Foodie Friday: Happy New Year!

I am making a traditional New Years dish, Hoppin' John. The custom of eating black-eyed peas  on the first day of the year stems from the belief that they will bring good luck to whoever eats them.  There are a lot of recipes for this but, I used as a base recipe Julee Rosso's recipe for Lucky Red Beans and Rice from Great Good Food.  She and co-author Shelia Lukins wrote the Silver Palate Cookbooks.  Rosso and Lukins always got the flavors right so I knew this recipe should start out with one of their recipes.  

*Note: I exchanged the red beans with black-eyed peas, which is the tradition, and I used   Jasmine rice (that is all the kids will eat) and I omitted the sun dried tomato.

Ingredients:
12 ounces of dried black-eyed peas
8 cups of chicken broth
1 ham hock (about 1 1/2 lb.)
2 cups finely chopped onion
2 cups finely chopped celery
1 cup finely chopped green bell pepper
1 1/2 TB finely minced garlic

1 bay leaf

1/2 TSP dried thyme
1/4 TSP cayenne
1/2 TSP freshly ground pepper
1 1/3 cups rice


1. Rinse the peas and place them in a large soup pot with the chicken broth, ham hock, onion, celery, green pepper, garlic, bay leaf, thyme, cayenne, and pepper.  Bring to a boil, cover, lower the heat, and simmer for 1 1/2 hours, until the peas are tender.  
2. Add the rice and cook for 25 minutes more.  Ladel into bowls and serve immediately.
YIELDS: 12 servings

Have a very Happy and blessed New Year!  Please go to Designs by Gollum and see all the other Foodie Friday posts.

  

Happy New Year!!!

Since we're not doing anything very exciting or glamorous for this New Year's Eve, I thought I'd compile a group of pretties that scream "New Year's Eve" to me...  Tables I'd love to sit at...  Things I'd love to wear...

The perfect black crystal chandelier for New Year's Eve...

Aren't these black and white chinoiserie plates gorgeous??? 

If I had some place to go other than the living room, I'd love to wear this fun cocktail ring (from here)

And how amazing is this wallpapered closet?!!!   (from Houzz)... 

I could see putting on my "How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days" dress in there...

Seriously I'm in love with that dress.  (And don't have it btw) but there are so many places online you can find who sell a version of it:

...  But in reality I'll be at home in my pjs...

Enjoying one of these with my husband:

Celebrating this:

Happy New Year!!!  Thank you so much for your support & friendship. You've all been so amazing & your comments & emails mean so much to me.  Have fun & be safe tonight!!!!

xoxo,

lauren

ps-  a little heads up on what's to come in our house this next year:  ORGANIZATION!!  We're hitting the closets, laundry room & work spaces, and are on a mission to make them functional and pretty.  Can't wait!!!

Tablescape Thursday: Happy New Year!

The countdown is here with a new decade approaching.  I join you with a festive tablescape whose main centerpiece is an old mantel clock.  Ever living in the present, it is midnight and the New Year is beginning.  At the end of my photo shoot some lovely angels begged to be included, blessing us all for the New Year.

 

 

 

The table setting is very bourgeois.  It is all in how you present it. 

Charger: Trees N Trends

Porcelain plates: Walmart

Silver: Gorham- English Gadroon

Goblet: TJ Maxx

 Champagne Flute: thrift store 

 

I included the angels at the end of the photo shoot.  I had them in the dining room on the table prior to setting up and I really enjoyed them.  They were an after Christmas purchase at the thrift store.  They had been marked down to $1 a piece so, they came home with me. They are holding cloth as if they are ready to swaddle the new baby New Year.  This is a dear image to me because I had my first born son on New Year's Eve.  I hope they also ring in for us all an amazing rebirth in the next decade!

The angels are perfect for the table because they look as good from behind as they do from the front.  They are also not so large that they obstruct your guest's view.

Creating these holiday tables has been so much fun.  Please check out more holiday tablescapes at Susan's Between Naps on the Porch.  A special thanks to all who have viewed my very new blog.  Please feel free to leave a comment if anything inspires you.  I so enjoy learning and reading from your blogs.

Movies to Pause

When I watch movies it always fascinates me when I see a house that is especially appealing.  I can first remember hitting the pause button when I watched Home Alone. I went on the internet to research this topic and I began to type in some of my favorite movies with great houses and the same name kept popping up, Nancy Meyers.  Funny how when you discover something you start to notice it everywhere.  I went on to reread my Holiday Edition of Traditional Home magazine and there Ms. Meyers is again.  Nancy Meyers is know for being a director with an eye for design.  Nancy Meyer's latest movie is in theaters now.  It's Complicated stars Meryl Streep, Steve Martin, and Alec Baldwin.  The movie features a 1920's Spanish-style ranch that Streep's character is remodeling.  I haven't seen this movie yet, but I can't wait to check it out.  There is also a long list of stunning homes in the rest of Nancy Meyer's movies.  I am sure you will remember them as I run through the list.

• The Holiday:  Kate Winslet's English Country Cottage and Cameron Diaz's LA mansion

•  Something's Gotta Give: Diane Keaton's Hamptons Beach House

• The Parent Trap: Dennis Quaid's Napa house

• The Father of the Bride: Diane Keaton's and Steve Martin's home

• Baby Boom: Diane Keaton's Vermont Home
• What Women Want: Helen Hunt's New York apartment 
• Private Benjamin:  Goldie Hawn's French Chateau

Check out more images of Nancy Meyers' newest film It's Complicated on Traditional Home magazine's website.  Follow the link at the bottom of the page that takes you to Traditional Home's facebook page.  It features pictures of the movie house's exterior and interior and get that pause button warmed up for when it comes out on DVD for a really close look.

 

 

Mosaic Monday

A mosaic of beautiful sights I saw at Christmas.

Where to Begin: Decorating

Decorating an interior space can be a overwhelming task.  Where do you begin? What style is your style?  How will it function when serving a whole family.  There are a lot of considerations to make.  I will begin a series for the new year in which I will explore the process of creating an interior that will meet your needs. I will take you through a major remodel we did to our very own house in 2008.  At least once a week I will post an entry on the process of our major remodel.  

• The first step in in any decorating project would be to create an idea notebook.

Here are a few pages out of my idea notebook.

It has been a few years since I started this notebook.  You could probably date the interior by the photos. I had a collection of transferware and I always pictured it in a Welsh dresser.  So, I collected every picture of transferware in a Welsh style hutch that I could find.  I clipped pictures out of magazines and taped them to cardstock then placed them in a binder.

As the years have progressed I have grown beyond a straight English Country style, although it is still one of my favorites.  I now want a more streamlined style that fits every family members needs and is comfortable and peaceful.  Pictured above is a layout from Ernest Hemingway's home in Key West by Victoria magazine.  I have pulled the colors on the wall and drapes right out of the page and found paint chips that give me that peaceful color scheme.  The picture also evokes the naturalist that Hemingway was envisioned as by Victoria and it has a true British Colonial flair (think Out of Africa, the movie).  A style I have another fondness for and the naturalist elements I love to see in decorating.

Beyond a single style you can find just certain ideas that you can use.  I will never have a home that looks like this English manor but, I can go to Lowe's and buy outdoor lanterns and place them on either side of an entry chest in my home and it will get the look.   

I don't stop at the interior either, my idea book has photos of outdoor spaces and how I might landscape them.  Outdoor spaces are an important extension to our home and shouldn't be overlooked.  

If you need to tackle a remodel in 2010 join me as I show you how I did mine and start yours with and idea notebook.

To Do: 

• Make an idea notebook of your personal favorite interiors.  Get clipping!
  

New Baby!

Well our "new baby" BOY finally came!   His name is Justin Alexander and he was born on December 22nd.  

We had a huge snowstorm here last weekend so we took Christian (our 2 yr old) to my parents' house just in case I went into labor. 

On Sunday night I started having regular (but not painful) contractions.  I didn't call the doctor until the next night when they were a couple of minutes apart (STILL not painful) and she told me to go on in to the hospital just in case.  SO we went in & yes I was having contractions but still wasn't at a point where I should stay, so we went home.  The next day (the roads had cleared up finally!)and although I was still having contractions, (going on 40+ hours--- seriously???)   we went to get Christian from my mom's to take him home.  (We'd missed him like crazy and I was giving up on ever going into real labor :)  And of course my water broke.  My first thought was "not the sofa!!!" and ran as fast as I could off of my mom's velvet sofa & off the rug & onto the hardwood. 

We said our goodbyes (again) to Christian and off we went back to the hospital.  They gave me a good ol' dose of pitocin and off we went into the real hard labor.  Justin was born at around 11 that night and it was such a smooth delivery.  He weighed 6 lbs 13 oz and is healthy healthy healthy!! :)

I feel GREAT and really couldn't have had an easier delivery and am so thankful.  I'm SO ready to jump & dance around but am being good & am going to wait until I'm supposed to.  (less than 2 weeks! wahooooo)

We came home from the hospital on Christmas Eve and I could NOT believe how big my little Christian seemed!!!!  He got to meet his brother & so far has been really sweet.  He gives him kisses and checks on him when he cries & generally ignores him most of the time.  :)  We had an awesome Christmas Day with just us & it was so crazy to look around and see that there are now 4 of us.  2 boys.  (Well, really 3 and I'm totally outnumbered.)  WOW. 

So for now, we're hibernating.   (It's pretty much what we like to do when we have a baby. ;)  I'll keep you posted & will try to muster up some design-related posts soon!! :)  Hope you all had a very MERRY CHRISTMAS and thank you all SO much for your kind emails & well-wishes.  It was really fun (and took my mind off things) at the hospital when my blackberry would ding and I'd get a sweet wish from one of you.  :)  I really appreciate it.

Right now we're in that sleep-deprived but lovey-dovey wonderful stage of life after a new baby.  He really is a little angel and we couldn't be happier.  We're so thankful to have such a healthy little boy and are taking each day (no hour!) one at a time...

xoxo,

lauren

More Photo Recap of the Sights of Christmas

  

 

Photo Recap of the Sights of Christmas

 

 

Check back for more photo recaps of beautiful sights of Christmas.