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Recipes

a slice of life

gingerbread house recipe & templates

A few years ago, I got it in my head that I had admired gingerbread houses long enough and I was going to make them myself.  Not just the graham cracker/milk carton/kit variety, but ones that I made from scratch and decorated with traditional white royal icing.  I played hooky from working in the studio and we spent the day baking and decorating cookies and houses.  This is the gingerbread recipe I use along with the templates I found and the ones I created. It’s now a tradition and a staple of my holiday decorating. When I share pictures, I’m often asked to share my recipe as well as templates, so here they are! Not wanting to reinvent the wheel, I just found and followed this gingerbread and icing recipe from The Food Network.  It’s been the recipe I’ve made three years in a row and it always turns out well.

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a slice of life

Pumpkin Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

 A fall dessert using a fall favorite comes to life in this cookie. I don’t often think about cooking with pumpkin, but there is a lot of goodness pumpkins can bring to the culinary table!  I was in the mood for something chocolatey and cookies are always a winner at my house, so I made a variation of a Pumpkin Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe I found on Taste of Home.  I made a few tweaks to the recipe, like adding salt, using old fashioned oats instead of quick-cooking, and used dark chocolate chips. I like the old fashioned oats vs. the quick-cooking, because they retain more of their texture once the cookie is baked. One tip when making cookies is to use a cookie scoop or a tablespoon to dole out the cookies on the baking sheet, so they are uniform.  If the cookies are all different sizes, you’ll

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a slice of life

marinated skirt steak recipe & an All-Clad giveaway

The pot rack in my kitchen might be the one thing in my house that we installed a week after we moved in 10 years ago and hasn’t moved an inch.  It’s never even been under threat of being moved.  I love, love, love my pot rack.  That’s an odd thing for me, because it’s not an antique, but it is so functional and I honestly like having all of my pretty pans and copper pots on display.  Yes, we’re here to talk about All-Clad pans, but I’m also here to share a marinated skirt steak recipe. And yes, I use my pans.  Not all of them, but I use most of them. Most of the pans I’ve picked up here and there at discount stores and even yard sales.  (I bought that gorgeous antique copper bunt pan from a German woman at a yard sale in Florida for $25.)

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a slice of life

baked potato soup recipe

I shared a couple of weeks ago that I made a full-fat, no-skimping-on-the-good-stuff baked potato soup recipe as a treat.  I love creamy soups and casseroles, but I don’t make them very often anymore, because they are just so calorie-laden. But it was a dreary day and both Jeff and I were in the mood for soup.  A  loaded baked potato soup recipe that I used to make came to mind and I couldn’t shake it.  So, I bought the ingredients and made it and it was every bit as sumptuous and velvety as I remember it. The blue & white dishes were from . I got this particular baked potato soup recipe from a friend about 12 years ago.  When I left the corporate world, I was a stay-at-home wife for a couple of years.  I didn’t work, didn’t have kids… it was a glorious two years!  I just relished

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a slice of life

farmhouse holiday series | red wine risotto

This year, I was invited to be a part of a farmhouse holiday decor series with an amazing line-up of bloggers, so how could I say no to that?!  Over the next few weeks, we’ll be sprinkling in some seasonal farmhouse-style blog posts to (hopefully) inspire our readers.  This week’s theme is “farmhouse kitchen and fall recipe”, so I’m sharing a red wine risotto recipe. I’ve shared this before and I’ll share it again that other than Christmas, I don’t do much in the way of seasonal decorating.  I might set out a few small pumpkins and some seasonal fruit, but that’s about it.   I haven’t gotten to any fall decorating, yet, this year, so these pictures are from last year, just showing how I like to mix in a few fall elements without going overboard. The recipe I’m sharing is very similar to one I first made as

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a slice of life

Basil Pecorino Corn Recipe

I shared this picture of one of our Plated dinners a couple of weeks ago on Instagram and a few people asked for more details on the corn side dish.  This Basil Pecorino Corn was so delicious and easy, that I decided to make it again with the summer’s last corn and share the recipe.   Hello dinner… #platedpic #dinner @plated A photo posted by Marian aka Miss Mustard Seed (@missmustardseed) on Aug 28, 2015 at 3:11pm PDT   Ingredients three ears of corn 1/8 cup grated pecorino cheese 1 T mayonaise 1 clove garlic coarse kosher salt pepper fresh oregano, parsley and basil Cut the kernels off three ears of corn and saute in a pan with a little bit of olive oil, salt and pepper, for about 3-5 minutes or until corn is tender. I always use Kosher salt out of a little salt crock when I cook.  I

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a slice of life

10 minute ideas | cherry chocolate ice cream

It’s time for another 10 minute idea!  My previous 10 minute ideas were teacup topiaries and making an “antique” bread board. This month, the challenge was to share a 10 minute no-bake dessert. I immediately knew what I was going to share, because it’s my very favorite summer treat… …homemade cherry chocolate ice cream. I love cherries and look forward to them with great anticipation each May.  And I mourn their departure in September.  So, I squeeze cherries in every meal, snack and treat I can when they are in season. For this dessert, I cut the cherries off of the pit and then chop them into bite-sized pieces.  (My fingernail beds are pretty much permanently stained from cutting cherries during the summer, but some things are worth it!) I use Breyer’s Natural Vanilla ice cream as the “base.”  It’s the only vanilla I’ve been able to find in my grocery

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a slice of life

eating well made easy | chicken avocado burgers

I shared on my Facebook page a couple of weeks ago that dinner is usually one of the first things to “go” when I’m busy.  I actually like cooking, but planning is my downfall.  I like to be “in the mood” for what I make and eat, so I don’t like to plan out a menu.  This becomes problematic at the grocery store when I buy things that I think I might be in the mood for, but then again, maybe I won’t. I’ve learned that if I can get a little help with the planning, I can make a good dinner happen, even on a busy day. So, when Plated asked if I would like to work with them, try out a couple of their meals and share it on my blog, I loved the idea.  This sounds like a service that I would like. Here’s what Plated is… For our first

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I’m Marian, a painter, writer, and lover of all things creative. From art and antiques to home projects and everyday life, I share my journey in hopes of inspiring you to embrace your own creativity and make beauty in the spaces you live.

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