Monthly Archives for March 2011

Feel this!

If you are lucky enough to have your grandparents around, you are very lucky.  I am blessed enough to have a set of my grandparents here to enjoy them.  My Mémé (which after all these years I found out means “Grandma” in French…who knew I was such a cultured baby) posted on her Facebook a picture of my Pawpaw with this caption: Jerry went All over town and didn’t know this sticker was on his head. Haha we had a good laugh. I laughed so hard. That is so my Pawpaw.  He is still so silly and goofy after all these years, a child at heart. He is the best whistler and breakfast chef I know.  Of course, his perfect compliment in life is my Mémé.  I have learned from her…to always have my camera ready to snap that very important picture, and ALWAYS laugh at the silliness.  Love your grandparents…cherish them and always, always listen to their stories!

-Heather

p.s. The 2nd picture is over 11 years old and I was a bridesmaid. Excuse the satin and big hair. ;)

 

Steak, Guinness and cheese pie with a puff pastry lid (or potatoes!)

Tonight we broke out the cookbook, in this case Jamie Oliver’s excellent tome – Jamie at Home – and decided with the odd cold weather to make a version of his Steak Guinness and Cheese pie.

Now, being that our kitchen can rarely leave a recipe alone, we decided to take this recipe in a simpler , more traditional route.  We used biscuit dough to line our baking dish, par baking it for 10 minutes before adding the filling from the recipe.  Then, instead of the puff pastry top, we made it a Shepherd’s Pie with the mashed potatoes on top.  The mashed potatoes are simple – either peel and boil some quartered Yukon Gold or Idaho potato or use the excellent Steam & Mash potatoes from Ore Ida.  Cook, mash with unsalted butter and kosher salt.  Add a splash each of sour cream or ranch and milk, whip up and re-season with seasoned salt and pepper.

Spread the potatoes evenly over the biscuit crust and meat pie filling and sprinkle with sweet paprika.  Reheat in a 375 degree oven till heated through.

Serve with sweet English peas, boiled or steamed and then sauteed quickly in a little dab of butter and olive oil.  Season with salt and pepper.

Enjoy!

Floral Frocks: A Celebration of the Floral Printed Dress from 1900 to Today

It’s no surprise that I love vintage clothing. Especially frilly, pretty, vintage dresses. My obsession started when I was in high school and clearly has stuck around for many many years. So I squealed with delight when I found this book at our local Half Price Books. Clearly at a superb price of $8, I would have been insane not to get. As soon as the sales associate rung it up, I tore the cellophane off the book and immersed myself  in it. Page upon page of inspiration . So I thought I would share!

Enjoy!

Heather

The Late 1920′s and 1930′s

Fuji Instax 210 wide

Sunday Sunday Finds: a purple wall!

a white wall!

Floral Frocks at Half Price Books!

Is that an army/duffle coat?  Why yes it is!  Thank you for noticing, and thank you Texas! I was wearing shorts yesterday at the park, now I have to resort to a jacket (*so that’s why I look so cold picture*) So our plans of trying the new Gelato place, Paciugo downtown were hijacked. Emory was upset, so we decided a joy ride in our new car would get his spirits up. He fell asleep within 5 minutes. So there’s that.

You know the thing about instant cameras?  There isn’t really room for mistakes. You kind of get one shot..to get that shot. We currently use a Fujifilm Instax 210 Wide camera, as Polaroid went the way of so many wonderful things.  Polaroid film is impossible to get and there is no word if the company that bought the Polaroid film patent will produce film on a large scale.  So, we were excited when we got the Fuji camera – the main differences being the massive size of the camera body and that the film format is wide.  The exposures are in your hands immediately and you just hope you didn’t mess up that perfect moment.  It’s a beautiful risk and reward.

Heather and Bo

Great scott!!!

The summer is not far off and a Saturday morning brought sunlight creeping around the edges of our drawn curtains and a wide-awake puppy in our faces.  We dragged ourselves up and grabbed the one thing that makes not sleeping in worth it: Chick-fil-a Chick’n Minis!  And the sun was out, and we got in our new (used) car – a little Volvo sedan that replaced the troublesome Honda hatchback and headed to a friend’s wedding shower/pre-wedding reception.  And that was lovely, because giving gifts and eating barbeque, rolls and red velvet cake deserves the word.  Dallas wasn’t too far away, so we headed to Buffalo Exchange and chatted with TK (cause we know them by name, of course) and the other employees and sold some things and got a vintage dress, a DVF top among other things – including a bow tie for Mister Liles.  A trip home, scooping up the puppy for his new car to ride around the town and to run the roads till we knew that home was the only place we wanted to be.  A simple day for a life that needs more comfort – comfort that puts all things into perspective.

p.s. Solar flares follow us…we don’t follow them *wink