This New Year’s Day I decided to experiment with the boring cornbread usually served with black eyed peas…with another southern New Year’s tradition: tamales. Why not marry the two? Yes, why not, indeed! I’ll admit, I thought it would be weird but it turned out so well I don’t think I’ll be able to go […]
Author: Sheila
Not Your Grandma’s Black Eyed Peas
Down here in the South, it is tradition that we (most of us) eat black eyed peas on New Year’s Day for good luck and prosperity in the new year. This tradition may have died out a bit with young generations considering black eyed peas bland and boring…but that may be due to canned beans and poor […]
An Advent Calendar for Boozy People
Do you have an Advent calendar? Some families do chocolates, toys, or riddles for each of the 24 days. I saw an Advent calendar wine rack on Facebook once and got inspired to do a little tasting of my own. My husband and I could probably finish a full bottle a night if we really wanted […]
Italian Toast (French Toast Was So Last Year)
I never liked French toast, but when I saw that Italian goddess Giada de Laurentiis make an Italian version of it I got a little curious. I’m not a foodie, and I don’t particularly follow recipes, instructions, or opinions of other people…so I thought I might try my version of her recipe. Like a lazy […]
Christmas Crackers are the New Stocking Stuffers
Christmas crackers, a popular tradition in the UK, is now a tradition in our home. I had seen them in stores like Marshall’s and Home Goods, but I never fully understood what they were until I became a Doctor Who fan. Rather than buying them though, I make my own. For the past couple […]
A Chic Wedding that Didn’t Cost a Gazillion (Part 2)
Continued from A Chic Wedding that Didn’t Cost a Gazillion Planning chic DIY wedding wasn’t only about the crafts and consumables. I needed to plan logistics, and that included a variety of spreadsheets and checklists. I modified a Martha Stewart wedding checklist to fit my needs and went from there. Knowing we would be sailing […]
A Chic Wedding that Didn’t Cost a Gazillion
I planned a chic Christmas wedding in four months. It wasn’t a shotgun wedding or anything, it’s just that I was in grad school and we wanted to just do it. Neither one of us have wealthy families, nor did we want to spend tens of thousands on a wedding when we would rather spend […]
Easy, Breezy, Beautiful Wine Barrel Bistro Table
My favorite impulse buy during a weekend in the Texas Hill Country was a used wine barrel. I bought it from Becker Vineyards in Fredericksburg for $100, hoisted it into the back of my SUV, and drove that mother home. I knew I wanted to convert it into a bistro table for the breakfast area, […]
Becoming an Outdoors Woman as an Instructor
Continued from TPWD Becoming an Outdoors Woman Program The best way to get introverts to come out of their shell is to ask about something that interests them. In mine and my friend’s case, it’s rocks. My running partner and sometimes travel companion also has a geology degree, so we now teach geology together […]
TPWD Becoming an Outdoors Woman Program
A few years ago I found out about Becoming an Outdoors Woman, a program hosted by Texas Parks and Wildlife. This limited participation outdoor conference is held twice a year in various locations around the state of Texas, and teaches women outdoor skills such as hunting, gathering, and enjoying nature. It’s like Boy Scouts for […]