It’s been quite a whirlwind over here. After we got back from Napa, we repacked and headed to Disney World for a seven day family vacation with Kacey’s side of the family. It was so much fun but quite exhausting, too!

Then, when we returned [on Kacey's birthday], he got pretty sick with a wicked stomach flu and he ended up in the ER. That was Sunday night and he’s just now getting back to normal. Poor thing. I’m so thankful Em and I haven’t caught it yet. Crossing fingers we don’t!

That darn bug made us change our holiday plans since we don’t want to infect my family. So, we’ll be having a small + cozy Christmas at home – a first! I’m really looking forward to Christmas morning with Em and her seeing her presents from Santa. Oh, the magic of Christmas!

Happy holidays everyone!

Posting will be light for the rest of the week as we wrap up a few projects and spend time with family. Below is a post we wrote a couple of years ago. It’s includes a recipe for Hot Browns and it perfect for turkey leftovers! It’s way too yummy not to pass along again!

Hope you have a Happy Thanksgiving!

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a few years ago, kacey’s family began a tradition of serving hot browns for breakfast the day after thanksgiving. my sister-in-law made them one year and they were a huge hit! they’re perfect for the day after turkey day since they use up some of that leftover turkey everyone has! i look forward to them every year.

my sister-in-law tweaked the original recipe to make it easier to feed a larger group. with her permission, i thought i’d share it with all of you!

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thanksgiving hot browns  // serves 8-10

8 oz. whole butter
8 oz. all purpose flour
2 qt. heavy cream
2 qt. milk
2 beaten eggs
ground nutmeg
2 cups pecorino romano or parmesan cheese, plus 4 tablespoons for garnish
salt & pepper to taste
3 lbs. leftover turkey
8 slices of texas toast (crust trimmed)
16 slices of crispy bacon
8 roma tomatoes, sliced in half
paprika
parsley

in a large saucepan, melt butter and slowly whisk in flour until combined and forms a thick paste (roux). continue to cook roux for two minutes over medium-low heat, stirring frequently. whisk heavy cream and milk into the roux and cook over medium heat until the cream begins to simmer, about 2-3 minutes. remove sauce from heat and slowly whisk in pecorino romano cheese until the mornay sauce is smooth. then, slowly wisk in the beaten eggs. return to a low heat stirring constantly until sauce thickens. remove from heat, grate in a large pinch of nutmeg (i like grating fresh from whole nutmeg), add salt and white pepper to taste (black or red is fine, but it will effect sauce color). cook bacon.  [to save time, these steps can be done a day or two in advance and refrigerated.]

toast bread. cut roma tomatoes in half lengthwise and place on baking sheet. broil in oven until lightly charred.

tear/shred leftover turkey and place in the bottom of a large casserole dish, top with mornay sauce, reheat in microwave until warm. then broil in oven until cheese begins to brown and bubble. crumble large chunks of crispy bacon over top of casserole.

for each hot brown, top 1-2 slices of toast with turkey mornay casserole. take the two halves of roma tomato and set them alongside the base of turkey and toast. sprinkle entire plate with additional shredded parmesan cheese, paprika and parsley. enjoy!

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photo via the brown hotel

A couple of pics from our little weekend trip to the pumpkin patch. Em loved all of the pumpkins, especially the little bitty ones. She’d pick one up and hand it to us. Then pick up another and do the same. Soon she had quite a pile. Afterward, we’d hand her one and she’d put it back. And repeat. She had so much fun!

How was your weekend? Ours started off with a little garage sale-ing where we picked up a few things for Em including this block of fun [1]. Then I opened a few birthday presents [2 + 4]. And omgosh I’m how old? Then a little work in the studio [3]. And finally a fabulous celebration dinner [5]. If you go, you must try the Machi Cure. It was my favorite. So, so good!

Picked up some of these Donut Peaches at the market yesterday. Have you heard of them? I hadn’t. Apparently, they are also called Saturn Peaches. They’re super sweet, have a small pit and are only about in inch or so high. Em loved them!

Last night, Kacey and I went to the grand opening of Paloma’s Nest. I’ve been a fan of Caroline’s gorgeous work for a long time, so I’m thrilled that she now has a little boutique here in town.

Black and white striped paper lanterns greeted us at the entrance.

I loved her wooden name tags.

She offered these sweet Texas ornaments to all of the guests.

I wish I would have gotten a better shot of the structure they were all on. It was so pretty. Twisted limbs intertwined with crisp, white orchids.

The cakes + sweets by Polkadots were so divine looking that I grabbed a business card for future reference.

Congratulations, Caroline + good luck with your new adventure!

How was your Easter? Fun, I hope! We drove to Houston so that Em could hunt for Easter eggs with her cousins. I think she had a great time. We also took her to see the Easter bunny. The bunny didn’t go over as well as Santa, but we did get to snap a cute picture. All in all, a wonderful Easter weekend.

This weekend, we also went to the park + playground. It was Em’s first time and she loved it. The swing especially. Of course, she enjoyed playing with the leaves and rocks, too. She’s definitely her father’s daughter. She loves the outdoors.