Mr. Prof designer home

Femina via Design Attractor

I love the grey, white and wood colour combination and of course the beautiful way they've furnished the apartment. I spy many items from By Nord, the cushions for example, are high up on my very long wish list!

I also have a huuuuge design crush on any lighting by Tom Dixon and am so envious to see they have his lights throughout.  My absolute number one light is the CopperShade which they have over the dining table, spot on!

Right, I'm off to enjoy my last few hours of London over a bacon butty and a cup of tea...yay!

Have a lovely evening and happy halloween!

And as always, let me know your thoughts! x

I'll admit it; there's no shame. :) Scrapbooking is something I never have gotten into.  Well, that's not entirely true.  There was that sad attempt with crayola markers, stickers, and a Mary Englebreit scrapbook to document my college years... but that was both the beginning and the end of my scrapbooking attempts.

But over the last few years, I've discovered these easy photobook publishing websites (and no, I'm not going to mention them or do a plug for some certain company; I've used a couple or three companies and found them all to be just fine for our purposes).  In this digital age, where we take skads more pictures than our parents or grandparents ever did, it is ironic that we are often less likely to have actual physical prints of our photos.

(Do you find this to be true for you?  It was for us, until I started photobooking.)

To solve this problem, I've opted to start regularly documenting our family's life by printing photobooks.

Yesterday morning, I woke up to a 60% off coupon in my e-mail inbox from a photobook company I've used before...  but the catch was, the coupon had to be used by midnight (last night).  Since I haven't yet done a photobook for most of 2011, I went ahead and did the whole year's worth of our favorite pictures in one book.

Previously, I've done entire portions of our lives in one book (like our 4 years in Istanbul: 2007-2011, or our family trip to Cairo), but I like this method of doing one year in one book.  It gives me the opportunity to share more, without having to be so exclusive and choosy.  So my plan is to wait for the photobooks to go on sale each year (like they did yesterday), work like mad all day on a book (which I did throughout the entire day, yesterday), and make family yearbooks.

I find that we revisit our photobooks fairly often; I keep them on a handy reachable shelf so they are easily accessible, even to the children.  The kids will often pull one out and giggle about or remember experiences or funny moments we've shared as a family.  Course, we've had to teach them to be very careful with them, as (even on sale) they're not cheap to print.  But I really love this way of keeping up with family photos.


How do you deal with family photos in this digital age?  Are you a scrapbooker?  Do you have a routine of printing out favorite pictures?  Please share!

I'm always looking for quick sandwiches to make for dinner on Tuesday nights. I get home late from my exercise class and it's nice to just throw together a quick sandwich that I prepped earlier. These Roast Beef & Cheddar Panini might not sound special but holy yum were they good.

Like Kate said in her blog post, the chipotle mayo and caramelized onions elevate this from an ordinary sandwich to something extraordinary. Make sure you use a nice, sharp cheddar so the flavor doesn't get lost in the shuffle. I actually brought out my Griddler to make these and I'm glad I did - the crispy bread really adds the finishing touch to these sandwiches. If you're looking for something a little different give these a try.

Roast Beef & Cheddar Panini
As seen on Kate's Recipe Box, originally from Williams Sonoma
Makes 4 sandwiches

1 tablespoon olive oil
2 large yellow onions, thinly sliced
1 1/2 teaspoons chipotle sauce
1/3 cup mayonnaise
Cooking spray
8 slices country-style bread
Sliced cheddar cheese, to taste
3/4 lb thin slices roast beef

In a large skillet over medium heat, warm the olive oil. Add the onions, cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until they are completely limp, 10 to 15 minutes. Uncover the pan, reduce the heat to medium-low and cook, stirring frequently, until the onions are golden brown and sweet, 35 to 45 minutes; do not allow them to burn. Remove the pan from the heat and let the onions cool to room temperature.

Preheat an electric panini maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Stir chipotle sauce into mayonnaise.

Spray one side of each bread slice with cooking spray. Lay the slices, oiled side down, on a clean work surface. Spread the top of each slice with some of the mayonnaise mixture. Add slices of cheese. Divide the roast beef into four even amounts and place the slices on four pieces of the bread. Evenly divide the caramelized onions and top the roast beef with the onions. Top with the other bread slice, oiled side up.

Place each sandwich on the preheated panini maker and cook according to the manufacturer’s instructions until the bread is golden and the cheese is melted, 3 to 5 minutes. Transfer the sandwich to a cutting board and cut in half. Serve immediately.

Hello! Back to something Scandinavian today and closer to home in the Southern Sweden west coast village of Lomma. This pretty white and wood home has been photographed by blogger and interior shop owner Daniella Witte for Nya Hem. I love how the pared back look has been softened by the use of patterned textiles for a homely feel.

 

Stylist: Suzanna Nilsson, Photographer: Daniella Witte for Nya Hem.

We're kind of used to seeing all white spaces so it's kind of interesting to see a wooden floor with a wooden ceiling, what do you think of this look?

Pictures shown with kind permission from Daniella.

I'm actually in London today (re-charging my British batteries for a few days). I can't believe I'll have lived in Sweden for 10 years next summer! This is definitely reflected in the way I have styled my home.  It's always nice to pop home though :)

As you might know, we've been trying to eat more vegetarian meals lately (well, mostly vegetarian since I still use chicken broth instead of vegetable broth). One of our favorite dishes is beef stroganoff, so when Lishie posted a recipe for Mushroom Stroganoff I had a feeling it would be right up our alley. SP is a huge mushroom fan so this was destined to be a winner.

Overall I think the concept of this dish is good but the flavors were lacking. I went back to our favorite Skillet Beef Stroganoff recipe and decided to simply omit the beef from that version and reprint it here. Yes, that recipe uses both chicken and beef broth (two essential flavor components, in my opinion) so it isn't actually vegetarian but I think both the cooking method of boiling the noodles in the liquid and the flavor profile will yield better results. I can't wait to make this again using this version.


Mushroom Stroganoff
Adapted from America's Test Kitchen Easy Skillet Suppers

Salt and pepper
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
8 ounces white mushrooms, sliced thin
8 ounces baby bell mushrooms, sliced thin
1 onion, chopped fine
2 tablespoons flour
1 1/2 cups chicken broth
1 1/2 cups beef broth
1/3 cup brandy
1/3 pound wide egg noodles (3 cups)
2/3 cup sour cream
2 teaspoons lemon juice

Heat remaining 2 tablespoons oil in a skillet until shimmering. Cook mushrooms, onion, and 1/2 teaspoon salt until liquid from mushrooms has evaporated, about 8 minutes. Stir in flour and cook for 30 seconds, then add both broths and the brandy.

Stir noodles into mushroom mixture, cover, and cook, stirring occasionally, until noodles are tender, 10 to 12 minutes. Off heat, stir in sour cream and lemon juice. Season with salt and pepper.

Hej! Hope you all had a great weekend. Last week I was talking about how immaculate houses tend to be here on MSH which isn't always feasible when you have small children (or if you're as messy as me haha!). And then I spotted this beautiful Atelier Beau Travail and home of French designer Céline Saby in Paris. It's slightly different from the spaces I usually share but I instantly loved the relaxed vibe, charm and pretty mix of colours.

Freunde von Freunden

What do you reckon, beautiful and relaxed or to hectic for you? Could you work in Atelier like this?!

Shown with kind permission from Freunde von Freunden (where you can pop over for more pics and to read the full interview with Céline)

Bo-laget Via Do you fancy this

There's those white floors again.....but I my absolute favourite item here has to be the table and chairs, I would loooooove this set! What about you?

Any great plans for the weekend? We're heading to a great little girls afternoon birthday tea this afternoon and then another little birthday party tomorrow so they'll be cake and more cake. Never ever a bad thing.

Have a wonderful weekend!

To many people fall means chili. I have a go-to recipe I use whenever SP asks me to make chili, but I saw this Traditional Chili over at Southern Pink Lemonade and figured I'd give it a try.

This was an incredibly easy recipe - brown the beef, onions and garlic, add in the rest of the ingredients and leave it alone for a few hours. My chili was a little thick, so I had to add in some water as it was cooking. I modified the recipe to add in some water and cut the beer in half - a full bottle was a little too overpowering.

Full disclosure - I'm not a big fan of chili. I made this because SP loves it and so I'd have leftovers for the freezer. I've got big plans to make chili cheese fries sometime this fall.

Traditional Chili
Adapted by Peace, Love, and French Fries, as seen on Southern Pink Lemonade

1 1/2 - 2 pounds ground beef
1 large onion, finely diced
3-4 cloves garlic, minced
2- 15 ounce cans red kidney beans, drained and rinsed (you could also use black beans or pinto beans)
24 ounces tomato sauce
6 ounce bottle of beer
8 ounces water
6 ounce can tomato paste
4 1/5 ounce can diced green chilies
2 tablespoons chili powder
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon cumin
1-2 teaspoons cayenne pepper, depending on how spicy you would like your chili
1 teaspoon paprika
1-2 teaspoons hot sauce, depending on how spicy you would like your chili

In a large soup pot or dutch oven, brown ground beef with onion and garlic over medium-high heat. Drain beef of excess grease, if necessary. Add the remaining ingredients to the pot. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to medium-low. Allow chili to simmer for 3 hours or until thickened. Stir occasionally.

Top with shredded cheese, green onions, or sour cream, if you would like. You can also serve chili over rice, fries, or even top your hotdog with it.

The Swedish estate agent Stadshem is like an interior magazine. Every page gives you great new ideas for your home! Todays' inspiration comes from this light and bright, all white apartment currently for sale in Sweden. Spot the guitars used to spice up the walls....

Stadshem

Valvet via SF Girl By Bay