Showing posts with label mulled cider recipe. Show all posts
Showing posts with label mulled cider recipe. Show all posts

Thursday, August 23, 2012

Fall into Fall!

Sickness has hit the household, and it's making me want to curl up with a good book or better yet my iPad and Pinterest account! Why?! Because it's buzzing with Fall inspiration including mulled cider, layers of clothing, and decor that makes me feel the cool breeze blowing through my open windows!
Do you need some help breaking out of the summer heat? Check out some of my favorite finds!
I love this look for Dablet for the Fall! The layers, ruffles, and comfy rustic chic look are too cute!
Pinned here

Me to a "T" the neckline, texting (or tweeting) while walking, and layers of bracelets for a bit of fall glam!
Pinned here Originally pulled from Particularity Blog

Let's face it, North Carolina doesn't get SUPER cold so I can pull of flip flops for a long time. I can also appreciate the comfort of this grab and go outfit for running errands with Dablet!
Pinned here via Lynda from Focal Point

Let's face it, mulled cider is one of the best things about the Fall! I LOVE these apple cups too! Great way to use all of the parts and have a fabulous display!
Pinned here!

This is BY FAR the best beef stew I have ever had or cooked. Whenever it comes up in our house "what do you want for dinner" in the Fall or Winter Kyle gives me a side eye and says "Beef Stew?!" like a kid asking to open a Christmas present early! Here's the recipe! 
(Cited from foodnetwork.com)

Ingredients

  • 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil, for frying, plus more to drizzle
  • 3 tablespoons butter
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 2 to 3 pounds beef chuck shoulder roast, cut into 2-inch pieces (this cut is also called chuck shoulder pot roast and chuck roast boneless)
  • Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • 1 bottle good quality dry red wine (recommended: Burgundy)
  • 8 fresh thyme sprigs
  • 6 garlic cloves, smashed
  • 1 orange, zest removed in 3 (1-inch) strips
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 2 1/2 cups beef stock
  • 9 small new potatoes, scrubbed clean and cut in 1/2
  • 1/2 pound carrots, peeled and sliced
  • 2 cups frozen pearl onions, a large handful
  • 1 pound white mushrooms, cut in 1/2
  • 1/2 pound garden peas frozen or fresh
  • Fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped, for garnish
  • Horseradish Sour Cream, recipe follows, for garnish
  • Toasted Peasant Bread, recipe follows, for serving

Directions

Preheat a large heavy-bottomed saucepan or Dutch oven over medium-high heat with the oil and butter.
While the pan is heating, arrange the flour on a large dish. Season the cubed beef with some salt and freshly ground black pepper and then toss in the flour to coat. Shake off the excess flour and add the beef chunks in a single layer to the hot pan, being careful not to over crowd the pan, you might have to work in batches. Thoroughly brown all of the cubes on all sides. Once all the meat has been browned remove it to a plate and reserve.
Add the wine to the pan and bring up to a simmer while you scrape the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon being sure to loosen up all those tasty bits. Once the wine has gotten hot add the browned meat, thyme, smashed garlic, orange zest strip, ground cloves, freshly ground black pepper and salt, to taste,bay leaves and beef stock. Bring the mixture up to a boil and then reduce the heat to a simmer and cook uncovered until the liquids start to thicken, about 15 to 20 minutes. Cover and cook on low heat for 2 1/2 hours.
After 2 hours add halved potatoes, sliced carrots, pearl onions and mushrooms, along with a pinch of sugar to balance out the acid from the red wine. Turn the heat up slightly and simmer, uncovered, for 30 minutes more, until the vegetables and meat are tender. Add the frozen peas during the last minute of cooking. Season with salt and pepper and remove the thyme sprigs.
To serve, place the stew in a soup bowl, garnish with parsley, drizzle with olive oil and add a dollop of Horseradish Sour Cream. Right before serving add a slice of Toasted Peasant Bread, half way submerged in the stew.


Happy Fall Dreaming!!!

Wednesday, July 25, 2012

Christmas in July

Happy hump day everyone! It's the 25th and Lynda over at Focal Point and I have linked up to bring you a little holiday spirit in the middle of summer! Apparently, we weren't the only ones with this idea because this morning my phone started beeping with all kinds of Christmas in July promotion emails from some of my favorite stores! None the less, there is plenty of holiday spirit, inspiration, and cheer to go around!
When I think about the holidays, I have a few key things that come to mind:

  • Decorating - how to transform your home for the season
  • Cooking - probably my favorite part! The smells, the family, the baking!
  • Kids - this is a relatively new one on my list because of Dablet!
  • Gifting - how to pick the perfect item (on a budget too!)
  • Crafting - the DIY side extending the budget and the personal touch

In order to bring some of my favorite ideas together in one place for you, I've created a "Christmas in July" board on Pinterest! and to give you a quick visual highlight, I took to Olioboard and created an inspiration board:
To see this board and the pins featured click here

Decorating
The holidays bring entertaining and lots of cards! In recent years I have fixed strips of ribbon to an archway in our house and tacked all of the cards we recieve to line the inside of the arch. It's nicer than putting them in a bowl or box because you see them all at once! The wreath and tree display options are great, and the tree is something you could have as a piece of home decor year round as well! From the parties to the family dinners, you are bound to either create or experience a decorated table sometime during the season. To channel your inner Martha pick a theme and go for easy quick ways to make a dramatic statement (without breaking the bank!)

Ornaments are quick, easy, colorful and budget friendly for table decorations!
Cooking
When you're planning your Holiday soiree the focus will be on the food (after your guests see your fabulous table of course!) When I think holiday cooking I immediately go to baking and mulled cider! 
Pinned here, recipe sourced from The Dish on Delish
1 orange, washed
4 cups (1 quart) apple juice or cranberry juice cocktail
2 cinnamon sticks
4 whole cloves

Peel the orange by slicing into strips. Combine your juice of choice, orange peel, cinnamon sticks and cloves in a saucepan. Place the saucepan over medium heat and warm the juice until tiny bubbles appear around the edges of the pan. Simmer gently for 20 minutes, reducing the heat as needed to keep the juice from boiling. Remove the pan from the heat. Pour into mugs and serve immediately.

Paired with my mulled cider I could live off of gingerbread cake! Not only is this dessert packed full of flavor, but if you're looking for something to have in the oven when guests arrive to add the perfect smell to your home this is it!
Pinned here

Kids
Pulling Kids into cooking, I had to go to cupcakes! While many of these would require time (and a certain amount of talent) they remind me of the Cookie Decorating Parties my mom used to throw for me and my friends. We'd make a load of sugar and gingerbread cookies ahead of time and several different colors of frosting complete with bowls of edible decorations. My friends and their parents would come over, we'd all wear something to cover our clothes and decorate the cookies with obnoxious amounts of frosting while our parents mingled! Here's a modern day trend version!




The holidays provide another magical moment when we are able to look through the eyes of children and remember the magic of the season! Go ahead and crank up the holiday music, do a little dance, and belt Jingle Bells at the top of your lungs! While they're little, they'll still enjoy it...soon enough you'll get the look of "Mom, what ARE you doing?!?!"

Gifting
One of the challenges I will eventually have to face with the holiday festivities is hiding gifts from Dablet. Lynda brought up the idea of sharing gift hiding places with my mom readers and to be honest, I'm stumped! there are the obvious closets, under the bed, and in the garage....but my house is so open that I'm not really sure what would work! I have until at least Christmas '13 before this becomes an issue, so please share your tips with me!
Again channeling my inner Martha, I wanted to share some fabulous gift wrapping areas with you! These are a perfect tie into the OlioHop coming up next Monday, so be sure to check back!
Pinned here
Super simple! Take rods and mount them with hooks onto an empty frame. That way you can change out your wrapping paper depending on the season, or when you run out!
Pinned here
I LOVE this simple way to organize ribbon in two ways! Same rod idea as above for the ribbon spools, and then you tuck away the rest in boxes with the strands coming out! Hidden chaos is my favorite thing!
Check out more gift wrapping pictures on the Pinterest Board

Crafting
Last, but certainly not least, is the crafting! I have featured SEVERAL different sites via pins showcasing all kinds of crafting ideas that are kid-friendly and also more sophisticated! One I am absolutely going to do this year is the hand print tree! I think this is not only something fun for our home, but would make a great gift for the grandparents with hand prints from all three of us!
Pinned here

Can you hear the holiday music yet and smell the gingerbread?! With the heat we've been having and the perpetual nightly thunderstorms, I've appreciated sharing a bit of holiday cheer with all of you! With Dablet's 1st Birthday just around the corner in September, it won't be too long before I'm breaking out the Christmas boxes and picking out the theme for this year's wrapping! Do you have a favorite holiday tradition? I'd LOVE it if you shared it with me! Merry Christmas in July!

As I mentioned before, I'm teaming up with Lynda from Focal Point today to share double the ideas for Holiday Styling! I've taken a sneak peek over at what she has, and all I can say is SPARKLE!
This lady has style, pizzazz, and an element of effortless chic that I admire in abundance!
Be sure to check out her blog and Pinterest Boards!