recipe: easy 4th of july treats

do you need a quick and easy treat to take to a 4th of july cookout this weekend? well, i have you covered! these two desserts are so easy and quick to make. not to mention, as you can see from above they are delicious, reed says anyways haha! these are called oreo pops and cookie sandwiches! here is what to purchase and how to make:

ingredients:

-1 package of oreos

-1 package of soft & chewy cookies

-1 container of white icing

-1 package of white chocolate chips

-patriotic sprinkles 

-candy/sucker sticks or small thin straws

details for the oreo pops: 

-open your package of oreos

-start twisting the oreos and open the tops from the bottoms of the cookie

-place your white chocolate chips in a bowl and microwave for one minute or so until melted

-stir this well and take your sucker stick and dip it in the melted  white chocolate

-just cover the tip of the stick with the chocolate and place this towards the middle of the oreo (see picture above)

-then, you will place the top and bottom of the oreo together and press together

-complete all of the oreos that you want to do this with and then place in the freezer for a few minutes for the chocolate to harden

-next, you will take those out of the freezer and dip them in the white chocolate bowl

-be sure to cover them as best as you can in the white chocolate 

-lastly, decorate them with sprinkles

-refrigerate or freeze these for as long as you desire for the chocolate to harden

-take a bite and enjoy :)

(you can also color the white chocolate with a red or blue food coloring too!)

details for the cookie sandwiches:

-open your package of soft cookies

-open your white icing

-ice one side of the back of the cookie with white icing and cover completely over the entire cookie

-then, take another cookie and press them together and you will notice the icing will overlap the cookie

-once that is done, place your sprinkles in a bowl

-then, take your cookie sandwich and cover the excess amount of white icing on the sides with sprinkles and cover all edges of the cookie (see picture above)

-repeat this for all of the cookies 

-place in fridge for 15 minutes or so for the icing to harden and serve! :)

i hope your enjoy your holiday weekend with your loved ones and enjoy these tasty treats! 

thank you for stopping by!!

travel: my nashville guide

           hi everyone! happy summer and holy cow is it hot!! i hope you are all beating the heat wherever you are. each season i have many family members and friends coming to nashville/franklin to visit and i always get questions about what to do and where to go! well, I have put together a fun go-to nashville/franklin list of fun things to do for everyone. after living here for almost 4 years now (i can't believe it has been this long) i have acquired just a few (more like a-lot) haha local eats, shops, and areas that are fun and must do's while visiting.

i thought this would be a great visiting guide for out-of-town friends and family members to take a peek at when planning their visit. this is also a great guide for locals that want to try new things :) here it goes! this is definitely just a general guide of our favorites:

must do's in/near downtown nashville:

-take a tour of the ryman auditorium

-stay at the opryland hotel and enjoy their dining and shops (fabulous at Christmas time for the ice exhibits, famous Christmas lights, and events)

-visit the famous broadway street and walk in to the famous tootsies bar and lounge to see the famous people's signatures and memorabilia 

-live music everywhere on broadway

-in the summer go to a nashville sounds game 

-in the fall go to a predators game or titans game 

-visit and tour the johnny cash museum 

-visit centennial park

-visit and tour the country music hall of fame museum 

-nashville zoo

-tour the belle meade plantation (history)

-tour the hermitage plantation (history)

-nashville flea market (last weekend of each month)

must do's in/near franklin:

-walk downtown franklin great boutique shopping!!! my favorite

-picnic at arrington vineyards

-tour the carnton plantation (history)

-tour the lotz house (history)

-tour the carter house (history)

-take a drive to leiper's fork (beautiful scenery & fun eats/shops)

-visit the factory in franklin (indoor shopping & eating--on saturdays the franklin farmers market is  held)

-drive/walking trails natchez trace parkway

-walking/hiking trails at radnor lake 

-take a short drive to downtown nolensville for antique shopping

some of our favorite nashville eats:

-pucketts 

-hattie b's hot chicken

-arnolds country kitchen

-the pharmacy (best burgers)

-bobbie's dairy dip

-butchertown hall

-merchants

-monell's (family style)

-whiskey kitchen

-5 points pizza

-desano's pizza

-bar taco

-urban grub

-rosepepper mexican

-Mcnamara's irish pub

-gondola house (italian)

-5 daughters bakery

-jeni's icecream

-martin's bbq

-loveless cafe 

-tacomamacita
-edley's bbq

-fido

-jacksons

-the local taco

-pancake pantry

-the row

-tavern

some of our favorite franklin eats:

-grays

-pucketts

-pucketts boat house

-jonathons

-henpeck 

-55 south

-burger up

-brewhouse
-buttermilk sky pie 

this is a lengthy guide but gives you plenty of options when visiting! i get questions often and wanted to share with you all. i hope you enjoy this guide and your next visit to nashville :) let me know if you have any questions, as i can always help!

enjoy ya'll!! 

recipe: chipotle beef stuffed peppers

hey everyone! it's been a few days! we went to indiana, and i have been catching up with friends and family the past few days. i wanted to share this great recipe from my gluten-free cookbook that i got for my birthday from my grandmother. i have used it quite a bit and have really enjoyed it. this recipe we made for dinner this week and reed loved it! i hope you enjoy it as well.

ingredients: 

- 1 lb of lean ground beef

-1 package of corn 

-1 or 2 red bell or green bell peppers

-1 cup of salsa

-1 egg, beaten 

-2 tablespoons of chipotle chiles in adobo sauce from can/chopped 

-1 bunch of fresh cilantro

-1/4 cup of fresh green onions 

-1/2 cup of shredded cheese 

-you can also add gluten free rice to this mix (i didn't add this)

details: 

-heat oven to 375

-cook rice as directed if you desire this ingredient

-cook beef in your skillet stirring frequent and then drain

-add corn, chiles, egg and mix well

-cut your bell peppers in half lengthwise: remove the seeds and the membrane

-place cut side up in greased pan or dish 

-spoon in your beef mixture into your peppers

-top the peppers with salsa and place in the oven 

-bake for 35 minutes or until peppers are crisp-tender

-then, add the cheese and onions

-place this back into the oven for another 5-10 minutes

-garnish with cilantro on top or more salsa and you are done!

yum! enjoy with corn on the side or blue corn chips & salsa 

I hope you enjoy this recipe :) see you soon and thank you for stopping by. 

new additions to dots & details!!

hi everyone! i hope you are all having a great week! i wanted to share some exciting new things happening with dots & details. i have had my personal blog for over a year now and have truly learned a lot about blogging, social media, and growing my audience. i want my blog to be more than just a fun happy place for friends & family to see my projects and style. 

i have decided to grow dots & details into more of my own personal business and lifestyle brand. i would love to help people inside and outside of their homes with several different aspects. here are a few details and new services that i am adding to my blog:

personal shopping: i hear from numerous people that they don't like to shop! shopping for gifts, themselves, anniversaries, birthday's, and holidays can sometimes be a chore for others. not for me! ha i love shopping for others and giving gifts, it is my absolute favorite thing to do. i would love to help you, and i will wrap your gifts for you as well :)

organizing: if you read my blog or know me at all, you know i love love love to organize. i would love to help you organize any area of your home. your office, kitchen, closets; whatever the area may be, i can help!

decorating:  i am by know means a professional interior designer, but i like to think i have an eye for what goes together and how to mix specific pieces. i enjoy it so much and would love to help you as well. if you have a room or an area of your home that you need help picking out paint colors, decor, or furniture; i am your gal!

i have always wanted to have my own business and spread my joy and passion by helping others in these areas, i thought why not start now? i would love to help in any area of your life! i can't thank you all enough for the support and encouraging words as i start many new adventures this summer both professionally and personally. thank you so much for reading and i hope you have a wonderful weekend :) 

if you have any questions at all about any of these services, please contact me: dotsandetails@gmail.com

hosting: katie's baby shower

hey everyone! happy  monday! it's already a new week and june is flying by. i can't believe we are already to fathers day on sunday, wow! this past weekend i had the pleasure of hosting my cousin katie's baby shower. she is having a little girl named harper kathryn and we can't wait to meet her. we had a lot of family from out of town come in for the shower and it couldn't have gone any better. i think we all had a great time showering katie and baby harper.

here are the details from the baby shower above. as you can see the theme here (pink, polka dots, golds and girly details). i made most of the decorations and also gathered a few from different places as well. the cookies were adorable from tyler's cookies & catering back home in sullivan, in. he does a great job and they are always a big hit. the cake turned out perfectly as well and i picked this up from homestyle bakery in nashville. they do a great job!!

my co-host & assistant (my mother) who has more experience than anyone i know at hosting and throwing a great party, was such a huge help and i literally couldn't have done it or anything with out her :) thanks mom! i am so blessed to have such wonderful women in my life to look up to and share experiences with.

we also played a few games and enjoyed catching up with everyone. i think it's safe to say we had a great baby shower and weekend filled with family and fun. i hope you all had a great weekend as well. it sure was a hot one!! i hope you all have a wonderful week and enjoy this beautiful monday.

as always, thank you for stopping by :)

recipe: family feature "aunt amy's strawberry pie"

oh my goodness! i don't even know how to describe this haha! wow! a great summer strawberry pie. there is nothing better! i wanted to do a family feature and share my aunt amy's strawberry pie. it is absolutely delicious and i hope you all get the chance to make it this summer. this is a great recipe for a cookout, family get together, or just for a good dessert on a wednesday night :)

here is the recipe for the pie filling:

ingredients for pie filling:

-1 1/2 cups of water

-2 tablespoons of corn starch 

-3/4 cup of sugar

-3 cups of cut up strawberries

-1 3oz package of strawberry gelatin 

details:

-in your sauce pan on the stove, add your water

-then add your cornstarch & sugar

-combine these ingredients and bring to a boil (use medium/high temp)

-then, you will add your gelatin to this mixture and add in your fresh strawberries

-stir this for about 2 min 

-lastly, you will add your filling to your pie crust that you can either buy from the store (after this is baked) or you can make the homemade crust below

-serve with whipped cream or with ice cream

 (for the crust: i used a gluten free pre-made crust for this recipe above but i wanted to also share amy's homemade easy pie crust for you to make)

ingredients for pie crust:

-1 cup of bisquick

-1/4 cup of margarine/ or butter

-2 tablespoons of boiling water

details:

-heat your oven to 450

-in a small mixing bowl combine your bisquick and margarine

-then, you will boil 2 tablespoons of water and then add this to your mixture

-after you mix this well, add some flour to your hands and knead the dough with your hands

-then, press the dough in your pie plate 

-bake this for 8-10 minutes or until golden brown

-once you take this out, let this cool and then add your pie filling to this and refrigerate

-serve with whipped cream or with ice cream

deeeeelicious! i hope you are having a great week and hope you enjoy this lovely pie from my aunt amy. thank you amy for the delightful dessert. have a great week! a lot of exciting things coming soon and i can't wait to share with you.

happy wednesday!

home decor: living room details

happy friday ya'll! here are some new details to our living room that i wanted to share. 

where did i find what?

grey chest- "at home"

grey vase- "at home"

grey & white pattern rug- ikea

tan weave blanket- macy's

grey dot painting- "at home" 

lamp & lamp shade- "at home"

silver decorative figure- "hobby lobby"

2 leaf/greenery prints & frames- antique shop 

tan leaf picture frame- estate sale

white frame- pier one 

paw- not for sale and you definitely can't find another like this little guy haha!

         as you can see "at home" is a go-to for me. i love the prices and love the decor! i also love finding good pieces at an estate sale or antique shop and making them look more expensive than they are. for and example; the two green prints were 2 for $15.00 when i actually find two similar ones for $180 on west elm ha! what a deal!  i love making old things look new and finding thrifty finds to make them look more expensive than they are. so fun!

i hope you enjoy this short but sweet post on some new living room details! what would you like to see more of on my blog? i would love to hear from you!! thank you for stopping by :) have a great weekend!! xoxo

www.athome.com