Giveaway Palooza #2 - Very Vintage

There's been a lot of changes here at Sweet Bee Cottage - mostly good - don't worry - but my blogging time has become extremely limited due to these changes.  Since things have been fairly sporadic around here, I wanted to thank you for hanging in there with me with ANOTHER giveaway!  (I know, I know!  It's craaaaaaazy!)

For those of you that visit fairly often, you know I LOVE vintage!  I've even got a little etsy shop devoted to my vintage finds.  

Well, I've been saving a few finds JUST FOR YOU.

I know - you're dying to know what can I win?  What can I win?

Included in this very vintagey giveaway are:

1.  A vintage black metal tray with lovely coral and pink flowers.

2.  A pink Depression glass lidded dish.  (Honestly, I don't know what it was used for....maybe a sugar bowl?  I found a green one just like it that I'm keeping.  I'm using mine for jewelry on my dresser.  Any ideas?)

3.  A charming vintage hankie - lovely purple and yellow flowers on the border with a pink interior.

and

4.  A milk glass urn or compote.

So.....are you feeling my vintage vibe?

If so and you want to enter this giveaway than:

•leave a comment on this post AND a way to contact you

•for a second chance, post this on your blog, Facebook, or twitter and come back to leave a second comment

•open only to US and Canada due to shipping costs (sorry world)

•giveaway ends on Saturday, February 16 at midnight PST

Thanks so much for buzzing along with me - infrequently or not!

Oh and you'll never believe it, but I have ANOTHER giveaway lined up!
(For you counters out there, that's a third giveaway!)

 Hope you come back for a visit to check that one out.  

Sharing today with:

Beverly for Pink Saturday

Game Night

This weekend we had some friends over for Game Night!  We've been talking about doing it for ages and we finally did it.

Worker Bee and I cooked dinner, another Teacher Bee friend brought drinks, and yet another Teacher Bee friend brought dessert.

I found tons of great ideas on Pinterest....

But did I do any of them?  Of course not!!!  Instead we just had some good food and some good fun!

We made from my favorite slow cooker cookbook of all time this delicious Smoky Beef Chili with the most amazing (and simple) corn salsa as a garnish.  (Oh yes, I'm afraid I'm going to share a recipe....again.....please don't groan.  But it's just for the corn salsa - I think it would be fabulously delicious on any homemade chili.)

Corn Salsa

2 cups fresh or frozen (I used frozen white corn) corn kernels

2 cups grape or cherry tomatoes, sliced in half

4 green onions, including green tops, thinly sliced

1/3 - 1/2 lime vinaigrette

Lime Vinaigrette

1 tsp Dijon mustard

1 Tbl white wine vinegar

1 tsp grated lime zest

2 Tbl fresh lime juice

1/4 c extra virgin olive oil

Toss well and indulge!

We built a nice cozy fire in our wood stove (it got below freezing that night)

 pulled out all the games,

and enjoyed our relaxing evening with friends!

We played Cranium, Catch Phrase, and the Game of Things.  I only won when I partnered with Worker Bee on Cranium.  Holy guacamole that boy is good!  That must be why he keeps passing that  Jeopardy online test.  

Can't wait to do it again!

Do you wanna' come the next time?

What games do you enjoy?  I'd love to know!

Thanks for buzzing in!  So nice to see you!

Quick & Easy Dinner (That Tastes Like You Worked Really Hard at It!)

Well, school has started back up again.  Why on God's green earth did I think we might not be as busy as we were all fall?  That was crazy talk, that's for sure.

Well, I really want to be a good blogger and write posts and visit my friends, but time is definitely an issue.  So, how can I tie all these together?  Why make a quick delicious super tasty (why some might even call it YUMPTIOUS, but you know I wouldn't - tongue firmly in cheek) dinner that even Martha would be proud of.  (And I'm just sayin' Martha just might be proud of it since I got it from her website - HA)

Well, are you ready? Get your recipe cards out....

Nothing like a little asparagus bouquet!  

Hoisin-Lime Salmon with Asparagus Couscous

Salmon first...

2 Tbl hoisin sauce (pretty easy to find in your grocery store Asian section)
2 tsp honey
4 salmon fillets (about 6 ounces each), about 1 1/2" thick
1/2 lime, plus several wedges for garnish
1 scallion (green onion), thinly sliced
salt & pepper

1.  Preheat broiler.  Stir together the hoisin and honey, set aside.

2.  Spray a baking sheet or broiler pan (I prefer the broiler pan myself.) with cooking spray.  Place the salmon skin side down on the pan.  Squeeze the juice from the 1/2 lime over the salmon and then season with salt and pepper.  Put under the broiler and cook for 5 minutes.  Take the salmon out and then drizzle the hoisin/honey mixture over each salmon piece.  Return to the broiler and cook until the glaze is bubbling and salmon is cooked through, about 2-3 minutes more.  Divide the asparagus couscous (see recipe below) among 4 plates.  Put the cooked salmon on the couscous and garnish with the green onion and lime wedges.  Serve immediately to the raves and compliments of your family.  Really.

Asparagus Couscous
1 cup couscous
Zest of 1/2 lime
2 tsp vegetable oil (canola is my favorite)
1 tsp coarse salt
8 ounces asparagus, sliced 1/4 inch thick on the bias
2 cups water

1.  Place couscous, lime zest, and oil in a medium, heatproof bowl.  Toss to combine and set aside.

2.  Bring 2 cups water to a boil.  Add salt and asparagus, cooking for 2 minutes.  Pour over couscous and cover tightly with plastic wrap.

Let stand for 5 minutes. 

 (DON'T OPEN - ALL THE MAGIC WILL DISAPPEAR IF YOU DON'T LEAVE IT ALONE FOR 5 MINUTES - really.)  Uncover and fluff the couscous with a fork.

Now here's how Martha's looks:

And here's mine:

And can I just say that Martha's salmon dish looks a bit better than mine, but let's call it like it is - my Susan Branch Johnson Brothers Rose Chintz plate blows Martha's plate out of the water!  

Let me know if you try it.  I'd love to know if you love it like us Sweet Bees do.

Bee sure to buzz by me giveaway too for some Mary Engelbreit treats.  I've got another giveaway I'm getting ready for now too.  (It's a V_NT_G_  giveaway!)

Oh, and if you call ahead, we'll have one extra dish from tonight's dinner.... could be yours! (Or more likely the Sweet Bees will be fighting over who gets to take it to work for lunch tomorrow!)

Thanks for buzzing by!

  

Worker Bee!                                                                                                        Quit buzzing around MY leftovers!                                                                Gotta' go save my lunch for tomorrow!

Giveaway #1 - A Mary Engelbreit Palooza

I am just so grateful for all of you who come and visit and have helped my little old blog grow to over 600 followers and over 400 posts that I want to share some of my favorite things with you!

My first giveaway for 2013 is all about Mary Engelbreit!

Giveaway now closed.

Winner is Carolynn from Chenille Cottage!  

I have loved Mary for many years, at least as long as I've been a teacher and that's been 18 years.  Her illustrations and quotes invariably make me smile or give me that warm fuzzy feeling.

In this giveaway I've included some new ME items and some classic ME items....

•a pack of Home Sweet Home tissues

•a Mary Engelbreit's Fan Fare cookbook

•a ME cherry rubber stamp

•a ME rhinestone cherry accent

•a ME paper doll set

•a ME pen

•a ME notebook

•••and•••

•Mary Engelbreit's Time for Tea book

Here are the rules:

1.  For one entry leave a comment telling me your favorite ME illustration or your favorite ME item in the giveaway.

2.  For a second entry, put my giveaway button on your blog and come back and leave me another comment.

3.  Entries are open from now until Saturday, January 26, 2013, at midnight PST.

4.  Open only to US and Canada due to mailing costs.  (Sorry world!)

5.  Oh yes, you do not have to be a follower to enter, but please feel free to follow along if you want.

And thank you again for your visits and comments!

I hope you know how much they mean to me and how they brighten my day!

P.S.  More giveaways to come soon including a vintage giveaway AND an entertainer's giveaway!  Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy!!!

Getting a Start on Bee-ing Organized in 2013

Raise your hand if you are a fan of Martha Stewart.  Oh yes.....I see quite a few of you.

   

Now, how many of you know about her fabulous office line at Staples?  Lots of you again.

Well, I am a sucker for Martha so I headed out to Staples in another attempt to help Worker Bee and I stay organized.  (And yes, the milk glass taco is helping with the mail.)  I decided to buy some of the plastic envelopes with a wide adhesive strip to put on the doors of our computer armoire.  

Up until this morning I had cork tiles adhered to the doors of the armoire.  Great for pinning things up there, but not so great for organization.  (Can you believe I found mammogram results from 2009 on it? How embarrassing!)  

Well, of course, I couldn't just buy the envelopes, I also had to get some cute labels for them too.   

 I didn't think to get a before picture of the cork tiles, but they were just your basic cork tiles from Target that I cut to custom fit them into the insets on the doors.

I left one panel up on the opposite door, but I can see right now that those cards that Baby Bee made for Worker Bee are from about 3-4 years ago.  And Baby Bee hasn't been on Webkinz for about 3 years at least.

Hmmmm......already looking prettier than before....

Now when we sort the mail it has a labeled envelope to go in.  

 I labeled the 4 envelopes with Bills, To File, Action, and Baby Bee.  They are supposed to hold up to 50 sheets in each envelope.  I'll let you know if we have a sudden avalanche of paper.  

 And BONUS!  

Okay, I know it is totally dorky to get excited about paper clips, but look at those colors!  

They are red and JADEITE green!  Jadeite green paper clips – the paper clips of my dreams!

Hey, I told you it was dorky.  

 Don't they look all pretty and full of potential all nestled in their little aqua bed?  

 I just love how cute all of this looks.  (And yes, for those of you with eagle eyes that spotted those sad little post-it notes, they have been replaced with pretty post-it notes.)

 Now I just have to sort through this pile!  Pooey!

What are you doing to get organized for 2013?  

It sure is nice to see you stopping by for a visit.  

I just can't stand it!  I am so excited about the giveaways I have lined up over the next few weeks for you!  I am trying not to be a tease, but I am a dreadful one, aren't I!

Well, to power through that pile of papers (alliteration - a third grade standard) I'm whipping up a white mocha.  Would you like one too?