Have you been to Supper in the East Village in NYC? Well then, have you tried their lemon pasta? It’s incredible. We’ve been missing it and dreaming of a future trip to New York for some. A few weeks ago, I tried making a meyer lemon pasta and maybe the meyer lemons in our fridge were too old and bitter or maybe I just screwed it up, but it was SOUR. And gross.

Then I found this recipe from Made by Michelle. It totally satisfied our craving!

It looks like just a simple pasta dish and makes me appreciate the subtle elegance of Supper’s version even more. We ate it straight up, and roasted some brussels sprouts and broccolini for our side.

We tossed the vegetables (individually) in oil, kosher salt, cracked pepper, and greek seasoning. Roasted them at 400° for 20 minutes, tossing halfway through.

Really doesn’t look like much, huh? I was a little worried it came out too creamy. It probably did, but it was delicious regardless.

Spaghetti al Limone
Salt
1 pound fresh spaghetti
¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for serving
1 medium shallot, minced (about 3 tablespoons)
¼ cup heavy cream
2 teaspoons finely grated lemon zest and ¼ cup of fresh lemon juice
½ cup finely grated Parmesan cheese, plus more for serving
2 tablespoons shredded fresh basil leaves.

Bring salted water to boil in a Dutch oven over high heat. Add the pasta, stirring frequently, until al dente. Reserve 1 ¾ cups cooking water, drain pasta into colander and set aside.

Heat 1 tablespoon oil in the empty Dutch oven over medium heat until simmering. Add shallot and ½ teaspoon salt; cook until shallot is softened, about 2 minutes. Whisk in 1 ½ cups of the reserved pasta cooking water and cream into pot; bring to a simmer and cook for 2 minutes. Remove pot from heat, return pasta and stir until coated. Stir in remaining 3 tablespoons of oil, lemon zest, lemon juice, cheese, and ½ teaspoon pepper. I used a ton more pepper (as I tend to do).

Cover and let pasta stand for 2 minutes, tossing frequestly and adjusting consistency with remaining ¼ cup reserved pasta water if necessary. It wasn’t for me. Stir in basil and season with salt and pepper. Serve immediately.

One of the many quirks of our house was the doorway going from the main room to the second bedroom, which we use for an office.

We really didn’t have another option of where to set up our living room besides putting the sofa right in front of the door. Therefore, we had the pleasure of having to tackle covering up a large door (with gnarly molding). Twice!

Our door in the living room sat awkwardly behind our small-scale sofa. We spent weeks brainstorming and finally decided to get a large scale stretched canvas (70x. We removed the molding and stored it in the garage (we rent.)

Had we used an unstretched canvas like this, I think we would have had an easier time driving it home.

via

Yuck. We hung the canvas and left it white for months before finding the time to do a collaborative painting.

It only took us a day to throw the painting together. I did the sky, my boyfriend Gideon did the iceberg.

And the door is gone! Well, the first door we had to worry about.

 

1. Savon de Marseille Handsoap – Instant bathroom makeover.

2. Extra Long Matches – Nothing looks nicer displayed next to a fireplace that is never used.

3. Ikea’s Tekla Dish Towels – $0.49. Come on. Every time we’re at Ikea, I impulsively buy at least 20. I use them as dishtowels (they’re not the most absorbent or soft when washed), but they’re basically disposable! I also keep a ton of new ones on hand to use as cloth napkins for dinner parties.

4. West Elm’s Mercury Glass Votive Holders – In love with these. They look good scattered everywhere or in a bundle on the table. Target also had $0.99 versions around the holidays, which they don’t seem to anymore. I got 6 and went back for more the same week.

5. Widemouth Ball Jars – I drink water all day long out of them. And you can buy at the grocery store. Easy.

6. Cavender’s Greek Seasoning –  My boyfriend turned me onto it, it adds the perfect hint of flavor to pastas, meats, and brussel sprouts.

7. Caldrea Dish Soap – For some reason, they seem to have stopped making my favorite fragrance, Olive Oil! They’re all nice, but the Olive Oil smells insanely good and makes you actually enjoy doing dishes. For a minute or so.

8. Chock Full O Nuts Coffee – Not only is it my go-store brand for coffee, but it totally indulges me in my hoarding. I keep the empty canisters and spray paint them white for makeshift vases. You can never have enough coffee canister vases. Right? Right.

9. Martha Wrap – Parchment paper and tin foil in one?! So genius.

Mainly the reason I started this blog, I tend to look at inspirational DIYs and hacks and try to copy them, this was one of the first cases of me just knowing what I wanted to make and doing it. And people on the internet liked it as much as I did!

After scouring flea markets and craigslist for campaign furniture, I gave up. It is so pretty! Am I the only person that can’t find the pieces in person? So I made my own from the Ikea Rast tiny little dresser.

So here is the step-by-step (well, somewhat.)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I picked up one of these guys for $35, not really positive of what I was going to do with it. So I scoured the internet for the best deals and most attractive brass hardware. Not the easiest thing. I bought three of these corner pieces, which conveniently came in 4 pack. Then purchased the pulls in polished brass. A long time was spent debating paint colors, but I ended up choosing a blue-ish slate color.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I assembled the body of the dresser, and kept the drawer fronts on their own while I patched up the original knob holes.

After patching the holes, I drilled the holes for the corner pieces and pulls. (Sorry! No photos of these steps) A lot of pencil markings. Then painted each drawer front before actually attaching the hardware.

Once the drawer fronts were done, I assembled the drawers and VOILA!

hey – see my rast on Apartment Therapy and Little Green Notebook!

*** AND IF YOU WANT TO SEE HOW THE HARDWARE GOES ON – i’ve done a little follow up update post here!