Cooking & Crafting Thursday(on a Friday): Brown Butter Ravioli & Updates

 Hello treasured Friends!

Happy TGIF! I hope this week has been kind to you so far. 

I'm posting this today as yesterday was my birthday and I was out and about for lunch and some shopping. :) 

I felt so loved and spoiled all day long! I had a stream of messages, calls and even snail mail cards that just made an old gal feel loved. Matt surprised me in the morning with a beautiful letter, card, and some gifts (he also took me out to lunch). My favorite was in my card there was a back rub certificate he made (always a favorite!). And my kids each sent me a beautiful text first thing that made me cry. When they tell me wherever I am will always be home and how much I'm a role model to them and the best Mom ever...you get the idea - I just know I must have done something right. ❤️ 

I received sweet gifts in the mail and a favorite was from my MIL Sue (a beautiful heart shaped necklace that are Angel wings with an opal in the middle - which is October's birthstone). And from Annie (she had sent me a beautiful stained glass hummingbird suncatcher, a cookbook I talked about wanting, and a set of 6 little glass pumpkins I can put around the house). That girl spoils me way too much and knows me far too well! All I can say is that my heart was full of gratitude all day for the love and purpose in my life and the amazing folks that fill it!! 

Okay, enough of my spoiled life - on to a yummy recipe for today. Matt and I had gotten these really delish caramelized onion and butternut squash ravioli from Costco. And I made browned butter sauce to go with them. I also toasted some pine nuts to sprinkle on the top. They were soooo mouth watering good!! 

I used a recipe by Giada for brown butter sauce which you can find if you click here. I used an Irish butter because European butter works better for the fat content in it. And I didn't have sage leaves but you could truly use whatever herb you like or have. I had rosemary from my garden yet - so I used that and it turned out awesome! Add some green veggies (I think we had green beans?) and it was a wonderful treat of a meal! 😋 And really very easy.

Next up a little craft update. I have a little kit of cute ornaments that are diamond art - so I worked on a few and added their twine as they are going to be little filler for some gifts I'm putting together soon. I also made more progress on Matt's cute diamond art coasters (one of his birthday gifts...his is the end of the month). And I'm getting there on the other Fall embroidery gift I'm working on. I need to get it done soon as I think us Autumn Gals are getting together before too long to celebrate our birthdays. 

And cheers to birthday time with Mrs. C, as we get together every year, and per tradition, we drive up the north shore of Lake Superior and go to the most charming place. It was wonderful as always and I treasure time with that bestie of mine always. 

And finally, I thought I'd leave with you with some more Fall cozy by way of cute pinterest art. I have my hospice volunteering soon - but I will come around and visit you all later! Blessings and love to you always beautiful Friends. I treasure the gifts you are in my life!! 

Wishing you a wonderful cozy weekend ahead. 

xoxo

Cooking & Crafting Thursday: Slow Cooker Honey Garlic Chicken & Current Project

 

Hello my Friends!

Happy Friday Eve and officially September. Yay! 

Kids are heading back to school, the nights are cooler, and football starts next week. I can just feel the anticipation of the Fall season ahead. 🍎🍁

If you saw my title, then you see that I thought I'd throw in some crafting on these Thursday posts with you. I always tend to be working on something. So let's begin with the crafting today, shall we? 

I have done lots of cross stitch things through the years...but I never tried my hand at embroidery. I thought it was time I taught myself so, I'm using some friends of mine as guinea pigs. 😂 I found a couple of cute Fall/Halloween kits (they both have Autumn birthdays) and I'm learning as I work on them for gifts. I've just begun on one of them and here it is. I will keep you updated on the progress I make (hopefully). Lol 

Speaking of Halloween, I caught this cute photo of Bubbs this morning. He is such a perfect Halloween kitty, isn't he?? :) 

And I'm SO excited to share this gorgeous gift we recently received in time for our 2nd wedding anniversary. My dear friend Alison made this for us. She lives with her sweet family in England. We met through blogging many years ago and started corresponding here. And then we started sharing letters and packages, and also lots of chatting and sharing photos on messenger too. We share a lot in common as she's about my age, has always been active in Mom life, and she also volunteers in hospice. She has a daughter about Annie's age and for several years they were pen pals too! I treasure Alison and her friendship so much. Matt & I were both touched (and I was so moved 😢) by this sweet and very thoughtful gift that must have taken her hours! We plan to hang it in our bedroom. It matches our wall color in there perfectly! And those sunflowers are stunning aren't they? Just like our wedding day. 🌻💛

I just love this blogland space for that very reason. To feel such a friendship with someone I've never even met in person. I just think it's something so special about blogging. 💗

And I think I may have shared a bit about this - it's a little mixed media piece I made and framed (I used the little black frame you see the edge of at the top). I forgot to take a completed pic of it all put together. But I sent this and a card I painted to a special Aunt for her birthday. That was my most recent completed craft. 

And I have another idea for a little decoration with a cute halloween jack-o-lantern pin I recently found at an antique store. So stay tuned and I will share that on another Thursday. 🎃

Ok, on to the cooking portion now which includes the honey garlic chicken I mentioned earlier in the week. This was such an easy recipe and was so tasty! I found it on social media and I included the person's name in the photo of the recipe below. First I put some boneless skinless chicken thighs in the bottom of the greased slow cooker. Then I made the sauce and put it on top and let it cook. Then towards the end of cooking time, I added a cornstarch slurry to thicken it. We had it with jasmine rice and some green beans from the garden and some broccoli. For the veggies - I just blanched them and then sauteed them in a little oil and with some garlic, ginger, soy sauce, and tiny bit of sesame oil. I then topped them with sesame seeds. 

we had a little sprinkle of peanuts on top for crunch too

The next day I thought it would be fun to make some crispy rice cups for our lunch (Matt works from home) and to have some of the leftover chicken on top of them. So I took the leftover rice and packed it in a sprayed muffin tin and baked them at 400* until they were crispy. About 15 minutes but keep an eye on them. I had jasmine rice which doesn't stick as well as regular rice so I actually added some cheese as a binder. But regular leftover white rice should stick just fine. Just push into the bottom and up the sides of the muffin tin wells.

 Then we put the reheated chicken on top along with some sriracha mayo and chili crunch (our favorite toppings!) They were so tasty and Matt said he loved the crispy rice addition to the leftovers.  

As you can see, I like to experiment and try different things. It's really become a hobby for me to have fun in the kitchen. Do you like to play in the kitchen too? And do you have any crafty projects in the works?? Curious minds want to know 😉

Oh, and last night I made a sheet pan chicken fried rice that was a stellar recipe! We have been on an Asian food kick here as you can see. I will share that recipe soon too! 

If you try - enjoy! 

xoxo

Vintage Charm Party: French Inspired Vintage Spring Decoration

Good morning Friends ☀️

I hope you've been having a splendid week so far. I've been treasuring the time with my Annie and we went and spent time with my Mom and step Dad yesterday. It was so nice. 

I thought today I'd pop in (while she's still sleeping) to share a little craft I did recently. I wanted to make a little something for Spring/Summer. I had an old frame sitting empty and that gave me the initial inspiration to create something I could put in there. 

I started rifling through the treasures I have in my craft room. And I found a vintage pin I really liked. When I go to antique stores (a favorite past time) - I often look at the old jewelry, the pottery, the linens/doilies, and the old paper things like cards etc. As a scrapbooking enthusiast I love paper ephemera. 

The old pin is a floral one and even though it was missing a few gems in some of the flowers...I just thought it gave it more charm. I pinned it to the old doily piece I found. So I went through my scrapbooking papers for a backdrop. I glued the doily piece to the paper after I cut and measured it to fit the frame.  I also looked through some vintage French inspired papers & tags. I loved this French lady so I adhered her to the top corner. 

And since I was giving it French flair, I felt like it needed a French quote. So I found this one by Victor Hugo who wrote Les Miserables. 

I put it all together in the frame and took the glass out. 

And it now lives on our front foyer table next to a vintage Hull piece of pottery. 

This is our front foyer, however I recently changed the rug out (this one was really old). And we're going to be changing out the light fixture pretty soon for something a little more updated. So stay tuned for a the full reveal in the future on that. :) 

I love that it only took me minutes to complete this little project and I now have a one of a kind decoration from things I sourced in my own home. 

Do you like to be craftsy sometimes? And do you like vintage things, or more modern? I think I'll forever be a vintage girlie - as my daughter calls my style: Grandmacore. Lol 

I'm sharing this with the blogs Our Hopeful Home and My Thrift Store Addiction for Vintage Charm Party Wednesday. Feel free to join along!

Blessings

xoxo

Five on Friday: Fall

 Hello Friends~ 

I hope you've had a wonderful week and you're gearing up for a fun weekend ahead. I'm still enjoying every last drop of summer. I promise I am.  Although, I'm glad the recent heat wave has stopped and it's cooler today. However, even though I'm still loving many things about summer... August always seems to bring a shift around here. It becomes pre-Fall, as well as summer. Preseason football. Cooler temps. Annie starts school this month. Geese start doing some practice runs over my bay. Autumn begins to spice the air a bit - especially living as far north as I do. So here are 5 ways I know Fall is on my mind...

1. I'm getting all of the Autumn feels and start really anticipating it's return. 

🍂 🧡

2. I have a can a pumpkin and I'm not afraid to use it! Lol I found this in my cabinet and I'm thinking of baking some pumpkin bread or muffins. Just to get a little pre-taste of Autumn. 🎃 

3. I'm learning new vocabulary. 🍁 

4. I'm having fun looking at Fall crafts - especially different ways to decorate pumpkins. And I'm loving all things black cats, that's partly in honor to Bubba who is a part of our family now.  🐱 🖤

5. Photos like these makes my heart go pitter pat 🧡🧡🧡

How's about you? Are you only team summer right now? Or do you let a few thoughts of Autumn anticipation creep in? 

**All photo honors are thanks to pinterest