Honey Lime Shrimp

Another winning recipe found on Pinterest- Honey Lime Shrimp! 

 I always like to have a bag of Costco's frozen peeled

 and deveined raw shrimp in the freezer

 and it is perfect for this recipe.

 I grilled them indoors on a cast iron grill pan.

 

I served it  over brown rice with roasted asparagus on top! 

Pretty and Healthy

 

This is an easy recipe for a weekday dinner, but tasty and pretty enough to serve company.

 

Find the original recipe here

 

 

 http://thedoughwillriseagain.wordpress.com/2012/07/31/honey-lime-shrimp/

 It was deelish!!!!!!

Honey Lime Shrimp

 serves 2

 

1/2 pound large shrimp, peeled and deveined

 1/4 cup olive oil

2 T honey

 juice of one small lime, or half a large lime (2-3 T)

 zest of one small lime, or half a large lime

 2 cloves garlic, smashed

 1/2 tsp kosher salt

 1/4 tsp black pepper

 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes

 

1.) In a large ziploc bag, combine all the marinade ingredients. When everything is well-combined, add the shrimp, squeeze as much air as possible out of the bag, and close it up. Place it in the fridge.

 2.) Let the shrimp marinate for 30-60 minutes, flipping the bag around once or twice during that time, so that all the shrimp stay evenly covered in the marinade.

 3.) When you’re ready to cook, take the shrimp out of the fridge and let them sit at room temperature for about 10 minutes. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat; there is no need to add any oil or butter to the pan, as the marinade has enough oil in it to keep the shrimp from sticking to the pan. (If you would prefer to use the grill for these, you can thread them onto skewers and toss them on the grill at this point.)

 4.) Add your shrimp to the pan in a single layer, making sure they are not too crowded; you can always cook them in more than one batch. Let them cook on one side for about a minute, until they curl up and start to turn pink. Flip them over, and cook for another 30 seconds or so, until the shrimp are opaque. Remove from the pan, and serve immediately!

 



Snow Dusted Cake Using Granny's Lace

I found this idea on pinterest and could not wait to try it. 

 

Inspirational image from pinterest

 http://www.paintedbycakes.com/2012/06/mutakakku.html

 

 On a cooled sheet of baked brownies, I placed a piece of lace and sprinkled powdered sugar over it.

Section of vintage lace that was used

 

Carefully remove the lace once you have sprinkled the sugar on top.

 

Garnished with rose petals and strawberries, it makes a pretty dessert.

This gives me thoughts about a use for all those old doilies that my grandmother made! I have tried this technique using plastic stencils, but the lace worked better. 

I can see using smaller pieces of lace on individual brownies- kind of jazzes them up a bit.

 

 



Tassels- The Perfect Embellishment

Yesterday during the largest snow fall of the year, I spent the day "crafting"- something that I love to do, but rarely had time to do while running a store.  So I turned on the music, got out my trusty glue gun and went to work!  I made embellished tassels to sell in our first sale - Parisian Hideaways- to be held May 10th and 11th.  Embellished tassels are an easy way to jazz up your home.  They can turn a simple sconce into a thing of beauty and make a plain pillow gorgeous! 

 

Old Christmas ornaments, stretchy cocktail rings, simple tassels and trims

are combined together!

 

 

 

Traditionally tassels are used singularly  for window treatments- but I like using several at a time.

 

Layering tassels of different sizes is very pretty together and makes a bigger splash!

 

Tassels on decanters- love it!

 

A pretty tassel on a special bottle of Champagne as a gift.

 

 

 

For this one, I strung beads and used old buttons.

 

Embellishing a sconce- yes this one is fancy, but imagine it on a simple one!

Really makes a statement.

Just hanging out with the guys!

 

On the side of a three tier tea stand

 

I made this one for a shabby pink nightstand that's going to be in the sale.

 

So sweet for a little girls room! 

It's made of ribbon roses, antique trims, old buttons and rhinestones.

This turquoise tassel is so pretty used as a tieback for this Bella Notte muslin tea towel.

 



 

On the door of a butler's pantry

Vintage marcasite beaded fringes and old buttons

On the grill work of a china cabinet

 



 

 

Embellishing furniture handles

 

 

on chair backs and pillows

 

off statues and lamps

Actually, just about anywhere!

 

 

I can't wait for our first sale!  Our plan is to have many embellished treats for our customer's homes.

 

Save the Dates- May 10th and 11th.

March- Spring Fever Arrives

March is the  time in Chicago where many of us start wishing, hoping, planning, thinking, and dreaming of warmer weather.  Mother Nature teases us with a few warm days and then suddenly snow blankets our homes. But we still find a need and an urge to bring Spring into our homes.  So out come the nests, the moss, the rabbits, and the Costco planters of tulips and hyacinths this time of year.  We eagerly scour the grocery store section of flowers for pots of spring bulbs, a bunch of tulips- anything to make us feel like Spring!    But as I said earlier- it is still winter in Chicago. A couple of days ago this is what my front porch looked like.............

 

A wintery storm blew snow into every crevice on the porch.

 

It looked like Mother Nature created lace made of snow on the wicker.

 

The wind pushed the snow through the wicker in these amazing patterns.

The iron gates were perfectly coated with fluffy snow.

Every branch was painted with white shimmery snow.

 

No swinging on the porch this time of year.

 

But of course- this only drove me crazy.  I really want my gardens back!

So I decided to take the winter arrangement of icy branches and frosted cabbages  out of the urns in the dining room and create some large springy arrangements..........add a little color to the gray March days.  I had some large lilac branches but I wanted to add something else.  So I googled silk kale and found these amazing silk kale plants from www.qualitysilks.com . They arrived 2 days ago and I am so impressed with the quality. Large- 14 inches wide, they really look like the real deal.  There are so many possibilities  for these silk beauties, but for now they are the base of my dining room urns. 

 

 They are available in white and purple, so I mixed the two together.

 

The leaves are very realistic and have a leathery texture to them. I can visualize a basket of these  with blue eggs and violets on a tablescape. 

 

While the snow is still on the ground outside, I can only create touches of spring inside.  So now- where did I store those nests and eggs last year?????? I really do have Spring Fever.