It's Bawlmore, Hon

Baltimore is a very confused city, it’s not quite southern and not quite Yankee.  A few things are very certain though: we love our Maryland blue crabs steamed with Old Bay, we love our Orioles and our Ravens and certainly don’t forget the Natty Boh, Utz and Berger Cookies!  Most Baltimoreans seem to have a love-hate relationship with our city, proud to be from Baltimore but most want to live somewhere else :).  However, we will speak of our hometown with a passion and if you mess with us, you will be sure to see our Bawlmore side come out!

My sister in law gave me these cute Kate Spade "Shore Thing" earrings for my birthday and I have been obsessed with them ever since!  They are the perfect summer earrings and this would be the perfect crab picking outfit! Comfortable (no white!) and influenced by some of the things Baltimoreans love: Crabs & Flamingoes!

In Maryland, particularly the Baltimore area, crabs come in and on everything.  There is Maryland Crab Soup, Maryland Crab Cakes, Crab Imperial, Crab Dip, Chesapeake Burgers and Chicken (Crab Imperial on a burger/chicken), Shrimp Stuffed with Crab and just plain Steamed Crabs.  My absolute favorite way to use crab is in Cream of Crab Soup, there is nothing more decadent than Crab, Cream and Old Bay. This is hands down the BEST cream of crab soup recipe I have ever had.  Every time I order Cream of Crab in a restaurant it is compared to this and every time it falls short (except for maybe G&Ms).

The Most Perfect Cream of Crab Soup

1 Quart + 1 Pint Heavy Whipping Cream

1 Quart + 1 Pint Half & Half

1 Cup White Wine

2 Pounds Crab Meat (Jumbo lump is best)

2 Tablespoons Old Bay (Add more or less to your taste)

Combine all of the above ingredients in a large pot and bring to a simmer.

1 Cup Melted Butter

1 Cup Flour

Combine butter and flour in a separate bowl until smooth.  Pour into soup and stir.  Bring back to a simmer and cook for 30 minutes stirring often.

Recycle/Repurpose

Unfortunately, my Great Aunt passed away early last year.  I was really hoping she'd get to meet Katherine, but their paths were not destined to cross.  In Auntie's honor,  Katherine does share the same middle name, Victoria.

Auntie taught our family a lot of things; how to make Polish kielbasa, our love of a bargain, and our compulsive saving (of everything, money, sheets, toilet rolls, newspaper bags).  In her mind, everything could be reused, repurposed or recycled.  We played 'the game' on birthdays and most of the prizes would be wrapped and disguised in empty toilet paper rolls, newspaper bags, christmas wrapping paper and brown paper bags.  She was 92 when she passed and over those 92 years she collected a lot of stuff.  When we were going through her house to get it ready to sell, we found some pretty cool (and funny and really awkward) things. One of which was this cool wooden box.

I have transformed this wooden box, which our best guess was a old tool box, into a flower vase.  With some sand paper and wide mouth mason jars, it took no time to spruce it up.  It looks great behind my kitchen sink, filled with flowers or fresh herbs!  I may spray it with a coat of waterproofing spray paint, since it's sitting behind my sink.

I am looking forward to repurposing some other things I found and having small reminders of Auntie spread throughout my house. 

UPDATE: I repurposed the box again but this time I am in love with it! I painted it blue and glued a silver painted "Dream" wooden sign (from Michael's) on it.  Added some Green and White Hydrangeas (one of my favs) and moved it to my foyer! I love seeing it when I walk down the stairs now.  While I was painting it outside, the sun was heating up the wood and I could smell Auntie's house again and I knew she'd be proud that I repurposed this into something beautiful.

Crafting Projects: Picture Collage

I've been looking for a nice collage frame for our family room for awhile, but I am so picky! Then one day I came up with this cute idea instead (partially inspired by a similar photo grouping I have in our living room)!  Simple to make, just a few wooden letters from Michaels/AC Moore, paint and assorted frames.  I hung the letters with double sided command tape.

The great thing is it can expand with your family!  I look forward to adding pictures to it!

Nesting? Nursery Door Decor

With Baby Katherine due any day now, my mother-in-law thinks this is a sign that I am starting to nest.  In reality, I annoyed my husband so much in the last week (being off work) that he told me I needed to find a hobby.  So, I decided to try my hand at crafting a project I've had a vision of in my head for awhile: A hanging 'K' for the door of the nursery.  Our nursery theme is Jungle with a gender neutral green and yellow color scheme, you can customize this project to your theme and colors!

Items You Need (Purchased Mine at Michaels):
- Wooden Letter (in the style of your choice, Michaels had a variety of styles to choose from)
- Rhinestones (in coordinating color, mine are a light green)
- Ribbon (Mine is a yellow/green jungle themed ribbon)
- Paint (I used a leftover yellow paint sample we got when trying to decide on what color to paint the nursery)
- Paint Brush
- Hot Glue/Hot Glue Gun

First, I painted the wooden 'K'.  I took me three coats of paint to cover.  No need to paint the back, but make sure to paint the sides. 

Once dried, I played around with the placement of the rhinestones, finally deciding on accenting the swirl and the middle of the K.  Once I decided where I liked the rhinestones, I hot glued them on.  TIP: I like hot glue, because it is easy to remove after applying if you don't get the placement just right.

Lastly, I cut two lengths of ribbon about 15 inches long.  Because of the style of my K, I had to attach the ribbon at an inward angle.  Again, I used hot glue for this because I could easily remove it and try again until I got the angle perfect.  Once I attached the two lengths of ribbon (one to each top part of the K), I tied them together in a simple bow.  Then I cut the ends so that they didn't hang down over the K.  TIP: Once I was happy with the bow, I used a lighter to lightly melt the edges of the ribbon to stop it from fraying (a trick a learned as a ballerina).

And Done!  The whole thing took me maybe 2 hours (with most of it waiting for the paint to dry!).

Stuffed Acorn Squash

I found this awesome recipe for Roasted Acorn Squash Stuffed with Fennel Sausage, Farro, Goat Cheese & Spinach on Pinterest and adapted it to what I could find/already had in my pantry.  When I put it in front of my husband asked if he was suppose to eat the 'food bowl'.  I told him yes, even though it was a vegetable, he was suppose to eat it.  It was really good, my husband particularly liked the stuffing bit :) of course!

Ingredients

1 Acorn Squash
1 Tbsp Butter

1/2 Cup Basmati Rice

Extra Virgin Olive Oil

2 Cloves Garlic, Minced
1 Shallot, Diced

Salt & Pepper To Taste

1 Tsp Dill

1 Package Ground Italian Sausage

2 Cups Spinach, Uncooked

4 Oz. Crumbled Feta Cheese

Instructions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Cut the Acorn Squash in half and scoop out all of the seeds (and discard).  Rub the Acorn Squash all over with the Extra Virgin Olive Oil (inside and out).  Put half the Butter in the bottom of each Acorn Squash.  Season with Salt and Pepper.  Put the Acorn Squash in the oven and roast for about 30 minutes or until tender and easily pierced with a fork.

While the Acorn Squash is roasting, make your filling.  Cook Basmati Rice according to package.  While Basmati Rice is cooking, brown the Ground Italian Sausage in a pan.  When nearly browned, add Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Minced Garlic and Diced Shallot to the pan.  Cook for a few more minutes, until Shallot is soft and sausage is done browning.  Add Basmati Rice, Feta Cheese (reserve 1/4 of crumbles to sprinkle on top) and Spinach to pan and mix until Spinach is wilted and Feta Cheese is melted.  Season with Salt, Pepper and Dill.

Let the Acorn Squash rest for a few minutes after taking out of the oven.  Fill each half with a good helping of the filling. Top with the rest of the Feta Cheese.

Enjoy!

Leave It To The French

Leave it to the French to create a grilled cheese sandwich that takes 45 minutes to make, but it's worth it!  I paired mine with Campbell's Thai Tomato Coconut Bisque.

Croque Monsieur

I used this recipe from Simply Recipes.

Ingredients

2 Tbsp Butter
2 Tbsp Flour

1 1/2 Cups Milk

A Pinch Each of Salt, Freshly Ground Pepper, Nutmeg, or More to Taste

6 Ounces Gruyère Cheese, Grated (about 1 1/2 cups grated)

1/4 Cup Grated Parmesan Cheese (packed)

8 Slices of French or Italian Loaf Bread

12 Ounces Sliced Ham

Dijon Mustard

Instructions

Preheat oven to 400°F.

Make your béchamel sauce. Melt the butter in a small saucepan on medium/low heat until it just starts to bubble. Add the flour and cook, stirring until smooth, about 2 minutes. Slowly add the milk, whisking continuously, cooking until thick. Remove from heat. Add the salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Stir in the Parmesan and 1/4 cup of the grated Gruyère. Set aside.

Lay out the bread slices on a baking sheet and toast them in the oven, a few minutes each side, until lightly toasted. For extra flavor, spread some butter on the bread slices before you toast them if you want.

Lightly brush half of the toasted slices with mustard. Add the ham slices and about 1 cup of the remaining Gruyère cheese. Top with the other toasted bread slices.

Spoon on the béchamel sauce to the tops of the sandwiches. Sprinkle with the remaining Gruyère cheese. Place on a broiling pan. Bake in the oven for 5 minutes, then turn on the broiler and broil for an additional 3 to 5 minutes, until the cheese topping is bubbly and lightly browned.

Baked Garlic & Rosemary Fontina

This could possibly be the simplest recipe ever!  And it was so yummy, I can see this appetizer becoming a regular!  Recipe adapted from Smells Like Home. 

Ingredients

    1/2 lb italian fontina, cubed into 1-inch pieces
    3 cloves garlic, minced
    2 tsp fresh rosemary, chopped
    3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
    1/2 tsp salt
    1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
    1/2 a french bread baguette
    olive oil to drizzle

Instructions
First I made the homemade crostini.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Slice a half of a french bread baguette, spread out evenly on a baking sheet and drizzle both sides of each slice with olive oil.  Bake for 5 minutes on each side.

Adjust top rack of the oven so that it sits about 5 inches under the broiler unit. Preheat broiler on low setting.  Spread cheese out in the bottom of a baking dish. Drizzle olive oil over the cheese. Sprinkle the garlic, rosemary, salt and pepper evenly over the cheese. Broil for 6 minutes or until the cheese is bubbly and melted through. Carefully remove the pan from the oven and set it on a heatproof surface - the pan will be hot! Serve immediately. Enjoy!