Cheap Ambiance

I love having dinner parties and inviting people over.  I enjoy making it special by decorating the table and creating ambiance.  With very little storage in our home and living on a tight budget, I don't have a lot of resources for this type of thing.

The jars on the table are upcycled sauce jars and yogurt containers washed out and soaked in bleach.  The blue vase was found in our apartment upon move-in (it used to hold sparkling water).

I really like the look of the tea lights flickering in glass on the table and it helps with the lighting as well.    (And saves money on my electric bill).

We served Mexican-style food recently for a party and had the condiments in glass jars.  The jar holding the cheese used to be an ikea candle and the jars in the background holding the onions, cilantro, and limes used to hold sauce.

I started saving my jars and using them for other useful things around the house.  They store my spices, sugar, rice, bullion cubes, popcorn kernels...etc.  If I am not sure if I will recognize what's inside, I write on the jar with a dry-erase marker.  I am also hoping this prevents bugs from entering my kitchen!


I'm off to decorate a friends table for New Years Eve dinner!

Soup and Bread

I love winter.  I love the foods that go along with the season and all the festiveness that comes between Thanksgiving and Valentine's Day.  I especially love the soup and the bread.  

I tried this lentil, leek, potato soup recently and it was delicious.  (And accidentally vegan). 

So I made these popovers to go with it (they weren't vegan).

And Jeff's favorite, Spicy Italian Sausage Soup! 

With Spain's traditional: pan con tomate.

And a picture of my Christmas Tree for added festiveness.  :)