Creating Cozy in Your Home

Today’s forecast… frigid!  And, spring seems a million years from now. But don’t despair. Just because it’s cold outside doesn’t mean your home has to be on the inside. Here are some ideas to cozy up your home and bridge that gap between holiday and spring decorating.

Add some green. I used to dread when it was time to pack away my Christmas tree and garlands. Oftentimes I’d leave them up just to avoid the winter decorating blues. 


One day I realized it wasn’t Christmas I missed, it was simply the green throughout my home. Bring back the green with a few new houseplants, a terrarium garden, forced bulbs or a moss-covered wreath in your kitchen window. Plants not only fill up cold spaces, they help purify your home.

Create a wintery centerpiece. Save the tulips and daffodils for Easter. Incorporate winter elements such as branches, pine cones or even some small birch logs into an arrangement of faux greenery. Let your decorating be inspired by the beauty of the season.

        

Light some candles. The soft glow of candlelight warms up any room. If you have kids, pets or are just leery about using real candles, flameless candles are a great substitute, and they have the same effect.


Try wrapping a strand of mini, battery-operated white lights around a topiary or plant or add some to a centerpiece. Most have timers and remotes, and some even have a few light patterns to choose from.

 

Change your accent pillows. Warm up your couch with snuggle-inducing pillows in fabrics such as faux fur, wool or velvet. Instead of buying more pillows, buy just the pillow covers and liven up what you have.

     

Fill a basket with throw blankets. Keep comfy throws handy by storing them in a large wire or woven basket near your couch. They’ll be close by for movie nights or just relaxing by the fire.

Clean up the clutter. It is said that extra “stuff” lying around can cause anxiety. So, get rid of it! Recycle catalogs, junk mail and magazines; file important papers; donate clothes you haven’t worn in awhile and pitch any expired foods.

It may still be frozen out there, but a few simple tweaks in your home will lift your spirits and send old man winter packing. 

Score Big with Italian-Style Super Bowl Snacks

We’ve barely recovered from the eating frenzy of the holiday season and we’re staring straight in the face of the 2^nd largest food consumption day of the year, Super Bowl Sunday. According to Nielsen, in recent years Americans have spent $278 million on potato chips, $198 million on frozen pizzas and $62 million on avocados in the two weeks leading up to the event. That’s a lot of guacamole!

Super Bowl Snacks

Your friendly neighborhood foodie is here to help sack those statistics with game-day goodies that will score with your home team and get you the extra point. And I’m doing it all Italian style. Kick off the party with Pepperoni Pizza Puff Pastry Bites. Gain yardage with Italian Pasta Salad and make the touchdown with Toasted Ravioli.

Pepperoni Pizza Puff Pastry Bites
Pepperoni pizza is morphed into crispy, buttery snack-size appetizers in this recipe. This one is super versatile, so feel free to cover the puff pastry with pizza toppings of your choice. Serve them along with a zesty tomato sauce for dipping.

Pepperoni Pizza Puff Pastry Bites

Makes 16 appetizers   

1 sheet of frozen puff pastry, thawed
32 slices pepperoni
¼ cup green pepper, diced
¼ cup fresh mushrooms, diced
4 slices mozzarella cheese, quartered
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
1 cup marinara sauce for dipping

Thaw puff pastry at room temperature for no longer than 40 minutes. Unfold. Cut pastry dough into 16 squares.

Top each square with two slices of pepperoni. Sprinkle with green peppers and mushrooms. Sprinkle with Italian seasoning and top with a slice of cheese.

Bake in a 400 F oven for approximately 13-15 minutes or until golden brown. Serve immediately along with a bowl of warm marinara sauce.

Italian Pasta Salad
Full of color and hearty ingredients, this salad gets better with age. Assemble it the night before the game and give all those wonderful flavors time to come together.

Serves 6-8

Italian Pasta Salad

Dressing
⅔ cup extra virgin olive oil
¼ cup red wine vinegar
2 tablespoons Parmesan cheese
1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
½ teaspoon Kosher salt
⅛ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Salad
12 ounces penne or pasta of your choice
4 ounces salami, sliced thick and cut into quarters
4 ounces sliced pepperoni
6 ounces mozzarella cheese, cut into cubes
¼ cup banana pepper rings
¼ cup sun-dried tomatoes packed in oil
¼ cup olives, halved
Basil leaves, torn

For the dressing: In a small bowl, whisk all ingredients together. Set aside.

For the salad: Cook pasta according to package directions. Allow to cool for approximately 30 minutes.

In a large bowl, combine cool pasta and the remainder of salad ingredients.

Whisk dressing once again and pour over salad. Serve immediately or overnight in an airtight container. 

  

Toasted Ravioli
Toasted ravioli was one of the first dishes I made with co-editor Mary Helen Darah in preparation for an upcoming cooking spot on WTVG a few years back. Since then, the appetizer remains a favorite and shows up frequently at my parties.

Toasted Ravioli

22-ounce package frozen cheese or beef ravioli
2 eggs, beaten
1 ½ cups bread crumbs
Olive oil for frying
2 tablespoons Parmesan cheese
Fresh chopped parsley for garnish
2 cups marinara sauce

In a bowl, place eggs.  In a separate bowl, place bread crumbs.

In a medium frying pan, heat oil.

Dip each ravioli in egg, then coat with bread crumbs.

Carefully add ravioli to the frying pan and cook on both sides until brown and slightly crispy.

Top toasted ravioli with fresh parsley and sprinkle on Parmesan cheese.

Serve with warm marinara sauce on the side for dipping.

Plates & Places - Found Our Haven

Found Our Haven, a new home décor store in the heart of downtown Toledo, may be small in square footage but it's huge on inspiration and offerings. The petite boutique, created by Jennie Lewis, is filled from floor to ceiling with vintage, antique and farmhouse-style finds as well as handcrafted items.

Lewis stocks her store with her refinished furniture, hand-sewn pillows, floral and greenery arrangements, and found treasures she has given new life and purpose.  In addition, there are handmade candles, charcuterie boards, soaps, and decorative accessories made by local vendors. 

“One of my goals for the store is to provide local creators with a venue to sell their work,” said Lewis. “It’s very important to me to help and promote other vendors in my community.”

Jennie Lewis

Found Our Haven shares its bricks and mortar with Rustbelt Coffee, located at 119 N. Ontario Street. 

The multi-use destination gives visitors a perfect opportunity to grab an espresso or a chai latte, along with a raspberry Russian tea biscuit before or after shopping.

Decorating has always been a passion for Lewis. “I’ve been a creator my whole life,” she said. When Lewis was about 6 years old, she built her first clubhouse with some sheets and a hammer and then decorated it. “I didn’t build it for friends to play in. I just wanted to sit and look at how pretty it was,” she reminisced. “I’ve always wanted a store, and now my dream has come true.”

Currently, Found Our Haven is open three days per month from Thursday through Saturday. Lewis hopes to add more days soon. 

For opening days and hours, visit Found Our Haven on Facebook or Instagram.

Homemade Italian Meatballs

An unexpected change of work plans this morning left me with a whole day at home alone. This doesn’t happen too often anymore, so I thought I would put these hours to good use and whip up some homemade meatballs.

Who could resist a big, bowl of spaghetti and meatballs on a cold, snowy January evening? So, let’s get right to it. 

The way I make my meatballs is basically how my grandmother makes hers. No fancy cookware or utensils are required – these meatballs are just easy-to-make, good Italian food. I hope you enjoy them as much as my family does. 

Mangia!

Homemade Italian Meatballs

The ingredients listed are per pound of ground beef. Recipe yields about 10 meatballs (I like them big).

1 pound ground beef

2 eggs
½ cup Italian-style breadcrumbs
¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 clove garlic, minced
¼ teaspoon salt
⅛ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped
Small bowl of water
Extra virgin olive oil for frying
Pasta sauce

In a large bowl, add the ground beef through the parsley. Using your hands, mix together ingredients until well combined. Do not overwork the mixture, or the meatballs will be tough.

Roll mixture into 1 ½ inch balls. If the mixture seems a bit dry, add a few splashes of water to it. The meatballs should glisten, but not be dripping wet. Adding water to the mixture is the “secret” to soft meatballs.

In a frying pan, heat olive oil over medium. Fry meatballs in small batches, tuning them every couple of minutes and just long enough to get a nice even “crust” around them. 

Meatballs should not be cooked all the way through at this point.

Drain meatballs on paper towels.

In a large sauce pot, heat pasta sauce. Add meatballs to sauce and simmer 1 ½ to 2 hours or until cooked through.