opinions please: new curtains!

I'm 99% sold on these new curtains for my living room ... what do you think?

Official deets: Ivory/white, semi-sheer, with jute stripes that look like gold from afar. $20/panel from Cost Plus World Market.

Replacing: the ivory floral sheer curtains that came with the house.

I love the idea of stripes in that room, as well as how the curtains fit the white and gold theme in a more neutral way. I'm less than enthused about the mismatching stripes when the curtains are closed (for me, that's 50-75% of the time). But is that enough of a dealbreaker? I haven't found anything else I really love.

find your prize

Fellow home blogger and college friend Meredith and I visited Hunt & Gather (famous for "find your prize") yesterday ... to celebrate her new house!

I found a new (old) crystal drawer pull for the desk in my dining room, some Valentines's Day cards, and about a hundred other things I sadly couldn't bring home.

I also picked up some pillow forms at JoAnn's for my other new favorite things ... Pillow cases from Zara Home. I found them when I was in Paris for work last November and they've been mocking me from their folded perch on my bedroom chair ever since. It was time to put them to good use, brightening up my living room couch on this icy, snowy weekend.

Prizes found.

miracle mineral oil

I'm a die-hard fixer of things I love ... boots get re-heeled, shoes get re-soled, scuffed leather gets moisturized and polished. It's no different with the architectural pieces of my house that can't be so easily replaced as a pair of heels.

Take my kitchen cabinets. Custom-built mission-style wood that almost seems to glow from within (thank you, previous owners). And I love them to pieces.

Except for the worn and torn edges near the sink and stove. Most of the staining is from water (near the sink) and dry air (from the oven, and the house in general). Not the most inspiring thing to look at every time I'm at the sink:

But a few minutes with a soft cloth and a bottle of mineral oil, and everything looks as good as new.

I discovered mineral oil a few years ago when I was given a beautiful handmade wooden cutting board as a gift. Someone told me the best way to minimize the appearance of knife cuts on the board would be to treat it with mineral oil (available at stores like Bed Bath & Beyond or your hardware store). It's food-safe and not only works like magic on minor scuffs and scratches but also restores the wood to its original color (without messing up the stain, if there is one).

So if you have a wooden cabinet, desk, chair or cutting board that could use some TLC, there you have it. My secret revealed.

xoxo, LG

new recipes and a new year's goal

To set the stage today: I'm sitting at my dining room table, listening to the down-home swinging tunes of A Prairie Home Companion and Lynn Rossetto Casper's soothing voice on The Splendid Table. A cup of Good Earth Tea in my favorite teacup, and cloudy skies predicting (hopefully) snow later today. My kitchen is finally clean, I'm home for an entire weekend and the week ahead, and I'm catching up on all things personal and work-related.

I'm not quite ready to tackle my inbox, which suffered terribly from a personal trip to Atlanta last weekend and a work trip to Kansas City this week. So instead, I'm going to tell you about a few of my favorite new recipes. Not a lot of pictures this post, because I wasn't so much in documentation mode when I was scarfing these down earlier in January. But you can find lots of beautiful photographs on Bon Appetit's website, since that's where they all came from.

For I, Miss Little Farmhouse, valiantly attempted to follow the Food Lover's Two-Week Cleanse a few weeks back. The first week was great; I mostly failed the second week; and my trip to Atlanta definitely threw a wrench in everything. But I discovered some great new staple recipes to add to my repertoire, so it was definitely worth it. For starters:

New Breakfast Favorites

Black Rice-Coconut Risotto

Citrus Salad with Yogurt and Rosemary (add yogurt and agave nectar/honey to this recipe from day 4)

Omelet with Fresh Herbs and Goat Cheese

Mango Lassi with a Pinch of Ancho Chile

Fried Egg with Arugula and Chili Sauce

Snacks

Bosc Pear with Fresh Goat Cheese and Honey

Celery Sticks with Almond Butter and Smoked Paprika

In the Lunch Rotation

Kale Salad with Tuna and White Beans

Weekend Dinners with Lunch Leftovers

Butternut Squash and Tomato Soup

White Bean Chili with Winter Root Vegetables

Conveniently, this project also served one of my 2013 goals: to try 30 new recipes. In fact, I tried 12 new recipes in two weeks thanks to the menus and meal plans from BA. So I think I'll blow way past 30 this year! Regardless, I'll try to report back each month with the new recipes I've tried so you can join in the fun.

xoxo

LG

a wedding at Downton, a party at the farmhouse

It was a night for celebrating ... Mary + Matthew's long-awaited walk down the aisle, the return of must-watch tv on Sunday nights, and welcoming Tembo into the friend family. Cell phones were exiled to the hall table. Like you do.

On the menu:

Mrs. Patmore's London Particular

Yorkshire Pudding Canapes

Cucumber tea sandwiches

Raspberry Gelato and Meringues

1.6.13

2012: all the things!

All those things I mentioned in the last post? Haven't done them yet. Whoops! BUT I have been spending lots of great time traveling (for work, for fun, and of course, for weddings). More to come about house updates soon, though, since that's one of my resolutions this year.

I spent New Year's weekend hanging out in my childhood neighborhood, and I was feeling nostalgic so here are a few of my favorite away-from-the-house moments from the last twelve months. 

Minneapolis ~ Dec. 30, 2011 ~ Kelin & Mike

Des Moines ~ June 9, 2012 ~ Caitlin & Alex

Minneapolis ~ July 14, 2012 ~ Sarah & Steve

Davis, CA ~ July 28, 2012 ~ Bethany & Adam

New Braunfels, TX ~ Aug. 25, 2012 ~ Kelli & Kyle

Honolulu ~ Sept. 9, 2012 ~ Christina & Andrew

Northfield, MN ~ Sept. 15, 2012 ~ Lauren & Jamison

Wimberly, TX ~ Dec. 29, 2012 ~ Courtney & Cullen