more affordable letterpress

Just read this great post on how to make letterpress more affordable - the tips are geared toward letterpress for wedding invitations, but it's great information nonetheless.

image via studio on fire

before and after: seriously smart interior design

Here's a quick post that I had to share because it's pretty brilliant. When you have a small space to deal with and you want to make it look bigger and create drama - this is a great idea.

Please note in the before photo, the small window on the left and how tiny the room feels. In the after photo, see how the room appears larger due to hanging the curtains high, and having them span the length of the wall! This gives the illusion that the window is actually larger. And that huge pendant light and black ceiling doesn't hurt either. The after is bright, light and lovely. And so smart! This is one idea to bookmark for later. Enjoy!

found via design*sponge

wonder foodie: thrown together

You know, that last post was so ... brown! Time to spice it up a bit with some pumpkin soup. I had an Australian Blue (gray, really) pumpkin from my mom and sister's trek to the pumpkin patch that really needed to be cooked - can you believe it lasted so long? I didn't want to waste it, so I roasted it late last week for 8 hours at 200F a la this recipe. It was so easy to take the seeds out and scoop all the pumpkin out - but what to do with it now? I didn't want to make a pie, so soup it was! A hybrid of this recipe and this one, with a lot of spices and improvisation.

Here it is with sour cream, cilantro, and homemade croutons. Forgive the laptop camera photo. A mid-week soup for a rainy day, and inspiration to throw more recipes together.

wonder foodie: rolling pins

On an impromptu date night, the Hubba and I made pizza. One of the menu resolutions I made for our new kitchen was to make a white pizza, or pizza bianco if you will. With sweet Italian sausage, mozzarella, creamy dollops of ricotta, mushrooms, lemon zest, and piles of fresh arugula on top. And we did just that. We picked up some pre-made pizza dough, googled how to toss the perfect pizza, and got crackin'. The Hubba is exceptionally good at tossing pizza as we discovered!


Although we had a great time, I had overlooked one thing. The need for a rolling pin to roll the dough out a bit first!
You would never have guessed that it's actually pretty essential to pizza making. But one glance at us trying to roll it out with a can covered in plastic wrap was pathetic, truly pathetic. We also tried it with a bottle, but that didn't quite work either. So, that brings me to the sometimes helpful rolling pin. I have quite a few kitchen gadgets that were lovely wedding gifts, but none included a rolling pin. Simple wood, and sometimes simply lovely. See these below by Herriot Grace, these are just a few of her lovely products that she creates with her father.



So maybe I'll acquire one of these lovely pins before our next date night!

spuds not duds

Lately I've been into brainstorming food-themed parties -- cake decorating parties, dumpling parties, noodle parties and etc. So since it had been so cold, I wanted to have a baked potato party. Nothing's better than tons of warm and delicious carbs to keep you toasty on a chilly night, right? So what did I do? I kid you not, I googled "perfect baked potato" and came up with this recipe.

A few nights later, we had a lovely Christmas with our families, and I made homemade corn nuts with my sister. I took some home, and began to plan for an upcoming Spuds night. I set out to have lots of toppings - cheddar and pepperjack cheeses, green onions, olives, homemade chili, sour cream, and butter. No time to make the broccoli, but I will save it for next time. The potatoes were delicious, with crispy perfect skins and silky and snowy on the inside - not dry and chalky like some potatoes can be. And the prep was so easy! Serve it with a salad, and you're set. Here are a few photos, courtesy of my lovely guests. Next party? How about a won ton party? Can't wait.