Wednesday, January 20, 2010

happy discoveries

First of all, I discovered the sweetest Etsy shop today. And I'm in love.

Meet Sarah Jane Studios. And her adorable shop at Etsy.

This makes my heart hurt a bit...because they just grow up too fast, don't they?
This is on my list of must haves for the girl's room. Precious.

And that calendar...even though January is almost over, I think I'm going to need that for my desk. The pictures are so sweet. (All pictures are from Sarah Jane Studios etsy listings...go take a peek!)

I think I could fill up walls of my house with her whimsically vintage drawings. Kind of reminds me of a little softer Mary Engelbreit. I just want to get lost in the childish romance of the drawings. Sigh.

And she's writing a children's book. Can't WAIT to see that!

Secondly, every week after church we have a fellowship meal. And this week, I contributed this salad (as well as a yummy caramel bar, but I'll save that for another day.):


To die for. It would be absolutely perfect all autumn long...but don't wait until then. It's still fabulous right now! And pretty easy! I altered the recipe ever-so-slightly for need of presentation: I quartered the apples before baking them (to yield more brown sugar per inch of apple when sliced) and then sliced them in smaller wedges before tossing in a salad bowl.)

Apple Pecan Salad

3 Tbsp. packed brown sugar
3 Tbsp. chopped pecans
3 small sweet apples, halved and cored
1 Tbsp. butter, melted
1/3 cup oil
1/4 cup apple cider
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1 Tbsp. honey
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
6 cups mesclun mix or mixed greens
1/4 cup coarsely chopped pecans, toasted

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Line a baking sheet with foil. Lightly coat with spray. In a bowl, combine brown sugar and finely chopped pecans. Place apples halves, cut sides up, on the baking sheet. Brush tops of apples with butter; sprinkle with brown sugar mixture (use all of it.) Bake 15 minutes or just until tender when peirced with a fork.

2. Meanwhile, in a screwtop jar, combine oil, cider, vinegar, honey, salt and pepper. Cover and shake well.

3. Arrange greens on a platter; top with apple halves. Spoon melted sugar and pecans from sheet atop salad. Shake dressing and drizzle desired amount onto salad. Sprinkle with chopped pecans. Pass remaining dressing to suit taste.

I hope you enjoy this!

2 comments:

lisa truesdell said...

that store is too sweet, and the salad looks YUM. thanks for the recipe!

Anonymous said...

those illustrations are too cute! Apple pecan salad is one of my favs too, we caramelize the pecans and add blue cheese in our house. yumm-o

 

© 2011. All Rights Reserved. | Prefab Blog Design By Penny Lane Designs