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Friday, July 26, 2013

My Ten Minute Project!

So I decided to dress up my lonely kitchen window! It has needed some love for quite some time now and since I had extra fabric hanging around, I thought - why not put it to use! 

Now this would be my very first valance type window cover and I think I did a pretty good job. It may not be perfect but it works for me. 

If you haven't been in my kitchen, it's a bunch of brightness so I knew I wanted a bold pattern for the window. So I decided to use a yellow and white chevron pattern. 

I measured the window and was beyond happy that I had enough fabric!! 

And can I tell you how easy it was! Super easy! 


I then used sticky Velcro to put up. Not the most professional way but its up there!!! And I love it!! 

It literally took me about ten minutes from beginning to end. 

What spur of the moment project have you tackled lately?

Thursday, July 18, 2013

Knitting and Cooking!

While you are all sweating your booty's away - I am knitting my finger tips to the bone! It is that time of year folks. Fall will be here before you know it and it takes a lot more time to knit an item than to sew it. I cant wait to add some new products to my Etsy shop within the next few weeks.

SO with that being said I HAVE to share a recipe with you guys. This is so easy you will do a little dance in your kitchen. I am always trying to find recipes that do not take long at all. Our kitchen is tiny - so I try not to spend too much time in there cooking! Sometimes that happens and sometimes it doesn't.

So my husband and I wanted steak the other night but we weren't too enthused about standing out in the heat over a hot grill - that's when I decided to take a risk. I was watching The Chew the other afternoon (its a cooking talk show on ABC at 1pm - if you aren't home then, I suggest recording it just for the recipes...they are divine!) and saw an amazing steak that they seasoned and pan-seared. Now first I must tell you that my husband was very skeptical about cooking a steak inside. He is definitely an advocate for cooking meat on the grill but I told him to trust me. If I could get it to look as good or close to the steak on The Chew, we were golden!!!

So here are the ingredients:

STEAK:
4 NY Strip Steaks
3 tablespoons Canola Oil (I used veggie)

RUB:
2 tablespoons ground Coriander
2 tablespoons ground cumin
1 tablespoon Chipotle powder
1 tablespoon Sweet Paprika
1 tablespoon Kosher salt

COMPOUND BUTTER:
1/2 pound Unsalted Butter (softened)
1/4 cup Chopped Cilantro
1 Garlic Clove
1 small Shallot
Juice and zest of 1 Lime
Salt and Pepper

Directions:
For the Rub: In a medium bowl, whisk together all of the rub ingredients and set aside. Preheat a large cast iron sauté pan (I used a skillet) over medium heat.

Instructions:
Drizzle some oil onto the steaks. Season the steaks on both sides with the rub, being pretty liberal with it. Cook for about 3 minutes per side for medium rare. I cooked mine longer - my husband and I like well done steaks. Then remove to a plate to rest for about 5 minutes.




Compound Butter:
Now before I give this to y'all, I didn't make this with my steaks. My husband isn't a sauce-on-a-steak kind of guy, so I left this part out, but it sounds amazing!!!

While the steaks are cooking mix together your softened butter, cilantro, garlic, shallot lime zest/juice, and salt and pepper in a food processor or mixer until well blended.

Add a spoonful of compound butter on top of each steak before serving!



I made some black eyed peas and green beans with ours and it was delish!!!

Thursday, July 4, 2013

Happy Independence Day!


America was not built on fear. America was built on courage, imagination and unbeatable determination to do the job at hand - Harry S. Truman


I hope you all have a wonderful 4th of July! Stay safe and remember all those who sacrificed so much for us to have the freedom we have today!

GOD BLESS AMERICA~