Well, I played hookie and went to see "Harry Potter and the half-blood prince". Very good! A bit different than the book, but in essence they tried to stay true to JKR.
Now, I'm home and going to start on the touch up painting I want to do. Yesterday I finished the powder room and it came out stupendous. I really like the color (I'll have to get a picture soon), it's called "Bottle Blue" and it's just lovely. I got it at Walmart and the paint was by Kilz. I have to say a word about the Kilz brand paint. I was actually super surprised at how great it was to work with. Really nice and thick with full coverage. I'll be the first to admit I'm not a fantastic painter, but having a nice quality product (at a great price to boot) helps a lot.
Well it's summer time and I've been taking myself and my market bag to the Farmer's market to pickup fresh local offerings. There's so much goodness to be had there and everything taste so much better when it's fresh. In my house we love pasta, but I try and mix it up now and again to keep it from being boring. Here's a quick and easy tasty dish for you to enjoy. You can substitute regular bacon for the pancetta, but I think it's worth it's easy enough to find pancetta at your local market so why not use it. Enjoy!
Linguine with butternut squash, pancetta and goat cheese
8 slices of pancetta
1 large (2lbs) butternut squash, peeled and cubed
2 cloves of minced garlic
1/4 cup of onion, minced
1 1/2 cups of chicken broth
1 tsp of salt
2 tsp of pepper
6 oz goat cheese, crumbled
1 16 oz. pack of linguine, cooked
1 tbsp olive oil
Cook the pancetta in a large skillet over medium heat until somewhat crisp. Remove and drain it on a paper towel. When cool, chop it up and set it aside. Reserving 2 tbsp of rendered fat in your skillet (if you don't have enough add olive oil to get approx. 2 tbsp). Add your squash, garlic and onions to skillet saute for about 5 mins. Stir in the broth and salt. Cover and simmer until squash is cooked through and softened, approximately 20 mins. While the squash is cooking, heat a pot of salted water over med-high heat and cook the linguine according to the package to al dente, approximately 8 mins. Drain, toss with a bit of oil and set aside. When the sauce is finished add half of the goat cheese to it, mixing well to combine. Put the cooked linguine in a large bowl, add the sauce and toss to mix well. Drizzle with the olive oil and add the pancetta, goat cheese and pepper. Serve with a nice crusty Italian bread and white wine.
Can you believe it? I'm almost finished. I just have the quilting and the binding to do and it's finito! I can't believe it, I actually might be a quilter, well sort of. By no means is this perfect, but I'm pretty proud of how it's coming out. I altered the pattern somewhat, but I think it'll be fine. It's a bit bigger than a toddler's quilt and it's for my niece's birthday. It's from the Eric Carle book "Brown bear, Brown bear what do you see?"
I'll give her the quilt and the book. I would already be finished accept for a bit of a hiccup. I had thought it would look great stippled. I did a bit and didn't like how it looked. I decided to take it out, but the stitches were so tiny that it took forever to get them all out. Note to self, next time be 100% sure before you stipple your quilt. Anyway, I'm just so glad to see the end of this project. Next up, quilts for M. & E., hopefully I can have them finished by Christmas. I better get started today.
Just two things going on here...fun and sun! We're off to the pool. I'll probably take a good book (read bodice buster,lol) and just sit back and relax.
The past few weeks have been awesome thrift store shopping weeks. I got a bunch of shorts for me and the boys for next to nothing. Some great sewing patterns for $.25/each. A great vintage book on clothing constructions called The Bishop Method of clothing construction. I found a wicker hanging file storage basket to store my home management binder in. I found 2 awesome barrel lamp shades ($2/each) that I gussied up with black grograin ribbon. I found a bunch of assorted clear glass vases that I will spray paint with various colored glass paint (scored for $.99 a can at Ollie's). I'm contemplating purchasing a buffet of Craigslist for storage by the front door. I really want to have a place to put all those shoes (they are driving me nuts). I'm on the fence though, because I've sort of been on this use what you have, repurpose it kick. I also found a nice sized ceramic mixing bowl and a tall square glass storage jar to put my coffee beans in.
All these great finds are inspiring me to do a bit of rehabbing. I have to laugh, I mean I'm always in a constant state of home rehab. I wonder if I'll ever finish or be satisfied with it. Probably not. There's so many things I want to do. I wish I had a bit more time. The latest thing I want to buy for myself is miter box. I really would like to do some crown molding in the dining room and if I could do it myself I would save a ton. I also need to make curtains for all the bedrooms. We've had miniblinds forever...but I think I'm over that look, fabric is where it's at. I just need to finish painting the bedroom first. Oh and I've been thinking of doing a tufted headboard in our bedroom. I wouldn't have to start from scratch. I have a headboard from IKEA that I can repurpose. Also I have a rustic table in my kitchen that I'd like to do a high end fakout on. I have some ideas, now to find the supplies inexpensively. I'm still thinking about the end tables. I found something close to what I had in mind at thrift store for $22/each, but I think I'm going to hold out for the exact ones I want. Or who knows I might just use what I have and redo it. I mean after all a little paint, a little fabric, a little glue can make for an amazing transformation. Plus who knows, I might find a better deal to boot. Where to start? Where to start?
Okay, you might be getting tired of it, but I had this weird dream about chicken so I thought, oh the universe wants me to share another chicken recipe. So here you go, can't mess with the universe.
Rosemary Chicken Breasts
1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 cup ranch dressing
3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon minced fresh rosemary
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon white vinegar
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper, or to taste
5 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
In a medium bowl, stir together the olive oil, ranch dressing, Worcestershire sauce, rosemary, salt, lemon juice, white vinegar and pepper. Let stand for 5 minutes. Place chicken in the bowl, and stir to coat with the marinade. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes. Preheat the grill for medium-high heat(or alternatively you can bake these in a preheated oven at 350 degree F until done). Discard the marinade.
Grill the breast for 12 to 15 minutes, or until the chicken is no longer pink in the center, and the juices run clear.
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