Nothing is more appealing to an active Wood than a party that involves “doing” and with a little extra planning you can turn your outdoor activities into a special occasion. On a sunny summer day, I’d plan a picnic shore lunch for a leisurely canoe & fishing trip with a handful of adventurous friends. Stylish, space-saving gear, picnic-friendly foods and a refreshing fruity cocktail make for a perfect outing.
See the whole look of the Wood Picnic Party at The Life Styled!
Filed under Entertain
A Metal Dinner Party
I’m kicking things off with my picks for Metal with an Art Deco Dinner Party worthy of Jay Gatsby and his guests. Metals are the quintessential hostess – classy, detail-oriented and glamorous and appearing to do it all effortlessly – the Martha Stewart of your friends. The Art Deco Dinner Party puts a vintage twist on things and highlights a Metal’s stellar taste with a luxe neutral color palette, shimmering accents, restaurant-quality food and classy champagne cocktails.
See the whole look of the Metal Party at The Life Styled!
Filed under Entertain
I like a night on the town as much as the next girl but sometimes a Valentine’s Day filled with crowded restaurants and overpriced menus feels like more of a hassle than it’s worth. When we don’t feel like dealing with all the hoopla, my husband and I splurge on quality ingredients and have a special, low-key date at home.
For half the price, you can easily make a steakhouse caliber meal that’s perfect for an intimate dinner with your beloved, an impressive surprise for your date or a swanky treat for your girlfriends.
Grilled Peppered Steak with Port Wine Sauce
Beef Tenderloin or New York Strip steaks*
kosher salt
pepper
olive oil
1/2 C + port wine
1/2 C beef broth
1/4 C half & half
1/4 C onion, minced
1 Tbsp dijon mustard
1 Tbsp flour
2 Tbsp butter
* I used elk tenderloin, which I know most people don’t have just hanging around. But if you happen to have wild game available, venison and elk steaks are tasty, organic and free!
For the sauce, add diced onions and butter to a medium sauce pan. Cook until onions begin to soften and dust with flour, stirring out all flour lumps. Add port wine and whisk smooth. Cook for 5-10 minutes, allowing wine to reduce. Stir in beef broth and mustard and continue to reduce. Season with salt & pepper. Add half and half and whisk well. Turn heat down to low and continue reducing until your steak and potatoes are done.
Drizzle steaks very lightly with olive oil and salt both sides. Liberally pepper all sides of each steak so that you will achieve a peppery crust. Turn on your grill to high heat – between 400 and 500 degrees. Put steaks directly on the heat and cook for approx. 3-4 minutes on each side for a steak between 1-1 1/2 inch thick. This will vary depending on the thickness of your steak. Cook until medium rare or when the steak just begins to firm up if you push on it.
Confession: This recipe came about because I grabbed red salad potatoes at the store with plans of making Garlic Mashed Potatoes. I’ve used red potatoes before in mashed potatoes but the variety I grabbed was designed for salads and turned gummy when I mashed them. In attempt to salvage them, I added a few ingredients that my mom uses during the holidays and baked them. Side dish saved…however, go with baking or Yukon potatoes and you’ll have better results with consistency 🙂
Garlic Cheddar Mashed Potatoes
2 lbs baking potatoes or Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
2 Tbsp butter
splash half & half
1/4 C low fat sour cream
1/2 C cheddar cheese
1 Tbsp garlic powder
1 tsp paprika
salt, pepper
Preheat the over to 400. Fill a large pot with water. Salt water and add potato chunks. Bring to a boil and cook over med-high heat until potatoes are soft, about 25-30 min. Drain water from potatoes using a colander and put them back into the pot. Cut butter in to chunks and use a hand mixer to beat potatoes until creamy, slowly adding half and half until you achieve the right texture. Potatoes should be creamy and fluffy but not runny. Beat in garlic, salt and pepper to taste. Stir in sour cream.
Transfer potatoes to a baking dish and top with cheese. Sprinkle paprika and more salt and pepper over the top. Bake for about 20 minutes until cheese is melted and slight crisped.
Pair with: a full-bodied Cabernet Sauvignon or a peppy Shiraz for wine or a robust porter or stout such as Samuel Smith’s Taddy Porter or Founder’s Breakfast Stout for beer
Check back later this week for more Valentine’s Day ideas!
Today we’re over at the Allstate Goodhands Community doing another guest blog. With the economy what it is, many of us are giving up the little luxuries like going out to dinner. Today Katie shares an affordable meal that’s perfect for entertaining friends or having a date night in. Stuffed Chicken with Balsamic Reduction is a go-to recipe when you want to serve something that looks fancy but is deceptively easy to make.
Visit the GHC website to read more and get the recipe! Plus last day to comment on the Christine Tavares pottery giveaway!
Trying to kick your pricey Starbucks habit but not willing to give up your daily coffee fix? Over the holidays, I watched my aunt, Synara, make her own easy, cheap “lattes” – without an espresso maker or a fancy, expensive cappucino machine. Her secret weapon is just a simple, $12 tool: a frother!
I tracked down a Bodum Schiuma frother at Target on sale for $6 but even at full price, you can make hundreds of drinks for less that what you’d pay for a few stops at your favorite coffee shop and they taste just as good. Now I know the purists out there will say this isn’t really a latte because by true coffee standards, it isn’t. However, it’s still a great way to satisfy your cravings without breaking the bank!
“Faux” Latte for One
1/2 mug milk
4-5 scoops ground coffee (stronger varieties, like a French Roast, work best)
approx 2 C water
optional: 1/2 – 1 Tbsp flavored creamer or honey
Make coffee using your standard coffee maker, only double the ratio of coffee beans to water to make the coffee extra strong. Pour milk into a large, microwave-safe coffee mug. Add creamer or honey, if you are using it. Microwave milk for 1 minute and 30 seconds. Stick frother into milk and froth until milk is foamy. Microwave for another 30 seconds.
Pour brewed coffee into mug by tilting the mug slightly and pouring coffee along the inside of the glass, as you would a beer. This allows you to avoid ruining your foam. Simply clean off your frother with a little soap and water and enjoy!
It’s Giveaway Week!!! We have two fun giveaways this week, starting with this hand-crafted utensil jar from Christine Tavares Pottery! We fell for Christine’s “organic chic” (and totally affordable!) pieces when we featured this jar as an idea for a winter bulb planter.
Enter to win by just leaving a comment on this post! Tell us what you think, how you’d use it, whatever you want. We’ll pick a winner from the comments later this week and notify the winner by email.
Read on for our interview with Christine and her tips on how to add affordable, original art to your home:
Hi Christine! Tell us a little about yourself and how you got into pottery.
I’ve been married to the funniest man in the world for 15 years and we live outside of St.Louis. I get to thank him for my premature smile lines! We have three beautiful children and three dogs. I’m a “working artist” and I also teach part-time. I love reading, wine, music and entertaining.
Since I can remember, I have always been creating something…drawings, paintings, sculptures, edible treats, etc. I found clay mistakenly in high school when I thought “ceramics” was a class where we would paint little statues and dishes. Imagine my surprise on the first day when the teacher brought out lumps of brown mud! I was disappointed for about 30 seconds. Clay and I have had a nonstop love affair ever since.
I create functional vessels for every day use like mugs, serving platters, pouring vessels, bowls, etc. It is important to me for things to be useful and beautiful. Nothing gives me more pleasure than to be at a gathering with friends or family and to see food beautifully displayed on handmade pottery. I currently selling my work on Etsy, on consignment and in local art fairs.
What are 3 items that you couldn’t live without in your home?
My Dyson backpack vacuum cleaner (again – 3 dogs), my treadle wheel (it allows me to feel more connected to my work) and laughter.
We love your pieces. Do you have a favorite that you’ve created over the years?
Early in my career, my pieces were very tight and controlled and not very interesting. I was having a creative block and Paul Dresang (my college instructor) put me through an exercise in letting go. He said, “Take a piece of clay out of your bag, throw it down on the wheel. Just make something”. I was furious! But I realized what a thrill it was to just let go.
My favorite piece is something that I didn’t have the strength, creativity or courage to do on my own. By letting go, I was able to break away from manufactured-looking, cold pieces of pottery and find my style which is organic, rustic and sophisticated all at once. Here is a picture of that wonderful, graceful and fluid little bowl.
Who or what do you look to for inspiration?
Much of my work is inspired by nature. I really like the femininity of flowing lines, rounded shapes and waves. I also am inspired by elements of a comfortable home so I try to make items that add to a home’s surroundings. Some of my favorite ceramic artists are Bede Clark, Charity Davis-Woodard, and Clary Illian.
A lot of people see original art and bespoke pieces as expensive and unattainable. Do you have any tips on how the average person could incorporate more art in their home?
Functional pottery is the perfect way to incorporate art into your home! Everyday pieces that you use often typically aren’t too expensive and they are actually little pieces of art! Visit local art fairs, Etsy.com and events at local universities. College art departments occasionally have sales on many types of art from students as well as from the faculty. You can find some wonderful art at bargain prices.
Filed under Decorate, Fab Finds, Interviews
As a born list maker, it’s been driving me nuts that my kitchen didn’t have any type of memo board but I didn’t feel like spending oodles on a fancy organizing system. Having seen DIY ribbon boards and chalkboards around the blogosphere before, I knew what I wanted but just wasn’t sure how to make it happen until one day on my way to work this old window practically jumped into my car from a pile of sidewalk castaways destined for the garbage.
Creating your own chalkboard is ridiculously easy and would work well in a kitchen or a kid’s room. If you had a paned window you could even get fancy with it and create a half cork/half chalkboard or half ribbon board/half chalkboard.
You’ll need:
a window or picture frame
whiteboard wall paint
chalkboard paint
a small paint roller (a mini edger works well)
painters tape
wire (optional for clipping up cards, photos, etc)
sturdy frame hangers & nails
a drawer pull (this will be your chalk tray)
a power drill
1. If the window is old and dirty, start by cleaning it well so that the paint sticks and coats evenly.
2. In a well-ventilated space, like your garage, lay down newspaper and put the window on top to spray paint the frame. Don’t worry about getting it on the glass because you’ll cover that later. Let dry completely.
3. Cover the inner edges of the window frame with painters tape.
4. Use a small paint roller to apply chalkboard paint to the glass. Apply multiple thin coats for the best coverage. Peel off the tape once dry.
5. Measure the location for your drawer pull-turned-chalk holder and mark two holes. Use a power drill to drill in the holes and screw the pull onto frame.
6. Cut wire a few inches longer than the edge of the frame and affix the ends to the backside with a staple gun or heavy tape. It will be against the wall so it won’t be seen.
7. Measure and screw or drill on frame hangers if you plan to hang it on the wall.
Haute Apple Pie is honored to be guest blogging for the Allstate Goodhands Community (GHC)! The awesome blogging team at GHC has asked us to share our tips on affordable entertaining and making a difference at home and in the community. We’re thrilled by the opportunity. We’ll be doing a series of guest posts over at GHC but still blogging up a storm here at HAP so feel free to visit us in both places and let us know what you think!
Today Anne shares her tips for making 3 easy and nutritious meals out of one simple ingredient: meatballs! Visit the Goodhands Community and check out Anne’s recipe.
Filed under Cook
So I hadn’t planned a follow-up post to the Iron Cupcake: Beer competition but I just had to share this. While my Baby Got Bock cupcakes – chocolate with homebrewed dopplebock beer, caramel filling, caramel buttercream frosting and Heath bits – didn’t win, they did make local and national news!
My wonderful new friend, Sara, from Cream City & Sugar passed along the link to the MSNBC video (via WTMJ4) which would have otherwise slipped under my radar! I’m thinking this could be the beginning of a reality show…Project Haute Homemaker?? Bravo, are you listening?
The next Iron Cupcake competition is bacon if any of you Milwaukee/Chicago folks feel up the challenge!
Filed under Fab Finds
Wisconsin may not be what most people think of as a culinary hotspot but some of its local foods, like bratwurst, custard and kringle, seem to have a cult following. It’s not necessarily the healthiest of cuisine but it’s certainly delicious and who doesn’t want to indulge every once in awhile?
The real stars of local flavor, however, are more well-known: beer and cheese. Thank God for beer and cheese. This week we’re celebrating our love for Wisconsin and it’s wonderful cheeses, as voted on by our readers.
I made this Rosemary White Cheddar Macaroni & Cheese for my white and gold holiday party and had multiple people request the recipe so now it’s time to share. It’s a classier (but just as easy!) version of an old-time crowd favorite.
Rosemary White Cheddar Mac ‘n Cheese
*adapted from Ina Garten
1 lb of penne or cavatappi noodles
3 C milk (I use skim to lower the calories)
1/2 C half and half
6 Tbsp butter
1/2 C flour
1 large block of white cheddar cheese (approx 4 C)
2C swiss or gruyere cheese
1 Tbsp dijon mustard
1 pinch nutmeg
2 sprigs fresh rosemary
1 1/2 C panko bread crumbs
salt, pepper to taste
Preheat oven to 375. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and cook noodles until they are al dente. Shred the block of white cheddar cheese. In a medium pot, combine milk and half and half and gently warm but do not let boil. In a separate large pot, melt butter over med-low heat. Whisk in flour until smooth and thick. Slowly add warm milk into flour mixture, whisking to smooth out any chunks. Add mustard, nutmeg, salt and pepper. Slowly add cheddar, whisking in until the cheese begins to melt. Add swiss/gruyere mix and continue whisking until semi-smooth (you will have some globs of cheese).
Pour noodles into a 13×9 baking pan. Pour cheese mixture over noodles, sprinkle with more salt and pepper and mix well. Using a kitchen shears, snip rosemary sprigs into small pieces over the macaroni. Use your fingers to strip any remaining leaves off the rosemary. Stir again and sprinkle panko crumbs over the entire dish. Bake for 40-45 minutes.
NOTE: Don’t like the cheeses I used? Can’t find them? Don’t sweat it…standard sharp cheddar will work just fine! Block cheese that you shred on the spot will give better consistency for the cheddar. If you wish to speed things up, pre-shredded will be fine for the swiss.
PS: In Milwaukee and looking for something to do tonight? I’m “competing” as a baker in the Iron Cupcake Milwaukee: Beer challenge tonight at MOCT! Anyone can come and if you do, make sure to swing by and say hello…and vote for my cupcakes made with home brewed beer!
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