Sections
Shop
As I mentioned yesterday, I was trying this Spicy Coconut Chicken Casserole recipe last night. Well we did and it was a success! I did end up using 2 cups of rice instead of 1 and put in LOTS of green beans (since we love them). I think next time we’ll use snow peas instead. But in general, I loved the flavor and it had enough spice for Jared but wasn’t too spicy for me. If you want more heat, you could easily add more red curry paste to the broth.
To sum it up, it was an easy dish to cook while I was cleaning up the kitchen, was a quick clean up (one pan!) and still have a good Thai flavor. It also made a yummy lunch and will be our dinner again tonight.
For those who don’t know, my background is in commercial interior design. That’s what I studied in school. I have always had a particular love for hospitality and retail designs. My style was eclectic and I love historic preservation (not restoration mind you) and maintaining regionality and history through design (don’t get me started on my thesis).
Sometimes I really miss interiors. Today I was feeling nostalgic and looking at drawings and floor plans from my thesis. This was a rendering of the spa in my thesis application. The hypothetical hotel (though I used a real historic site for the design) was in Ouray, Colorado. I used regional materials, and everything used in the design came from within the state of Colorado. I utilized a lot of artisan’s and craftsmen for the textiles, furniture and art. Any remaining historic architectural features were preserved and became part of the design. Everything was influenced for the history and culture of the building and the region.
I just figured I would share it, since it is something I love and miss.
I found this vintage metal kitchen cart in the basement of an estate sale. I saw it on Saturday when it was marked at 50 cents and then again on Sunday when it was half priced at 25 cents. Something about it sucked me in and it ended up in the back of our mini cooper for a mere quarter. For almost a year it has been in our garage and then moved into my studio to hold stacks of folded fabric.
This summer I decided it need a face-lift. The shelves were in pretty bad shape and the chrome legs had some rusting. I took the whole thing apart, bought two cans of Rustoleum spray paint in a pretty shade of blue and broke out the sand paper. I spent a few hours sanding the shelves smooth, really smooth, getting all the layers of rust and grime off. Then, between light layers of spray paint, I took the chrome legs into the sink and scrubbed them with Barkeeper’s Friend to shine them up again. I made sure to lightly sand the shelves between paint layers with fine grained sandpaper and did quite a few layers to assure a nice even coat with no drips.
In total, the project cost me under $10. Not too bad at all!
