Oct 30, 2013
Over the past few years, I’ve become a collector of vintage milk jars (as if I need more quirky items to collect). I started my collection when I went to Steamboat Springs, Colorado for MusicFest several years ago. I just wanted a little souvenir from the local antique store. Since then, I’ve picked up a few here and there at antique stores. I love using them placed around the house with fresh flowers! They’ve just got so much more character than a regular glass vase…
This weekend, I purged my kitchen and reorganized some of the cabinets, so I decided to put all of my milk jars in the same place (instead of six). My grandmother had given me this wooden crate, and I decided that it would fit perfectly in a lower cabinet and serve as a “drawer” for my collection.
This DIY project was a real doozy – I attached felt pads to the bottom corners of the crate. The End.
Now I have easy access to all of my milk jar options!
Oct 29, 2013
Well, if you’ve been following along, you may have already seen some of the details from my #booksandbirds Spellbinding Halloween Party a few weeks ago. Here’s a quick recap in case you missed all of the little details! Basically, it was literary-themed Halloween book exchange – and lots of fun!
For the invitation, I originally saw something like this on Pinterest, but I decided to change up the colors to make it a little more Halloween-ish.
Since I went with a #booksandbirds theme, of course I decorated the table with them! You can see the step-by-step here.
For the place cards/menu cards, books + a little craftiness seemed to fit the bill. More details on that and the menu here.
A little peek of the drink cart, including the signature drink of the evening, Tequila Mockingbird. You can also get a free download of the drink definition straw flags here.
To round off the party, I’ve posted a Halloween Playlist here as well.
At the end of the evening, we did a book exchange (which provided WAY more laughter than I anticipated). And even though it was a very small group of girls, we had a fabulous time!
Oct 27, 2013
For Halloween, I made a special playlist for the store… so I thought it might be fun to share it with you guys. To start, I compiled a few “halloween-music-must-have” lists with several of my own seasonal faves. I think it’s fun and not too spooky (my kind of Halloween). Looking forward to making the most of this lineup for the next few days!
Halloween Playlist
Nightmare – Artie Shaw
I Put a Spell on You – Nina Simone
Old Devil Moon – Mel Tormé & Al Pelligini Trio ‘live’
Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea (1961 Version) – Ella Fitzgerald
Headless Horseman – Bing Crosby
That Old Black Magic – Dave Brubeck
Superstition – Stevie Wonder
Miles Runs the Voodoo Down – Miles Davis
Ding-Dong! The Witch Is Dead – Ella Fitzgerald
Mack the Knife – Louis Armstrong
Witchy Woman – Eagles
Witchcraft – Frank Sinatra
Thriller – Michael Jackson
Smooth Criminal – Michael Jackson
Haunt Me No More – Mike McClure
I Put a Spell On You – Screamin’ Jay Hawkins
The Joker – The Steve Miller Band
Love Potion #9 – The Clovers/ The Searchers
Werewolf – Frantics
Mysterious Ways – U2
Werewolves of London – Warren Zevon
Supermassive Black Hole – Muse
Ghostbusters – Ray Parker, Jr.
Time Warp – Rocky Horror Picture Show
Tremble for My Beloved – Collective Soul
Rock Lobster – The B52’s
Full Moon – The Black Ghosts
Bella’s Lullaby – Carter Burwell
Black Magic Woman – Santana
Monster Mash – Pickett, Bobby “Boris”
The Pink Panther Theme (From the “Pink Panther”) – Henry Mancini
Main Title Theme (Ghostbusters) – Elmer Bernstein
Dana’s Theme – Elmer Bernstein
Purple People Eater – Halloween & The London Fox Singers
The Addams Family – Halloween & The London Fox Singers
I’m Your Boogie Man – Halloween & The London Fox Singers
What do you think? Am I missing any that you think I really need? If so, tell me please!
Oct 25, 2013
For my #booksandbirds Halloween party, since I was going with a literary-theme, I thought that books would be the perfect vessel for the menu, AND serve as place cards too!
Using a few books on hand, I created these with pretty minimal effort, using:
– Black grosgrain ribbon
– Scissors
– Hot glue/glue gun
– Existing books
– Printed “Name Plates” for each guest (you could also do this by hand if you needed to)
– Printed Menus
1. Cut the grosgrain ribbon to fit around the cover of your book, overlapping about 1/2 – 1 inch.
2. Using a glue gun, secure the grosgrain around the book cover.
3. Use a dab of hot glue on the back of the “name plate” and affix it to the grosgrain ribbon, carefully hiding the “overlap”.
For the menu, of course I went with literary-themed courses. I even made it look like a “Table of Contents”.
For this get-together, this is what was on the menu:
Julius Caesar {Salad}
Crepes of Wrath {Main}
Sense and Sensibility {Greens}
Edgar Allan Poe-tatoes {Side}
Adventures of Huck Finn {Dessert}
Tequila Mockingbird {Cocktail}
Oct 23, 2013
Not bad looking for my first attempt at making cheesecake, right? (Yes, I’m pretty proud of myself.) I’m not sure why I’ve never tried making cheesecake before, but it wasn’t that hard, so I’ll definitely be making it again. In fact, I might be making it again for Thanksgiving – my mom has already requested it!
This version, with the huckleberries, was really fun for my party because most of my guests had never tried them before. Huckleberries don’t grow in West Texas, but Jan (my mom’s friend who lives in Montana) had shipped some to me… So this was a real treat (and delicious)!
Cheesecake
(Recipe only slightly adapted from this one from Tyler Florence – I just thought it’d be easier to keep it all together here.)
2 c. finely ground graham crackers (approximately 30 squares)
1/2 t. ground cinnamon
1 stick unsalted butter, melted
2 ( 8 oz.) blocks of cream cheese, softened
3 eggs
1 c. sugar
1 pint sour cream
zest from one lemon
3 T. vanilla extract
Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
In a mixing bowl, combine the graham crackers, cinnamon and melted butter until evenly combined. Coat the bottom and sides of a 9-inch springform pan with non-stick cooking spray.
Pour the crumbs into the pan, and using the bottom of a glass, press the crumbs into the base and up the sides of the pan (about an inch). Refrigerate for 5 minutes.
In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the softened cream cheese on low for 2 minutes until smooth and free of lumps. Continue to beat slowly and add the eggs, one at a time, until combined. Gradually add the sugar and beat until creamy, about 2 minutes.
Add the sour cream, lemon zest, and vanilla, scraping the sides of the bowl and the beaters to keep the mixture even and smooth. Once well mixed, pour the filling into the crust-lined pan and flatten the top with a spatula.
Set the springform pan on top of a large piece of aluminum foil and tightly fold up the sides around it. Make sure the foil is tightly wrapped to the cake pan sides so no water seeps into the cheesecake. Place the cheesecake pan in a large roasting pan and pour warm water about halfway up the cheesecake pan. Bake for 5o minutes. The cheesecake should still jiggle, but it should firm up after chilling. Let cool in the pan for 30 minutes, then transfer to the refrigerator, loosely covered with foil, for at least 4 hours. Loosen the cheesecake from the pan with a thin metal spatula inside the rim. Unmold and transfer to a cake plate (preferably a pretty one, of course!). Slice the cheesecake with a thin, non-serrated knife that has been dipped in hot water, wiping after each cut.
When serving, top each slice with warm huckleberry topping, recipe below.
Huckleberry Sauce
1 c. water
1 c. sugar
3 T. corn syrup
2 T. cornstarch
2 c. huckleberries
In a saucepan over med-high, heat the water and sugar until the sugar is dissolved. Reduce heat to medium and add the corn syrup. Add huckleberries and cornstarch, stirring until combined. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low and simmer until sauce thickens. Spoon over each slice of cheesecake and serve while sauce is warm.