I want sooo badly to have a black bathroom. But sadly, I think that’ll be a dream made true when we’re in our future house that we own. Gideon is probably not into the idea of painting anything else. UGH.

Until then, I can swoon and dream.

I guess it’s just because black and white looks perfect and toilets and sinks are usually white so therefore black looks best with the white? Yeah. Pretty.

(images clockwise: 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 )

My temporary bathroom at my dad’s house (while I temporarily lived with him again while I had a temporary mid-century life crisis) was in desperate need of a dark coat of paint.

I went with a dark navy, but bathrooms look so much better dark! Why doesn’t everyone darken their bathroom?!

Ever since we removed our tiny tv from the kitchen counter, we have a lot more space on there. When there is space, I fill. I decided to buy this super crappy frame for $8 at CVS.

I cut the matte to make one large opening.

Then I busted out my old watercolors from the closet and painted a couple girls faces, but decided to just stick with an eye. Does it look a little Nagel-inspired?

Then I broke for lunch. Bagel with basil and tomatoes. So good.

It took me about 25 minutes to cut the matte and do the painting. And now we have a little painting our kitchen counter! YAY!

 

I really don’t make soup, but now that we own soup crocks, we gotta start making soups! I read this recipe in Bon Appetite at the hair salon and took a picture of it with my cell phone.

The recipe was for four servings. I will usually keep the recipe as is, but french onion soup leftovers sound whack. So I may have messed this up. Also, you have to caramelize the onions for 15 minutes, stirring the whole time. Longest 15 minutes of your life. I don’t know how the danger dog ladies do it at 2am.

I don’t know if you’re supposed to fill the soup crock with bread completely so that the cheese doesn’t sink to the bottom and actually bubbles on top, but the recipe didn’t have photos so who knows!

Classic French Onion Soup (serves two!)

1 medium onion, chopped (I kept them thick)
half a tbsp of unsalted butter
half a tbsp brandy
2 cups high quality, low sodium beef stock
1/2 cup grated gruyere
kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
4-6 1/2″ thick slices baguette, cut to fit soup crocks

Preheat oven to 450. Cook onions in a skillet over high heat, stirring constantly until soft and caramelized, about 15 minutes. Add butter and toss with the onions to coat. Remove the pan from heat and stir in the brandy.

Return to heat and cook until absorbed, about 30 seconds. Add beef stock and bring to simmer. Here is where we decided it didn’t look like enough soup so we added another 3/4 cup. Simmer for about 5 minutes.

Season with salt and pepper. Place the crocks or ramekins on a rimmed baking sheet. Divide soup, top each with 2-3 slices of bread. Sprinkle 1/4 cup cheese on each.

Cook for about 4 minutes, until the cheese is browned and bubbly. Or in my case, not. Either way, it’ll be delish.

A couple months ago, I decided to paint the built-in in our dining room. We decided on a pinkish / peachish beige color but the day I painted it, it looked way too pink. We’ve been living with it pink for months and I decided to finally change the color.

I went with Behr’s “Black Sable”. It’s a very dark navy tone, close to black. It definitely showcases the items we have in the hutch and looks way less lame.

Because we’ve decided not to put anymore money into our place since it’s a rental, things such as knob and handle replacements are just not happening. The chrome handles on here have bothered me and I considered just spray painting them, but after seeing these, I decided to just wrap the handles in twine.

I think it’s looking a little nautical in a good way?

Apparently when my mom was pregnant with me, all she ever craved and screamed for was steak au poivre. She so fancy. I am not the best with meat. There have been few occasions when I’ve cooked steak for my boyfriend and we’ve sat down and said “holy shit that’s amazing”. I guess I’m better with fish. This was another one of those cases.

The sauce was really delicious, VERY strong and VERY peppercorn-y, but I’m not sure I’d try this recipe again. I think next time it’ll be Steak Diane.

The one time I ordered groceries online, I purchased one shallot. Well online, that means one POUND of shallots. I never thought we’d go through them all, but coincidentally everything I’ve cooked in the last two months seems to have shallots in them. This was the end of our bulk shallot stash. SAD FACE!

Steak Au Poivre
(adapted from The Spinning Plate)

2 thick-cut steaks
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 cup shallots, finely chopped
1/2 cup flat leaf parsley, chopped
1/4 cup black peppercorns, very roughly ground
1/2 – 1 cup chicken stock
1/4 cup brandy (or cognac)
1/4 cup heavy cream
1 tbsp butter
a couple dashes of worcestershire sauce
kosher salt and pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Let the steaks reach room temperature, season them liberally on both sides with Kosher salt and pepper. Heat vegetable oil in a large, heavy, oven-save skillet over medium-high. Once the oil just begins to smoke, set steaks in the skillet. Sear on one side until brown, 2-3 minutes. Turn off stove and flip the steaks.

Move the skillet into the oven, placing it on a lower rack near the flames. Bake until the finger test yields a medium rare, anywhere from 4-7 minutes, depending on the thickness of the steak. Pull the meat out of the oven when it’s still rarer than you’d like, as it will continue to cook as it rests. Remove steaks to a plate and tent with foil.

Return the skillet to stove. Over medium heat, soften shallots in beef drippings and 1 tbsp butter. Deglaze with brandy, scraping stuck-on bits off the bottom of the pan. Add peppercorns, parsley, stock, cream, and Worcestershire sauce and simmer over medium-high heat until the sauce thickens and begins to pull away from the skillet. When your spoon can leave a trail, it’s ready. Season with salt.

Plate steaks. Pour any remaining juices back into the sauce. Spoon sauce generously over steaks. We served with brussels sprouts and garlic mashed potatoes.

mmmmmmmm… shallots.

 

After being inspired by this image, and being lazy about painting the drawers on my rast originally, I decided to choose a coral color and add a little element of surprise when you open a drawer to get a tablecloth.

I had lined the drawers with contact paper while assembling them, but the unfinished pine doesn’t match the outside.

Because I had lined the drawers already, and there was no way I was un-assembling them, I painted all of the corners with my favorite go-to detailing concealer brush. It worked pretty perfectly.

After MANY coats of the coral paint, and multiple times I went “uh oh this is ugly”, once they were finished I became happy with them.

WOO! A shocking color surprise!

A downside of living with a boy is having technology all over the place. We have our huge tv (he wants even huger) mounted above the fireplace. We have an xbox kinect on the mantle. We have an apple tv. Thankfully, Gideon has taken steps to keep things as hidden as they can be.

We built these shelving units from Ikea for either side of the fireplace to keep everything inside.

We attached these branch pulls from Potterybarn.

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