Limoncello Dessert a la Rachael Ray

Today we are heading to Europe. Greek gyros, a French take on veggies and dip and finally a slightly Italian inspired lemon and berry dessert.  We are making a few fun recipes from Rachael Ray.  RR rules in our house.  I never actually use her recipes, but I use very few recipes.  Her style of cooking has been a huge inspiration to me.  {I want to kiss her feet for making it okay to eye ball a measurement instead of using the tedious measuring cups and spoons.} So today in honor of Celebrity Cook-Along, we are actually making some RR recipes.

We set the table with a fun mix of yellow and blue.  I love the kids' wild flower bouquet.  The greenish flowers are actually dill and it smells so good.   



We made the Lamb gyros platter and the veggies in a flower pot.  It was so fun and so good. 

The real star of our Rachael Ray meal is the dessert.  It's one of her fake outs.  The ingredients are pretty simple.  I just happened to have Limoncello in the cabinet so when I saw this recipe, I decided to try it out. 

I grabbed black berries, blueberries, and golden raspberries for this recipe.  One they were on sale, two...they went with my color theme for the table. 

I also substituted cream cheese for the mascarpone cheese.

Now, open the package of sponge cakes you get in the produce section of the grocery store.  I bought individuals rather than one big shell that the recipe calls for.

Add a little Limoncello to each sponge cake.  Do not just dump all the liquor in the middle of the sponge cake.  Slowly pour it all over the sponge cake shell letting it soak into the cake.  Then set the sponges aside.  

Add the lemon curd, mascarpone cheese, and cream to a bowl. 

Then whip it.  Whip it good.  He he. 




Fill the sponge with the cheese filling. 



Sprinkle the berries on the sponge cake.  Enjoy!  So Good and SOOOO Easy!

Here is the gyros platter.

Here is my flower pot of veggies...it's not as pretty as Rachael Ray's was...but I still liked it. 



Click here for the Gyro platter recipes. Click here for the Crudité and Three Sauces recipes. Enjoy!

I am linking to Celebrity Cook-Along at Happier Than A Pig In Mud.

Love Seat Make-Over

It's been a super crazy week here at Willow Cottage.  Lots of changes here and lots of fun too.  I brought my loveseat home this week.  I am so excited to have this project finished.  Click here if you want to read more about this project. Here are a few pictures of the transformation.

I loved taking this class. It was stressful because I was so worried about whether I would get the love seat put together before the end of class. I worked on the cushions at home and did as much homework as possible. In the end, I did finish on time and I am was so happy. {Note, the women that I took the class with suggested that a large project like this normally takes about two or three semesters to complete. I guess I had beginners luck.}


Cost Effectiveness of Re-Upholstery

• Class - $90.00
• Fabric - $ 45.00 for 15 yards...I needed 10 yards for loveseat...I have 5 yards to play with yet.
• New Foam and Supplies - $40.00

Total Cost of Re-do: $160.00
Comparing that to a new love seat for $900.00 I am thrilled with the results.  :-) 


So now that the love seat is home, I get to start on a new project. :-) Next project on the list is the library/guest room/music room. It's a rather busy room and everything needs to work together.

My work list includes:

• Paint the wall when kids go back to school.
• Find a rug.
• Figure out a new furniture layout.
• Decorate:
• Picture for the wall
• Americana decor 
• Sheet music and instruments organized, functional and pretty
• Go house shopping for pillows, throw, lamp(s), and family photos.

I'm going to leave you with the before and after picture for now.  Stay tuned for the room re-do.

Before: 

After:  It's already looking better.  Joel brought the coffee and end table up from the basement that was left over from the pre-children phase of our life.  I am pretty pleased with how things are looking so far.  Can't wait to finish the room so I can show you the rest of it.  :-)

I am linking to Between Naps on the Porch for Metamorphosis Monday, Transformation Thursday at The Shabby Creek Cottage and Bunny Hop Wednesday at Bunny Jean Decor and More.