Comfort Food

Do you have a comfort food?  For me it was always meatloaf and potatoes.  I have been trying to get more veggies into all of our food so, I tried a few new things with my favorite recipe.  The first thing I did was I tore up some spinach leaves and added it to the meatloaf.   I also wanted to take out the 1/2 cup of milk and I added in it's place sugar free apple butter.  Be warned, it was a sweet meatloaf, but it tasted very good.  My recipe already had brown sugar in it.  I found this meatloaf recipe in a church cookbook.  I like using recipes out of church cookbooks because you know the cooks have made them and liked how they turned out.

Ingredients:

1 lb. hamburger

1/4 cup chopped onions

1/4 cup dry bread crumbs

1 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. pepper

1/2 tsp ground sage

2 eggs, beaten

1/2 cup milk ( I substituted apple butter)

2 tbsp. brown sugar

1/2 tsp. dry mustard

Optional: I also added a 1/2 cup of torn baby spinach

Topping:

1/4 cup ketchup

green pepper rings

Take all ingredients and mix well.  Then pour ketchup down the center of the loaf and top with several pepper rings.  Bake at 350 degrees for an hour.  

Here is a picture of it ready to go in the oven.

What is your favorite comfort food?

Sherry

I will link to:

Wow Us Wednesdays at Savvy Southern Style

Foodie Friday  at Designs by Gollum

This Chick Cooked at This Chick Cooks

Friday Food at Mom Trends

Back from Star Bright Farm

We're home from a fun weekend at my friend & photographer Helen Norman's farm- Star Bright Farm- where we photographed my new line of fabrics.   Saturday afternoon, we loaded up the car with fabrics, props and luggage and headed for the farm:

{Ashby checked out the goods before we left}

When we got there we planned out our shot possibilities and even got a few photos in that evening before the rain storm.  Helen & her husband Mark made us THE MOST AMAZING PASTA EVER for dinner.  {Chard from their farm sauteed with peppers, garlic & bacon over pasta --- mmm mmmm goodness!!  I had it again for breakfast on Sunday and I made it when I got home last night (they sent us home with a bunch of fresh veggies from the farm) and just had it again for breakfast}  We stayed in Helen & Mark's AMAZING guest house and I just couldn't get over all of the beautiful details in their homes.  Everything is so authentic & solid and "real."  It's truly incredible.  Their house was recently featured in Country French Magazine.  (with photos by Helen) Here's a pic of their living room with one of my Madhatter chairs in white linen:

{please excuse the bad scans}

Here's a photo from Country French Magazine of her potting room:

{loooove this soapstone sink}

We had a crazy loooong day of shooting (up at 4:30 AM) with Helen & F.J. (her assistant) and our whole family and the photos turned out so well.  My goal with this photo shoot was to use the fabrics in settings that portrayed a feeling & a mood.  The fabrics and colorways are all so different from each other (55 in all) so it was so much fun to use them in varied settings for completely different vibes.   

As soon as I have pics, I'll let you know.  The online store with the fabrics is almost up!!

Thanks so much to Helen & her amazing family-  we had so much fuuun!!!!!!

If you'd like help creating a home you absolutely love, contact me about our design services.

To "Do" Some Fall Decorating

I am trying to make some progress with fall decorating.  Here are some peaks at some of it.  

Kim challenged us to use the verb "do" for today for Texture Tuesday.  Right away I knew I had to do some decorating.  

The texture I used was scripted autumn by Kim Klassen.

I used:

linear burn at 60% for the crow

overlay at 100% for the candles

overlay at 80 % for the lantern

I will join:

Texture Tuesday  at Kim Klassen Cafe

Table Top Tuesday  at A Stroll Thru Life
Hop over and check out these wonderful blogs.

In Remembrance

In remembrance of 9-11-01

Inspiration for Christmas

I went to Jeanne d' Arc Living website a few months ago and stashed some images in a file for Christmas inspiration.  I went back this week and they were not on the site.  So I am pinning them to remember the great ideas for Winter.  Jeanne d' Arc Living is the trendsetter of the 'Nordic-French country' style.  This is such a hit on the blogs and in different parts of the U.S. So join me as I "pin" a little global country style.

All images from:

Jeanne d' Arc Living

I am joining Natasha for her Pinning & Singing Party at 5 Minutes Just for Me.

The song I am sharing is China Anne McClain; a little singing dynamo, singing Dynamite from Disney's show A.N.T. Farm. 

My youngest has Disney channel on sometimes and they played this song a few weeks ago and it stuck in my brain.

Home Sweet Home #31

Hello!  Welcome to Home Sweet Home!  I wanted to recreate a wreath I saw on Pinterest  in neutral.  I am shooting for a neutral fall front entrance.

Here was my version.  but I have a screen door and it wouldn't shut with the gourds protruding off the front of the wreath, so I even edited this version to....

to this.  I think I like it even better.  The simplicity makes a clean modern look.  The best thing about this is I can leave it up right until Thanksgiving.  A neutral color scheme will stretch your decorating further.  And it was thrifty for me to make.  I had the gourds, the paint, the moss, and the burlap.  I went out and bought a 10 inch straw wreath, new in it's package, at the thrift store for 80 cents on clearance!  Yah!  Love a bargain.

Thanks for joining me at Home Sweet Home!

Sherry

Now, I would like to feature some wonderful post from last week's Home Sweet Home.

First, Marty at A Stroll Thru Life showed off her wall collage.  Click the link to view.

Next, Brayton Homestead Interiors pulled apart her fireplace and found a beehive oven and wood storage. Brayton Homestead was built in 1796.  I love New England colonial homes, so this had me excited!  Click the link to view.  She wants ideas on what to do with it.

The Decorating Diaries restored this farmhouse table just the right amount. Click the link to view.

Melissa, at Shabby Love took an old door from the Salvation Army and created one of the cutest message centers.  Click the link to view.

And last, Vanessa over at At The Picket Fence did a fantastic job on this faux wainscoting.  Click the link to view.

Thank you to all who join me at Home Sweet Home!

Guidelines for Home Sweet Home Party:

Attention: To link up with inlinkz you must have a permalink back to this party in your post or they will not allow you to link. 

My button is on my sidebar for the party, if you want to use it.   If you are new here I hope you will become a follower.  No Etsy link ups or direct advertising, please.  Please visit some of the other blogs and get some great inspiration.  Thanks.:)

Now let's see your beautiful homes!

Fern Window Boxes

This past weekend we added window boxes on a whim.  I've always wanted them and they were on sale at the garden center so we went for it.  I loooove quick projects and this one was simple.  (Especially for me watching while Dave was up on the ladder ;) ;)

So far, I've been caring for them through the windows and I went with ferns because they do so well with the moisture from that air.  I'm completely blanking out on the other plant I chose but I loved it's almost flourescent color & white blooms.

The plants are so pretty from the inside too.  You can see them from the window and it feels like they're in the room with you.  We recently switched the boys' rooms so now they're sharing a bedroom and the second bedroom is a playroom.  (Over the summer when we stayed with my dad they got used to sharing a bedroom and wanted to keep it that way when we got home.   I love seeing them so excited to be together.)  Christian's "job" is watering the plants because he knows mommy runs a plant hospice.

Over the next few months we taking down a closet in the boys room to make room for a big boy bed for Justin.  I'm planning on doing duvet covers out of one of my fabrics, "Filigree Chevron" and I can't wait to see how they turn out!

We're going to my friend & photogapher Helen Norman's farm this weekend to shoot my new line of fabrics.  The crazy amount of rain we've had has but a bit of a {literal} damper on our original plans which included lots of field shots, but Helen's property has so many beautiful spots I'm not worried.  My  first textile collection is completed and I have 14 different designs with multiple colorways in each pattern for a total of about 60 different fabrics.  I plan on adding a few new designs seasonally.  I've pulled a ton of inspiration images and can't wait!!  love the idea of stacking the fabrics inside a piece of furniture like this one:

{image from theselby.com}

Enjoy your day!!

If you'd like help creating a home you absolutely love, contact me about our design services.