A Big Pasta Pie ~ That's Amore!

(Shoutout to Becky ~ I'm wearing the pretty apron you made me!)

A couple of weeks ago as I sewed and the Today Show was blarring in the background, I heard Giada De Laurentiis mention prosciutto.  Prosciutto?!  Forget the sewing!  I jumped up and ran to the TV and saw Giada making her version of Cappellini al Forno ~ yum!  It sounded and looked so good that we gave it a try and in case you want to, here's the recipe and pictures of the process:

CAPPELLINI AL FORNO
Ingredients:
1 lb cappellini (angel hair pasta)
4 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons dried parsley
1 cup breadcrumbs
1 cup parmessan cheese
3 eggs, beaten, room temp
3 cups mozzarella cheese
1 pound prosciutto, thickly sliced, coarsely chopped
3 tablespoons olive oil
Red sauce, warmed

Directions:
1.  Grease the bottom and sides of a 9-inch springform pan
2.  Cook pasta according to package directions, drain well and place in a large bowl
3.  Add butter, 1/2 cup parmessan cheese, eggs, parsley and dash of pepper to pasta; toss well until coated
4.  Sprinkle 1/4 cup of breadcrumbs on the bottom of the pan

5. Spread 1/3 of pasta on top of the breadcrumbs

6. Arrange 1/2 of the prosciutto onto pasta

7.  Sprinkle 1/2 of the mozarella on the prosciutto

8.  Add 1/3 of the pasta next, pushing it down to form an even layer

9.  Spread another 1/4 cup of breadcrumbs

10.  Spread the rest of the prosciutto, then the rest of the mozzarella

11.  Next, arrange the rest of the pasta

12.  In a small bowl, mix the remaining breadcrumbs with the remaining parmessan cheese and sprinkle on the pasta

13.  Drizzle with olive oil

14.  Bake for 45 to 50 minutes in a 350 degree oven until light golden brown and allow to cool for 10 minutes before removing from springform pan and slicing

15.  Pour your red sauce over slices of the pasta pie

16.  Enjoy your big pasta pie!

Aaaahhh, that's amore! (Humming Dean Martin as you cook is recommended.)

Think you'll give it a try?  Do tell, and you're automatically entered to win this month's blog giveaway from Whoopsie Daisies:

Drawing is September 30th ~ good luck!

Sometimes Twyla's Really Gross

Gawd I love this dog!

Can you blame me?  I mean, she's just so dern cute!

But sometimes she's disgusting!  I'm not talking the standard crotch licking or sneaking into the trash.

She digs for moles!  She plays with them, placing her paws on them until they squeak like her toys.  Then she rolls on them so that they squeak more!  And then they die.  Clearly, she doesn't have the brain capacity to make the connection between stepping on them and death.  They're not squeaky toys, Twyla!  No never mind, she still carries them up onto the porch.  To play with them later, hoping they'll wake up?  To show me?

Eeewwwhhh!

On our morning walk around the farm yesterday, she caught the scent of a mole and began digging:

See the disappointment in her eyes (and the sandy nose)?  She didn't get the mole (I wouldn't have let her anyway ~ would've tugged her leash).

I've lectured her repeatedly about "playing" with moles.

But she keeps doing it!  No shame whatsoever!

I swear she's dreaming about digging for more right now!

Viscious.  Gross.

But I love her!

Does your pet disgust you sometimes too?  Share your thoughts and you'll have a chance to win this month's blog giveaway ~ a steering wheel cover from Lee-Ann's Whoopsie Daisies Etsy shop!  Drawing is 9/30.

 

Wedding Bling

My daughter Natalie's been searching for a vintage-y looking brooch or clip for her wedding updo but hasn't had any luck.  We set out a couple of weeks ago to look again.  Still nothing.  BUT, we did find these:

Not wanting to wear a headband, we pried the bling from the headbands,

and glued a little bit of pewter colored felt to the sharp edges on the underside:

(Gratuitous engagement ring shot!  Isn't it pretty?)

Then we glued hair clips onto the backside:

We waited 24 hours (following the directions on the glue packaging) and wa-lah!

Two gorgeous hair brooches for less than $30 bucks!  We may clip them in her hair together so that they look like one really big one.  Haven't decided yet.  Stay tuned for the final look ~ wedding's only eight weeks from now!

Have any wedding preparation tips you want to share?  Leave a comment here and you're automatically entered to win this month's blog giveaway ~ an awesome, handmade steering wheel cover from Whoopsie Daisies!

I'll randomly draw a winner on September 30th.  Good luck!

Sleeping Beauties: Retro Revival Launches Sleep Bonnet Line

I've had many requests over the past two years for custom-made sleep bonnets.

I really had no idea that so many people use these ~ for various reasons.  One of my customers (you may recognize her ~ she was a winner of my joint Facebook contest with J&O Fabrics), Charity, ordered one a few months ago to protect her gorgeous hair from the damage caused by cotton pillow cases:

 

Other customers have told me sleeping in a bonnet helps preserve their hair do and still others wear them as a cover for their hair rollers.  As the requests continue to arrive, I've decided to launch an official line of these on my website and Etsy shop.  I think of them as my sleeping beauties!  I line the inside of them with luxurious satin:

Of course launching a new line means I need new photos ~ any excuse to take cheesy pictures that will hopefully draw attention to my products!  Here's to making you smile (or cringe, I dunno?!):

Leave a comment and let me know if you're laughing or wincing ~ either way, you'll be entered to win this month's blog giveaway:

...A Whoopsie Daisies steering wheel cover!  Drawing on 9/30 ~ good luck!

 

Hot Sticky Weather = Christmas Planning?

Here in central Florida, we're lucky to have warm weather all year long, normally with just a couple of cold days.  And by lucky I really mean sweaty!  And the humidity ~ phew!  Which makes it difficult sometimes for me to get into the swing of fall and the upcoming holidays.  Like most retailers, I find myself hard at work planning for the busiest time of the year.

At the risk of prompting "ughs!," "jeezs!" and massive eyeball rolling, I want to share with you a few of my latest apron creations.  Yes, I know it's not that different from walking into the stores on a hot, sticky summer day and seeing Halloween candy lining the shelves!  Or worse yet, having to walk by Christmas decorations on the way to the candle section of the store (my experience in Atlanta at Garden Ridge last month)!

Hope you'll endulge me for a moment...

So despite the fact that it's suppose to reach 93 degrees today, I'm heading back to the sewing machine to begin sewing my Christmas aprons!  I feel like I should be humming Winter Wonderland or something but instead, Bananarama's Cruel Summer is playing in my head!

Know what's great for keeping your hands comfortable in your car?  A Whoopsie Daisies steering wheel cover!

Leave a comment here and you'll have a chance to win one.  I'll randomly draw the winner on September 30th ~ good luck!

 

I Like Big Buns and I Cannot Lie

{An homage to Sir-Mix-A-Lot.  Well, sort of.}

My apologies if you get this song stuck in your head, but I'm obsessed with big buns ~ really!

An explanation...My daughter and I were chatting on the phone recently and she told me that she'd discovered a way to style her hair into a big bun.  She called it a "sock bun," and described it as a donut.  Ha!  I told her I'd just bought one online!  It's freaky but sometimes I think we share a (silly) brain:)  Anyway, when she and the Fiance visited us last weekend, we decided to give them a try ~ here's our tutorial-ish...

First, you put your hair up into a pony tail:

Then you slip the donut over your pony tail...

...and move the donut to the end of your pony tail, leaving just the tip outside the donut:

Finally, you roll your pony down over the donut...

...until it touches your head:

No bobby pins needed!  No hairspray needed!  Our buns stayed in place all day long.

Ta da:

Of course when our do's were complete we danced into the family room to model for Captain Project and The Fiance, singing our version of Sir Mix-A-Lot (yes, we crack ourselves up!).  The men rolled their eyes.  At our singing?  Our buns?  Our dancing?  Probably all three, but whatev, I love the big buns!  So fun!

In case you want to give it a try, here's how to make your own:

Share YOUR thoughts on big buns (or pop culture, mainstream, silly rap songs) and you're automatically entered to win this month's fun, free blog giveaway, a steering wheel cover from Whoopsie Daisies.  Drawing is 9/30.  Good luck!