ATK's Blueberry Muffins

I was scrolling through my digital camera and found this picture.  In the holiday and baby craze, I managed to not post a tasty, binder worthy recipe.  Oh the shame!  I heart American's Test Kitchen (ATK) and had this recipe in my to-try binder for quite awhile.  I'm glad I finally tried it.  The lemon-sugar topping is just heaven.  These muffins are a real treat for any day of the week, especially if you want to share with guests.

Spring Fever

With all the snow falling, I'm definitely craving fresh blooms.  Thank goodness for spring gardening catalogs.  Flipping through these catalogs gives me a fresh perspective on my garden.  Thankfully, I planted a great deal of perennials last year that hopefully survived the hot summer and cold winter, which means I shouldn't have to buy too much.  Given the spring arrival of Miss Petite Diva, I might be overly crazy thinking I'll have any time to look at my garden, let alone dig in it...but here I am dreaming and planning any way.  

Last year, I dove right into mulching and really didn't have a clue what I was getting myself into. It's a serious workout, so thanks dirt for the nice toned physique.  I was definitely planning on getting a partial truck load this year, but given the little Diva, I've opted to splurge!  The fabulous folks over at Lakeview Lawn Care are going to weed (woohoo) and mulch all my beds come early March.  While I'll miss the work out, I'll love looking at the quick result a team of landscapers can do!

So what else is in store for my beds this spring?

Astilbe-I've been wanting to add these plants to my garden for awhile and am thinking that might compliment my back hosta bed quite nicely. 

Gaillardia-A little flowery show for the front walk.

Herbs-My big spring project is to create an herb garden right outside my kitchen door and window.  I dorked out the other day and even made a sketch!  I picked up some fabulous lemon balm last year (the early inspiration) and plan to add basil, chives, lavender, and oregano.  More info on this project to come.

Window Boxes:  Last year, I added some cascading ivy to the 2 corners of each window box.  I left space in between for annuals (pansies at the moment).  I've picked a zinnia to grace them this spring/summer.  I hope they love their new home!

As always, I'll keep you posted as we thaw, the work begins and as Manning tries to thwart my plans!

Operation Baby Room: Complete

I really wish that I had the before shots of this room. I'm really thrilled with the end result. 

The picture above the table was a gift from my parents when I was baby!

My Dad and stepmom brought back this cute guy from Africa!   

We needed a little extra air circulation and some overhead lights for late night session with the Petite Diva.  I'm normally not a fan of fans with lights (ha), but the dome was a nice compromise. 

Where it all came from:

Testing, testing...1,2,3

I must confess I've got a bit of a problem. I'm a food lover. I thought trimming down my food magazine subscriptions would help, but dang all these tasty blogs and TV shows! I'm tempted at every turn. A few weeks ago, poor Mr. Diva was inundated with lots of new recipes:
Red Beans and Rice, Butter Chicken (love the blog, hate the chicken), and Paula's Goulash. Sadly none of these well photographed dishes were impressive enough for the binder. Thankfully, Mr. Diva had plenty of cookie dough balls to ward off any hunger pangs.

After 3 so-so attempts, I finally pulled a winner out of the recipe rabbit hat. I signed up to take snacks to Bible Study tomorrow. A perfect opportunity to try a new pseudo-easy recipe. Given my panache for all things lemon, it's quite surprising I don't have classic lemon bar recipe in my arsenal, but I'm happy to report that void has been filled. Warning: These guys take a little bit more work than a brownie, but the lemony sweet treat is worth the effort.

Sundays with Manning: Hair of the dog

Black labs love to shed and our little dog is no exception. The clogs in my vacuum can attest to his constant shedding. The clean freak in me could take it no longer. For a few weeks, I've been researching vacuums that would tackle pet hair better than our current Bissell. Today I finally bit the bullet on a new one. I just couldn't stand the thought of Little Miss Diva having to see all these hairballs...let alone me live with them any longer. We've already run the Eureka Pet Expert in our master and den with amazing results. Who knew dog could shed that much hair!

I'm a baller

"I'm a baller, shot caller" After Christmas, I still had a few red and green M & M's surfing in the candy dish. Since I didn't want them to linger well passed Valentine's Day, I hit the net looking for a good M & M cookie recipe. My last attempt caused the colors to bleed and left me thinking the Keebler variety might just be better.

Thank goodness for the delicious tastings over at Beantown Baker. Her recipe is spot on. You really can't go wrong with all that butter and brown sugar. I made a batch and froze the rest as per her suggestion. Well the frozen batches never made it to the oven. Once Mr. Diva discovered that we had fresh cookie dough in the house, it became his go to dessert of choice.

Once the first batch was polished off, I did tweak it a bit to include Mr. Diva's favorite...Reese's Pieces. Now he's convinced I should be marketing this all over Nashville. In the meantime, start watching your waistlines because they tiny morsels are addictive!

Wasting Energy?

In Early January, TVA came out for an energy audit at Chez Diva. I wanted to get the heating/cooling issues resolved before Miss Petite Diva arrives as the heating/cooling upstairs is a bit spotty. The audit takes an hour or so for the inspector to go through the house and assesses places where you can save money and energy. Our independent inspector was terrific. He gave solid recommendations without getting into the trivial.

The recommendations included duct work repair and more insulation (most houses need more) amongst other things. The program gives you a list of preferred vendors to choose from. If you opt to do the larger recommendations, they will refund the cost of the audit plus up to $500 of the work cost. If you aren't in the TVA area, just check with your energy company to see if they are offering a similar program.

Our inspector suggested starting with the duct work repair, which should make the biggest difference. Last week, the folks at E3 Innovate came to repair our shabby ducts. It turns out that we had 3 spots where the ducts weren't even connected, which explains why all the good stuff was staying in the basement. While we still need to do a few more projects (insulation and install another ceiling fan) upstairs, the house is starting to feel better and hopefully, it will result in lower electric bills!

If you haven't done the audit, I highly recommend it. Plus, the federal tax credit for energy improvements has been extended into 2011!