Winner! Yippee!

Thanks for all of your comments on the

Celebrate! post.

It was fun to hear about your

favorite celebrations.

And....drumroll please.

Congrats to Miranda Ellis!

She won a copy of

Where Women Cook: Celebrate!

Miranda-Please send me your address via my email link

and we'll get that shipped to you right away!

Happy Sunday!

(stay tuned for more recipes and ideas coming up this week)

Christine

HAPPY NATIONAL PIE DAY

That's right pie lovers.

It's National Pie Day.

Bake a pie, eat a pie, dream about pie, share a pie.

Celebrate pie.
(I'll be doing all of the above)

XO Christine

Friday is PIE DAY!

New year, new pies.

I am endlessly jotting down pie recipe ideas-inspired by what I'm eating, a cookbook, a color, a cocktail!
I've had this one on my list for awhile, but was never quite sure what form it would take. The new year seemed like a perfect time to finally try it out because the ingredients all scream "WELLNESS." If that translates the same when they are ensconced in a pie, I don't know......

Honey Ginger Pie with Green Tea Meringue

single 9" pie crust

3/4 cup honey
3 T butter
4 large eggs
2 t crushed crystallized ginger
1 t vanilla
1/4 t salt

3 egg whites
4 T sugar
1 t green tea powder

-in a small saucepan, heat honey over medium low, stirring constantly, for 6-8 minutes
-remove from heat and stir in butter until melted
(it turns a lovely, rich, butterscotch color!)

-in medium bowl, whisk eggs for 2-3 minutes
-slowly whisk in the honey and butter mixture

-add the ginger, vanilla, and salt
-stir until well combined

(the crystallized ginger looks like this-just use the back of a spoon to crush it into powder)

-pour the filling into the prepared pie crust
-bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes, until set and lightly browned on top

For the Meringue

-beat 3 egg whites in large bowl (using a hand or stand mixer)
-as you are beating, slowly add in the sugar and green tea powder,
scraping edges of bowl to make sure all is incorporated
-beat until egg whites form stiff peaks
-spoon meringue on top of cooled pie, sealing to edges of filling and mounding in middle
-bake at 350 degrees on top rack for 10-12 minutes, checking often to prevent burning

If you are a fan of honey, you will love this rich honey custard punctuated by the sharp ginger.

Topped with meringue, this pie is as pretty as it is tasty.

Hey! That's soup-er!

It has been a mild winter here thus far, but the chill is starting to set in,
and that puts me in the mood for big pots of soup bubbling away on the stovetop.
I fondly recall the taste of creamy bean and salty ham in the soup that my dad would cook in big batches. His would always have waaaaaaay more ham than bean, and was so packed with stuff that it was really more of a stew than a soup. We would eat it for days, then freeze the rest for a snowy Sunday night.
For this go 'round, I tweaked my dad's version to include some carrots and celery (a girl has to have her vegetables)  and a little more broth.

Hearty Ham and Bean Soup

2 T olive oil
1 T butter
1 medium onion, peeled and diced
1 cup sliced celery
1 cup cubed carrots (about 2-3 carrots, depending on size)
15oz can of white beans (I use navy beans)
2 cups cooked, cubed ham
32oz. vegetable broth (you could use chicken broth instead)
2 bay leaves
salt and pepper to taste

-in a medium saucepan, heat olive oil over medium low
-add the diced onion and saute for 2 minutes
-add butter and saute for 2 more minutes
-add celery and carrots, and saute additional 5 minutes, stirring often
-transfer veggie mix to a small stockpot
-add vegetable broth, bay leaves, salt and pepper.
-bring to a boil
-reduce heat to simmer for 30 minutes
-add beans and ham
-simmer for an additional 30 minutes, up to 2 hours
-serve with crusty bread and plenty of butter (and maybe a glass of red wine:) (or two)

More celebrating and a giveaway!

Late last fall, I shared my excitement with you over the release of the book Where Women Cook: Celebrate!
I was fortunate enough to have our family's cabin game dinner featured in the book.
Today, I am also lucky enough to have another little shout out on Amuse Bouche, the Where Women Cook blog. All of the women shown celebrating in this lovely book will be featured on Amuse Bouche in the next few weeks, so stop in often to say hello and learn more about them.

You can also get a couple of my bonus recipes on the blog,

Roasted Pheasant and Cranberry Beet Chutney,

plus lots of other inspiring recipes

from many of the other talented ladies in the book.

AND........To keep the celebration going,

 I am giving away a copy of the book today!

Please leave a comment below
with your favorite celebration.

Entries must be received by
Friday, January 20th at midnight,

and a random winner will be chosen
on Saturday the 21st.

Good luck!

Christine

p.s. a post on your blog, Facebook or twitter account gives you another chance to win.
just tell me about it for another entry!

January organizing

As a rather obsessive organizer, I get totally caught up with the idea of fresh starts in the new year and re-jigging everything after the craziness of the holiday season. Amidst my usual overdose of organizing in the past two weeks, I happened upon a REALLY exciting solution-one for an organizing conundrum that has plagued me for years. I strutted triumphantly around the house all day after completing this one.

Yup. I was happy.

 And so proud of my conquest.

Take that clutter!

THE SET UP:

I like to collect jewelry.

"Whoa-wait just a minute", some of you may be saying.

Ok. Fine.

I like to collect LOTS of jewelry.

And most of it is neatly displayed in my jewelry room.

The only exception has been my rings.

I want to be able to select just the perfect one to complement that day's ensemble.

But when they are jumbled willy nilly in a dish,

or stacked 8 high on a holder,

it's just too much work.

And my hands leave the house naked.

It couldn't be that hard to find a functional display, right?

wrong.

I studied every aisle at every craft store, hardware store, garden store, bakery,

(hey-can't leave any stone unturned)

and came up with nada.

I asked my exceptionally handy husband to make something for me.

More than once.

Usually up for a project,

he just gave me a lot of head scratching

and blank looks.

hrrmmmppph.

THE SOLUTION:

Joann Fabrics comes through.

I was combing the aisles last week for a ribbon organizer

(another ongoing conundrum)

and HOIDILY!

I spied a wooden spool rack.

The short tidy rows of tiny wooden dowels

seemed like the perfect perches for my ring collection.

At a price tag of 5.99.

I nearly skipped out of the store.

(okay, maybe I did actually skip a little once I hit the parking lot)

(and did one teeny tiny fist pump)

That's nice, you're all saying.

Just please get to the project already......

 The rack as it looked off the shelf.

 I removed the legs because I want to hang it on the wall,

(just two simple screws to take out)

but you could leave them on and stand it up on your dresser.

Then I gave it a coat of spray paint.

My current faves are hammered metallics from Rustoleum.

 I then looped a ball chain necklace around the tops of the vertical pieces.

Makes a super quick, easy, and stylish hanger for my newly legless rack.

 See now this lets me store just one or two rings on a peg.

Grab and go!

 Oh. I love it. Pitter patter goes my little organizer's heart.

Wall space is a little hard to come by in the jewelry room, so I just looped it over my dress hanger for now.

It may move to that little sliver of wall just to the right of the silver framed mirror in this photo.

I can't commit to a nail yet. For now, I may move it to a new spot in the house every day.

Just to bask in the glory.



Pattern Play

Around our house this weekend.

Patterns and prints.

 My new favorite quilt perched on the end of our bed and making me smile.

 Working on various inpiration boards by clipping and dreaming.

Peeking out is the oh so happy tablecloth on my dining room table.

 Found a sweet shop full of dreamy clothes and colorful clogs, and came home with this beauty.

Bound to be a regular shopping stop for me in 2012.

http://poppytogsandclogs.com/

 In my new year organizing spree, I hauled these vintage ties out of the closet

and hung them on a door so we can enjoy them every day.

 The guest room got a little sprucing up too, including this stack of colorful tins.

What is happening in your home this weekend?