Jennuine

I love Halloween!  It's one of my absolute favorite times of the year to decorate.  All year long I'm on the lookout for ideas and inspirations.  Recently, I had the opportunity to review a copy of Artful Halloween:  31 Frightfully Elegant Projects by Susan Wasinger.   With so many decorating ideas and tutorials available online for free, you may be wondering what makes this book worth the $17.95 cover price. It's worth it.  Let me tell you why... Artful Halloween delivers on the promise of its title.  The projects are both artful and elegant.  The book contains more than thirty original projects for Halloween home decor, costumes and entertaining that are worthy of being being showcased in a home that has been designed with an artful aesthetic.   When you dog-ear the pages of the first five projects, it's a good sign that your book's a gem. These aren't just revamped versions of the same projects you've seen spattered a

Apple butter is wonderful on biscuits, warm toast and buttery scones. But have you tried it on vanilla ice cream? When served in a pie crust bowl, you have an elegantly deconstructed apple pie! A little sprinkle of flaky sea salt puts this simple, yet sophisticated dessert over the top.  Apple Pie Sundaes in Pie Crust Bowls Premium Vanilla Bean Ice Cream Overnight Apple Butter with Bourbon & Vanilla Bean (recipe HERE ) or your own Store bought or homemade pie crust Regular size muffin tin Cinnamon sugar Flaky sea salt (like Fleur de Sel) To make the pie crust bowls: 1.  Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.   Roll pie dough out to 1/8" thick.  Use the rim of a drinking glass or biscuit cutter to cut into 3/5" - 4" rounds. 2.  Flip muffin tin over.  Form dough circles around each muffin cup.  Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar.  Bake for 7-8 minutes, until golden brown. 3. Remove crusts from pan and allow to cool on a wire

The game of dominoes is a classic family amusement that is enjoyed all over the world. Not a mere game of chance, this centuries-old pastime involves strategy and skill as well as a bit of luck. Domino sets come in many sizes, but a set of “double nines’ containing 55 pieces is a nice portable size, allowing you to take your game to the park, picnic, or back porch. Traditional dominoes were made from ivory, bone and ebony. Today, most are made from plastic or resin.  Here, dominoes get an elegant modern update with a vintage twist. Bold typography replaces the classic dots (or “pips”), and the tiles themselves are made from glass.     Faux Mercury Glass Dominoes (Double Nines) MATERIALS 1 12x12 sheet rectangular glass tiles (approx. $10 in the tile section of the home improvement store) You will need 55 tiles in all to complete the set  Domino Typography Sheet , downloaded and printed Mod Podge Gloss waterbase sealer Small paint brus

  While much of the country is entering a season of crisp autumn days and leaves the color of sunset, those of us who live under a blanket of coastal fog much of the year are at last getting a taste of our long awaited Indian Summer. As the mercury climbs and we trade in our shearling boots for flipflops for a few precious days, it's the perfect time to enjoy some lighter fare and the bounty of the oceans that meet our shores. The Scallop & Cucumber Cocktail from the Muy Bueno Cookbook (p. 123) was my pick for Week 2 of the Muy Bueno Cookbook Spotlight & Cook-off Lured by the promise of crisp cucumbers, bright citrus, delicate avocado and the sweetest of the fruits de mer, I knew that the Scallop and Cucumber Cocktail (Coctel de Vieras) from the Muy Bueno Cookbook would be the perfect, refreshing appetizer for outdoor entertaining during our short stretch of sunshine.   When sunny skies have turned to grey, this is a perfect dish to bring summer back to

It's Apple Season! A few weeks back I received a postcard from a local farm heralding the news that apple picking time had arrived.  I grabbed some baskets, the family, and my best pal Holly from 504 Main , and headed to the fruit-laden orchards. Between our two families I think we picked around sixty pounds of apples! So, what have we done with all those apples?  Not much, actually.  They're so crisp and delicious we've been enjoying them au naturel.   It's tradition, however, for my family to make apple butter in the fall.  It's a wonderful way to capture the flavors of the season for later in the year.  We enjoy it with toasted croissants or brioche for breakfast and over a scoop of vanilla ice cream for dessert.  So, last night I peeled and chopped a few pounds of apples and threw them in the crock pot with some sugar and spices.  It simmered all night long, so the house smelled like heaven in the morning! Making appl

I LOVE decorating for Halloween and look forward, all year, to opening up my boxes full of Halloween folk art pieces.  I'm a big fan of antique German papier mache and the contemporary works of Nicol Sayre, Dee Foust and Rick Conant. Drawing my inspiration from those whimsical, collectible pieces from both past and present, I've come up with an easy and very inexpensive tutorial for making pumpkin primitives at home. Dollar Store Pumpkin Folk Art TUTORIAL Materials A foam pumpkin from the dollar store (or you can use a larger one from the craft store) Pumpkin carving knife (or other small serrated knife) Sharpie pen Paper Mache paste (recipe below) Newspaper, cut into strips Acrylic paints (orange, yellow, brown, black) DecoArt Americana Staining/Antiquing Medium DecoArt Americana Acrylic Paint in "Asphaltum" Folk Art Pumpkin Eyes/Mouth printed on plain white copy paper (download for free HERE ) Tacky Glue Black Wire Pencil Bamboo ske