White Tulip Designs » Inspiration, Design, and DIY for all of life's events.

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Cookin’ Up Some Fun

This week I got to give a cooking lesson to my youngest nephew, Z. I picked him up a little after lunch and he was sooo excited! He’s been really excited about cooking for a while now but he’s a bit young to take any of the children’s cooking classes offered in our area. My SIL asked earlier this summer if I would give him a lesson and, of course I said yes!

 Cooking class

 

I was so excited about it, I’ve changed my mind a hundred times about what we could cook. Finally, I took Hubby and G’s advice and settled on a fairly simple pasta idea with a homemade ice cream for dessert. It’s been a while since I’ve had such little hands in the kitchen and I had forgotten how much fun it can be. And, needless to say, how many questions there would be to answer.

 As I said, we made a really simplified menu (below) but I will be sharing a bit more adult versions of the recipes later this summer. For now, here is what we worked with and it was a fantastic success!

Our Menu:

  • Stuffed shells- We stuffed basic shells with a cheese mixture of ricotta and shredded mozzarella with a dash of garlic powder and other Italian spices and about 1/2 tablespoon of olive oil. Then each shell was stuffed with about a tablespoon of the cheese mix.
  • Pasta Sauce - We used a jar sauce to save time and simplify things since he’s only 8. I do have a pretty fantastic homemade sauce but we’ll save that for another time. I think it’s about time to share that one with G!
  • Grilled Italian Sausage - (thanks to Hubby’s grilling skills)
  • Homemade Mint Ice Cream in Chocolate Bowls - The mint ice cream is made with real mint sprigs, and vanilla beans and he really loved that (I’ll share that recipe a little later.) For the chocolate bowls, I referred to one of the hundred or so Pinterest posts about making chocolate bowls with balloons. These didn’t turn out quite as promised but they did come together in the end. I will say, if you try these, be sure that the chocolate goes on really thinly and be sure to give them more like and hour to set up.

Vanilla Bean

 

Later that night, when G and Hubbs got home, Z took a short break to let off some steam outside and that gave me a chance to clean up a bit. When we were done my Sister and Brother in Law came for dinner with his older brother and sister. He was so proud to show off his work, especially the ice cream and chocolate bowls.

 

Chocolate ballons

 

I think I had as much fun as he did. There’s nothing like showing someone how to do something that you do all the time, to make it new again! Hopefully we’ll get to do more of these lessons. As it is, G is wanting to perfect some of his kitchen skills so I working on a menu to teach him next!

 

Have a lovely weekend! - XOXOX

 

 

 

 

 

Vacation Adventures

Hopefully you had a wonderful holiday weekend and you’ve enjoyed the first part of your summer. Last week we took a last minute trip to the north Georgia mountains. It’s thrown off my schedule a bit but it was so well worth it.

If you are anywhere close to the area I highly recommend it for a quick family getaway. We’ve stayed at the Brasstown Valley Resort twice and had a wonderful time both visits. 

 

GA mtns 1

There is a main lodge as well as cabins (we haven’t stayed in the cabins.)  The rooms are priced quite reasonably and the breakfast is pretty good. I do suggest looking into other places to eat in the area to fit with your daily plans. There are lots of activities on the resort itself. You can swim, golf, play tennis, ride horses, enjoy the spa, etc. all on the property. We like to trail ride when we go. They have wonderful guides (ask for Tom!) and the views from the trails are really lovely.

 

GA mtns

 

While you’re there you don’t want to miss a chance to visit Brasstown Bald, which is the highest point in the state of Georgia (we went up last year and the view is well worth the hike!)

 GA  Waterfalls

And, if you’re looking for a little adventure, I highly recommend hiking in to see any of the areas beautiful waterfalls!

 

 GA mtns 6                                GA mtns 3

If you’re more into the kind of hiking that involves shopping you might head down to Helen, which is about 30 minutes south. If you’re not familiar, Helen is a cute little town that is designed to look like an alpine village. Unfortunately, most of the shops are less than desirable. However, there are a few little gems like the clock shop (Lindenhaus Imports) and the Dutch shop (Windmill Dutch Imports). Other than that, I suggest heading about 2-3 miles south of Helen to a little spot in the road to visit the Nora Mill Granary, the Nacoochee Village Antique Mall, and (if you’re a coffee lover) Jumpin’ Goat Coffee Roasters. -Our chocolate covered espresso beans barely made it home intact! You won’t believe all the goodies they offer!

 

GA mtns 5

 

If you’re a mountain person at all, these are not to be missed! What sort of vacation adventures have you had this summer? Feel free to stop my Facebook page and share!

 

 

 

 

Jennifer (White Tulip Designs) - 07/08/2015 - 12:50 pm

Thanks for stopping by! If you’re a coffee lover you’ll the Jumping Goat. The owner is so sweet and there’s a cute little deck where you can sit by the river and try a cup. We will definitely be stopping by on our next trip. Have a great day!

CoCo - 07/08/2015 - 9:46 am

The north Georgia mountains are some of my favorite hiking spots! We go every year and I’m totally with you on Helen - it’s totally sad now 🙁 I love to try out new coffee so I can’t wait to try out the Jumping Goat! Hugs, CoCo

American Celebration - Saturday Style

Happy 4th of July- from White Tulip Designs 

What are your plans for today? Family backyard barbecue, cookout on the beach, downtown fireworks, baseball game with friends? Regardless of your plans, I hope you and yours have a wonderful holiday weekend. 

Today’s Saturday Style is a round up of inspiration for your 4th of July bash!

 4th of July - Saturday Style Board

 

In need of a last minute recipe to wow them at the party? There’s not much as American as pie! Here are some all-American recipes to bring along to your Independence Day celebration: A little Red, White, & Blue anyone?

 

                    

 _ Special thanks to Bella from the Adventuress Heart, Sommer from A Spicy Perspective, and Christy D. from the Girl Who Ate Everything for sharing their lovely recipes.

 

Linking up at the Scoop!

Throwback Thursday - Kitchen Tour

SO many projects so little time. This summer we have so many things going in so many different directions I feel like we’re never going to get the big things finished. Do you ever get over-whelmed by your projects? Get so over your head you feel like you’ll never see the end? Yep, that’s me.

I started White Tulip Designs, as it is today, just after we finished over-hauling our kitchen. I thought I’d share it again for anyone who may have missed it. (If you’d like to see the details, fixtures, paint colors, etc. click the picture below.)

 

Kitchen - reno  Counterspace

If you have any questions about anything we did please don’t hesitate to ask!

Strategic Picture Ledge

Once I had the shelves (on either side of the TV) finished I knew that styling them with frames on top might be an issue since we would still need to move the shelves from time to time. However, I really wanted the look of larger frames layered and leaning rather than hanging. You know, when you know what you want, you know what you want, right? Ikea has some pretty fantastic picture ledge that I’ve used in other spots and other projects (see dining room shelves) but they  wouldn’t quite work here. So, I made some that were very similar but fit my dimensions a bit better.

Part of my master plan for the TV wall included adding artwork and finding a way to camouflage that weird, column, thingy in the wall. And this is how I fixed it!

 

Picture Ledge from White Tulip Designs

 

Once I measured the width that I wanted and cut the pieces to size I used a level to draw a guide line. Then I attached the support to the wall (using screws).  Then I balanced the ledge piece along the top of the support and attached it to the wall using corner braces.

To finish it off I attached a thin piece all along the front to give a lip to the ledge and keep items from sliding off.  It reaches from one set of shelves to the other.

 

Picture Ledge from White Tulip Designs

 

Here’s a side view of the ledge for you to see how it was put together. I used common board for the brace and the ledge piece and then a thin piece of wood (hobby board) attached to the front with brad nails. I used my black stain to color it all as well.

 

Frame Ledge - White Tulip Designs

 

I hope this inspires you to find a fix for that decorating hurdle in your home.  Have a great week!

 

Linking up at Met Monday

Jennifer (White Tulip Designs) - 07/09/2015 - 10:44 am

Thank you Mila! I was a little nervous when I started painting but on just one, I’m so happy with how it turned out! It’s Valspar - Deep Sea Dive (eggshell). I’ll head over and link up, thanks for the invite!

Mila - 07/09/2015 - 8:43 am

I love the look! My parents had similar problem with their tv corner. They’ve decided to mix

all furniture up at the end,but your idea would fit there as well!
I love wall color you chose.
Also, I would like to invite you to share your ideas with our party Idea Box:
http://milaslittlethings.com/2015/07/idea-box-thursday-link-party-18.html
xx
Mila

Jennifer (White Tulip Designs) - 07/06/2015 - 9:55 am

Thank you!

the cape on the corner - 07/05/2015 - 9:37 pm

that looks great, i love the way you built it around that bump out.
b

Jennifer (White Tulip Designs) - 07/03/2015 - 11:06 pm

Thank you Alayna!

Alayna @AlaynasCreations - 07/03/2015 - 4:53 pm

What a unique eclectic looking “entertainment center” you have created! I love that you included the lip on the edge of the shelf so things don’t slide off.
Thanks for joining us at the #HomeMattersParty

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