Recipe Improv: Lasagna

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Tonight was one of those nights where you can't really think of what you should eat for dinner, but you know it has to be good. I thought I'd share my latest recipe improve or an I-hope-this-works-out recipe.

Lasagna a la Stromberg

1 box of no-cook lasagna noodles (I prefer the kind without the frilly edges)

1 jar of marinara sauce

1 lb of mild pork sausage (get the kind that's not in casings)

1 white onion, sliced thinly

1/2 carrot, grated

1 lb white mushrooms, sliced

two cloves of garlic, minced

olive oil

homemade ricotta cheese

fresh grated parmesan cheese

fresh ground nutmeg to taste

fresh cracked black pepper

oregano

In a large skillet pour some olive oil and saute the sliced mushrooms. Remember not to crowd the mushrooms! (Thank you Julia Child). Once they are properly browned set aside on a clean plate. Next, sweat the onions in the leftover juices, add garlic. Set aside on a clean plate. Brown the sausage in the skillet and then add the nutmeg, black pepper and grated carrot. Once this is cooked add the plated veggies back into the skillet. Layer the marinara, noodles, ricotta cheese, parmesan cheese, sausage and veggies in that order, ending with the parmesan cheese. Sprinkle with oregano and then cover with foil and bake at 350 for 45 min. Remove foil and bake an additional 15 min.

Eat and enjoy.

I served this with some baguette, toasted with homemade butter and minced garlic. It was pretty tasty but now I'm stuffed!

Happy Tuesday

The Retro Kitchen

Extra Virgin

So, if you haven't heard of Extra Virgin program your DVR right now. I mean it! Right this second! Go!

Extra Virgin features Debi Mazar, her hubby Gabriele and their delicious cuisine. I'm totally hooked on it, as in, I look forward to the new episode each and every wednesday. I even tried their pizza dough recipe and it was phenomenal. (p.s- I reserve the use of the word phenomenal for things that truly are that, phenomenal).

Along with their delicious food I dream of cooking in their vintage kitchen. It's bright, sweet and extremely functional. So in honor of their lovely kitchen, I thought I'd highlight a few of my favorite vintage kitchen things.

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I wish I had room on this blog to show you everything I've found! I'm planning on making this a series just for that reason. There are too many amazing vintage items out there that just need to be shared with the world.

Hope you're having a good monday night!

Hearts,

Lauren

Friday Night Lights

Last night Jeff and I had a few friends over for delicious dinner. I took a few moments beforehand to take photos of the kitchen, the dining table and a few of the appetizers. Unfortunately I didn't take any of the main dish, but let me tell you, it was awesome. Anyway, enjoy the photos and more importantly, enjoy your weekend!

Our New Backsplash

The other day I gave a little peak into our current project. Well, I am happy to announce that it is done. The last BIG project for the kitchen is over! (I still have some painting to do. Ew). Here are some photos from the last few days.

Our friend Joe, cheesing for the camera.

Jeff was COVERED in tile dust. When I say covered, I mean covered.

Before the grout

After the grout

A close up of the tile. We are going to get new faceplates for the switches. I promise they won't stay hanging like that.

We are both extremely happy with how it turned out. It really brought everything together and adds a nice classic touch. Now to finish painting and adding finishing touches and accessories, my favorite.

Happy Friday!

My "New" Chairs

So, I'm trying to come up with something witty and awesome to say about old oak library chairs, something that would make you laugh. Of course that just isn't happening, so here you are! I found two chairs at the Renew Restore shop here in Lawrence. They are, at least I believe they are, chairs from one of the libraries on the KU campus. The wood was really cool, but I just can't resist resurfacing anything that will soak up paint.

For these chairs I used Glidden's Mustard Seed in a semi-gloss. In real life they are the perfect shade of mustard gold up against the gray wall. I must take a moment to comment on the quality of Glidden paint...

I'm sure someone out there in the blog world can tell me they've experienced quite the opposite, but in a way I felt like this paint was almost as thin as water.

You can tell in this photo if you look real closely. The paint consistency reminded me of white wash. Thin thin thin! This photo was taken after a coat of primer and two coats of paint. It looks like I may be adding a third coat. Sort of frustrating if you ask me.

Either way, I like the shade of this paint so I am pleased with the end result.

Happy Tuesday!

The Power of Color

Yeah, it's a cheesy title. Too bad, I couldn't think of anything else.

So I've been working on the window sill today and I just wanted to state a couple of things.

1st: Never EVER paint your cabinets gross off white/yellow moldy white, it looks really dirty

2nd: It's insane how much paint can change a room. LOOK!

'Scus the crazy messy countertops, we're under construction

Look what our awesome neighbor brought us! I totally ghettofied it with the plate, but I was watering it, and I have wood floors. Do the math.

I promise it will be gone before the party tomorrow.

What's Been Goin' On?

So things have been on a bit of a standstill. I'm honestly sure you could tell by the lack of posting going on here. I'm in the middle of finals and to tell you the truth, I think we're a bit burnt out by having stuff to do all the time. I know, whine whine whine. Anyway. This is what our living room has looked like for the past week.

We have hung a few cabinets, and they look awesome, but we've also been doing touch ups. So here are some photos of them all open and out there. Now you'll be excited to see what brand of dog treats I use.

The white makes it look SO much better. I can't wait to take a few photos during the day for you all. The contrast between the walls and cabinets is just fantastic.

Maybe by Friday we'll have made some serious progress. Maybe.

Finally! Our Kitchen Paint Color

Here it is! Well, a peek at least. This color is named Downpipe, a shade created by Farrow and Ball. Of course, I can't afford Farrow and Ball so we had it color matched. We also are replacing all of the baseboard which you can see in this photo. Of course now we have to repaint ALL of the woodwork.. bleck. I promise that when its all done I will show more photos, I just don't want to give the "full effect" until there is actually a "full effect". So no cabinets or woodwork until I actually paint them. HA! Okay, really, the cabinets look yellow now. So gross. Anyway! I told you it was different than where we were going. It's gorgeous, and so clean looking. Oh, and because this is a photo I should mention that its charcoal gray, not black. No freaking out Mom. K! Happy Thursday!

One more!

Obsessed: FiestaWare

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I apologize for not being around the last two days. I've been finishing up a really boring paper for a really boring class. For my first post this week I thought I'd show you what I did when I was procrastinating. I've been shopping for FiestaWare. I've always seen it in stores and antique shops, but now that I really want to collect more dishes this line has been calling my name. I'm even trying to talk Jeff into going to their tent sale during June. The factory is in West Virginia by the way. I'm going to have to bribe him I think.

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I can't decide which colors are my favorite. Right now I like: Sunflower, Peacock, Shamrock, Lemongrass and Turquoise. Then again, the butter dish looks seriously cute in scarlet. I don't think this line was ever created to pick just one color, its just not possible. The only thing that will force me to choose is Jeff's opinion. He's a great editor.

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Tada!

THE FLOOR IS DONE!!!! Look! You can see that we stuck the stove back into the kitchen! I got to boil water tonight, it was so fantastic.. Anyway! The floor turned out beautifully. It looks even better with the paint color. Honestly, I think we're both ecstatic with the way its coming along. Currently we are getting ready to refinish all of the cabinet fronts so that's why our kitchen looks that way. Take a look!

Jeff with his hard work

The Tile

I'm just throwing this one in for kicks. It's pretty cute.

I promise once I get more of the paint and woodwork done I'll take a photo with it all together. These photos don't even do the tile justice; I promise. Expect the paint color reveal by the weekend! (I hope)

Sneak Peek!

Getting Close!

Tonight Jeff and Joe worked on preparing the sub-floor for the tile. I'm not sure what this stuff is called but it's essentially foam with a sticky back, it's also super thin so that you don't bulk up the floor too much. It's pretty cool looking and it's nice to not wipe sawdust off the bottom of my socks anymore. Tomorrow we'll hopefully be able to test the tile layout. Of course there will be pictures! YAY KITCHEN!

Let There Be Light

Yesterday, if you remember, I posted an entry on industrial lights for Trend Thursday. At that same time Jeff and Joe were hanging up these babies. I took these photos at night so they're not amazing, but you get the idea.

The kitchen is finally starting to come together. We have such a road ahead but now I can picture it. Jeff is super excited. What can I say, I am too. I've already started planning the first meal I make in there.

Kitchen Renovation: Day Two-Four

By popular demand (and because I want to) I am about to overload you with a ton of photos from the renovation. A lot has happened in the last few days and while there is a ton more to do, it's way exciting. We now have countertops, up to code electrical wires, level cabinets and by tonight new plumbing. After this it's downhill, tiling, painting and installing pendant lamps and roasting a chicken in the oven.

The floor had to be ripped all the way down to the joists due to water damage and so forth. At this point Jeff was also able to rewire most of the awful electrical.

All of our appliances are in the living room. It's so weird to get a glass of milk from the fridge now. I really feel like I'm living in the dorms again.

Of course, Shadow was a good helper. Good news! His cone is finally off!

And now the pretty part! The countertops! They're gorgeous granite and there's even flecks of silver in them. I can't stop looking at them and touching them. Notice our single bowled sink and new faucet. Love love love.

The only seam in the granite. It's so tiny that you cannot see it unless you look up close like this. Notice the cool texture of the granite. So pretty.

This looks to be the color scheme we've settled on. The cabinets will be the gray color in a semi-gloss, the walls will be white. The furniture is already painted that light yellow and the mustard will be used in the back of two cabinets which will serve as display for dishes and cookbooks. One wall will be painted in chalkboard paint. It's a medium gray, not a true black. I felt like the black would be too much and wouldn't show the definition of the chandelier while looking towards that wall. It also looks fantastic with the blue color we chose for the living room. I'm adamant that color must flow and be cohesive within the house. If you can see the hall from the bedroom door it just shouldn't clash.

I will also be posting my thursday trend entry. Keep a look out!

Kitchen Renovation: Day One

Saturday Jeff and our friend Joe started ripping apart the kitchen in preparation for our new counters and tile. The floor was covered in two layers of "beautiful" linoleum.

After ripping the floor down to the joists the boys took off the back splash tile and the countertops. Luckily this was a pretty easy step for them.

Look at the totally gorgeous linoleum. Puke!

Jeff is currently rewiring most, if not all, the top floors electrical outlets and lights. Hopefully he'll be able to get it all done before we have to close up the kitchen floor again. All I know is that the house is a mess and my appliances are in the living room. The dogs are not into the chaos at all, except Shadow has started to think that the wood bits are tasty. Nothing like digging foreign objects out of a dogs' mouth.

More photos to come!