Chicken With Vin Jaune and Mushrooms

This recipe, for Chicken with Vin Jaune and Mushrooms, is not diet friendly.

"Why" do you ask?  "How can chicken and mushrooms be bad for me"?

Well - there's 14 tablespoons of butter in this dish.  Divide that by 4 servings, and you just consumed 3.5 Tbl of butter (yumm?).

But I must admit, every bite of this dish was heaven - and just knowing that I was indulging in something so decadent made it taste even better.

Baked eggs over sauteed mushrooms and spinach

Sorry for the lack of posts lately - I haven't been super inspired to blog, which I am blaming on: (1) being crafted out from my Montana crafting extravaganza, (2) being on the Zone diet (too lazy to cook).

However, I did manage to muster up a little enthusiasm for the yummy baked egg dish pictured above.  I mean, who can resist a breakfast dish with wine it it?!

Note: I would recommend you bake the dish in your actual oven and not a toaster oven, like I did.  The egg whites took forever to set, and the yolks were a little over-done on the out-side, and under-done on the inside.

Chicken lettuce cups

After reading the reviews on the recipe for these chicken lettuce cups - I knew I was going to need to get a little creative to kick the flavor up a notch.  Therefore I: added a couple teaspoons of red pepper flakes to the ground chicken, used milder/saltier green olives (I can't remember the variety, but I grabbed them from the antipasti bar), and substituted ricotta salata cheese for the mozzarella.

The end result was incredibly tasty.  Just ask Ed.  He inhaled six of these babies.

Creamy stovetop corn with poblano chiles

This dish is, hands down, the best corn dish I've ever had (yes, it even beats out the scrumptious roasted corn w/chipotle lime butter at the Waterfront Seafood Grill).

Thank you New York Times - I will forever be grateful for Ed discovering this recipe for creamy stovetop corn in your pages.

DIY upholstered headboard

During my 10 day crafting extravaganza at our Montana cabin, I managed to whip out a DIY upholstered headboard for a queen size bed in one of our guest bedrooms.  This project took me less than 45-minutes to complete.

Materials:
4x8 plywood cut down to 4x5 ($6.00 at Lowes, the cutting is free - just ask)
Twin sized foam mattress topper ($9.99 at Walmart)
1 1/2 - 2 yrds upholstery fabric (I used Waverly Small Talk Mint Julep, $14.98/yrd)
Staplegun
3M spray adhesive
Scissors
Hardware to attach the frame to the bed ($.10 for each nut/bolt) & drill

Instructions:

Spray the back of your mattress topper with adhesive, and attach it to the plywood (textured side down). You may want to let the foam hang 1 inch over the edges of the headboard, in order to soften them.

Cut an approx 10" strip from your fabric, and set aside.  Now, align your fabric on top of the foam, making sure your fabric is long enough to cover the area of the headboard that will be exposed (above your mattress) and that, if applicable, your fabric's pattern is facing the right direction.  If your fabric isn't wide enough to cover the headboard with the pattern facing the right-way (I ran into this problem), get creative.  Stitch strips of fabric along the outside edges to widen, or break your fabric up into thirds and stitch. 

Once your fabric is aligned, start stapling the top edge to the back of your headboard.  Once you have a few staples in, pull the fabric tight and place a few staples along the bottom edge of the fabric (into the front of the plywood).  Continue stapling until the fabric is secure.  Save the corners for last.

To finish off your headboard you'll need to attach the strip of fabric you set aside earlier to the exposed sides of the plywood (near the bottom).  Make sure your fabric is wide enough to cover the area that will be visible, cut to size, and staple.

Attach your headboard to your bed frame.

Refurbished caned chair

Tada! ("before" pic here)

After stripping off the old fabric, I gave the chair a light sanding, followed by a couple coats of Rust-Oleum's paint + primer in gloss white.  I finished off the paint job with a clear protective coating.  Note: this was the first and last time I'll use a paint+primer - it offered zero stain blocking, and there was a LOT of over-spray.  On a positive note, the paint really had a glossy finish.

Although I purchased upholstery buttons, I ended up re-using the original buttons because they had brads on the back - which meant zero sewing (yay!).  I simply cut out tiny circles of fabric, and then glued the fabric onto each button.

I was a bit leery about making double welt cord (tutorial here), but it wasn't so bad once I got the hang of it, and it sure gave the chair a finished appearance.  Note: you use double welt cord to cover visible staples

Another shot of my lovely refurbished cane chair from a slightly different angle:

The joys of fabric

clockwise from upper l: premier prints zig zag, kravet bansuri slate ikat,

waverly cross section charcoal, waverly ellis turquoise

I think the best part of any sewing project is picking out the fabric.

A couple days ago I purchased two vintage caned chairs, with the intention of refurbishing them (inspiration here).  They'll eventually go into the den in our cabin, which has gray walls, off-white carpeting, and a taupe chaise (the ikat fabric pictured above is for an accent pillow for the chaise).  I decided to cover one chair in the cross-section fabric, and the other in the zig-zag.  The turquoise fabric will become a floor pillow or upholstery for a footstool.

Waverly's modern essential fabric in luminary/indigo (above right) may soon be covering lumbar pillows on the two chairs I just slip-covered (fabric on the left) - although I may end up using a simple-solid fabric if the pattern/color mix looks too crazy in person.

And finally, I want to sew a couple euro shams to coordinate with the striped duvet pictured above.  I like Dwell's vintage blossom fabric in jade and citrine, or maybe another gold patterned fabric like Dwell's  fretscene canary - but I really can't decide.  Any ideas?  The wall color in the bedroom is gray.  I'm open to any color combination at this point.

I also have fabric I want to purchase for two twin headboards, trim on curtain panels, and a billion accent pillows.  I really have no idea how I'm going to finish all these projects...

Easy kitchen face-lift

Thanks to a weekend of sweat equity, the kitchen in our Montana cabin is about 80% complete.  Oh - what a difference a few coats of primer, paint, and shiny new hardware make. 

"Before"

"After"

I used a chemical de-glosser on the cabinets, which eliminated the need to sand, before putting on two coats of primer and two coats of glossy paint (Martha Stewart's paint in bright white).  A coat of primer and a coat of semi-gloss paint (MS painter's chalk) on the accent wall in the kitchen took it from a multi-hued red to a nice, neutral white.

 

The kitchen still needs a little work (e.g. dishwasher needs to be installed, light fixture changed out, filler cabinets put in next to the stove) - but it looks TONS better than it did before.

The Crisco love affair continues

(please forgive the shoddy pic...my big girl camera was out of juice)

I think Ed is looking for excuses to whip out his big tub of Crisco (for some background info - see post below).

The recipe pictured above, Pan-Fried Shrimp with Creole Mayonnaise, is from Cooking Light - therefore it only called for the tiniest amount of olive oil, and not the dollop of Crisco I saw Ed drop into the pan.  

Sigh. 

But it was tough to complain once I tasted the end result.  Flavorful, crispy, addictive shrimp - my favorite thing to eat.

(served with Tomato, Cucumber, and Fennel Salad)

Classic Southern Fried Chicken (and collared greens)

When Ed came home with a huge tub of Crisco and told me he was going to make classic southern fried chicken (recipe found in Food& Wine here), and I was going to love it - I was a little dubious.  I'm not a fried chicken fan, and simply looking at Crisco makes me a little nauseous.

When he pulled out a mammoth cast iron skillet, because "that's what the recipe calls for" - visions of popping oil and kitchen fires came to my head (Ed has started a tiny fire in the past).

I watched the mountain of Crisco liquify in skillet like a hawk, and cringed when Ed plopped the first piece of chicken into it, but there was no out-of-control popping and no flames - just the sizzle of chicken being perfectly fried.

Was the key to the crispy, flavorful, and easy to make fried chicken the Crisco?  The cast-iron skillet?  The recipe itself?

I don't know the answer, but I do know that Ed has made me a fried chicken fan.

(recipe for the collared greens here)

Changing a painting's color scheme

Check out how my sister easily changed this painting's color scheme to match her new kitchen decor (post here: http://christielynnjones.blogspot.com/).

Revamped dining room table: Raindrops on Roses

Check out my sister's adventures in revamping her dining room table on her blog: Raindrops on Roses

A reupholstered chair seat using Waverly's Sun n Shade fabric in

Parterre Indigo (tip: indoor/outdoor fabric is super easy to clean)

The Rub 'n Buff experiment

I bought a tube of Rub 'n Buff  after exploring a variety of options for turning brass hardware silver (e.g. spray paint, silver leaf, and leafing pens).

In the end, I decided to stick with the original brass hardware on the nightstand I was refinishing, which left me with a tube of untried crafting fun.

Which leads me to the frame I bought at Ross for $3.00.  I didn't initially intend to put a silver accent on it, but I thought "Hey, why not." (note: click on photos to make them larger)

"Before"

"After"

It's not a dramatic difference, but it satisfied my curiosity and demonstrated that the product actually works.

A couple other Rub 'n Buff projects:

Imperfectly Beautiful

LookiLoos

Asparagus Frittata

This recipe was the culmination of two of my husband's favorite things (right now): Twitter and our toaster oven.

One of his foodie friends tweeted the recipe (originally from the NYT), and the hubby seized the opportunity to use his favorite kitchen appliance.

The wonderful thing about a toaster oven is that it preheats in a couple of minutes - so as soon as you finish your chopping and whisking you can pop the dish right into the oven.  The wonderful thing about this dish is that healthy (and basically fool proof).

Quick Shrimp Chowder

I had some leftover heavy cream in the fridge, so I decided to try out this super easy recipe for Quick Shrimp Chowder.

It truly is a fast dish to make.  Even though I didn't use a pre-chopped onion & carrot - the dish only took me about twenty-five minutes from start to finish (woohoo!).

Note:  If the soup is too bland for you - simply add a bit of salt/pepper or a dash of your favorite hot sauce.  I put diced avocado on top of my soup for a little extra creaminess (and because I LOVE avocado).

Cake mix cookies = minor disaster

Over the weekend I decided to bite the bullet and try making a batch of cake-mix cookies. 

Based on the reviews for this recipe for Gooey Butter Cookies - I assumed they'd be the easiest/yummiest cookies I've ever made.

That wasn't the case.

The cookies were a piece of cake to prep, but really no easier than any other cookie I've made from scratch.  Also, the baking time really threw me for a loop.  From the reviews I knew I wanted to avoid over-baking at all costs - but when I popped the cookies out of the oven after the allotted baking time, the cookies were a raw/gooey mess.

I ended up baking each batch for about 20 minutes, and the cookies were still a bit too soft - but maybe that's just the nature of gooey butter cookies (?).  

Even though these cookies seemed a bit imperfect to me, the end result was tasty and the cookies went fast.   However, they weren't amazing enough to sell me on cake-mix cookies.

Note: I found the added step of refrigerating the dough before dropping it in the powdered sugar (which some reviewers recommend) to be uneccessary - since I used a cookie scoop and therefore didn't really have to worry about stickiness.  Also, these are incredibly rich cookies!  Eat at your own risk :)

Adventures in Quilting

I am the most amateur of quilting novices since I've never even made a quilt - however, what I lack in experience I make up for with sheer enthusiasm.

This leads me to my current crafting project: two twin-size patchwork quilts (inspiration & a basic how-to from Cherry Menlove).

The fabric

Cutting squares

(I used our big wood cutting board and a salt cellar as a weight)

The first quilting casualty

 (never cut towards your hand)

Laying out the quilt

The hardest part so far has been cutting the squares, but only because it takes patience and precision (I'm more of an immediate gratification, "who cares about lines," kinda' gal).  This is definitely one of those "no short-cuts allowed" type of projects.

I'll keep you updated on my progress!

Cake Mix Cookies

via For the Love

I'm a bit of a baking snob, so when I hear "cake-mix" cookies these words run through my mind: lazy, box-mix?!, preservatives, Martha would NEVER use cake mix, blech.

However, I find the cake mix cookies in the pic above (original post/recipe here, repost here) strangely appealing and seductive.  I also found a couple other interesting "cake-mix" cookie recipes:

Gooey Butter Cookies

Cake Mix Cookies VIII

German Chocolate Cake Mix Cookies

Chocolate Gooey Butter Cookies

What do you think?  Have you ever made cake-mix cookies?

Creamy Chicken Salad

I loathe light-mayonnaise, but after eating this Creamy Chicken Salad, I'm definitely rethinking my opinion.

The dressing for this salad turned out complex and flavorful, even without the extra fat.  The tender poached chicken, smoky almonds, and sweet/tart cranberries rounded out the dish nicely.

Note: our plastic wrap basically slipped off the chicken 2 minutes into the poaching, therefore I suggest you either use heavy-duty wrap designed for poaching or skip the wrap altogether. 

Lis' Baby Shower

Lis' baby shower went off without a hitch!

Photos of the lovely food and what-not below.

Flower sugar cookies (cookie recipe here, icing here)

Purple velvet cupcakes (Wilton flower cups)

 Favors for the guests (sage/lavender note cards from Paper Source, 

Lis and I embossed each guest's initial on the cards)

The spread