I often make baked brie for fall and winter parties. I love the soft, creamy cheese because it blends so well with fruit flavors. For my Halloween get-together, I tried a different take on baked brie that went over extremely well. These savory cranberry-brie bites were very easy and quick to make, and were a nice complement to all of the super-sweet treats. I assembled them about an hour in advance and kept them in the refrigerator until guests arrived.
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups cranberry sauce (whole-berry sauce is best)
- 1 puff pastry sheet (in the frozen food section)
- 1 brie triangle, chilled
Directions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
Thaw puffy pastry sheet flat. Cut puff pastry sheet into approximately 3-inch squares and place them into mini muffin tins, pressing them into the shape of the muffin hole. Place a 1-inch slice of brie in the center of each puff pastry and then top it with approximately 1 tablespoon of cranberry sauce.
Bake 10 minutes or until puff pastry corners are toasted light brown. Let cool 5 minutes before serving.
Recipe courtesy of foodnetwork.com
For my version, pinch the pastry closed at the top to keep the cranberries sealed in.
Work is very busy at this time of year, leaving me with less time to think about and write posts, and even read my fave blogs. For some quick eye candy, here are some swampy (ie. green) rooms that caught my eye:
tobifairley.com
styleredux.blogspot.com
Canadian House and Home
design-crisis.com
I’m very pleased to report that my master bedroom lighting dilemma has been solved! The inspiration came from one of my very favorite blogs, Young House Love. In a recent “design dilemma” feature, Sherry and John Petersik (the masterminds behind the blog) featured a contemporary yet pretty Stacy Garcia art shade pendant light from Lamps Plus. It had me at hello! I knew a pendant shade would likely be too long for our ceilings, so I investigated further and found a great substitute:
lampsplus.com
I left a comment on YHL saying that it would be perfect, and linked to my own lighting dilemma, and Sherry wrote back to the tune of “Yes yes yes! It would look made for that room!” So I IM’d my hubby, told him that Sherry thought the light was perfect and that I had already bought it. His response: “Who’s Sherry?” I think if I ever met Sherry, we would be instant friends if only for our mutual love of cute flats.
Anyway, we were finally able to rid ourselves of at least one of these hideous ceiling lights…
and replace it with this:
Installing this light fixture was NOT easy. I have never heard my cool-as-a-cucumber husband swear so much over a home project. First, the wires were not labeled well (we nearly needed a magnifying glass to see which was black and which was green). Second, the cables that should allow you to adjust the height of the light were one-directional, meaning that once they were pulled short, you could not make them longer again. This lead to a lot of frustration and ultimately a closer-to-ceiling light than I originally imagined. If we order a Stacy Garcia light fixture again, I will go with a straight-up pendant or a flush-mount.
My concern about the color of the light was solved quite well: this one is somewhere between cream and white, and I’m really happy with the way that it looks. The room was starting to look a bit too traditional for my tastes, so the contemporary fixture adds some much-needed variety without sticking out like a sore thumb. Many thanks to YHL for their help with my own design dilemma!
Some advice is needed from my dear readers: How can I safely remove scuff marks left by the old flush-mount light? I tried Magic Erasers on our living room ceiling and thought they made the problem worse. Are there any non-chemical solutions that would work?
