around the neighborhood but no one claimed him. So now he is part of the family.

Happy 200th Abe......

2009-02-12T17:48:00.004-05:00

I found this really cool picture of President Lincoln at the site of the Battle of Antietam. Which was the first major fight of the civil war.

Here are some great quotes from President Lincoln.

If you look for the bad in people expecting to find it, you surely will.

Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power.
No man has a good enough memory to be a successful liar.

You can fool all the people some of the time, and some of the people all the time, but you cannot fool all the people all the time.

You cannot help men permanently by doing for them what they could and should do for themselves.

Westminster Dog Show!

2009-02-11T10:52:00.004-05:00

And the winner is.....Stump!

Stump has a great story. He was in best of show 5 years ago but lost. He then got really sick and almosted died. Now he's the champ.

Cleaning......

2009-02-09T15:42:00.004-05:00

One of my favorite things to do is cleaning. I love books about cleaning, cleaning products(all environmentally friendly) and the entire process of cleaning. I thought I would share my favorite books anf cleaning products.

Weekly Kitty Collage!

2009-02-09T11:57:00.002-05:00

Weekly Kitty Collage!

2009-02-02T19:41:00.002-05:00

Roasted Winter Vegetable Soup....

2009-01-29T21:49:00.004-05:00

Cold snowy day, there is nothing better than a good bowl of soup. I had bought a butternut squash a couple weeks ago and need to use it, so I had to decide what to make. Then I remember Ina had a recipe for a roasted veggie soup. Voila...dinner!

Veggies...butternut squash, sweet potatoes, carrots and parsnips.

Roasted veggies....pureed

The end result! Yummy!

Ingredients

3 to 4 cups chicken stock, preferably homemade
1 quart Roasted Winter Vegetables, recipe follows
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Directions
In a large saucepan, heat 3 cups of chicken stock. In 2 batches, coarsely puree the roasted vegetables and the chicken stock in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the steel blade. Pour the soup back into the pot and season, to taste. Thin with more chicken stock and reheat. The soup should be thick but not like a vegetable puree, so add more chicken stock and/or water until it's the consistency you like.

Roasted Winter Vegetables:
1 pound carrots, peeled
1 pound parsnips, peeled
1 large sweet potato, peeled
1 small butternut squash (about 2 pounds), peeled and seeded
3 tablespoons good olive oil
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.
Cut the carrots, parsnips, sweet potato, and butternut squash in 1- to 1 1/4-inch cubes. All the vegetables will shrink while baking, so don't cut them too small.
Place all the cut vegetables in a single layer on 2 sheet pans. Drizzle them with olive oil, salt, and pepper. Toss well. Bake for 25 to 35 minutes, until all the vegetables are tender, turning once with a metal spatula.

Yield: 8 servings

Copyright 2002, Barefoot Contessa Family Style, All Rights Reserved

There were a few changes I made to the recipe. I used a good store bought chicken stock then added about 1/2 cup of half & half, a little nutmeg and cinnamon. Then I topped with some creme fraiche. If you want to make this vegetarian use vegetable stock or the water.

Completed Project

2009-01-27T08:56:00.004-05:00

Everytime I'm hired to sew or make ribbon boards I have every intention of taking pictures and then I never do. So one of many resolutions this year was making sure I document the projects I do.

This ribbon board was for my Aunt. She supplied the fabric and upholstery tacks. I use a thin layer of batting over Homosote fiberboard, which I think is the best material for making a board. It's very sturdy but not so dense that you can't attach the tacks.

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I'm not sure if I'm really digging this. I want to have a transitional look for the winter then I want to fill this with flowers for the spring and summer.

I bought this small wreath to hang on my kitchen window.

Weekly Kitty Collage!

2009-01-27T00:18:00.003-05:00

I decided every Monday I will create a collage of the weeks kitty pics!

(*I know this was posted Tuesday, but it was ready on Monday.)

What a Great Day to be an American!

2009-01-20T18:15:00.004-05:00

This was my favorite shot of the day.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Bad Blogger!

2009-01-18T12:45:00.002-05:00

It's been a little while since my very short and last post. My stomach flu lasted forever and I'm just feeling back to normal. And my house is a mess!

But I did add a new feature and I hope you like my playlist. It's just a few of my favorite songs, enjoy!

Happy 2009!

2009-01-05T21:36:00.002-05:00

My new year so far has been less then spectacular. I got the stomach flu on the 2nd and today is the first time I feel semi-human. My tree is still up and only half of my decorations are put away. This is all for now.

Hope everyone had a great Christmas!

2008-12-29T09:10:00.005-05:00

These are pictures from Christmas eve. There aren't many I was sick that night. Every year my mother's side of the family gets together on Christmas eve. This we were at my aunt Melissa's house. She's more a sister, we are close in age. She and her husband recently moved back to PA from Circleville, OH(home of the Pumpkin Show).

So dinner every year is Italian. We had spaghetti and meatballs, veggie lasagna, salads and garlic bread. There is eating, drinking, and opening gifts!

Melissa is a music panio teacher and she also plays the cello. I decided to be artistic with these shots.

I had this one made into note cards for her birthday.

This is their tree.

This is Mittens, one of their 3 cats.

Cookies! Cookies! Cookies!

2008-12-23T16:51:00.011-05:00

Christmas time!!!

2008-12-23T15:07:00.005-05:00

I spent the 7th-14th of December decorating the house. The outside took longer since everytime I had a chance to go out it would rain, sleet, or snow. I took to many pictures so I made a collage of highlights.

Post Op!

2008-12-23T14:45:00.005-05:00

Oliver survived his surgery! We have to keep him from jumping(easier said than done with a cat) and give him an antibiotic every day for seven days. This upset his stomach, poor kitty!

He's a little out of it.

Stitches! Yuke!

He started to bite at his stitches.

Sleepy time!

Oliver's operation

2008-12-11T08:07:00.004-05:00

We dropped Oliver off at the vet last night. His knee surgery is scheduled for today. I'll update later today.

I'm so far behind my holiday schedule. I'm still decorating the house and haven't even started the tree! Since I started this new job, granted it's part time, my schedule is all out of wack. So by the end of the weekend I hope to be caught up, cross your finger!

Just a quick post

2008-12-03T09:35:00.005-05:00

I just wanted to put up this fab magazine cover of the new first lady. I love it! I can wait to see what she wears to the inauguration balls.

Christmas present

2008-12-02T20:13:00.003-05:00

So I thought I would take a picture of my little bro for my Dad and Stepmom for christmas. It is more difficult than I tought to take a decent picture. Tyler seems have other posses in mind. I thought this one was pretty good. Mark and I are going with Jen and her family to get our X-mas trees. I'm hoping to bring Tyler and get her to take the picture!!!

New Toy

2008-11-30T22:06:00.002-05:00

I downloaded the new Picasa and I can now make collages!

So I decided to make one of all my favorite kitty pics.

New purchase

2008-11-30T14:14:00.003-05:00

I was out antiquing the other day and came across this antique tool box. I had to have it, it is the green in my kitchen and it was a steal. Not sure yet how I'm going to decorate it for everyday, but for Christmas I'm going to use greens and varying size pillar candles. I think I'll glitter the candles!!

Happy Thanksgiving!

2008-11-27T10:19:00.003-05:00

I want to wish all my blogger buddies a great Thanksgiving!!

Finalized Chrismas Baking List

2008-11-16T01:28:00.005-05:00

Every year I make nearly 1500 cookies and other treats! I just finished with my list this year. I always stay with the traditional and try a different one each year. I have 2 news ones this year, chocolate biscotti and white chocolate and macadamia nut cookie.

Christmas Baking list

Chocolate chip cookies
Sugar cookies
Peanut butter cookies
Oatmeal cookies
Russian teacakes
Snicker doodles
Jam thumbprints
Peanut butter blossoms
White chocolate and macadamia nut cookies
Chocolate biscotti
Anise biscotti

Peppermint bark
Fudge

Banana bread
Pumpkin bread

New Job!

2008-11-12T11:27:00.004-05:00

So a few weeks ago my BFF was talking about how swamped she has been with her business, I think I've mentioned she is a photography, and she was thinking about hiring someone. I told her to hire me. Well now I'm her "studio manager". It's not a full time job, I still can do my sewing projects and work at the fabric store whenever they need me.

It's been so much fun! We do our work, chit-chat and cook lunch. Some nights my husband comes over after work and we have dinner.

This is a picture she took of me that she posted on her blog(http://www.jenniferbretonphotography.com/blog) after I started.

Prop 8 is Hate!

2008-11-11T19:06:00.003-05:00

I think this was one of Keith's best "special comment", just wanted to share.

Sunday Dinner~Chicken!!

2008-11-10T08:55:00.005-05:00

Last week my local grocery store had whole chickens on sale for .99/pound! Being inspired by Martha's show about cutting up a whole chicken and Louis from Gestures cutting up his chicken, I bought 3! So this Sunday I decided to just do a basic roasted chicken. I like to use butter, salt, pepper, garlic and herb de provance on the outside. I stuffed it with lemons, onions, and garlic.

So next Sunday I will make an attempt to cut up a whole chicken. With the amount of cooking I've done this is one thing I've never tried!

Musical Family

2008-11-08T11:10:00.003-05:00

My cousin recently posted video covering a Better then Ezra cover. He writes his on music as well.

POOR OLIVER!!!

2008-11-06T18:54:00.003-05:00

We had an exciting Wednesday night. One of the little kitties knocked a plate onto the floor which schattered into a million pieces and in turn scared the bejesus out of Oliver and he went running like a bat out of hell. About 10 minutes after cleaning up the mess I notice he was limping and kind of dragging his leg. So thinking he broke his leg, into action Mark and I went. I put him in the carrier and Mark called the Vet. Well, I'm glad to say he didn't break his leg:). He did tear some ligaments and tweaked his knee cap, who know cats had knee caps.

YES WE DID!!!

2008-11-05T10:04:00.009-05:00

Awesome crowd!

The first family!

Mr.President

USA!

40 Years in the making!

Words can't be expressed

I loved waking up this morning!