Some Weekend Baking

How was your weekend? I did a lot of decorating, a lot of organizing, some shopping, a lot of watching decorating and cooking shows and a little baking. I was hoping to whip up all my Christmas cookies this weekend and freeze the dough for later baking but that didn't happen, oh well. But I was watching Ina Garten's Barefoot Contessa on Sunday and was inspired to try this pound cake recipe. It uses Buttermilk which was great since I had some that I needed to use up, but I don't remember ever using buttermilk in a pound cake recipe before. It came out delicious, not to heavy, very light and fluffy. We indulged in one and froze the other for use during the holiday.

Hope you had a great weekend.

Is it all about the Centerpiece?

So what is the perfect formula for a great dinner, a great dinner party or a great holiday meal? Is it all about the centerpiece or does it have something to do with your guests, or hmmm even perhaps the meal?

Well here's my formula for a great dinner; first of all it take a lot of practice I would just say it's recently that I've been figuring out how to get it all done and not stress out about it, which is my second point don't stress out (easier said than done, of course) but if YOU do not enjoy the meal and the whole process then there's not point in doing it because you and your guests should enjoy the whole event.

Simply broken done here is my formula: Great Guests + (Great Centerpiece+Beautiful Table Setting) + Great Meal = Awesome Dinner/Holiday Meal.

I would also highly recommend planning out everything at LEAST three days before so you can get the necessary supplies and ingredients before the big day.

I will use our recent Thanksgiving Meal as my example of a Great Holiday Meal, I began with great guests. :) My parents - they traditionally come and visit for Thanksgiving and this year in particular is a really special time for us and I will go into more detail on WHY that is soon.

Then I came up with the centerpiece... I had been wondering what to do for awhile and I looked around what I already had and had been wanting to try for awhile and since we still had our small halloween pumpkin I decided to spruce it up and glitter it and it made a GREAT centerpiece. To glitter it took about 5 minutes and it will last for quite awhile. Then I let it dry over night and kept thinking of what else I do to it to make it awesome. I was orginally just going to put it on a cake plate but then I remembered I had this pottery barn woven charger (which I bought for only $4 a while ago) so I grabbed that and grabbed a bag of mixed nuts that we bought for the holiday and just dropped them around the pumpkin. :) I love it!!!

Then I worked on the table setting. On a trip to Target recently I picked up a new tablecloth a few inexpensive place mats and new napkins. Then for a simple ornament on top of the plate I just bought some pears, which I actually love because I believe that the pears really tied in all the colors and obviously they are inexpensive.

I also used some mason jars (that I had bought a while ago at the grocery store for canning, but I don't can) and put some kosher salt in the bottom and then a candle on top of that for added awesomeness. I think this is a simple table setting but very elegant at the same time which I love.

Next onto the meal. I will post my menu for Thanksgiving in my next post. I hope you all had a great holiday meal this year and that these simple ideas will help you with your next dinner party or holiday get together.

Where have we been and where are we going?

Where the heck have I been??? Well a lot has been going on, but let me begin with the first of many, we've MOVED! Fer's job was transferred once again (mine too this time) so we picked up ALL our stuff and moved to the Savannah area of Georgia, about 4 hours from Atlanta. We have been SO busy with the move and there will be lot's of details to share from the past 3 to 4 months - so little by little I'll be blogging them out. :)

As you can see Zico was helping me as always, he's such a cutie pie and has really handled this move quite well which makes us happy.

I hope you all have a great weekend and shall I say I'm so glad to be back to blogging. Lot's more to come.

Simple Things in Life

Often after a long day of work it's nice to just come home to a quiet evening and enjoy a delicious meal. Here's a simple sandwich I threw together with tomatoes, mozzarella and prosciutto topped off with basil from my garden and delicious olive oil. Of course a glass of wine to wash it all down. :)

Here's to the simple things in life.

Snowfall in Atlanta 2010

This past Friday, February 12th Atlanta had a pretty big (for ATL) snow storm. About three inches of snow fell in the course of an afternoon an evening. This winter has been amazing all over the United States this year. This past weekend 49 out of 50 states had some type of snowfall to talk about. It does make for a lot of excitement. It was so nice to get out of work early and come home with the anticipation of running around outside and playing in the snow. Which is exactly what we did, got home - got Zico ready and ran outside to see all that the winter wonderland had to offer. It was beautiful and amazing!
The snow was really coming down pretty steady. It's amazing how a place that rarely gets snow can look like this in a few hours.

Here's Zico Biscuit out in the thick of it all.

Here's a snowman some kids made in the neighborhood isn't it cool.

not so tropical plant, at the moment, tropical plant.

Check out more pictures of our snowfall in Hotlanta in my photo album on the left hand side of this page. What kind of snowy pictures can you share from these recent storms?

Love

My husband is the most AWESOME man in the world! Thanks Fer for the beautiful flowers, cute teddy bear and chocolates!
Happy Valentine's Day Everyone! I hope your weekend is full of love!

It's Monday

It's Monday, day after the Superbowl, needs lot's of coffee today!
Did you watch the game? Wasn't it a good game. We had a really nice Superbowl party last night, pictures to follow shortly.

Happy Friday!

Wouldn't it be nice if this is how we could all spend our days?!? Here's a picture I took of Zico from the webcam at his Doggie Daycare. He's got quite the life - all stretched out and chillin'.
I hope you all have a great Friday and an even better weekend. Enjoy the Superbowl, are you having a party? We are!

That Was It

Fer and I went last night to see Michael Jackson's movie This Is it and shall I say that it was AMAZING! I highly recommend everyone seeing it and was reminded last night what a genius he was and believe now more than ever that he was all about love. He was truly the best entertainer out there - he breathed his music and dance.

Scenes from Halloween

Here's our cutie pie on Halloween.

Today: October 19th

Good morning. I got this blog post idea from here and I thought it would be a nice way of capturing the moment every once in a while. The weather is getting chilly outside so now is a nice time to reflect and be cozy inside. Hope you all have a good day.

Outside my window....a very chilly peaceful morning.

I am thinking...that I am enjoying sometime to myself before I leave for work this morning and how much I want to accomplish this week.

I am thankful for...my family each and every one of them!

From the Kitchen...not much right now other than coffee and fruit/veggie juice from our new juicer.

I am wearing...my pjs, winter pjs and flip flops. :)

I am creating...photographs

I am going....to get ready for work as soon as I finish this post.

I am reading....How to Raise the Perfect Dog, By Cesar Milan. (let you know how it works out)

I am hoping...for a fast day today and lot's of energy tonight to get some projects done that I wanted to get to all weekend.

I am hearing....the water running in the shower and an occasional bark from Senor Zico.

Around the house...cozy peacefulness

One of my favorite things...being with Fer, every second of it.

A few plans for the rest of the week...get a lot done, frame some pictures, hang the pictures. ORGANIZE ORGANIZE ORGANIZE!

A picture to share....

(Zico cuddled up with his Dad)

we're seeing them all

This seems to be the year for seeing the Greats in the Music World. Last week we went to see U2 and it was amazing on so many levels. I've always liked U2 but now I like them even more. If you ever have the opportunity to see them GO and if you have already seen them then you know what I'm talking about.

pumpkin picking

we spent some time at the pumpkin patch this weekend. It's so nice being able to drive an hour or so and be in the country here in Georgia. Here's some pictures from the outing.

It's beginning to look like Fall

I love the change in seasons up here in Georgia and we're beginning to see some signs of Fall coming. Makes me think about the beautiful colors of the trees to come, the crispness in the air, apple pies and pumpkins (and so much more)

...simply summertime...

New blog banner to CELEBRATE summertime. Finally made it to the beach in Tybee this past weekend. You don't realize how much you'll miss the beach; sand and ocean until it's 4 hours away.

have a good weekend!

Let's get the weekend started with this You Tube video that I think is creativity and spontaneity at it's best.

Fer and Zico

Here's a cute picture of Fer walking Zico. Two cuties.