Pepperoni Pizza Pasta Casserole

It's going to be Game Time soon and you're going to need a Recipe.

Here it is!

Pepperoni Pizza Pasta Casserole

Couldn't be easier or more delicious.

You're Welcome!

I first saw this recipe on Pinterest.  

Don't you just love Pinterest????

(If you don't know what Pinterest is yet, 

you need to find out!) 

I want to thank Lillian at My Recipe Journey for sharing her recipe on Facebook 

where it was then pinned onto Pinterest 

and shared with he entire world.  

Amazing how that works.

Here's Lillian's version:

This is a super easy, super quick, one dish casserole 

that tastes like pepperoni/pizza/pasta 

and cuts like lasagna.

It's so easy, my son can make it!  

Yup, he actually went out and bought himself a 9 x 13 pan 

and all the ingredients so he could make it, too.

It's that good.

He sent me a text picture of it.  I think we're bonding....

Here's his version:

I followed Lillians recipe pretty closely

but I used Arrabiata Sauce instead of pizza sauce.  

And I added the Parmesan Cheese after I mixed the pasta into the sauce and the water.

I didn't add any salt, and I didn't chop up the pepperoni.

I may have used a bit more than 1/2 cup of Parmesan cheese, too.

I love the Traders Joe's shredded Parmesan in the bag.  

Very tasty and reasonably priced.

When my son made it, he commented that the top layer of pasta 

seemed a bit dryer than the rest 

and I thought it might have needed the extra cheese to weigh it down. 

I know extra cheese works that way on me...  :*)

At any rate, be sure to let it stand for the full 15 minutes after you take it out of the oven.  

It looks pretty soupy at first, but then it firms up and cuts very nicely.

Add a salad and dinner's ready.

Enjoy!

Linking to
Wow Us Wednesdays at Savvy Southern Style
Adorned From Above Link Party

Vintage Earring Bracelet in Blues

These cold gloomy days often find me huddled in my cozy "studio" 

(read: laundry room/craft area) 

working on projects that keep me inside, where it's nice and warm.

I've written several posts about the Vintage Earring Bracelets I've been making.

You can read about them here and here and here.

I love making these bracelets because I think each earring is a little work of art.  

Somebody put a lot of effort into making these, usually before machines were used.  

And somebody's grandmother wore them on very special occasions.  

And I love having something small and inexpensive to hunt for at flea markets and antique shops.

I think these little treasures need to be seen!  

This bracelet works with denim and navy and black and white.

The center earring is gorgeous...

Great stones, prong set and beautiful colors. 

This pair inspired me to hunt for other blue earrings and here they are:

It came together when I found the end earrings with the pretty star pattern and the crystal border. 

For the bling, you know.

I had to add a little crystal bead charm to the end of the chain - it finishes it off nicely 

and adds a bit of weight that makes it easier to fasten.

Soooo pretty.

Grandmothers are smiling somewhere.

I think I'll wear it with this gorgeous new necklace I just picked up at Chico's, for half price. 

Oodles and oodles of beads.

The beads in the necklace are a bit bluer than they show up in these photos...

I've got the winter blues allright....

Can't wait to wear them on Saturday night!

Linking to 

Wow Us Wednesdays at Savvy Southern Style
Adorned From Above Link Party

Family Room Refresher

I've been working on refreshing the furniture in our family room for a while now...

I started this project last February and it should have been pretty simple.

Recover the sofa and chairs and get some new pillows.

I've done it before.  

In fact, I had recovered the sofa and chairs in question three times before, over the last 25 years.  

Three times.  

But they were well made and had held up nicely.

I set off to find new fabric at one of my favorite fabric sources, 

Walter E Smithe Furniture, a Chicago area store 

and the same store where I had purchased the sofa and chairs those 25 years ago.

I might just be getting old.

There I met Barb, sales lady extrordinaire, and we got busy selecting fabrics.

Then I spotted a sofa on their showroom floor that I really liked.

And some fabric that I loved.  Boom.  New sofa time.

Here it is, begging for some pillows.

Here's the back view of the new sofa.  

I really like the lines, and you see them when you enter the room.

Here's a side view of the new sofa, showing one of the old chairs too.

I was going to recover them to coordinate with the new green fabric on the sofa, 

but they just didn't work.

Just kinda frumpy.

Barb to the rescue again.  Time for some new chairs.  

Voila!  

Remember the old chairs?

And now the new chairs-

You can see how much Burly likes them.

The next challenge was to find fabric for new pillows for the sofa and chairs.  

Not easy.

Apparently my colors are not gray or beige or "greige".

That would have been too easy.

It's hard to find clear colors these days. 

 My first choice was an absolutely gorgeous fabric that tied the sofa and chair fabric together perfectly.

   Another small problem.  $350.00 a Yard!!!  

Not happening.  

People will actually use these pillows... 

  

Anyway, months went by, life kept happening and I made no progress.

Then I finally found some great textured gold pillows from Bed, Bath and Beyond 

to layer with this more reasonably priced, printed linen fabric. 

And then I happened upon this little green petal pillow at Pier One 

while shopping there with Darling Daughter. 

Finally!  

Done. 

I like the mix of colors and textures and patterns 

and the pop of the petal pillow is really fun.

I had these little lumbar pillows made out of a piece of fabric 

I had bought several years ago, for no good reason, simply because I could not resist it.  

So soft and fluffy, like a cozy sweater.  

They work on the gold chairs, and I love the texture.

And here's a peek at a quilt I just finally finished last week 

when the high temperatures here were -15*,  for several days in a row.  

Nothing to do but sit with a warm quilt in my lap. 

I also made a baby quilt for a special little baby girl last week, too.

More on that after I have mailed it to her happy family...

Stay warm.


Linking to:
Wow Us Wednesdays at Savvy Southern Style
Feathered Nest Friday at French Country Cottage
Fabulously Creative Friday at Jennifer Rizzo
Be Inspired at Common Ground

Furniture Feature Friday at Miss Mustard Seed