E-design: Sissy's Home Office

My Sissy started law school this week. And I am SO stinkin' proud of her. One of the things she needed was a place to study, write papers, and read all those books.

She loves the look of Ballard Designs, so that was the perfect inspiration for her office. We couldn't do it on that kind of budget, of course. Sissy is now a starving student.

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It started with an inspiration board and a space plan.

Then, Sissy and Mom went shopping while I had to work.

Here's the office as of now:

I have lots of plans for finishing touches!

Tasty Tuesday: Washday Cobbler

Growing up, the go-to cookbook was Bell's Best. Mom's copy was in two pieces, the cover half torn off, and pages marked with numerous stains from frequent use.

Filled with family recipes of the Telephone Pioneers of America (Mississippi Chapter), it features Southern cooking at its very best.

As Sissy and I have both established our own households, we've been gifted our very own copy of this beloved cookbook. Many a phone call that starts "how do you make..." is followed by "did you check Bell's?" This recipe is a favorite one in our family- one of the many dog-eared pages of my copy of Bell's.

Summer in Georgia means three things to me: peaches, watermelon, and blackberries.  And the best way to eat two of them is in Washday Cobbler. Watermelon is best enjoyed fresh and cold.

Five ingredients, simple measuring, it comes together in just a few minutes.

You need:
1/2 stick of butter
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup self-rising flour
1/2 cup milk
Fresh fruit ( I ended up using canned as my fresh peaches had mysteriously been eaten)

Preheat oven to 425 degree. Melt your butter in an 8x8 casserole or equivalent.

In another bowl, mix together flour, sugar, and milk.

Pour batter into casserole. Pour fruit in on top. Do not stir.

Bake uncovered at 425 degrees 25-30 minutes or until browned.

Best enjoyed warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. I hope you enjoy this particular part of Bell's Best as much as we do.

Tasty Tuesday- Sissy's Edition

My sister, wonderful as she is, wrote an entire Tasty Tuesday post for me!  I guess you can consider this my first guest post!
Take it away Sis!

I am a big fan of summer salads. I probably have about a million bookmarked, printed out, and starred in my feed reader (okay that's an exaggeration, but it is a lot). They are a quick one dish meal that, in my busy world, are a life saver. Susie Homemaker will also be the first to tell you that I don't eat enough vegetables. It's not that I don't like vegetables, I do. I just like bread and cheese more. So I typically make salads like this one on the weekend when I have time, and then save them for lunch during the week, when I need energy for work. I pulled this one out to make use of my bumper crop of herbs and a few fresh tomatoes from the plant in my yard. It would also be a good way to take advantage of some great farmer's market produce. 

You can find Josie's recipe here.

I made a few changes from Josie's recipe for simplicity and to suit what I had. I used garden tomatoes, diced, chopped my herbs in my food processor (I also didn't measure, just eyeballed- don't tell Susie!), and mixed my vinaigrette in a jelly jar right before adding it to the salad. This made a great lunch, dinner, and filling for the last tortilla from taco night.  It made a healthy 6 main dish servings, so it would also be great for any summer parties. I am sure it would probably keep well for about a week in the fridge, but mine only lasted a few days- it was so good! I will be making this one again, maybe with some crumbled goat cheese and basalmic added to the vinaigrette. 

Thank you Sissy! What a great Summer salad idea! I can't wait to try it!

Birthday Cake MisAdventure

Yesterday was my birthday, and I was REALLY excited about making my birthday cake.  Years ago, I saw a recipe in Southern Living for a chocolate Groom's cake with blackberries on it- two of my FAVORITEST things.

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My mom made it for my 18th birthday party. My twin sister made it last year. For them, it was a beautiful confection of blackberry chocolate delight.

Mine? Well, it tasted good.

The recipe called for a chocolate ganache made by melting chocolate chips and butter together, then stirring in sour cream. That was a lumpy seized chocolate mess- twice.  The garbage disposal thought it tasted just fine though.

Not to be deterred, I called up Sissy, who is a much better baker. She told me to make a butter cream. Off I go, happily dumping cocoa, powdered sugar, butter, and chambord into my mixer.

Me: "How do I know if it's ready?"
Sissy: " When all the powdered sugar is incorporated"
Me: "Gee, this sure is sticky and doesn't want to spread"
Sissy: " You should put more milk in, it's too stiff"
Me: " Too late, it's all on top of the cake now! "

Cue the uncontrollable laughter on my part as this homely cake takes shape.

Nonetheless, it tastes good, and it's my birthday. Therefore it's perfect. I just may have someone else make it next year...