Make Something: Watermelon Carving

My niece's 5th birthday was this weekend.  We celebrated with two full days of fun.  She loves fairies and I wanted to make something special for her birthday so I created this super fun watermelon bowl.

It was actual pretty simple to create.  I found the perfect picture of Tinkerbell online.  I decided to edit out the left wing so that it wouldn't interfere with the shape of her head.  Then I taped the watermelon to a large, hollowed watermelon and "traced" the shape onto the watermelon using a thumbtack to make holes.  This part is very similar to pumpkin carving.  After that I used my swivel knife to cut through the green part of the rind.  This basically scored the rind.  Lastly, I used a small paring knife to actually cut all the way through the rind.  Because I'd already cut through the tough part, cutting the white part was fairly easy.  Trim away excess white part of the rind, but leave enough to stake the wood skewers.  I free handed both the 5 and her name and cut those out in the same way.  

I scooped the watermelon out with a melon baller and reserved those for serving.  The serving watermelon is actually a smaller, ball shaped watermelon.  To assemble, carefully skewer the back of each shape with a wooden down and place into your fruit mound.  That's it!

                          

I also have to brag on the awesome cake that my sister made. 

And here are some other pictures from the party.

Make Something: Dresser Redux

A while back I painted my dresser green.  You may remember it's less than beautiful appearance on a pervious post.  Truth be told, I hated that color almost immediately.  Initially I had planned on paining it chartreuse, but Jason was way slightly freaked out about the color.  So I tried to strike a compromise and go with something a little less in your face...and ended up with the pale celery.  Is that even a color?

I immediately wanted to repaint it, but I didn't know what color.  So, I left it like that...for almost 2 years.  When I finally stumbled on the perfect pillow fabric, I knew the green had to go...it only took almost another year for that to happen.



So Tuesday night, after missing my yoga class due to a  Girls' Trip planning sesh (yay!), I randomly decided it was high time to paint that stupid dresser.  So I lugged it outside in the 100+ degree heat and went to painting it.  Being the lazy person that I am, I only carted the dresser to my outside landing, which is about 4ft x 8ft.  This did not leave me much room for picture taking, so my apologies for the scant in-progress photos.

Here's the pastel celery in all its glory.

First coat of paint.  It would have covered better if I used primer, but I didn't have any on hand.  And I'm lazy.  The trick with painting is to use thin, even strokes.  Don't worry about perfect covering with only one application.  It's probably not going to happen.  You'll be better off doing 2 or 3 coats (this one took 3) than glopping 1 super thick coat on.

After the 3rd coat of paint, I used a really dark stain (Minwax walnut) to give the paint some extra depth.  I find that paint by itself is a little boring.  There are no picture of this step because it's super messy (I was literally spotted after I finished) and you have to move pretty quickly before the stain dries.  The key to staining something is to cover a small area, let the stain get somewhat tacky and then buff off whatever you do not want.  If you let the stain dry too long it'll be almost impossible to remove.

After staining and letting it dry for over 6 hours, it was time for the shellac.  The instructions said 24 hours for the shellac that I was using, but I figured sitting in the 100 degree sun for 6 hours should be plenty.  The stain wasn't tacky to the touch either, so I was good to go.  Shellac is the easiest step.  Simply brush it on in an even coat and let it dry.  I use a water based polycrylic, because it dries fast and can be cleaned up with water.

 Much better.

Cook Something: Corn Grits and Crab, Snow Pea Saute

I love meals in the summer.  They're so easy they practically cook themselves.  I spotted this recipe in the July edition of Food & Wine Magazine.  Side note: If you like to cook, do yourself a huge favor and subscribe to the F&W.  It's pretty much the most amazing magazine ever.

Sorry for the iPhone pictures again.  I decided to paint a dresser on a whim last night, so dinner was a bit rushed.

The original recipe called for shrimp, but our local market had jumbo lump crabmeat flown in from the coast that morning.  And since crab meat is pretty much my favorite, we decided to do a little reconfiguring of the recipe.  The crab meat and the sweetness of the fresh corn are perfect compliments to each other.

Fresh Corn Grits and Crab Snow Pea Saute
adapted from Food and Wine

Ingredients:
Grits

• 5 ears of corn, shucked and grated on a box grater (this step kind of sucks).
• 1/4 cup milk, plus more if grits over thicken
• 1/4 tsp each chile powder and smoke paprika
• salt and pepper to taste

Crab Saute

• 1 lb lump crab meat (or any other seasonal seafood)
• 1 cup snow peas, ends trimmed
• 1/2 cup thinly sliced red onion
• 1 ear of corn, kernels removed with a knife
• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 cup lager

Instructions:

• Add the corn, milk, and spices to a saucepan and cook over moderate heat until thickened.  It should be the consistency of grits.  Set to the side.
• Melt 4 tbs of butter in a large skillet.  Add the vegetables and cook until they begin to become tender, but remain crisp.
• Add the crab and cook for approximately one minutes.
• Add the lager and bring to a  boil.  Cook on high until about half of the liquid evaporates and the shrimp is cook through.  Swirl in the remaining 2 tbs of butter.
• If your grits are too thick, whisk in a little more milk and heat until warm.  (I didn't need to do this.)  Ladle the grits in a bowl and top with the crab sauté.  Serve with a lemon wedge.

Seriously delicious.  We have extra crab and I'm pretty sure we'll be eating this again later in the week.

Digital Detox and July 4th Photos

 I have been stressed this summer.  Like I feel like a top that's been wound too tight, stressed.  More so than is necessary.  Rationally I have a lot less going on now than I usually do in the semester, but my stress level is the same or higher.  I can't even relax in relaxing situations anymore.  Hashtag: what the hell is wrong with me?  I realized that part of my stress levels stem from the fact that I'm always available.  Have a law review question at 1 am?  Sure I'll answer.  Send me a Facebook message at 3pm?  Yep.  I'm there.  Email?  2 minute response turnaround.  There's a problem with never tuning off.  Since I'm always reachable, I never feel like it's never rest time or me time or relaxation time...

Had to throw some photos in to break up the text.  These are from the 4th.

But that changes now.  Starting this week I've cut off my Facebook access at 5pm and severely limited the amount of times a day I check my email.  It's only been a 2 day change and already I feel like this giant pressure is slowly releasing.  I'm beginning to relax again and beginning to enjoy the times when I do.  And the best part?  Life has continued.  The world hasn't fallen apart because I'm less available.  It'll manage while I'm away, and that is such a liberating feeling.

So if you're feeling overly stressed and anxious, unplug for a while.  Sometimes shutting off the outside world is the best solution.

I knew I should have joined the circus...

Make Something: Housewarming Gifts

Two of my friends bought, remodeled, and moved into their first house recently and they did the remodeling in around 2 months!  They're even still married.  Last weekend they had a housewarming party to celebrate.

I find housewarming gifts difficult to buy sometimes.  I don't want to buy decor type stuff, because people always seem to change up decorations when they move.  I thought about going the "bucket of cleaning/tools" route that you can see on Pinterest.  But I knew that with a remodel under their tool-belts, that they probably already had both.

I know they like to grill and it's summertime (so indoor cooking is out of the question).  I decided that a basket of grill accompaniments would be perfect.

I'm sorry about the photo quality.  I kept telling myself to take better pictures, but I was a little busy.

The little basket is a napkin holder from World Market and there are some cute striped napkins beneath everything else.  The basting brush is from Williams Sonoma.  Then I purchased a glass bottle and a glass spice jar from World Market.  I filled each with my BBQ sauce and BBQ rub.  (Both heavily modified from here and here.)  And lastly a cute card from Papyrus.

Definitely a housewarming gift I wouldn't mind receiving.

Cook Something: Grilled Chicken Salad

I know,  I've been away again.  But I haven't been doing anything fun, so instead of filling you in on all of the tasks I've been doing lately (Hello Summer vacation, Are you there? ), I'll just let everyone pretend I've been off in some exotic vacation doing super fun things.

One thing I have managed to {mostly} do is make dinner every night.   Up tonight is a grilled chicken salad with grilled peaches served on a bed of arugula.  Great seasonal eating and very healthy.

Grilled Chicken Salad

The only things you really need to cook are the chicken and the peaches.  To dress the chicken, I simply chopped up a handful of fresh tarragon and thyme from my herb garden.  If you don't have an herb garden, get one.  Stat.  Herbs are the easiest (and if you grow them at home) cheapest way to dress up any meal.  I do not have the greenest thumb (ask all of the hydrangeas I've managed to kill over the years), but I can managed to keep alive around 10 different herbs each summer.  And each winter I find myself longing for the day I can replant my little herbs.

So back to the chicken, chop a couple tablespoons of tarragon and thyme.  Mix this with one minced shallot and sprinkle on some salt and pepper.  Add a just enough olive oil to make a paste and smoother this on the chicken.  Grill over medium heat (I just my panini grill this time) until fully cooked with nice grill marks.

Crank the grill to high heat and add one peach cut in half, with the pit removed.  I also grilled one lemon cut in half to sprinkle over the chicken and the peach.  Gril both until softened and grill marks appear.  Chop the peach into chunks.  I find that the fresh lemon juice is such a nice compliment to the sweet peaches.

This truly was one very delicious salad.  I also add some cherry tomatoes, toasted pumpkin seeds, and crumbled fresh ricotta.  I usually make my own vinaigrette, but it was kind of late so I just used a champagne caper vinaigrette that I had on hand.  If I could change one thing it would be the ricotta.  Fresh ricotta is very mild and this salad could have benefitted from a saltier, tangier cheese.  Next time I'll probably use a blue cheese or some feta.

All in all a very tasty, quick, and healthy summertime meal.  Not bad for a Tuesday night.

Cook Something: Three Bean Salad and Fresh Corn Cakes

So...remember when summer vacation meant lounging around lazily and doing whatever your heart desired?  Yeah.  I haven't seen any of that y et.  My first month of summer has been filled with 2 cite checks, summer school, and tons of other school stuff.  Still waiting on some real free time.

But summer has meant that I've been home at night to cook.  I'm really working on minimizing our meat consumption, because...well it's a little out of hand.  Summer produce really is a beautiful thing, which makes basing entire meals off of it a piece of cake.  Corn cake, in this instance.

To my vegetarian friends, this one's for you.

So on the plate tonight is a three bean salad and fresh corn cakes.  I followed this recipe and they turned out wonderfully.   They had a fantastic sweet/savory balance and weren't too heavy or dense.  She served hers with a very cute tomato and avocado salad.  But as the boy constantly reminds me, "if I'm not going to feed him meat, then I have to serve something with a little bit of heft."  So I perused a hodge podge of various bean recipes I found on the internet and ended up coming up with my own.

Three Bean Salad

• 1 14 oz can each black, pinto, and kidney beans.  Drained but not rinsed.
• 1/4 cup chopped red onion, soaked in a couple tablespoons of red wine vinegar for approximately 10 minutes.
• the kernels from 1-2 ears of fresh corn
• 1/4 cup avocado tomatillo salsa (recipe below)
• 1 avocado roughly chopped
• 1/2 pint of cherry tomatoes, cut in half
• 1 serano finely diced (optional)

Mix everything except the avocado in a large bowl.  Immediately before saving add the chopped avocado and gently mix.  I wait to add the avocado until serving to prevent browning.

Avocado Tomatillo Salsa

• 1 lb tomatillos, husked removed and cut in half
• 1-2 cloves of garlic
• 1-2 jalapeños/seranos
• 1 avocado, roughly chopped
• 1/2 a medium red onion, roughly chopped
• 1/3 cup of fresh lemon juice

Roast the first 3 ingredients  under a broiler until slightly charred and softened, around 10-15 minutes.  Add to the bowl of a food processor along with the onion, avocado, and lime juice.  Pulse until smooth.  This should keep in the refrigerator for approximately one week, but I like to eat it with chips and on salads...so it doesn't last that long in my house.

This truly was a simply and very satisfying meal, even without any meat.