My All-time Favorite Soup: French Onion!

It's been a while since I shared a recipe, so how about one of my favorite winter dishes? I LOVE French Onion soup! There's no two ways about it. It's the perfect cold weather soup. The warm gooey cheese. The caramelized onions. I love it all! Panera's isn't too shabby and enjoying it in Paris sealed the deal.

I had a few extra Euros burning a hole in my pocket while at the airport, so I promptly bought a cookbook: Love Food, Love Paris by Kate Whiteman. It's part travel book and part cookbook; sharing pictures, history, and recipes of each arrondissement.

The recipe for French Onion Soup (or Soupe a l'Oignon Gratinee) is one that I turn to each fall and winter. The trick is slowly cooking the onions, letting them caramelize and develop a sweet taste. This soup takes and gives a lot of love.

French Onion Soup

Adapted from Love Paris, Love Food by Kate Whiteman

Ingredients

1/3 cup unsalted butter (splurge for the French butter!)

1 1/2 pounds onions, very thinly sliced

1 t sugar

2/3 cup dry white wine (or substitute water if you don't have any on hand)

5 cups good beef stock (I cheat and make 5 cups using Better Than Bullion beef base from the grocery store.)

Salt and pepper

Toasted slices of bread (preferably a baguette)

1 3/4 cups freshly grated Gruyere cheese

Directions

Melt the butter in a large saucepan over medium heat, add the onions. Sprinkle with sugar and saute for about 5 minutes. The onions will start to caramelize.

Turn the heat down as low as possible and cook the onions very gently for 20 to 30 minutes, stirring occasionally to make sure they don't burn. The onions will become very soft and a deep nutty brown.

Add the wine and let it bubble for a few minutes. The alcohol will burn off, leaving the wine flavor behind. Pour in the beef stock and stir. Scrape any onions from the bottom of the pan.

Bring to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer the soup for 30 minutes.

Fancy Finish

Season the soup with salt and pepper. Ladle soup into individual heatproof bowls. Heat the broiler to high. Float the sliced bread on top of the soup and sprinkle with freshly grated Gruyere cheese. Place the soup bowl under the broiler until the cheese is bubbling and golden brown.

Easy Finish

Season the soup with salt and pepper. Ladle soup into individual bowls, floating sliced bread on the top. Top with freshly grated Gruyere cheese.

Enjoy!

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Gift Guide!

Can you believe that Christmas is less than two weeks away??? I did some shopping this weekend, but still have a bit to do. Have you checked everyone off your list? If not, here are a few ideas:

Craft brew loving husband

1 gallon Gingerbread Ale kit from Brooklyn BrewShop

Jewelry loving sister

Favor Jewelry Hammock earrings and necklace via One Sydney Road

Super hero loving brother

The Illustrious Omnibus of Superpowers #2 print from Pop Chart Lab

Fruit loving Mom

Rifle Paper Co. 2012 fruit calendar

Fruitcake loving Dad

Harry and David traditional fruitcake, 2 pounds

Pie loving friend who's spending Christmas in NYC

Bourbon chocolate pecan pie from Noble Crust (Manhattan and Brooklyn only)

Martha Stewart-in-the-making

Leif glitter tart server

Friend who dreams of the lavender fields in France

Lavender sachets from One Sydney Road

New Mommy's little one

Snowflake onesie with red and white snowflake leggings from Designer Jules

What's on your list to Santa this year?

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Off the Clock

As we head into the weekend, I thought I would share my personal tip for keeping stress away on the weekends:

I don't wear a watch.

I started this practice a few years ago. I wear a watch at work on the weekdays and started to notice that I would impulsively check my watch on the weekends and wonder where I had to be next. It made me anxious and I would subconsciously think about work. Or what I should be doing instead of enjoying my time off.

So I took off my watch. It's made a huge difference. Now I feel like I'm off the clock on the weekends. On the flip side, I've noticed that I feel a little lost or "off" if I don't wear my watch during the week.

What will I be doing this watch-less weekend? A tacky Christmas sweater party!

Christmas ornament earrings, elf hat and shoes, Mrs. Claus skirt, tacky Christmas sweater

Which is perfect because this week's Friday's Fancies theme is "Holiday Party." I'm bringing out my finest elf shoes and snowman sweater. Mrs. Claus will be quiet jealous of my Christmas cheer!

Hope you have a fantastic weekend!

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The Big M: Monetization

Today is all about one of the stickier topics in blogging: monetization. Deciding whether to profit off one's blog is a personal decision and I've slowly worked on monetizing Fiscally Chic over the past year. I'm extremely selective about what I air on the blog and want to be sure not to spam you. I'm not rolling in the dough, but it helps pay for my domain name. As my Nana would say, it's chewing gum money.

Grace over at Design*Sponge wrote an epic series about online etiquette and ethics based on a panel discussion at Alt Summit. Part 2 is all about about blogging and the moolah. I highly recommend the read if you have some time.

Google Adsense

Back to my monetization journey. I slowly started with Google Adsense. Nothing crazy, just an ad or two on the homepage. Let's just say I'm nowhere near the initial payout of $100. I still run those ads, but am sure to filter the types of ads I show on the blog.

Product Reviews

About 9 months ago, I was approached about my first product review. You might remember my review  (ETA - removed due to a request by Whooga) about Whooga ugg boots. (By the way, I'm wearing them as I type this post.) Since then, I've received more inquiries, but have turned down a majority of them. Do you want to hear about hair extensions? Probably not. I have no need for them, so I couldn't properly review them. On the positive side, I'm currently reviewing a few more relevant products and will share my experience in the next few weeks.

The challenge with product reviews is balancing meaningful feedback while looking out for the readers' interests. As I'm sure you know, the FTC requires bloggers who review products to disclose any connection with advertisers, including the receipt of free products, and whether or not they were paid in any way by advertisers. So yes, I received the Whooga's for free.

Affiliate Programs

More recently, I joined some affiliate programs. Particularly through ShareASale. These are when a blogger promotes a product or a service in exchange for a commission should that product be purchased or lead generated. Bloggers also need to disclose when they're being compensated through affiliate programs. Amazon has their affiliate program, but it's not available in Illinois...boo! Your favorite companies and products might also have affiliate programs.

Here are a few of the affiliates I currently promote on my sidebar (I'm being compensated!):

Michelle of When I Grow Up Coach created an amazeballs creative career change workbook. I purchased it when I was grappling with my job change. She also has a package that combines the workbook with an hour coaching session. I totally recommend it if you're not sure what you want to be when you grow up. Even if you're not looking to make a change, Michelle has all sorts of great life coaching advice on her blog.

I first learned about Prosper at FINCON11. Per their website, Prosper is "the market leader in peer-to-peer lending—a popular alternative to traditional loans and investing options. They cut out the middleman to connect people who need money with those who have money to invest...so everyone prospers!"

Prosper's statistics show actual investor returns averaged 10.69% since July 15, 2009. Borrowers can get fixed rates ranging from 6.59% to 35.84% depending on their credit history and application. Borrowers receive their loan after it's fully funded by investors and passes Prosper's verification process.

John and I have recently invested a small amount of money through Prosper. We're able to select our specific investments (risk, time horizon, etc.), spreading our funds over several loan listings. I've seen listings to help consolidate debt, pay medical expenses, pay for a wedding, and starting business. As our confidence grows, we'll probably invest a little more, diversifying our overall portfolio.

Most recently, I joined the Tiny Prints program. You can order invitations, greeting cards (Christmas is fast approaching!), wedding invitations, photobooks, and more. They have some great gifts if you're running low on ideas. For example, what about a custom return address stamp for someone who just moved into a new house?

And to make things easy for you, here's the page with Tiny Prints' latest coupons. For example, you can save 20% off and enjoy free Standard Delivery or free USPS First Class Mail Shipping when you spend $49 or more using the code 20HOLDEC. Ends 12/8/11!

I've had some moderate success with affiliate programs, but it obviously depends on whether someone clicks on the link and purchases.

Products

One of the primo monetization strategies is creating and selling your own product. Like Michelle's workbook. I'm a tad on my way with the Etsy shop and have greater plans down the road. This will build on my accounting background and Etsy experience.

Paid Ads

I may start experimenting with paid ads on my sidebar in January 2012. I'll let you know when the time gets closer.

Etc

Other methods include sponsored posts and text link advertisements. Those aren't really my style, so I don't accept those inquiries. Though I'd be happy to offer giveaways for you lovely readers!

Disclosures

No matter your monetization strategy, it's imperative to disclose all of the necessary information. This fact was drilled into my head at FINCON11. You don't want your affiliate programs or Google Adsense accounts shut down for not having the required policies and disclosures. That's why I have a new page devoted to disclosures. There are my terms of service, privacy policy, and FTC sponsorship disclosures. You can create your own disclosure policy here.

Do you monetize?
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What took me so long?

Hi friends! After a weekend of recharging and Christmas-ing, I'm back in action! That's a picture of our Christmas tree. It's a Fraser fir, so I may call him Frasier. What were you up to?

I also met up with Jess for lunch and to go to the One of a Kind show. We also talked business for a bit. One of her questions was, "What took me so long to start the business?"

The answer is similar to Jon Acuff's most recent post about ignoring your dreams. Or getting distracted and focusing on something besides your dreams.

As you can tell from my blog header and About Me page, my favorite board game growing up was Monopoly. I've always understood and enjoyed business.

In 3rd or 4th grade, I sold friendship bracelets to friends and at school. I even kept an inventory and had a "catalog" in a binder with notebook paper. Each page was a different style, with a small sample taped or stapled to the top of the page. I then listed the different color combinations, lengths, and prices of each item.

It was my first foray into entrepreneurship. Since then, I've known that I wanted to own my own business.

Some of my high school totes

In high school, I remember reading an article about Kate Spade. I loved her concept of a classic purse, with a pop of color on the inside. I also sewed totes for my friends as birthday presents. Around then, I thought it would be fun to be a purse designer or boutique owner. My own version of Kate Spade.

I learned about Etsy in 2008 while planning our wedding. It was this post on Weddingbee. SnappyShop was my "gateway" shop and I fell hard for Etsy. I loved the concept of the online marketplace for handmade goods. Etsy is such an easy and approachable way to start selling.

Going to business school and learning about accounting was extremely helpful. And working in accounting continues to teach me how to run a business and deal with the books.

So why did I wait so long?

I didn't have the time with the last job. Now my hours are better.

I didn't have the space when we lived in apartments. Now I have space for a "studio" in our new house.

I didn't have the resources. Now I have a sewing machine. And a place to sell.

I didn't have the "know-how." Now I have more knowledge of social media and design trends.

There were so many distractions with planning a wedding and moving from St. Louis to Chicago to a house.

I could have made it work before, but the pieces didn't really come together until the last 3 months.

Or maybe I didn't believe in myself until now.

Either way, I'm making it happen now!!! Thanks for following along my journey and I'll be sharing more posts about starting a business in the future.
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Fashionably Inspi(red)

J. Crew gray Lucienne dress, Banana Republic bracelet, Kate Spade Latrice pumps,
Eclu red bow mini clutch, Jess LC Astor short drop earrings

Hi friends! I'm a bit pooped this week, so let's keep today's Friday's Fancies on the shorter side, OK? {av} suggested (RED) as the theme in honor of World AIDS Day. I interpreted the theme as an outfit for upcoming Christmas parties.

Bring some Great Lakes Christmas Ale for the host and you're sure to get an invite to next year's soiree. Check out their Beer Finder to see if it's available near you!

Have a restful weekend!

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Fiscally Chic Goes Global

Hi, friends! Can you believe it's almost December? I'm not sure where November went. And with the long weekend around Thanksgiving, my days are all jumbled. Did you enjoy all sorts of turkey, stuffing, and pie? I was a rebel and baked a lemon meringue pie for Thanksgiving. It was a refreshing end to a tasty meal.

Since we stayed in Chicago for Thanksgiving, we had an opportunity to paint the back/TV room. John wanted to paint it green, so green it is. A little bit like this:

Or like this, with a little photo-editing:

You'll have to trust me on this one. And wait for better pictures.

The blue artwork in that pin reminds me of our blueprints, so they might go in that room. Plus, it refers to the navy in the front room. Fortunately, the curtains still work with the green. Now we have to hang art and get a few more things to tie everything together.

I had a pretty busy weekend with Fiscally Chic pillow cover sales, which was really exciting! I'm pleasantly surprised by the success of my little shop. Especially since I only work on it during nights and weekends. I opened in September 2011 and have already sold 25 pillow covers and 1 knit alpaca hat. That's gross revenue of almost $600 (yay!). And none to family or friends. I had multiple orders over the weekend, including one to Harvard and three international! Japan, Australia, and Canada! The big winner was the silver and gold polka dot one. It was featured in the Etsy Finds email on Sunday!!!

Due to the success of the polka dot pillow cover, I ordered some additional fabric, but at a slight premium. Which means the price of that pillow cover went up $1. If you're itching to get your hands on one, they're scheduled to be shipped out Monday December 5. Provided I receive the fabric in the next few days.

Speaking of the business, I opened a business checking account and signed up for a business credit card. I'm also in the process of registering my DBA with Cook County. Previously, I had only registered it with the IL Dept. of Revenue. I found out you have to do both.

Things are definitely chugging along with the biz. John likes to joke that my pillow covers are taking over the world :)
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