I've had these old cushions for years and once again they are taking on a starring role in my living room. I'm doing a little re-decorating featuring blues and reds.
The September flowers mesh with the theme nicely. How do you like them in the copper champagne bucket? Copper is such a festive, autumnal colour, don't you think?
We've embarked on a big project: having our dining room chairs re-upholstered. We bought our dining set six years ago, sourced at an estate sale. One of the best things about it is that it came with TEN chairs.
Here's a look at our chairs BEFORE. You can see the dusty rose pink and blue stripe through the filthy dirt they've accumulated these last years. Well, they weren't pristine when we bought them but of course The Rascals really did the number on them!
Some of them were covered with red glitter glue, it's true.
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| Dining Chair BEFORE |
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| Dining Chair AFTER |
I chose an extremely heavy 100% linen fabric in shades of ivory and aqua. I thought about finding something really dark to deal with Rascal Mess but I think I have them trained now to wipe their hands on their napkins... not their chairs.
The red glitter glue will have to be kept well away from the dining room.
I thought I'd share my recipes for my
Sunday Best lunch.
I've been working on perfecting my vinaigrette recipe. These days I am finding a shallot vinaigrette just the thing. The key is to chop up your shallot, soak it in a tablespoon of white vinegar and a bit of salt, and then add in about three times as much oil after an hour or so.
Shake it up and you're good to go. I made two lots, one of them featuring some fresh dill.
I go through stages of being crazy for different herbs. Right now it's dill. I've been adding lots of fresh dill to a mixed green salad, try it, it's delicious!
Since I had this giant clump of dill hanging around I decided to saute it with my chicken for lunch. The chicken is chopped into bits to ensure even cooking throughout, sauteed in butter and some garlic olive oil as well as the dill. I just flick it around until it browns up nicely.
About 10 minutes before serving you'll want to add in some heavy cream, about a third of a cup. This will bubble up and thicken, creating the most delicious sauce. It is Rascal Approved.
The frites that accompanied this lunch take it into Delicious Bistro Food Territory. I love some oven fries and they're so easy. Simply chop your scrubbed potatoes into matchsticks, I'm not the best chopper in the world so mine are usually chubby matchsticks. Then scatter them all over a large baking sheet which has been lined with parchment paper. The parchment paper is KEY. My theory is it crisps them up.
Once scattered you'll want to glug olive oil (or grapeseed oil) over all of them, don't be shy with it, they need the fat for maximum deliciousness.
Then sprinkle liberally with a fine sea salt, throw them in your 350 oven and remove when they are perfectly golden brown.
You can see this makes a fresh yet filling lunch!
I like this so much I'm going to make it for dinner tomorrow night. I'm not sure I could ever get tired of it!
I hope your week is off to a brilliant start.
xoxDani
