.

.

Thursday, February 28, 2013

Celebrating 500 Followers on Pinterest


Spring by mielbakes/madhu on Flickr
I'm excited to announce that this week I reached 500 followers on my Pinterest page http://pinterest.com/shannonimlay/  First I would like to say a big THANK YOU to those of you following my Pinterest page :)  I thought I  would celebrate by sharing a few of my favorite pins for St. Patrick's Day recipes.  If you're anything like me, you'd like to know that there is something to cook besides, or  with Corned Beef and Cabbage ;)
http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/irish-potato-soup-10000000257493/
I've always been a fan of Irish Potato Soup and I must confess, my mom makes a really good one.  How about serving this for lunch, or as  a first course for dinner on St. Patrick's Day. What a great way to warm the body and the soul on a cold Spring day. 

http://damndelicious.tumblr.com/post/19282136836/irish-soda-bread-muffins
Here is the perfect thing to serve with soup (or stew).  Irish Soda Bread Muffins. Click on the links just below any of the photos and they will take you to the recipes.  I love the idea of making Irish Soda Bread muffins, they make the cutest single servings :)

http://www.marthastewart.com/316991/irish-beef-and-stout-stew
There is nothing that makes the Irish more happy than a dish with meat and potatoes. There is something about it that just satisfies, and comforts you.  You may want to try this Irish Beef and Stout Stew from Martha Stewart.
 

http://www.blog.birdsparty.com/2012/03/st-patricks-day-party.html#.UTAqGaK1cuc
I thought this was the cutest idea for garnishing green punch or cocktails (just make sure you rub the apples with lemon or lime juice to keep them from turning brown) but this link takes you to an entire, (beautiful) St. Patrick's Day party with lots of ideas and some free printable's :)  Another idea that would make cocktails or sweet drinks fun would be to rim glasses with gold sugar (the gold at the end of the rainbow :)
http://www.malacukierenka.pl/kawa-po-irlandzku.html
It wouldn't be St. Patrick's Day without Irish Coffee, lol  after all the reason God invented whiskey was to keep the Irish from ruling the world (sorry, I couldn't help myself). This is a beautiful Polish blog but don't panic there is a translation button in the upper right corner :)
Serve this with any dessert or cookies and your guests will feel like they found the gold at the end of the rainbow.
http://www.sheknows.com/food-and-recipes/articles/952069/shamrock-shake-recipe
 Okay, so it's not Irish, but I have a soft spot for Shamrock Shakes, and they're so easy to make.  If you live in the sun-belt or have kids, this is the perfect St. Patrick's Day treat.
http://www.sprinklebakes.com/2010/03/guinness-chocolate-pudding-or-chocolate.html
If you thought you were going to read a post on recipes without chocolate, well then you don't know me that well, lol.   Make the man in your life happy with this Chocolate Guinness Pudding.
http://bellyfeathersparty.blogspot.com/2010/03/baileys-irish-cream-chocolate-best-st.html
Chocolate Baileys Irish Cream Cupcakes=Yum :) What an adorable and delicious way to celebrate St. Patrick's Day.  Take a batch of these to work, or send them to your child's classroom (substitute non-alcoholic  Irish cream flavor coffee creamer found in the dairy section in any of these recipes if you don't want alcohol )  and you will be one popular Bonnie Lass (or Lassie :)
http://www.keyingredient.com/recipes/150373981/irish-cream-chocolate-pots-de-creme/
  If you will indulge me one more Chocolate Irish recipe ;)  How does Irish Cream, Pots de Creme sound?  Well it sounds fantastic to me and I think this will be the way our family finishes  off St. Patrick's day.  I hope you enjoyed some of my favorite Irish Food pins and I invite you to follow my Pinterest page.  It has a wide variety of boards and a little something for everyone (okay, mostly romantic someones).   Let me know what your favorite Irish recipe is, I would love to hear about it. 

Monday, February 18, 2013

"Talk Pretty To Me" Give-Away



For Christmas, I received a new phone :)   When thinking about a phone case, I wanted to wrap my new phone not just in impeccable style, but in a style that said "Shannon".  In my search, I found the most beautiful shop on Etsy called Case Hive   http://www.etsy.com/shop/CaseHive
Click on each picture to get an enlarged version of each photo
Not only did I swoon over this beautiful Phone case, but I found out the owner, Kate, recently added compact mirrors to her shop- be still my heart.
The Ultimate "Ladies Combo" Matching phone cover and compact mirror, your purse will never be  the same ;)

About Kate- Kate  likes to think of each design as a small canvas, almost a miniature piece of art. She has eclectic taste and enjoys designing pieces with a twist, incorporating everything from classical renaissance to urban art. "I am British and have been a graphic designer for five years. My Etsy shop is my creative outlet and I love to do custom designs for my customers".

Chocolate, flowers, and  Monogrammed, oh my.  You had to know I'd love this one, the problem is that Kate makes so many beautiful cases, that you will have A LOT of trouble picking just one, this is harder than just one potato chip, or one piece of chocolate ;)
Each case comes with it's own gift box and believe it or not, everything I've showed you so far is under $20, so feel free to pick a different case for each season :), or give one as a much appreciated gift.
Go ahead, dive into the Sea of Love :)  Romance meets Retro (don't you love it)? Kate has quite a selection of really fun Retro cases, check them out
This case appealed to my Romantic sensibilities.  I mean come on, beautiful roses and the word love in script, this one left  me almost breathless.  Imagine the romantic conversations you'd have with this cover for an inspiration
 Kate has graciously offered a phone cover, or a compact mirror to one of my lucky readers. So here are the rules for this fun give-away
You get one entry for each rule you follow :)
1). Follow me on Pinterest ( I only need 5 more followers to make it to 500 :)  http://pinterest.com/shannonimlay/
2).  Visit Case Hive on Etsy and "Favorite" Kate's Shop  http://www.etsy.com/shop/CaseHive
3). Leave a comment (below) telling us what your favorite item in the shop is
4).  Like Case Hive on Facebook   https://www.facebook.com/CaseHive
5). Make sure you leave me comments telling me which of these you have done (so I know how many entries you have, and if your comment comes up as anonymous PLEASE let me know who you are and how to get a hold of you :)


You can earn extra entries by posting about this give-away on your Facebook page, or tweeting about it :)
I will conduct the drawing on Feb. 25th, so good luck everyone.  May your conversations be a pretty as these cases sweet friends.