I heart lace

I have a confession to make: I'm a total lace lover. The intricate patterns in lattice and lace blow me off! I want it everywhere!

Enough of words, I've got eye candy to share.
I found these beautiful pictures recently here, and I'm dying to try it on my own.
Seems like the perfect breakfast to me.



Have you ever tried making something like this?
I'm really wishing to get my hands on it soon. Perhaps tonight!

Recipes - Strawberry and Yogurt Ice Cream

These last few days have been pretty hot around here. This was the perfect excuse for us to make ice cream. =) I must tell you, it's both delicious and healthy.  Did I mention easy, as well? A definite must for these days!

Ingredients:

3 c yogurt (best if natural and sugarfree)

3/4 c sugar

1 pinch of salt

1/4 t lemon juice

1 t ground cinnamon

1 t vanilla extract

1 c of chopped strawberries

(we used raspberries as well, yum!)

How To

These is a few-steps recipe. Basically, you need to mix everything together. You can use a bowl, or the blender for this.

Once done, put the mix in a sealed container and straight to the freezer.

The trick to get great ice cream if you haven't got an ice cream maker, is NOT leaving the mixture alone the whole time. What I mean is you must eventually stir it with a fork, before it gets completely frozen. Add strawberries and raspberries when it's almost frozen, and place in freezer one last time.

Hold on a little longer, and then...

enjoy!

Update*** I tried this recipe with mango instead of strawberries, and it's really out of this world. The only difference is I put the mango in the blender with all the other ingredients, instead of chopped. A great twist! 

Have a great, yummy week!



P.S. Linking at:

Got Lemons?

I heart this time of year. Heat is gone, days are rainy, and the afteroons... well, they've got a certain feeling in the air. Perfect for a walk or a delicious chat over a cup of coffee.

I like it because it's the harvest time of year. These days we've gone to several corn parties, and the fruit trees at my parents' house are loaded! =)

These are good days.

Anyhow, yesterday I was visiting at my mom's house, and she gave me a bag full of lemons, and another one with guavas. Her trees are literally falling because of the fruit.

This is how great they look!

Since it's a LOT of lemons, I made little lemon ice cubes.

This is a perfect advice if you happen to have lots of lemons, any time of year. In my case, every cube equals one lemon's juice (how practical is that?).

This way, when season is over, I've got plenty of them in the freezer. =)

And they're easy to grab for a quick lemonade for meals, or if I have a surprise visit. ;)

Easy peasy!

You can do this with any fruit, not just lemons. It's also great when you find certain fruits on sale at the grocery.

Anybody in the mood for a lemonade?

PS I'm sharing this tutorial at:

A Silly Little Sparrow's Toot Your Horn Tuesday

Lucky Star Lane's Lucky Linky Tuesday

Hope Studios' Tutorial Tuesday

Trendy Treehouse's Creative Share Blog Hop

How to Make Rice Krispies Treats

This was a fun weekend for us. We had a blast celebrating Valentine's Day together as well as with our families and friends. Can't get any better than that.

At least that's what I thought yesterday night, when the day was practically over. That's when my daughter asked me to make something together for her classmates and teachers for Valentine's Day. At 8:00 p.m. this was a tough challenge. I was almost ready to pass the opportunity when I remembered a great and easy recipe both of us had made together a few years back.

Have you tried these?

I bet you have. And If you're anything like me, I bet you like them, too. Kids LOVE Rice Krispies Treats, and who doesn't? They make the perfect treat for any occasion. Seriously, any: birthday parties, Valentine's, Mother's Day, Halloween, Christmas... you name it.

These delights are very easy to do and take as much as 30 minutes in total, so I thought I HAD to share:

Rice Krispies and

Marshmallow Treats

You'll need:

3 tablespoons butter (or margarine)

1 package (10 oz) marshmallows

6 cups of Rice Krispies

food coloring (optional)

How-to:

Melt butter over low heat.

Now, add your marshmallows and stir. They will start melting, so you need to keep stirring until they melt completely. This is the moment to add food coloring if you want to make colored treats. (If you do, you should only use white marshmallows). We used 4 drops of red coloring.

Add the Rice Krispies litte by little, until they are evenly covered.

Remove from heat.

Butter your baking sheet or surface where you're spreading the mixture (you can also use cooking spray).

Use a buttered spatula to press the mixture evenly thoughout the pan or surface.

The mixture is very sticky and it will cool quickly, so you might want to work it with your hands. In this case, butter your hands to prevent making a huge mess!

Cut with cookie cutters or cut into squares with knife for the traditional look.

You can even use lollipop sticks and cover one end with the mixture into a small ball to make lollipop treats.

Aren't they sweet?

Hope you all had a great Valentine's Day!

Sharing with:

Making the World Cuter
DIY Day at A Soft Place to Land
Toot Your Horn Tuesday at Silly Little Sparrow
Victory of the Week at Design-aholic

Ladies Night - Easy Bake Tutorial

The other day my daughter invited some friends over to play, and we had such a blast together. Have you tried easy-bakin' lately?

First, I've got to say I never had an Easy Bake oven as a child. I guess my sister and I wanted one at some point in our chilhood, but who knows? We had many toys and dolls, but not THE Easy Bake oven. So, eventhough my mother probably never pictured it like that, this has been a great present from her to both of us. We are learning, little by little, how to increase our recipes. My daughter's actually thinking about setting up a bakery here, and selling all of our wonderful creations to her friends. She's not joking about it. She's even got the logo ready.

Anyhow, here an easy recipe we tried with her friends that fun day. I'd like to share it with you 'cause it is very simple and non-messy (something not guaranteed with other recipes, so beware!).

Simple Easy Bake Cake

´

{Makes two layers}

Ingredients:

5 tablespoons flour

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/8 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon vanilla

5 teaspoons sugar

3 teaspoons vegetable oil

8 teaspoons milk

optional:

chocolate chips, crushed nuts, dried berries

food coloring

Stir together ingredients until batter is smooth and colored.

Next, pour 3 tablespoons of batter into greased and floured cake pan.

Bake for 15 minutes (oven must be preheated).

Mmmhhhhh! Smells good, tastes good. Yummy!

(And the best is you don't have to spend the big bucks on Easy Bake mixes ;)

Enjoy!

With Chefs like these, who wouldn't want to play kitchen?

Sharing with:

DIY Day at A Soft Place to Land

Made by You at Skip to My Lou

Toot your Horn Tuesday at Silly Little Sparrow
Show and Tell at Blue Cricket Design
Penny Pinching Party at The Thrifty Home
Get your Craft on Thurs at Life as Lori
Strut Your Stuff Thursday at Somewhat Simple
Victory of the Week at Design-aholic

Best of 2009

Happy New Year, friends!!!

I'm so excited to be starting off a new year. 2010.

Amazing, huh?

I hope y'all had a wonderful time last night, and wish you the best in 2010.

I'm starting this new year by doing a tiny little recap on last year, for those new to Casa Haus or those who would like to walk with me down Memory Lane.

2009 was an excellent year for us. We had just gotten married in August 2008, so 2009 meant settling down and arranging our little house to make it feel like home. As I started looking through the internet for inspiration, I bumped into the bloggosphere, and man, did that change me (for good, I hope). I suddenly realized I wasn't the only crazy woman thinking about her home and her decoration 24/7. That felt amazing!!!! I actually got to know more people like me, and so I let my obsession loose. House-aholic. Design-aholic. Yay!

However, that wasn't enough, so in early November I decided to start my own blog, the good ol' little Casa Haus. A place meant for you to find good design, inspiration, home decor, and a journal for my adventures making our house our home while doing everything else (you know, work, exercise, housekeeping, kid, you name it). I couln't have started off in a busier time of year, so blogging, my friends, has become one truly wonderful journey.

So, best of 2009.

Since I started blogging in November, my projects so far have revolved around the holidays. I begun by introducing you to our Halloween home.

Those decorations were so fun and easy to make. We loved them!

I showed you the beautiful twirly scarves I had made for the chilly weather. And of course, I posted on the lovely heart too.

Then Christmas time came fast.

I made a pine cone wreath, and got really excited when Centsational Girl featured it.

I made easy snowflake ornaments for our tree.

And a bunch of other last minute decorations.

In the end, our Christmas House looked cute!

And of course, there was time for easy and yummy recipes, too.

The tasty hot punch (in a cappuccino cup).

And the refreshing red wine punch.

And of course, there was time to feature some great interior design inspirations and eye candy.

What an excellent year!

What were your best experiences 2009 left you? What are your expectations for 2010?

Do share!

sharing with Melissa for Best of 2009
and Rhoda at Southern Hospitality.

Easiest Red Wine Punch Ever

Everyone I know is short on time lately, so I thought I'd share with you a wonderful recipe a dear friend of mine gave me. This will definitely help you out if you're hosting a dinner or if you're getting together with friends.

Believe me. Try this one for yourself and your guests will love it (you will too after you see for yourself how easy this is). This is an excellent opportunity for you to shine with an amazing drink and just little effort.

You'll need:

1 liter red wine

2 liter bottle of regular 7 up

Canned fruit cocktail

Ice

How to:

Put 2 cups of fruit cocktail in a jug.

Pour 4 cups of wine.

Leave for 15 minutes.

Pour 2 liters of 7 up.

Add ice.

That's it!

Enjoy!

Happy holidays!

P.S. I'm linking this to DIY Day at Kimba's A Soft Place to Land
and Show and Tell at Blue Cricket Design

A Little Piece of Heaven

I love Christmas time of year:

happy spirits,

amazing decorations,

joyful songs playing everywhere,

the cold weather...

and hot drinks to keep our bodies warm

(and our houses smelling like Christmas!!!!)

That's when I know Christmas is right around the corner.

The other day, we invited my parents and in-laws over to our house for a little dinner. My mom suggested I made hot punch for our guests. I was shocked! You know, this is my first year as a "housewife", and I'm learning as I go. I don't do great cooking -just regular, easy things- besides, my husband's excellent in that deparment. Make traditional Mexican hot punch, for the very first time, to serve my in-laws? I'd better think twice!

Surprise is I made the most wonderful hot punch (and I'm not kidding, this is what my guests said ;). Credit goes to my mom, for telling me how to do it, and sharing her little secrets.

Now it's my time to share with you! If I could do it, you sure can.

I guess the biggest challenge here is getting all of the ingredients. Depending on where you live, it might be difficult to find all of them.

The beauty of this punch, though, is you can skip the ingredients you can't find.

It will still taste great.

Ingredients

1 cup dried hibiscus

3 or 4 guavas

10 tamarind pods

1 peeled apple

10 crabapples

1/2 lbs peeled sugar cane

(in chunks)

6 prunes

1/2 cup raisins

1/2  cup sugar

2 cinnamon sticks

water

The Secret Recipe

Place the crabapples in a pot with water and bring it to boil.

Turn off heat. Once cool, take off peels.

{tip: don't throw away water}

Put 4 cups of water in another pot and turn heat to high.

Add hibiscus flowers.

Cover the pot.

Meanwhile slice and cut the apple into squares, and quarter guavas.

Once it has boiled, take out the hibiscus flowers.

Add: 3 liters of water.

Put in the rest of the ingredients:

peeled crabapples (with their water),

tamarind pods,

guavas and apple,

prunes and raisins,

chunked sugar cane,

cinnamon sticks,

and sugar.

Let it boil. Once it has boiled, turn heat to low.

Simmer for an hour.

Serve hot.

Enjoy!

{tip: you can also add a little rum}

If you make this in advance, try reheating it in your stove at least 15 minutes before you serve it. This will make your house smell like Christmas, and it will taste like Heaven!

Joining

Holiday Linky Party at The Inspired Room

Show and Tell at Blue Cricket Design

DIY Day at a Soft Place to Land