Spring Decor

Welcome, Spring!

I love playing house!

I love Sundays

Oh, how I love Sundays. As in the day after Saturday. But I also do love Sundays, as in ice cream. (Mmm, I wish I had one right now, come to think of it!) Anyway, enough about that. I love Sundays because they are so relaxing. Saturdays are always action packed, so Sunday is my favorite day because we can wind down and do nothing.

Here is a recap of this past Sunday:

1. Slept in till 9:30.

2. Took a shower. Put pjs back on and went down to the kitchen.

3. Scott made coffee. Drank coffee together and read magazines.

4. Scott made pancakes. If I've never mentioned this before, he makes THE BEST pancakes ever. Buckwheat pancakes always, but with varying flavors. This Sunday's pancakes had butter maple syrup. Mmmmm....

5. Got ready for church.

6. Went to church, sat with my family. Always enjoy church with my family.

7. Came home. Put pjs back on again.

8. Had impromptu wine tasting. Got out the tasting wheel and everything!

9. Looked through homemade recipe book. Realized I hardly ever make any recipe that I put in there.

10. Made a recipe (with a few alterations of my own) that I'd clipped out of Rachael Ray's magazine a couple years ago, an Asparagus Pop Over.

11. Sat in "family room", because it's a.) sorely under used and b.) has a huge comfy ottoman, perfect for laying on after a satisfying meal.

12. Looked at NYC picture on the wall for a while. Fantasized about being there.

13. Looked through NYC photo book for a while. Fantasized about being there.

14. Played Super Mario on the Wii for an hour or so.

15. Redecorated my tablescape for spring.

16. Listened to The Phantom of the Opera soundtrack from start to finish while redecorating.

17. Stopped decorating to read and follow along with the score from the soundtrack. What an amazing show! So glad I've seen it and can picture it in my mind as I follow along.

18. Drank some wine.

19. For dinner, ate left overs from the week.

20. Got in bed and watched the movie, "Lost in Translation."

21. Set my alarm, and went to sleep.

And of course, I had to take some pictures along the way to document the day:

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I love Sundays!

Hello, Lover!

Lamb meatballs stuffed with Feta cheese. Need I say more?

Mushroom, Zucchini, and Pea Risotto

My sister in law, Holly, gave me this Bride and Groom cookbook. There are a lot of delicious looking recipes that are the perfect amount for 2 people. Scott and I both love risotto, so when I saw this recipe for Wild Mushroom Risotto, I of course just had to make it immediately. I didn't have enough mushrooms, so I added in some zucchini and peas. And of course, I substituted the onion in the recipe for extra garlic. Risotto is very simple to make, but also very time consuming. The key is to keep adding hot chicken broth in 3/4 cup increments, until 3 1/2 cups of broth have been absorbed into the rice. The whole process takes about 30 minutes. And did I mention that you have to constantly stir as well? This dish is definitely a labor of love. Here are some pictures as the dish progresses:

The cookbook and recipe

The ingredients piled on my tiny workspace. (Dad, PLEASE tell me when you are going to have time to work on my kitchen!)

The slow cooking process of stirring and waiting for the rice to absorb the broth...Starting to look good now!

Mmmm! Look at it with the Parmesan cheese!

Yes, it tasted even better than it looks! Look how creamy and rich and delicious that is!

A simple yet delicious dinner. We both loved it so much that I made this for dinner twice this week!

St. Patrick's Day Decor and Delicious Dish

As of March 9th, I finally decided to take down my Valentine's decorations. In my defense, I'm not lazy, I just didn't have any March decorations or fabulous tablescapes to put up. I finally decided to use my beautiful dishes that Scott got me for our anniversary. I only have 4 dinner plates, 4 small plates, and 4 bowls, so I had to get creative with my 8 person place setting:

I decided to stagger the big and small plates, and also add the bowls to the small plates to add some height and interest.

I only had 4 wine glasses trimmed in gold, so I alternated those with 4 amber colored glasses. Since I alternated the wine glasses, I also used alternating red and ecru colored napkins. I guess my theme here was to be creative with what I had to work with. I think it looks ok. Not fabulous, but ok:

Notice my little green leprechaun hats? I bought those today. I wasn't sure what to do with them, but they were just so dang cute I couldn't resist! I found a good place to put one of them:

After decorating with my Irish decor, I was in the mood for something else Irish. I decided to make a Shepard's Pie. Is that even Irish? Maybe it's English? Either way, I had ground lamb, and it sounded good. I found a Rachael Ray recipe online and made a 30 minute meal. Here are the results:

Now that's what I'm talkin' about! YUM-O! Thanks Rachel Ray, you never disappoint!

The Death of Me...

These calorie loaded little bites of pure deliciousness will ultimately be the death of me. Or the death of my current waistline anyway. So far, I've only had 2. But it's only March 4th and the Easter candy season has only just begun. Somebody, save me!