Dinner with Style at Home Magazine

Normally I read Style at Home Magazine for decorating inspiration however for the past couple of issues I've also been intrigued with their recipes section.  Since I love to cook (and eat) I decided to test drive a couple of  their recipes.

It started with Novembers issue of Style at Home magazine. And I have to say their cover shot room is amazing. Loving the white room, the low laquered table and most especially those amazing velvety green cushions.  However, my dog simply would not allow me to have these white sofas.

Since PEI is known for growing potatoes, how could I not resist making "Lemon-Scented Potato, Dill and Bacon Soup. In fact, It was super easy and delicious.

Ingredients:

- 5 slices bacon cut into 1/2 inch pieces

- 4 cups chicken stock
- 2 cloves garlic
- 3 large Yukon Gold potatoes cut into 1 inch pieces
- 2 stock celery finely chopped
- 1.5 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp pepper
- 1 tbsp grated lemon zest
- 1/2 cup 35% cream

Instructions
Cook bacon in small skillet over medium heat for 5 minutes. Drain and set aside.  Combine stock, garlic, potatoes, celery, salt, and pepper in large pot and bring to low boil. Simmer for 20 minutes. Remove from heat and puree. Return to stove over medium heat. Add lemon zest and cream. Simmer for 5 minutes. Garnish with bacon and lemon wedge.

My newest Style at Home magazine January 2010 issue.  What's Hot Now or High/Low depending which side of the magazine you open first.

My favorite room from inside the pages.  Fresh traditional.

I'm starting to sense a pattern here.  This is my livingroom :)  A softer more muted colour scheme but basically the same room.

I went to the recipe section once again... after browsing the beautiful rooms, I found yet another recipe to try out in the Dinner Tonight section. 

Ricotta + Spinach Pasta

Since I love pasta and this picture made my mouth water, this recipe seemed like a no brainer.  It was so easy and fast to prepare it truly deserves its descriptive title as A Fast Five.  You should try this super easy and delicious pasta recipe by Style at Home food editor Donna Hay.

Ingredients:

-4 oz. (125 g) fresh ricotta cheese

-7 oz. (200 g) cooked warm, short pasta

-Baby spinach leaves

-Lemon juice

-Extra-virgin olive oil

-Pinch sea salt

-Pinch of basil

-1 tsp. cracked black pepper

-Fresh grated Parmesan cheese

Directions

Add fresh ricotta to cooked warm short pasta. Toss with baby spinach leaves, lemon juice, extra-virgin olive oil, cracked black pepper, sea salt and basil. Serve with grated Parmesan.

We arrived back from the furniture show late this week.  We bought lots of new and fresh spring merchandise for Moving Designz Home & Cottage.  If you are in the market for a new sofa or chairs, we are clearing out last years floor models at up to $400 off to make room for our new items.  I will be sharing some of our finds in upcoming posts. 

In the meantime this is one of our interior design projects currently on the go. 

A Craftsman Style beach house overlooking Confederation Bridge. Photo taken November 28/09

2 weeks later Dec 12/09 and the house in almost weather tight.  And note winter has arrived.  I needed a hot bowl of soup after that 2 hour site visit.  We have just finished choosing and getting approval on all of the interior surface finishes and materials between Christmas and New Years.  The construction schedule should see this house complete by late June. I'll post some updates as we progress further along.

Thanks for reading.  Have a great week!

Susan