Autumn is Here

Its Thursday evening and I'm ready for the weekend. I spent some time this evening relaxing and catching up on blogs, plus some brainstorming. I made a mental checklist of the things I want to do this weekend. The weather should be nice, so I'm hoping to go to the downtown farmer's market on Saturday morning, and a country drive later in the day.

I also need to go pick some apples at Carter's Mountain so I can make applesauce (my Mom's applesauce mill has been sitting unused on my kitchen countertop too long!), but I don't want to have to battle the weekend apple picking crowds. Too many people for me! I might go early or right before they close.

I picked up some molasses chew cookies made by Mission Home Bakeshop today when I was at the grocery. They were the perfect addition to my chicken salad sandwich lunch. The cookies were definitely were an impulse buy thanks to the crisp cool weather we've been so lucky to have. Go pick some up and celebrate Autumn. Its here!


I'm hoping to do a little cooking this weekend as well. Last weekend I made Barefoot Contessa's Lentil Sausage Soup. Delicious. I give the recipe 5 stars! Go make it yourself if you want a great afternoon activity that will leave your home smelling scrumptious all day! This weekend I'm looking forward to trying L'Etoile's Pumpkin Soup recipe that they sampled at the Farmer's Market last weekend. Served with some crusty bread, a fresh salad, and a glass of wine... perfect Saturday evening dinner.

While Fall is fresh on the mind, be sure to take a look at this lovely guest bedroom from The Newlywed Diaries. The colors are beautiful and the simplicity of the space is just what a guest is looking for. Someplace to feel welcome and cozy, but without the clutter of their own home. Wouldn't you love to be a guest in their guestroom?

Coastal Living 2009 Idea Cottage

When you get a chance, take a look at the 2009 Coastal Living Idea Cottage in I'On, South Carolina. I just got the magazine in the mail today and am loving it. Take a look at the website or pick up the magazine next time you need a little $4.99 vacation!

Check this out, and quickly!

Meg of Pigtown Designs has posted a link to upload a large printable vintage Parisian map. Its available for download in Greyish Sepia, Black and White, and Sepia. Just think of the possibilities...

- art ... obviously!
- wrapping paper
- book covers
- I know there are more things you could do with this... just can't think of any off the top of my head.

I'll work on printing this out and getting some photographed ideas.

Download quickly. It looks like these downloads will only be available for a few more days!

Souper Noodle Soup

When I was little my Dad made this special soup for rainy days, snow days, pretty much any weekend day when we wanted to help him cook. We called it Souper Noodle Soup. The recipe is simple, basic chicken noodle soup, but instead of using just one plain noodle style, you create a mixture of all the noodles you have in the pantry. Curly noodles, bowties, macaroni noodles, alphabet noodles, linguine noodles, even egg noodles made it into the mix (I hate egg noodles now, but at the time I loved them)... pretty much whatever was in the pantry. My Dad, who my sisters and I named Daddy Boy (everyone has a crazy name like this at my house, it must have been some sort of classifcation system we did when we were growing up. Its completely normal to call my Mom Mommy Girl, Emma- Emma Girl, etc), probably did this to clear out the pantry. Daddy Boy would start the soup an hour or two before eating. The aroma of fresh chicken broth, herbs, celery, and carrots would float through the air.

I recall that my sisters and I would usually abandon Daddy Boy after the noodles were thrown into the pot; back upstairs we would go. Legos would call our name, or dolls, or other neighborhood friends. For some reason or another we would wander back downstairs and the scrumptious smell of Souper Noodle Soup would catch our noses. My Dad is notorious for having a soup spoon and a small dish by the stove, perfect for him to take a taste every once in a while. We would ask to try the noodle-y goodness. It was always delicious and suddenly we would want to eat a meal right then (even if it was only 10:30 in the morning, or 3:00 in the afternoon). Usually we had it for lunch, then again for dinner.

So I'm bringing this up because my Dad has scheduled surgery tomorrow morning. I'm nervous, but hopeful that all will go well. I knew I wanted to make him something, but was struggling to come up with the perfect card. After wracking my mind of creative ideas, a watercolor illustration of Souper Noodle Soup seemed most appropriate. I'm hoping to be able to go and visit him this weekend and make him some Souper Noodle Soup. I will share his recipe with you when I get back from my visit.


Update: My Dad's surgery went well. We will know the final test results next week.

My Mama Made It

Take a look at what Alexis of My Mama Made It threw together recently. This woman can sew! I am impressed with the creative use to hide a stain on a perfectly good tee shirt. I'm inspired to create a few of these for myself. A few new Old Navy tees and some cute fabric in my stash from Les Fabriques, and a few hours and voila! I see a few extra sassy tees in my new chest of drawers. They'll be perfect in the fall with jeans, a cardigan and my faux Frye's.

Napkin Decorating

Budget decorating is a little different than the decorating I was doing at my internship in Richmond, VA. Oh how I miss unlimited funds to redesign bedrooms, bathrooms, and beach cottages. I was exposed to so many beautiful lines of textiles, home accessories, and other products. The knowledge of these products makes it tricky to be satisfied with Target's home decorating section. Even Pottery Barn seems like a let down (not that I have the budget for that stuff anyways!). I want, want, want Oly Studio, Aidan Gray, Designers Guild, O&L, Brunschwig & Fils, etc. Once I went to pick up a few things from Niermann Weeks at the Washington Design Center. I nearly fell head over heels, the place is loaded with the most fashionable design. Its like a shopping mall for Interior Designers. They say knowledge is power, but in this case, design product knowledge is enough to break the bank!

All of that is besides the point though. This recession/ reality check for me as a designer is making me become more savvy with my design and decorating choices for my home. I was at World Market on Monday and saw some beautiful table linens. I thought about how the textile would compliment our living room furniture choices. I picked up 2 cloth napkins from that line for the low low price of $3.oo each and have plans to make them into pillow covers. I need to rummage through my fabric scraps/ samples and find enough for the back of the pillows. That shouldn't be too hard. I made pillows like this in the Spring, but think that the space could use some Autumnal inspiration. So in the next week or so I should be assembling new pillow covers. I found directions here for all you sewing bloggers. I usually add a zipper and always use a down pillow insert (Ikea sells a good inexpensive one) to create a cleaner and more professional look for the pillows, but the envelope method on the above link will work as well. After all is said and done, both pillow covers will cost less than $20. I think its an affordable solution to custom pillows. I'll be sure to photograph the final results.


For now, you will have to settle with the temporary solution... its pretty cheesy, but atleast you get an idea of the print and colors. (I will just be covering the pillows covered with the green fabric; the purple pillow will stay). Does anyone have any affordable trim ideas in mind for these pillows? Also, I found a few from Crate and Barrel that could be accents on the sofa. Here they are:

Homemade Granola

I think I might be a granola addict. Call me crazy, but I eat the same recipe of granola, Monday - Friday. A bowl of nonfat plain yogurt (add a little Purvia and a dash of vanilla extract) topped with granola and fresh fruit is a true delicacy.

The recipe I use is from the Barefoot Contessa Cookbook. I make it in large quanities, so it lasts a month or two. My Mom and I first tried the recipe about a year ago and have been making it ever since. I received the cookbook as a birthday gift last year, so when I moved, the granola recipe went with me. Ever since then I've been making the same recipe and my poor Mom (or so I thought...) has had to guess the original ingredients and proportions.

I didn't think anything of this until I went home for a beach trip and tried her version of the Barefoot Contessa granola recipe. Its delicious. Absolutely positively the best granola I have ever tasted (move over Barefoot Contessa). Granola goodness is what it should be called. It was so good, I really considered sneaking a container full of her granola to take home with me. She wouldn't have noticed, right???

Well, I didn't take the granola, but I did ask what she put in it that was so different than the original recipe. Turns out she just "threw in" some maple syrup, brown sugar, cinnamon, extra coconut, pecans, and a few seeds. Oh, and she decreased the cooking oil. No measurements or anything like that. Its pretty typical of her. Only one problem, as a novice chef, I need measurements.

So this weekend I noticed my supply of Granola (yes, I have a tall jar from World Market filled with granola) was nearly depleted and I was due for a new batch. It was also the perfect opportunity to make my Mom's recipe. So here it goes... I've tried to make it easy by adding whole bags/containers of ingredients into the recipe. Please don't do what I did and waste clean bowls just to take photos. Its not what I normally do, but I wanted the photos to look nice.

Ingredients:

• One (1) 18oz container of Quaker Old Fashioned Oats

• One (1) 6oz bag of Pecan Pieces

• One (1) 6oz bag of Sliced Almonds

• One (1) 7oz bag of Sweetened Coconut

• 1/2 Cup Vegetable Oil
• 1/2 Cup Honey
• 1/8 Cup Grade A Dark Maple Syrup
• 1/2 Cup Brown Sugar
• 1 Tsp Salt
• 1/2 Tsp Cinnamon
• 2 Tsp Vanilla Extract

1. Preheat the oven to 300 degrees Fahrenheit.

2. In a mixing bowl, add the following ingredients and stir together:

• One (1) 18oz container of Quaker Old Fashioned Oats

• One (1) 6oz bag of Pecan Pieces

• One (1) 6oz bag of Sliced Almonds

• One (1) 7oz bag of Sweetened Coconut

3. I also added 1/4 of a cup of Roasted Sesame Seeds, however this is optional, and really depends on what flavors you like in your granola. You could also try sunflower or pumpkin seeds. Avoid any salted nuts or seeds, as this will add too much salt to the flavor of the granola.

4. In a small saucepan, mix together the following ingredients over medium heat:

• 1/2 Cup Vegetable Oil
• 1/2 Cup Honey
• 1/8 Cup Grade A Dark Maple Syrup
• 1/2 Cup Brown Sugar
• 1 Tsp Salt
• 1/2 Tsp Cinnamon
• 2 Tsp Vanilla Extract

5. Bring the liquid ingredients to a low boil and then take off the heat. Pour half of the sauce into a large mixing bowl. Add half of the dry ingredients. Stir together and then pour on a rectangular cookie sheet (with edges).

6. Repeat step 5 with the remaining sauce, Old Fashioned Oats, Almonds, Pecans, and Sesame Seeds. You will end up with a big mound of uncooked granola.
   

7. Place the cookie sheet in the oven at 300 degrees Fahrenheit and stir every 15 minutes. The granola should be done in about 1 hour and 15 minutes, or when it is light golden brown.
   

8. Take out of the oven and let cool. Keep stored in a closed, dry environment, such as a glass jar or plastic container.