Bondsister

Wednesday, July 4, 2012

California Grace

Today's song is "California Grace" by Long Beach Shortbus.
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Ikea Styled Beef Meatballs with Mini Potato Fondants

Sometimes, it is always good to go back to an old recipe and simply try to improve it, and that was the case with my original meatballs dish which I have now sought to get it better.

And not only that, Ikea themselves have recently done the same thing, improving their original recipe. While I am not sure if Ikea's new recipe has gone down well with the general public, I am personally more satisfied with this newer meatball dish of mine.

One of the things that I have sought to change was the simple boiled potatoes that accompanied the original dish. I wanted to do a more tastier potato accompaniment, and decided to do a potato fondant styled variant.

To make the mini potato fondants, take about 3 or 4 new potatoes and cube it. I normally leave the skin on as I prefer having it this way, but you can peel the potato skins before cutting them if you prefer to have them off.

In a pan or skillet, melt about 200g of butter. The secret to this dish is the generous amount of butter for the potatoes to cook in without burning the butter. Once the butter begins to melt, add in the potatoes.

Keep turning or tossing the butters to get a nice caramelization around the potatoes. After about 10 minutes or so, or once the butter starts to burn, add in about a cup of chicken stock to prevent the burning of the butter.

Let the potatoes cook for another 5 to 10 minutes, and then put the entire pan into an oven at 180 deg C for another 5 minutes and the potatoes will be done. They should be aromatic and have a nice creamy and buttery texture and look golden and crisp on the outside.

For the beef meatballs, take about 300 grams of minced beef and add in some olive oil, parmesan cheese, one egg, spring onion (or chopped garlic) and some seasoning of salt and pepper. Mix well and make sure to taste.

Generally, before cooking all the meatballs, I will tend to test one by cooking in a pan to see if my seasoning is right so you can still adjust the seasoning in the beef mixture before you roll them into balls.

There are 2 ways you can cook the meatballs. The simplest way is to just cook them in a pan for about a couple of minutes. The other way is to oven the meatballs at about 200 deg C for about 5 minutes or until they are fully cooked.

Generally, the oven method is a bit tastier in my opinion but you have to make sure you preheat the oven before putting in the meatballs. The pan method tends to lose a bit more moisture.

Finally, to do a sauce, simply saute some chopped onion with butter until they are soft and sweet. Add in some beef stock and red wine and let it reduce by half. Add in some butter and cream and strain the mixture for a clear sauce.

Once the meatballs are done, simply plate the meatballs and the potatoes and garnish with some greens and add in the beef sauce.

In my view, this home cooked version is way better than what you get at Ikea. Go try it!

Winner Announced Bare Fruit

HAPPY 4TH OF JULY EVERYONE!

And the winner of the Bare Fruit Cinnamon Apple Chips case is: #7

Congrats Deanna! A big thank you to Bare Fruits for hosting this giveaway and thanks to all who entered as well!

*(sorry this is no screen shot of the winner. My power was out for 52 hours and I had to do this post from my phone! thanks for your understanding!) xo

Tuesday, July 3, 2012

Candy Store Giveaway!

Happy Independence Day!!! Candy Store just recently launched their Flavor of the Month color -- Red, White, and Blueberry! So cute, right? It's the perfect accessory for celebrating today.

Candy Store is a cool silicone accessories company that make cosmetic pouches, coin purses, wallets, and more. Their products are incredibly practical & stylish; they're even stain, tear, and fade-resistant.

Well, I have teamed up with the company to giveaway a set of 8 (that's right, EIGHT) cosmetic pouches in the 8 beautiful colors to one lucky winner: licorice, lemon, apple, bubble gum, cherry, grape, orange, and peppermint. You can have a cosmetic pouch to go with any outfit! Below are even a few outfit ideas I pulled together. (It all retails for $160 dollars.)

Here are the other colors:

Go Outside

Today's song is "Go Outside" by Cults.
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My Search for Hair Pretties: Girly Perfect Bows

As most of you already know I am OBSESSED with braiding and hair styles in general. You also know I have a daughter and now that she's 19 months old, I'm finally getting some real hair to play with! My seach for hair pretties continues...

I was recently contacted by Girly Perfect Bows. UMMM, AMAZING! I was beyond excited when I opened my package and found such a great mix of baby and toddler bows as well as a korker set for pigtails. Here is a picture of what I was sent:

The coolest part is you can take the baby bows and clip them onto the toddler bows! I have quite a few baby bows I never got rid of so I am so excited that I can now just clip them onto the bigger toddler sized ones! Such a brilliant idea.

And here is my little bean wearing a few of her new bows. She doesn't have tons of hair (YET) but we were able to get it half up, in pigtails, and a low ponytail as well. I can't tell you how many comments I have gotten while she has been wearing them. They seriously are precious!

Now for the amazing part, Stilettos and Diaper Bag readers can get 20% off all purchases now through July 10th by using code 20SADB at checkout! So, SHOP SHOP SHOP! These bows are great quality and at 20% off you can't NOT shop! ;)

They don't just have baby and toddler bows either, they have ones for preschool and school aged children as well! Check out their website, you will be blown away at the selection...I was!

Monday, July 2, 2012

Inspirational Tuesdays #120

Hope you all have a great Independence Day tomorrow!

All collected images were found randomly online. Click on image to view source.

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