Words For Wednesday: NEW YEAR

Happy New Year! I hope everyone enjoyed the Holidays filled with food, fun, and laughter! As we enter the new year, and people set goals and resolutions, trying to focus on being a better person in 2013, I thought I would theme today's Words for Wednesday with these resolutions. Some great words of encouragement for 2013:

What is your New Years Resolution?? How will you be a better person, and live 2013 to its fullest??

Eggs Benedict with Spinach, Prosciutto and Goat Cheese

Eggs Benedict aren't just a meal for breakfast!

Our new egg cooker has an option for poached eggs, so we decided to do breakfast for dinner and test that guy out.  There are many versions of Eggs Benedict and we got creative with some of our favorite ingredients and make our own. We used French bread instead of English muffins, prosciutto instead of ham, paired it with some roasted potatoes, and wow, what a success!

Ingredients:

poached eggs

a few handfuls of spinach

olive oil

lemon juice

French bread

sliced prosciutto

goat cheese

package of hollandaise sauce (if you want to cheat)

salt & pepper

First off, saute a few handfuls of spinach with a drizzle of olive oil and a few squeezes of lemon juice on Medium heat. (Sorry, this recipe doesn't really have precise measurements, but I don't think you can mess it up)

While the spinach is sauteing, slice and butter your french bread (about 3/4 in thick) and toast it. We put ours on the grill, but a toaster/toaster oven/oven will do the trick.

Once toasted, spread each slice with a generous amount of goat cheese (if you love it as much as I do).

Add your sauteed spinach.

Time for the prosciutto.

Poached eggs make their entrance.

Finally, a generous helping of  hollandaise sauce!

voilà!

A bit messy, but I guarantee you will have a happy plate too!

DIY Gift Ideas From Our Archives

Looking for the perfect DIY gift for the special people on your Christmas List?? Here are a few great gifts from Pretty Penny. Click on the link below for the full tutorial.

- Painted Coasters

- Painted Tray

- Tassel Earrings

- Scrapbook Paper Coasters

- Wire Picture Hanger

- Painted Moccasins

- Fabric Covered Pots

Festive Fronts

Looking for that perfect front door decoration to welcome your guests and to get your neighbors into the Holiday spirit?? We are on the lookout for a festive front of our own. Not sure what look we are going for, or if we want to DIY it! Here are some fun wreaths that have been catching my eye:

snowy scape

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cinnamon sticks

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striped straws

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peppermint

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 winter twigs

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au naturel

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What's your festive front style??

-Whitney

Cornbread Jalapeno Poppers

'Tis the season for chili and after seeing these little guys I knew that cornbread would never be the same.  Jalapenos are the perfect vessel for the cheesy cornbread mixture, and after removing the seeds and veins the heat is just perfect.  I discovered that the perfect tool for removing the seeds and veins is a pie server!

 

 

Ingredients:

 

12 Med/Large fresh Jalapenos

1 Box of Honey Cornbread Mix

1 1/2 cup Shredded Cheddar Cheese (1 cup for the batter and 1/2 cup for sprinkling)

1 cup corn...frozen or canned

 

Directions:

 

1. Slice each jalapeno down the center and remove all the seeds and veins...remember my pie server trick!

2. In a mixing bowl, mix up the Honey cornbread according to the box instructions and add the corn and the 1 cup of shredded cheddar cheese.

 

 

3. Fill a baggie with the cornbread mixture and snip the corner, piping the mixture into each jalapeno half.

4. Place them on a baking rack and sheet pan

5. Sprinkle them with the remaining one half cup of cheddar cheese.

 



 

6. Bake them at 350 degrees for about 15-20 minutes, or until the Cornbread is firm.  They will puff up!

 

 

7. Let them cool.

 

8. Enjoy!

 

Words for Wednesday: Christmas Printables

If you haven't started decorating for Christmas, then you're late! Just kidding, it's not even December yet, but after Thanksgiving we were more than ready. So we turned on Love Actually, lugged up the Rubbermaids full of greenery, ornaments, candles, nutcrackers, lights, the whole shebang! The house looks so festive and cozy! We have a wooden frame sitting in between our couches that we put different holiday/seasonal posters and prints in. I was searching for the perfect Christmas print to replace our fall leaves, and I thought I would share some of the cute printables I came across...

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Do you have a spot for a fun Christmas poster or subway art??

-Whitney

Fireplace Update

We were getting a little tired of our fireplace screen and the candelabra inside.

There was just too much going on. We decided to remove the fireplace screen and see if it made a difference. It made for a more simple fireplace area. There was one problem, the brick that was painted white was smoke stained from previous fires. It did not look good. However, this was nothing a little paint couldn't fix. We could have just kept the white and painted over the burns, but we decided to add a little accent color to the fireplace. Nothing too bright and crazy because we already have a lot of color in our house. We went with Valspar's "Cathedral Stone", a lighter, neutral gray.

A quick trip to Lowe's for some paint, a tray, a brush and a roller and we had ourselves a little Saturday project!

It's a fairly small area, so we just started with the brush and went along all the edges carefully (painters tape wasn't necessary).

Then we did 2 coats of paint with a small roller, letting the paint dry between coats.

We were quite pleased with the color, and it really makes the brick pattern stand out. We removed the candelabra and just stacked our Aspen wood in its place.

We hung our fancy gold and glitter dipped feathers for Thanksgiving (tutorial to come), and our updated fireplace was finished!

-Whitney