Our Neutral Nursery

As soon as I found out I was pregnant I immediately began to day dream about our nursery. I loved the idea of getting to create a room from a blank slate for our little bitty baby to begin in. Since we knew before we ever got pregnant that we weren’t going to find out the gender of the baby, nursery planning was a little more challenging but in the best sort of way. We were able to use a combination of things we already had or had been given with new carefully selected items for Baby Clark. My goal was to create a timeless room that was not too “baby-ish” but still sweet, gender neutral and with a few pops of color. I started with our rug and think we ended up with a combination of sweet and neutral — but not too sweet or too neutral. If nothing else at least the nursery is Hattie, our resident nana dog, approves.

Special thanks to all of our friends who helped with decision making (Rachel Turnage, paint color – Benjamin Moore, Floral White; John White, rug resource) and a big shout out goes to Anna Beth Godfrey for her curtain knowledge, expertise and craftsmanship! — She will have an Etsy page soon, and you guys have to check out her work!! The curtain fabric is a neutral buffalo check from Fabric House in Nashville, but looks a little more like a cabana stripe in the lighting of these pictures, regardless I’m obsessed with the way they turned out.

Nursery details:

–Glider – Best Furniture

–Ottoman/pouf – AllModern.com

–Side table – Overstock.com (!)

–Baby armoire – Antique, hand-me-down

–Lamp – Target (!)

–Crib – White Jenny Lind

–Crib Bedding – RH Baby, as well as coordinating quilt on back of glider

–Art above armoire and crib are pieces that we already had – the Winnie the Pooh pastels were in Julia’s and my room as babies.

–Art next to changing table – Lamb by Eden Flora

–Lucite Shelves – Greeting card holders! Found online for $7 each! We have 5 in a row and they are one of my favorite parts of the nursery. Score!

–Changing Table/Dresser – A piece Grant bought on Craigslist years ago. I refinished it with chalk paint from Home Depot to serve as our changing table and dresser. Side note, I am NOT a DIY-er but this was surprisingly easy. I stripped, painted and “distressed” it over two afternoons for about $50. Is it perfect? Definitely not but definitely worth the couple of hours of effort versus spending $1000+ on a dresser from any of my favorite baby stores.

What do you guys think?! I cannot wait for baby to be here and to add some extra touches of pink or blue! Thank you for all of your kind words, thoughts and prayers over the last nine months. 

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Creole Crawfish Pasta

Last weekend we had friends over for crawfish on Saturday afternoon, we put the leftovers on ice in a cooler then I peeled them on Sunday morning. I would advise peeling them while you have everything out and “crawfishy,” recruit a peeling helper by simply offering them an additional beer and turning this music up, this usually does the trick. Put the crawfish tails in a ziplock in the fridge to be used for the best leftovers ever.  

 

Grant found a similar recipe in Square Table that he requested for our crawfish tails. I tweaked it to make Creole Crawfish Pasta. Normally I can’t let myself make creamy pastas but justified this one and it was worth it! The perfect Sunday supper.

Creole Crawfish Pasta

Serves 4-6

Ingredients:

1 Onion, diced

1 Yellow Pepper, diced

3 cloves of Garlic, minced

4-6 Green onions, chopped 

Pint of cherry Tomatoes, quartered

2 Tbs. Butter

1 1/2 c heavy cream

1 tsp Paprika

1/2 tsp Tony Chachere’s Original Creole Seasoning

Crawfish Tails, approximately two cups after shells are removed.

Pasta of your choice (we used angel hair because it’s what we had in the pantry)

Directions:

Put water for pasta on to bring to boil. 

In a separate skillet melt butter and add onion and pepper. Sauté until softened, about 7 minutes.

Add in garlic, crawfish, and tomatoes, combine.

Add heavy cream next add Tony’s, paprika, and green onions.

Reduce sauce, while simmering and reducing, add pasta to boiling water and follow directions on box.

Once pasta is al dente plate and top with the crawfish sauce.

Add additional green onions for garnish.

Enjoy     

   
   

You Say Tomato, I Say Pie

Tomato, tomatoe…Tomato Pie! Tomato Pie is one of my very favorite summer dishes. It’s my go to as soon as I can get my hands on good summer tomatoes. I’m yet to find great ones in Nashville; these tomatoes came up from a friend’s garden in Mississippi with my parents. I have loved putting them to good use! 

Tomato Pie

Ingredients:

1 store bought pie crust

3 large summer tomatoes (I used 2 large, 2 small)

1 Vidalla onion

2 cloves of garlic

Fresh Basil

1/2 c.  Mozzarella, grated

1/2 c. Sharp Cheddar Cheese, grated

1/4 c. Mayonnaise

Several dashes of Tabassco

2 tsp. salt (to get water out of tomatoes)

Freshly ground black pepper

 Directions:

Slice the tomatoes, place around a colander and cover with salt to remove water.

Prepare topping. Combine 3/4 of the cheese, all of the mayonnaise, Tabassco, 1/2 of your  basil and black pepper in a small bowl.

Place pie crust in pie plate, and pierce it with a fork. Bake pie crust for 10 minutes at 400. 

While pie crust is baking, sautée onion until softened and add garlic.

After 10 minutes, you will begin to layer your pie. Add tomatoes first then top with your sautéed mixture and the remaining 1/4 of your cheddar and mozzarella combination. Add another layer of tomatoes then add basil and freshly cracked black pepper, finish with your prepared topping.

  
Bake at 350 for 30-40 minutes. After 20 minutes add aluminum foil around the edges of your pie so the crust does not burn.

Let cool for 5-10 minutes. Top with remaining fresh basil.

Serve and enjoy! 

Bacon Deviled Eggs

Over the past few years, deviled eggs have hit tons of menus in hot restaurants across the US.  In fact, they became so popular that some food critics think that the deviled egg trend is soo 2014! But as with all things egg, I’m just not over it yet…and honestly, I’m not sure I ever will be.  We here at Adeline Alley feel that a good deviled egg is just as relevant now as it was in the 50’s, and with summer barbeques in full swing, it’s time to spiff up your deviling techniques!

Bacon Deviled Eggs

-6 eggs

-pinch of baking soda (to make the peeling process painless)

-2 Tbsp mayonnaise

-salt and pepper to taste

-2 pieces of bacon, 1 piece diced and 1 piece torn into pieces

-1 green onion, green ends only, half diced and half sliced into garnish

Place eggs and baking soda in small pot and cover with 1 inch of water.  Bring to a boil then lower heat and allow to simmer for 10 minutes.  Drain and add cold water.  Once the eggs have become cool enough to handle, peel them, cut them in half, and remove the yolks.  In a bowl, mash the yolks with a fork until they are very smooth, and then add the mayonnaise, salt, pepper, and diced bacon and green onion.  Using a spoon, dollop scoops of the filling back into the halved egg whites and garnish with the torn bacon and sliced green onion.  Enjoy!

-Julia