Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Strawberry Limoncello Martini

Our Tablescape Thursday hostess, Susan, has posted a few tablescapes created by the very talented Bonnie. In a couple of those, she used a pretty dove bowl as a centerpiece. I immediately fell in love with the bowl, and after much searching, I found one very similar.

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Mr. Maison and I enjoyed the candlelight while drinking Strawberry Limoncello Martinis...yum!






Strawberry Limoncello Martinis
1 1/2 oz Smirnoff Citrus Vodka
1 oz Limoncello
1 oz Sour Mix
1 1/2 oz Strawberry Daiquiri Mix
Shake and strain into sugar-rimmed martini glasses
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If anyone is interested in purchasing one of the dove bowls, it's Item # 719403 by Abigails.net. They are a wholesaler, but you can call Bill at Le Marche at 757-625-1211 to order one.

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Visit Susan at Between Naps on the Porch for Tablescape Thursday, and Michael at Designs By Gollum for Foodie Friday.

Violins and Elephants

So what do violins and elephants have in common? Absolutely nothing! We had our daughter's orchestra concert at the high school last night, so I wanted to post a picture of her playing.

And here's where the elephant comes in...look at this cute little lady, Emily, from Colonial Candle. I already had a couple of their sock monkeys, and recently discovered they've added other animals as well, so Emily came to live us.

These sock animals remind of a sock doll my grandmother made me when I was little. We called him 'Tater...don't know why, but we did.

Thursday, February 18, 2010

Creamy Chicken, Mushroom & Wild Rice Soup

We love soup around here...as a matter of fact, we've had it three times this week!

I found a recipe on Allrecipes.com for a Creamy Chicken and Wild Rice Soup, and adapted my recipe from that. We loved it and Mr. Maison said, "It's a keeper!"


Creamy Chicken, Mushroom & Wild Rice Soup
4 cups chicken broth
Boneless chicken breast
1 box of Uncle Ben's Original Long Grain & Wild Rice
Diced carrots, onions, and celery
Olive oil
Salt
Pepper
1/2 cup white wine
Sliced mushrooms
Flour
1/2 cup butter or margarine
2 cups heavy cream
Cook rice according to the directions on the box, reserving the seasoning packet.
Saute diced carrots, onions and celery, then add broth, cooked chicken, salt and pepper, and set aside.
Melt the butter in a saucepan and then stir in the seasoning packet from the rice. Once that's incorporated well, whisk in flour by spoonfuls to form a roux. Whisk in cream a little at a time until incorporated into the roux and smooth. Cook until thickened, about 5 minutes.
Stir the cream mixture into the broth. At this point add sliced mushrooms and a half cup of white wine and cook over medium heat for 10 to 15 minutes.
Since rice tends to swell up in soup, I kept that separate and added rice and soup mixture to our individual bowls. I think I'll add a garnish of crumbled bacon the next time. It will make it even more divine!
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Stop by and visit our hostess for Foodie Friday, Michael at Designs By Gollum, to see what she's got cooking this week.

Monday, February 15, 2010

Valentine Treats

These are the flowers Mr. Maison gave me...and some chocolate wine. Yum!






Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Valentine's Tablescape

For this week's Tablescape Thursday, I did a Valentine table for two on the cocktail table in my family room.




Prosecco...


...with some raspberries plopped in...it doesn't get any better than this!




Conversation hearts, along with Peeps, remain some of my favorite treats...





Visit Susan at Between Naps on the Porch for Tablescape Thursday.

Visit Laurie for her Valentine's Party.

Since my tablescape involved *pink*, I'm also linking to Pink Saturday, hosted by Beverly at How Sweet The Sound.


I hope everyone enjoys Valentine's Day with their sweetie!

Sunday, February 7, 2010

Tiered Server

I've not participated in Metamorphosis Monday in quite a while, so I thought I would show you how to make these easy tiered servers. All you need is a dinner plate and a salad plate, a candlestick holder, and GE Silicone II clear caulking for windows and doors. I got the candlestick holder at the Dollar Tree and the two plates at Home Goods. Total cost of this project was about $8.00.


This is the same stuff I used when I made my Dollar Tree hurricanes.
Mr. Maison helped out by putting the caulking around the top, smaller part of the candle holder.
Then place it caulk side down onto the center of your plate.


Once that's set up, caulk the top edge of the candle holder and then place your salad plate on top. Voila! You have an instant tiered server. This is great because you can use any plates you like, or do holiday-themed ones.


Pop over and visit Susan at Between Naps on the Porch for lots of amazing transformations.