Link Love

Tuesday Inspiration.

Remodelista
I love this pendant lamp, which is just a vintage fishing basket and raw bulb. Very cool.



Petite Kitchenesse
This ravioli gets a Valentine’s Day makeover thanks to a touch of beet juice and heart-shaped cutters.



Glorious Treats
Jello and cool whip never looked better than this.



Green Wedding Shoes
These absolutely adorable seating cards are just the tip of the iceberg for a truly charming real wedding.

Dessert for Breakfast

Food.

So recently I was opining about the benefits of juice cleanses and diets, but sometimes a bad case of the Mondays calls for a little intervention. That is when I whip up a batch of Nutella Oatmeal.

photo courtesy of saving the world with one bite

Nutella is really my fix for any bad mood. Add it to just about anything and you can't help but be happier.

But my favorite is to add a tablespoon or so to my morning oatmeal. It tastes like a giant no-bake cookie. Then add some bananas and an ice cold glass of milk to drink (or even almond milk) and you have a mood elevator. And because it's oatmeal it must be healthy, right? ;)

Edamame Hummus

The new year has everyone thinking about healthy snacking…including me. I think I’m going to give this edamame hummus a try. Anybody else have any healthy snacks they would like to share?

Hearts Galore

Valentines Day.

Three days after Christmas, the Duane Reade on my block started taking down the end caps of Christmas treats and putting up Valentines Day candy. What?!? I protest.



Except...now all of the pretty Christmas trees and wreaths in our homes and local restaurants are down and I'm having holiday withdrawal. Twinkle lights and the excitement of upcoming holidays make the grey days of winter more tolerable.

So I was pretty happy to receive my most recent Fancy Flours baking supply catalogue, because it full of cute things for our Valentines Day. Here's a small sampling of what you will find on their site.


Vintage Valentine Wafer Papers that would make adorable edible sugar cookie valentines.


Paper straws with lots of love.


Speaking of Love...what a great cookie cutter.

And send your honey a message with his morning coffee...

Lovely Lunch Bag

DIY.

Bringing your lunch to work is a great way to save some cash, control your calories, and an excuse to try this DIY.



Made out of oil cloth, these adorable lunch bags are super durable and easy on the eyes. Not to mention, pretty dang easy to make. PB&J has never had a better container.

Link Love

Urbane Fruits
Who knew malted milk balls could look so chic?




Sweet Little Snippets
Replace one board with aluminum gutter and voila…cold beverages.




Blue Pueblo
Great place to start for planning your 2012 vacation.




Testado, Provado & Approvado
Apple Pie right in the apple!

Magazines: Online or Glossy?

My coffee table looks like the above photo. One of my favorite past times is thumbing through the glossy pages of magazines and earmarking the articles that I love to file away in various categories. This being said I have rejected the online craze for longer than most. This was made abundantly clear when I recently waited for my flight and even the 10 year olds where toting around a Kindle, IPad and IPhone.

This year my husband gifted me with a Kindle Fire which originally made me give stocking stink face. But I have since learned that I kinda love the ease of having so many options at my fingertips and have vowed to really try to embrace the online thing this year.

That being said, CasaSugar has an article with a great source to the top 10 online magazines which I intend to put into my repertoire. But I need some tips fellow hip hostess’. Do you have a method for storing articles, photos, etc that you want to refer to later? How do you remember what magazine is online at what time? I know I am not able to get these online on my Kindle at this time, but I have to believe, that since 1 million sold in one day that everyone is fast at work to resolve this problem which will make it easier.

I’m all ears.

Packs a Punch

Cocktail.

Just when we thought we could take it easy on the cocktails after the holidays, the NFL playoffs are in sight. I know what will be monopolizing our TV over the next month and change. And there will most likely be a large supply of beer in the fridge as well.

I love a brewski, but sometimes I want to mix it up. And I kind of like the sound of this Bourbon Punch from InStyle Magazine.




Containing some of my favorite winter flavors - tea, cranberry, and bourbon, I'm pretty sure this will create the balance that I'm looking for.

Bourbon Punch

12 chamomile tea bags
1 package of fresh raspberries, plus more for garnish
1 bottle of bourbon (750ml)
2 liters cranberry juice
12 Tbsp sugar
3/4 cup fresh lemon juice
Orange slices, for garnish

Steep tea bags in 3 cups of hot water. Mash berries. Combine all ingredients and serve over ice in a collins glass. Garnish with the oranges and extra raspberries.

Food Lover's Cleanse

Food and Dieting.

I love the holidays so much...but I don't love the results of countless glasses of champagne and 1000 cheese platters. And my bathroom scale has actually hidden from me because it's afraid. Bad sign.

I've taken to doing juice cleanses to inject my life with a bit of nutrition. But what do you do after you're done? Go back to meat, potatoes, cheese? That kind of defeats the purpose.

Which is why I am psyched about Bon Appetit's Food Lover's Cleanse.



BA is featuring 2 weeks of recipes for breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacking and dessert. All of the choices look and sound delicious...and not at all like taste deprivation.




Maybe my scale will come out of hiding if I give this program a try...

Benton Bacon

I’ve tried my fair share of bacon and why wouldn’t I…it’s delicious. I’ve eaten low sodium, artisanal, thick cut, maple, you name it I’ve enjoyed them all. But I had really kind of gotten to the point where I believed bacon is bacon. All good all the time.

However, over the holidays I enjoyed a wedge salad adorned with Benton’s Bacon and I had to literally eat my words. This bacon is different. It’s amazingly hickory smoked to the point that you would swear that John Wayne just rambled in off the prairie to personally bring you bacon straight off the campfire. There is no mistaking the strong smoky flavor. I read on one of the reviews where someone said, “This bacon was not good it had an incredible smoky flavor that is overpowering.” Yep, that’s the point.

Where I am going with this is it makes a simple and easy dish such as a wedge salad into something memorable. My wedge salad was covered with bacon, candied pecans, slivers of sundried tomato and a white balsamic vinaigrette. It was the bacon that layered in that extra flavor that pulled it all together and took it over the top.

It is a great tool to have stashed in your freezer for entertaining. It makes an easy wedge salad come to life and I can’t even begin to think what it would do to some homemade macaroni and cheese. Not often can one ingredient on its own make a dish memorable.