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Saturday, February 22, 2014

Vacation home


After having lived away from most of our family for over 30 years my husband and I looked into buying a condo in Utah closer to family and old friends. We couldn't find anything that we loved, so decided to build a house instead! This is going to be a vacation house for us to use in the summer (away from the Arizona heat!) and to rent out in the winter.

We found a new development in the little town of Midway, Utah which is up in the mountains not too far from Park City. My grandparents used to have a vacation home nearby and I have fond memories of cousins gathering for Thanksgiving and summer picnics.  Midway is a charming community with a mix of farms, pastures, and both old and new residential. Plus there are some top rate resorts, restaurants, golf courses, boating, hiking or skiing all only minutes away. 
So here's a a photo log of our journey thus far.
 We chose a small lot last summer. It has a good bit of green space with a walking path in the back and  wonderful views from both the front and the back yard of the mountains.
 This gazebo is right across the street in our neighborhood park.

We chose a single story floor plan to keep things easy and I'm going with a fairly neutral color scheme. I've had such fun choosing cabinets, tile, carpet and granite.




All framed! 
Glad they got that done before too much snow came.

Shingles and clapboards are on. 

I chose mosaic tiles to surround the fireplace.

It's got an open kitchen and family room.Cabinetry is in, but counters haven't been added .


Master bedroom 

Hall bath 

Coincidentally, some of our very dearest friends have also just moved to Midway from Connecticut. And no, we did not plan this together, but we are thrilled! 
So Leslie walks down to my neighborhood and takes photos for me every now and then. 
It's been a challenge to build a house long distance! We've been told it should be all finished in just a few weeks. I'm anxious to add furnishings and accessories and turn the new house into a home!
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Tuesday, February 4, 2014

Turkey Tetrazinni


For my Italian themed dinner party last week I served a classic Turkey Tetrazinni. I remember my mother serving this at dinner parties when I was a girl. It's an elegant version of comfort food. Rich and creamy sauce with poultry and mushrooms mixed with pasta, topped with cheese and baked until bubbly. I use the Joy of Cooking version as a guide, but having made it so many times I've simplified it a bit.

It only takes a few basic ingredients- 1 pound pasta ( I usually use spaghetti but macaroni, penne, or rotini would work just as well), 1 cube butter,  1 can chicken broth, 1/2  pound fresh mushrooms sliced, 1 cup whipping cream, 2-3 cups leftover turkey or chicken in bite sized pieces and shredded parmesan cheese.

Melt butter in a large saucepan.

 Add mushrooms and saute for a few minutes. Add 2 tablespoons flour and allow to brown and thicken slightly.

Add chicken broth. Bring to a simmer to thicken sauce.

Slowly pour in cream while stirring.

Add turkey and season to taste.

Meanwhile, cook pasta according to package directions. Drain and place in buttered 9x13 casserole.


Pour turkey and mushroom sauce over pasta and top with parmesan.

Cover with foil and bake at 350 for 1/2 hour. This serves 8.
Rich, creamy and delicious!

Turkey Tetrazinni

2-3 cups cooked, cubed turkey
1 pound spaghetti
1/2 pound mushrooms, sliced
1 can chicken broth
1 cup whipping cream
1/4 pound butter
2 tablespoons flour
shredded parmesan cheese

Cook pasta according to package. Drain and place in 
9x13 casserole.
In a large saucepan melt butter over medium heat. 
Add mushrooms and saute. Add flour and brown slightly.
Add broth, simmer and thicken. Slowly add cream. Add turkey. Pour over pasta and top with parmesan.Cove with foil and bake at 350 for 30 minutes. 
Serves 8

I like to join these parties

                 Pink Saturday @ How Sweet the Sound

Tuesday, January 28, 2014

Florentine Tablescape



We are having a small dinner party this weekend for our "couples" book club. We love getting together with a small group of friends to share our lives as well as thoughts about what we've been reading. The book we chose for our friends to read and discuss is a classic, I, Claudius  by Robert Graves. It is about the Roman emperors Augustus, Tiberius, Caligula and finally Claudius. Well, I couldn't quite come up with a Roman theme for the party , so I'm going Italian. I've pulled together several things that I think look quite elegant.

On our trip to Italy several years ago I bought several tapestries at the San Lorenzo market in Florence. I've used one as a table topper and turned it on a diagonal.

I've used gold chargers, Wedgwood White dinner plates and hand painted salad plates. Each plate has a slightly different motif.



 I'm using my sterling flatware made by the Italian silversmith Buccellati. The pattern is Milano. I've always considered it to be classic and timeless. Simple white linen napkins are dressed up with gold beaded napkin rings.

For a centerpiece I filled an Italian cachepot with Christmas ornaments that have yet to be put away! Maybe I'll swap them out for some flowers by Saturday!

 Iron candle holders with some gold beading adds a little sparkle. I've placed them on my vintage Florentine trays, which you can read more about HERE.



And some vintage ruby red goblets add even more richness to the table.



For dinner I'll be serving turkey tetrazinni,  
lasagna florentine, caesar salad (of course) rustic Italian breads, assorted cheeses and Nutella pound cake and gelato for dessert. I'll share recipes in a few days! 
 I like to join these parties

Thursday, January 16, 2014

Frenchy Postcard Pillow

My brother got married this past year and his lovely new wife suffers from allergies, particularly down pillows. So they were cleaning out and redoing all of the throw pillows in their house and they happened to toss them my way! I came back from our visit at Thanksgiving with several bags full of down pillow inserts. Now that the holidays are over, it's time for some sewing projects.


Of course, I turned to Debbie over at Confessions of a Plate Addict for some inspiration! Here is her version of a Pottery Barn pillow that she shared awhile back.
 So I made a copycat of a copycat.

I printed off the postcard images onto iron-on transfer paper, trimmed the images then ironed them onto plain muslin. Then I top stitched the "postcards" onto some ticking fabric that I had in my stash. 



Here is my version, looking very fresh!

Gotta go, I've got more pillows to make!
I like to join these parties

                 Pink Saturday @ How Sweet the Sound

Friday, January 10, 2014

Cookie Buffet

Candy buffets have been popular for several years now at weddings and I've put several fun and colorful ones together. A new trend is a cookie buffet. Actually these have been popular for years being a long standing tradition in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Now, I grew up in Pittsburgh but moved away as a teenager. I don't remember this tradition, but others have assured me it started there!

Another dear friend had a son getting married over the holidays in California and she and her husband hosted an informal open house the beginning of January in Arizona. They chose to do a nacho bar, a cookie buffet and a hot chocolate bar. I volunteered to help set up and this is how the cookie buffet turned out...
I made a chalkboard sign for the table.

 The bride's colors were turquoise and red so we tried to stick with that.
 I did a mixture of cake plates and glass canisters for the cookies,
 and made labels for each flavor.




We did ten cookie varieties - chocolate chip, lemon bars, ginger snaps, snickerdoodles, peanut butter, peanut blossoms, iced sugar cookies, Mexican wedding cookies, dark chocolate white chip and pirouettes. I recommend planning on 3-4 cookies per person.
Here I am all set up and ready for guests. This is the kind of dessert buffet that is fairly easy to pull together if you like to bake - or have friends that do!

I like to join these parties

Monday, December 30, 2013

Favorite Posts of the Year



It's fun to review the past year, see what projects I've done and see which ones were most popular with you,my followers. I get so many of my ideas from my fellow bloggers and I truly appreciate the way blog friends encourage and support each other.

So here are my top 5 posts from 2013-








A sad  follow up to my post about these lovely serving pieces- I took most of these into my antique store a month or so ago. When I went in last week they were all gone! Sold? Sadly, no. Some unkind shopper helped themself to all of my silverware without paying! I know it's a reality of doing retail, but isn't it sad that people will behave this way? Oh well, there's always more treasures to find!

Thanks for visiting my blog this past year and all of your kind comments
Happy New Year!
Karee

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