Ev-ery-day life

The other day our stuff arrived in Hawaii. I was beyond thrilled when my husband told me nothing was broken (at least the kitchen items), the fear I had that all my beautiful Anthro dishes would be broken upon arrival on the island was stressful.

My husband sent me this picture as the movers were unloading the huge wooden crates that left Jacksonville Florida at the end of March and arrived in Oahu the beginning of May.

The view from our living room

I am so excited to start decorating our hawaiian home. I have been finding lots of inspiration on websites and Pinterest the past month. Our house has the white wooden paneling and white rafting like many homes in beachy cottage towns, so I have decided to go for a beach, cape cod, with pops of bright color to represent the Hawaiian islands. The house has A LOT of windows because it is located in what is called the windward side of the island, that gets a great breeze a majority of the day, thus many houses (including ours) do not have AC units. I have been shopping around for curtains and snagged great deals at the restoration hardware outlet.

Here are some of the ideas I have in mind:

I am currently obsessed with this chair from Pier One Imports:

Can't wait to finally get to Hawaii and start decorating our house!

A brun-ch favorite: Pop-over Casserole

As the weekend quickly approaches the ev-ery-day home prepares for yummy Saturday morning family breakfasts or Sunday scrumptious brunches. Pairs well with a garden salad and mimosas: Enjoy!

Potato and Sausage Breakfast Popover Casserole

INGREDIENTS

• 2large eggs
• 1cup whole milk
•  Salt
• 1cup all-purpose flour
• 1tablespoon unsalted butter, melted
• 2scallions, chopped
• 3/4pound Yukon Gold potatoes (about 2), peeled and cut into 1/4-inch dice
• 1(12-ounce) package bulk sausage meat
• 2tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1/2cup grated Parmesan cheese

INSTRUCTIONS

• 1. Adjust oven rack to upper-middle position and heat oven to 425 degrees. Prepare 9-inch springform pan as shown in photos, and set aside on rimmed baking sheet.
• 2. Whisk eggs, milk, and 1/2 teaspoon salt in bowl until well combined. Stir in flour until just incorporated--the mixture will still be a bit lumpy. Whisk in butter until batter is smooth. Stir in scallions and set batter aside while preparing filling.
• 3. Toss potatoes with 1 tablespoon water in large microwave-safe bowl. Cover with plastic wrap, cut vent holes in plastic, and microwave on high power until potatoes just begin to soften, 3 to 4 minutes. Meanwhile, cook sausage in large nonstick skillet over medium heat, breaking up clumps, until meat has lost most of its pink color, about 4 minutes. Using slotted spoon, spread sausage evenly over bottom of prepared springform pan.
• 4. Heat oil in skillet with sausage fat over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add potatoes and 1/4 teaspoon salt and cook until potatoes are golden and crisp, 8 to 10 minutes. Drain potatoes on paper towels.
• 5. While potatoes are cooking, place springform pan with sausage in oven for 10 minutes. Remove pan from oven and, working quickly, sprinkle 1/4 cup cheese over sausage and pour batter evenly over filling. Scatter potatoes on top and sprinkle with remaining cheese. Bake until puffed and golden, 25 to 30 minutes. Remove pan from oven, run knife around edges of pan, and let cool 5 minutes. Release outer ring and, using spatula, transfer casserole to serving plate. Serve.

Photo and Recipe courtesy of Cooks Country

Delicious tur-key burgers

On the ev-ery-day home will be featuring easy and delicious recipes. This is one of my favorite weeknight recipes.

Ingredients: 

1 1/4 pound 93 lean ground turkey 

1/2 teaspoon salt 

1/2 ground black pepper 

2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

1/2 cup ricotta cheese

2 teaspoon Dijon mustard

1 tablespoon vegetable or canola oil

1. 1. Transfer ground meat to medium bowl. Stir in salt, pepper, Worcestershire sauce, ricotta cheese, and mustard until blended, and divide meat into 4 portions. Lightly toss one portion from hand to hand to form a ball, then lightly flatten ball with fingertips into 1-inch-thick patty. Repeat with remaining portions.
2. 2. Heat a large, heavy skillet (preferably cast-iron or stainless steel with an aluminum core) over medium heat until very hot, 4 to 5 minutes. Swirl oil in pan to coat bottom, then add burgers. Cook over medium heat without moving burgers until bottom side of each is dark brown and crusted, 3 to 4 minutes. Turn burgers over; continue to cook until bottom side is light brown but not yet crusted, 3 to 4 minutes longer. Reduce heat to low, position cover slightly ajar on pan to allow steam to escape, and continue to cook 8 to 10 minutes longer, flipping burgers if necessary to promote deep browning, until center is completely cooked, or an instant-read thermometer inserted from the side of the burger into the center registers 160 degrees. Remove from pan and serve immediately.
   

   

   Photo and recipe courtesy of Cooks Illustrated 

the purpose

The purpose of everyday home is to feature homes of everyday people. Recently I was standing in line flipping through decorating magazines and was struck by the idea that there needs to be a place to feature homes of people who are not millionaires. Often, and by often I mean all the time we look through magazines, websites, and even Pinterest to find ideas and inspiration but we are met with the MOST interesting homes, architectural details, and the most expensive furniture. Now, I do not know about you my friends, but I do not live in the most interesting home nor have thousands of dollars to spend on furniture. I want to be inspired by my friends and friends of friends homes. I want to be inspired by things that are actually attainable.

I need your help though, I want to feature homes, rooms, ideas that come from you. Does not matter if you own your own home or rent, it can be one space or your whole house. If you or know of someones house that would be a good feature for everyday home please contact me.

Be inspired

The ev-ery-day home.