Holiday Wish List

It's not too early to think about the 2011 Holiday Season! (and yes, I know that it's still 105 in Texas!) Just think refreshing thoughts of cold weather, hot chocolate and peppermints! There! Feel better now?So...How will you decorate? Are your Christmas decorations looking stale, bedraggled, and otherwise chewed up and gnarly?
Freshen up your Holiday decor with beautifully festive pieces from Willow House! You can view the catalog and shop online at my website! Come on! Christmas isn't that far away!

Weekly Deals!

This week's Willow House Weekly Deals are posted on my website. Here's a little sneak peek!

The Southern Living Homestyle Cookbook is just $9.96, this week only. Click that link and order your copy today.  Stock up for Christmas gifts, hostess gifts, bunco gifts, and of course, a gift for yourself!

These gorgeous Luminous Martini glasses are so beautiful! Use them to serve up special desserts, or your favorite icy beverage, Wine-a-Rita  for example. Pretty food served in pretty dishes...that's simply good design.

While you're at my website, be sure to look at the new Fall catalog from Willow House. Full of design tips, style inspiration, and fabulous things for your home, you'll want to place an order soon! Better yet, contact me and find out how to host a party and earn up to 70% off your favorite item in the catalog. Oh, and did I mention that it's double hostess rewards this month? Hurry! You can have a "virtual party" and earn the same benefits, with none of the work of having a real party. Contact me today and find out how!
Andy Schwartz-Willow House Catalog

Smokin' Sunday!

My husband is the KING of what we in Texas call "Aggie Engineering". In other words, he loves to remake and redo things in order to save money. (Sometimes that's actually a good thing). His latest project involved remaking an old, unused, little electric smoker that had been sitting out in our shed for probably 10 years or so. He was about to put it out at the curb, so he could purchase a new fancy-schmancy wood fired smoker, when his brain lit up, and that little, cheap lightbulb went off! Ding ding ding!!! He decided to retro fit that little old smoker himself. No fancy- schmancy needed here! No sirree! He found some directions online, (which I have since searched for and can't find) and was able to make a perfectly fine, perfectly sized, little smoker, just fit for two! I have to say. It's been AWESOME! No need to heat up my kitchen in this Texas heat! Yay! This Sunday, he smoked a brisket, and I just have to share his rub recipe.
2 T. Sugar
2 T. Kosher Salt
3 tsp. brown sugar
2 tsp. smoked paprika
1 tsp. chili powder
1 tsp. fresh chopped oregano
1 tsp. ground cumin
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper

On Saturday night, he sprinkled the rub onto the brisket and rubbed it in realllllly good. He wrapped it up in foil and it stayed in the fridge all night. Gettin' all spicy and stuff... Then on Sunday, out to the smoker it went. Daisy supervised. She's good like that.

He placed it on our little bitty smoker.

Daisy watched. She takes this smokin' business very seriously. She is hugging that little bit of shade by the fence! Poor baby...so hot right now. Ugh...

He had been soaking some apple wood chips for hours, and that's what he placed onto the already hot fire, to create the smoke. He just checked on the smoker periodically, placing new chips onto the fire. That smoke is the key to great barbecue!

Can you smell that smoke? That is pure deliciousness. I wish you had smell-o-vision.

Here's that beautiful brisket, after hanging out in the smoker for about 5 hours.

Oh yeah.

Sliced up and ready to devour. It was so tender and juicy and ridiculously good. I swear. It just made me Texas barbecue proud! Yum-yum!

I served it with a "semi-homemade" pasta salad. I just made a boxed pasta salad mix, and whisked in one generous tablespoon of prepared Basil Pesto to the dressing. I added the last of my fresh Roma tomatoes (sigh) and some mozzarella cheese, black olives, thinly sliced red olives and fresh basil. I let that hang out in the fridge all day, and it was ready to enjoy by supper time.
Enjoy! Take time to smell the brisket...

Making, Cooking, Drinking, Reading...

I just saw this on another blog and thought it was a great idea. Please copy and write and keep it going! It's a great way to catch up on what we're doing and what's happening in our own little corners of the world.

Making: A mess while I attempt to clean up my office.

Cooking: About to make some chocolate chip cookies. Or no bake cookies. It's too dang hot!

Drinking: Lots of water! Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate! (of course I'll probably have a peach bellini from Wine-a-Rita a little bit later!

Reading: Just finished "Hissy Fit" by Mary Kay Andrews and loved it so much that I ordered her newest one, "Summer Rental". Just plain fun!

Looking: at the hummingbirds chase each other off the hummingbird feeder. Why do the little stinkers do that? There's plenty for all!

Playing: Danny Wright on Pandora. I'm an old fuddy duddy. But it relaxes me.

Wishing: It would rain. Oh how we need rain!

Praying: For rain. and cooler temps. It's. Just. Awful!!!

Liking: My new job at Wine-a-Rita. I'm actually looking forward to Monday!

Smelling: The delicious aroma from the smoker. John has a brisket on and it smells divine! I'm going to post a little how to and recipe later!

Wearing: My Sunday uniform. Chico's Zenergy pants and tee shirt. And no make up!!

Knowing: That my plans are not necessarily God's plans, but that He knows best for me!

Thinking: about how much fun dinner will be tonight when Greg and Sarah come over!

Giggling: about some of the crazy things I see on Pinterest!

Excited: about the new comforter set I ordered from Penney's. I've been looking far and wide for one for Amanda's old room, now the guest room. Can't wait to get it!

Feeling: Tired. Might be time for a nap!

Cinnamon Roll Sunday

If you've ever worked in retail, you know how hard it is. Feet hurt. Back hurts. Cranky customers make you want to run from the store screaming. So last weekend I decided to reward my coworkers at Chico's with some beautiful, homemade cinnamon rolls. I found the recipe at allrecipes.com, (which I highly recommend). Here is the link to the fabulous and easy recipe: Clone of a Cinnabon.

So, here's my photos, step by step. I started out, as the recipe recommended, by using the dough cycle on my bread machine. Hooray for bread machines! I also use mine at Christmas, when I make dozens of loaves of bread to give away as gifts. It's a time saver and works great!

After the dough cycle has completed, dump it out onto a floured surface, and roll into a rectangle-ish shape.

Make the cinnamon and sugar mixture.
Spread your rectangle with butter. Lots of smooth, creamy butter! Real Butter please! Then sprinkle the rectangle liberally with your cinnamon sugar mixture. I used my flour sifter.
Roll the rectangle into this shape. Don't worry if it's not perfect. You can cut those ugly ends off, and bake them for your samples. I mean, you have to sample it right? You don't care if it's ugly, as long as it tastes good, right?
Here's my hint for slicing the rolls. Use Dental Floss!! Works like a charm, go under, criss-cross and pull. Makes for smooth clean cuts every time, and is better than sawing away with your knife.
Place your beautiful rolls into a BUTTERED pan. Yep, more butter. At this point, you can rise and bake as the recipe recommends, or cover tightly with plastic wrap, and refrigerate overnight. That way you can bake them in the morning! Just remove the wrap in the morning, and place into a cool oven, set the temperature to 350, and bake for about 25-30 minutes. Your kitchen will smell like heaven!
Ice the rolls while they are still warm from the oven. The cream cheese icing recipe is fabulous! I'd even use it on cakes. It's really yummy! Seriously, how gorgeous are these rolls? They tasted even better than they look! After making these, you'll never want to open a Pillsbury can again!