A few things...

1. Today I visited Waterfront Antique Mall  

in an effort to avoid the Black Friday mobs at the mall.

The antique mall is very eclectic. 

A friend of mine has attended their auctions and found some incredible deals.

I absolutely love vintage restaurant ware. 

I snagged this heavy duty restaurant ware plate from the YWCA for just a few bucks!

2. Design*Sponge Online published a book this fall.

I check the d*s website religiously for their latest postings about home decor, food and life.

The book is beautifully designed. It lives on our coffee table so I can drool on it whenever I see it.

Grace Bonney (the adorable gal in the picture) is one of the creators of the website, and her home is featured in the book.

  The design aesthetic is funky --much of the homes are designed with mid-century touches.

The book also has a large section of DIY projects for all skill levels and budgets. 

I want to make these hand towels!

And these place mats!

Toward the back of the book there is a wonderful illustrated "How To" section for all of those intimidating craft projects like rewiring a lamp or reupholstering a chair. 

  I keep seeing awesome craft projects like these but just never stop and take the time to try them out.  

 A New Year's resolution of the crafty sort, I pledge that I will complete (and post about) one new craft project per month in 2012!

3. Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bars. Leftover pumpkin puree is a great excuse for these delicious bars. Mr. Living Lovely on Little (Mr. LLL) pondered whether these bars were part of my plan for world domination.

No, they are not. I actually borrowed the recipe from Elizabeth LaBau of SugarHero.com.

My apologies for the not so pretty food photos. Man, taking pictures of food is HARD! Please refer to Elizabeth's gorgeous pictures--I promise you they didn't actually look like a chunk of sod!!

Slow-Roasted Tomatoes with Quick Ricotta Gnocchi (or my FIRST food post!)

I'll admit it. I am an addict.

Addicted to food blogs that is, with one in particular.

Molly Wizenberg is a foodie, a blogger, journalist, author and now restaurateur with her husband Brandon Petit. Molly was responsible for one of the best-loved food/life blogs around, Orangette (http://orangette.blogspot.com/).

Two years ago the couple opened Delancey (www.delanceseattle.com), a woodfire pizza spot in Seattle's Ballard neighborhood. She is funny, candid and her recipes hit the spot. Basically, Molly is a food blogger goddess and I worship the counter on which she bakes.

In her book, A Homemade Life, Molly shares her recipe for slow-roasted tomatoes.

I just had to try it because:

A) the recipe calls for 4 ingredients,

B) tomatoes are cheap and in-season and

C) I am Sicilian and 2/3 of my body is literally a mixture of olive oil and tomatoes. It's genetic.

This is a weekend recipe, as it takes 4 to 6 hours to complete,

but it is WELL WORTH THE WAIT!

This recipe makes a LOT. You'll be surprised how many dishes you will want to which you'll want to add some of these sweet little guys. In the last few days we have added them to burritos, eggs and pasta salad. They are a great way to spruce up an otherwise "blah" dish.

Rinsing the tomatoes, just like my momma taught me.

Tomatoes sliced in half and tossed lightly with olive oil.

Tomatoes spread on a cookie sheet, sprinkled with sea salt and fresh ground pepper.

Sure, these little guys don't look pretty, but they are absolutely irresistible.

As you can see, many of them disappeared before I could take a picture.

To highlight the sweet flavor of the tomatoes, I made a recipe from another favorite blog, Budget Bytes. This was the first gnocchi recipe I have tried. It was easypeasie (is that how spell that?).

http://budgetbytes.blogspot.com/2011/08/easy-ricotta-gnocchi-258-recipe-065.html

Mmmm...slow-roasted tomatoes

with ricotta gnocchi, fresh Parmesan cheese and basil from the garden.