Lisa & Nikki's Friday Finds!

So Inviting!

Hi Friends:

What has inspired and delighted us this week? Here they are - the sights, sounds, tastes and one-of-a-kinds we loved!

Happy day-after-Halloween! Did your kids get an abundance of M&M's this year from trick-or-treating? Why not teach them a new game -  M&M baseball. Here's how it works: Every M&M color corresponds to a baseball play. Each player takes a turn eating M&M's out of his bag one at a time and calculates the number of runs they accumulate (based on the order and color of the M&M's picked). When a player pulls out a dark brown M&M (or an out), it is the next player's turn. The game ends when all players have eaten their entire bag of M&M's and the winner is the player with the most runs, of course!
Here's how each player can score:

• Blue M&M: Single
• Orange M&M: Double
• Green M&M: Triple
• Red M&M: Home Run
• Yellow M&M: Strike
• Dark Brown M&M: Out

Now about those Milky Way bars! Why not make a Milky Way cake. There are many versions of this cake out there, but we like this one:

Ingredients: 1 cup butter (2 sticks), 16 fun-size Milky Way bars, 1 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp baking soda, 2 1/2 cups flour, 2 cups sugar, 4 eggs, 2 tsp vanilla, 1 cup buttermilk, 1 cup chopped pecans.

Method: Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Grease and flour a 10-inch Bundt pan. Melt 1 stick of butter and chopped Milky Way bars in a heavy pan. Set aside. Sift together salt, baking soda and flour in a medium bowl. Set aside. In a large bowl, cream the remaining stick of butter and sugar. Add eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Add vanilla. Alternately add sifted dry ingredients and buttermilk. Add candy mixture and nuts. Blend well. Pour into prepared pan and bake for 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 hours.

Icing: Melt one stick of butter with 8 more fun-size Milky Way bars. Add 2 cups powdered sugar and 2 tablespoons milk. Blend adding additional powdered sugar and milk until desired consistency and amount is achieved. Pour over top of cake.

Halloween may be over, but that doesn't mean we have to take down ALL of our pumpkin decorations. Get ready to celebrate Thanksgiving with this great mini pumpkin potpourri displayed in an ironstone server. We love!

Vintage rolling pins - roll out dough for your baked goods or mount one and use it as a towel holder!

November is here and for most of us, it's time to don the wooly sweaters and hats! Get outside and enjoy the last vestiges of fall, everyone. Have a great weekend!

Lisa and Nikki's Friday Finds!

What has inspired and delighted us this week? Here they are - the sights, sounds, tastes and one-of-a-kinds we loved!

Garden chandelier all dressed up for fall!

We love this mint condition antique Underwood typewriter! 

While in North Carolina, I had an awesome dessert at Carrabba's Italian Grill - vanilla ice cream with caramel sauce and roasted cinnamon rum pecans. It was called the John Cole. I wanted to try making this at home. I knew I could buy good vanilla ice cream and caramel sauce. But the pecans are what made the dessert. So I did a little experimenting and here is the recipe I came up with for the pecans:

1/8 cup white sugar

1/8 cup brown sugar

1/4 tsp. salt

3 tbsp. rum (divided)

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1 1/2 cups whole pecans

Preheat oven to 350. Bring sugars, salt and 2 tablespoons of the rum to a boil. Reduce heat and stir continuously until sugars completely melt and you have a reduced syrup. Add pecans and stir to coat. Add last tablespoon of rum and cinnamon. Bring mixture back to a boil and then spread pecans out on a parchment/silpat covered baking sheet drizzling syrup over nuts. Bake for 15 minutes. Allow to cool and then break apart. It's not an exact match, but give it a try. Go ahead, put them on a salad, too!

Have you heard of Brightbox? It's a phone charging station and they are popping up where people spend time. For a flat fee, your phone charges while you eat, drink or shop! Kudos to Brightbox for providing free charging to New Yorkers during the power outage caused by Hurricane Sandy. 

There's nothing like a cozy fire on a chilly Chicago evening. Georgia's loves birch logs!