Pet Heads

I've been meaning to dedicate a post to my mom's amazing talents as a painter but I thought I'd wait a bit because each new painting she finishes is even more incredible than the last!  So I'm glad I waited to share some of her more recent ones...

She's been painting dogs but is open to other furry friends.  So far, its been mainly friends and family requests but she takes commissions and will work with the pet owner to customise each painting.  All she needs is a photo of the animal and a theme.  I have one she did of my dog Dyna, dressed in military regalia, hanging in my living room and my husband and I get more smiles and comments on it than anything else in our home (well, maybe not more than Dyna herself...but it's close!).  

In Bruges

Brugge, Bruges, Broodjes... However you spell it, it's one of the sweetest cities I've ever been to. My mom and I are here for the night and this place has stolen my heart. The architecture, the art galleries, the history, the canals, the shopping, THE WAFFLES. We head to the flea market tomorrow. I can hardly sleep I'm so excited...

"The Empire on Which the Sun Never Sets"

This week, we visited Mark's parents in Newcastle for the Easter break and they graciously indulged my flea market obsession by taking me to the various antique spots of the North East.  On Friday, we spent a lovely day up in Alnwick (famous for the castle that appeared in the Harry Potter movies) where I picked up an earthenware commemorative plate from Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee in 1887.  The plate bears portraits of Queen Victoria and the Prince of Wales as well as statistics on the total population, size of the British empire and trade value of the time.  I bought it for £10 but after a quick Google search, found two sites in the US selling them for up to $450(?!).  Now, I absolutely adore my vintage plate which I intend to use for cookies and cakes but for $450, I'd happily hand deliver it to your home in the US, complete with British made cookies and cakes...

The Most Amazing Cookie You Will Ever Eat

I have a weird obsession with Pinterest.  I've tried the cleaning tips and successfully unclogged my bathtub drain for less than a dollar.  I got my design inspiration for my new kitchen, mainly off of the boards I created through Pinterest.  And I use the site as my personal stylist (not always a good thing).  Then I decided to try my hand at a recipe I came across from a pinner named Monique from AmbitiousKitchen.com .  Without a doubt, my most successful Pinterest attempt yet!

These are soooooooo oooooo oo tasty.

Photo that my coworker, Hannah, took when I brought these gems into work!

Brown Butter, Brown Sugar Toasted Almond, Dark Chocolate Chip Cookies with Sea Salt

Prep time:  2 hours 20 mins

Cook time: 12 mins

Total time:  2 hours 32 mins

Serves: 24 cookies

Ingredients

• For toasted brown sugar almonds:
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon butter
• 3/4 cups sliced almonds
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt 
• For the cookie dough:
• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
• 1 1/2 cups dark brown sugar
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 1 egg plus 1 egg yolk
• 2 teaspoons milk
• 1 1/4 cups dark chocolate chips (I chopped up a Green & Blacks dark chocolate bar)
• Sea salt, for sprinkling

Instructions

1. Place almond slices and butter in a large pan or skillet over medium-high heat. Shake the pan a bit while nuts are heated and begin to toast. After a few minutes, sprinkle brown sugar over the nuts and continue to stir with a wooden spoon. You will notice the sugar will begin to melt and caramelize. Keep stirring to coat the nuts and reduce heat to medium low. Once you notice the almonds turning a golden brown and the sugar caramelizing, turn off the heat, sprinkle with sea salt and place almonds spread out on parchment paper to cool. There will be clumps of almonds but that is fine and will provide a good crunch for the cookies.
2. Whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl and set aside. Melt butter in a saucepan over medium-high heat. The butter will begin to foam. Make sure you whisk consistently during this process. After a couple of minutes, the butter will begin to brown on the bottom of the saucepan; continue to whisk and remove from heat as soon as the butter begins to brown and give off a nutty aroma. Immediately transfer the butter to a bowl to prevent burning. Set aside to cool for about 5 minutes.
3. With an electric mixer, mix the butter and sugars until thoroughly blended. Beat in the egg, yolk, vanilla, and milk until combined. Add the dry ingredients slowly and beat on low-speed just until combined. Gently fold in all of the dark chocolate chips and add the almonds. You may need to use your hands to help incorporate the almonds into the dough.
4. Wrap your dough in plastic wrap and chill for 2 hours in the refrigerator, or place in freezer for 30 minutes if you are super eager, although I cannot promise the same results if you do this. Seriously, it’s crucial to cool the dough.
5. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Once dough is chilled measure about 1 1/2 tablespoons of dough and roll into a ball. Place dough balls on cookie sheet, 2 inches apart and flatten the top a very tiny bit with your hand. (Seriously, only a tiny bit!!)
6. Bake the cookies 10-13 minutes or until the edges of the cookies begin to turn golden brown. They will look a bit underdone in the middle, but will continue to cook once out of the oven. Cool the cookies on the sheets at least 2 minutes and sprinkle with a little sea salt. Remove the cooled cookies from the baking sheets and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Repeat with remaining dough.

Project Complete

Before and after...

Upcycling Leonard

This is quite possibly the coolest thing to me right now...  My Aunt Angie sent me photos of her recent restoration project, a much loved refrigerator that my grandfather purchased in 1946.  Growing up, I always remember it being used as a second fridge to store soda and veggies that didn't fit in the house fridge.  It's amazing that my grandmother was able to feed 5 children with the food she kept in here.  My aunt says she remembers how my grandmother would bake a strawberry cake for each of the kids' birthdays and store it in the fridge, making them wait ages before they could eat it...

I can honestly say that appliances aren't made like this anymore and the fact that it still works perfectly is a true testament to the Leonard company.  It just needed a bit of loving care to restore it back to it's original glory.  My aunt said the restoration company kept the interior intact and cleaned the motor but besides removing rust and painting it, they only needed to replace the power cord, wheels and door seal.  They were impressed that it had all its original parts!

I've always been in love with this fridge and while I wasn't around in 1946, I can't imagine it looking better than it does now, with its restored chrome and Tiffany blue paint.  As my aunt put it: "Now I want to dress like a forties housewife and play big band music!"  I couldn't agree more!

BEFORE

BEFORE

AFTER!!!

Love, love, looove!

Shelf Help

Mark and I head to Berlin tomorrow to celebrate our 3 year anniversary but before we make our way, I just wanted to post a quick photo of our finished shelves. They are DONE! Yesterday, our friend and talented carpenter Ian dropped by to work his magic to the front of the shelves. He spent hours sanding and filling to the point where you can't even see the original holes. Perfection!

Mark is now putting the final coat on the floor. Watch this space!