Thursday, January 30, 2014

Come With Me To An Ice Castle





I am going to take you to one of the
few ice castles in the United States
and since you are going to be royalty
for a day I made you some royal slippers 
and a crown to celebrate.

There are only three ice castles in
the United States and we have one right
here in Utah just up the canyon in Midway.

The ice castles are made by hand and contain
over 20,000,000 pounds of ice.



We went on a warm sunny day
with my favorite royalty,
Hannah, Miss Utah County
and Kylie, Little Miss Utah County.


They dressed in their icy blue
and capes and naturally
they were mistaken for Elsa
our favorite queen from Frozen,
Disney's new movie.


Who happened to just come along
with us for the photo shoot
and we also found


our favorite snowman, Olaf there!


Actually, we brought that Olaf with
 us for baby sister to hold but we
did find this huge Olaf there.


It was a beautiful sunny day there
and the majesty of the ice is
just unimaginable.


There are arches and tunnels
and mazes to explore.




You don't want to wear your princess 
slippers as you are walking
through quite a bit of snow but
I just had to make some
royal cookies to celebrate our adventure.


For complete instructions on
making cookies like these

How appropriate as they use
ROYAL ICING!

I made these and brought them over
to Hannah as she had come down
with a cold.


These ice figures remind you of 
the top of a castle.

It was definitely a fun event to go
to, a fabulous place to take
photos, and it was really fun to 
be there with ROYALTY!


Hannah and her mother had
given me both of these
cookie cutters so it was
fun to give a little something back.


I will be posting with













Monday, January 27, 2014

Pesto, Pear and Gorgonzola Pizza


It was a really busy week last week
with two pizza parties, a birthday dinner,
my daughter in law competing in the
regional yoga competition (and taking
first place so now she is going to 
the National Competition), 
a family sleepover at the cabin
with ski lessons for the little ones
and one 
more dinner party!  Whew!!!
Did I make it through last week?!!


We fired up the pizza oven two nights in a row 
and had around 20 to 25 both nights.

Remember the luscious pizza I told you
about from Hotel California in Cabo?
Well, I made a copy of it,
even running to a couple of stores
to find Mexican Crema to finish
it off with
and I think I made a great rendition of it!


When we remodeled our house
about 9 years ago, we put a wood burning
pizza oven in the kitchen and use it often
for entertaining.  

You could make this pizza on a pizza stone
in your own oven.  The trick is to really take the
hour or more to heat up the stone.  In the pizza
oven, the floor is around 650 - 700 degrees and
the roof of the oven is around 1200 degrees so
the pizza cooks in just minutes.


We love to have everyone make their
own pizzas so we started with this one
as an appetizer to let everyone have a taste
and then they created their own signature pizzas.


(The baked pizza was finished off with
a swirl of Mexican Crema.)

Pesto, Pear and Gorgonzola Pizza

1 sweet onion, sliced and caramelized in a frying pan
1 pear, cored, sliced and pan fried in butter until soft
prepared pesto
gorgonzola cheese (I used Boar's Head)
Mexican Crema (or table cream)

Prepare the pizza dough at least 2 hours ahead.
Let rise, then punch down and shape into
individual balls, cover and let rise again about 30-45
minutes.

Thinly slice and caramelize the onions in a little
oil until tender and evenly caramelized.  Use medium
heat so you don't burn them.

In another frying pan, melt a teaspoon of butter and 
lay the slices of pear in the butter.  Let them cook
for a few minutes until light golden and turn and 
cook the other side.

Shape the ball of dough into a round by
stretching.  Place it onto a well floured pizza peel.
Top it with prepared pesto.  Then lay the cooked
pears around the center forming a circle.  Top
with a circle of gorgonzola cheese and a final
ring of caramelized onion.

Bake on a hot pizza stone (following manufacturer's
directions) until bubbly and brown and crisp on
the bottom.  Remove from heat and top with a swirl
of Mexican Crema (or table cream).
Slice and Enjoy!




The mix of the savory pesto, onions and gorgonzola
against the sweetness of the cooked pears and
the creaminess of the Crema really make this
a fabulous pizza.


Wednesday, January 22, 2014

Reclaimed Wood and French Script Dining Table


I finished this remodel project some time ago
but when a close friend asked if we had ever
finished remodeling our St. George condo,
I realized I had never posted more about it.

I had shown you my first tile job which was
the backsplash in the kitchen. 


But I had left you hanging on the rest
of the project (bet most of you forgot!)
We took everything down to the sheetrock
and redid the kitchen, floors, fireplace
and baths.  


We were down there this last week and I 
decided to take some photos and create a
tablescape highlighting the remodel of the
dining area.


The inspiration piece was this reclaimed
wood table on whitewashed columns.
I found this at a local store
Osmond Designs.



Next I found these two French script settees
online.  I love the look of settees
mixed with chairs.  It makes such a warm and
welcoming table.


Coordinating French script chairs from
another online site provided chairs on
each end.


The beautiful black drum chandelier
was also an online find while
the mercury glass vases were from 
Home Goods.


So I set off to my favorite Home Goods
store in St. George, Utah to find some
fun plates and accessories to create
this beautiful tablescape.

I was captured by these wonderful
silver polka dot china plates, so
I had fun collecting coordinating
items at Home Goods.

In the condo I just had some ocean inspired
plates and since I had just done a tablescape
using that theme, I decided to find something
else that went beautifully with the remodel.


This silver backed plate was slightly
larger than the silver polka dot dinner plate
so I chose to use it as a charger.


I already had the flatware but I found these
cream and silver linen placemats and 
thought they coordinated perfectly.



The stack was topped with a matching
bowl and I was thrilled with all of
my new finds.


I also found cream and silver napkins
with silver napkin rings 


and these
gorgeous silvered goblets. 



I have never gone to the store and
just picked out a whole tablesetting
before.  It was a challenge but fun.


I was limited by the number of
linens and napkin rings I could get
so I set the table for four,
but fortunately they had more plates and
so I was able to get 7 of each of those.





It all looks so different and upscale
from before.  

We have had the place for 15 years and
it had carpet in the dining
area.

We redid the flooring so that the entry,
living, kitchen and dining is all in dark wood.

I love this cheetah rug from Ballard under the table.





I also made these lined 
burlap and flocked pinch pleated
curtains with bling detail for the
dining area and the living area.


I will finish with a shot of the
dining area at night with
the drum chandelier lit.

I love the fun patterns the chandelier
makes on the ceiling.

You can find a lot of these items
on my Pinterest board

I will show you more of the remodel
in later posts!

Thanks for coming to visit
Purple Chocolat Home
where something new is always
happening.

I will be posting this with
and 

















Monday, January 20, 2014

My Best White Bread - Craving Baking


I think I am a die hard
carboholic,
especially when it is cold outside.
There is something about the cold
that makes me want to start baking.


And we have had our share of
cold and snow this winter.
(My back deck earlier this winter!)


Give me the oven and let me start baking.
I don't know about you, but for me
a fresh baked loaf is a dangerous
situation.  One slice, just to taste,
another slice with butter, better
have two more in a sandwich


(Mayo, tomato, and fresh basil - killer!)


and soon half the loaf is gone
and I don't have anyone to blame it on!
So this recipe makes three loaves and 
I am going to have to give away
two to the neighbors!
LUCKY THEM!!

Best White Bread Recipe
11 C. all purpose flour
1 1/2 T. SAF yeast (bread yeast)
3/4 C. vegetable oil
3 T. honey
1 1/4 C. powdered milk
1 T. salt
4 C. warm water

In large Kitchenaid or bread mixer
place all of the ingredients and mix with the
kneading hook for 5-10 minutes or until smooth
and elastic.  (With the bread yeast you don't have
to dissolve the yeast in the warm water.)  If
you don't have bread yeast, place the yeast and
water in the bowl first. 
Remove the bread dough hook.

Spray the dough with Pam and cover it
with plastic wrap and let it rise until 
double, usually about one hour.

Divide the dough into three equal parts.  I like
to weigh mine so they really are equal.



This will make 3 - 2 lb loaves.


I  roll mine out into an oblong on a lightly
flour counter just
using my hands and I keep tucking the
ends in and pinching the back seam
together until I have a loaf about the
length of my pan.


Place the bread in three pans sprayed
with Pam.


I love these pans I got at 
the Bosch store.


Cover the loaves lightly
with a towel or paper towel
and let rise until the loaves are
1 1/2 - 2 inches above the pans.
Get down on eye level and check that.  
It usually takes less time for the second
rise, about 40 minutes, but make sure they
are that far above the pan to get a nice tall loaf.

Place in a preheated oven at 
325 for 30-35 minutes.
Remove from pan and let cool.




Now, just be careful to not eat
the whole loaf.  I know it is hard
but try!



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