I want our bed to look as perfectly rumpled and luxurious as these gorgeous beds that are dressed in Belle Notte Linens. Don’t you?

After sleeping on a camping mattress on the floor (everywhere on the property except the master bedroom!) for the last three months – a mattress is being delivered to the house today. I will be sleeping soundly tonight, even if it isn’t dressed in Belle Notte linens…yet! {winkwink}

3 Comments » Posted by ABCDDesigns / Dream Decorating and Uncategorized

I realize I have been a little food-centric with my posts the last week or so, but I am just so happy to see my cookery books! I mean really, really thrilled. It’s the start of September which means that the cabinetry boards have been cut and they’ll soon be moving from the wood barn into the production building - more on that process later! Today, I want to talk a bit about the kitchen pantry/laundry room.{Images: Apartment Therapy, Vision Decor, and ABCD Designs’ Notes for the Design File – totally a post worth checking out!}Yesterday, my cabinet guys told me that we’re looking at a mid-October installation date. Hooray! Sounds like I’ll be able to host Thanksgiving at the ABCD Homestead! I know, it’s going to be a tight schedule by the time we get the counter tops in. Kitchens always take a lot longer to install than anyone ever thinks to account for. Of course, once it is finished, I will have the job of unpacking and washing all the dishes…{Sorry the image is so blurry – clearly I wasn’t focused on photos, it was more about washing all the dishes and crystal!}
One portion of the kitchen drawings I neglected to show you a few weeks ago is the laundry room, which will double as the kitchen pantry. You remember when I dream decorated that space over at Blu Label Bungalo a few months ago, right? As a reminder, we were blessed with an entire wall of built-in open shelves, similar to the image above. On the other side we have a sink, the washer, the dryer and a set of open ikea shelves. I decided to add a closed door upper cabinet, and a shaker style shelf above the washer and dryer. We’ll be repurposing the ikea shelves in our attic.Gosh, I l-o-v-e this shelf! As a matter of fact, I showed my cabinet makers this exact image and said “Let’s do this, only more shaker-style, less country.” Ahhhh… the benefits of going local! I quoted out stock cabinetry at the big box stores as well as semi-custom lines at smaller kitchen and bath outfitters – and guess what? By going local, I was able to get a quote for fully custom cabinets at a fraction of the price of the big box store.Cabinets are expensive no matter which way you go. I spent a lot of time getting pricing. I got quotes on everything from Quality Cabinets to Kraftmaid, Decora to Crown Point, Plain and Fancy, Thomasville, and several more. My local guy came in at a third of the cost. ONE THIRD! Not to mention, since he is literally around the corner from me, the delivery of my entire kitchen is only $90.00. The.Entire.Kitchen! Did I mention that the estimates we got for delivery with other companies (in many cases) came in at thousands of dollars? I feel like I really scored by staying local - Yes, there are often cost benefits to using a slow home frame of mind.
In the pantry: I know I told you that I had planned to arrange the cook books in color-coded fashion, but super organized personality won’t allow for it. Each time I put all the green, yellow, red or black bindings together I get all stressed about how long it will take me to find the cook book I want. Lesson learned. I need organization more than I love color-coded prettiness.
Speaking of cost, the Bayview Utility Sink looks like exactly what I could imagine in this laundry room come pantry space. I have been hunting around, and the best price I found was at Home Center. I wouldn’t be surprised if I hunt more, I’ll find a better deal or something like it that gives the same feeling.I know it’s not ideal to have closed shelving on that wall blocking the view of the window frame – but I can’t change that situation. I feel a little closed cabinetry in that room is a necessity for me. I am overwhelmed by all the visual stimulation of too many open shelves. I plan to house holiday dishes in those cabinets. If I left them open…just think of the unnecessary dusting I’d have to do…Ugh! As you know, the kitchen cabinetry is black, but we’ll be doing these laundry room cabinets in dove white to match the trim throughout the house. I plan to have matte black pulls and latches for all of the cabinets.

What else? Am I missing anything? Is there anything you’d add to this space?

18 Comments » Posted by ABCDDesigns / Dream Decorating and The Country House and Uncategorized

I know, I you’re thinking “But she shared this recipe before over a year ago at Camille Maurice’s website!” Fact is, it’s a favorite recipe of mine and so many people missed it the first go-around. I wanted to have posted it here so that it is easily found within the recipes section of ABCD Design.
When I was a kid we never started our holiday bakery session until Christmas Eve. It became our tradition. My mom only would bake this cake once a year. Of course, I changed the “rules” for this recipe once it changed hands ten years ago. I bake up this this sweet cake-like bread at the start of October and continue to bake new loaves through my last holiday bakery session of the year. The nostalgic taste of this bread brings back so many memories ~ it’s amazing how food can do that, isn’t it?
ABCD’s easy as pie Pumpkin Bread Recipe

What you’ll need from the market:
3 Cups Sugar
1 Cup Vegetable Oil
4 Eggs, Beaten
1 15oz can of pumpkin (you can use plain pumpkin – OR – pumpkin pie filling for a little extra Fall flavor)
3.5 Cups of Flour
1 Teaspoon Baking Powder
2 Teaspoons of Baking Soda
2 Teaspoons of Salt
1/2 Teaspoon Ground Cloves
1 Teaspoon of Cinnamon
1 Teaspoon of Nutmeg
1 Teaspoon of Allspice
2/3 Cup of Water

Optional Ingredients: 1 Cup chopped nuts – OR – A package of Nestle Tollhouse Semi Sweet Chocolate Chips

Method: Set your oven to 350

In a large bowl, combine Sugar, Vegetable Oil, 4 Beaten Eggs.

Stir in a Can of Pumpkin.

On the side, combine Flour, Baking Powder, Baking Soda, Salt, Ground Cloves, Cinnamon, Nutmeg, and Allspice. Incorporate the dry flour mixture into the wet pumpkin batter. Add Water at the end.

If desired, at this point you can add 1 Cup chopped nuts. Want something better yet? Skip the nuts and put in a package of Nestle Tollhouse Semi Sweet Chocolate Chips – DELICIOUS!

In the oven it goes…
Bake in a greased and lightly floured loaf pan – OR – place in muffin tins.
Bake in the oven at 350 for an hour or until a toothpick comes out clean. You’ll bake it slightly longer for the loaf and for a shorter amount of time if you prefer the muffin sized portions.
It’s a favorite seasonal treat to all who taste it. I am sure this pumpkin bread will become one of your super-easy, I need to bake something up quick, no-fail, go-to Fall baking treats! ~E N J O Y ~

5 Comments » Posted by ABCDDesigns / Uncategorized and totally delicious dishes

Did I ever tell you this story? When I turned 25 my mom went through all the tried and true recipes that she made when I was growing up. She hand wrote each and every one on a separate sheet, placed them in a plastic sheet protector and organized the entire list in a three ring binder complete with different sections. She covered all the bases – from Salads, to Main Dishes, Cocktail recipes, to Pies and Cookies – I have all the recipes that she is known for.
Mom presented the binder to me on my birthday “To my favorite Chef.” If I ever follow a main course recipe, it’s my attempt at recreating a meal “like mom made.” Fact is, I own hundreds of cookbooks – I am an addict. I love food photography!What really and truly makes my heart sing is baking. Maybe it’s the perfectionist Virgo in me? {winkwink} The fact that if you follow a baking recipe down to a T it will look, taste and be exactly what the photo looks like in the cookbook. I love that. It is so incredibly satisfying! Celebrating as a kid, I always wanted my birthday cake to be white cake with lemon yellow frosting and have colorful sprinkles on top. Funny thing is, I don’t even like cake very much. It’s the icing – it’s too sweet. I am more of a coffee cake kind of gal.
Anywhoo… there won’t be any baking for me today. Heck, we’ll be lucky if the kitchen is installed and unpacked in time for Thanksgiving! I am simply marking the date. It’s been ten years I have had my binder and I am incredibly thankful for that. I am off to enjoy what’s left of my 35th birthday in New York City. I am so happy to be taking a break from the cleaning and the boxes in Connecticut and celebrating in the city I have called home for so many years. Have a wonderful day!

24 Comments » Posted by ABCDDesigns / Nesting and Personal and Uncategorized

Epicurious has put together a pumpkin primer that illustrates all the different ways to prepare this soon to be in-season treat. From savory to sweet and everything in between, these recipes and tips for one of Fall’s best ingredients must not be missed!
Who wouldn’t want to try their hand at tasty dishes like Spiced Pumpkin Loaves with Whipped Cream , Pumpkin Cannelloni with Clams and Sage Brown Butter, Pumpkin-Seed Crusted Trout, or Pumpkin-Pecan Pie with Whiskey Butter Sauce? I can smell pumpkin in the oven now…

11 Comments » Posted by ABCDDesigns / Uncategorized and Where to eat? and totally delicious dishes