BUILT IN LIBRARY WALL

This has been one of the most involved projects we've worked on. Over 5 years in the concept, 1 year in the design and sourcing for 1 day install…Totally worth it! The built in library wall of my dreams!

The library consists or 2 large cabinet bases, two 3 tier bookshelf tops, and a bench nook overtop storage drawers to bring it together. The room originally had the Home Depot track shelving. Six of them. After dreaming of a built in and several trips to Ikea later, we sketched up the design. Then life happened.

A year went by and no time was found between 2 full time jobs + podcast + toddler + life ?!? Okay lets be smart about opportunity costs. Using our amazing podcast guest referrals of someone who knew someone who knew someone, Debbie, from Closets by Design was at our house.

Although the install was to be 4 months in the future, it too passed quickly. After a quick couple hours and an amazing team of installers, we have the bookshelves of our dreams. Lets just say organizing it was enough work. Over 400 books with a toddler was an activity in itself.

It is my new favorite space, I am sure you can see why. Come on over and enjoy it with us!

XoXo
Britt

QUARANTINE COOK BOOK CLUB: HALF BAKED HARVEST

It wasn’t supposed to be like this; we aren’t supposed to still be locked up; but here we are. I remember our first cook book club where we got together IRL over an Aperol Spritz and carbs, but now our second book turned into our third. BUT, at least it is a fantastic one at that! Half Baked Harvest Cookbook by Tieghan Gerard has your new favorite recipe; I guarantee it. I’ll share a few we’ve been working on bellow.

Spinach & Artichoke Mac & Cheese Bake

Difficulty: Easy

Taste: Delicious

We made this for a family night (before the quarantine) and the in-laws. I loved that it was essentially one pot and we had all the ingredients. Sneaking in veggies maybe tricky for your picky eaters out there, but this was fool proof! I would also recommending adding chicken and or broccoli.

Chewy Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

Difficulty: Medium

Taste: Game Changer

I am always testing out chocolate chip cookie recipes. It is not like there are bad ones, I am just in search for the best. Although this isn’t HOLY enough, its pretty darn close to heaven. Two words: Brown Butter. I just discovered it, but it is a simple act of almost heating your butter tp brown perfect before you use it in a recipe. This simple change amplifies the taste of the creamy sugar and egg combo that is not too sweet. Plus add a little fresh sea seal on top, yum! Mine didn’t look the same, but sure did taste good.

Broccoli Cheddar Soup & Seasoned Pretzels

Difficulty: Hard

Taste: Okay

I am a soup fanatic. I make my own copy cat Panera Bread Broccoli Cheddar soup. But after seeing Ms. Gerard has one in the book, I had to try. I prefer my soup a little more chunky vs pureed. Also it was missing that extra something. Even with the pretzels, which were delicious, just a lot of work for little flavor. I want to play around with the seasoned pretzel recipe a bit more, but still sticking with my soup.

Black Pepper Buffalo Cauliflower Bites

Difficulty: Hard

Taste: Okay

I was most excited for this one andI think that is why. graded it so hard. I try all the time to find “healthy” “vegetarian” options for my favorite snacks. This one looked good on paper, but the execution was sub par. The spicy bread crumb mix did not stick to the cauliflower and ended up just falling off in the baking process. The cauliflower steamed in stead of roasted and sogged its way into the dip. The dip was great and inspired me to make various creations including a taziki that I hope to share on the blog one day. Overall, would not recommend or remake these.

Potato & Burrata Pizza

Difficulty: Easy

Taste: Perfecto

Pizza dough from scratch- don’t be afraid- it is made with beer! That is right a can of beer and a packet of yeast gets you the perfect pizza dough. We followed her recipe for the Potato & Burrata Pizza, minus the Burrata because where can you find it at a time like this? We also made out own sausage pizza with the remaining dough and it was delicious. We will be using this pizza dough recipe for future Make Your Own Pizza Night at home #PostCorona.

Gingered Thai Steak & Peppered Salad

Difficulty: Medium

Taste: Beefy

This dish was a perfect dinner steak. Hearty with the beef and balanced with the light greens and dressing. There is so much delicious spicy ginger flavor in this dish without even trying you feel like an iron chef. One thing you do have to love is rare steak. I had a harder time searing the meat because personally I like a medium to well done steak and there is no way you can do this (and it tastes good) with this meal. Overall wouldn’t make again, but would recommend.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Blondie Brownie Bars

Difficulty: Hard

Taste: Phenomenal

I have always wanted to make blondies! I was a bit surprised to find the recipe called for a box of brownie mix, but I went along with it. First, let me re-state baking is difficult.It is a science and you always have to account for other elements. Second, with that being said I think this is why I had some difficulty with this dish: Consistency. My batter wasn’t drizzling in the pan, my peanut butter after much attention didn’t melt and the pan size called for was not in my kitchen. But did they taste great? Yes. Would I make them again? Absolutely! Chocolate and peanut butter- you can’t go wrong.

As quarantine continues, and while we still have flour, we will be continues to cook up delicious treats and crafting our own. Let me know what you have been cooking up and if you have any recommendations for our next cookbook when we get out of this!

XoXo
Britt.

BOOK CLUB

I am a book worm. Before I could read, my dad read to me every night at bed. Then once I was able to start my own library collection my favorite school events were the overnight reading and sleepover parties. In middles school I read all the books to take all the tests to score all the points. In high school, one of the few classes I managed to attend had a mandatory 30 minute reading time. Once I got to college I became obsessed with non-fiction and actually applying what I was reading in my every day life. But, as an adult it became last on the list of things to do, but I still manage to keep a running reading list.

Jose and I like to read before bed, separate books, but share what we are learning from them. From Malcom Gladwell to Gretchen Rubin. But one day, after recording a podcast with Proof Bread, our new friends said they were headed to a book club and both our eyes got wide. We want to join!

I started a few book clubs through my business, but I was the one picking the titles, formulating the discussions and never getting out of my reading comfort zone. But this book club was different.

The books are fiction and we started with Devil in the White City. The members are adults, some professors, some new parents, some entrepreneurs. We were finally part of a secret book society of intellectuals in our community. We arrived!

Reading the book turned into listening to the book. When all the copies are check out from the library you hit up the 12 disc collection and grab a 750 piece puzzle and spend a few hours over the course of a few weekends listening.

This blog is not meant to be a book review, there are plenty out there for this book, but I will say its a great read! We first learned about HH Holmes through the Lore Podcast, but actually getting into a historic fiction with him involved was a treat!

Speaking of treats, the book club meeting arrived on a perfect night! We had plans to attend a 1920’s themed birthday party after so our attire was appropriate. With our top hats and suspenders on we we ready for the World’s Fair too! At the book club the food was themed: beef sandwiches, crackers jack, and PBR to drink!

The discussion was prescribed as “the best english class discussion you’ve ever been apart of,” and that couldnt be more accurate. Sixty minutes flew by starting with trivia from the book to open ended questions leading heated discussions. In the end Devi'l’s Food in a White City Buttercream cake was served; perfect icing on the cake.

We are committed- on to the next read and then off to the next discussion. Let me know what other books you recommend and Ill be sure to do a future blog on books on our list.