Recent Updates & Purchases

Now that I'm starting to dream of Spring (I am so over Winter) I've been scouring the stores for fresh, clean decorative candles. I've wanted flameless candles for a very.long.time and I finally found them at HomeGoods for a GREAT price! I bought two pillars and a box of six flameless tealights. They are now displayed on my buffet server.






I've also been searching for the perfect calendar to hang in the kitchen. Now that I've found some things to do (tutoring, subbing, volunteering at workshops, yay!), I have the burning desire to write.it.all.down. It makes me feel busy, which I haven't felt in a very long time! I went to Borders first to take a little look-see. Ugly, tacky, half-naked girls graced the pages. No thanks! Even the cute puppy calendars just weren't doing it for me. I ended up finding this cutie at Meijer! It has tons of space for me to write in my oh.so.busy.life.schedule and I can rip off each page week by week. I love it.





And now that brings to me to my Valentine decor! I don't have much as I don't go all out for Valentine's Day as I do for Fall, Halloween, and Christmas. I just have a few touches of love.



The teddy bear was a gift from the hubbs last year and the live, laugh, love vases are from Target's dollar section (although they cost $2.99).



On the mantle I have our pillar candles from Fall but they're a perfect color for V-day. In the center are two little bears kissing. The frame all the way on the right says "LOVE" in block letters- hard to see in the picture.

And that's it! There are also V-day towels hanging in the kitchen and a heart wreath on the door-too cold and dark out there right now for me to take a picture!

Do you have any V-day decor to share?

This Woman Cooks!

Seeing as this blog has started to lose it's focus, I have decided to create a new blog dedicated solely to cooking! In this blog I will be testing out recipes from people like Rachael Ray (shocker) and Giada De Laurentiis. I will be rating them based on difficulty, taste, and overall satisfaction. Of course these ratings are determined by my husband and I; we are by no means food critics! Take a look and I hope you enjoy my new blog!

This Woman Cooks!

Today's Thoughts: Cooking!

I LOVE food. I mean, I really love food. It's amazing to me that I don't weigh over 200 pounds by now. I guess that's why I also love to cook. Cooking means that I get to make all the foods I love, just the way I like it. Of course, I have days where I just don't feel like cooking and crave a night out or a bucket of special fried rice from San Fu. Now, don't get me wrong- I am by no means a gourmet cook. I don't always use the freshest ingredients available, I may take short-cuts and help from the store, but most of the time I am cooking up something in my small, apartment-sized kitchen. Tonight I used my crock pot for the first time, a Christmas present from my parents. I popped in all the ingredients for Beef Stew and headed out the door. The smell was heavenly when I came home this afternoon. And oh my goodness, it was spectacular (as described by my hubbs)!

My desire to learn how to cook came a year or two before I got married. I've always wanted to be a good cook. I have different tastes from my parents so I didn't really look to there cooking as an inspiration. I became obsessed with watching Everyday Italian with Giada- she's gorgeous, first of all, and everything she makes looks like a gourmet meal! I still watch her cooking shows today as well as a variety of others. At the moment I am a HUGE fan of Rachael Ray. I never really was until I became an unemployed housewife- I had NO idea she had a morning talk show! I am inspired by many of her recipes and I've tried out a few, adding my own touch to them as I go.

Sooo. The first few recipes I want to try are some of Rachael's. I will be trying them out VERY SOON!

1. Baked Shells Casserole

You just HAVE to click on the link. Spinach, pasta, cheese? What's not for a girl to love? It looks sooo good!

2. Coconut Chicken Cutlets

I'm pretty sure I'll be making this one next week. I've never cooked with coconut before and it looked awesome when I watched her make it.

3. Spinach and Artichoke Mac and Cheese

Another ingredient I have never experimented with in the kitchen- artichokes! Looks delicious!

4. Chocolate Overdose Cake

I found this AMAZING chocolate cake recipe on the Beantown Baker's blog today. It looks like it could be the best chocolate cake ever! Now I just need an excuse to make it!

5. Lemon Yogurt Cake

Yet another ingredient I fail to use; lemons. I looove anything flavored with lemon, especially Macaroni Grill's Lemon Passion cake! I've never made anything like this either and I'd really like to try it. :)

Be on the lookout- eventually, or soon, I hope, I'll be trying out all these recipes!!


What recipes are you looking to try out?