Monday, January 31, 2011

Monday Musings: Industrial Chic Tables...and the new addition to the S+S family

Good morning S+S readers! We hope that you had an amazing weekend! We sure did. This weekend was Sadie's Mom's 25th Birthday! The big 2-5. We also have a new addition to the S+S family. Meet Billie!

Billie is Stella's little sister. She has already shown signs of being a natural for interior design. Her favorite room is Mama's craft room!

We are thinking about industrial tables today. It seems lately, they have been everywhere! Whether it function as a kitchen table, a craft table, side tables or an entryway table...we think the look is fantastic! Add some traditional accessories such as fluffy peonies in a vase or something girlie and the look is complete.





Get the look...at Ikea for a fraction of the cost!



Get the funky accent table look


Nobody does industrial chic like Restoration Hardware...

Get the look for less


Party pictures to come this week. Have a great Monday!

Thursday, January 27, 2011

S+S chow: french toast

{image via martha}

In this house we are BIG fans of breakfast. On a lazy Saturday morning one of our favorite things to do is make a yummy meal together. My mom's delicious french toast recipe is a go-to, served with maple syrup, bacon and a fresh fruit salad. perfection.

Ingredients:
Thick slices of sourdough, challah or crusty french bread
3 eggs
3/4 cup milk or cream
1/4 cup orange juice
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 tablespoon vanilla

Mix eggs, milk, orange juice, vanilla and cinnamon together. Set aside.
Over medium-low heat, melt 1 tablespoon butter. 
Dip both sides of bread slices into egg mixture and place in skillet. Cook, until golden brown on each side. Transfer to cookie sheet and bake in a 375F oven for 5 minutes. serve warm and enjoy!


Monday, January 24, 2011

Monday Musings: Pops of Blue

Happy Monday! We hope you all had an amazingly restful and exciting weekend. We are feeling blue today...and it isn't a bad thing. We love the eccentricity of shades of blue and the impact they have on a room. Whether the entire room is done in the blue hues or the room has just one dramatic element of blue, we are loving it.
These couches = insane

Lacquer walls...wow! Also, we need this chair.

Love the matching of the bedside lamps and the adorable stools at the foot of the bed.





Unique Chandelier.



Gotta love an Ikat

We hope you all have a great start to the week. Lots on the horizon for us! 

Friday, January 21, 2011

S+S chow: pumpkin-chocolate tiramisu

For those of you who may be entertaining over the weekend, here is an ah-mazing dessert recipe that will have everyone asking for seconds! For a different spin, omit the pumpkin puree. This would be lovely served in martini glasses, for a chic presentation. Enjoy!






Ingredients:
1 cup marscarpone cheese
1 1/4 cups cold heavy cream
3/4 cup confectioners' sugar
5 tablespoons almond-flavored liqueur
1 can pure pumpkin puree
2 ounces semisweet chocolate, roughly chopped, or chips
1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder, plus 1 1/2 teaspoons for dusting
27 to 30 ladyfingers (from a 14.2-ounce package)
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon, for dusting 



Directions:



  • In a large bowl, whisk mascarpone until smooth. Add 1 cup cream, confectioners' sugar, and 2 tablespoons liqueur; whisk until soft peaks form, 5 minutes. With a rubber spatula, fold in pumpkin puree until completely incorporated.



  • In a small microwave-safe bowl, combine chocolate and 1/4 cup cream. Microwave in 10-second increments, stirring each time, until chocolate is just melted. Stir until mixture is smooth. Transfer one third of the pumpkin mixture to a medium bowl and fold in chocolate mixture until combined. In a small bowl, whisk 1 tablespoon cocoa into 1/3 cup hot water; add 3 tablespoons liqueur.



  • Cover bottom of an 8-inch square baking dish with ladyfingers (about 9). Liberally brush with cocoa mixture and top with half the pumpkin mixture. Add another layer of ladyfingers, brush with cocoa mixture, and top with all the pumpkin-chocolate mixture. Add a third layer of ladyfingers, brush with cocoa mixture, and top with remaining pumpkin mixture. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate 4 hours (or up to 3 days). To serve, combine 1 1/2 teaspoons cocoa powder and cinnamon in a small fine-mesh sieve and dust tiramisu.




  • Wednesday, January 19, 2011

    Wattage Wednesday and an amazing DIY

    I love alliteration. I cannot seem to stray from it. Kind of a spaghetti and meatball kind of thing. Anyhow, we are thinking about lighting today, my friends. Lighting can change the ambiance of a room rather quickly. Whether it be a chandelier or even a decorative table lamp, it can attract attention and also brighten up the space. Frankly, I have considered changing out all of my lightbulbs and replacing them with UV tanning bulbs. Extreme? Maybe. But I am a little pale and craving Spring/Summer.

    I have been toying with the idea for some time now of hanging a chandelier over my bed. I think it adds a certain drama and elegance to the bedroom. I am still on the hunt for something refined and monochromatic. Until then, here are some AH-mazing fixtures that we have found.



    Get the look...

     
    So lovely





    A Candice Olson design. Is anyone as obsessed with her as we are? We pretty much love everything that she does. If loving her is wrong, we do not want to be right.



    So if you are absolutely dying over this fixture, I have a way that you can have it...

    Introducing, an amazing DIY that I have been dying to try myself. This might be a little too electrical for me, if you will. But hey, I am open to it. It is pretty much amazing and an exact replica of the above.

    And if you are not feeling so crafty, but want the same look. Here we are.


    Have a fab day readers! More to come this week...s+s chow and highlights from a local Flea Market.

    Monday, January 17, 2011

    Monday Musings: Gallery Wall

    Happy Monday and MLK Day readers! Today I wish I were a teacher so I could be at home kickin' it like my counterpart. 

    I don't know about you, but there are a few empty spaces on our walls where we have been tirelessly pondering the possibilities of art. Art can absolutely transform a room, but I know sometimes it can be an uneasy thing for people to arrive on. Gallery walls are a great way to showcase a vast array of art and memories of all sizes. You can mix and match colors of frames and also sizes and shapes. It is basically limited to where your creativity can take you. The possibilities are endless! Frankly, I love the funky and eclectic feel it has and its imperfections make it perfection.


    Holy Statement...

    A hodge podge yet elegant gallery

    A refined and tailored gallery wall

    A sophisticated and lovely striped gallery wall over at Abode Love
    
    Another lovely stripey

    Need this ampersand!



    Love the monochromatic detail

    Have you all utilized the dramatic effects of the gallery wall? If so, we would love to see it in action!

    Friday, January 14, 2011

    S+S chow: some like it hot (Chorizo Stuffed Bell Peppers + Sausage Stuffed Jalapenos)

    With all the cold weather we like to heat it up in the kitchen. Here are a few of our favorite stuffed pepper recipes. enjoy!


    Chorizo Stuffed Bell Peppers
    Ingredients:
    2 chorizo sausages
    3 red bell peppers
    1 small onion, diced
    2 cloves garlic
    cumin
    chili powder
    ½ cup bread crumbs
    ½ cup asiago cheese, grated
    1 egg, beaten
    Directions:
    1.    Preheat oven to 400°F.
    2.    Cut the tops off of the peppers.  Remove seeds and ribs from peppers.  Dice the tops.
    3.    Remove the sausage from the casings and break up into small pieces.
    4.    Saute the onion and pepper until soft.
    5.   Add the sausage, garlic, cumin, and chili powder and sauté until the sausage is cooked.  Remove from heat.
    6.    Add the egg and the bread crumbs to the sausage mixture.
    7.    Mix in the asiago cheese
    8.   Stuff the peppers with the sausage mixture.
    9.   Brush the outside of the peppers with olive oil.
    10  Bake the peppers for 15-20 minutes, or until the top is slightly crunchy.

          Sausage Stuffed Jalapenos
          Ingredients:
          1 lb bulk pork sausage (for more of a kick, use spicy)
    1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened
          1 cup (4 ounces) shredded Parmesan cheese
          22 large jalapeno pepper, halved lengthwise and seeded

          Directions:
    In a large skillet, cook the sausage over medium heat until no longer pink; drain.
    In a small bowl, combine the cream cheese and Parmesan cheese; fold in sausage.
    Spoon about 1 tablespoonful into each jalapeno half.
    Place in two ungreased 13-in x 9-in baking dishes. Bake at 425° for 15-20 minutes or until filling is lightly browned and bubbly.
        

    Wednesday, January 12, 2011

    Magic Carpet Ride

    I'm not sure about you, but I find searching for a rug to be a challenging task! With nothing but hardwoods, I'm in serious need of the perfect rugs. Every time I begin to look I am overwhelmed with choices; bold print or traditional, color or neutral, what size do I need... and the list goes on. I am determined to start covering these floors and I decided to take you along on my magic carpet ride. Here are some helpful tidbits I've found to begin the hunt:
    * In a dining room: leave enough space so that the rug extends beyond the back legs of a chair when someone is seated. 8x10 is the most common size for a dining room but measure your space to make sure that's what you need! 
    * For a living room it seems that there is no standard size or 'rule' for choosing a size. However, the larger the rug, the more it will pull all of the elements of the room together.
    * In a bedroom the 'experts' say to allow for a few feet on either side if the rug is placed under the bed. 
    *Don't be afraid to play with colors and designs! Rugs are a great way to bring some spice to your room and can tie everything together. They do not need to be matchy matchy- have fun with your choices! 
    I know, I know, obvious suggestions. But sometimes you have to be reminded of things like this before getting started. 


    Ok onto my search! I am looking for rugs to put in the living and dining room. They flow together so I want two rugs that will compliment each other nicely. After measuring the spaces I know I need approximately a 8'x10' in the living and 5'x7' in the dining. The dining room walls are wood panel and pretty dark {something I'd love to change but we're in a rental}. Because the space is dark I'm looking for a rug that will lighten the area up a bit, a bold color perhaps or a fun, bright pattern. The living room is much brighter and bigger, I think I can go a more neutral route for this room, something with a subtle pattern that will blend well with something bolder in the dining. Gentlemen, start your engines, it's time to start looking.  


    I typically start at places like world market, pier 1 and overstock.com. As a girl who likes to find a good deal, these offer fabulous choices. Let's look at options for the dining room first...


    As I began sorting through options I was drawn to the lattice patterns. I decided yellow would be the perfect color for the room. 



    love. love. love. this might be at the top of my list.


    The grey is lovely but it might be a little to dark for the space.

    For a completely different option I adore this cowhide rug and I know the hubs would love it too. With quite a few color/pattern choices this could be a possibility. 

    Now for the living room, there is something about the look of a natural sisal or seagrass rug that I adore and it would work well with almost anything you put with it. Natural fiber rugs are also very durable and  usually a budget friendly option. 

     seagrass
    I think I prefer the richness of color in this jute rug.
    jute/sisal
    {overstock}


    A pattern might work too..





    Decisions, decisions. What's your vote? 

    Here are few gorgeous rugs that I just might have to find a place for! 
    divine.


    yum.

    If you aren't an online shopper and want to find a rug in person we always recommend Home Goods, great selection and again, great deals!