I'm trying something new. It isn't perfect, and it is a little outside of my comfort zone. I've created a video of my grocery haul. I did a Sam's Club pickup and an Aldi pickup.
I'd appreciate it if anyone has any feedback.
I've already noticed I need to be careful about background noise and the tapping. I also didn't think about the black frame when I was filming. Next time I will.
الأربعاء، 31 يناير 2018
Share Your Style Party #155
Hello everyone and welcome to Share Your Style #155! I'm Carol from The Red Painted Cottage and I'll be your host this evening.
When you link to our party, your blog will be shown on all six of the blogs shown below.
We would love to have you follow us:
- Lynne: The Vintage Nest / Facebook / Twitter / Pinterest / Google+
- Barbara: 21 Rosemary Lane / Facebook / Twitter / Pinterest / Google+
- Kelly: The Essence of Home / Facebook / Pinterest / Instagram
- Lisa: Feathering My Empty Nest / Facebook / Twitter / Pinterest / Instagram
- Marie-Helene: Kingsbury Brook Farm / Facebook / Twitter / Pinterest / Instagram
- Carol: The Red Painted Cottage / Facebook / Twitter / Pinterest / Google+ / Instagram
I recently shared the following on The Red Painted Cottage:
We just celebrated Christmas and New Year's and now 2018 is marching along to such a fast beat. Seriously, Valentine Day is only two weeks from today! All my features tonight are about Valentine and love. There's always so much inspiration you all share.
This Week's Favorite Links:
I'm really impressed with this beautiful pallet art that Life Sew Savory make with cut-out fabric. Emily used a Brother ScanNCut 2 cutting machine, which I've never heard of before! We've all heard of Silhouette and Cricut, but where have I been all this time? She even has a video on her site showing her using this cutting machine.
Life on Kaydeross Creek made this very pretty, yet subtle love banner. I have to admit that I'm not a huge fan of all-out decorating for Valentine's Day. I think when you have kids around, it's a whole different story, but with just the two of us, I think Colleen's love banner and vignette has just the right amount of color, plus it's easy and inexpensive; a win-win!
Are you still looking around for a gift to give your Valentine? Look no further than to Sweet Parrish Place where Nicki has 15 different and beautiful gift ideas for anyone on your list, including all price ranges.
Don't these cookies look yummy? Kristen, from Dizzy Busy and Hungry is sharing her 3 Ingredient Valentine Crunch Cookies with all of us. Anything easy always grabs my attention.
Congratulations to our featured bloggers! Make sure to grab our featured button to share on your blog.
We would appreciate if you could provide a link back to our party on our blog post. Please, no repeats for one year. Thank you to everyone who linked up and visited last week.
Now Let's Party!
My Best Falafel Recipe
Hello Dear Reader,
I have always dabbled with vegetarian meals, I feel there is no need to eat meat every single day of the week. It took me a long time to convince Lovely Hubby of this, but he now enjoys this way of eating and finds meat heavier to digest. I grew up eating lots of fish and smaller portions of meat so eating less meat is not new to me and I find I don't need a lot of meat, preferring to fill my plate with veggies with a smaller portion of protein.
I have made this particular Falafel recipe for years now as it is easy and tastes fantastic. It has a good texture, not pasty like some can be and is very filling. Filled with traditional flavours like Parsley, Cumin and Coriander, it has a lovely fresh flavour. I always make extra, multiplying the recipe by 1.5, so that is the recipe I will write about today.
I have always dabbled with vegetarian meals, I feel there is no need to eat meat every single day of the week. It took me a long time to convince Lovely Hubby of this, but he now enjoys this way of eating and finds meat heavier to digest. I grew up eating lots of fish and smaller portions of meat so eating less meat is not new to me and I find I don't need a lot of meat, preferring to fill my plate with veggies with a smaller portion of protein.
I have made this particular Falafel recipe for years now as it is easy and tastes fantastic. It has a good texture, not pasty like some can be and is very filling. Filled with traditional flavours like Parsley, Cumin and Coriander, it has a lovely fresh flavour. I always make extra, multiplying the recipe by 1.5, so that is the recipe I will write about today.
Ingredients for My Best Falafel Recipe, clockwise from top right-
3 cans of chickpeas, drained and rinsed (or homemade equivalent) 3 teaspoons of ground coriander and 1 1/2 teaspoons of cumin seeds, 2 smallish onions, finely chopped, 3 cloves garlic, grated on a microplane, 1/2 cup of plain flour + more for dusting, 1 egg and 1&1/2 cups chopped parsley
Add everything to the bowl of a food processor
And process until just smooth with a few smallish chunks
Add about 1/2 cup of plain flour to a shallow bowl, working with one Falafel at a time, shape the mixture into medium sized balls and place in the bowl with the flour
Turn Falafel over in flour so both sides are coated in flour
Gently dust off excess flour and place on a foil sheet sprayed with cooking spray
This quantity made an uneven thirteen. Pop into the fridge for 30 minutes or up to one hour to firm up
Heat a non stick, heavy based frypan to medium heat, add a small amount of oil and add Falafels to frypan
Shallow fry until cooked through and golden brown on both sides, about 5 to 7 minutes a side. You can keep them warm in a 150C oven until ready to serve
I served ours in wraps with this Quinoa Tabbouleh, greek yoghurt and sweet chilli sauce, wrapped up and then toasted
So delicious and filling
They are equally delicious cold the next day for lunch, along side greek yoghurt and sweet chilli for dipping.
What is your go to meat alternative dinner?
Have a lovely day.
💗Fi
One Year Ago-The Best BBQ Chicken
Two Years Ago-Chicken and Ginger Congee or Jook
Make-over: Miami Penthouse Before & After
Don't you love a great before and after? I always find them so inspiring, but I rarely show the 'before' on My Scandinavian Home. So I thought I'd turn over a new leaf. So friends, welcome to a new mini series exploring home make-overs at the hands of some of my favourite interior designers and the likes of you and me! Firstly, a HUGE thanks to Builders Bay for sponsoring the series (check-out their site if you're in the middle of a renovation - it's every builder's little black book!).
I felt we needed something kind of fabulous to kick off the series - and this beaaaautiful home in Miami which has been given an overhaul at the hands of Avenue Design Studio fits the bill perfectly. The design process was a year and a half in the making (imagine?!) - and involved a tear-out, renovation and redesign of a two bed, three bath penthouse apartment! Wow! I caught up with my friend Holly Marder (one half of the talented design duo) to find out more.
What was the brief?
"The style direction for this Miami abode was fresh, contemporary and clean with a classic twist. We wanted to breathe new life into the space as a whole, open it up but at the same time ensure our client was left with a liveable, functional interior."
Open-plan dining and living area
What did you have planned for the dining / living area?
"As you can see we had mostly cosmetic changes to make, but I also felt that we needed to open up the spaces even further to allow for more light and a general flow. The living and dining area was large and spacious but the kitchen was small and the ceiling was low. We pulled out a wall or two, raised the ceilings in various places and then got started selecting all the finishes that would lay the groundwork for the renovated space, and overall the results are much fresher and lighter."
AFTER
Can you tell us more about THAT fab storage unit?!
"To tackle our clients’ request for plenty of storage, we designed a wall to wall built-in cabinet flanking the dining table to house her dinnerware and glassware, linens as well as provide an interesting backdrop to her dining space. The goal with this design was to integrate it with the wall, as opposed to being a separate entity of its own and be ‘busy’ in the space. We wanted it to be streamlined and as flush as possible, and therefore opted to paint the whole unit the same colour as the walls (Origami White by Sherwin Williams) which turned out whiter than expected due to the finish applied to it. That said, it is fresh and clean and allows the accessories, and beautiful oak pulls from our friends at Design Studio NU, to pop off it while the large wooden table and sculptural Lambert et Fils pendant can stand out against a calm yet interesting backdrop."
Such a perfect dining area, don't you think? I especially like how the open shelves allow for displaying items you love and then you can shove less pretty / more practical things in the cupboards and drawers (also keeping them free from dust). Perfect!
Living room
What was your thought process behind the living room area?
"We wanted the living area to be a central part of the room, without being ‘heavy’ . The goal here aesthetically was calm, inviting, organic. We brought in many different materials including walnut and other woods, marble, wool and leather to provide interest and contrast. While we used many beautiful pieces that are noteworthy in the living room, the splurge piece of furniture was the walnut sideboard by German furniture label Zeitraum."
Loving this! I've so got my eye on that coffee table - and the side cabinet (can totally understand the splurge, can you?!
Kitchen
What did you have in mind for the kitchen?
"For our function savvy client we designed an all-American kitchen, featuring custom cabinetry, tons of storage, a breakfast bar and lots of light and flow. I worked with Aukje Schukken on the designs and sketches here in the studio, and after selecting the materials in person in Miami and ironing out the details, Dan’s Carpentry expertly carried out the designs locally."
The design
What were your goals for the kitchen?
"For the countertops our client wanted practical but didn’t want to skip out on looks. And why should she? We hand selected a beautiful piece of Macuava Calacutta quartzite that has the most gorgeous soft green-blue vein through it, much the way calcutta marble would. We looked at whiter marbles but couldn’t get past how pretty this one was in person so after our arduous and thorough search inside the stone supplier in 38 degree Miami heat, it was a done deal. The colour we used on the cabinetry is City Loft by Sherwin-Williams. We removed the wall adjacent to the front door and created a breakfast bar there. We also raised the ceilings throughout the entry, kitchen, halls and bathrooms."
Oh yassss! I think they nailed it, do you? Plus I could totally see myself with a morning coffee and a magazine at that breakfast bar, how about you?!
Tell us about the master bathroom re-design?
"The master bathroom was one of 3 bathrooms we designed, though due to time constraints we only shot the one. It was all cosmetic changes for the master suite as the existing layout worked well. As you can see from the below before shots it was a bit of a circus in there, or a zoo to be more specific. The previous owners had some fun with the walls and while we think a lot of creativity went into the monkey forest scene, we couldn’t wait to clean the space up and give it a fresh injection using quality materials, custom cabinetry and warm wood tones."
What were your plans?
"We continued the wood tile that we used throughout since it was so practical but still added such warmth to the space (which has no natural light). Seeing it in the bathroom I am still so pleased with the choice of wood tile we made. It was a tough task because most of them look manufactured but the movement, grain and colour of this one is so natural and in the bathroom is looks fabulous. We used a large polished stone tile on the walls around the bath tub, shower walls and baseboard, plus a beautiful striped matte tile on the wall between the bath tub and shower (that doesn’t show up as nicely in the image as it does in person – the texture is so beautiful in the space), polished quartz cararra counter top, custom walnut door and drawer pulls, and custom cabinetry painted in Benjamin Moore’s White Dove in the same ‘contemporary shaker’ style as the kitchen cabinetry featuring a walnut divider with integrated back and front storage."
And the result...
Oj oj oj (as they say in Sweden!), what a transformation! It just goes to show that it's amazing what you can do with a little vision (and the help of Avenue Design Studio!).
That's one lucky client, wouldn't you say?! Plus they have Miami on their doorstep too.... want to swap?!
Have a lovely day!
PS Do you have a make-over you'd like to share in this mini-series? If so drop me a mail!
Photography & Design: Avenue Design Studio
* All words are my own, and I only ever work with brands and services I feel are of interest to my readers. Thank you for supporting the businesses that make My Scandinavian Home possible.
Deep Hues in a Calm Swedish Apartment
When I arrived in the Gothenburg archipelago to visit Carpe Diem Beds yesterday it was bright sunshine - I thought 'I can't wait to get my camera out tomorrow'. And guess what? I woke up this morning (at the beautiful - Strandflickornas Havhotel) and there was a howling gale outside! I'm all cosy in my room drinking coffee and tapping away at my laptop, so it's all good anyway! And I've even managed to find a home tour to match (or should I say 'embrace') the beautiful moody notes of the weather. Think green-blue, deep purple and greys, luxurious velvet and a plenty of books and magazines to hand! What a perfect place to batten down the hatches and ride out the storm?!
Stylist: Emma Fischer Photography: Alen Cordic for Bjurfors.
What a perfect oasis. All that's missing is music from a gramophone and you're sorted!
Coud you imagine rocking about here?
If you're curious about achieving a similar look, here's our round-up of lovely pieces....
1. Emery Linen/Cotton Pole-Pocket Drape
2. Mark Eden Schooley Lamp
3. Sculpt Pod Vase
4. Bourne Dimpled Glass Vase
5. Southern Enterprises Full-Length Leaning Wall Mirror
6. Javiel Coral Decoration
7. Pedrera Coffee Table
8. DWR Diamond Quilt
9. DWR Linen Pillowcases
10. DWR Sateen Duvet Cover
11. Kaiser-idell™ Tiltable Table Lamp
12. Zeus Handmade Vase
13. Colette Desk
14. Spectrum Throw
15. Heart leaf plant
16. Nelson™ Daybed
Right, time to wrap up warm and head out with my camera (I've heard photographers love a 'moody sky' so perhaps it'll only add to my pictures anyway!).
Have a lovely day!
PS See more homes decorated in rich, dark colours here.
What a perfect oasis. All that's missing is music from a gramophone and you're sorted!
Coud you imagine rocking about here?
If you're curious about achieving a similar look, here's our round-up of lovely pieces....
Get the look
1. Emery Linen/Cotton Pole-Pocket Drape
2. Mark Eden Schooley Lamp
3. Sculpt Pod Vase
4. Bourne Dimpled Glass Vase
5. Southern Enterprises Full-Length Leaning Wall Mirror
6. Javiel Coral Decoration
7. Pedrera Coffee Table
8. DWR Diamond Quilt
9. DWR Linen Pillowcases
10. DWR Sateen Duvet Cover
11. Kaiser-idell™ Tiltable Table Lamp
12. Zeus Handmade Vase
13. Colette Desk
14. Spectrum Throw
15. Heart leaf plant
16. Nelson™ Daybed
Right, time to wrap up warm and head out with my camera (I've heard photographers love a 'moody sky' so perhaps it'll only add to my pictures anyway!).
Have a lovely day!
PS See more homes decorated in rich, dark colours here.
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