Nantucket Mussel Shell Wreath

On Friday, I was surprised with an early Christmas present - a mussel shell wreath from Nantucket!

The life cycle of the mussel from Nantucket Sound to plate to wreath is pretty neat and very relevant to my blog, so I couldn't wait to share the story.

The mussels started their life in the waters around Nantucket and were dragged out over the summer. After they made a tasty dinner, their shells were discarded and dropped off with the very talented Jan. Even the mussels I dragged for over the summer ended up in the large collection of shells used for Jan's wreaths!

Below, you'll see the guys from Captain Tom's Charters pulling the mussel-covered anchor out of the water. Next, they were cooked up with some garlic and butter for a tasty dinner. Lastly, the shells were cleaned and Jan worked her magic...turning a bag of mussel shells into a fabulous wreath.

The pictures really don't do the wreath justice, but you can get the idea. The exterior part of the shells are very dark. However, the insides are each unique with shades of black and blue with a pearl-like shine. It's quite fitting that the wreath is made complete by the pearl at the top. It's absolutely gorgeous!

If you're interested in one, leave a comment.

Hamburgers and Fries

This weekend I baked "Hamburgers and Fries" after seeing a few fun recipes online. It took a while to bake, cool, cut, frost and assemble, so I don't recommend rushing through this process.

The hamburger buns are tops of vanilla cupcakes, the burger is the middle of a chocolate cupcake and the fries are the middle of the vanilla cupcakes. I used Buttercup Bake Shop's vanilla buttercream frosting recipe and dyed it red for ketchup, green for lettuce and yellow for mustard. You can't quite see all of the ketchup and mustard in the pics...but it's there! I also dabbed a little frosting in between the layers of cake so they would stay together.

If you're interested in doing something like this, I recommend using the store-bought colored frosting. The color didn't take to my homemade frosting very well. And of course, I had a green-dye incident...but we won't get into that :)

Hopefully they're as tasty as they look!

Paperwhites

We had a beautiful weekend in Chicago and I decided to go for a run right before the sun set. Unfortunately, I didn't get very far because I noticed a big box of bulbs when I ran past the flower shop. It seemed too go to be true - could the paperwhites have already arrived?

Luckily the store was open for a few more minutes, so after I confirmed that the bulbs were indeed paperwhites, I ran home to check out my vase selection. Somehow after describing the size of my vase, I ended up with a ginormous bag of soil and moss. If you live nearby, feel free to come on over because there is plenty of soil to go around!

Here's what my paperwhites look like now...hopefully by the time I have guests over for dinner in the next few weeks, they'll be in full bloom!

FH Style Thanksgiving

Every year, I eagerly anticipate the Thanksgiving meal at work. Everyone brings in one of their favorite dishes and we supplement the already overflowing table with some traditional and non-traditional items like turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes and pulled pork sandwiches!

This year, we feasted on shrimp rice-paper rolls, "party" potatoes, broccoli casserole and much, much more. Below are two pictures that show the remains of our Thanksgiving.

Don't worry, we dedicated another room to desserts which ranged from pies and breads to malt ball cake and glasses of milk.

Let the food coma begin!

Chicken Pot Pie Empanadas

In case you don't receive Real Simple's daily emails, I had to pass this recipe for chicken pot pie empanadas along. It looks so delicious and pretty simple to assemble on a weeknight, which is clutch.

RS took the basic chicken pot pie recipe and gave it a little twist...turning the pie into an empanada. I am a big fan of this idea, because it means that you get a little more "crust, " which is my favorite part. You can also easily divide the meal into four parts, which means less mess when you're trying to serve.

So here's what Real Simple suggests:

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
• 1/2 yellow onion, diced
• 1 tablespoon flour
• 3/4 cup low-sodium chicken broth
• 1 10-ounce box frozen peas and carrots
• 1 3- to 4-pound store-bought rotisserie chicken, meat shredded
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 2 refrigerated 9-inch pie crusts (from a 15-ounce package, such as Pillsbury)

Directions

1. Heat oven to 400° F.
2. Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion and cook for 3 minutes. Add the flour and cook, stirring constantly, for 1 minute. Still stirring, slowly add the broth. Cook until thickened, about 3 minutes. Add the peas and carrots, chicken, salt, and pepper. Remove from heat.
3. Cut each pie crust in half to form 4 half-circles. Spoon the chicken mixture over the bottom half of each half-circle, leaving a 1/2-inch border. Using your fingers, wet the border with water. Fold the top of each crust over the chicken to form a quarter-circle. Press to seal. Make three 1-inch slits in each top crust.
4. Transfer to a baking sheet. Bake until golden, 15 to 18 minutes.

And, voila! Hope you enjoy this recipe.

Hungry Girl - Eggs in a Mug

I absolutely love Hungry Girl's daily tips and tricks. A few weeks back, HG suggested a quick breakfast of egg beaters and laughing cow cheese...whipped up in minutes in the microwave.

Today' HG took Eggs in a Mug one step further, offering three different ways to jazz up the traditional eggs and cheese. The recipe below sounds really delicious and I can't wait to try it!

California Love Mug (less than 150 calories!)

Ingredients:
1/2 cup chopped fresh spinach
1/2 cup sliced mushrooms
1/2 cup fat-free liquid egg substitute (like Egg Beaters Original)
2 tbsp. diced tomatoes
1 wedge The Laughing Cow Light Original Swiss cheese
2 tbsp. diced avocado

Directions:
Spray a large microwave-safe mug lightly with nonstick spray. Add spinach and mushrooms, and microwave for 1 - 2 minutes, until softened.

Blot any excess moisture from the veggies. Add egg substitute, tomatoes, and cheese wedge, breaking the cheese wedge into pieces as you add it. Microwave for 1 minute.

Stir gently, and then microwave for an additional 45 - 60 seconds, until scramble is just set.

Lightly stir, and allow to cool slightly. Top with avocado and eat up!

Recipes in Unassuming Places

I hate to admit it, but I've secretly been reading my boyfriend's Men's Health magazine for the past few months. For the recipes.

I think they have some of the best recipes and food tips....and I'm sure there's a lot of other great stuff in there too, but I'm really not reading the magazine to gain insight on why men think the way they do.

I'm reading it for the easy recipes (unlike Bon Appetit's, which I've never had any success with) and really intriguing food information.

My favorite part of the magazine is the Eat Smart section, especially "Eat This? Try That!" Every month, they compare foods and dissect nutrition labels. I often find myself discreetly ripping the pages out of Men's Health and bringing them to the grocery store along with the delicious recipes.

As you can imagine, I was really excited tonight when I discovered Women's Health at the grocery store checkout.

No, I haven't been living under a rock...I was just too lazy to look for WH when MH was already on the coffee table.

Regardless, I was obviously thrilled to find out that WH has a similar format and excellent Eat Smart section.

I won't give all of the November turkey tips away...but two interesting "Eat This, Try That" ingredients were: "if you like carrots, try parsnips" and "if you like potatoes, try sunchokes."

Personally, I don't have much experience cooking with parsnips or sunchokes, but I'm willing to be adventurous. And, now that I have my own magazine to read each month, I won't have to be so secretive about ripping out the recipes!

What's the most unassuming place you've found recipes?