Jacque Made: a place to share my creative side.

This is one of my very favorite soups from my friend Elizabeth's blog . The flavors are so bright and so yummy. You'll be wanting to eat it all winter long.  Here's the recipe .  1/2 pound bacon, chopped 1 medium onion, diced 3 stalks celery, diced 3 carrots, peeled and sliced 1/4" thick 1 red pepper, diced 4 cloves garlic, minced 1 teaspoon thyme 4 small potatoes, peeled and diced small 6 cups chicken stock 1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste 1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin puree 1 pound fresh green beans 1 1/2 teaspoons Italian seasoning 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper 1/2 teaspoon cracked black pepper 2 teaspoons kosher salt In a large pot, cook bacon over medium high heat. Remove from pot and drain on paper towels. Set aside (do not drain bacon fat). Add the onion, celery, carrots and red pepper and saute, scrapping the bacon drippings, for about 5 minutes. Add garlic, thyme and potato and saute another 2 minutes. Pour in chicken stock and bring to a boil,...

I love decorating for the holidays. I usually buy one new item each year to add to my holiday stuff.. this year, I bought a few new things, because I couldn't resist. I was sitting at Kneaders with some girl friends, and I saw this "Full of both thanks and giving" canvas sign, and I loved it. So, I took a pic of it and vowed to go back later and buy it. I didn't end up going back to Kneaders, but I did go to a cute décor shop nearby called Rod Works, and they had the same canvas sign. I bought it there along with this cool orange vase and cotton stems.  The fuzzy pumpkins are old décor pieces I made years ago. I wrapped yarn around small Styrofoam balls and then glued the pumpkin stems on top. I'm not sure how I feel about them now... but they are up this year.. maybe I'll replace them next year.

This is one of my favorite salads ever. I've had a few different versions of it in the past - with slight differences in the dressing or toppings. This particular dressing recipe is my friend, Lynsi's . Just like her, it is lovely and sweet. I could seriously eat this salad every day, every meal. It is so light and refreshing and satisfying, too. And it makes a great go to salad for parties or baby showers or whatever shin dig you want to impress at. Try it; you'll love it. Green Salad with Poppy Seed Dressing Ingredients: Spinach or Spring Mix 1/2 cup Craisins 8 oz. chopped pecans (you can toast and sugar these if you want - I only do if I have time) 1 cup sliced strawberries 1 cup avocado diced 1/2 cup Feta cheese Other possible toppings : pomegranate seeds green apples gala apples raspberries blackberries blueberries walnuts almonds blue cheese goat cheese mandarin oranges grapes Dressing : 3/4 cup sugar 1/3 cup apple cider vinegar 3/4 ...

This meal is so comforting on a cold Fall or Winter night. I love that it all cooks in one pan/pot, and I love that it turns out perfect every time.  Sometimes I serve it over rice, sometimes just as is. It's delicious!  Here's the recipe .  I ngredients : 2-3 Tbsp. vegetable or canola oil 4 lbs. chuck roast 1 medium to large yellow onion, chopped 1/3 cup balsamic vinegar 2-3 Tbsp. Dijon mustard 5 sprigs fresh thyme 2 cups reduced sodium beef broth 2 bunches small carrots, with tops, (cut off tops leaving small stubs) 1 pound small baby red or gold potatoes kosher salt & freshly ground pepper Directions : Preheat oven to 300 degrees.  Heat oil in a large dutch oven or saute pan over high heat. Season chuck roast well on all sides with salt and pepper. Add to the pan and brown on all sides. (A few minutes on each side.) Remove from pan.  Add chopped onions to pan, lower heat to medium, and saute until soft, about 5 minutes. Ad...

Banner : Target Owl couple : Target from a few years back Cat and Bat bottles : my local Kneaders restaurant Fuzzy yarn pumpkins : I made myself by wrapping yarn around Styrofoam balls I'd cut into pumpkin like shapes. I glued dried pumpkin stems on top. Stars Can't Shine Without Darkness sign : my local Kneaders restaurant

A sweet friend of mine is expecting a baby girl soon. I like to match the gift set I give friends with colors or themes I know they like. My friend stenciled her nursery wall in a beautiful birch tree design. When I saw the fabrics below online, I knew they were the ones for her.  How cute are these deer with florals on their antlers? I made a pacifier clip to match the set. I like to use this tutorial  for pacifier clips. (I did attach elastic on mine instead of Velcro though.) I found these ribbons at Hobby Lobby for the taggy blanket. The whole set together. I hope my friend loves these like I do. I'm so excited to meet her baby soon!

When a friend of mine commented that she'd like to have a wreath like the one I made , I immediately told her that I'd love to make her one! (She's a wonderful friend, and I would do anything for her!) So, to Hobby Lobby I went! I purchased all the supplies in a few different trips - waited for the florals to go on sale before I got those. (They can be expensive!) Aren't they so pretty?  I wasn't sure at first that I like the green fuzzy lookin' ones, but then they grew on me. And I only ended up using one of those, so it all worked out. I just go with different textures, colors, and let it flow.  I also wasn't sure at first if I wanted two or three birds on it, but because it's a bigger wreath, I figured why not. The pink bird must be a mommy, as she's hangin' out back by her eggs in the nest. Isn't the fabric on the birds so cool? Love it! Wish I had a pillow made with it. Hope my friend loves it as much as I do. I...