Some inspirations

After the re-arrange I am still trying to find new "homes" for everything. We had a really great collection of family photos in the previous den, but I didn't want to put the same thing in the new den. I want the room to feel different. So I had all these great photos, and I was trying to figure out where they were going to go.

Today I was checking out some of my favorite blogs and I came upon this. And I thought "Perfect!!" Julie had already introduced me to this really cool company. Check out their website! Some really cool ideas! So I thought that I could do something similar but for FREE and get instant gratification. So I decided to hang the photos in our hallway (which calling it a hallway is pushing it) and do my own version of "art." Another inspiration of mine was Julie's recent project in Emily's room . Too cute!

Take a gander... Whatcha think?

We have acquired a really fun collection of photos. Some are current pics and other are of our grandparents, our parents growing up, our nieces, nephew and God children. There's even one of Joe's great great great grandfather; he's the one smoking a pipe with his sock suspenders on! Too fun!

Now I just have to find a home for all the artwork that used to be on these walls. It's going to take a while for the dust to settle after this re-arrange!

A "little" rearrange

Well I have gotten the itch again to change up some things in the house. We live in a 1950's three bedroom ranch. The bedrooms are similar in size and a few years ago I decided I would rather have a den than an office so we switched our guest room to the office. And made the old guest bedroom a den. I have loved having 2 separate living spaces but wanted to change some things up, again. So last weekend I recruited my sweet sweet husband in rearranging some rooms. Not just moving around furniture in the rooms but switching rooms up! We moved the den furniture to the living room - the living room furniture to the Master Bedroom and the Master bedroom to the den. I am loving the new den (previous Master Bedroom.) I love the wall color with the sofa, rug etc. Thankfully that room is good just like it is.

But unfortunately the living room and office are going to have to be re-painted. I am in the midst of selecting new paint colors and will hopefully be painting this weekend!!! Here is what I am thinking for the living room...

The fabric behind the paint swatches is the sofa color.

These are the options for the Master Bedroom

Any favorites???

Homemade Pasta

Joe and I have not found a whole wheat pasta that we love. So... Joe thought he would make his own using white whole wheat flour by King Arthur. (This is some cool stuff!!)

To start use 1 1/2 cups of flour. Make a well and break 3 eggs in the center.

Begin to incorporate the eggs with the flour. Continue to do so until you can start kneading the pasta. If it is too sticky add some flour. You should be able to clean the surface with the ball of pasta. Now kneed the pasta for atleast five minutes.

Separate ball into 2 pieces. Work half into a pancake flat shape. Now it's time to start working it through the pasta machine. Keep running through the machine until you have worked up to the #5 setting.

Now you just choose what kind of pasta you would like. Spaghetti... Linguini.... Ravioli...

Attach the appropriate attachment and get to cutting. We chose linginui.

Homemade pasta is going to cook a lot faster than dried pasta. You will want to liberally salt the water because we didn't put any salt in the actual pasta. Joe made a yummy shrimp, country ham, and brussels sprout mixture to go with our pasta. It was delish! Pictures for preparation of that follow:

Render country ham and saute onions in "drippings"

Once onions are good add in chopped brussels sprouts and let them wilt. Remove everything from pot. (At this point you can start boiling your pasta.) Use the same large pot that you've been using - there's lots of yummy flavor we don't want to miss! Saute' shrimp until they are almost done; return your brussels sprout mixer to the pot. Add some lemon juice, chicken stock, and ground black pepper (no salt needed because of our country ham). Add your pasta in and toss. Garnish with some freshly grated parmesan. And viola yummy healthy pasta dish!!

Atleast the tailgate was good...

As most of the world knows, there was an UGLY Panther game last weekend. And when I say ugly, I really mean embarrasing! But moving past that... We had a great tailgate! Our plan this time was for everyone to bring their own ribs and we would grill them on site.

Joe brined his ribs for a couple hours and then covered them with a rub (his friend brought back from Memphis TN) and smoked them on the grill for a couple of hours. Jonathan had marinated his in an Apple BBQ Sauce. They were tangy and the background apple flavor was really YUMMY!! We also had some guys come in from the coast and they brought fresh oysters. We steamed them and ate 'em up!

Jonathan also got a new game! It's called Ladder Golf and it's fun!! I want one for the house, Joe was an ol' natural! He won the first three games in a row. So you throw the balls to try and hit the rings of the ladder. 1st ring is 1 point - 2nd ring 2 pts and 3 ring 3 points. First one to hit 21 points on the head WINS!

I still can't believe I am doing this...

As I am sure with so many bloggers, I have been "talked" into doing a blog. I wonder who will be interested in reading details of our everyday "plain ole' Jane" lifestyle, but hey we have to keep up with the new technology... right? I am looking forward to the opportunity to archive our life. It will be a fun way to look back on what experiences we have had.

To give a little background, I am interior designer by trade but not currently working in the field. So you know what that means... I am itching to do some things around our house since I am not getting my creative juices out in other ways! My wonderful husband, Joe is a chef. An amazing chef at that! I look forward to sharing his creations as well!

So here's to our experiences in eating, drinking and decorating! Cheers!