Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Flickr Magic

Today is such a gloomy day outside; I think I'm beginning to suffer from SAD! To cheer myself up, I decided to pull together my favorite cheery, yellow photos on Flickr. Enjoy!




1. {another summer ferris wheeel♥}, 2. 14/365, 3. Sun kissed daisies, 4. “Enjoy the little things, for one day you may look back and realize they were the big things.”, 5. ., 6. meyer lemon gift, 7. Birch-keh, 8. Chloe Aftel Photography, 9. alive, 10. Untitled, 11. "rise and touch the sky", 12. sunshine, 13. Untitled, 14. lemon girl, 15. The Photographer - Day 82/365 (explore), 16. .yellow yumminess., 17. Untitled, 18. Gorro - Semana 10/52, 19. waiting for spring, 20. Spring is comming to town

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Lucinda Scala Quinn


Lucinda Scala Quinn is my new favorite chef, cookbook author, and T.V. show personality. I first discovered her cookbook, Mad Hungry, while browsing the cookbook aisles of the local bookstore. It looked good, so I bought it and brought it home. I love to just read cookbooks, especially ones that include the author's personality and not just recipes, but this cookbook was amazing. Well written and aimed at hungry families (Lucinda has three teen-age and older boys of her own), not only was the cookbook fun to read, but I also wanted to cook from it.

I have now made several of the recipes from the book and they have all been big hits, making it into the weekly rotation. After having had the cookbook for a while, one day I was browsing around the channels and discovered she also had a cooking show! I immediately added it to TiVo and began watching. On her show, Lucinda cooks lots of recipes from her cookbook, but many other new recipes as well.



Lucinda is also the executive food editor for Martha Stewart Living, and Grub Street New York recently followed her around for a day-in-the-life article.  Find the cookbook here. Follow Lucinda on her blog here. Find info on the cooking show here.

Monday, March 28, 2011

Beautiful Space: Swedish Home

Dos Family had a house visit up over the weekend of the beautiful, colorful home of Swedish illustrator Lovisa Witt. Usually I like home that are more spare and modern, but the colorful fun of this interior really caught my eye.






See the entire home tour here.

(images from Dos Family.)

Sunday, March 27, 2011

Weekly Menu Plan

I have some really good meals planned for this week! Enjoy . . .

Monday: Chicken rigatoni (a la Macaroni Grill), broccoli

Tuesday: Meatballs with peppers & pineapple, rice

Wednesday: Manicotti (from freezer), salad, garlic bread

Thursday: Indian Butter curry, rice

Friday: Haystacks


(images taken from: Flickr, Pioneer Woman, Haystacks & Champagne.)

Saturday, March 26, 2011

Alexey Titarenko: Photographer

Russian Photographer Alexey Titarenko views the crowds of people rushing through cities as streams of water. His lovely photographs reflect this, turning crowds of individuals into a stream of humanity. See his portfolio here.




(images from Alexey Titarenko via NPR.)

Spotted

Here are some lovely things I found on the web this week.

Stencil your own beautiful cushions, from Covet Garden.
(via The Style Files.)

Who wouldn't love a turquoise chandelier?!
(via The Style Files.)

The cutest tape ever.
(via Creature Comforts.)

What a treat to eat your cereal in these bowls.
(via The Style Files.)

Friday, March 25, 2011

Book: Undecorate

This book just came out a week ago and it's at the top of my wish list. Undecorate, from Dwell Studios, profiles 20 homes from around the country. Preview and purchase it here.


(images from Dwell.)

Barn Remodel

This beautiful remodeled barn, located in Seattle, WA, is the perfect example of remodeling done right. Many of the original pieces were reworked and reused for the finished home and the architects stuck to a minimal palette of colors and materials. I love how natural the home looks in its setting.


(via The Style Files.)

Thursday, March 24, 2011

Beautiful Space: Weekend Cabin

I love this teeny tiny cabin in Oregon which was built for a grand total of $10,000. The land cost an additional $47,000. Not bad for a little piece of paradise! I'm not sure I'd love climbing up the ladder to bed each night, and I'm wondering where the "bathroom" is . . . but other than those minor details, I love it!





(from Sunset magazine, via Wide Open Spaces.)

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Weekend in Photos

Whew, what a weekend! It's taken me until Wednesday to recuperate from it :)  Not really, but we did do a lot of hard work on Sunday.  Friday night we hung out downstairs, playing ping pong and watching National Geographic t.v. Saturday morning, Kaden had to swim the 200 breaststroke at the Junior Olympics early, so we left the house at 5:30 a.m. for that. He was done by 8:30, so he and I and Stoehr and Kohler all arrived back home at the same time (Kohler from swim practice). It was early, but it felt like we had already done enough for half a day! I made a great breakfast of hash browns, eggs, and smoothies, and we spent the morning relaxing.

In the afternoon we headed out to Great Falls for a short hike. I took lots of photos, practicing in manual mode for my photo class. The boys had fun climbing all over the rocks, and Molly (the dog) just loved being out with us. Back at home we made taquitos for dinner and started watching Independence Day. The boys needed to go to bed before we could finish, but Kohler and Stoehr stayed up watching a Chinese movie.

Sunday was all about yard work for Stoehr and I. Kieran helped some too, Kohler worked on his homework, and Kaden went off to a women's NCAA basketball game with his best friend. Stoehr and I got so much done outside. We had a dead bush that we removed, did lots of bush trimming, cleaned out the planting beds, cleaned up vines I trimmed on Friday, and raked the lawn. It looks so much better now, and we're getting ready to put in a garden! After all that work we were happy to relax in the evening, finish the movie from Saturday night, and make taco pizza for dinner.

















Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Fave New Blogs

Here's a round up of several cooking and baking blogs I discovered just this week. Not only are the recipes delicious, but the food photography in these blogs is amazing as well. I've added them all to my blog reader, and you may want to too!

A Farm Girl's Dabbles
Lots of desserts and savory recipes on this blog. I can't wait to make her German Chocolate Cake and Classic Pot Roast.

Bake at 350
This blog has the most beautiful, creative cookies you've ever seen. There must be a cookie for every occasion here. The recipe I can't wait to make though is these Mint Cream Cheese Brownies.

Bakers Royale
This blog is all about desserts, especially cupcakes and cakes. Yum yum! These Chocolate Raspberry Cakes look so good!

Good Life Eats
There's a wide variety of recipes on this blog, along with lots and lots of kitchen tips. These Cupcakes with Triple Cream Cheese Frosting are the first thing I want to make here.

Gourmande in the Kitchen
This blog is full of simple, unfussy, beautifully photographed food. Written by Sylvie, the recipes reflect her French heritage, like these deliciously simple French Radish and Sprout Tartines.

I Am Baker
The most beautifully decorated and delicious cakes and treats can be found on this blog. If you want cakes, cookies or other baked goodies for a special occasion, this is the place to look. I plan to start with this Chocolate Covered Cherry Cake.

My Baking Addiction
This blog is all about baking: bar cookies, breakfast goodies, brownies, cakes, chocolate, cookies, cupcakes, muffins, and pies, with a few entrees thrown in. The photos are beautiful and the site is chock full of baking tips. How yummy do these Stout Cupcakes with Chocolate Covered Pretzels look?!

My Kitchen Addiction
There is a wide variety of recipes on this blog, from sweets and treats to main dishes and soups. Jen also runs a monthly Kitchen Boot Camp, and has tons of tips and tutorials. These Maple Sourdough Cinnamon Rolls look like a great weekend treat.

That's it! Those are my new favorites. Look for many recipes from these sites to make it into my upcoming Weekly Menu plans!

(all images taken by the original blogger. Please click the recipe link above the photo for the original site.)