Smattering of Here & There

We’ve been super busy over here. And loving every.minute.of it!

P.S. Cinnamon Sugar Popovers, are a must. Give them a try if you are up for deliciousness.

Lost in Drawers Vintage – Shop Update

It may only be January, but who isn’t looking forward to February and the lovely day of Valentine’s, full of adventure and sweetness. Yes, the day for all things flowers and chocolate also happens to be a perfect time to embrace red, pink and coral. Your wardrobe is begging to be full of cute polka dots and sweet floral prints.

It is the day to be a tad too sweet, and why not get a new-to-you vintage dress to signal that spring is around the corner? Our Lost In Drawers Vintage store has some great additions that are perfect for the Valentine’s Day spirit. Many of these frocks can be worn now under cardigans and on their own well into the warmer months. So, look for more scarlet hued dresses in the follow weeks! Because who doesn’t want a dash of sweet?

Lost in Drawers Vintage

 

Popovers

Valentine’s Day came very early for us this year. My parents were incredibly kind and generous in that they surprised us with a brand spanking new iPad Mini. Something we quite needed to make our business even better! But as Apple products are so versatile, we know that it is not just for Lost in Drawers Vintage but also for recipes in the kitchen (I mean why not)! And being that a new recipe was to be tried, we found ourselves buying a new popover pan and trying these Blarney Castle cheese (similar to gouda) & Black Pepper popovers to go along with our soups that we have been making. I mean, who doesn’t love bread and cheese and butter and cheese again?

And we do have to say they turned out pretty great, crispy on the outside and soft chewy and cheesy on the inside.

Try popovers!

ingredients
2 cups whole milk
4 large eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 ounces Gruyère cheese, cut into 16 small cubes, plus freshly grated cheese for garnish

Preparation

1. Preheat the oven to 375˚ and position a rack in the bottom third. Place 2 muffin pans (or enough to make 16 popovers) in the oven to warm.
2

2. In a small saucepan, warm the milk over medium heat until it is hot (about 125˚) but not boiling. Remove from the heat. In a large bowl, whisk the eggs with the salt and black pepper until smooth. Slowly whisk in the warm milk. Add the flour and whisk until the batter is just combined. (It may be slightly lumpy.)
3

3. Remove the muffin pans from the oven. Spray the pans generously with nonstick cooking spray. Pour about 1/3 cup of the batter into each of 16 muffin cups. Set a cube of the cheese on top of the batter in each cup.
4

4. Bake the popovers until puffed and deep golden brown, about 40 minutes (do not open the door or they may collapse). Remove the popovers from the pans, sprinkle with the grated Gruyère and serve immediately.

Recipe

Soups, Soups, Soups

It’s the new year, and a perfect time to try new things. We had been talking about how we could eat more at home, try a few new things, eat less meat and cut a few calories and processed foods. And what is the best comfort food for these cold nights? Soup! We found a great set of recipes in the February 2012 issue of Family Circle (cause we are 90 and have a subscription to Family Circle!). So, we set out to make as many soups in a week as we could. Which is not to say that we didn’t have a few cheat nights with some Springcreek BBQ and a little In-N-Out, but it was a nice change to eat mostly at home around the dinner table.

We started out with a Loaded Baked Potato soup, then moved on to a really tasty Chicken and Corn Chowder. Next we went out of comfort zone and made a surprisingly great Tortellini en Brodo soup, made with 3 cheese tortellini and vegetables with a flavored chicken stock. No meat! The next soup was a different take on Hearty Chicken Noodle soup with a flavored chicken stock loaded with pulled chicken, vegetables and bowtie pasta. As our week of soups came to a close we took our biggest step out of our comfort zone with a Creamy Roasted Butternut Squash and Carrot soup with homemade croutons. And it was really sweet, good and different and back to good again!

It’s a been a great week of soups and realizing how much better scratch made food really is. We highly recommended all of these recipes, try them, experiment with them! Bo and I feel healthier, and have a great start to a collection of soup recipes that we are sure to use for years to come.

(Bring on the cheeseburgers?)

SEA LIFE Grapevine Aquarium

Free days are a many splendid thing. Bo only has a few Fridays off throughout the year. So, when that time comes around we try to come up with something where we don’t just sit around our house all day. Well, this past Friday off we were suppose to wake up very early and take a little road trip. And let’s just say that the snooze button was hit several times and we never made that road trip.

BUT we did make it out to the grand town of Grapevine Texas. We had been there a year ago specifically to visit the Sea Life Aquarium. It was brand new then, and super, super busy. We didn’t really get to see much of anything and lots of children running everywhere. And being that we tend to be the only adults without kids and don’t want to shove the children out of the way it. So we left early. This time we saw everything twice. We basically had the whole exhibit to ourselves. It was like seeing the amazing sea life for the first time. The aquarium tour guides were incredibly friendly, inviting and informative. We LEARNED! In the process of petting baby Port Jackson sharks, learning about shark eggs (these exist?!), shark births, starfish, sea urchin “hugs” (I mean, life is going to be a little different after you’ve experienced a sea urchin hug!), sea horses feeding and a huge living and breathing octopus!

Learning is fun!

Bundt

Now, I know what you are thinking. First with the pies, and now with the cakes. But hear me out! For Christmas, my really gracious and lovely grandmother gifted me with this incredibly nice bundt pan. And when you receive such a pan, you gotta make some bundts right? As it turns out, bundt cakes are sooo easy. Don’t get me wrong, my first recipe was a complete disaster. I added or didn’t add something or another. And it was awful-ish? The icing situation is also tricky. Do you frost it like a cake? Do you drizzle icing? A lot of googling was going on those first few days. But I have to remind myself, not everything has to be cookbook and/or blog beautiful. You live and you learn each and every time.

But since that first recipe, I’ve gotten the hang of it. I’ve learned that a dash of pure vanilla extract can be your best friend. Bundt cakes are MOIST! And I like that. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not the hardest thing in the kitchen to make. But from a gal that wouldn’t step foot in a kitchen from I was younger up into my adulthood. (Not without my dear mother trying her hardest, because she is an amazing, amazing cook and baker) I truly loathed the kitchen. Bo is the cook in our family. Partly because I never “learned” besides what? A grilled cheese? But baking does give you a sense of confidence. And I am all about confidence in this new year. On a side note, the best thing about baking here and there is the chance to give it away. Bo and I don’t eat everything. We so would if we could? But we need to have a little control in the new year.

Bundt, bundt, bundt! Have I said that enough?!

Cake is good, bundt is good, Always eat cake!

Heather

Lost in Drawers Vintage Shop Update

What would the start to 2013 be without a little Lost in Drawers Vintage Shop update!? We have added some beautiful, modern, and oh so wearable vintage dresses to start the new year. Mostly, we have been finding these great floral prints of all varying shades! Who says you can’t wear a bit of floral in the winter months? I sure think you can, it might just put a little pep in your step!

All of these dresses are versatile enough to wear through all four seasons. Any one of them can be paired with tights and ankle boots or just as easily with some adorable flats and snappy sandals. Please do take a look around at our shop. We know we have something for everyone. It is our goal to offer affordable, carefully selected, wearable vintage clothing that will look both modern and timeless on you.

Christmas, New Orleans and Many, Many Beignets Later

As we struggle to have the willpower necessary to take down the last of our Christmas decorations (do we have to?) we were looking back at these photos are from our very hotel Christmas. So, while Fort Worth was receiving a white Christmas as it always does when we are out of town, we made ourselves feel better by swimming and lounging along the lazy river pool and nearly living in the hot tub thanks to the wonderfully mild Florida climate. I’ll take that most days.

So, what does a hotel Christmas involve? Gingerbread construction that Bo took entirely too serious (what a dork) and the terrible Hello Kitty gingerbread house disaster that will never be spoken of again. This trip was all about family time, from the road trip to and from with my brother Connor that was so much fun to Disney with mom to having s’mores around the fire pit and meeting some really kind people while sharing our sweet treats.

It was a year where we made choices that were smart, and very adult. We chose this family time over exchanging presents. There is something so gratifying about making memories and time well spent together as a family.

Soon enough we were back on the road and in the direction of our favorite, New Orleans. Connor made New Orleans fun in the only way he could, and getting to explore and show him a few favorites such as lunch at Stanley (it’s amazing EVERY single time) and enduring the loooooong cold line for Cafe Du Monde. Which by the way, beignets never get old and we could use a half a dozen here in the new year?

So, here’s to you New Year! May it be filled with many, many more beignets! (?)

Walt Disney World on Christmas Eve

It’s been a long time coming. I’ve been wanting to experience Christmas time at Disney World, well probably my whole life. For many years on Christmas morning, my family gathers around our television after opening presents to watch the Disney World Christmas parade. Every year, I say to my mom that I would love to be at Disney World for the Holidays. Now, we were just there a few months ago for my birthday. And Bo and I know how incredibly blessed we are for the trips we get to take with my family. I was always raised to value family, and making those memories are so important to me. (I’ll take that over a sweater present any day.)

Getting to the park early, partly out of excitement and partly because we expected it to be incredibly crowded, which by afternoon it was, I have to say that while our September trip wasn’t that long ago, the magic of getting to the park was still there. There was so much that each trip to the park brings. From the delicious pastries at breakfast at Main Street Bakery (get the delicious, delicious bagel and cinnamon rolls!), meeting Alice AND the White Rabbit at the same time (note the excited and completely genuine look on my face) to Bo taking so many pictures of the decorations, leave it to Disney to really get us in the Christmas Spirit. The park was gorgeous, and soon we were exploring how great the New Fantasyland (ahhhh, I’ve been waiting, waiting and waiting for this expansion!) was with so many of my favorites Dumbo, Belle and of course Ariel. And can we talk about The Little Mermaid ride?? I mean it is really and truly an exciting and must see ride! It was pure Disney magic, and getting to eat an early lunch at the Be Our Guest Restaurant (make reservations for dinner, it is a treat!) was so good and quite enchanting.

Speaking of food, I had told Bo that last trip was all about the rides, but this trip was about the food and treats. We were on a mission of sorts, because there was the elusive Mickey-shaped pretzel to try! It’s hard to find, but soon enough I was dunking pretzel into cheese sauce. But not to be outdone, we had something that seems so simple but it might be the thing all of us will crave for a long time. The famous Dole Whip. Only available in a few places in the park, this soft serve pineapple in pineapple juice is amazing. My ridiculous husband and wonderful mom have been talking about it for the last week.

It was so fun experiencing the most wonderful time of the year at the Magic Kingdom with my mom(the other half of my family at Epcot). From the rides and food, to the lighting of the thousands of lights on the castle for Christmas to shopping and the illusion of snow as we walked along Main Street USA…it was an amazing day with more memories than we could document on film as we are learning our new camera, but every moment was special and will never be forgotten or taken for granted. 2012 was a year of so many memories, and perfectly captured with our Very Disney Christmas.

So This Is The New Year

A very Happy and Blessed New Year to one and to all!

We hope all of you we have known, recently met and hope to meet are having a great start to 2013 and have all the hope and joy you deserve heading into another 365. We are so so glad its a new year, and cannot wait to see all the possibility 2013 holds. This last year was one of the fullest years of our lives, with challenges deeper than ever before, adventures had, dreams begun and others fulfilled! We are beyond thankful that we made it to another wonderful year, and honestly couldn’t have done it without many of you.

From those people have found and supported us through Lost In Drawers Vintage, to every act and word of kindness shared, to those family members who have been there every step of the way, it was a year that taught us about ourselves and the lesson that every day is chance to be our best selves. We hope that in 2013 we get to spend every moment showing kindness, giving back, working hard and exploring every path set before us. We are blessed, we are honest and we are incredibly lucky to have this crazy, fun, up/down/sideways, adventure-filled, sometimes maddening but so wonderful life.

So, this is the New Year…here’s to forgiveness, grace, love, kindness and adventures!

Heather & Bo