Roasted Sausage with Red Wine and Fennel

This post is a bit late but I wanted to share a recipe with you that we made last Sunday for our Oscar Night Dinner.  Every year on the Sunday of the Oscar's my husband and I plan to cook a nice meal to enjoy before we settle in to watch the Academy Awards for the night.  I came across this lovely book as I was perusing our local library last Saturday called A Kitchen in France, A Year of Cooking in My Farmhouse written by Mimi Thorisson.  It is a beautiful book filled with gorgeous photos that her husband took of the French Countryside, food, life and wine.  My husband picked out a recipe for Roasted Sausages with Red Wine and Fennel.  I love the book because all of the recipes have simple, fresh ingredients.  I didn't have to go to the grocery and get 20 things like a lot of recipes out there.  The basic ingredients were mostly things that I already had in my kitchen. 

Roasted Sausage with Red Wine and Fennel

• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
• 12 good quality pork sausages
• 1 large fennel bulb, trimmed and sliced
• 1 large onion sliced
• a few Sprig s of fresh thyme
• coarse sea salt and freshly ground pepper
• 1 cup of dry red wine
• 2 tablespoons of unsalted butter

I had everything in my pantry or refrigerator except the fennel which is pretty amazing and it just shows you how simple her recipes are.  I had never cooked with fennel before so I was excited to try something new.  

Fennel

We used a Chateau St. Didier-Parnac Cahors dry red wine that my husband and I had been wanting to try.  Since it's a French wine this was the perfect choice for this recipe.  I used a cup for the recipe and we drank the rest with dinner!

PREHEAT THE OVEN TO 350

In a small bowl, mix together the olive oil and mustard.  Put the sausages in a baking dish and drizzle with mustard mixture, and turn to coat.

Roast for 20 minutes.

Add the fennel, onion and thyme, and season with salt and pepper.  Coat all the ingredients in the oil/mustard mixture.

Bake another 25 minutes or until the sausages are cooked through, stirring halfway through the cooking process.

Add the red wine and butter and roast until the wine has reduced and the sauce has become slightly thicker, about 10 minutes.

***Since it was just the two of us I cut the recipe in half.

The kitchen smelled so good and when it came out of the oven it look rustic and very French!!

We served the sausages over a bed of garlic mashed potatoes and drizzled the top with the wine drippings from the bottom of the roasting pan.

We poured our glasses of French wine and sat down and had a nice slow meal together.  I highly recommend Mimi's book, not only does it have fantastic recipes, it also is so pleasing to look at.  The photographs that her husband took are breathtaking and the stories she tells are wonderful.

Happy Cooking!!

Sara

Bathroom Drawer Mini-Organization Project

I woke up this morning and felt like organizing but didn't have a bunch of time to tackle a large project so I decided to do a mini challenge and work on 2 drawers in my bathroom.  I am super excited to share this project because the entire project only cost me $10!! 

 So the  first thing I did was to take all of the item out of the drawers and sort them.  I threw away things that I did not use anymore which wasn't much because I am pretty good about only keeping what I need and use.  Here are the 2 drawers before.  The top drawer stores my make-up and the second drawer stores our oral care.  

The next step was cleaning the drawers.  I used my Method all-purpose cleaner and a dry cloth.  I realized that some of the make-up wasn't coming off so I decided that I better line the drawers with contact paper.

Here are the products that I purchased for this organizing challenge.  The two trays I purchased on clearance at Marshall's for $4.50 a piece and I found this adorable contact paper for $1 a roll at Big Lots!  I was so excited because both of these products are gray and white!!  The trays are very durable and when they get dirty I can just throw them in the dishwasher to be cleaned.

Here are the trays after filling them with all the make-up and oral care supplies.  I used my Brother P-touch label maker to make labels with our names so that we are sure to use the right section.  I spaced the sections leaving a spot in between for hygienic reasons (no one wants their toothbrush touching anyone else's!!).

After I organized the trays I lined both drawers with the cute contact paper.  This step took me less then 10 minutes.  Both of the drawers turned out great and they look fresh and clean!

The trays fit perfectly inside each drawer with a bit of room in the front and back if needed for extra storage.  I keep my make-up bag in the back of the first drawer during the weekends for easy access.

And there you have it!!!!  A quick and affordable mini organizational challenge completed.  From start to finish this project took me about 30 minutes and again, the cost was $10!!!  I hope you enjoyed this post and I hope that it motivates you to do a mini organizational challenge of your own this weekend!!

Happy Organizing!!

Sara

Vintage Snapshots of Home

In this post I am going to share some of my favorite spots in my house as well as some of my very favorite and treasured things!  Having a home that is cozy and filled with a mix of things old and new, sentimental and fun is how I would describe my style.  I am a lover of white, cream, antique white.....well, you get the drift.  I am also a lover of bright rainbow colors that I have fun with in my office.  Here is a glimpse into some fun spaces and thing in my home!  Enjoy! 

This is my most favorite piece in my office.  It's a simple cube shelf filled with all of my office supplies.  I love color but not necessarily in my main living spaces so I had a lot of fun bringing bright colors of the rainbow into my office.  I store my file binders, craft supplies, greeting cards, cookbooks etc in this shelf.

This is the entrance to my home, the first thing people see when they walk in.  I love this little nook and have filled it with some of my favorite things!  The buffet was purchased at a yard sale for .....get this.....$30!  It is one of my favorite pieces that I own.  Decorating your home DOES NOT have to be expensive.  If you are a thrifter like me you can find amazing pieces at very little cost.  On the buffet I keep a tray of my vintage hobnail and milk glass.   All of the framed photos both on the buffet and on the wall are photos that my brother, who is a photographer,  has taken over the years while he was living at the beach.  This is probably my most favorite nook in our house.

This drop-leaf table was my mother's and I absolutely love the vintage feel it gives my living room.  One of my most cherished pieces!

My dining room is the heart of the house and right off of the kitchen.  It is small and simple but cozy!  I purchased the white farmhouse style table at ....you guessed it!....a yard sale!  It was $40 and I love it!  The chairs are from Target and they were reasonably priced and very heavy and sturdy.

I had to take a pic of this little doorknob ......I purchased it at Pier 1 years ago.  The homemade quilted ornament hanging from it stays up all year round as it was handmade by my mother-in-law and I just love it.  It is just too pretty to only bring out at Christmastime!    She is a very talented quilter and all of her pieces are amazing!

I love all things vintage and I think this little number piece is so cute!  Purchased at Marshall's and I am pretty sure it was under $10.

One of my most cherished pieces of milk glass.  This was my grandmother's and she actually used it as a pot for live plants!  I wanted to continue that tradition but couldn't bring myself to put dirt in it so an artificial little plant found a home there!

How cute is this??!  This vintage photograph is a picture of my mother.  It is the most adorable picture I have ever seen and the frame makes it even better!

One of my brother's photos that is hanging above our buffet.  This is my favorite of all of them!

Last but not least, this vintage picture of a precious baby hung in my father's nursery when he was a baby.  It also hung in my son's nursery and now it lives in our guestroom.  Look at that ornate vintage frame!  LOVE!

I hope that you enjoyed my little gallery and got to see a glimpse into my house and my style!

Happy Decorating!!

Sara

Bathroom Closet Organizing

 I spent the morning organizing my bathroom closet. I used baskets and plastic bins from Target.  It was a cheap and simple project that took me about an hour. Happy organizing!!!

I pulled everything off of the shelves and sprayed it down with my Methods Multipurpose spray so that the closet was clean and fresh.

 On the top shelf I keep a basket with my cleaning supplies.  I use Method products for the environmental factor and also the smell is amazing!  I also keep my rubber gloves and cleaning towels in this basket.  I buy my cleaning towels at Target there are like 10 to a pack and run around $5!  

On the second shelf I have my plastic bins from Target.  I love the blue color!!  Unfortunately, I went back to buy more but they do not have them in this color anymore.  I bought these last year.  I keep bathroom supplies like cotton balls, q-tips, hand soaps etc in these bins for easy access.  This is also where I store my first aid kit, heating pad and manicure/pedicure supplies.  I used my Brother P-touch label maker to make the labels for each bin.

The three drawer organizer holds all my feminine products in the first 2 drawers and then I store extra soap and tooth paste in the last drawer.  

Happy Organizing!!!

Sara

A Casual Saturday Night Dinner

Saturday night dinners at our house are casual and usually prepared while sipping wine and listening to music.  There is rarely a time in our house when music is not playing and if there is my husband is extremely fidgety!  Tonight we chose to listen to Bob Dylan, Self Portrait while I prepared a simple meal of Italian sausage with peppers and onions and homemade oven baked fries.  Our wine was an Argentinian wine, Ruca Malen Malbec Reserve 2011.  My husband works in the wine business so there is always great wine to pair with our meals.  We are very fortunate to have this luxury :)

I like to cook my sausages in a dutch oven on the stove top with a bit of water and a lid to steam them.  Once they are close to being done I add olive oil, sliced bell peppers, onions, salt and pepper and saute with the sausages until veggies are tender but still have a bit of a bite.  For the fries I slice up russet potatoes into strips and add to a large bowl and coat them in good extra virgin olive oil, garlic salt and pepper.  I pour them on a sheet pan and bake at 425 degrees for about 45 minutes. flipping the potatoes halfway through until golden brown and crisp.  

This is definitely a go-to meal and one of our very favorites on the weekends.  I hope that you all are enjoying your weekend!  It is snowing quite a bit here in Maryland and we are taking advantage of being stuck at home by cooking good food, drinking good wine and having good conversations together.  Happy Weekend!   

Rustic Breakfast BLT

I LOVE avocados and one of my most favorite thing in the whole world is an over-medium organic dippy egg!  This is my go to breakfast on the weekends when I am having a lazy morning drinking coffee, reading cookbooks and hanging out with my family in the kitchen.  I am a sucker for lazy weekend mornings!!

Rustic Breakfast BLT

• 1 slice sprouted grain toast
• 1/2 avocado, mashed
• 2 slices of turkey bacon
• 1 over-medium dippy egg

Smash the avocado all over the toast, add 2 slices of turkey bacon and your dippy egg.  Eat with a cup of coffee or bloody mary (this is how my husband likes his!!).  Enjoy!  

Rustic BLT

Welcome to The Domestic Goddess!

Welcome to The Domestic Goddess!  I am an Italian girl living in a small town in Maryland with my husband, son and our Cavalier King Charles, Gracie.  We live in a cozy Capecod on a private little street.  We strive to live as simply as possible enjoying our time at home as a family. I am a homebody and spend most of my free time decorating and organizing our home and cooking for my family. I am slowly going room to room, closet to closet organizing each space. I hope to share this journey with my readers, offering you organizing ideas and concepts that are both affordable and appealing to the eye! Thank you so much for stopping by and please feel free to share your ideas with me!

My Family