Thank you Santa (Mister)!!
I must have been a pretty good girl this year!
Did you get what you asked Santa for?
Have a wonderful weekend friends....see you next week! xo
Saturday, December 28, 2013
Happy Girl
Thank you Santa (Mister)!!
I must have been a pretty good girl this year!
Did you get what you asked Santa for?
Have a wonderful weekend friends....see you next week! xo
Wednesday, December 25, 2013
Monday, December 16, 2013
The Misters French Bark Tutorial
Hello friends. Happy Monday to you all on this last full week before Christmas.
Most of my shopping has been completed and only those few last bits need to be done. Have I wrapped yet? Well, let us not discuss that, I have a big helper that does most of it when he arrives at City House...my sweet Mister.
Speaking of my sweet Mister, he has some sweet things he wanted to pass on to you. He had intended to do a tutorial on peppermint bark for you all but saw the Barefoot Contessa on Saturday do a nice French Chocolate Bark...so he decided to do his own adaptation of it. So, yesterday afternoon, he tied on his apron and set to it as I followed him around with my camera.
Let us start with the ingredients and move on to the process. Here is the link to Barefoot Contessa's recipe that he started with if you care to use this.
The Misters French Chocolate Bark
8 ounces semisweet chocolate chips
8 ounces very good bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
1 cup whole roasted, salted cashews
1 cup chopped dried apricots
1/4 cup chopped dried cherries
1/4 cup dried blueberries
The first thing that the Mister did was to draw a rectangle 9" x 10" on a piece of parchment paper as a guide to spread the melted chocolate on, making sure to turn the paper over after, to not get pencil lead on the goodies.
He gathered all of the ingredients and set to work.
Here is the method he used to melt the chocolate. A medium sized saucepan with a few inches of simmering water in it and a medium sized bowl on top. Make sure to not have a hard boil and the bottom of the bowl should not touch the water.
He finely chopped the Bittersweet chocolate.....
adding it to the chocolate chips in the pan. He then checked to make sure the water was at a very low simmer.
He went about chopping his dried apricots in between stirring the melting chocolate.
Finding that he didn't need to chop the blueberries, he decided to take a sampling to make sure they were good.
When the chocolate was almost all melted he took it off of the stove and stirred a bit more until it was smooth and then poured it on to the sheet and smoothed it out to the 9 x 10 markings.
Next he evenly distributed the mixture over the chocolate and gently pressed to make sure all was in tact.
After letting it set for at least 2 hrs. he took to cutting it in to pieces.
Finally he put them in their little papers and into a festive tin....he will be sharing it at work on Thursday.
Thank you honey for sharing with all of us today.
*
Well friends, I hope you enjoyed the tutorial and perhaps may even be able to put it to use someday. I must say it was very easy to make and I will be doing some batches also to add to my Christmas goodie tins.
Have you been making any candy?
xo
Most of my shopping has been completed and only those few last bits need to be done. Have I wrapped yet? Well, let us not discuss that, I have a big helper that does most of it when he arrives at City House...my sweet Mister.
Speaking of my sweet Mister, he has some sweet things he wanted to pass on to you. He had intended to do a tutorial on peppermint bark for you all but saw the Barefoot Contessa on Saturday do a nice French Chocolate Bark...so he decided to do his own adaptation of it. So, yesterday afternoon, he tied on his apron and set to it as I followed him around with my camera.
Let us start with the ingredients and move on to the process. Here is the link to Barefoot Contessa's recipe that he started with if you care to use this.
The Misters French Chocolate Bark
8 ounces semisweet chocolate chips
8 ounces very good bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
1 cup whole roasted, salted cashews
1 cup chopped dried apricots
1/4 cup chopped dried cherries
1/4 cup dried blueberries
The first thing that the Mister did was to draw a rectangle 9" x 10" on a piece of parchment paper as a guide to spread the melted chocolate on, making sure to turn the paper over after, to not get pencil lead on the goodies.
He gathered all of the ingredients and set to work.
Here is the method he used to melt the chocolate. A medium sized saucepan with a few inches of simmering water in it and a medium sized bowl on top. Make sure to not have a hard boil and the bottom of the bowl should not touch the water.
He finely chopped the Bittersweet chocolate.....
adding it to the chocolate chips in the pan. He then checked to make sure the water was at a very low simmer.
Finding that he didn't need to chop the blueberries, he decided to take a sampling to make sure they were good.
When the chocolate was almost all melted he took it off of the stove and stirred a bit more until it was smooth and then poured it on to the sheet and smoothed it out to the 9 x 10 markings.
Next he evenly distributed the mixture over the chocolate and gently pressed to make sure all was in tact.
After letting it set for at least 2 hrs. he took to cutting it in to pieces.
Finally he put them in their little papers and into a festive tin....he will be sharing it at work on Thursday.
Thank you honey for sharing with all of us today.
*
Well friends, I hope you enjoyed the tutorial and perhaps may even be able to put it to use someday. I must say it was very easy to make and I will be doing some batches also to add to my Christmas goodie tins.
Have you been making any candy?
xo
Wednesday, December 11, 2013
Happy Thrift Find
Hello friends, I hope all is well with you and your Christmas preparations are running smoothly.
I am plugging along having fun finishing up my decorating here at Little House and will begin the baking process, in full, tomorrow. The Mister promises to help with a simple tutorial of Peppermint Bark this weekend...stay tuned.
Yesterday, while on a quick trip to the thrift shops, I saw this treasure hanging in the window of the Red Door (one of my very favorite shops). It is about 6 feet tall and I could just see it, with all of it's retro beauty, hanging on a wall at City House!
I have never seen anything like it. The tag says, Made in Columbia, so I am wondering if it is truly a vintage piece or just something that is common in that part of the world. Either way, it is a treasure to me.
As you can see, it is made entirely of notions...thread, pompoms and trim...very interesting. I am smitten indeed.
Frederick the cat wanted to give you a ' Feeder Unpdate'.
Here is his new window friend, a baby squirrel. Frederick tries to touch it through the glass but has been unsuccessful in that endeavour.
Must be off now to get the rest of the Christmas cards addressed....Do you have all of yours done yet?
Much love to you all. xo
I am plugging along having fun finishing up my decorating here at Little House and will begin the baking process, in full, tomorrow. The Mister promises to help with a simple tutorial of Peppermint Bark this weekend...stay tuned.
Yesterday, while on a quick trip to the thrift shops, I saw this treasure hanging in the window of the Red Door (one of my very favorite shops). It is about 6 feet tall and I could just see it, with all of it's retro beauty, hanging on a wall at City House!
I have never seen anything like it. The tag says, Made in Columbia, so I am wondering if it is truly a vintage piece or just something that is common in that part of the world. Either way, it is a treasure to me.
As you can see, it is made entirely of notions...thread, pompoms and trim...very interesting. I am smitten indeed.
Frederick the cat wanted to give you a ' Feeder Unpdate'.
Here is his new window friend, a baby squirrel. Frederick tries to touch it through the glass but has been unsuccessful in that endeavour.
Must be off now to get the rest of the Christmas cards addressed....Do you have all of yours done yet?
Much love to you all. xo
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