Happy Valentine's Day!!

 

good things thursday...........

My very favorite show of all time.............

I was excited to see that Blockbuster@ Home had seasons of party of five!!!!!!!!!!!! Disc one arrived in the mail yesterday, and I watched the whole thing last night. Love that show.....it ranks close with Gilmore Girls, but I think this is my favorite. :O)

Wordless Wednesday: Be My Valentine

I love sending Valentines!! <3

another visitor....

This little guy showed up in my feeder a few days ago.....



I googled it and it looks like a Goldfinch. :O) :O)

finishing touches.....

The kitchen has come together nicely. I love the gray, and I really love all the little pops of yellow. I still need to do the grout renew project on the floor, but here is a peek at the rugs I found at Target.

I saw this link on Pinterest for a product called Grout Renew. It looks like the perfect solution for my tile floor.

I'm hoping to start working on it tomorrow-hope it works!
I bought this pretty yellow basket at Hobby Lobby. It is my new cookbook holder on top of the fridge.

Another favorite thing is my numbered pitcher. This pitcher was brown, but it got a fresh coat of white paint and I painted on the number.

Someday, when I finally get the nerve, I'll have the cabinets painted....and get new countertops....and I'd also love to get rid of that piece of trim over the sink and put up a pendant light. I saw this one at Lowes...{{{love}}} it!!


For now though, I'm happy with our kitchen....the yellow & gray really perked things up!

30 Spaces/ 30 Days: more cabinets

Space 5 of 30: glasses/mugs/travel mugs
How many glasses does a family of three really need???? Not as many as I have crammed on these two shelves! Ridiculous!
before:

I managed to weed out a few things, so it looks a little better now.
after:

Space 6 of 30: Medicines
The top shelf of this cabinet holds medicines. We don't have a ton of medicine, mostly Peter's vitamins (he takes a whole handful every morning). On that shelf, I only keep a shoebox size plastic container that I store cold meds, etc. in, along with the vitamin bottles, and a big bottle of Tylenol. I only got a before picture, there wasn't much to do in this space, so it looks pretty much the same.

The only other place we keep meds are this little basket on the counter-

it holds Peter's daily pill holder, his fish oil pills, and my iron pills.

Space 7 of 30: Attic
I FINALLY put everthing "snowman" in the attic, along with several misc. items that have been hanging out in our bedroom since Christmas (yes, Christmas...I'm a procrastinator!) No pictures, but the attic looks awesome! It's been super organized since Peter put the floor down last January!

Space 8 of 30: Under kitchen sink/Countertop
This was an easy one as I've given the kitchen a pretty good cleaning while painting it. Again, no pictures.

Pioneer Woman's Mushroom & Swiss Sliders

I came across this recipe last week: Pioneer Woman's Mushroom & Swiss Sliders w/ Spicy Fry Sauce. They were amazing!! One of the best things I've eaten in a long time.
Here's the recipe:

• 1/3 cup Mayonnaise
• 2 Tablespoons Ketchup
• 1 teaspoon Cayenne Pepper
• 4 Tablespoons Butter
• 1/2 medium Onion, finely diced
• 8 ounces Mushrooms, chopped
• 1/2 cup White Or Red Wine (optional)
• 4 dashes Worcestershire Sauce
• Salt And Black Pepper
• 1 pound Ground Beef
• 2 Tablespoons Heavy Whipping Cream
• 3-4 dashes Worcestershire Sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon Salt
• Black Pepper
• 4 slices Swiss Cheese, Cut Into Four Squares
• 8 whole Dinner (or Slider) Rolls, Split

Spicy Fry Sauce: In a small bowl, mix mayonnaise, ketchup, and cayenne ( I subbed black pepper and a few dashes of hot sauce). Stir together until totally combined. Set aside.

Melt butter in a large skillet. Add onion and cook over medium heat for five minutes, stirring frequently. Add mushrooms and toss around, then add wine ( I used about 1/4 cup white wine), Worcestershire, salt and pepper. Cook for several minute over medium heat, or until all liquid has evaporated. Transfer mushroom mixture to a separate bowl, scraping all contents from the skillet.

Mix ground beef, heavy cream, Worcestershire, and salt and pepper in a bowl. Use your hands to thoroughly mix ingredients. Form 1/4 to 1/3 cup of the meat mixture into patties, making an indentation with your thumb to keep the patties from plumping too much when they cook. In the same skillet as the one used to cook the mushrooms, melt 1 tablespoon butter over medium to medium-high heat. Cook for 4 minutes on each side or until cooked through.

Side Note: The heavy cream made all the difference in making these so moist and juicy!! Also, make sure you press the center with your thumb-they cook much better!

Spoon generous portion of mushroom mixture on each patty, then top with one or two squares of Swiss. Place lid on skillet until cheese is melted.

Toast halved buns under the broiler. Spread each half with spicy fry sauce. Place patties between buns and serve immediately. Use extra dipping sauce for fries. D-E-L-I-S-H!!!!