A Window Seat and Spumoni Cupcakes

First, a couple more random things...
Jelly Belly makes candles! They smell just like their jelly beans. I got this one, Juicy Pear, at Wal-Mart yesterday. It's soy wax and has a lead-free wick. A truly sweet discovery!And victory at last! Sweet B's candy of the month is Boston Baked Beans and it took me forever to find some, but VOILA! Here they are...and they were yummy!

So here is the project I promised before and afters of yesterday. I got this bench at aforementioned favorite antique store, Betty's, for $10. I looked it over entirely before buying it and surmised that though there was some cracking in the decorative woven stuff around the edge and general paint flaking, etc. just from age, the wood itself was great. No water damage or splitting...so I brought it home and in just a couple hours after lunch I completely transformed it! There are four layers of material on the cushion, but I got it on sale for $1 a yard so altogether the fabric only cost $3. I've been wanting a window seat in the bay window in my breakfast room since we moved into this house. When I brought this home I originally intended it to go under the middle window, but once I got it in to the room I decided I liked it better under the chalkboard. So it's sort of a window seat against the wall!Finally, I have a new dinner idea! We had friends over last night and I served calzones, sauce, salad, marinated cucumbers, and spumoni cupcakes. It was all so easy, I have to share.
For the calzones you'll need:
Pillsbury refrigerated pizza dough
Ricotta cheese
Italian blend shredded cheese
pepperoni/ham/sausage/olives...you know, stuffing stuff...your choice
fresh mozzarella
parmesan cheese
All you do is roll out the pizza dough, cut it into squares (each roll of dough will make about four good-sized calzones), and fill it with some ricotta cheese, fresh mozzarella, meat and veggies, and the shredded cheese. Then fold up the corners to make a little bundle and sprinkle the top with parmesan cheese. Bake at 400 degrees for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown on top. I serve my calzones on a plate with a big spoonful of sauce for dipping. For sauce: put one can of Rotel in your food processor and blend until pretty smooth, then mix it with a jar of pizza sauce. Heat and serve.
A couple of hours before dinner, slice your cucumbers (two large or three small) and put them in a bowl with one 8 oz bottle of zesty italian dressing. Serve chilled.
Then to top off this easy Italian meal...Spumoni cupcakes! You'll need vanilla cupcakes with vanilla or cream cheese icing. Top with chocolate shavings, chunks, or chocolate chips, chopped pistachios and a cherry! In case you're wondering, spumoni is actually traditionally a molded ice-cream dessert that incorporates these three flavors- chocolate, cherry, and pistachio. These cupcakes are a sweet, pretty, simple take on that theme! I love the colors!

Buon Appetito!

sweetly, happily, and artfully yours,

randi