Recipe: Turkish Toast with Egg, Dill and Feta

This is a very simple recipe that I have been served for lunch and that I have made as breakfast and as a light dinner. It's basically a Turkish take on a savory French Toast.

Ingredients:

4 1-inch thick slices of French bread
2 Eggs
2 tablespoons milk
Salt and pepper to taste
1 - 2 tablespoons fresh dill, chopped
1/4 cup mild feta (use French feta if available), crumbled
2 tablespoons mozzarella, shredded
Cooking spray or butter

Pre-heat the oven to 300 degrees. At the same time, pre-heat a non-stick skillet on medium-low to medium heat.

Combine the eggs, milk, salt, pepper, and 1.5 tablespoons of the chopped dill in a large measuring cup and whisk lightly with a fork. Pour the egg mixture into a shallow dish.

Coat the heated skillet with cooking spray or butter. Dredge each piece of bread in the egg mixture, turning to coat, and place into the skillet. Cook for 3 to 4 minutes per side, or until bread is golden brown on both sides.

Transfer the bread slices to a small baking dish. Top each slice with 1 tablespoon crumbled feta, 1/2 tablespoon shredded mozzarella, and a pinch of the reserved chopped dill. Place into a baking dish coated with cooking spray and bake at 300 degrees for 10 minutes, or until bread is crisp and cheese is brown.

Wood Rug from West Elm

Wood block rug made of ebony, $599.99 for the 8'x10' at West Elm. A great solution for a carpeted or concrete floor that you don't want to spend the money to redo with hardwood.

2007 Trends: Terrariums

I ran across this post about terrariums on Design*Sponge. Of course, it takes seeing something more than a few times before it really grabs my attention and I have seen tidbits about terrariums in more than a few design magazines over the past few months and I expect to see more in the coming months. I would guess that terrariums are the new succulents.

If you want to throw together a quick terrarium, try these hurricane candle holders and alabaster bases from West Elm. I saw them in the store during the after Christmas sale and really thought they were meant for plants. They have a vent at the top of the dome that will keep moisture in while allowing the air to circulate.

Glass Hurricanes $49-$69
Alabaster Slab, free but shipping is $12-$24

Kim Family Benefit

An auction of fine art and craft items benefiting the family of James Kim will begin January 3rd on eBay. Get a sneak peak at items, including this fairy take suitcase, on the Kim Family Benefit site. Bidding ends January 7th.

I hope everyone's holidays were great.

We had the family over and tried to make rack of lamb. The meat came out about 30 minutes late, but was delicious, so I'm calling that a success. It's the kind of success I don't want to attempt to repeat until we get a nicer oven. I do have some new recipes that were real successes, which I plan to post this week. I'm also in the middle of reading The Improvisational Cook, which is marvelous. I'll post a review of that as well as my thoughts on Arabesque. And I promise I'll do all that right after I finish cleaning the house and hitting the after-Christmas sales.

Ikea Sale Has Already Started

Click here for more information or a location near you.

Furniture Sale at Hadley and Harriet's

The Dallas Morning News' shopping blog has this note about a sale at Hadley and Harriet's. It is the store in the old house on Lemmon Ave., next to the La Madeline. The store has 30-75% off on furniture.


Hadley and Harriet
3922 Lemmon Avenue
214-559-4440
www.hadleyandharriet.com

Restaurant Review: Kitchen 1924

I recently ate a Kitchen 1924 in Lakewood. Despite their recent appearance in a Dallas top 10 list, I was not impressed. First, I found the restaurant to be quite loud and the service a little slow. I ordered the trout and my husband ordered the flatiron steak. We also ordered a side of mashed potatoes and a side of mac and cheese. The food was average - nothing better than what you would expect from a decent meal at a neighbor's house. The sides were extremely small as well, and were not cheap.

All and all, I ended up quite a bit poorer (at $25 - $40 a person) and feeling like I had eaten at home. I checked Guide Live's review for back-up on this opinion. Apparently I'm the only one who doesn't like this place.

Kitchen 1924
1924 Abrams Rd.
Dallas, 75214
214.821.1924

Storehouse on Lover's Officially Closed

Driving by the Storehouse location on Lovers yesterday evening, I noticed that it is totally dark and empty. I'm not sure about the one on the Tollway, but hopefully someone got some good deals before the store was shuttered.

Their Web site also appears to be gone.

Ceramic Boat Cleats as Towel Hooks

A very cool towl-hook via Apartment Therapy. These would also make sleek coat hooks.

Where are Dallas' Horse Communities?

I stumbled across this NYT article about a Burbank, CA community that is fighting to keep Whole Foods out because they are worried about increased car traffic in a neighborhood where people are inclined to trot about on horse-back. What I can't believe is that LA has a neighborhood with a barn and Dallas really doesn't. I know there is a small barn near White Rock Lake and a few small barns in Garland (which is not on my list of places I'd love to live), and one in Las Colinas (which is sooooo expensive) but nothing like what is pictured here.

I've scoured new community listings and have yet to find a new equestrian-friendly community going up anywhere. What if you want to ride and enjoy the city life?

Has anyone run across a good near-town barn lately?

Modern Kiwi Sofa at Overstock.com

Grassroots Modern just posted this great modern sofa found on overstock.com for $299! The matching chair is available for $179 and shipping is a mere $2.95.

Last Minute Gifts: Free $30 iTunes Gift Card

According to The Bargainist, Best Buy is offering a free $30 iTunes gift card with the purchase of select iPods and MP3 players.

Fun Can Opener

Well, as fun as a can opener can be. The Boston Warehouse Toucan Can Opener. $19.99 at Target.com.

20 Best Food Books of 2006

If you are still shopping for gifts or just need some holiday reading, check out this list of the 20 best food books of 2006. Topping the list is The Omnivore's Dilemma, by Michael Pollen. I just picked up the runner-up, Arabesque, by Claudia Roden, which covers the cuisines of Morocco, Turkey, and Lebanon and is beautifully photographed. I'm looking forward to learning a few new tricks for Christmas dinner.

More Cool Alternative Wreaths

Check out more unusual wreaths at Dress Your Nest, including this amazing antler wreath.

Thanks to Celee for the tip.

Holiday Decorating: A Modern Wreath

A very simple evergreen wreath in an unexpected shape. $60 from Jayson Home and Garden.

Via Apartment Therapy Chicago

Hooray for Horses

Perhaps because I'm from Texas, I absolutely love horses. I've never had many horse-themed items in my home because they tend to be Western or Country-Cottage in style. Not so anymore. Here are a few recent online horse-themed finds:


The just-about life-sized resin horse lamp from Front Design for Moooi. Via Apartment Therapy and Shelteriffic. $4,100 (ouch!)


The wild horse candelabrum from Fjorn. On sale for $279. Via Apartment Therapy.


The wilderness lamp from Eric Ginder. $1,024. Ok, so these are actually cast resin caribou hooves. Close enough. Via Apartment Therapy.

Finally, a Photo of Our Christmas Tree

Last week my laptop died a slow painful death, apparently due to a malfunctioning fan, but I have a new computer now so here is the photo of our Christmas tree I have been intending to upload. I couldn't get the lighting quite right (flash was too much, but overhead light wasn't enough), but hopefully it looks ok.

Customize Your Gifts with Old Magazine Photos

I have to admit I'm a magazine hoarder. I have stacks of old magazines in my cabinets and under the bed at my house. The reasons I keep them are varied. Some have a great recipe or ideas I hope to use in the future. Some just have an inspirational image, and to be honest, some I keep because I'm just in the habit of keeping them.

In an effort to avoid walling myself into my home with periodicals, I've devised a way to use old magazines to customize my gift wrap this year. I've simply pulled winter and Christmas themed images out of old and new magazines and cut them out. I then used rubber cement to glue the photos in place on wrapped presents. I haven't finished getting all of my ribbons and bows done, but I really like the way these are turning out so far.