knitted mug koozie

it's freakin' freezing here (it was in the 20s when i woke up yesterday!) so this is calling my name. do any of you wonderful readers of mine like to knit? dying for one of these but i'm THE WURST when it comes to knitting needles and yarn. wouldn't it be the perfect accessory during your morning cup of tea?

get the knitting pattern (and photo credit) here.

recipes: chicken enchilades verdes

my latest recipe escapade was a batch of homemade chicken enchilades verdes. i combined a couple of recipes to create my ultimate in green chile goodness. any excuse to eat beans and my mexican rice is my idea of a dream come true.

verde sauce:

• 1 lb tomatillos (about 15), husked and cut into quarters
• 1 1/4 cup chicken broth
• a pinch of salt
• 1 jalepeno pepper, seeded and chopped

combine all ingredients, bring to a boil and reduce heat, letting the combo simmer for about 15 minutes (or until the tomatillos are soft). use an immersion blender (or a food processer or real blender, whatever) to puree the mixture. bring it back to a simmer for just a few minutes to let it reduce a little bit more.

filling:

• 4 shredded chicken breasts (shred after boiling in water for 20 minutes with half of a white onion and two cloves of garlic)
• 1/2 up queso fresco
• 1 cup shredded cheddar
  
• 1/3 cup fresh minced cilantro
• 1/3 cup sour cream
• 1 tbsp fresh lime juice
• 1/2 tsp cumin
• salt and pepper
  

combine all ingredients and fill tortillas (i prefer flour), rolling and placing in baking dish side-by-side. make sure you'd spread some of the salsa verde in the bottom of the baking dish first. sprinkle with more cheese and top with plenty of salsa verde. cook for 10 minutes at 400 degrees and serve after the salsa verde starts to bubble and the tortillas get a tiny bit brown.

rain, rain, go away...but fill up my barrels first

i told nick a few weeks ago that the backyard is officially his domain. i planted a bunch of stuff over the summer that i promptly started to neglect so decided to throw my hands in the air and let nick do his thing. he has since done some awesome things such as rip out a half-dead tree and replace it with a baby peach tree, put in a fig tree, grapes, blueberries, a few flowering plants and a tangerine tree.

his latest escapade is rain barrels, which came in over the weekend...just in time for the rain on saturday night. a tiny bit of rain turned into two completely full barrels, which will be enough to keep the plants watered for quite some time. he's so green and it'll save us plenty of cash in water bills. i heart him.

ps. happy 1.11.11!

weekending it up

me and nick at salt lick mid-bbq coma

nick and i had an absolutely fantastic weekend with my bff in the entire world and her husband. katie and warren came for a visit from their new home of LA and we did our best to show them the highlights of austin. you'd think we'd be pros by now, but i still get worried we won't be able to show how awesome austin is with just one short weekend. we spent friday night on the east side (takoba, the good knight, cheer up charlie's), saturday at salt lick, mandola...ahem...duchman winery and dinner at uchi (best hot rock evvvveerrrr), and yesterday was more relaxing with breakfast/lunch at tacodeli and a freezing/wet walk around s. congress and mt. bonnell.

i miss katie tremendously and can't wait to plan a trip out to LA to see her new home. hearts!!!

the guest room vision: almost done

it's been a few months since we moved in and the guest room is almost done. remember when i had visions of the viceroy santa monica dancing in my head? well, i'm on my way there. i'm still looking for a new bedframe, i want to spruce up the white curtains with something (although i'm not sure what), and there are a few details here and there that i'd like to refine. but overall, i'm digging it. who wants to come visit and spend a few nights in that cozy bed? eh? bueller?

before: the blank slate

after: on my way to the viceroy (kinda)

DIY: i love me some chevrons

remember when i posted about how much i love chevron curtains? well, since i haven't figured out how/if i'm going to create them for the guestroom i decided to whip out the sewing machine and add some chevron flair in a smaller way. i bought this sewing machine about a month ago to have for my mom's visits to austin (she's a master and loooooooves when i give her hemming, curtain trimming and other jobs when she comes to visit...note sarcasm) and decided it was about time i figure out how to use it.

i spent practically an entire day teaching myself how to thread the dang thing, then how to sew a straight line, then muddled my way through actual creation.

and i must say, i'm pretty dang proud of myself! and i know my mom's proud, too.

i love you, chevrons.

ps. i got the fabric here.

DIY: giving an old chair new life

i searched craigslist for about a month looking for an old armchair. i knew i wanted something for the guest room but couldn't find anything off the shelf that i really loved (or wanted to spend that much money on...armchairs are expensive!) so turned to craiglist for something previously loved. i found this guy for $40 from a woman who inherited it from her grandpa. it was no masterpiece but i knew it was a diamond in the rough. i spent a few days sanding, cleaning, scraping, gluing, removing rogue nails, etc...


i was mid-paint when i started wondering if i should paint it yellow to be a bright statement in the white/yellow/purple guest room...but decided to keep it white and repaint it later if i still wanted to.

and voila! the finished piece. there are a few more details, too, which i'll share later this week.