Meet Joyce Bahorich - Recipe Creator & Mother of 3

I am a mother of three who has a passion for cooking and collecting recipes. I carry a stack of cookbooks and food magazines with me wherever I go and enjoy searching for recipes I know my family will enjoy. I also enjoy watching some of the many cooking shows that have really taught me that a delicious dinner doesn't always require a wide range of ingredients, just be creative.

As my children matured, so did their tastes in food. I could no longer get away with a simple mac –n-cheese dinner. It’s brought the creative side out in me that I never knew I had. I get my love of cooking from my mother who always managed to have a delicious dinner on the table every night for myself and my five siblings. I have fond memories of the smell of her homemade biscuits baking in the oven.

My favorite type of food to cook is anything Italian! Who doesn’t love a traditional lasagna, homemade meatballs, or chicken Parmesan? Winter is my favorite time of the year to cook because there’s nothing better than a hearty bowl of soup to warm you up on a chilly day. Speaking of chilly…..chili is definitely a family favorite especially when served with a jalapeno cornbread that will definitely add some fire! Whether you’re cooking for two or twenty, everyone loves a delicious homemade meal that brings you together for great conversation and quality time with family and friends.

Joyce is our featured "mom" this week. We have shared a few recipes already and will be sharing a more as often as we can.

Wordless Wednesday - Caption My Photo

The blog with the best caption will be the featured blogger of the week. 

What are you waiting for? Start captioning

Bathroom Makeover by The Shabby Creek Cottage

The Shabby Creek Cottage Bathroom Makeover

After months and months of slowing working on the bathroom, it's finally done! It's amazing how much work goes into getting such a tiny interior space designed. This bathroom is just under 25 sq. ft. and was completely gutted, including the sub-floors and walls. It's taken a long time to get it all back together, but that's always to be expected when you remodel without credit and do everything yourselves. So, without further ado, let's see all that we accomplished with a $600 budget. 

See the rest of the Bathroom Makeover Reveal and all the highlights & photo's click here: The Shabby Creek Cottage

This is Gina... She is the Author of The Shabby Creek Cottage Website We began our journey of remodeling my childhood home in early 2009. We lived here for nearly 5 years before we finally got down to ripping out walls and installing floors. It's been quite a journey, but it's long from over!

Anatomy of a Romantic Room

Source: Elle Decor

"It's time to fall in love again. . . with your home. This year, get in the mood (and stay in it!) with 11 ideas for adding romance to any room. From unexpected color combinations to must-have materials, from the bedroom to the kitchen, these ambiance-enhancing tips will tempt you to stay indoors and turn up the heat."

"Who doesn't love a pampering adventure? Re-create the vibe of a romantic glamping getaway by combining raw, natural pieces with luxe materials and modern shapes." 

Click here to see more lovely photo's of room's with romantic theme's: Yahoo Homes

Also check out : Brick Painting, Fireplace Glass Doors, Rustic Mantels

Valentine's Day - Easy Last Minute Dinner by the Fire

Photo and recipe by Joyce Bahorich

Chicken Picatta:

4 tablespoons light butter

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 pound boneless skinless chicken breast, thinly sliced

Flour to coat chicken

1/4 cup dry white wine

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

2-3 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped and/or 1 tablespoon capers

Lemon slices optional

Parsley sprigs, optional

Place chicken between wax paper and pound until 1/8” thick (or purchase thinly sliced chicken breast).  Heat 2 tablespoons of butter and oil in large skillet over medium heat.  Dredge both sides of chicken in flour and shake off excess.  Cook chicken until slightly browned on each side.  Place on platter and keep warm.  Season with salt and pepper.  Over low heat, add wine to skillet drippings, scraping up brown bits with a wooden spoon.  Cook until wine begins to evaporate.  Add lemon juice, remaining butter, parsley, and/or capers.  Return chicken to skillet, turn to warm and coat with sauce.  Remove to platter and garnish with fresh lemon slices and parsley.  Wine Suggestion:  North Coast Clos Du Bois Chardonnay

Yield:  4-6 servings

Green Beans with Italian Tomatoes:

16 ounces fresh, snipped, green beans (rinsed)

2 cups water

1 (14.5-ounce) can garlic/herb diced tomatoes

1 teaspoon season salt

Snap beans and place in saucepan with water.  Bring to boil on high; cook 7-10 minutes, stirring often, until beans begin to soften.  Drain; stir in tomatoes and salt.  Reduce heat to low; cover and cook 10 minutes stirring often until desired tenderness.

Yield:  4-6 servings

Pine Nut Couscous:

1 (5.6 ounce) box Near East Toasted Pine Nut Couscous

1 1/2 cups low sodium chicken broth

1 tablespoon butter or margarine

2 tablespoons fresh chopped parsley

In a medium saucepan, mix together broth, contents of spice packet (from couscous), and butter/margarine; bring to boil over medium-high heat; stir in couscous, cover and remove from heat.  Let stand for 10 minutes.  After sitting covered for 10 minutes, if couscous is not moist you may add more chicken broth as needed, stir over low heat to warm up.  Remove from heat and cover to keep warm.  Stir in chopped parsley and serve.

Yield:  4-6 servings

Valentines Day - Dessert by the Fire

What?  You're exhausted after a hard day's work? After cooking dinner and homework with the kids you've got no time or energy left for Valentine's Day romance.  Well, you can still treat yourself and your Honey to a little dessert by the fire.  Heck, pick up a little something from the store on your way home if you don't have time to make it yourself.  It's the thought that counts...and who cares as long as you have some bubbly champagne to go with it!

Spruce up your old fireplace with a set of glass fireplace doors, or replace that old mantel with a gorgeous wood fireplace mantel. It is sure to make every event a special occasion. Why wait for another winter to pass you by?

Craft, Interrupted ~ Valentine Mantels

You have to stop by and check out some of the beautiful Valentine Mantels featured in this article.  Jaimee and Tiffany have a beautiful website with all sorts of wonderful crafting ideas. This particular article caught my eye as I am always looking at things to do with fireplaces.

Craft, Interrupted: 5 for Friday ~ Valentine Mantels

Jaimee and Tiffany 

The Romantic Fireplace

It has become a cliché, but that's probably because it’s true—the most romantic spot in the house is front of the fireplace. Dim the lights, get a cozy little fire going, pull a couple chairs up to the hearth or maybe open a bottle of wine and stretch out on the floor.

The fireplace is the place to be for an intimate evening at home.

But any hopeless romantic will tell you that these things need some planning. For example, if you've got an ugly fireplace, is that going to put a damper on your romantic evening? Would you want to snuggle up in front of this?

Painting an ugly brick fireplace is a great remodeling idea that can transform an ugly fireplace into the centerpiece of a room. Try a fireplace paint kit for an easy project that you and your mate can do in a single weekend. You can make a fun project out of painting that ugly fireplace, and then later on you can enjoy your handiwork when you get some alone time. Or surprise a loved one by painting that ugly fireplace one weekend when they are out of town—it’s the perfect spot for the end of a romantic evening.

So if you have an ugly eyesore sticking out into your living area, consider a quick remodel to transform it into a cozy place for you and a loved one.

Related Post: Handcrafted Mantels

Valentine Mantel by Simply Creating Home

Have you had a chance to make cornstarch dough stamped hearts ?  I just loved how fun it was to work with the dough.  I suppose it brings back good memories of playing with Playdoh as a child!  The simple hearts I created with the dough turned out so well, I’m using them on all sorts of things.

My hurricane votive's worked great for a base for tying them on.  I found the plaid cotton fabric in my fabric stash and loved all of the pastel colors. I ripped strips that were about 1/4 inch wide across the width of the fabric.

For my large votive, I tied a bow and then tied on two hearts that had a single hole.  One heart I cut using my larger heart cookie cutter on just the swirled dough. The second smaller heart I stamped with my word stamp while the dough was a lighter pink and used the mini heart cutter.

TO SEE THE THE REST OF THIS BEAUTIFUL PROJECT PLEASE VISIT LAURIE AT:

SimplyCreatingHome.com

To see some truly beautiful fireplace mantels for your home check out these suggestions:

Wood Fireplace Mantels

Rustic Fireplace Mantels

Economy Mantels

Painting Brick Fireplace Ideas for the DIYer

We recently decided to start our newest project after researching all the options available for brick fireplace paint. My husband and I stumbled across your Fireplace Decorating Blog articles and all the people that have actually used this fireplace paint. We were impressed and nervous but we went on ahead an placed the order.

We chose Twilight Taupe - and painted the old brick fireplace in our den.  We are so happy with the results!!  We did a kitchen renovation (the kitchen and den are adjoined) and have received the most compliments on the fireplace - it is now such a great accent and a highlight in the space. - Kristen

Here are some more wonderful fireplace painting ideas