Cozy Wintry Dining with Pot Roast and Apple Pie!

Well it's another wonderful wintry day and the need for cozy comfy food served up in yummy shades of brown, red, gold and green seemed like the way to go!

The winds are causing drifting on the deck and the snow is clinging to the windows today.

The bowls were my starting point with this table  They are an odd shade of brown with a hint of green in them.

It depends on the light as to how they look.  I struggled on a napkin choice but these won out because they seemed to unify everything.

The napkin rings offered a punch of red.  I tied the color of the chargers with the black bamboo flatware and the pillar candle holder.  Ideally I would have liked a nice red coloring for my glasses but I didn't have any so I went with the amber colored ones.

A simple centerpiece that can be lifted away in a moment for dinner.

I'm never alone- Mr. Teddy is always close by.

Ready for a cozy dinner on this wintry day?  We sure are!

Roast beef with carrots and potatoes.
How I make it- Starting with a chuck roast that I've floured both sides with, season with salt and pepper, then brown it in fry pan that has a couple of tablespoons of vegetable oil along with some chopped onion.  After browning I put it on the bottom of the baking dish and load the potatoes and carrots on top which I have added salt and pepper to.  I use a can of golden mushroom soup with a can of water whisked together for my base.  I pour part of that into the pan that I browned the beef in to get the rest of the flavor from it and then pour it in to the baking dish along with the rest of the soup mix.  Cover and bake at 350 for around 4 to 5 hrs.  I prefer a pot roast baked in the oven vs. a slow cooker but you do have to make sure you don't let it dry out.  This LeCreuset baking dish seals pretty well.  In this picture I've drizzled some of the liquid over the top which gives it that nice yummy appeal.

I made an apple pie- which I'm awarding as my ugliest pie!
I definitely didn't get the crust done to my liking!  Oh well the taste is what will mean the most!  I'll serve up the pie with some ice cream in the bowls.  I like to heat the pie slice in the microwave for about 20 seconds to warm it and then add the ice cream !  It's all good!

The bowls are labeled Harvest Goods, Inc.- Pinecone series from One King's Lane several years ago.

The dinner plates are unmarked which came from Cracker Barrel a few years ago.

The bamboo flatware is from Horchow

Chargers Pier One Imports a couple of years ago

Amber glasses from T.J. Maxx

NOTE:  

I saw a post on Facebook that Cuisine Kathleen is planning a St.Patrick's Day tablescape party on March 11th so get your Irish on and get a post ready for it!

I'll be joining
Between Naps on the Porch
for
Tablescape Thursday

Forsythia in Blue and a Mirror with Two!

Well I'm continuing on my "tweaking" adventure and here are two more little tweaks I did. 

I noticed a blogging trend already to post about "spring" inspired decorating so I'm climbing on board, but just a bit!  We won't truly see spring up here until sometime in April unless we have an unusual warm up in March, but I'm craving some color.

I fell in love with these Forsythia branches at HL.  They look so real I was highly impressed!  Forsythia doesn't last terribly long when you cut it plus I don't have any planted in my yard so I'm content to have a "faux" version.

Loving this springtime pop of color!

It's early evening and I had to play with my camera on manual setting to get these pictures.

They ended up a bit grainy as a result.

 This is the camera on an automatic setting- so as you can see I really lightened it up in my other pictures!

Part Two

 Remember my pretty mirror I found at the antique/resale store?   I posted a little bit about it "here".  I plan to do a little makeover in the bedroom but it will be a while yet so I'm just showing this grouping I made with the mirror.

I played around with several ideas- trying to do a wall collage but nothing I had was working so I took these two pictures from the hallway and they seemed to pair up nicely with the mirror.  Previously I had one large mirror hung vertically with the two pictures that are now out by the lamp on the corner table that I posted about  "here.

This pair of Italian countryside pictures came from T.J.'s back around 2010.

So I've relocated a lamp from the living room to the corner table, relocated two pictures from the bedroom to that same table, and now two pictures from the hallway to the bedroom!

This is my kind of fun- shopping my own house and making things work again in a new way!

I've changed the living room (which I added two mirrors from the dining room and put them out there) again but I'm not ready to show it!

I'll be joining

Between Naps on the Porch 

for

Metamorphosis Monday

Our Home Away From Home

For

Tuesday's At Our Home

A Stroll Thru Life
for
Inspire Me Tuesday

Ivy and Elephants

For

What's It Wednesday

and
Share Your Style

Graceful Sunlit Sunday

This day the softly lit snow just seemed graceful...

From the bedroom window you can see the pattered footprints from the birds and squirrels that lead to and surround the bird feeder station.  The sun is there but the wintry sky is acting as a filter today.

We've had a tough week temperature wise which I'm sure a lot of you've also had.  I awoke to -22 (F) degrees a few days ago and that's not a wind chill factor- that's straight up.

Glistening snow fluffed on every surface…the colder it is the more it sparkles!

Patiently waiting for spring!

Joining

My Little Home and Garden 

for

Sunlit Sunday

 

Country Farm Style Breakfast

I love a good Sunday morning breakfast! 

 Farm animals always evoke a sense of country so it seems appropriate to include them in a Country Farm Style Breakfast!  These new galvanized metal chargers from Michael's seem like the perfect country accent too!

Layering up with the addition of a simple white plate, flatware and napkins with bees!

Buzzz..buzz...buzz

Silver napkin rings with an antique finish

I used the red roses from the Valentine's table and combined it with a milk bottle and a pitcher for serving juice.  The tray can serve the food once it's needed.

 The cow milk bottle is from Pier 1

 I added my napoleon bee stemware for juice.

We'll grab some coffee cups from the plate rack!

 I found this pitcher and a taller one at T.J. Maxx a couple of years ago. 

I grabbed them up and was going to sell them on Ebay but ended up hanging on to them.

The "birds eye" view...

Time for some waffles, scrambled eggs, hash browns and thick country bacon!

Joining

Between Naps on the Porch

for

Tablescape Thursday

Rattlebride Farm
for
Foodie Friday and Everything Else

Another Tweak on the Corner Table

I think I should call this Tweak it February!  I seem to be on a roll tweaking around the house.  Winter does force you indoors a lot more especially up north here.  With temps ranging from a high of 17 degrees to low of -9 lately it sure isn't very inviting to get out and do much!  Sooooo....... I tweak the inside of my house.

I recently showed you my plate rack tweaking in the kitchen and one day while studying the plate rack wall I shifted my eyes over at the corner where I keep my burlap covered round accent table.   I finally hit me that the big arched mirror had to go.  It really had a lopsided affect.

 The mirror was initially bought to go on the wall above the fireplace.  A portrait picture ended up in it's place I that's when I decided to try it by the corner table.

I also decided to remove the extra large 38" glass table top that I had put on it and going back to the actual 30" size that it is.  I did like the extra large top but the burlap table topper never fit it and I couldn't bring myself to spend the well over $100 on a new one.

 I had to keep the cloth shifted on an heavy angle to get me by but that bugged me too!  On the left and right sides it was several inches short. 

Sooooo.....I decided I wanted to try something hung on both walls create a better balance.  I  already had these pictures which were in our bedroom and decided to give them a try.  I took a lamp from the living room which turned out to work here perfectly. 

This feels more appropriately proportioned now and it makes me happy that I had everything to do this without purchasing anything new.

I feel like the theme of the pictures and the woven basket design of the lamp are a good pairing!

While building this post it dawned on me that the pictures seemed a bit too high.  When I first put them in place the lamp wasn't part of the design and once the lamp was there they needed to be lowered.  Trust me it looks better especially in person.  Holes are patched and touched up with paint...done!

Joining the following parties:

Between Naps on the Porch for
Metamorphosis Monday

A Stroll Thru Life 

For

Inspire Me Tuesday

Our Home Away From Home
for
Tuesday's At Our Home

I was featured for another post - Thank you Maria Elena!

Ivy and Elephants
for
What's It Wednesday

Share Your Style #1
 

Here Comes the Sun!

It's always such a joy to see the sun coming up over the horizon especially after a difficult couple of days weather wise. 

24 hours earlier white-outs and blizzard like conditions overtook the area.

I guarantee Valentine's Day was a bust at the restaurants around here!

The thermometer was as -12 degrees this morning.

Creaking sounds come from the woods as the trees adjust to the extreme temps.

The birds were even reluctant to come to the feeders but as the sun rose more and more they all started showing up.  I tried to capture some pictures through my windows- I'm staying inside!

The Beatle's tune "Here Comes the Sun" always pops up in my mind on days like this.

Here comes the sun, here comes the sun and I say it's all right….

Looking out my office window as I tapped away at this post.

The day is looking promising!

I'm joining

My Little Home and Garden

for

Sunlit Sunday