Monthly Archives: October 2013

Some Recovering

Posted in DIY, Home Decorating by

One of the DIY projects I’ve been excited to do for a while was update the fabric on the chairs in our dining room. Now that I have the gorgeous grey on the walls, the brown had to go.

I’ve looked for fabric for months, with desire never meeting budget. Then someone told me about fabric.com, and I was overwhelmed with affordable options. And I loved that I could order swatches before committing. Eight swatches later, I found the combination of grey and fun I was looking for.

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This is the before shot–the tan fabric that came on the chairs eight years ago.

20130510-130758.jpgIf you’ve never recovered chairs before, it’s so incredibly easy! And so deeply gratifying. First, you turn the chair upside down and find the screws keep the seat connected to the chair.

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After finding said screws, you take them out and remove the cushion from the base, leaving a seatless chair.

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I cut a piece of fabric the size of the seat plus six inches (i.e. the cushion was 30-inches wide, so I cut the fabric 36-inches wide to allow for folding and stapling).

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Fold the fabric under a little and staple one side down. The staple the opposite side, pulling the fabric very taut as you staple.

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The corners were a little challenging on these cushions, since they aren’t perfect squares. But I worked with the fabric until I liked the looked and stapled as I went.

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And that’s it for the cushion. It was that simple.

20130510-130844.jpgThen you turn the cushion back over, line up the screws, and put it back together.

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Viola! Isn’t it cute?! Total time commitment. . . maybe 20 minutes per chair. I love how the whole set turned out. Simple, low cost and fast. What more could you ask for?

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Orecchiette with Broccoli

Posted in Food, Italian by

This pasta is a traditional dish from the region of Puglia. So far, I love everything I’ve ever had from Puglia.

When I first heard of broccoli and pasta together, I wasn’t so sure. After someone made it for me, however, I became converted. This is a staple in our house and a great way to get some veggies in my kiddos.

2 heads of broccoli, cut into very small stalks
1 pound ground Italian sausage
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 t. crushed red pepper (a suggested amount–add more or less depending on your spice comfortability)
sea salt
freshly grated black pepper
1 pound orecchiette pasta (named after their “ear” shape)
1/2 C. grated parmesan

In a well-salted pot of boiling water, cook the broccoli until just tender–only about 2-3 minutes. Spoon out broccoli and set aside, reserving the water to cook the pasta. Put the pasta in to cook, and make sure to set a timer to package directions. Meanwhile, in a skillet, cook the ground sausage until no longer pink. Halfway through the cooking process, add the minced garlic and crushed red pepper. Drain any fat off the cooked sausage.

When the pasta is perfectly al dente, set aside 1/3 C. of the cooking water and then drain. Return pasta to cooking pot or to serving bowl. Immediately mix in the sausage, broccoli, and 1/4 C. parmesan cheese. Add the cooking water until the pasta is just moist. Salt and pepper to taste and serve with remaining parmesan for topping.