Updating A Light

Part of making our house into a home is deciding what to keep, what to replace and what to change.  Both the dining room and living room have ceiling fans.  While these are not the most beautiful elements in a home...during the hot summer months they are necessary!  They have a victorian look, which matched the old decor.  They are okay with our new Rustic-Old World-Modern style (I'm still working on what to call it!), but they aren't great.  Or weren't great...they're awesome now!


By simply changing the glass shades we have created a new look...looks like a new fixture! For about 1/5 the cost of a new fixture we purchased new shades.

 Halfway through I could already see how great these new shades were going to be.

I am very pleased with the final result! 

A Taste of Britain in Our Home

Every once and awhile I like to try and make a proper British meal to please the English taste-buds that live in our home!    I decided to adapt the famous Bangers 'N' Mash.   For those that aren't familiar, it's really sausage with mashed potatoes and gravy! I chose to make an upside down Bangers 'N' Mash casserole...VERY simple!

I made mashed potatoes...this was the most time consuming part.  I was able to multi task by browning the sausages and making the gravy while the potatoes were boiling.

I used Bisto to make the gravy.  Bisto is a staple in most British households.  It's hard to explain what it is.  I think of it as flavored corn starch used to thicken gravies or soups.  It's not easy to find in the U.S., but it is available.













I added some onions to the gravy.  I think this is an important element...you could even add them to the mashed potatoes if you choose.

Once everything was cooked I put it together in a casserole dish.  I butterflied the sausages and laid them on the gravy then covered it all with the mashed potatoes.  It baked for about 20 minutes at 350 degrees. 



I served it on our special London plates.  (These were a steal at Marshalls)
It might not be the most beautiful meal, but it's delicious!!  

For those of you wondering, my plate did have vegetables on it...this one belonged to the vegetable-hating British taste-buds!