Oh my goodness!!!

This isn't y'alls Ma Maw's crock pot. No way! This is for a spicy chef who keeps her kitchen alive in animal print. Y'all I came across this little hottie on the Ginnys.com site. I must get this cutie pie. My crock pot is the traditional heavy white thing with onions and carrots printed on the side. Nothing fancy but it does its job. If I had a slow cooker like this one...well, it would jazz up my recipes.


Look at these cute little Zebra print glasses. Wouldn't that be a cute combination? You could have a black tablecloth, white dinner plates, and Zebra print glasses. You could serve Jambalaya right out of the crock pot and place it center on the table. My mind is spinning with entertaining ideas already. Oooo..La..La!!! Gotta get me this crock pot.

Flower Arrangements

I adore fresh flowers. When I was younger I lived with my grandma for a short time. I really treasure that time because my grandmother passed away nearly 10 years ago. During the time I spent with her she taught me a lot about the little things that make a home a true home. She had the best flowers, her garden was gorgeous and I spent many hours on the back patio sipping ice tea in deep conversation with her. I remember going out early in the morning and clipping my favorite clippings to display in arrangements inside. I suppose that's why I must have fresh flowers in my home to this day. It's part of my weekly routine along with buying groceries.

Bundts & Linens

Look what I came across the other day. It's the most beautiful bundt pan. This is truly a bundt masterpiece. The style is called, Heritage. I'm picturing a beautiful Lemonade Cake centered with a wild flower or Chocolate Fudge Cake lightly coated with powdered sugar.

Williams-Sonoma retails for $34.00

I also noticed that April Cornell has added more linens to her site. I know I've already posted the Rooster towel but look how adorable it looks with the apron. And the cute yellow apron and towel is from the "Rosalyn Sand & Auberge Patchwork" collection.

Oh my, yummy pie!

Ok y'all, my hubby has found one of the best restaurants over in Conroe, Texas. It's called, Pie in the Sky. They have the best pie in the world. It's an adorable restaurant too. It's funky but cute. They have an old fashion 50's style television as a coffee table, old school house benches in the restrooms, and old antique wooden doors hanging from the ceiling as light fixtures. It's a great relaxing place to have lunch. My hubby is working over in Conroe currently so he drove me over this weekend and we had brunch and pie for dessert. If y'all are in the area I suggest y'all stop in. You won't be disappointed.

Gotta get me some bunnies

Who else loves bunnies? I love bunnies and birds. I want to start collecting bunnies for our front and back yard. I found these bunnies online and I'm thinking of ordering them. Every evening when Richard and I go for our walk on the greenbelts we see a brown little bunny. He's always in the same spot chewing on shrubs. We noticed him a few months back and I can see that he's getting bigger. The other night I noticed our old friend has a new girlfriend. Hopefully we'll see little baby bunnies soon.

Saturday Sales

Richard and I went to a cute little shop for the antique sale on the lawn. They had antique vendors who brought all sorts of wonderful goodies.

Antique Lace Runner $3.00
Silver Children's Plate $3.00
Floral Black Serving Tray $3.00
Bird's Nest $2.50
Iron Bird Candle Holder $4.00

Grand Total $15.50

I can't wait to hit some more sales this summer!!!

Flower Boxes

This post isn't about traditional flower boxes. It's about actual boxes. I have a friend over in Birmingham, Alabama who is so talented it's almost scary. She loves garage sales and flea markets and finds the most unusual things for rock bottom prices. She just bought a bird bath for $4.00!!! Those are the type of prices I adore. She also bought some really great hat boxes and lined them with plastic. Then put a flower pot inside. It's the most adorable centerpiece. Here's a couple of pictures I found that's similar to what I'm talking about. Cute!

Recipe Cards

I LOVE cute little recipe cards. But lately I've had a difficult time tracking them down. When I come across them at a boutique I try to stock up. Hallmark use to sale recipe cards but I haven't seen them in a couple of years. Girls, I believe our society is losing the art of "personal touch." Don't you like getting hand written notes in the mail? Don't you feel special when someone makes/bakes you a gift? Well, I've decided to stand my ground and fight to keep traditional hospitality. I'm going to continue my quest by hunting down beautiful stationary, note cards, and recipe cards. This Southern gal isn't going down without a fight (wink).

Best Burgers in Houston

My hubby works with a group of native Houstonians that took him to a burger joint down by the Galleria. It's called Prince's Hamburgers. He came home raving about them so the following weekend he drove me over to the nearest one off the 59 (across from Joel Osteen's church). My goodness! Those were great burgers. My favorite are the onion rings. This is definitely one of our favorite burger places in Houston. They have truly mastered the burger.




Here's the original Prince's dated back in the 1940's

Easy Gumbo Recipe

If y'all like Gumbo; y'all gonna love this recipe. The key to a good pot of Gumbo is in the Roux. However, these days I think everyone is trying to eat healthier and we don't have a lot of time to be spending in the kitchen. That's why I'm jumping for joy over this crock pot Gumbo recipe. It's so much easier than the traditional Gumbo and the Roux is made from flour and olive oil (not fatty grease).

Ladies, get your recipe cards out because this is the easiest Gumbo I've ever made. And it's delish!!!

Chicken & Shrimp Crock Pot Gumbo

Ingredients

3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

3 tablespoons oil ( I use olive oil)

1/2 pound smoked sausage, cut into 1/2 inch slices

3/4 to 1 pound boneless chicken thighs, cut in bite-size pieces

1 1/2 to 2 cups frozen cut okra1 cup chopped onion

1/2 cup chopped green bell pepper3 cloves garlic, minced

1/4 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper, or to taste

1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper1 can (14.5 ounces) diced tomatoes, undrained

1 cup frozen medium shrimp, cleaned and cooked

1 1/2 cups uncooked regular long-grain white rice3 cups chicken broth

1.) In small saucepan, combine flour and oil; mix well. Cook, stirring constantly, over medium-high heat for 5 minutes. Reduce heat to medium-low; cook, stirring constantly, about 8 to 12 minutes or until mixture turns a light red-brown.

2.) Place flour and oil mixture in 3 1/2 to 4-quart crock pot. Stir in all remaining ingredients except shrimp, rice, and broth. Cover and cook on LOW for 7 hours.

3.) Add cooked shrimp to the gumbo; mix well. Cover and continue to cook on LOW for 20 minutes longer. Meanwhile, cook rice in the broth according to package directions. Serve gumbo over the hot cooked rice.

Enjoy!

Happy Mother's Day!

Summer Entertaining

Doesn't this make you want to pull out your patio furniture and entertain? I just love these beautiful flowers and table settings. Absolutely stunning!!!