Monday, July 25, 2011

New Lenny & Eva sentiments

Just a sampling (as there are many, many more) of the new Lenny & Eva Salvaged Sentiments now available in "Boudoir" section of my online store (along with some beautiful urban farmhouse clothing). Truly a fun piece of jewelry to wear and an exceptional gift to give or receive! Perfect for bridesmaids gifts!




Wear as is or add a charm or two.
Add to your collection as it strikes you, having several sentiments to choose from is perfect for our ever changing moods right ladies? :-) Enjoy! See the entire line in the "Boudoir" section of my online store.

Thursday, July 21, 2011

New old finds and some really good new ones too. . .

 Vintage coin purse engraved with "Thelma", love this!!
 Pearls, shells, lace, ironstone, antique urn and a gorgeous vintage sofa.
 A skirted vintage vanity stool, dressed up and ready for you!
 Skirted table with a flip top for hidden storage, Aidan Gray wire topiaries, old porch columns, zinc top cupboard base.
 Freshly painted French blue dresser, I added the skirt to hide a working drawer with missing veneer. The doors open to reveal more drawers. ~SOLD~
 Paris metro subway banner, newly made Mora floor clock.
 Vintage feed bin turned on end to be a cabinet, Aidan Gray wire candelabra
 Vintage concrete birdbaths and fountain, Aidan Gray garden columns for indoors or out, gorgeous new hall mirror, antique urn.
 Gorgeous antique urn on plinth.
 Vintage buoy and a sprinkling of summer and the sea.
 Always an evolving collection of vintage frames and mirrors, a few examples here.
Beautiful, scrolly Aidan Gray basket candelabra. A knock out piece! So much more in store!

Saturday, July 16, 2011

Aidan Gray Home.....be still my heart


 By now you have probably heard of Aidan Gray Home as they have been featured in several magazines.
 But did you know urban farmhouse is a stocking dealer of AGH goods? 

The Aidan Gray line represents a love for interiors, design and authentic products that exude “European Grandeur.”  The founding partners’ desire for products made by hand and with authentic materials such as solid wood, rustic metals, antique mirror, old painted finishes and silk appointments drives product development.





I love AG so much I had to take some home for myself to enjoy! The textures and fabrics are a perfect accompaniment to the vintage and antique pieces I have collected over the years. The chairs below is where you'll find me these days, curled up with a Jeanne d' Arc Living magazine or my lap top. They are SO comfortable and slightly over-sized so it walks for the men in my family (who top out at 6'5").
Stop in and peruse the Aidan Gray Home selections all of their exceptional pieces can be special ordered for you through urban farmhouse.

Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Willow House and Dina...gorgeous!

Time for a bit of a different post! One of my very best girlfriends, Dina Reasoner, has recently become a Design Consultant for Willow House. New to Willow House? They are a wonderful home-based decor business with some truly beautiful, elegant and graceful pieces for home and garden. I'm helping Dina kick off her new venture by spreading the word with my fellow bloggers, blog readers, customers and friends. I would only do this if I thought you would enjoy their products as much as I. Here is a collage I put together of some of my favs from the catalog.
Please note, these are not urban farmhouse products (so you will not find them on my website) but rather a company we give our stamp of approval to if you will. If you like what you see and want to see more just click on the photo to view a catalog and/or shop online. You can order online through this link...just make sure you enter my name, Lisa Maughmer, as the party hostess cuz I'll get some free stuff...who doesn't LOVE free stuff especially when it's pretty free stuff?? This little virtual party I'm having will end Saturday, July 16th so you have a few days to look and shop if you like. Oh, and one very important note...her July special is this:

Spend $39.96 or more on products 
and you can take one additional product 
that is $39.96 or less for 50% off!!
The items on sale can be used to qualify for the 50% item, but you cannot choose your 50% off item from the sale flyer

So have fun! Hope you enjoy it as much as we do and the very best of luck to my dear friend Dina!!

Thursday, July 7, 2011

It's National Blueberry Month!


In honor of National Blueberry month I'm sharing my absolute to-die-for favorite recipe for Blueberry Strudels. The recipe comes from Betty Rosbottom's Cooking School Cookbook. The book was a Christmas gift from my aunt in 1988 so I have been making this for (EEK!) 23 years! Consider it tried and true!! I have made it so many times the 416 page book literally falls open to that page when I lay the book on my kitchen counter. I even have notes scrawled in the margin: "Very (underlined twice) good", "fold long edges in to keep juices from escaping", "good without sauce", etc. I must confess here...I have never made the sauce, the strudel is that good, who knows, maybe it's even more heavenly with the Blueberry Cassis Sauce!

Ms. Rosbottom owned and ran La Belle Pomme teaching kitchen located within the Lazarus Department Store in downtown Columbus, Ohio. My aunt worked at the interior design studio within Lazarus...a weird bridge but the connection has been serendipitous for me and my family's love of blueberries! (Then again, wrap ANYTHING in crispy layers of buttered phyllo dough and how could anyone NOT love it?) Hope you find as many years of enjoyment out of this as we have! Here's to that fabulous blue fruit!

Blueberry Strudels
4 cups fresh blueberries rinsed and patted dry
2 teaspoons grated lemon zest
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch
6 phyllo sheets, 18x14 inches
3/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
1/4 cup dry bread crumbs
1 cup heavy or whipping cream
Confectioner' sugar, for garnish
Mint sprigs, for garnish
Blueberry Cassis Sauce (recipe follows)

1. Combine the blueberries and lemon zest in a mixing bowl and toss together. In another bowl mix the sugar and cornstarch well. Then add the sugar mixture to the blueberries and mix well. Set aside.

2. Place a phyllo sheet on a clean kitchen towel on a work surface, with a short end facing you.(Cover the remaining sheets with a lightly dampened kitchen towel so they do not dry out.) Brush the sheet generously with melted butter and sprinkle it with 1 tablespoon of the bread crumbs. Repeat the process with a second sheet, then place a third sheet on top and butter, but do not sprinkle the third sheet with bread crumbs.

3. Place half the blueberry mixture on the end of the phyllo sheet nearest you, and spread the filling horizontally to form a 3-inch wide strip going almost to the edges. Fold the two long sides of the dough over about 1.5 inches to enclose some of the filling, and then, starting at the end of the filling, roll the dough into a log shape. Use the kitchen towel as an aid to help turn the strudel over.

4. Butter a jelly roll pan or rimmed baking sheet . Use two spatulas to transfer the strudel to the pan. Brush the strudel with melted butter.

5. Repeat the process to make the second strudel. (The strudels may be made one day in advance to this point. Keep covered with a lightly dampened kitchen towel and plastic wrap and refrigerate.)

6. When you are ready to bake the strudels, position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 375.

7. Bake the strudels until golden, 18 to 20 minutes. Remove them from the oven and allow them to cool 5 to 10 minutes.

8. Whip the cream until it is firm but not stiff.

9. To serve, cut each strudel into 5 pieces with a serrated knife. Serve each piece sprinkled with confectioners' sugar and garnished with a sprig of mint and a dollop of whipped cream. Pass the Blueberry Cassis Sauce separately. 

Serves 10

Blueberry Cassis Sauce

1/2 cup water
1/2 cup creme de Cassis
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons cornstarch
2 cups fresh blueberries, rinsed and patted dry
2 to 3 tablespoons sugar

1. Combine the water, cassis, lemon juice and cornstarch in a heavy 3-quart saucepan. Stir over low heat until the cornstarch dissolves. Then add the blueberries and raqise the heat to medium. Cook, stirring, until the sauce thickens and coats a spoon, about 5 minutes. Let the sauce cool 5 to 10 minutes.

2. Puree the sauce in a food processor, blender or food mill until smooth. Strain the pureed sauce through a fine mesh sieve. Taste and add sugar if desired. Reserve in a covered bowl in the refrigerator (sauce may be made 1 to 2 days in advance and kept refrigerated). Reheat the sauce until warm, not hot, before serving.

Makes about 2 cups

Friday, July 1, 2011

Wishing everyone from sea to shining sea...

A very happy Independence Day to one and all!
 photograph of Old Glory from the Civil War, circa 1864, soldier is from the 37th Pennsylvania Infantry

Free In The USA
On the Fourth of July, I raised the flag,
As I spoke with love and pride:
"I’m blessed to be an American," I said,
To two friends who stood by my side.
One was my neighbor, who lives next door,
He's a citizen, like me.
The other, a visitor from a hard, oppressed land,
Far across the sea.
"My flag stays in its box this year,"
Said my neighbor, boiling mad.
"The terrible shape this country’s in,
The future looks nothing but bad.
"Taxes, scandal, indifference and crime,
On our land like a giant stain."
My visitor said, "We have all that, and worse,
But it’s against the law to complain."
My neighbor looked startled, but not subdued;
Then he started in on the Press:
"There’s nothing but bad news; the headlines are bleak."
(It gets me down, too, I confess.)
"Our news is all good," said my visitor.
"It’s just how you’d like to be.
We know what our government wants us to know;
Our press is controlled, you see."
My neighbor spun ‘round and marched toward his house,
And here is the end to my story:
The next time we saw him, he was out in his yard,
Proudly raising Old Glory.