Pumpkin Carving with the monkeys

Last night the three monkeys (nephews) came over for what is one of my favorite nights of the year - the annual pumpkin carving.  It's a long standing tradition that Heather (Justin's sister), Steve, and Justin started back when the boys were little.  We always have such a fun time with the clan but last night seemed extra special since we haven't seen them in quite a while.  Here are some of my favorite captured moments...

Kaleb showing off his design before the carving begins

Justin and Gabe carving out the "scary pumpkin" that Gabe requested

Gabe giving his best smile

Finished results all a-glow - from top left to bottom right: Gabe and Justin's scary pumpkin, Kaleb and Steve's terrified pumpkin, Heather's happy pumpkin, and my alien pumpkin

the Assmussen clan - by this time Asher was kind of over the whole event

But then he discovered the gumball machine and suddenly was all smiles

Color quiz

A few months back House Beautiful (a must read) had a whole issue dedicated to color.  They featured this fun quiz to help determine what color you are.  It's kinda silly but also really fun and does let you know what colors you tend to gravitate towards and what are some risks you might think about taking.

Below are my answers, I would love to hear from you in the comments section as to what "your" color is.  Simply answer all the questions below and whatever color you answered most with is your color.

1. What's the first color you see in the morning? yellow
2. What color are your eyes? blue
3. What color do you wear the most? white
4. What color do you never wear? forest green
5. What color do you wear when you want to feel sexy? white
6. What color gets you the most compliments?orange
7. What color is your lipstick? neutral ( I usually only wear gloss)
8. What color was your living room when you were growing up? blue
9. What color was your bedroom when you were growing up? pink & white
10. What color are your sheets? white
11. What color was your favorite crayon as a child? all of them
12. What color is your car? silver
13. What color was your prom dress? blue
14. What's your favorite gemstone? opal (white)
15. What is your favorite flower? pink peony
16. What color makes you happiest? orange
17. What color depresses you? purple
18. What color calms you? green
19. What color makes you grind your teeth? electric yellow
20. What color would you like to try, but are scared to? orange

My color is WHITE.  It kind of surprises me since I love using color in the house but I am always drawn to white as the foundation.  Proof: my growing collection of over 13 white t-shirts, my stacks of white dishes, bright white trim and cabinets, the list is endless...

What is your color?

Updating the everyday

It's definitely coat season here in Boise and grabbing my winter coat is what prompted me to update my coat closet.  Here is a before shot

Dark, dreary, dirty, disgusting...

With a few coats of paint, some fabric on the interior door, and some major de-cluttering, the closet now looks like this...

The flap at the top of the interior door is to hold gloves and misc. items that always seem to end up on the floor.  It's a simple change from the dark space the closet used to be but it's enough to make me smile every time I go to grab my coat.

Behold the beauty of burlap

Burlap has taken a jump into the world of design as of late and I have to say that the results are beautiful!  From the simple pillow made from old burlap sacks to the refined rustic glamour of upholstered wingbacks this understated textile has a lot of applications, all that give you the final result of something special and unexpected. 

images courtesy of apartmenttherapy.com

 

images courtesy of renest.com

Swoon worthy photo of the day

image source unknown

Coconut Macaroons = delicious

Above Justin, Tripps and my family there are few things I love more than coconut - I know it's kind of pathetic but sadly it's true.  I usually inhale it in the form of cake or pie but I yesterday I decided to try something different and make coconut macaroons.  I turned to one of my favorite cookbook authors, Ina Gartner aka The Barefoot Contessa and was delighted to discover just how easy it was to whip up her recipe for these tasty mounds of coconuty goodness.

Ingredients
14 ounces sweetened shredded coconut
14 ounces sweetened condensed milk
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 extra-large egg whites, at room temperature
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

Directions
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.

Combine the coconut, condensed milk, and vanilla in a large bowl. Whip the egg whites and salt on high speed in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment until they make medium-firm peaks. Carefully fold the egg whites into the coconut mixture.

Drop the batter onto sheet pans lined with parchment paper using either a 1 3/4-inch diameter ice cream scoop, or 2 teaspoons. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until golden brown. Cool and serve.

I definitly encourage you to give these a try, I don't think you will be disappointed!

Weekend recap

Justin and I had an amazing time in Sun Valley.  We went up to support the Crosstober Event held at the River Run Lodge - it was a combo cycle-cross event and a ski/boot preview for the ski shop that carries Justin's products.  We ate a lot of brats, spent time with some dear friends, and enjoyed the crisp fall weather.  Here are a few highlights from the trip...

A view from downtown Ketchum

While Justin went for a bike ride on Friday I headed into town to explore some of the great shops.  My favorite was a home furnishings store that had so many great pieces.  Here are just a few things I couldn't get out of my mind...

love this rustic, beat-up buffet and I love the way it was styled

I adore this chair, the oversized nailhead detail is such a fun accent

My latest obsession - I've been looking for a new tv stand and fell in love when I saw this one.  Only problem, the $1750 price tag.  Not to worry though, this is on my DIY radar and I'm already working through how to recreate this for less than $100.

Saturday and Sunday were spent at River Run for the Crosstober Event.  Justin raced both days and did great on the course which featured mud pits, snow, hurdles, and running uphill with your bike...not exactly my idea of a good time but he loves it.  We both manned the tent for his skis and boots and then enjoyed the classic Polka Band that played after all the races had finished.

  Justin hard at work - with his best pose

looks steep

 

a little snow won't stop him

 

this guy was my favorite - he was in the polka band and you could tell he was doing something he loved and had been doing it for a very long time.  He was very cute!

All in all it was a great weekend and nice to get away from the daily grind for a few days.  

Mountain Living

Justin and I are headed up to Sun Valley, ID this weekend for bike races, work, and relaxing.  Although Sun Valley has grown into a magnet for celebrities its natural and stunning mountain landscapes still act as the perfect backdrop for simple and rustic interiors.  Things like time-worn wood, elements from nature, leather, casual furniture and plaid & stripe textiles are things that instantly come to mind when I think about designing a space for this location.  Here are a few images that resonate with me...

image courtesy of county living

 

image courtesy of Country Living 

 

image courtesy of country living

  

image source unknown

image courtesy of elle decor

Lucky girl

Guess what was waiting for me when I got home from work yesterday?  A brand new cruiser bike (pictured above) from my sweet husband.  Justin just signed on to represent a new line of bikes called Linus and as his wife I am obligated or just plain lucky enough to support the cause :).  So goodbye to my old bike and hello to this new beauty, I love the vintage styling and classic design and the color just makes me smile.

I took it out for a spin last night and it rides like a dream -thanks Justin!

Must love food

It seem like every post I do recently is about food - guess cooking is much easier than tackling a do-it-yourself project (of which my list is long and daunting).  So bear with me as I take you through another trip down culinary lane, the destination: tomatillo salsa.

My friend Kelli had a bumper crop of tomatillos this year and graciously shared a big bag of them with me.

So I promised her a jar of salsa made with her gorgeous veggies.  Here is how easy it was:

Throw the following into a hot frying pan, no oil.  Allow to char up a bit but not get cooked through. 
1 medium white onion - roughly chopped
1 jalapeno (more if you like it spicy, I am personally a wimp)
1 bag of tomatillos (approx. 40 small ones)

Dump into a blender and add the following
1 T. white vinegar
1 bunch cilantro
salt and pepper to taste
juice of 1 lime
1 T. minced garlic

Blend all ingredients until it reaches a barely chunky consistency.  Be careful when you blend as hot ingredients have a tendency to expand - depending on your size of blender you may want to divide this into two batches.

Tip: if you want a chunky salsa just add more tomatillos.

I ended up canning mine and here is the final result.

Green with envy

image courtesy of farm4

 

image source unknown

  

image coutesy of lennox

I feel a bedroom redo coming on...

Healthy Home

I come across a lot of great stuff when I check in on my favorite blogs each day but this information from Young House Love is so valuable I just had to pass it on.  They did a great post yesterday about homemade household cleaners that not only get the job done but are environmentally safe and less toxic for you and your family than most of the manufactured cleaners available.  Here is just one example of the more than 30 recipes for household cleaners that they posted.  Please check out their full post by clicking here.

Gorgeously Green All-Purpose Spray
32-ounce plastic spray bottle
2 cups water
1/2 cup distilled white vinegar
1 teaspoon pure castile soap (peppermint)
3/4 cup hydrogen peroxide
20 drops tea tree oil
20 drops of lavender essential oil

Mix together and store

Fall flavor

What makes fall my favorite season of the year?  Forget the beautiful weather, changing leaves, and cozy sweaters.  What really makes me happy is the food - specifically all of the baked goods that lend themselves beautifully to rich fall flavors like cinnamon, apple, and caramel.

Last night I took the culinary plunge and made some pumpkin bread.  Here is my recipe, the result is a moist, dense, and spicy loaf that surprisingly has about half the fat as most recipes.

Pumpkin Bread
1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin puree
3 eggs
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup vanilla yogurt
1/3 cup water
1/3 cup buttermilk
1 1/2 cups white sugar
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

Spiced Nuts
2 cups pecans (or whatever nuts you prefer)
1/4 cup honey
2 teaspoons cinnamon

Heat in small saucepan just till honey melts and nuts smell fragrant.  Make sure not to overcook.
Spread out on a lined cookie sheet so nuts do not clump together as they cool.

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour three 7x3 inch loaf pans (I did two loaf pans and 12 muffins).
2. In a large bowl, mix together pumpkin puree, eggs, oil, yogurt, buttermilk, water and sugar until well blended. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and ginger. Stir the dry ingredients into the pumpkin mixture until just blended. Pour into the prepared pans.
3. Top with spiced nuts, pressing them gently into the tops of the unbaked loaves.  You can also incorporate into the batter if you prefer.
3. Bake for about 45 minutes in the preheated oven. Loaves are done when toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

Glaze
I made a quick glaze by combining orange juice and some pre-made vanilla frosting just to add a little bit more flavor.

the finished product

How much does your baby weigh?

There is a great little thrift store here in Boise called the Shabby Attic and for better or worse it is located just a few minutes from the house so I have become a very regular visitor.

On a recent trip I found this adorable scale, I had been looking for one for the kitchen but had not found one within my budget (it seems scales are in high demand now and vendors are raising the prices).  Imagine my delight when I saw this for only $5, not only was it the perfect size and worked great but it originally held a special use...weighing newborn babies.  I had never seen anything like this and felt like I had scooped up quite the treasure.

I took it home and decided although the original chippy creamy paint was okay that a quick coat of white enamel with light distressing would really make it shine.  Here is the final product, I think it is cute but now I'm second guessing myself...would a fun retro green or blue be a better color for this baby.  What do you think?

Creative corner

I feel confident that I am not the first nor the last that will experience this dilemma but crafting, sewing, and creating generates a lot of supplies and clutter - just where do I corral all of it?

I'm taking inspiration from the following photos to create a space (or cabinet) that can house my growing collection of crafty supplies.

 

 images courtesy of Country Living

Where do you keep all of your supplies?  Are you lucky enough to have a craft room or have you found a creative way to store all of your materials?

I'd love to hear from you...

Best potato salad ever...

I love the food network in general the thing is whenever I watch the channel I find myself craving whatever they make and apparently this phenomenon extends to their website.  I was on it yesterday and saw a picture of a pulled pork BBQ sandwich and potato salad and instantly started to crave both.

Unbeknownest to me Justin was at home transforming our leftover pot roast into BBQ beef and making what turned out to be the best potato salad I have ever had - talk about a mind reader.  I almost wept with joy when I saw what he had made for dinner.

I should let you know that Justin is an amazing cook who has the ability to turn leftovers and mundane pantry items into something spectacular but he is a creative cook and just throws things together with no measurements or recipes.  That is why I do not have a recipe to share with you but I'll tell you what made it so delicious...cilantro.  He combined red and yukon gold potatoes with mustard, mayo, scallions, egg, and cilantro and it was just the right mix of tang and creamy and that cilantro added the perfect burst of freshness.

I just couldn't help but share.

Tomato crazy

For most of you the garden harvesting season has come and gone but just before I left for Florida I was faced with big bowls of tomatoes from the garden and not a lot of time to preserve them.  Inset my lovely mother who suggested this crock pot method as well as sun-drying my cherry tomatoes.

Both were so easy and now I can enjoy the harvest all through the winter with minimal effort exerted.

Crockpot Tomatoes (freezer method)
For my large heirloom varieties I plugged in the trusty Crockpot and tossed in the roughly chopped tomatoes along with some aromatics like onions, garlic and some fresh basil from the garden and of course some salt and pepper.  Add a little olive oil and let cook on low for roughly 12 hours until tomatoes are broken down and the cooking juices produced are reduced by half.

Let cool and dispense into freezer containers, you can also can them if you prefer.  These can now be used in sauces, soups, etc all through the winter.  I already pulled out some of mine and used it with ground turkey to make a sauce to use over soft cheesy polenta.  It was really delicious and couldn't have been any easier.

Oven-dried tomatoes

I loved my mom's idea for sun-dried tomatoes the only problem was I was missing the essential ingredient - the sun, so I relied on the oven instead.  It was so simple, halve your cherry tomatoes arrange on a parchment lined baking sheet then sprinkle liberally with olive oil, salt and pepper.  Place in the oven for about 6 hours on a low temp of 210 degrees, checking every few hours to see if they are done.

You'll know they are done when they are dry but still kinda gushy.  You don't want them to be rock hard.

You have several storage methods here, keep them dry in a ziploc bag (these should stay fresh for up to 6 months however you will have to reconstitute them in warm water before using) or you can cover in oil and store in the fridge in a glass jar (these will last up to 3 months and will not require reconstituting).  I opted for the dry method as it just seemed easier.

Worth a try in case you still have some tomatoes out there in need of preserving.

Party in the streets

This last Saturday Justin and headed over a couple blocks to attend a friends block party.  It was the quintessential fall activity; lots of great potluck food, activities for the kids, live music from a band featuring one of the neighbors, and plenty of dancing (they had someone calling square dances) and good conversation.  It struck me that in this day it is a rarity to know and socialize with one's neighboors - it was such a cool thing to see this group of 3 blocks come together and nurture the exsisting relationships they had with one another.  It completely inspired me to reach out to those who live on our street and try to build upon the concept of community that is really lacking in our neck of the woods.

We had a great time - plus the surprise performance of the fire-lit hula-hooper was by far one of the most creative party tricks I've seen in a long time.

Justin and I headed to do the Virgina Wheel...needless to say square-dancing is not my forte