Year in Review

Another awesome year has flown by!! Thank you to all of our readers who continue to support us and our blog! When we started Southern Color our goal was to inspire others and to give them the confidence to DIY.  We hope you find our tutorials easy to follow and eventually try them out. 

 

We were pretty busy in 2013 so we want to take some time to revisit all of the projects we completed.

 

Checkerboard Side Table from a Dumpster Find

Holiday Cocktails: Frosty's Frothy Cocoa & Santa's Spiked Cider

The Christmas season has officially begun!  This weekend we are hosting our very first cookie exchange party!  We can't wait to gather with friends and taste yummy cookies.  Stop by next week for a full recap.

 

To us, Christmas isn't just about December 25th, it's also about the weeks leading up to it!  We love gathering with friends and family during this time; we're either watching Christmas movies, decorating sugar cookies, competing for best gingerbread house,  listening to our Mom perform in the church's Christmas cantata, or visiting our Dad at the Santa House. 

 

And now that our family is all adults we also enjoy sipping on holiday cocktails!  Today we are sharing with you our holiday cocktails that were featured in Southern Holiday Life's 2013 edition, Frosty's Frothy Cocoa and Santa's Spiked Cider.



Virtual Progressive Thanksgiving Dinner | Cocktails

Thanksgiving is 2 weeks away, have you started menu planning?  If not, you're in luck, today we are joining a Virtual Progressive Thanksgiving Dinner.  Here you will be able to find Printables & Decor; Centerpieces; Soups, Salads & Apps; Main & Side Dishes; Desserts and Cocktails!

Southern Holiday Life

Happy almost weekend!  We can't believe it's already November, the holidays are quickly approaching.  But actually, we've been thinking about Christmas for a few months now!
 

 

 

Fall Roundup

It's Fall Y'all!

Atlanta finally feels like fall.  The mornings & nights are cool and the leaves are starting to change.  This time of year makes us think of football games, apple picking, pumpkin carving, racking leaves, and enjoying a cocktail by the fire. 

Today we are sharing with you a Fall Roundup of our fall crafts & recipes!

Red Velvet Scones

Morning!

Another busy weekend! If you follow us on Twitter then you know this weekend was spent installing crown molding, not an easy task.  But the Guestroom Makeover is looking great!  Removing the popcorn ceiling and adding crown molding completely updates a room. 

Let's focus on the star of this week, Valentine's day is this Thursday (friendly reminder).  Do you have fun plans with your special somebody or girlfriends?  Here's a yummy recipe to try out!

I found this recipe for Red Velvet Scones on Pinterest.  I lean towards recipes that are simple and have few ingredients.  The only thing I needed to buy for the scones was red velvet cake mix and cream cheese.   The recipe from Something Swanky is easy to follow, so stop by her blog to take a look!

A scone is a cross between cake & a biscuit.  When forming the dough you don't want to over work it and melt the butter.  You want to keep the butter as cold as possible, this will make your scone flaky and moist.

Top the scone with a cream cheese frosting and chopped nuts.  I used candied pecans we had left over from the holidays.  I personally think the cream cheese frosting could use a little more sugar.  But if you really like the flavor of cream cheese then this is the frosting for you!

These scones are perfect to make for your Valentine or just brunch with some friends.

Enjoy!

Sugar Cookie Recipe

 

 

One of my favorite Christmas traditions is baking sugar cookies.   This sugar cookie recipe is a family recipe that was passed down to my family over 10 years ago by one of our mother's sweet friends...and it is absolutely delicious.  I can still remember the day Elizabeth and I learned the recipe.  One Saturday in December while we were in high school we went over to my mom's friend's house and spent the entire day baking and decorating sugar cookies.  It is such a great memory and I cannot wait to share this recipe with you so you can make your own memories!

 

 

 Sugar Cookie Ingredients:

 1 cup butter

1 1/2 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

2 tsp cream of tarter

1/2 tsp nutmeg

3 1/2 cups flour

 

Directions:

Step 1: Cream butter and sugar

Step 2: Add eggs one at a time

Step 3: Add vanilla

Step: Add dry ingredients

Step 5: Divide into two portions, plastic wrap and chill in freezer for 2 hours or overnight in refrigerator

Step 6: Roll out and cut cookies

Step 7: Bake on greased cookie sheet at 350 degrees for 8-10minutes (until lightly brown on the edges)

 

 

 

Allow the cookies to completely cool before frosting.

 

 

Frosting Ingredients:

1/2 cup margarine

1 lb powdered sugar

2 tsp vanilla

1/3 cup milk
 

 

Directions:

Step 1: Mix together margarine, sugar and vanilla

Step 2: Slowly add milk beating well until spreading consistency (you may not need all of the milk)

Step 3: Dye with food coloring as desired

Step 4: Decorate cookies once they are cooled

 

Quick Tip:  Decorate the cookies in a tupperware container.  That way when your helper pours out the entire container of sprinkles on one cookie you can reuse the sprinkles :)

 

 

 

This year I had some help baking and decorating the cookies! My Mom's good friend Judy had her granddaughter, Somi (2 yrs. old),  over one afternoon and she was the best helper ever! It was so exciting to see how much fun she had making these cookies! 

 



Thank you Sarah for sharing this recipe with us!! We will always remember you when we bake these!

 

 

link party

link party

link party
 

 

 

Holiday Recipe Ideas

Some of my favorite memories from Christmas growing up are baking with the family!  Julia and I spent so many holidays in the kitchen baking dozens of cookies - sugar cookies, snicker doodles, neapolitan cookies, gingerbread.  We would save some for our family to snack on and then our Dad would take the rest into work.  I always love having a variety to choose from!


Check out these holiday recipes:

 

Gingerbread Cookies

 

 

Chocolate Crackle Cookies

 

 

Oyter Crackers

 

 

Christmas Cocktail

 

Christmas Morning Rolls

 

Tonight, Julia and I are hosting a Christmas Pinterest Party.  We have invited 6 ladies over to craft with us.  Check back next week to hear how it went.  This is our first time doing something like this, so fingers crossed it goes well!

Have you ever been to a craft party?
What is your favorite Christmas cookie?

 

 

 



Two Ingredient Pumpkin Cookies

Morning!  How was everyone's weekend?

 

Friday night the BF and I had a low key evening.  We cooked dinner at home, then caught up on our favorite shows: The Office, Nashville, Parks & Rec.  Have y'all been watching Nashville?  It's amazing!  I love the music, the story line, and the drama.

 

The rest of the weekend was spent painting.  Julia and I volunteered to paint my parent's basement.  We did a dark tan color with white molding - it looks really good.  Stay tuned for pics on that :)

 

Saturday night the BF and I went out to dinner to Rosebud.  We sat at the bar and watched the UGA game.  I sipped on a fall Pim's cup (gin, Pim's, & cider) and the BF had Maker's with a splash of ginger.  For dinner I had the Chinese Chicken Salad with fried chicken and fall veggies.  The BF had seared ahi tuna with fall veggies and fried rice.  Everything was delicious! 

 

My favorite recipes are those that require little ingredients.  I get so intimidated by a recipe with 20 ingredients of things I've never heard of.   How many of you know about the canned pumpkin trick??

You can pretty much add 1 can of pumpkin to any cake mix or TJ's bread mix (cook per the instructions) and it will come out perfectly!  Like my fudgy brownies.

 

I tried a different version of pumpkin spice cookies the other day.  This time I used carrot cake mix instead of the normal spice cake mix.  The result was pretty good! 

 

 

Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees.  Mix 1 can pumpkin and carrot cake mix together.  Spoon onto greased cookie sheet.  Bake at 350 degrees for 8-10 minutes. Enjoy!

 

 Note: these cookies get better the longer they sit. The flavor really comes out and they become super moist after a day or two.

 

These are some of our favorite cookies and they're perfect for fall!

 

Have a great Monday!

 

 

Pizza Casserole

It's Monday!  I actually got to work a little early this morning, thank you day light savings time!  Let's see how long that lasts ;)

 

So you know our love of pizza: hawaiian pizza, pizza calzone, pizza balls, restaurants.... here's another pizza to add to the list, Pizza Casserole!

 

 

I found this recipe on Pinterest several months ago and it is definitely a keeper!!  It is so DELICIOUS!  Plus it is very easy to make and change up depending on the ingredients in your fridge.

 

Recipe adapted from Friends of Weight Loss Pizza Casserole Recipe.

 

 

 

Ingredients:

1 lb Ground Italian Sausauge or one package of turkey pepperoni

2 cloves of garlic, minced

1 green bell pepper

1 small onion

1 package of sliced mushrooms

2 pinches of crushed red pepper flakes

1/2 t dried italian seasoning

Dash of ground black pepper

1 jar of marinara sauce

1 container of Pillsbury pizza dough

1 1/2 c mozzarella cheese

1/2 c parmesan cheese

 

 

 

Step 1: Preheat oven to 375 degrees and spray a 9x13 dish with nonstick cooking spray.

 

Step 2: If using italian sausage - brown sausage in a large pan over medium heat.  Remove sausage when done.

 

Step 3: Chop vegetables and then sautee over medium heat in large pan (approximately 5-7 min)

 

Step 4: Add sausage, spices, spaghetti sause to large pan and mix well.  Remove from heat once it is heated through.

 

 

Step 5: Add a 1/3 of the sauce mixture to the bottom of the greased 9x13 dish

 

Step 6: Add 1/3 of the pepperoni on top of sauce mixture (if using sausage skip this step)

 

Step 7: Ad 1/2 cup of mozzarella cheese and 1/3 of the parmesan cheese

 

Step 8: Add 1/2 of the pizza dough - pull apart pieces of the dough and arrange them evenly on top of the cheese

 

Step 9: Repeat process 2 more times but do not add the dough to the top of the dish (cheese will be the last ingredient)

 

Step 10: Bake for 23-28 minutes or until golden brown. Cut into squares and ENJOY!

 

 

What is your favorite type of pizza?

 

~Julia and Elizabeth