Strikes my fancy

Ok - I have to start out by saying that downtown Decatur is starting to get a reputation for it's restaurants. A GREAT reputation. I should also say that I am usually very reluctant to spend money on a meal... So at the urging of a new friend - who knew one of the bartenders, I went to 246 . Can I start off by saying this reminded me so much of why I wanted to name P-mark by it's building number?! Ok off tangent... We started with the Heirloom tomatoes & fried pardon peppers: Heirloom tomatoes were good - def not hot house tomatoes, but also something I felt like I could make at home (score!). The peppers were very yummy! And to quote my dining companion "you can't go wrong with butter!" (although I think they were actually fried) Next we moved on to Ken's wild mushroom pie (recommended by our server) and lemon roasted beets: Pizza was GREAT! They cut it into 4 pieces, but we only ate half the pizza (MAYBE because we had so much other food?....) I loved th...

This book was good. Different then what I expected - which was also good. I think the word Homelessness brings up different thoughts for different folks. The story is frank - especially in describing the author's childhood - but not explicit. She develops the characters around her as they become more involved with her life...maybe one a bit too much. But this is her story - her life and I will not speak too much against that. An interesting read that opens your eyes a bit more to the current issues in our country that lead to homelessness. If you read it I'd love to hear your thoughts!

Zucchini Salad with Mint When it starts out like this you know it's gonna end good! Thanks to my Aunt & Uncle in Charlotte I had a LARGE homegrown zucchini to start with! And thanks to a co-worker I had fresh mint! Ingredients 3 medium sized zucchini, trimmed and cut into bite sized pieces 1 large red bell pepper, seeded and cut into bite sized pieces 1 small red onion, thinly sliced 2 tbsp fresh mint, finely chopped 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil 3 garlic cloves, minced 1 tsp freshly grated lemon rind 1 1 1/2 tsp fresh lemon juice 1 tsp Kosher salt 1/2 tsp black pepper Instructions Place a large, nonstick skillet over medium high heat. Add in the oil and garlic. Cook for about 45 seconds (stirring so it doesn't burn!) Add in the onion, bell peppers and zucchini and saute, stirring occasionally until veggies are slightly tender, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and add in lemon rind, lemon juice, mint, and salt & pepper; toss well to combine. Serve immediately or at ...

What color is more vibrant, calming, and fun all mixed into one? For me, it is a bright robin's egg blue. It can be a statement color, and accent color, or whatever you want it to be. I have to give my boy the credit for finding this chest sometime last year. I apologize I didnt really get a "before" picture. The chest was painted brown. Why you would ever really paint wood brown, is beyond me. Especially this chest. It is a cedar chest, smells wonderful and has beautiful, rich natural wood. I sanded this one down, because I wanted to salvage the beauty. However, even then, the brown paint remained in the carvings on the front and in the grooves of the legs. I would have saved that beautiful wood too, but you already know I did not. Why did I not, you may ask? (Especially when I keep going on and on and on about the wood...) Because of this. The top. Sigh . The pictures dont really do it justice, but there are grooves going opposite the grain, making it look scratched. ...

For Ice Cream! My bro's first visit to ATL consisted of more driving and less eating than we ever did in NYC or Philly! But one of the places that we tried out was Morelli's . Morelli's opened a new location in my hood and so we decided that we had to try it! Mine was a scoop of banana strawberry (ok) & a scoop of salted caramel (um, yum!). The bro had chocolate bourbon & pecan praline (pretty sure he loved both of them). Check out the flavor list on their web-site - I will be back to try some of the more unique flavors! Most reviewers on yelp are complaining about the price. I didn't think it was that bad for a treat (G actually finished mine as it was too much for me) - but maybe Brooklyn made me jaded...

Man - this book was HARD to read! It goes against everything I think about marriage, but provides insight into what is going on...even though I hope not on the scale she reports... Some quotes from the book: "One in three babies is born to a single mother today. While the number of unwed births among teens has decreased steadily, it has risen just as steadily among college-educated women in their mid-thirties and forties." "A study in 2008, cited after Tiger Wood's prodigious infidelity confessions, found that a vast majority of husbands (more than 85%) and a large majority of wives (65%) would have affairs if they could definitely get away with it." "British data from 2009 revealed that no fewer than 1 in 5 divorce petitions that year mentioned Facebook" (she was talking about how Facebook has made it easier to get in touch with old flames and rekindle or look at with rose colored glass those relationships) "Maybe like a suspension bridge, marria...

Sorry that this has been missing for awhile. I had visitors in town for a week and didn't cook a lot. And then did a week of salads and free lunches at work! White Bean & Roasted Chicken Salad Salad: 2 cups coarsely chopped skinless, boneless rotisserie chicken 1 cup chopped tomato 1/2 cup thinly sliced red onion 1/3 cup sliced fresh basil 2 (16-ounce) cans cannellini beans or other white beans, rinsed and drained Dressing: 1/4 cup red wine vinegar 2 tablespoons extravirgin olive oil 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper 2 garlic cloves, minced Preparation To prepare salad, place first 5 ingredients in a large bowl; stir gently to combine. To prepare dressing, combine vinegar and remaining ingredients, stirring with a whisk. Drizzle over salad, tossing gently to coat. So like most things I cook - this one got a little tweeked: - I didn't feel like buying a rotisserie chicken, so I used a chicken...

Hello all! I really love how this turned out and wish I had a little boy so I could decorate his room around this piece. Unfortunately, the little boy I have (my husband) is in a room I have to sleep in too and I already have that one decorated to my taste. Alas, with small houses, you cant have/keep everything! BUT, that just gives me the pleasure of selling, er, I mean sharing it. This is how she started off. My little boy looked at me askanse when I raised my hand to bid on this dresser. "Really?" his eyes asked me. But I saw something beyond the messed up exterior and mismatched drawer pulls. So I raised my hand for that $1 bid. I saw those 1940 style legs and I wanted to renew the life of this dresser! I started off with sanding her down. Alot. Some would recommend stripping, but if I am going to paint anyway, I skip that step. Basically, I want the new paint to adhere to the surface, so I have to rough up the original paint job and sand down the scratches. Then, I ha...

I knew this could be a tough read - the story is set at Ft. Hood, TX. The writer writes a couple short stories that are only related by the fact that they soldiers are stationed at Ft. Hood and most of them are deployed. It was a fast read - and interesting for sure. To read not only the spouse "left behind's" thoughts, but also some of the deployed spouse's. Some of the stories were really sad, some explored the marriage relationship, some explored how war can change someone. Since all were short stories none got too deep. I enjoyed the book - knowing it was fiction, but based on things this woman knew from being an Army Wife. Interesting snapshot into a world that intrigues me!

What type of cake do you give a graduating accountant? Why an adding machine/printing calculator cake of course! A friend of mine text me asking me to make one for her husband's graduation party and I accepted the challenge! I was very nervous, as this was my first sculpted cake! The night before I started working on the cake I cut the keys out of fondant. Because I wanted to make it to scale, I used a photo of an actually printing calculator. And then used the algebra my momma taught me! :) The width of almost all of my keys is 5/8 of an inch. I then cut a 2" wide strip of gum paste approximately 6" long and laid it over a quart jar overnight to dry. The next day I started by making 2 9"x13" cakes and placing one on top of the other and shaping the top one (actually only using about 1/3 of it) to make the top of the calculator! I apologize I have no photos, this was a pre-blog cake. Then came butter cream in between the layers and covering the cake! I rolled o...

This is your two for the price of one! I get to show you two redos today. How fun is that?! This first would be a cute little find that I brought home a few weeks ago. I have a think for anything that you could attach the words vintage, antique, furniture, etc. Especially if it relates to life at a simpler time. (I know, not everyone would consider life simple over 50 years ago. I do not in any way mean easy. I just mean less cluttered.) Anyway, I am getting off topic. Here it is. Know what it is? It is an old sewing box. It is easy to transport depending on what room you may be working in (thanks to the handle) and lightweight, but also very functional. This little piece originally would have had a tray, but somehow over time, it has gotten lost. It came to me rather beat up, with the finish coming off and several scratches. What is a girl to do? As much as I paint in all these posts, I actually have mostly naked wood in my house. However, this was past just refinishing. So, I opted t...

Hey - it's summer! And this is a good summer read. It moves quickly, isn't too deep and is entertaining. The story follows a girl who's boyfriend of 7 years abruptly breaks up with her to pursue another realationship. 7 months later she's married and moving cross-country! Like I said, cute, light - good summer read....and predictable. So pour a glass of lemonade, grab this book and head for a hammock!

It's official! My first ever blog post! As a disclaimer the ideas I used for the cake are not original! :) I used 3 different designs and put them together to make my own! First we start with the base: The Cake! This design takes 2 boxes of cake mix. Be forewarned you will have a little less than 1 cake box of cake left over. Make the cake as directed however make 2 8" round cakes dyed red and 1 8" round cake dyed blue in total you will have 1 - white 8" round 1 - blue 8" round 2 - red 8" rounds Next slice the two red cakes in half horizontally so you will not have 4 red rounds. You make set one of these rounds to the size (you will not use it for this cake) Next cut a 4" circle out one of the remaining red rounds (I used a small pyrex bowl as my guide and simply cut around it). Next slice the white cake in half horizontally, as you did the red cakes. Cut a 4" circle out of one of the rounds. Finally cut a 4" cir...

(What a goofball, trying to figure out the timer on the camera and a storm is blowing in!) Hello! I saw a dress that a friend had made in her Facebook pictures. I thought "I could make that!" Being almost 6ft, it is nice to be able to make my own clothes now and again, especially dresses. Most of what i find in the store is either too short in the skirt, making me look like I am wearing a mini, or too short in the torso, and then everthing looks wrong. It takes a LOT of trying things on and rejecting before finding a hit. She sent me to a site that had a mock up of it and instructions. Loose instructions. Pictures did it for me! Especially since I dont have internet at home and end up surfing during my lunch break. I tried to remember what I could when doing mine last week. It had been a few weeks since I saw it, but no instructions and no patterns to really look at = FUN! Have I told you I am cheap? Some like to say thrifty, and yes that would be true. I dont like to pay ful...