BR_3

The Espresso and Cream home tour continues! I’ve been dragging these posts out a bit longer than intended, but last weekend I finally got around to snapping photos of many of the rooms in our house right after I cleaned on Saturday. I’m planning on making them a little more regular in the weeks and months to come. I hope you don’t mind mixing it up on this little food blog!

The room I’m sharing with you today is called “the blog room” around our house. I feel a little silly having an entire room devoted to blogging, especially since it’s just a hobby. But we had the space and weren’t sure what else we would do with the room, so Joe let me claim it as the most girly, creative space in the house.

This little room is on the smaller side and has the feel of a sunroom, since it has windows on three sides and a door that opens into the house on the remaining wall. It’s ultra bright and happy and filled with plenty of natural light that makes for great pictures. It’s also the only room upstairs that has carpet, giving it a cozy feel.

In the photo above, you can see the corner of the room devoted to my small desk (Target) with my favorite white chair (Homegoods) and various other wall decorations. The photo of Aurdrey Hepburn was a gift from my dad for my 18th birthday. It’s a framed original photo from some of the promo materials shot while filming My Fair Lady. I love it so much and it will follow me until I die.

 

BR_4

The magazine racks, above, were gifts from our wedding. They are from Pottery Barn and are super handy for keeping magazines and other inspirational material. The bottom rack is reserved for mail that needs our attention, like bills, records and information, etc.

 

BR_1

The butcher block, above, is another super unique element in the room. I inherited it after my grandmother passed away this spring and it was shipped all the way from North Carolina. What you can’t see is that the block, which is a 1900′s original from a meat packing plant, is completely solid and weighs around 700 pounds. We needed four large men to get the thing in place so it’s never moving. Some day I would love to find a way to include it in a kitchen floorplan and actually use it, but that’s a long way down the road.

 

BR_2

Minneapolis is home to the only Room and Board outlet in the country, so we certainly took advantage of that fact when we moved here. The bookshelves are from the outlet and make a great addition to the room. I knew that I wanted shelves that showed off the eclectic mix of props I have collected over the years (like the cups pictured below) so doing exposed shelves was the prefect solution!

BR_5

IMG_0884

And this large basket vase with artificial flowers is a nodd to our wedding! We used these at our wedding and I was excited to find a home for them in our house. The flowers give the room a bright, light and breezy feel that makes me instantly uplifted.

Well, I think that’s it for the blog room. Like I said, it’s not a very big room, so there isn’t much to show. Up next? The kitchen!

Madison

MadisonDad

Just dropping in on this Sunday to wish my amazing dad a happy Father’s Day.

There really aren’t words to describe how much this man means to me. He has taught me so much, loved me so deeply and helped shape me into the person I am today.

I love you to the moon and back, Dad! Happy Father’s Day!

And to prove it’s not all seriousness on our wedding day…

MadisonDad2

Madison

NecklaceComp

I’m all about keeping it simple when it comes to what I wear. Naturally I gravitate to dresses that are black, navy, grey, or striped since they are versatile and wearing a lot of color makes me uncomfortable.

At the same time, I still like to keep things fresh and fun, which is where jewelry comes into play. Last week I dressed up a very basic black dress with the Claudette necklace from To: Hello BeautifulIt instantly dressed up my basic outfit and I was shocked at the number of compliments I got about it at work.

Dress: Banana Republic Outlet
Cardigan: Banana Republic
Necklace: To: Hello Beautiful “Claudette Pearlized Statement Necklace

To: Hello Beautiful is offering all E&C readers 10% off their purchases! Just use the code MADISON10 when you check out! Shop the collection here.

Disclaimer: As part of an ongoing partnership, To: Hello Beautiful provided this necklace to me. However, the views and opinions are 100% my own.

Rhubarb_Cake_1

Happy Monday, friends! I’m struggling to get on the Monday bandwagon this week, if we are being really honest. Joe and I have both been battling a sore throat for the last couple days and we had a terribly sick little pup Thursday and Friday, which was awfully scary. Thankfully, it appears to have been a bout of puppy flu, and she is back to her normal chipper self. Never have I been so thankful to see that little tail wagging again!

If I had to sum up last week, I think I would call it the “Week of Rhubarb Desserts.” Joe and I literally ate rhubarb dessert four out of five weeknights last week. Crazy, right? But when it is in season, you have to take advantage!

The real kick-off to our rhubarb dessert eating was the fact that my sweet older neighbor, Marcia, brought over a large bag of rhubarb from her garden. Along with the rhubarb she included a couple of her favorite rhubarb recipes, including a super simple family favorite recipe for rhubarb cake. I love old recipes, especially recipes that have been handed down from other bakers with much more experience, so it took about 10 minutes for me to get baking this cake.

Rhubarb_Cake_2

As with most older recipes, there are a lot of ways you can go wrong. The directions are usually pretty vague and don’t necessarily provide much direction or explanation, meaning there is plenty of room to make a mistake. However, I’m happy to report that this cake was a huge hit with everyone who enjoyed it! It’s a simple cake that is very easy to pull together. I called for an electric mixer in the recipe, but I made the recipe twice and didn’t use an electric mixer the second time. The cake turned out beautifully both times, so use what you feel like using.

One word to the wise: This cake is better when it is made the day you are planning on serving it. Since the rhubarb has a lot of moisture it tends to make the cake soggy on the second and third days after baking. It’s still totally edible and delicious (Joe still ate it all!) but maybe not worthy of serving guests after the first day. Pop it in the oven while you eat dinner, then serve it warm with a cup of coffee and some ice cream after you eat your meal.

Marcia’s Rhubarb Cake
Makes 12 to 16 servings
Ingredients
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 stick butter, melted
1 large egg
1 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups chopped rhubarb
Additional sugar for sprinkling atop cake

Directions
Heat oven to 350F. Combine sugar and butter. Beat until well combined with an electric mixer. Beat in the egg and buttermilk until combined.

In large bowl, combine the baking soda, cinnamon, salt and flour. Add flour to wet ingredients and beat until just combined. Stir in the rhubarb by hand.

Sprinkle about 2 tablespoons sugar atop cake. Pour batter into a greased 13×9 inch baking pan. Bake 30 to 34 minutes or until cake is golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out nearly clean. Cool 10 minutes before cutting.

Happy Baking!
Madison

Cronut

Image from Pillsbury.com

Happy National Doughnut Day, friends! I’ll be honest, I don’t typically eat a lot of doughnuts. They are certainly more of a treat rather than an every week sort of thing. But when I do eat a doughnut, it has to be 100% worth every calorie.

I think that Joe and I will be making these this weekend to celebrate. And I’m going to enjoy every single calorie. :)

S’mores Crescent Doughnut recipe courtesy of Pillsbury.

Have a great weekend!
Madison

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...