Spanakopita Spaghetti

Okay, okay, I know, this isn't spaghetti, it's farfalle {bow ties} but, Spanakipita Spaghetti had such a nice ring to it.  And also, you can really use any type of pasta you'd like for this.  I chose the farfalle, simply because my kids think they look like butterflies and will eat them.  Now on to the Spanakopita... I adore Greek food.  Feta cheese, gyros, pita bread... it's all delish.  Spanakopita is also delish, but with all the layers of filo dough and the time it takes to put it together, I figured I'd save the actual Spanakopita experience for eating out and find a fast fix for home.  This "pesto" has all the flavors from the filling of Spanakopita, but only takes a minute to put together.  Literally in the time it takes to make your pasta, you can have your sauce made and ready to eat.  Doesn't it look amazing?

Ingredients:
1 lb of pasta
1 bag of fresh baby spinach
6-7 large basil leaves
1/3 cup of toasted pine nuts
4 oz feta cheese
1/4 cup of parmesan cheese
olive oil
juice of 1/2 a lemon
2 cloves of garlic peeled
salt and pepper

Directions:
Prepare your pasta according to package instructions.  In a food processor, add basil, spinach, pine nuts, feta, parm, lemon juice and garlic.  Pulse until it begins to puree.  Drizzle in your olive oil, you will need about 1/2 a cup, maybe a little more or less depending on how thick your sauce is, and continue to pulse until it looks like pesto!  Reserve a cup of your pasta cooking water.  When pasta is al dente, drain and add back to pot. Add the pesto and stir well.  The heat from the pasta will warm the sauce through.  If you need to loosen the sauce a little, add some of the pasta water you reserved.

Serve with a little feta and pine nuts and little basil on top, and you're all set!  Enjoy!

The Trials and Tribulations of a Dining Table Makeover

All opinions about the products I used are my own.  I am not receiving any compensation for any products used.  

I have so much to share about this project.  Let me start by saying this was not the easiest project I've ever done. There were tears, a few swear words and wine.  Thank God for wine.  In the end it turned out really beautiful, but it was quite a process.  Grab a cup of coffee or a glass of wine, get comfy and I'll tell you all about it!

Here's a before shot of my table.  This is the second time I have "made over" this table.  My style has changed quite a bit the last few years and the black legs and light pine top just weren't working for me anymore.  Since I knew I wanted to use chalk paint on the legs, I was thrilled to escape sanding them.  The top, however, was coated with many layers of polyurethane and needed a really good sanding.

I used my Black & Decker hand sander.  It has a hook and loop system which makes changing the sand paper easy.  I started with a coarse grit 80 and worked my way up to a 220.

Saturday I headed over to my local hardware store to pick up the stain I would need for the top.  I had planned to use Minwax Ebony.  Here's where I went wrong.  One of the sales people recommended a different product.  Zar is a stain much like Minwax, but supposedly easier to use.  Minwax is a penetrating stain and really soaks into the wood.  Zar, however, she assured me, doesn't require as much sanding and just sits on the top layer.  To make the color darker you need to apply several coats, which I was okay with.

I got the table sanded quite a bit and then cleaned off all the saw dust.  It was really hot out so I worked inside, which I do not recommend when sanding.  It was a mess, and there was a layer of fine saw dust over everything downstairs, but it was better than working outside in 102 degree heat.

I tore up an old t-shirt to apply the stain.  I started at one end and worked my way across the entire surface. I could tell right away that this wasn't working the way I intended.  First off, the wood was not absorbing the stain and second, the color was way too light.  I decided to wait the two hours recommended and try another coat, but after the second coat I was even more unhappy with the look.  By this time it was late evening and I was frustrated and disappointed.  I went ahead and painted the legs and base of the table with my chalk paint while I waited for the first coat to dry.  That went as expected and turned out beautifully. When the chalk paint was dry I lightly sanded down a few areas to give it an aged look.  Then I sealed it with clear wax and aged it a bit more with some dark wax.

At this point I decided to "table" it for the night.  He he...  In the morning I sanded everything down again, this time to completely bare wood.  I decided to give the Zar stain another chance.  This time I was slightly more pleased with the results.  I still found the product to be a very surface type of stain.  It does not penetrate.  I had to apply four coats of stain, with a drying time of 3 hours between each coat.  After the last coat dried, I applied one coat of Zar's poly in the Antique Flat finish.

Here's where things got tricky again.  I waited four hours and then, instead of sanding lightly, as recommended, I applied another coat of the poly without sanding.  Dang it!  I don't know if not sanding really made a difference or not, but I am not pleased with the finished look now.  I can see the brush strokes on the table and it is not smooth around the edges.  I think I will give the whole thing a light sanding again today and attempt one more coat of poly.  I'll let you know what happens.

In the mean time, from a foot away or so, it looks fantastic.  And if you aren't a perfectionist, like me, you'd probably be satisfied with the results.  I, on the other hand will not settle and will continue to work on this table until it is perfection.

Anyway, here's what it looks like today.

Thanks for reading about my dining table!  I'll update you about the final coat of poly soon!

Magnolia Wreath

I have a huge Magnolia Tree in my front yard and for years I've been wanting to make a wreath.  I finally decided to give it a go this morning.  I found the wreath form at goodwill for $2.99, but you can find them at any craft store (for slightly more).  You'll also need floral wire and wire snips.  And Magnolia leaves.  Lots and lots of Magnolia leaves.

Start by gathering your leaves.  I wanted mostly gold/brown with some green as well.  Use the floral wire to bundle the leaves together.  I use 5 leaves per bundle, 2 green and 3 gold/brown.

You will need a lot of bundles.  The size of your form will determine how many bundles you will need, but on a standard large form, it's a lot, a lot of bundles.  I lost count.

Once you have a bunch of bundles made you can begin wrapping them around your form.  Plan to use one in the front and one on each side.  Wire them to the form and continue to wrap them all away around.  Once you have them wrapped all the way around, you can play with the leaves a little and adjust them to cover any bald spots.  You may need to wire in an occasional bigger or smaller leaf to make sure there are no bare spots.

Once you are finished, use a little wire to make yourself a "hanger" and hang that beauty up!  This isn't the easiest wreath to make.  It took me a good 2 hours, but it was worth the effort, in my opinion.  I know that the green leaves will eventually brown.  I have an idea to spray them with a little gold spray paint which will look very festive around the holidays.

I hope you give it a go and send me a picture of your wreath!

Antipasto Platter

I have a confession to make.  This was actually what my family ate for dinner the other night.  But, let's pretend that I threw an elegant cocktail party and served this instead! {Somehow elegant cocktail parties don't happen with two kids, three cats and a dog in my house.}  Just because I didn't entertain with this, doesn't mean you can't!  I promise, if you break this baby out, be it at a backyard BBQ or having the boss over for dinner, it is sure to impress!  I mean come on, it looks amazing, right?

Since the ingredients are pretty easy to detect in the pictures, I'm just going to tell you how I assembled this.  I'll also give you a few more suggestions for other ingredients!

First, you will need a large platter.  I happened to have some ripe tomatoes from my garden and a ton of basil.  I sliced the tomatoes thinly and seasoned them with a little salt, then arranged them on the platter.  I also had some fresh mozzarella. {I was originally thinking Caprese Salad} After I arranged the "Caprese" I drizzled a little olive oil over it.  Then I sliced some salami and arranged that next to the tomatoes.  My father-in-law has a fig tree and I have a ton of fresh figs, so I quartered them and arranged them as well. Next came the marcona almonds, olives and artichoke hearts.  The bread I grilled lightly on a grill pan and drizzled with a little more olive oil.  I swear this was really easy to make and only took a few minutes to assemble.

Here are a few more suggestions if you are looking for substitutions.  Sundried tomatoes, roasted red peppers, green olives, dried apricots, goat cheese, prosciutto.  I'm sure there are many more ingredients, but that's what comes to mind right now.  Send me a picture of your Antipasto Platter!  I'd love to see what you use!

Ciao! 

Summer Fun

I know I've slowed down a bit lately on the recipes and posts!  My excuse is summer vacation.  My six year old daughter has less than a month left before school starts so we've been doing a lot of fun things lately. This week she's attending Vacation Bible School and is having a blast.  Last week to took a day trip to Stinson Beach and in between all that we've been spending a lot of time cuddling these two cuties!

Here are some more pictures of what we've been up to!

It doesn't get much better than watching children at the beach.  The pure joy of playing in the surf and sand is infectious!

Yesterday I took this little cutie to get her first real hair cut!  She was a bit naughty last week and got into her sister's craft scissors and cut a big chunk of her own hair off.  It wasn't really fixable, but the shorter cut blends it a little better.

I also got a chance to apply a fresh coat of white spray paint the chairs that I found for free!  The look awesome!  I'm now on the hunt for a new cushion or pillow for them!

Anyway, now you know what I've been up to the last few weeks!  I hope you are all having a great summer as well!

Painted Credenza

Yesterday I posted the recipe that I use for Chalk Paint.  I've used it on quite a few projects now, and I have always been pleased with the results.  I recently picked up a credenza (love that word!) at a local thrift store.  I always get excited when I find a good deal, and since it was only $35 I was especially thrilled.  I mean, you can't even get a piece of furniture at Ikea for that price!  And this piece is solid, let me tell you!  It was built to last.  I knew when I bought it that I wanted to give it a "make over" but with our busy summer schedules I wasn't able to get to it right away.  Last week I finally had a free afternoon and was able to sneak over to the hardware store and grab a can of paint.  In a matter of hours I had achieved the desired look.  I have to say, I'm pretty pleased with the results!  Here's a look at the before!

And here's the after!

Here's a few during!  It's been too hot to paint outside, so I brought my drop cloth in and painted in the dining room.

The lighting in this room is really not conducive to shoot good photos, so I apologize for the quality.

Again, a bit grainy, but you get the idea.

Here's an up close of how using wax can really give a distressed patina to the paint.

I decided not to paint the inside of the cabinets.  I like the way the dark wood contrasts with the grey paint.

What do you think?  Want more info about Chalk Paint and Wax?  Check out my other posts and the get the recipe here!

Chalk Paint Recipe

I've been busy painting again, which made me think that I should re-post my recipe for the Chalk Paint that I use.  I got this recipe from a little card at Emigh Hardware, the local hardware store I visit way too often! I've used it many times and it has never failed me!

1/2 Cup Plaster of Paris
1/2 Cup Hot Water
1 1/2 Cups of Paint

Dissolve the plaster of paris in the hot water, mixing well.  Stir in the paint.  Brush on your project.  No need to sand!  Brush against the grain and paint in all directions.  (My kids love to help me with this part, since you don't have to be particularly careful!)  The mixture is thinner than regular paint, so you may need to do several coats, depending on what you are trying to cover.  Once the paint dries completely, seal with clear wax, and colored wax depending on the desired effect.

I recommend Briwax, but have heard that Minwax makes a good product as well.  See my original post about Chalk Paint and Wax for more info on the wax process!

Happy painting!