one wall down...

So I also picked up a sweet mirror from Jess at the yard sale.  Oh I sold some stuff, too, even though it appears I just collected more things... Jason and I collected some picture frames when we first got married in hopes to make a "picture wall" in our then apartment.  That never happened.  So here's the start of one.  

Two of the frames were gold in color -- we picked them up from Sleepy Poet and Value Village.  A little spray paint makes them new again.

Two photos are of my hubby and I on our wedding day.  The gold photo on the top row is of J's mother and father on their wedding day, and the one on the bottom row is of my parents.

And the yellow pillow on the couch is my first finished sewing project.  Ever.  This fabric is what inspired the paint selection for the end table in the previous post.

Re-Do: New End Table (+ Yard Sale)

So I've been up to quite a bit of "crafting" this summer despite the lack of blogging this month (sorry).  I'm still working on a few projects, but here's one I started this past week.

J and I bought this neat little (big) end table from a dear friend, Jess, when we had our multi-family yard sale several weekends ago.  That was my first ever yard sale, and I must say, we did pretty well.  I invited all of our friends who wanted to pitch in, and we ended up having six total families (including Kristina, Lauren, Bekah, and Lorean).  And if that wasn't enough -- my husband and TJ, with Charlotte Photography, set up their instruments and played some jazz tunes on our screened in porch throughout the morning.  #Coolest.Yard.Sale.Ever.

(all yard sale photos courtesy of Jess)

So here's the end table.  I remembered to take a picture just as I started to paint it.  

Note:  Thankful for my hubby who sanded it for me.

I've been itching to get our little place "homey" ever since summer began.  My free time is dwindling as the start of school will come sooner than I think.  Obviously, the table needed a makeover.  I decided to paint it and "rough it up" a little bit to give it a worn/weathered look.

I chose a mustardy yellow as the base.  Next up, I'm going to scuff it up around the edges using some steel wool, and then wipe some brown paint into the scuff marks.

The yellow and brown will actually match the same yellow and brown that appear in some of our sofa's throw pillows -- pillow covers that I actually made with my new sewing machine my mother in-law gave me.  More of that to come... Be looking for the finished product soon.  :)

from the cookie jar: pignoli cookies

My husband recently spent a day in NYC to attend a friend's wedding.  Little did I know that he ended up walking miles out of his way to visit an authentic Italian bakery for me.  He brought home some of the most delicious canolis and pignoli (pine nut) cookies for me.  Boy they were yummy...

Sadly, Moses happened to steal the last two cookies while we were watching a movie.  Needless to say, my husband was super upset.  To brighten his mood, I found a recipe and made my own.

 

You can find the recipe here.

oh italy, i miss you

Seems like everything these days is reminding me of my times spent in Italy.  For those of you who don't know, I was blessed to have spent about 5 months living in Firenze (Florence) during my junior year of college.  I met the best of friends, living in a stone cold apartment just north of the Duomo.  Myself and six other girls, shared rooms, shampoo, and food in our apartment... all of us from different parts of the "stati". 

 My frequent view of Florence from Piazza d' Michelangelo.  That's Piazza della Signoria to the left & il Duomo and its bell tower to the right.

My husband surprised me with some authentic Italian treats straight from "little Italy" in NYC.  Love him!  In the midst of enjoying them, we turn our backs, and two of our pignoli (pine nuts) cookies were stolen by our oh-so-sweet Moses.  

One of the girls who I roomed with in Firenze just got married this summer... in Firenze...  Jealous!  And unfortunately, I couldn't be there to witness it.

I'm currently reading/listening to Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver.  I'm in the middle of the chapter where her and her husband take a trip through Italy, indulging on the cuisine and food attitudes of Italians.  They also stayed at an "agriturrismo" -- a method of hospitality where instead of staying in a hotel in the city, why not stay in a renovated farm house, help pick the harvest (if you want), and enjoy breakfast, lunch, and dinner made only of ingredients fresh from the farm you're staying at.  Complete with the Italian family who owns the farm at their rather large kitchen table. 

I was thus inspired yesterday to browse through my, or the, "bible" of Italian cookbooks, The Silver Spoon.  This 2,000 recipe was finally translated to English recently.  Italian recipes, unlike the Americanized versions, are usually very simple.  The fewer the ingredients the better.  As long as the ingredients are fresh and local. 

And then... I decided to take a trip down memory lane to my months spent traveling all throughout Italy back in 2006.

 

A windy day in Pienza, home to one of my favorites -- pecorino fresco. 

My friend (mentioned above) and I took a night train down to Siracusa (in Sicilia -- Sicily).  My grandfather was born here, and Siracusa happens to be my mother's maiden name.

Our FAVORITE trattoria in Firenze, Trattoria Casalina.  Home to my favorite meal of all times, Ribolita (a stale bread soup) found below.

 Venezia, or Venice, is enchanting.  

 When the city floods, which happens to be often, wooden walkways on stilts are placed throughout the streets.  This happened one of the handful of times I've visited this special place. 

Cinque Terre.  Five little cities that you either have to hike to or take a boat taxi.

Spending time in Italy is not complete without attending a few soccer games.  Fiorentina, home team for Florence, beat Milan this game.

This was our favorite thing to do on the weekends when we didn't have class.  Hop a train to some small Tuscan town, San Gimignano here, purchase some bread, fresh cheese, sundried tomatoes, olives, and a few bottles of vino...

Luna's & KaleKaleKale

Happy belated 4th of July everyone!  This past week has been semi-busy for me.  Hence the lack of blog posting.  My mother drove up from Georgia to take a mini vacation in The Queen City.  When my mom visits, it almost always equates to yummy food.  Ever since I graduated from eating nothing but cereal and chicken fingers (yes... real... i think... chicken fingers... I wasn't always vegetarian), my mom has been my right hand woman when it comes to having/making good food. 

For lunch one day, we visited Luna's Living Kitchen nestled in the Atherton Mill on South Blvd.  When I first moved here, I was PUMPED to find a vegan/raw restaurant just a few miles from my house -- only to find them mysteriously closed.  Well, the mysteriously reopened not too long ago and I've been enjoying their tasty alternatives to my usual meals.

They have the best veggie burger in town.  That is, if you're into the non-traditional veggie burgers.  There's nothing "meat" like about this one.  It doesn't come in the normal "patty" shape, and it tends to fall apart easily.  But that has never bothered me.  Delicious. 

Here's a picture of their veggie burger taken from their online Lunas Living Kitchen Menu.  That's avocado-deliciousness on top.

I enjoyed my burger with a homemade beet kamboucha.  My body was in heaven.  Funny -- sometimes when Jason and I are out running errands, and I'm either tired of cranky, he'll usually suggest that we stop and get me a kamboucha.  Key to my heart.  All things are better.  :)

For me, Luna's is definitely a treat.  It can be somewhat pricey, but when you consider the amount of time that it takes to prepare such dishes on top of the amount of fresh and raw ingredients that go in to each salad, sandwich, and juice... it's well worth the price.

Onward to the kale portion of this post...

We spend the night of the 4th at friend's cookout.  I decided to bring a marinated kale salad to share, as I have not been having my daily "green meal" since I've been on summer break.  So kale it was. 

My recipe is adapted from my 30 Minute Vegan cookbook that I usually turn to when I don't have a lot of time on my hands or am feeling a little lazier than usual (don't judge me).  I think the authors call it Rainbow Kale Salad.  Regardless, it was delicious and a huge hit.  I'm not sure about everyone else, but our Harris Teeters have local kale on sale for super cheap.  I probably got 15 cups of raw kale for only $0.79.  No joke.

Marinated Kale Salad  

(adapted from 30 Minute Vegan)

*eyeball all veggies to your preference.  you can never have enough.*

Raw Kale, chopped

Red and/or Yellow Peppers, seeded and chopped/diced

Carrots, chopped

Red Cabbage, chopped

Raw Almonds, sliced/chopped

Dressing: (if you have about 6 cups kale)

2-3 T Olive Oil

1-2 T freshly squeezed Lemon Juice

2 t Soy Sauce (or Tamari)

1 clove Garlic, pressed or minced

1 t Maple Syrup

Pepper to taste

Combine all veggies in a large bowl.  Whisk together dressing separately.  Distribute the dressing evenly amongst the salad.  Gently massage the dressing into the salad with your hands for 2-3 minutes.  You're marinating the kale at this point and it should be getting softer.  I stuck mine in the fridge for an additional 10 minutes to let things soak.  :)  If you haven't thrown in the almonds already, you can garnish the top with 'em.

Variations -- Add any vegetables you have on hand.  While eating it, I thought that some raisins might be nice.  You can probably substitute sesame oil for 1 T of olive oil mentioned above since you've got the soy sauce flavor going.

Happy Eating!!