January, 2015 - Petite Haus

Angelina January 30, 2015 Uncategorized

Paris Haute Couture Fashion Week SS15

We use affiliate links in our posts and our site. This means if you make a purchase using these links, we may earn a small commission. You don’t pay a cent more than you would otherwise! Our full disclosure is available under About.

I am just so ready for Spring and then came sunny Paris Haute Couture Fashion Week.

I am going to share a few of my favorite looks.

Viewers look on at this fun shaped Dior dress.

Dior

The two below are by Elie Saab…

Love the pink, yellow, and black on this dress by Giambattista Valli

Ok… so I think the guy on the left, below, is funny. Chanel’s idea of a gardener? Like the Chanel watering can? Man Capris? Ha, just made me giggle. The dress on the right is something I would never ever wear but the colors are just so pretty and caught my eye during this Winter period.

The two below are from Valentino. I don’t know why but I am liking the folksy look of the dress on the left then the simplicity of the dress on the right. The shimmery grey fabric caught my eye.

Another pretty dress by Giambattista Valli…

This one is my favorite with hand seen pretty pale pink flowers on this dress by Ralph & Russo.

When I see such pretty dresses I wonder how much time went into hand sewing each one of these. They all cost an absolute fortune and is something I could never buy (or afford) but can we just take a moment to appreciate the craftsmanship that went into such pretty creations?

Written at http://peoniesandorangeblossoms.blogspot.com

Pictures are not my own.

Follow:

Angelina January 28, 2015 antique

Antique French Chair

We use affiliate links in our posts and our site. This means if you make a purchase using these links, we may earn a small commission. You don’t pay a cent more than you would otherwise! Our full disclosure is available under About.

I have never shared my favorite chair on the blog. It is this darling antique French chair.

My mom and I recovered the chair in this pretty Rose Tarlow fabric. I picked out this fabric when I was 21! My Mom and I had somehow obtained access to the Seattle Design Center and we were able to look through the selections of wonderful designer fabric. That’s where I learned that I like textiles. Especially expensive textiles! Ha!!

I love the find woodwork sitting on top. It is a garland of flowers with a flame in it.

What I think it unusual about the chair is the dark wood. I haven’t seen too many French chairs with dark wood. Everything is light colored wood. I think dark wood may be making a comeback soon.

The other side of the homemade pillow is this pretty striped fabric also by Rose Tarlow. Love it!
The style of the chair is Louis XVI. If you can’t remember the difference, I put together this wonderful Louis Chair Guide to help spot the differences!

Written at http://peoniesandorangeblossoms.blogspot.com
Linking up with these fabulous link parties: The Scoop!, Inspire Me Tuesday,Wow us Wednesdays! , Share Your Style, Home Sweet Home , Feathered Nest Fridays,

Follow:

Angelina January 26, 2015 Breakfast

Downton Abbey Tea Party & Coconut Scone Recipe

We use affiliate links in our posts and our site. This means if you make a purchase using these links, we may earn a small commission. You don’t pay a cent more than you would otherwise! Our full disclosure is available under About.

Are you a fan of Downton Abbey? It is my favorite TV show. Did you know if you buy the season on iTunes you don’t have to wait until Monday night to watch it… You can watch it Monday afternoon?!

I set up a little Downton tea party so I could watch some episodes of my favorite show!

I made some coconut scones (recipe below). I have been craving coconut scones since I had when were on the island of Maui in Hawaii last year. They are just SO GOOD. I also had some digestives with my scones. Digestives are basically little cookies. I don’t know why they call them digestives, they aren’t a health product and don’t help you digest!

coconut scone recipe

Now I didn’t make any clotted cream (honestly I was trying to save a little bit of calories!). But I did eat them with blackberry and strawberry-guava preserves. Yummy!

See, this is a Downton Abbey tea party. I sipped Earl Grey tea in my Diamond Jubilee Tea Cup I picked up when I was in London during the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee. When I was setting up for my party of one… I realized I only had 1 proper tea cup and it didn’t even have a saucer! I need to go raid my parents’ house for some teacups…

Make up of a tea party: tea, scones, digestives

Coconut Scone Recipe – adapted from here
Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup shredded coconut, toasted (toast in the microwave in 30 second increments until lightly browned) then cut into tinier pieces
½ cup granulated sugar
2 ½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
4 tbsp COLD unsalted butter, cut into ½-inch cubes
3/4 cups heavy cream, cold
1/2 cup greek yogurt
¼ tsp pure vanilla extract
1 egg for egg wash
turbinado sugar for topping

Directions

Preheat oven to 425 and line a baking sheet with parchment paper or silpat.
In large bowl, combine flour, coconut, sugar, baking powder, and salt.
Add the butter pieces in the bowl and then blend in with your fingers. You are done when the butter is evenly distributed and no large pieces of butter are seen.
Combine the whipping cream, greek yogurt, and vanilla extract. Mix together. Then add to the dry ingredients. Mix together with your hands until the dough just comes together.
Knead the dough lightly, then pat out into a disk approx. 1/2 inch thick.
Cut out circles (I used a glass to get my shape, but a proper biscuit cutter is better!).
Bake for 14-16 minutes, until scones are golden brown. Remove and cool on a baking rack.

I love Lady Edith’s tweed outfit this season…

And Lady Mary’s red hat!

This may be one of my favorite quotes from the series:

Have you seen my post about when I visited one of the castles on Downton Abbey?? If not, check it out HERE:

My Visit To A Downton Abbey Castle

Linking up with these fabulous link parties: The Scoop!, Inspire Me Tuesday,Wow us Wednesdays! Creative Ways, Centerpiece Wednesdays, Feathered Nest Fridays, Home Sweet Home,

Written at http://peoniesandorangeblossoms.blogspot.com
Search terms – Downton Abbey Party Ideas, Downton abbey tea party, downton abbey tea, downton abbey castle, coconut scone recipe, hawaii coconut scone recipe, coconut scone grand wailea

Follow:

Angelina January 22, 2015 Appetizers and Sides

Baked Zucchini Sticks

We use affiliate links in our posts and our site. This means if you make a purchase using these links, we may earn a small commission. You don’t pay a cent more than you would otherwise! Our full disclosure is available under About.

After baking madeleines this week, maybe you want to eat something a little bit lighter. This recipe is perfect for snacks and for football snacking! It’s baked zucchini fries! They are pretty tasty and are pretty low in fat and calories!

Baked Zucchini Fries

Ingredients

Zucchini
approximately 1/4 c flour (just enough to cover the zucchini sticks)
1 c panko bread crumbs
1/8 tsp salt
1/4c parmesan cheese
1 tbsp italian seasoning blend
1 egg

Directions

Cut your zucchini into strips about 1/3 to 1/4 inch thick.
Toss the zucchini in bowl with the flour and salt.
Now, in a separate bowl combine the panko bread crumbs, cheese, and italian seasoning.
In another bowl, whisk the egg.
Take a floured zucchini strip and dip into the egg wash, and then into the bread crumb mixture.
Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
Place the zucchini strips either directly on the wire rack OR a cooling rack (that is oven safe) and bake. I recommend having a baking pan underneath to catch some drippings. You could also just bake on a baking pan, but one edge will get soggy. Honestly, it still tastes good.
Bake them 14-16 minutes, until golden brown.

Helpful hints: try to cut your strips as uniform as possible to ensure they all bake evenly around the same amount of time.

Baked Zucchini fries

Linking up with these fabulous link parties: The Scoop!, Inspire Me Tuesday,Wow us Wednesdays! Creative Ways, Centerpiece Wednesdays, Feathered Nest Fridays, Home Sweet Home,

Written at http://peoniesandorangeblossoms.blogspot.com

Follow:

Angelina January 20, 2015 Uncategorized

Kitchen Before & After

We use affiliate links in our posts and our site. This means if you make a purchase using these links, we may earn a small commission. You don’t pay a cent more than you would otherwise! Our full disclosure is available under About.

We finally finished the backsplash in the kitchen.

I know I had talked about using this brick product:

However the current sample didn’t seem to have any color variation and that would seem rather flat to me. The next thing that caught my eye was silver travertine split stone. We live in Nevada and are surrounded by rocks. I like the idea of having more natural stone in the house.

The colors look wonderful with the antiqued Calcatta marble. To me the antiqued version is not quite as heavily brushed as leathered marble. It has a great patina to it that I think will withstand the test of time.

The camera doesn’t really capture the look, but this closeup at least shows the edge I selected for the island. I am really happy with the final look. It wasn’t easy with all the independent decisions that were made,

I am happy that Mark, our cabinetmaker, built a frame around the fridge to give it a more custom look. Isn’t that crown moulding fantastic! He did some sand-through which gives the cabinets some depth. All white would have been a little to boring for me.

He did the same on the oven side. It really helped balance the room.

Another detail that Mark came up with is the cutout kick plate underneath the stove. pulling the stove forward helps break up the long wall of cabinets. Since I don’t cook, this is about enough emphasis on the stove for me!

On the island, I really struggled with the size, I had to leave enough room to walk around the island and have room for a table. The final size was 102″ long (8’6″) x 60″ wide (5′).

We had corbels placed on the ends for the 12″ overhang. My husband doesn’t like hitting his knees on corbels in the middle of the island.

The work side of the island shows the fantastic farmhouse sink. I went with a Reinhard because I liked the profile and the surface finish. So far it is a dream to work with. I don’t know how I’ve ever been without one. The large single interior is really great.

I couldn’t get my husband to agree to one of those fancy bridge faucets. He wanted a sink with a single control. (He does the dishes more than I do, so he gets a say in it….) I thought they all looked too contemporary, until I saw this faucet from Waterstone, and got it with the larger crook neck in polished nickel.

Waterstone 5600 Faucet

I really love the faucet. There is a magnetic pull-down sprayer. The only thing you need to be careful of is that if you are running hot water, the sprayer handle is VERY hot.

Some of the other details – polished nickel 9″ pulls, and crystal knobs.

I know, I’m supposed to be trendy, but I like polished nickel. It looks good with silver. In fact so much so it is hard to tell the difference. The big difference being no polishing!!

(Yes I love silver and silverplate….)

The best way to end is to remind you of what the “before” looked like:

“Before”

“After”

Click on the above photo to see the enlarged photo. I am now on the hunt for appropriate bar stools.

A big thanks to Mark Bartolomucci of Sierra Wood Products in Gardnerville, NV, who had to put up with me trying figure out what my dream kitchen cabinets were–and then delivered them! I also have to thank my husband for putting up with alot of my nonsense and chasing ideas with me. Much of this is D-I-Y. My husband and I did the flooring and backsplash. My husband did all the plumbing and electrical. Next on the honey-do list: Paint the walls (color??), finishing electrical, and baseboard.

I am linking up to the following parties:

The Scoop

Inspire Me Tuesday

Wow Us Wednesdays

Follow:

Angelina January 19, 2015 Desserts

Madeleines Recipe

We use affiliate links in our posts and our site. This means if you make a purchase using these links, we may earn a small commission. You don’t pay a cent more than you would otherwise! Our full disclosure is available under About.

I have been wanting to attempt to make madeleines for a while. When I received my Laduree Sucre book for my birthday last year, I decided to tackle them sooner rather than later, but never bought a pan for them. For Christmas this year I received TWO pans (yippee!) so I went ahead and made them.

…and not only did I nail the recipe, but they tasted a million times better than I thought they would! My husband described the cookies as “heavenly”. Whoa.

Madeleine French cookie recipe

Have you ever had a Madeleine cookie? They are not the typical cookie in the American sense… they are more cake like. They are very delicate. I had never had one fresh out of the oven. Straight out of the heaven they are SUPER GOOD. They have a crunch on the bottom, super soft and airy in the middle, then the little bump on the top is a tiny bit gooey like lemon curd.

the crunchy backside of the madeleine!

I had only ever had them pre-made, ya know, from Starbucks in the package or Costco. I never had one super fresh. The French have been keeping this secret from us… you must eat these super fresh!! That’s when they taste like heaven. Otherwise they are just… pretty good!

The recipe I used is from Laduree’s Sucre book.

Madeleines Recipe – Laduree: The Sweet Recipes . PRINTABLE VERSION HERE

Ingredients

2 lemons, unwaxed (Meyer tastes best)
3/4 c + 1 tbsp (160g) granulated sugar
1 1/3 cups + 1 tbsp cake flour (175g cake flour)
2 tsp (10g) baking powder
12 1/2 tbsp (180g) unsalted butter
1 tbsp butter for the moulds
4 eggs
1 2/3 tbsp (35g) honey
Madeleine Pan, this one is good: Madeleine Pan

Directions
1. Using a grater, remove the zest from the lemons. Then mix the zest with the sugar.
2. In another bowl, sift together the flour and baking powder.
3. In a small saucepan, melt the butter over low heat.
4. In another bowl, place the eggs, sugar/lemon mixture, and honey. Whip together until pale and frothy. Then fold in the flour and baking powder mixture. Add the melted butter and combine.
5. Refrigerate batter for a minimum of 12 hours in a closed container. NOTE: I did a batch at refrigeration of 4 hours and refrigeration of 12 hours and I could NOT tell the difference in taste. As long as the batter is cold at 4 hours, you can use it. The key is cold!
6. Melt the tbsp of butter and butter the moulds with a pastry brush. Then refrigerate for 15 minutes until the butter is hardened and the pan is cold.
7. Preheat oven to 390 degrees. Fill moulds 3/4 to the top with batter. Cook madeleines 8-10 minutes. Remove when golden and allow to cool slightly before removing from the moulds.

TIPS
-The key is to have the batter and pan COLD. The rapid change in temperature in the oven helps create the poofy shape of these cookies!
-Serve when lukewarm. They taste like heaven at this temperature!
-Store in airtight container.

perfect little bump!

They made the perfect little bump and are golden in color.

Cooling on the rack, the smell of lemon in the air! Little bites of heaven waiting for you!

Linking up with these fabulous link parties: The Scoop!, Inspire Me Tuesday,Wow us Wednesdays! Creative Ways, Centerpiece Wednesdays, Feathered Nest Fridays, Home Sweet Home,

Written at http://peoniesandorangeblossoms.blogspot.com
search terms: madeleine recipe, madeline recipe, lauder madeleine, french cookie

Follow:

Angelina January 18, 2015 Uncategorized

Bouchon Bistro & Bakery Review

We use affiliate links in our posts and our site. This means if you make a purchase using these links, we may earn a small commission. You don’t pay a cent more than you would otherwise! Our full disclosure is available under About.

I have been meaning to post a review of my trip to Bouchon bistro and bakery in Las Vegas, but forgot I went there until I was recently cleaning up my iPhone photos and ran across these!

When most people had to Vegas, they have gambling on their mind.

But for me, I had another: Bouchon! I have heard of Thomas Keller’s franchise for a while now and have been eager to it out.

The Bouchon in Las Vegas is located inside the massive Venetian hotel. It was NOT an easy task in locating this restaurant, but when one had been dreaming of Parisian gnocchi for five hours in the drive to Vegas, 30 minutes of wandering in the hotel was just a drop in the bucket.

Alas, you are greeted by this scene…

After ordering, they give you Pain d’Epi to enjoy. I love love loooove French bread, and this type, which means wheat stalk bread in English, is perfect for munching on. They also serve roasted nuts too to munch on.

For my salad, I ordered the Laitue salad, which is just a simple salad of Bibb lettuce, garden herbs, and their house vinaigrette. It was really refreshing.

But what I had been just dying to eat was the Gnocchi a la Parisienne. It is sautéed gnocchi and seasonal vegetables. Now, Parisienne Gnocchi is not like your typical chewy gnocchi made of potatoes. Parisienne gnocchi is made from pate au choux, the pastry dough base for things like eclairs, cream puffs, and Gougeres. So, this gnocchi is light. It has a little crunch on the outside but then is airy and light in the middle. And it is GOOD. Really really good. Not a lot of restaurants serve this dish.

Oh, one more thing. This is actually a side dish. I told the waiter I really just wanted gnocchi as my main dish… So the chef made me a dinner-sized portion!

Since I am obsessed with Macarons, I just had to swing by his bakery and try them out.

On inspection… Perfect shape, flat top, perfect feet. I ordered pistachio and chocolate.

Taste test… Chewy…. But I wish the shell had a little more almond flavor. The pistachio inside needed more pistachio flavor, I could barely tell I was eating a pistachio macaron. The chocolate one was better, not too chocolately. My final decision… While Bouchons look better than mine, mine taste better!!

Bouchon has multiple locations… yountville, NYC, Vegas, and Beverly Hills. I recommend going… And getting the gnocchi!

I was not compensated to write this post. The first two pictures are not mine, the rest are. Apologize for picture quality, I was trying to be discreet in the restaurant while taking the pictures.

Search terms: Las Vegas Bouchon bistro review, Las Vegas Bouchon bakery review, Bouchon macaron review, Bouchon gnocchi review, Bouchon parissienne gnocchi.

Written at http//peoniesandorangeblossoms.blogspot.com

Follow:

Angelina January 13, 2015 tablescape

Winter White & Silver Tablescape

We use affiliate links in our posts and our site. This means if you make a purchase using these links, we may earn a small commission. You don’t pay a cent more than you would otherwise! Our full disclosure is available under About.

For Winter this year, I set up a white and silver table. I used my lanterns that usually sit on the counter in back and put them on the table. Winter greens sit on top of them.

I set a table like this last year but never took a picture. The candles all glow at night and give off nice ambient light.

Even though it’s just my husband and me, I always set all six. We usually sit at this end of the table for some reason!

Linking up with these fabulous link parties: The Scoop!, Inspire Me Tuesday, Wow us Wednesdays!Tablescape Thursday, Home Sweet Home , Feathered Nest Fridays,
written at http://peoniesandorangeblossoms.blogspot.com

Follow:

Angelina January 12, 2015 Uncategorized

Favorite Looks from the Golden Globes 2015

We use affiliate links in our posts and our site. This means if you make a purchase using these links, we may earn a small commission. You don’t pay a cent more than you would otherwise! Our full disclosure is available under About.

It is that time of year again… Awards show time! I admit, I did not watch the Globes this year (I fell asleep kind of early last night) but what I did wake up to was a webpage full of beautiful gowns this morning! As I live in Southern California, this is the big news down here, as I didn’t use to pay much attention to the fashion when I lived in the Northwest. I have chosen my favorites and am sharing them with you!

First up is Catherine Zeta-Jones, wearing this beautiful red gown by Angel Sanchez. I love a red gown, especially on the red carpet!

To be honest, I have not heard of the next actress before today, Julia Goldani Telles, but what I do know is that I love this pretty gown! It is by Carmen Marc Volvo. Most dresses with a plunging neck line tend to be too booby, but this one does it just right. Plus, the blue is such a pretty color!

Sophie Hunter, who is married to man-of-the-moment Benedict Cumberbatch, wore this beautiful Erdem gown. I just love this pretty look, plus I love the fact that though she is pregnant she could find and pull-off such a pretty dress.

Oscar winner Lupita Nyong’o looked pretty in purple wearing this purple feathered Giambattista Valli dress. Most people could not pull off a dress with feathers, but I think she certainly did! I imagined it looked beautiful when she moved.

The youngest Oscar nominee, eleven-year-old Quvenzahne Wallis, wore this beautiful custom-made Giorgio Armani. This dress is just fit for a little girl! Love the little bow, the purple beads, and the fact that she is dressing her age.

Camilla Aviles, wife of Matthew McConaughey, wore this pretty pastel pink Monique Lhuillier look. The cut is not my absolute favorite, but she just looks so pretty.

Siena Miller wore this beautiful hand-jeweled Miu Miu gown. While I think the actual tailoring is not perfect for her (the hemline is a little awkward), I just love the hand embroidery on this gown.

I love the embroidery so much, I had to include a close-up!

I honestly don’t know who this actress is either, Taylor Schilling, but she certainly caught my eye wearing this beautiful red Ralph Lauren gown.

Okay, okay, so not all my favorites were looks on women! I just love the velvet tuxedo that is perfectly tailored on winner Eddie Redmayne.

Ellie Kemper of Bridesmaids’ and the Office fame, wore this beautiful beaded silver gown by Narciso Rodriguez.

I love a pretty red dress and Heidi Klum looked very va-va-voom and old Hollywood in this Versace dress!

Emily Blunt looked very Greek goddess in this Michael Kors. I’m normally not a fan of cut-outs in dresses, but in all of the pictures of her she looked really good in this dress!

Reese Witherspoon kept it classy wearing this silver Michael Kors.

Now for my TOP THREE FAVORITES!

#3….. The 50 Shades of Grey actress, Dakota Johnson, wore this beautifully sequined Chanel dress. I am sure it just shimmered as she walked under the bright lights of the red carpet!

#2…. Amy Adams’ baby blues popped in this baby blue Atelier Versace gown. This look was pretty much perfect, the pretty waves, the perfect tailoring, and the color of the dress!

#1….But I think my favorite dress is this red gown fit for a princess! Allison Williams (from Peter Pan and Girls) wore this beautiful Armani Prive gown. The embellishments, the ruffles, the perfect cherry red… this dress is just a dream and thus it is my favorite look for the night!

Linking up with these fabulous link parties: The Scoop!, Inspire Me Tuesday,Wow us Wednesdays! Treasure Hunt Thursday

Written at http://peoniesandorangeblossoms.blogspot.com

Note: these pictures are not my own, I found them from e-online and daily mail.

Follow:

Angelina January 5, 2015 Uncategorized

2014 Pinterest Recipes Tried and now Reviewed!

We use affiliate links in our posts and our site. This means if you make a purchase using these links, we may earn a small commission. You don’t pay a cent more than you would otherwise! Our full disclosure is available under About.

I’ve rounded up the recipes that I found on Pinterest and made this year. I’ve included the links and my review for all the recipes. I didn’t include the recipes that I’ve uploaded to pinterest because you could just see all my recipes here.

BBQ Black Bean Pizza
This was pretty tasty. It was very simple and quick. The “pizza” crust is from a tortilla.

Homemade Gyoza (Potsticker) Dipping Sauce
While this recipe also includes homemade potstickers, I have only made the dipping sauce. The dipping sauce is really good. I think I’ve made this recipe more than any of the other ones. We buy the frozen Trader Joe’s gyozas and make this dipping sauce for them. Yum!

Cranberry Pecan Brie Crostinis with Maple Sugar Glaze
Made these for appetizers. They were good but messy. I put this in my catalog of appetizers when we have a party for lots of people. It is good for Thanksgiving/Christmas time.

Zucchini Tots
These zucchini tots were toted as good way to get your kids to eat their vegetables. I thought they were alright; a little soggy. Probably a hit for kids but not something I’ll make again.

Different Sandwiches

I can’t seem to get my link to work. There are different sandwich ideas here. I made the almond butter, almond slice, and cranberry sandwich. It was really tasty!

Breakfast Banana Split

This was pretty tasty. Take a banana, split it in half. Then pour some greek yogurt on. Add something crunchy on top… sliced nuts, granola. Yummy!

Cookie-in-a-Cup

This is a single serving cookie. You cook it in a mug in the microwave. It takes 5 minutes total time. It’s pretty good. It keeps you from eating 6 cookies but satisfies your inner cookie monster. I have made this several times.

Grilled Potatoes
Take potatoes. Grill them on the grill. What’s not to like?! Yes it’s good.

Sour Cream and Onion Oven Fries
Take potatoes. Put some oil on them. And onion. And sour cream. And bake. Eat them all. It’s good. Can you tell I like potatoes?

S’mores Rice Krispies Treats
When we made these we didn’t roll them up into a ball. We just put chocolate on top. It was good. But a little bit messy. I think I will stick to regular rice krispies treats.

Soft Baked Monster Cookies
These are peanut butter cookies with oats, chocolate chips, and M&Ms. If you like peanut butter cookies, you’ll make them. I made these twice. I can’t make them again or anytime soon because they are so tasty.

Homemade Freezer Burritos

These are really easy to make. I didn’t add sausage or cream cheese to mine… but you make a whole bunch and freeze them. Warm them up in the morning. I put eggs, potatoes, cheese, and salsa in mine.

Peppermint Ice Cream

This peppermint ice cream was DELICIOUS. Served at Christmas this year and it was a big hit!

Christmas Tree Pomegranate and Citrus Salad

This salad was pretty tasty. It calls for kale but I didn’t have any. I made it with spinach. I liked the fruit in it.

A summer vegetable bake.

It was tomatoes, potatoes, zucchini and yellow squash. You slice them thin and bake them. It was a mushy mess. I can’t find the original recipe. But memorize this picture and then don’t make it.

Crash Hot Potatoes
These. are. DELICIOUS. They are great to serve on the side… or for dinner. They are just so perfectly crispy and crunchy. The recipe is from pioneer woman.

Seasoned Roasted Potatoes
Take a potato, microwave it. Then slice it put some cheese and Lowry’s salt. Then bake for little bit. It’s pretty tasty.

Spinach, corn, and potato enchiladas
These were ok. The recipe is vegan but I used a tad of real cheese. It needed way more sauce I think.

Smoky Squash and Black bean Baked Quesadillas

The recipe calls for delicate squash but we just use regular yellow squash. This recipe is really really good. We’ve actually added it to our regular dinner rotation. It has a little kick to it but it’s a little sweet at the same time. You actually bake the tortillas so it’s a little healthier too.

Healthy Mexican Casserole
Made this recently. It was good. Not like REALLY good. But not bad either. We added extra veggies into ours so it was loaded full of veggies.

Vegetable Enchiladas by Rick Bayless
yes these are good. The recipe is from Rick Bayless. Probably the best tasting recipe out of all the ones I am posting here.

Honey Glazed Baby Carrots
Pretty tasty. A little sweet.

Vegetarian Moroccan Parcels
We made this three times. First time tried to make our own puff pastry dough. fail. Tried phyllo dough next. fail. Finally got puff pastry dough. It was a win. The insides are very very filling but a little dry. It is best served with a greek yogurt cucumber sauce.

Blueberry Almond Butter Smoothies

This was gross. Just… don’t. Bleh. Unless you like the taste of sawdust.

S’mores Frozen Yogurt

This was okay. The marshmallows don’t taste good frozen.

Honey Peach Frozen Yogurt

I liked this. It was nice and refreshing this past Summer.

Wow! I tried quite a few recipes (that I can remember!!).

Linking up with these fabulous link parties: The Scoop!, Inspire Me Tuesday,Wow us Wednesdays! Creative Ways, Centerpiece Wednesdays, Treasure Hunt Thursday, Tablescape Thursday Feathered Nest Fridays, Home Sweet Home

Written at http://peoniesandorangeblossoms.blogspot.com

Follow:

Angelina January 4, 2015 Uncategorized

Looking at 2015

We use affiliate links in our posts and our site. This means if you make a purchase using these links, we may earn a small commission. You don’t pay a cent more than you would otherwise! Our full disclosure is available under About.

I have a lot to look forward to this year and I’m excited!! What’s on your to-do list for 2015?

We’re headed to Paris in April this year. I am going to take so many pictures and probably gain 5 pounds in weight due to croissant and macaron overload!
Turning my big 3-0 birthday this year. Why is time flying so fast?!
Moving up to Northern California this Summer permanently. So excited!
I’m going to start practicing baking madeleine cookies.
Figure out how to use my brand new iMac computer… a pc user for my whole life, this is a huge change!
Got the brand new Laduree Macaron book… more Macaron Mondays to be continued this year!
With only 6 months left in Southern California, do you have any suggestions of must-sees for me to do before I leave?? Leave a comment!

I designed a new blog header today. Hope you like it!

Follow:

Angelina January 2, 2015 Uncategorized

Tablescapes in Review 2014!

We use affiliate links in our posts and our site. This means if you make a purchase using these links, we may earn a small commission. You don’t pay a cent more than you would otherwise! Our full disclosure is available under About.

Happy New Year!

I’ve decided to kick off the New Year by reviewing my tablescapes of 2014!

Valentine’s Day 2014…