One of my favs...

I recently received this cookbook this passed Christmas (thanks Bubba).

How did I live all of these 29 years without having discovered this gem?

It's almost as if I'm discovering cooking all over again. I'm the type of gal that likes to know the "why" behind everything. This cookbook answers all of that and then some.

Joy of Cooking is one of the most thorough cookbooks to date.

I love opening it up and reading it just like a book.

I made the most wonderful Chicken and Dumplings the other night thanks to this cookbook.

For some reason, that is a recipe that I always FAIL miserably at. My dumplings either turn out too dense as if you were eating sand. Or dissolve into chunks. Or I've burned them. Yuck! When I came across the dumpling recipe I thought I'd give it another shot. After all, Chicken and Dumplings are one of my favorite meals.

This time around, my dumplings came out perfectly. And I owe it all to this cookbook with its amazingly thorough directions.

This cookbook is officially one of my favorites.

What are some of your favorite cookbooks?

{tHrIfTy FiNds}

I've been slowly changing out the decor in my kitchen and re-doing the accessories.

I'm wanting to go for a more mod country look instead of a retro country look. The color scheme I'm aiming for is green, white, black, and browns- very earthy and clean looking.

Since I tend to have this desire to want to re-do things around my home often, I'm all about thrifty finds.

MOPS in Brenham had a garage sale last weekend and I hit the jackpot! I even found a few gifts for people. I love a cute gift for $3!!!

There was a box full of old kitchen gadgets that were green and metal.

In the photo below, the white flower pot is filled with the cute gadgets that I purchased. I also got those biscuit cutters and metal measuring cups.

I had the jars and metal tray already so I re-purposed all of this to go with my new look.


I also purchased these metal measuring scoops and this white little pot below.


Here are the photos of my shelves by my sink that I have redone. I had all of this around the house except the apple topiaries ($5 at TJ Max) and frames.



I still need fabric for valances above the windows so if you have any cute ideas, send them my way! I don't know if I should go with brown, black, white or green.

My sister sent a blog my way last week that you should go check out! I love her style over at The Old Painted Cottage. This was my inspiration for my kitchen. A lot of our bones are the same. Her kitchen is beyond beautiful.

I have my computer back at my house, so I'm going to be posting regularly again!