Snow Storm Strada

(First cooking post from the new house!!!!!!)
So, per usual, Nicole made something yummy and I copied her. : )    I had slept over and she made a strata for breakfast and it was so good (especially when you had drank too much wine!) so I decided to make it myself.  I had made it a while ago while we were in the apartment and I just made it again for the 2nd time. It is snowing and will keep snowing, so I figured it was a yummy stuck in the house breakfast for a chilly day!

I couldn't find the recipe I used the first time, but the one on Annie's Eats looked the same or similar so that is the one I went with this time around. (Her website can be found on the right since it has become one of my go-tos)

Not only it this super yummy, it is nice that you do all the prep work and clean up the night before you serve it, so when you are ready to make it, all you need to do is pop it in the oven!

I was excited to have the ipad to read the recipe off of instead of my little iphone. Yay Ipad! (Colin bought one, but he loves me so he shares ((as long as I don't put close up flower pictures as the background! Say What?? Who me??)))

 

 

Spinach and Cheese Strata

recipe from Annie's Eats

Ingredients:
3 tbsp. unsalted butter
1½ cups onion, finely chopped
2 (10 oz.) packages frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained

one was plenty!!!!

 1 tsp. salt, divided
½ tsp. pepper, divided
 Dash freshly grated nutmeg

(Or the powered variety that is a few years old that you purchased at a dirty bodega)

 8 cups cubed French or Italian bread, cut into 1-inch cubes
6 oz. coarsely grated Gruyere (about 2 cups)

I had to get a block and grate it myself

 2 oz. finely grated Parmesan (about 2/3 cup)
9 large eggs
2¾ cup milk

Since I shopped pre 'Blizzard of the Century' snow storm, I had to just get what was available, so I ended up with organic cage free extra special extra expensive eggs and rolls rather than a loaf of bread.  But the rolls looked thick and crusty and yummy so I figured it would be a-ok!

 

 

 

Colin commented last time I made it that he wished there was meat in it...ugh, men and meat! So this time around I added breakfast sausage. I had wanted the fresh sausage, but again, since I was shopping pre-snow, I had to get the frozen pre-cooked stuff. I added about half the small box in and I figured he could make the other half as a side.

Colin was a good helper, he chopped onions (I HATE chopping onions, tear, tear),  whisked up the egg mixture and measured out the cheese. It was some good team work!

Directions:
Melt the butter in a medium skillet over medium heat. Add the onions to the pan and sauté until soft, about 5 minutes. Add ½ teaspoon of the salt, ¼ teaspoon of the pepper, and the nutmeg, and continue to cook for 1 minute more. Stir in the spinach, remove from the heat and set aside.

Butter the inside of a 2½-3 quart baking dish. Layer the bottom of the dish with one third of the bread cubes. Top with one third of the spinach mixture and one third of each of the cheeses. Repeat these layers twice more with the bread, spinach and cheese.

In a medium bowl, combine the eggs, milk, the remaining ½ teaspoon of the salt and ¼ teaspoon of the pepper. Whisk together until blended. Pour the mixture evenly over the bread and spinach layered in the baking dish. Cover with plastic wrap and chill for at least 8 hours or up to 1 day.

Remove from the refrigerator 30 minutes before baking. Preheat the oven to 350˚ F. Bake uncovered until puffed, golden brown and cooked through, 45-55 minutes. Let stand at least 5 minutes before serving.

I got to use my new wood utensil from target.  What is this utensil called??? I had gotten one from Macy's (Martha Stewart of course!) and it was the most used utensil in my kitchen.  But sadly, I let it soak in the sink too long and it got a long split in it! I keep meaning to go back and see if they still sell them, but I noticed a similar one at Target last week. : )

 

 

Side Note: Do we like this rug from my old place in the new kitchen??? IDK how I feel, I threw it down just to see if I liked it, then never picked it back up again.  It needs to go the cleaner if I decide to keep it there... OR I have a red flower one from Colin's apartment, but that one needs to be cleaned too! haha Guess it is time to try out a dry cleaner in the new neighborhood!

 

 

Snow and Strata, what a good morning! : )

Transom Window

I haven't formally introduced you to one of my favorite home decor pieces....my antique Polynesian carved wood transom window. (Or so the antique dealer said, I noticed they tend to tell tales! ha!)

 

I bought it last summer when Nicole and I went on our last antique treasure hunt.   At the time we were in the apartment, so I kept it packed up safe under the bed until we moved and had a place to hang it.

 

Transom windows are the small windows above doors which can be seen on older homes.   Most that you would notice here in America are glass, but these are open air transom windows, so the breeze can flow through, while the door stay closed/locked.

 

Colin gave me a hard time for...quite some time...about the amount I spent on it....(I had no intention of making any real purchases that day)...but I go weak in the knees for turquoise chippy paint and there was just no way I could go home without it!  It belonged with me!

 

Swoon! A fireplace AND an antique transom window! I am one lucky girl! : )
 

Living Room Design Ideas

I have so many ideas and things I want to do to the house, but I don't seem to find the time to properly plan or execute any of these ideas.  One of the projects ahead...the living room...or front room as I called it in our 'move in' house tour. 

We basically need all new furniture in that room and to start from scratch.  As expensive as starting from scratch is, it is pretty fun, since you can do whatever you want! I decided to make a mood board, 1) since it is fun and 2) to give Colin my thoughts and get his feedback.

 (I tend to be a bully when it comes to decorating!)

So here it is, my living room mood board! Ta Da! So dreamy!

 

please email me or leave a comment for sources as I did not put together a formal list

Let's talk basics...

Although the room looks big right now since it is empty, it shrinks quick when you do furniture layouts.  I put them in to scale in the computer and we tossed around multiple layout options. We think we decided on option A...so we will need 1 couch/loveseat, 2 big chairs, end table between the 2 chairs, and optional ottoman/coffee table as the main pieces.  (I say optional since we may want to leave the space open for circulation)

 

Let's talk decor style...

I want a clean feminine room, but not a girly room...soft blues, taupes, grays....classic pieces mixed with clean line light industrial pieces.....with lots of patterned fabric, botanical prints, fun frames and antique accents to make it comfy....a room where my transom window can feel right at home!

Thankfully Colin seems to be on board with most of these ideas : )

The idea of grays come from a picture in Better Homes and Gardens from November.  I noticed this lovely dining space and its rich warm gray that blended so nicely with the fireplace stone...a similar fireplace stone to ours.

 

Source: Better Homes and Gardens Magazine Nov 2012

 

Source: Better Homes and Gardens Magazine Nov 2012

(Sorry I don't want to hunt down my scanner in the mess of stuff I haven't unpacked so I just took a picture of it! haha)

Here is a second mood board, very similar to the first one, but less gray, more taupe and greens.

 

please email me or leave a comment for sources as I did not put together a formal list

Ill keep posting ideas as we start to tackle the different elements of the room. : )

Christmas Day

We had a really great Christmas this year!  The house still felt like a brand new present, and we still got other presents!!!  Santa was able to make it down the broken chimney! : )

This year was the first year I didn't wake up at my parents house which was a little strange, but it was nice to wake up with Colin in our new house!  After Christmas eve dinner with Colin's family we opened one present Christmas eve, then opened the rest of our presents Christmas morning under the tree.

We followed that up with a yummy Christmas breakfast of french toast.  Made my Colin, since he cooks breakfast around here!

(please excuse the wrinkled vinyl tablecloth haha I forgot to take it off, I had it on the table so we could be working in the area and put things down on the table without scratching it!)

Then we headed to my parents, whos tree looked lovely as always.  I had asked Santa for gardening tools and he delivered! : )  Complete with shiny sharp new Felco clippers! yay!  I am going to whip this yard into shape this spring! (or summer, who am I kidding, I have no time in the spring!)

I hope you all had a Very Merry Christmas as well!

First Christmas at the New House

Well by this time Christmas is in the rear view, but before it is totally out of site...I figured I would write a few christmas posts! : )  Not sure why I have not done these yet, since I had plently of time off between the holidays but I guess I spent it online imaginary shopping and watching tv! ha! : )

I'll post about the imaginary shopping at some point, I made mood boards for the front room!

Oh back to Christmas....I knew where all my decorations went at my old house, but now we are in the new house so I had to find new places! Which was a bit challenging since the house wasn't totally unpacked when I decorated but I got most of it out!

Christmas decorating started with a tree... A REAL TREE!!!!!! Yep, you read that right, a real one!  We were supposed to go cut one down with our friends, but it rained that weekend so Colin and I headed to Home Depot...shameful I know....ssshh don't tell anyone....it was just the easiest thing to do....(Double Shameful since we were selling trees at work!)  As much as the trip was not as eventful and memorable as cutting one down would have been we got a really nice tree.

My friend Aimee came over to help me decorate, but we did make Colin help us a little....it was our first christmas in our first house afterall!!!! He put on the first ornament and the snowflake star!  The first ornament was our 2013 glitterly owl! yay!

Then I put the chrismas knick nacks out all around the house....and added garland on the mantle, the pass through window and the buffet....I got cedar garland and it was lovely but dried out very quickly! It was crunchy by christmas!  Might need to re-think that next year!

 

I decided cards would be taped to the molding of the pass through, which was nice since then we could see all the cards and photos from the couch.

I was very excited to have a mantle to decorate.  I kept it simple, silver candle sticks, big pine cones and...well there was supposed to be paperwhites in the box in the center, but I never planted them! I did buy the bulbs though, so perhaps we will have some Valentine's Paperwhites?

Merry Christmas New House!

Chandelier, How I have missed you!

So as most of you know, I had moved out of my apartment and had been living in Colin's apartment while we were house hunting, which meant lots of my girly treasures were packed away in my parents garage.  So it was very exciting to unpack the things I have not seen in months...No Joke, I whispered to my stuff while I was unpacking it that I missed it....and my chandelier was no exception!

As you also might remember, I had hunted for months before finding my dreamy chandelier and I was so excited when my dad came over to get it hung up in the new house!!!!  Thanks Dad!

It makes me happy every time I see it.  Plus you can see the dining area in a bit better shape then the house tour post! : )

Welcome to the new house old friend! : )

 

 

 

 

House Tour Take 1

As most of you know, Colin bought us a house!!!!  We closed just in time to move over Thanksgiving weekend and we have been spending the last month unpacking and settling in.  Here are some pictures, but keep in mind, they are "we just moved in pictures" and nothing is really decorated or in good order....But we are getting there, so stay tuned! : ) 

May I interest you in a tour?

I will show you each room, with pictures collaged from before we moved in,

 and just after we moved in. : )

Front Room:

For right now this room is called the "Front Room" since there is no furniture in it to help give it a better name.  It has that "we just bought a house" look.  It is the room where the front door enters into, the stair case is in, the fireplace is in, then it also connects to the family room and hallway.  (Yes that is a lot of circulation in one room, which may prove challenging when we do get furniture!) 

I LOVE the fireplace, although right now, it doesn't work...but it is still charming

(and Santa can still get down!)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Family Room:

This is our cozy tv room.  Leather Couches, Big TV, with a pass through to the kitchen which is nice, since you can be in the kitchen and still interact with people on the couch.  This room is the most put together one, since we basically just relocated our old living room.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The shelves need a little work, but we are getting there! At least there are some knick Knacks out!

 

 

Kitchen:

The kitchen needs no introduction since it is the best room in the house! It was brand new in 2011 and is high end and lovely! Granite countertops, undermount sink, stainless steel appliances, a wall of cabinets....So Dreamy!

 

 

 

 

 

Dining Area:

Somewhere between a dining room and an eat in kitchen lies our dining area.  Still deciding if this should be a more formal fancy space, or a more causal comfy space....

 

Back Entry, Laundry, Toliet Closet Power Room:

Having our own washer and dryer is one of the best things ever! No quarters, no sharing, no waiting....I always thought of laundry as such a chore...but no more!!! 

And a guest restroom, mini, but functional!

 

 

 

There is a little more to show you, but I think this post has been long enough! : )

Christmas at the Nursery

I have 2 favorite nurseries which I love going to, especially at Christmas time!  Please enjoy some pretty images! 

 

 

I loved this turquoise planter/bowl with the curled handles.

 

I have no idea what you would do with that green thing in the bottom right corner for, but it was fun!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I was good and did not get anythings for myself since I was Christmas shopping, but I did want that silver santa and the pot to the left of that awesome table. (I wanted to awesome table too, but I saying no to furniture is a lot easier than saying no to knick knacks!)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I hope you are all enjoying your Christmas season, more pictures, HOUSE PICTURES to come!!! : )