home decor and garden are very famous in the world

i am absolutely loving the cover of atlanta homes and lifestyles magazine this month because of the amazing fabric covered walls.  my heart sang when this magazine came in the mail and i saw the lovely cover. 

 

{image – atlanta homes and lifestyles}

the michael devine fretwork fabric that womack jowers used on the walls is to die for.  don’t you love it too?!!!

My family did not grow up eating sweet potatoes and we definitely did not have sweet potatoes on Thanksgiving.  And quite frankly, I don't really care for them.  But as many of you know, when you get married and start a family of your own, you adapt to new traditions.  One of which, in my case, is sweet potatoes.

This past week, we spent Thanksgiving with my Mom and her new (as in just got married a week ago) hubby, Allen.  Like I said before, Mom and I don't do sweet potatoes, but we wanted to make sure we kept our guys happy so we added sweet potatoes to the menu.  Rather then doing a giant sweet potato casserole that would only be eaten by 2-3 people, we opted for another solution - Brown Sugar Baked Sweet Potatoes.  And let me tell you, these were a big hit!  If you are looking to add some sweet potatoes to your holiday entertaining menu, I highly recommend you give these a try!



Meanwhile, cut your two tablespoons of butter into four equal pieces.



Cut each sweet potato down the center (length-wise).  Be careful not to cut all the way through the potato.  Place one piece of butter inside each potato.



Next sprinkle each potato lightly with cinnamon (as much or as little as your family likes).  Then sprinkle the inside of each potato with one tablespoon of brown sugar.


If using large marshmallows, cut them into pieces.  If using mini-marshmallows, then just skip this step.




Divide marshmallows out and place 1/4 in each sweet potato.  Place sweet potatoes back in the oven and bake for 20 minutes or until tops are golden brown.




Remove sweet potatoes from oven and allow to cool slightly.  Place sweet potatoes onto serving platter and enjoy!

Isn't ticking lovely ? I haven't got any in our home, but I really must rectify that situation as it's such a fresh look.

I've got the white pillow with ties ..........



I've have the white shabby mirror ..........




I have the chest of drawers ..........



I have the straw shopper ..........



.......... the vintage cases ..........




.......... the luggage labels ..........




.......... the black and white framed photographs ..........

A few posts ago, I posted about a cookie cake that Mr. Tea Rose Home made for our son's birthday party. So many people asked for the recipe that I asked Mr. Tea Rose Home if he would be interested in doing a guest post. He gladly accepted. So enjoy the recipe tutorial!

Hello ladies! Thanks for all the compliments on the cookies. I told Mrs. Tea Rose Home that I could write a post about how I make my cookies. She said, "Why, can't we just post the recipe?"

I jokingly replied, "Well, then we could write: It's on the back of Nestlé’s. The End."

So, there is my secret, the recipe is on the back of Nestlé’s Toll House Chocolate chips, however, that is not all. There is one thing that I learned over the years and it's not on the back of some bag. So without further ado, here is the recipe:

2 1/4 C. flour
1 tsp Baking Soda
1 tsp Salt
2 Sticks Butter
3/4 C. sugar
3/4 C. packed brown sugar
1 tsp Vanilla extract
2 Large Eggs

I use a KitchenAid mixer, and I always make the cookies in this order following these steps. This is why they turn out so good, and since I know of no one that makes them like this (because they've said so) it has got to be done this way.

Put the butter (Use the real stuff, no margarine; I use either salted or unsalted sweet cream. I haven't made two batches side by side to see if there is a real difference. When I make a double batch, I'll mix them.), sugar, brown sugar, vanilla, and eggs into the mixing bowl. Raise it up and turn the KitchenAid on to its lowest setting. Clean up (you don't have to clean; I'm just trying to keep the KitchenAid on longer.)

Mix the other ingredients into a separate bowl. Really you are supposed to sift those ingredients, but we either don't have one or I'm too lazy to find it, so I just put them in a bowl and lightly mix with a wire whisk.

This whole time the KitchenAid should still be mixing. You might have to stop it to get the butter clump off the mixing arm then start mixing it again. I will sometimes speed up the kitchen aid and lower the bowl to shake some of the mixture off and slow the KitchenAid down and raise the bowl back.


If the dough looks like this, you haven't mixed it enough, keep mixing. Go watch TV with the kids or something, depending on how cold or solid the butter was; this could take some time.


This is what the batter should look like, nice white and fluffy. No lumps from the butter or sugar. Now what I do is add about a tablespoon of the flour mixture in at a time. While the KitchenAid is mixing at its lowest setting, I'll add a scoop of flour and wait for it to get totally mixed in before adding another. This keeps the flour from clumping. Maybe you can just pour it all in and be done with it, but my cookies always turn out perfect if I do 1 heaping tablespoon at a time.

Once all the flour is mixed in, turn the oven on to 375°. Keep the KitchenAid going for several more minutes, and then turn it off. The dough should be delicious; yes, me and my kids love to eat the dough. Anyways, remove the mixing bowl from the KitchenAid and pour in the chips. When making a double batch, I mix in milk chocolate and semi-sweet chocolate. Mix with a spatula; be sure to dig in and pull the dough from the bottom and get a good even spread of chips throughout the dough.

For the cookie “cake”, I made a double batch and then scooped most of it into the pan and spread it out as much and I could. I think the dough was somewhere from a 1/4 inch to 1/2 inch thick, I'm not sure, I didn't measure. Either way, with cookies, you are supposed to cook for 9 to 11 minutes. I like my cookies doughy and gooey, so I go for 8 1/2 minutes (I use teaspoons to scoop out individual cookies.)

With the cookie “cake”, I cooked it for 9 minutes and that was too short, so back in for another 4 minutes... still not enough; 4 more seemed to do it; there was a nice light golden brown starting to form on the edges, it was done. Nice soft moist gooey cookies... mmmm.... Great with milk!


They were almost all gone by the end of the party.

Well ladies… that was it. The KitchenAid was nice and warm from all the work, I must have mixed for 30 minutes or more but that is my secret. Keep mixing and then mix some more.

I hope this recipe tutorial will be helpful for you to make the cookie "cake". Thank you Honey for the special guest appearance!