FriendlyIam

 I love paella because it's the ultimate summer dish. It's a one-pot wonder, which means there's only 1 pot to clean up. The saffron in the rice gives the paella a majestic fragrance, and a golden appearance. It's a light but colorful dish, bursting with flavor, and easily transferable (great for a picnic or potluck). Paella is a gorgeous dish to serve if you are looking for "something new," and when paired with a good glass of wine, it is simple summer perfection. p.s. I love cooking with Surimi (imitation crab and shrimp), and I am always suggesting that my friends try cooking with it at least once, often times they are pleasantly surprised! Paella 1.5 cups long grain rice 3 cups water 1 tablespoon olive oil 1 tablespoon salt 1/2 teapoon black pepper 1/4 teaspoon crumbled saffron threads Combine all the ingredients in a pot, bring to a boil, cover, and cook for about 20 minutes until all the water is absorbed. Remove from heat, let cool slightly, and fluff w...

Please excuse our lack of posting lately.   L I F E has completely gotten in the way! : ) Kids.  The end of school.  Work and then more work. You know..... the fun LIFE stuff. Until things become a little more clear and well rounded for the both of us, P E P P E R M I N T P L U M will be on a slight break ! Thank you to our always-loyal readers ...we know you understand the reasons for this small interruption in crafty goodness ! We will return as soon as possible. T H A N K Y O U ~ Tammy + Annie ~

I thought I'd show you a few changes I've been making to my front room. First of all, I replaced the curtains. I was more than tired of the red regal tassled beauties (circa 2002) , and searched patiently for something a little less attention-grabbing at a great price. After a couple months, I found these new panels on clearance at curtainworks.com for a really great price... $20 for both with free shipping . I then found the rod on clearance at Jo-Ann for $10 . So for just $30 I transformed the room! The height of the new panels really makes the room feel bigger and more to scale with the vaulted ceilings. I also love the slight lustrous finish and the dark green color. Here is the rest of the room: I moved the ironwork art from above the window to above the candle table/temple picture to give the display some much-needed height. I've collected various candlestick holders from thrift stores and department store clearance aisles, in a variety of shapes and sizes, and...

The gloomy weather really affects my appetite. This overcast light in my apartment makes me hungry, but lazy.  It's not soup weather, but it's definitely not barbecue season yet. A chicken has been roasting in my oven for what seems like an entire day- now, what can I make to go with it? And then this pops into my head: Grilled Eggplant Slices with Crushed Avocado. I love a good recipe that takes just a few minutes to throw together...they should all be this easy. Cut the eggplant into round slices, about 1/4 of an inch thick, then cut in half to form semi-circles. Heat an indoor grill pan over medium-high heat. Lightly brush the grill pan with olive oil. Grill the eggplant slices, about 2-3 minutes per side, until soft and shiny. Repeat until all the slices have been grilled. Slice 2 ripened avocados in half, and spoon out the avocado flesh (discard the pits). Use a fork to "crush" the avocado slightly. Squeeze half of a lemon over the avocado, season with salt, pepp...

Crispy Cauliflower with Tomatoes and Dill Side dish recipes- it seems like everyone is always searching for new, original ideas. Sometimes I find that the best dishes come alive just by throwing together whatever it is I have in my fridge. That's just what happened last night! All it took was a cauliflower, some cherry tomatoes, a little fresh dill, a squeeze of lemon juice, and of course, olive oil. The trick to this recipe is rather than using cauliflower florets (big pieces cut into little trees), I sliced the cauliflower into thin slices (almost like shaving it down) using a big knife. So what happened was, all these thin slices of cauliflower soaked up the lemony- dill flavor and became perfectly buttery-tasting and crunchy in the oven. We (our friends were over) literally just ate it out of the baking dish, without a trace left-over! So easy and so, so good. Recipe for Crispy Cauliflower with Tomatoes and Dill Serves 4 1 cauliflower head, shaved into thin slices (use a big kn...

It's Garage Sale Season ! Here are my finds from this past weekend: This red coral pillow was $1. It still had the original price tag on it for $19. It smelled fresh and clean and came from what I could tell was an immaculate home, so I snatched it up. It looks great on my wooden rocker. I'm a bookworm. I love decorating with books. Especially beautiful old books. So when I found these delightful 1952 children's U.S. history books at 3 for a quarter, I didn't even think twice. Bonus: My 9-year-old  son thinks they look great and can't wait to read them! I spotted this cute teapot from the road and knew it was going to be mine...that is, if it was less than 5 dollars. Lucky for me it was only $2! I love it. I'm always on the lookout for these memo boards to use for hair bow storage. We have a lot of bows at our house. You'd think I had a dozen daughters, but I have only two.  My girls have never gone a day in their lives without a bow in their hair (you t...

I have always loved me a TWIX bar. I may or may not have eaten one every day for lunch in 7th grade. So...when I came upon a few different recipes for homemade TWIX bars I knew I had to try them out! I have since made these many times and have tweaked the recipe to my liking. They really do taste like the real thing... maybe possibly even a little better ! { TWIX BARS } 48 Club Crackers (a few more than one sleeve) 1 c. graham cracker crumbs (one sleeve) 1/3 c. sugar 3/4 c. brown sugar 1/3 c. milk 1/2 c. butter Topping*: 1 1/2 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips 1 1/2 c. vanilla baking chips * Most recipes call for milk chocolate chips. I have tried milk and semi and I thought both were good....but one day all I had was 1/2 a bag of semi, so I decided to add vanilla chips to them, and it turned out to be the perfect combination for my taste buds! I do it this way every time now. Place one layer of Club Crackers in a lightly greased 13�9 casserole dish. Use your food processor or b...

As I flipped through the pages of Bon Appetit's May issue, I couldn't help but be taken by their photograph of this amazingly scrumptious looking dessert. The "Rhubarb and Raspberry Crostata" recipe offered everything I look for in a summer dessert- a flaky, golden crust filled with mouth watering tart raspberies. As it turned out, I had just accidentaly double-ordered strawberries from Fresh Direct (I also double-ordered whole milk, leaving me with 4 cartons instead of 2- why am I always doing this??) So, I knew that I had to do something with the strawberries before they went bad. I had all the ingredients needed for the dough in my pantry (white flour, whole wheat flour, sugar, kosher salt, butter, egg, and milk), so I decided to nix the rhubabrb because I didn't have any or want to go out and get some, and just replace the raspberries with lots and lots of strawberries. And that's pretty much how I ended up with what my husband called "the best desser...

Looking for a quick and easy Mother's Day gift? Well, look no further... I found this unfinished frame at Michael's for $1.00. I spray painted it glossy black, hot glued a few simple rosette blossoms made from fabric scraps (see a great tutorial here ) and some loose pearls , and inserted a quote that will have meaning to our mom. One of her favorite songs is " I Often Go Walking ," a song we often sang as children at church around Mother's Day. Annie used her mad skillz to turn the last line of the song into art , so I printed it out and framed it. I then used some fabric scraps to hang the frame from. I think our mom is gonna love it! (I told her not to read our blog this week, so shhhhh....) --Tammy * * * * * * * * * Here's the quote image if you'd like to print/use it for yourself: