This cheesy biscuits recipe doesn’t make true biscuits… There’s more like biscuit scones. A little bit country and a little bit western. A little bit savory and a little bit sweet. All the way sumptuous and all the way scrumptious.

The best part? I mixed ‘em up about 15 minutes before dinner was to be ready, and they were done 10 mins after dinner started, perfect to munch one down after the main event. They really are on of the easiest biscuits I’ve made that didn’t use a boxed mix.

Did I mention they’re delicious too? Could be because I haven’t eaten bread in a month. Or it could be that they’re really, really that good. Make up a batch and let me know in the comments if I’m delusional or not!

Easy Cheesy Feta Biscuits Recipe

Ingredients:

• 3/4 C sour cream
• 3 C flour
• 1 TBS sugar
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 2 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp black pepper
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 1 beaten egg
• 3/4 cup unsalted butter
• 3 TBS water
• 1/3 C chopped green onions
• 3/4 C feta cheese crumbles

For the egg wash:

• 1 beaten egg
• sea salt
• black pepper
• paprika

Directions:

This biscuit was eaten seconds after this picture was taken. It’s all we we have left to remember it by.

Preheat over to 400 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Sift dry ingredients together: flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, sugar, pepper.

Cube butter and cut into the dry ingredients. I once had to learn what this meant too, so if you’ve never cut in butter, check this great tutorial. It sounds like scary technique that should be reserved to pastry chefs, but it’s actually really easy. You’re going for the look of a coarse meal.

While you’re husband cuts in the butter (that’s actually my technique), beat the cour cream, water and egg with a fork.

Dump the wet ingredients into the dry, include the feta and green onions and give it a few stirs. Then put it on your clean countertop and knead it together.

You *could* roll out the dough and cut it into proper biscuit rounds or scone wedges, but I was in a hurry. I pulled out balls, lumped them together and put ‘em in my parchment covered baking sheet like you’d do with drop biscuits.

Our dough was lumpy, wet and filled with goodies (mostly feta).

Brush the tops with the egg wash and sprinkle the tops with the sea salt, black peper and paprika.

Bake for 12 – 15 minutes.

Bake me!

Enjoy!

Read the full post at Redomestication.

That’s been the problem with how I store my jewelry. It’s tucked away in a jewelry box and never gets worn, because I don’t see it!

(Sidenote: Calling my pile of rag-tag costume pieces “jewelry” is a bit ambitious… Suffice to say this might not be a good solution if you’ve got genuine rocks on rocks on rocks).

After a vicious and ultimately  liberating closet purge, I knew it was time to deal with my jewelry. I’d been using a hanging jewelry organizer that goes on your closet rod, similar to this:

80-Pocket Hanging Jewelry Organizer

Two problems with this option:

1. It was tucked in my closet so I *still* didn’t see it and therefore forgot my jewelry and…
2. Necklaces got tangled sitting in the pockets

I had a lot of empty wall space and decided to use it to make my jewelry organized and east to see / use. After walking in circles around the Container Store for 4 hours on a Saturday evening, here’s what I came up with.

DIY Wall Mounted Jewelry Organizer

I bought two magnetic strips from Container Store – they were on sale for $4.99 but aren only $6.99 when regularly priced. They come with small, powerful disc shaped magnets but those don’t have a hook to hang necklaces from. Not finding anything there that would work to hang the necklaces, I popped onto Amazon when I got home and found these bad boys:

White pushpin magnets

These white pushpin magnets actually come in tons of colors, I chose white because it would match the magnetic strips I’d already purchased. They’re $12.99 for 24 magnets. To give you an idea of the size, they are smaller than a dime in diameter but are made with ultra-powered magnets so they’re very strong.

That took care of the necklaces.

On the shelf below the necklaces, I have a small tray with bracelets in it (also from the Container Store). This only works because my closet has built in shelving, so I had somewhere to put the tray.

Bracelet tray

By adding more magnets to the magnetic strips, or buying another magnetic strip when I run out of room on the first two, it’s expandable. Same with the bracelet tray – I can just add another next to the existing one when I run out of room.

DIY Wall Mounted Jewelry Organizer

It’s been up for about a week and I’m super happy with it!

Read the full post at Redomestication.

These are the products I mentioned in the video:

[heartlist]

•  CoverGirl & Olay Tone Rehab 2-in-1 Foundation
•  CoverGirl & Olay Simply Ageless Corrector
•  CoverGirl + Olay Pressed Powder
•  NARS Sheer Glow foundation
•  MakeUp Forever HD loose powder

[/heartlist]

In YouTube comments, folks mentioned their mutual distate for Covergirl products – most due to long-ago-but-not-forgotten middle and high school experimentation. I hear ya, girls. And I felt the same.

Making a vid about my love for a Covergirl foundation is almost as embarrassing as telling the world I’m getting fat.

But it’s true. I love this stuff. It’s a great product with ONE caveat I forgot to mention in the video. A caveat that I was reminded of from YouTube comments.

Someone said she’d always hated Covergirl, and tried to use it recently (not that Covergirl & Olay Tone Rehab 2 in 1, but another of their foundations) and couldn’t get past the smell.

And I remembered my first dance with the Tone Rehab foundation.

It’s got a perfume. A definite scent. One I too disliked.

In fact, the smell is what drove to to try again and again to fo back to my Makeup Forever HD foundation.

But I just couldn’t do it. Once I’d used the Covergirl & Olay Tone Rehab, the Makeup Forever seems so… so… mask-like. Pretty unbelievable for a product I’d used – and loved – for about 18 months.

So yeah, it’s got a perfume that’s weird, and reminds me that yes, this is a Covergirl product. But I deal. Because it’s that good.

Have you tried it? Have a mutual distate for Covergirl? Did this post make you want to try it? Let me know in the comments!

Read the full post at Redomestication.

Here’s the goodies I picked up:

[fancylist]

•  Lorac Behind the Scenes Eye Primer
•  Dolce & Gabbana “The One”
•  YSL Le Teint Touche Eclat Foundation
•  YSL Touche Eclat Radient Touch
•  Benefit Boi-ing Industrial Strength Concealer (Shade 2)
•  Makeup Forever Full Coverage Concealer
•  Buxom Brooklyn lipstick

[/fancylist]

The Buxom Brooklyn came out much more cotton-candy pink in the vid than it is in real life. It’s a cute sample, went right into my purse.

I’m getting more and more used to using the Bio-ing Concealer, and I do like it better than any other I’ve tried, but it’s still not perfect. It’s still just not opaque enough for my darkest areas… But I’m totally returning the MUFE Full Coverage Concealer. It’s ok for blemishes, but not for eyes.

Read the full post at Redomestication.

This seems so silly – and it’s evidence of how much we imagine other people think about us when in reality, they don’t because they’re too busy thinking about themselves… But I’ve been afraid / ashamed / embarrassed to make videos. I’ve felt like I’m lying, like I’m hiding something. So I’m putting it out there, so I don’t feel that way anymore and for a little good old fashioned public accountability.

Read the full post at Redomestication.

But we’ll give it a try!

Regardless of whether the little guy makes it to see the ball drop, I want it to be a memorable night. I was inspired by the idea of New Years Eve Countdown bags, where a bag filled with treats or a fun activity is opened every hour on the hour while we wait for midnight. Here’s my version of New Years Eve Countdown bags – obviously kid-centric, but the concept could easily be adopted to a more adult theme (mini liquor bottles in bags, DUH!).

The basic concept of New Years Eve Countdown Bags: starting at whatever time you’d like (I chose 6:00 pm), everyone opens their own goodie bag every hour on the hour. Inside the bags are treats (candy, cookies), games or toys (something small) or an activity everyone participates in (like playing a board game or making ice cream sundaes). The final bag is handed out a few minutes to midnight.

Our New Years Eve Countdown Bags Schedule

The schedule I made is based largely on what I was able to pick up at the dollar store to stuff in the bags:

6:00 – Make your own pizzas

I’ll have the fixins ready so everyone can make their own custom mini pizzas, we’ll bake them up and have a yummy, easy dinner.

7:00 – Design a mug

I picked these, pictured above, up at the dollar store, they’re just insulated plastic coffee mugs that have a paper insert the kids can each decorate. I’ll bring out the markers and stickers and let them go to town. Any small craft could be substituted here.

8:00 – Set goals and resolutions for 2013

The new year can be a fresh start, and it’s never a bad time to introduce little ones to goal setting. I’m curious to see what they envision for their futures! Inside everyone’s bag is a mini composition book, a few designer pencils and cute robot erasers to get started.

9:00 – Movie & popcorn

We’ll rent a movie from iTunes and relax for a bit.

10:00 – Candy break (then we’ll finish watching the movie)

Sweet tooth time… I admit I mostly bought candy I like for the bags. Oh, the privileges of being the mom.

11:00 – Wacky photobooth dress up

Another dollar store find, I picked up a few mardi gras beads, party hats, masquerade masks and weird sunglasses and we’ll dress up and take Instagram pictures with some party music in the background. I might succumb to coffee at this stage.

12:00 – Midnight!

The boys will get their midnight bags a little ahead of time and inside are noisemakers, poppers and glow sticks. Maybe we’ll also go outside and bang pots and pans, like my Grandma let me do when the clock struck 12.

How To Make New Years Eve Countdown Bags

I created a set of printables for my bags and am sharing them here:

[box_download]Download the New Years Eve Countdown Bags printable package here![/box_download]

There are basic directions included in the PDF file.

Some tips: if you’ve got it, use full-sheet labels (I used Avery 5353 labels) to print the clock faces. That way you can just stick them to your bags, no glue stick required.

If you’ve got one, cut the clock faces and the cards for each hour’s activity with a paper cutter. The lines are so much straighter.

Draw the hours on the clock faces with a paint or gel pen for opacity.

Pack each hour’s bag with an activity card and, if it makes sense, the tools to do the job (i.e. for the “Goals and Resolutions” hour I put in decorative pencils, erasers and tiny composition books). If they wouldn’t fit, like for “Make Your Own Pizza” then an activity card alone will do!

Staple the bag closed, fold over the top and stick it closed with one of the printable “2013″ stickers. I used what I had on hand, Avery 8163 labels. Use whatever you’ve got, or print ‘em, cut ‘em and glue stick ‘em on your bags.

Dollar store loot

Read the full post at Redomestication.

What I got:

• Cotton squares
• Real Techniques Your Eyes Enhanced Starter Set
• Real Techniques Blush Brush
• Real Techniques Expert Face Brush
• Organix Coconut Milk Nourishing Weightless Mousse
• Tresemme Thermal Creations Heat Tamer Spray
• Urban Decay Primer Potion

Read the full post at Redomestication.

Here’s what I got:

[arrowlist]

• Clarisonic replacement brush heads - Here is my Clarisonic review
•  Urban Decay 24-7 Glide on Pencil in Black
•  Benefit Creaseless Cream Shadow in Skinny Jeans -   My Benefit Creaseless Cream Shadow review
•  Bobbi Brown Creamy Concealer in Medium Bisque
• Benefit How To Look The Best at Everything kit in Light
• Benefit Boi-ing Concealer in Shades 1 & 2
• Benefit Poreless
• Benefit Hello Flawless SPF 25 Foundation in “Cheers to Me” Champagne
• Benefit Hello Flawless Pressed Powder in “Me, Vain?” Champagne
• Keratin Earth hair smoothing / straightening treatment

[/arrowlist]

Read the full post at Redomestication.

What I got:

[starlist]

• Bobbi Brown Desert Twilight Palette (RETURNED!)
• Chanel Rouge Allure Velvet Luminous Matte Lipstick in 36 La Caline
• Lancome Hypnose Drama mascara
• Lancome ArtLiner in Ice Black
• Lancome Effacil Gentle Eye Makeup Remover
• Lancome Absolue Premium BX Absolute Replenishing Cream SPF 15
• Lancome Visionnaire Advanced Skin Corrector
• Lancome Definicils Mascara
• Lancome eyeshadow quad
• Lancome Color Design lipstick in All Done Up

[/starlist]

Read the full post at Redomestication.

What I emptied, like a boss, in October:

[heartlist]

• Olay Body Ultra Moisture Body Wash
• Degree Women Clinical Protection Antiperspirant & Deodorant with Motion Sense
• Argan Cleansing Oil by Josie Maran
• Hanae Mori Perfume
• Peter Thomas Roth Laser-Free Resurfacer
• Peter Thomas Roth Laser-Free Regenerator
• Organix Moroccan Argan Oil
• Perricone MD Cold Plasma
• Korres Quercetin & Oak Antiageing Antiwrinkle Eye Cream

[/heartlist]

Read the full post at Redomestication.