Baer Fabrics - R.I.P.

So sad. Baer Fabrics in Louisville, KY is closing their doors for good. They have been open forever and it's hard to believe that they are going out of business. Although it is a sad time for Kentuckiana textile and notion lovers, there is a sunny spot in the darkness called bankruptcy. SALES!!!!! With every week that they stay open, they discount their remaining goods even more! I went when everything was 60% off and scored some awesome stuff. I have been searching for the right fabric with which to sew some new throw pillows out of for the past several months. I found it in a bin of remnants at Baer's and I'm really excited about it. I wanted something botanical/floral but not something that looked like it belonged in one particular season (fall colors, etc.). This one suits me just fine and it was only about eight bucks. I also found some pink floral chintz that will make a nice upholstered seat for a tiny antique white iron chair that the previous owners left in our house. I plan on putting it in my new-and-improved craft room when it's all finished. I couldn't go wrong for two dollars a yard! I also found some cute reddish fabric to make new curtains for our downstairs family room (the one with the fireplace). In addition to Baer's, I also spent a small amount of money at Hobby Lobby, Hancock Fabrics & good ol' Wal-Mart. In honor of DIY Wednesday on one of most frequented blogs, design*sponge (thanks, Tara!), I plan on putting all of the stuff together tonight! I'll try to get some pictures posted very soon of the finished projects. Happy Wednesday everyone.

BEEF

Wow. Dinner was good and I am FULL. Black and blue salads. Potato pancakes and a special little sauce that I whipped up to put on top (sour cream - fresh garlic - thyme - salt - pepper). Butternut squash soup. Yeah. It was good. I know that my fellow foodies know how much I like blue cheese but I especially like some blue cheese along with some good beef. I stumbled across an awesome marinade that works well when preparing flank steak for beef and broccoli stir fry as well as preparing it for a black and blue salad.

3 Tablespoons soy sauce
3 Tablespoons apple juice
1 Tablespoon cider vinegar (or white if you don't have the cider version)
1 Tablespoon sugar
3 cloves of garlic, minced (I press the cloves with my handy-dandy garlic press)
black pepper to taste

I use about 3/4 of a pound of flank steak for a black and blue salad. Slice the meat into smallish pieces (approximately 1" pieces). Toss the meat and let marinate for about 15 minutes. Pour the meat and marinade into a non-stick skillet and cook on high heat for 5-10 minutes. The marinade caramelizes and give the meat and nice sticky coating. Very tasty.

I also had to share another beef recipe that I tried a few weeks ago. It too was very good and definitely a keeper! Thanks David and Edie!

Firehouse Roast
beef roast
meat tenderizer
flour
4 cans of Campbell's golden mushroom soup
2 packages of Lipton onion soup mix

Tenderize meat according to directions. I poked it all around with a fork and generously sprinkled Adolph's tenderizer - original unseasoned. Coat the entire roast with flour and brown it in a large skillet. Line a glass 9 x 13 baking dish with aluminum foil (I double lined mine). Place the browned roast on the foil. Sprinkle both packages of the onion soup mix on top of the roast. Spread the four cans of soup over the roast. Pour in one cup of water. Cover the top tightly with foil and bake for four hours in a 325* oven on the center rake. Do not open the foil during the four hours.

The golden mushroom soup and the onion soup mix make an awesome gravy for mashed potatoes!

Ikea

As many of you know, Dan travels a lot with his job. If he is assigned to an easy job within driving distance then I get to tag along! One of these trips popped up this past week. Piqua, Ohio. Slightly north of Dayton AND slightly north of the new IKEA. I was able to catch up on my TLC, HGTV & Food Network on Friday morning while Dan was administering some training sessions. We grabbed some lunch and headed to the mecca of inexpensive Swedish furniture, appliances, home decor, etc. We were able to spend a couple of hours there and I could have easily spent more. We very nearly bought this brown leather couch. http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/80119463. We put it off for another trip after we thought about how we really need to replace our fridge. We DID buy the curtains for our upstairs living room (http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/80110274) as well as curtains for our big white room downstairs and coordinating ones for the door to my craft room. http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/30111964. I'm really happy that we found the red, mattress-ticking like stripped curtains for the downstairs. The ones for the upstairs are a very nice neutral colored fabric. The best thing about all of them is that they come with an iron-on hemming strip so you can hem them to your desired length. I've always loved the idea of floor to ceiling drapes so they're perfect as they are. If anyone decides to make a trip to Ikea in the future, please let me know. We just might decide that we need a new fridge AND a new leather couch. :o)

Cookies, acorn squash and paint swatches

It's official! I've picked a color for my craft room. I've been debating for a good while on what color to go with. The winning color is Antique Cameo (Behr paint from Home Depot). Hallelujah! It's a lovely pinky-peach and I'm very happy with it. I'll probably spend a good part of the evening stripping wall paper so we can get the new color on the walls.

I finished my Martha Stewart magazine today. At the end of each magazine is a "cookie of the month" recipe. I flipped to the end and discovered a recipe for Cowboy cookies. I read the ingredients and HAD to make them. They did not disappoint. Here's the recipe...
http://www.marthastewart.com/recipe/cowboy-cookies?autonomy_kw=cowboy%20cookies&rsc=rf_result1

Here are the results! A sea of very tasty cookies. Dan approves. :o)

I'm also pleased to announce that my first acorn squash of the season is in the oven. I'm pretty stoked about it. It's the perfect fall side dish. Just cut one in half and place the two halves face down in a 9x13 glass baking dish with about a 1/2 inch of water. Bake at 350* for about 40-45 minutes. Flip over the halves and put a 1/2 tablespoon of butter in each half and some brown sugar to taste. Bake for an additional 10 minutes. Scoop out of the rind and enjoy! If you're in the mood for something more savory than sweet, use salt and pepper instead of brown sugar. For those of you who have never tried acorn squash it's similar in taste to a sweet potato except more squashy (if that makes any sense). I hope you like it!