homemaking

Decorating with Plants

April 23, 2012 by Edie Wadsworth 33 Comments

My dear friend and blogging mentor the Nester is hosting a great party today featuring plants in the home. I LOVE my house plants and am so excited to participate.

I confess that I’m a little lazy with house plants. I do great for awhile until I don’t. I need house plants that are a little self-sufficient. I need teenage house plants that want to be left alone. Unlike my sister, who has my mother’s thirty-something year old fig tree, I can’t handle that kind of pressure and responsibility. I’d get an ulcer trying to keep it alive. I need easy and simple but I love the life and joy they add to my home.

My current favorite is the stag horn fern I bought in Nashville a couple months ago that sits right the middle of the living room. I LOVE this fern and it totally jives with my ‘Texas, cottage, Southern chic, eclectic’ vision for my home. I just added some really cool live moss that I found at our farm on Saturday. This fern is an attention getter and those brown parchment looking vestiges in the middle are part of the ferns’ charm provide some of the ‘food’ for it to grow and be healthy. This type of fern doesn’t even need soil but can grow on just a little moss. They can be hard to find but bring lots of enjoyment. Plus, who doesn’t want a fern named ‘staghorn’? I can’t think of anyone.

I’ve had a long time fascination with aloe vera for obvious reasons. We live on the lake and little red cheeks and shoulders can’t always be avoided so I love having the cure right on the kitchen counter. I added some very cool looking lichen to the top, instead of my standard moss. It gives such interesting dimension and texture. My husband is crazy for lichen and he’s made a fan outta me too.

The bird’s nest fern is kinda cool and very low maintenance. It’s called bird’s nest because the inner portion, from where the fronds grow, looks like little eggs in a nest.

Then there’s the snake plant or mother-in-law’s tongue that’s hardy and easy to care for that for now sits in the kitchen. I haven’t even repotted this one yet because I want to paint the planter. It’s been doing fine for a few months just like that but I’ve got to do it soon so it’ll quit nagging at me.

And I treat my plants just like furniture and accessories; they’re mine and don’t belong to a certain room. I can move them where I want so I take full liberty here and move them around as I see fit, taking into consideration light and temperature and such. Only 3 months after I had lived in this brand new house, I moved all the ottomans, chair and accessories from the living room to my bedroom. I LOVE it and am still working on tweaking it all. And luckily, they don’t care about light and moisture.

These chairs were in my bedroom and that little succulent between them has been in the kitchen, my bedroom and the workroom. You might discover a whole new color palette or whole new way to think about life, just by moving things around. It’s my favorite decorating trick and gives you a whole new look without much time, effort or money. But I digress.

Back to plants. The workroom is full of our green friends because there’s so much light that floods the room.

And last but not least, my favorite category—-the succulents. They are a lazy houseplanter’s best friend. They don’t care if you go on vacation or on strike or temporarily insane. They’re like the cats of house plants. Too much attention, then you’re in trouble. They love you best when you leave them alone.
I love their no nonsense attitude.

And I’m always scouting out unique ones to try. These are ‘hen and chicks’ of the red and green variety. LOVE them.

I even made a succulent centerpiece for Easter and am planning to plant the hen and chicks in my garden this week.

And hope you enjoyed this house plant tour!

I totally operate with a philosophy of grace with my plants. I don’t put myself under the law. If they die, I’m happy for the time we had together. They’re cheap and easy to replace. If they’re too high maintenance, then we agree to disagree and perhaps they’d do better living with someone else. They are good gifts from God but I’m not obligated to them like I’m obligated to my children. Life has enough pressures. House plants shouldn’t be one of them!

What’s your favorite house plant? Tell me all about it and whether or not the likes of me can keep it alive!

Happy Monday dears 🙂

{spicy} Tomato Soup

April 17, 2012 by Edie Wadsworth 27 Comments

This is life{in}grace rerun and is dedicated to my new bff , Paige, and her daughter Caroline, who have officially made this soup more than me. But while smarter folks than I try to figure out all the things that have been going wrong with my blog for the past two months, give this American classic with a spicy twist a try. My blog and email seem to have been taken over by hostile powers. Which reminds me, has anyone who signed up for the email subscription service through me been getting the posts by email lately? Hopefully, there will be some resolution soon. Also the winner of the Lutheran prayer book is Becky from A Peaceful Dwelling. I so enjoyed all your book recommendations and have ordered several already!
tomato soup

Spicy Tomato Soup

{with a hint of blue cheese}

don’t let the blue cheese scare you. this is the best tomato soup recipe i’ve ever eaten. ever. just ask stevie.

he won’t lie for me just to promote my tomato soup.

Now, if I’ve already offended you with the suggestion of blue cheese, don’t get your panties in a ruffle.

You just use a little—for a complex layer of flavors—- and I highly doubt you could tell it had blue cheese in it, if you didn’t already know.

Try it and you could always substitute the cheese if you have serious issues with blue cheese.

The other two stars of the show are sriracha and a large can of cento tomatoes.

Sriracha is a deliciously-hot-addictive sauce that has seductive powers unlike any hot sauce

you’ve ever had. Your mouth might burn but it will not stop you from adding more. A little squirt into soup is makes all the difference!

You’ll need these ingredients:

a few splashes of olive oil

1 small onion

2-3 cloves of garlic

1 28 ounce can of tomatoes

1 14 ounce can of diced tomatoes

1 cup chicken broth

2 T. honey

1 small squirt of sriracha (more if you like really spicy–but start small)

handful of basil leaves

about an ounce of blue cheese (or your favorite easy melt cheese)

1/3 cup of cream

kosher salt and pepper to taste

You’ll also need a submersion blender!

The directions:

In a large dutch oven, add a few tablespoons of olive oil. Don’t measure, just swirl a few times. Then add the chopped onion and garlic and salt to taste and then saute for about 5 minutes. Add the tomatoes in their juice. Then add the rest of the ingredients except the cream and let it simmer for about 10 minutes. Use your submersion blender to achieve the consistency you’d like and then add cream. Taste it and reseason as necessary. I almost always have to add more salt and more honey. And if you accidentally go heavy on the sriracha, add a little more cream to balance the heat. Serve with artisan bread or crackers and prepare to be lavished with ” mmmm’s” and gratitude.

Garnish with basil and enjoy!

DIY woman silhouette art

April 10, 2012 by Edie Wadsworth 16 Comments

woman silhouette art I hope you had a wonderful Easter weekend. I’m still basking in the joys and trying to recover!
I’m working on a marathon post in which I tell you all the minutiae of my life. I know you’ll be waiting on pins and needles. It’s riveting stuff.
Now back to ‘woman silhouette art’.
I saw almost this exact thing in Franklin, TN when I was in Nashville for the Pearl Event.
It was nearly $300 and I knew it wouldn’t be that hard to duplicate.
Then as luck would have it, we were able to get silhouettes done at Disneyland when we there in March.
It was the perfect storm for my book page, woman silhouette, DIY project.
I bought a 24″x 36 in frame at Hobby Lobby with my 40% off coupon which made the frame $25.
I bought the foam board there too for less than $10 and then had the silhouette enlarged to an 11×14 size.

I found some cute girls willing to decoupage all the book pages onto the foam board and they even thought it was big fun.
We didn’t have any real specific rules for the book pages except they all had to overlap.

It took less than an hour, cost less than $40 and turned out so darn cute.
Now I want to decorate the whole room with book pages just like my friend Nester.
woman silhouette

Taco Casserole aka Mexican Hotdish

March 26, 2012 by Edie Wadsworth 16 Comments

You can thank Stevie for this taco casserole recipe because here’s exactly what he said at dinner.
Stevie: “Is there a recipe for this?”
Me: “No, I improvised because I’m so desperate to go to the store and had to use what I had on hand.”
Stevie: “I want you to go write it down right now because a month from now I want to be able to say ‘Let’s have Mexican Hotdish’ and have this dish magically appear.”

(he suffers from too many good dishes being forgotten because SOMEbody doesn’t use recipes)
Me: “Do I have to name it Mexican Hotdish?”
Stevie: “Ummm, that’s what it is.”
Me: “Ummmm, only if you’re from Minnesota.”

But really, the name ‘Mexican Hotdish’ makes me wanna salsa dance so I’m keeping it. There’s far too little salsa dancing in the world as it is. And the ‘guacamole’ portion of the name, you’ll be getting later in the week. We ate the guacamole so fast that no pictures were taken. It’s that good.

As for the hotdish, here’s what you’ll need:

1 1/2-2 pounds of ground beef

large onion, chopped

1 package of taco seasoning

2 T. ground cumin

4 cloves of garlic minced

1 can black beans, drained

1 cup of cooked rice

1 15 oz can of fire roasted tomatoes

salt and pepper to taste (I always salt as I go)

1 jar of good salsa ( I used some homemade salsa canned from last year but use whatever you have)

3 cups of crushed tor-tilla chips

1 16 oz container of sour cream

4 chopped scallions

2 cups of cheddar cheese

1 can black olives, drained and chopped for garnish

4 T. chopped jalapeños (I didn’t use fresh but you could) for garnish

Serve with chips and your favorite guacamole!

Brown beef and then add onion and garlic. Saute until onions are translucent. Add tomatoes, salsa, black beans, seasonings and rice. Crush the chips and layer them in the bottom of a 9×13 casserole dish. Add the beef mixture and then layer the sour cream and green onions. Cover with cheddar cheese and bake at 350 for 20-30 minutes or until cheese is melted. Garnish with olives and jalapeños.

Serve with chips and your favorite guacamole and please your finicky kids and your foodie husband at the same time!

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And you DO NOT want to miss Angela’s nursery make-over at lifeingrace girls! It’s almost as beautiful as Angela herself, whose blog is chocked full of fun and beautiful things!

{homemade} vinaigrette recipes

March 5, 2012 by Edie Wadsworth 45 Comments

vinaigrette recipes
I haven’t bought store bought dressing in ten years and when I do have occasion to eat it, I’m always disappointed.
Well, that’s a bit of a lie. I do from time to time buy ranch dressing so my girls will make nice will their carrots.
But dressings that we eat on salads? Only homeade, baby.
And it’s so easy that I hope you give these vinaigrette recipes a try.

I make three basic vinaigrettes and almost always have 2 of the 3 on-hand at any given time.

I make them up on Monday and then use them all week on our salads. Like pioneer woman, I store mine in mason jars because they’re so convenient for shaking and storage and well—-who doesn’t love a good mason jar? I’m from the South so we all know that the mason jar is essential to any Southern kitchen. Not only do we get our ‘corn from a jar’ but we get our vinaigrette from a jar as well.

I make an endless variety of vinaigrette recipes depending on what I have on hand but I’ll show you my top 3 most common.

Now the honest truth is: I NEVER measure anything when I’m making a vinaigrette but when you’re first starting out, you should measure until you get a feel for the proportions.

The general rule is a 3:1 ratio of oil to vinegar. (I never use quite that much but just experiment with what you like.)

After that, it’s all up to your imagination.

Balsamic Vinaigrette

1/3 cup balsamic vinegar

1 chopped shallot or small onion

1 T. zesty honey mustard

2 T. honey or brown sugar

1/2 c. extra virgin olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

I usually let the shallots sit in the vinegar for a while (a few minutes to an hour) to develop their flavor but you don’t have to.

Red Wine Vinaigrette

1/3 cup red wine vinegar

1 shallot or small onion

1 T. sugar

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

Berry Vinaigrette

I love berry vinaigrettes and make whichever kind is in season. My favorite is strawberry but I’ve been making blueberry for the past couple months. Substitute whatever berry you have and substitute sugar or honey for preserves.

1/3 cup apple cider vinegar

1 T. homeade strawberry preserves

1/2 cup olive oil

1/3 c. chopped strawberries

salt and pepper to taste

I add all my ingredients to my mason jar and give it a shake and then store it in the fridge until we need it. I also like pretty labels so you can print this pdf (of the vinaigrette labels), print them on plain white computer paper, cut them out and then use clear packing tape to attach them to the jars. The tape covers the entirety of the paper so you can usually get a few washes in before you need to change the label. Truth of the matter is, my vinaigrettes are so similar that I don’t wash them every week, but instead just make the new dressing in the same jar. I’m a granny like that. You do whatcha want.

homeade vinaigrettes recipes

I’d love to know if you make your own dressings—leave you recipes in the comments. If not, would you be willing to try it? You’ll never go back!

{Best Ever} Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe

February 27, 2012 by Edie Wadsworth 107 Comments

I’ve written about this recipe before but it’s been a few years and this chocolate chip cookie recipe is absolutely my most requested one. And trust me when I say that I’ve made more versions of the chocolate chip cookie any one woman should. My wonderful friend Kimmy introduced me to these delicious cookies and I am so thankful and indebted to her for sharing it with us. My sister now makes these cookies all the time and they recently won “Best Dessert Award” at her church’s Super Bowl party. They took down some serious cakes and pies to win the prize. And here’s why I like them so much: 1) They have the best taste and texture. 2) They are just as good on day 4 as on day 1. 3) They freeze very well. 4) They turn out perfect EVERY. SINGLE. TIME.

They never disappoint. Ever. And the best news yet? They never flatten out on the pan.

These cookies are gonna change your cookie-making life. And that is not a word of a lie.

After you make them, send me your testimonials and maybe I’ll set up a Facebook page in honor of these culinary delights. Ok, I’m kidding.

But they’re just that good.

Without further adieu, I give you the chocolate chip cookie of all chocolate chip cookies.

2 sticks butter, softened

1 cup of vegetable oil

1 egg

1 cup of white sugar

1 cup of brown sugar

1 t. baking soda

1 t. cream of tartar

1 t. baking powder

1 t. salt

2 t. vanilla

4 1/2 cups of flour

1 12 oz bag of semi-sweet chocolate chips

1 T. milk

Cream butter, sugars, and egg until fluffy. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix well. For best results, use a scooper to scoop cookies onto cookie sheet. Bake at 350 for 9-10 minutes until the edges are slightly browned. This recipe makes 4-5 dozen cookies depending on what size you make them.

My recipes page has plenty more goodies for you to try!