Mid-Century Modern Wall Hanings

More signs of a shift towards mid-century design: CeLee at Dress Your Nest recently posted about Textile Arts, a company that helps you to create wall art from the works of fabric designers like Marimekko.

CeLee's blog also has a great sidebar feature called "Nest Essentials," which looks to be ab ongoing list of great items to have around your home in case of decorating emergency.

A Better Dish Rack

When we were first married, my husband and I lived for a year in an 800 sqft 1920s apartment with no dishwasher. In a sprawling city like Dallas, a life sans-dishwasher is relatively unusual and a home built in 1920 is considered quite old.

We had about 2 feet of counter top in that kitchen, half of which was perpetually occupied by a dish rack. I only wish we had seen this little gem back then. Not only is it space-efficient, it's actually attractive as well.

Via Product Dose.

Measurement Conversions

Apartment Therapy's blog, The Kitchen, lists a few tools for making quick and accurate conversions in the kitchen. When I'm in the habit of halving or doubling a recipe, I like to rewrite it on a card with the converted amounts or to simply scratch out and write-over the measurements in my cook book. I found that cooking and calculating are not tasks I can tackle in tandem.

Sweet Bird Doorbell

A very fun alternative to the plain-jane doorbell via Design*Sponge.

Miffed About Muffins

I didn't have time to bake my own muffins this weekend, so I made a quick trip to the local Whole Foods to pick up a box from their bakery yesterday afternoon. I have to admit, this is mostly my fault for not checking the label, but when I went to unwrap the muffins this morning I noticed each one has 22 grams of fat, 2 grams of which are trans-fat!

I'm a healthy person, but by no means a big dieter. Sure I don't eat a lot of meat and I don't eat fast food, but I have a well-indulged sweet-tooth and an addiction to fine cheese. That said, there is just no way I'm starting my morning off with a BRAN muffin that has 22 grams of fat. How is that even possible? Is there a stick of butter in there?

Whole Foods isn't the only offender (I'm talking to you Starbucks). I have never found a store-bought low-fat muffin that tastes like food, and anything not marked low-fat is somehow more calorie-dense than a piece of chocolate mousse cake.

Where are the good low-fat muffins? They have to exist outside of our private kitchens. If anyone has a tip on where to get decent low-fat muffins (made with real ingredients, not chemicals) in Dallas, please let me know. And if you have great recipes, please share and I will post them.