Happy Birthday -Hot Coral #712

Today is my Grandma Kilner's birthday-  I still think about her and what she taught me as I grew up. Gavin and I read the book The Little Red Hen and I tell him this is all about his great Grandma Kilner that would have loved to known him.

Today I will wear hot coral #712 in honor of her and we will read The Little Red Hen before bed tonight.

Pinterest trial number 2

This past weekend we made hambugers and used the "best hamburger seasoning" pin from budget savvy diva. I didn't realize until later after we ate them and my husband pointed out that it was the same seasoning that Fuddruckers used on their hamburgers. We both agreed that they were pretty darn good and we would use the recipe again when we make bugers.

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What you need:

1 teaspoon paprika

1 teaspoon ground black pepper

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon dark brown sugar (we used light)

1/8 teaspoon garlic powder

1/8 teaspoon onion powder

1/8 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper

What to do:

Combine all ingredients together. Sprinkle seasoning on burgers before cooking.

Anyone else trying anything that you have pined on pinterest?



 

pinterest inspired... laundry room

I'm going to try to post once a week a pinterest inspired project. When we bought our new house I was happy to have a laundry room on the first level. As the first year came and gone I realized that this room was just not a good use of space. We looked into having the washer and dryer moved to the basement and turning this room into a real mudroom. After two attempts this was out of our price range for now.

Pinterest has become my new obsession and I love that I can file all these great ideas in one place. So I collected some ideas and we had a friend help us on a much cheaper level make this room a tad more usable.Below is the "before" picture- I realize this is not the best "before" picture to share but I forgot to take one before the project got started.





BEFORE



AFTER

 

Here are my ideas I pined on pinterest to help me design.

father's day brunch

I held father's day brunch at my house this weekend with both my family and my husbands. We had an egg casserole, fruit salad, banana bread, and buttermilk blueberry breakfast cake. I found the blueberry cake recipe on pinterest and I have to say its so good I could eat the whole thing myself. This is the second time I've made it and love it even more the next time- if that is possible. The recipe is below and I recommend trying it yourself and I have to agree with the source that buttermilk does turn everything into gold!

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Buttermilk-Blueberry Breakfast Cake

Serves 6-8
½ cup unsalted butter, room temperature
2 tsp. lemon zest or more — zest from 1 large lemon
7/8 cup* + 1 tablespoon sugar**
1 egg, room temperature
1 tsp. vanilla
2 cups flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. kosher salt
2 cups fresh blueberries
½ cup buttermilk
* 7/8 cup = 3/4 cup + 2 tablespoons
** This 1 tablespoon is for sprinkling on top

1. Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Cream butter with lemon zest and 7/8 cup of the sugar until light and fluffy.

2. Add the egg and vanilla and beat until combined. Meanwhile, toss the blueberries with ¼ cup of flour, then whisk together the remaining flour, baking powder and salt.

3. Add the flour mixture to the batter a little at a time, alternating with the buttermilk. Fold in the blueberries.

4. Grease a 9-inch square baking pan (or something similar) with butter or coat with non-stick spray. Spread batter into pan. Sprinkle batter with remaining tablespoon of sugar. Bake for 35 minutes. Check with a toothpick for doneness. If necessary, return pan to oven for a couple of more minutes. (Note: Baking for as long as 10 minutes more might be necessary.) Let cool at least 15 minutes before serving.

This is a picture of me and my dad- I think I was in 8th grade!

racing....

I feel like the world is racing around me these days and I can't catch it! This is typical for the time of year as we are in our "busy season" at work... BUT since the beginning of 2012 I've had this feeling. I know it will go away and I know i have to stay positive and keep going.

I'd like to run away from all this crazy and see if i can catch up with the world- maybe the second half of this year I will find a way.

favorite sweater

j.crew has my favorite sweaters right now... the whisper linen cardigan- its the right lenght and weight but a little expensive. i still bought two (navy and  cerise) and hope to catch them when the are on sale- LOVE THEM!!!

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Mowing

I begged to mow the grass the other day - it was a sunny 80 degree day! An hour and half of peace.. listening to my music and no one bothering me. Ahhhh- heaven! (oh and burn 357 calories would be an extra bonus) I got about 75% of the lawn done and had to quite... it was so hot and I nearly passed out. This was more work than I remembered.
Before I met my husband I owned my own house and cut my own grass. My thought this warm sunny day was... I did it before I can certainly do it now. After spending 15 mins of begging him to let me...he ended up having to finish up where I left off.

Lesson learned he should continue to cut the grass! I will have to find a time for my peace somewhere else.