Macaroni Shrimp Salad

The best thing about this salad is: it is so easy to make. It's great for a summer party, it looks very gourmet, and it's a crowd pleaser.  This could feed 4 to 8 people.  This takes about 30 min to make, and I highly suggest making it ahead, so it can have time to marry flavors in the fridge.

Ingredients:
1 Cup Macaroni - you could substitute sea shells or another small pasta
1 Can Yellow Corn
1/2 Small yellow onion, minced
2-3 handfuls of shrimp (I used frozen, but you could use any shellfish, fresh or frozen)
1 handful chopped green onions
1 handful sweet peas (frozen works best)

Dressing
2 heaping spoonful Sour Cream
2 heaping spoonful Mayo
2 tbsp lemon juice
2 tsp dried dill (or 1 tbsp fresh dill)
salt & pepper to taste

I used frozen Publix Shrimp, Luckily I had a bag that was half full

and I just used what was left about 25-35 med. shrimp.  Place

in a bowl of cold water to thaw, shell if needed.

I always add plenty of salt to the water when I cook pasta, probably

close to 3 tbsp.  It seasons the pasta, and in this case, we're going 

to cook everything in one pot, so I'm seasoning everything else too.

Bring a medium Sauce pan of water to a boil.

Put in the macaroni.

While you wait for the water to boil, and whilethe pasta cooks, we prep:

I like making dressing in a large glass measuring cup so I can pour

it easily.  I used whatever was in my kitchen at the time.  I keep

lemon juice like this in my fridge, since every time I buy lemons,

they go bad before I can use them.

Shell the shrimp if necessary, making sure any veins are gone.

Mix all the ingredients for the dressing and set aside.  Taste it

and add more of what you need.

When Pasta is about halfway cooked, add in the corn.

TIP: take out one piece of pasta and bite into it,

if it has a thick darker line, or if it's very chewy, but the outside

is slightly soft, you're ready.

Chop all of the shrimp into smaller bite-size pieces.

Add the shrimp to the pasta and corn.

The shrimp really should take 2 minutes to cook through,

you can tell it's done when it turns pink!

Drain the pasta and put in a large bowl.

Chop the onions.  

TIP: For green onions, I have them on hand all the time.

Anytime I buy green onions, I immediately chop them and put them

in my freezer in a water bottle.  They keep really well and I just

shake out how much I need.  Anytime they're on sale: STOCK UP!

Combine all of your ingredients while they are warm, and they will

really absorb the dressing flavor.

Make sure to taste again, and add salt and pepper to taste.

Before serving, chill in fridge for at LEAST an hour. 

(Although, it's good hot too!)

Thunder Soup - Recipe

Thunder is a word my husband and I use for food that's really really good.   We REALLY love this soup.

Thunder Soup, as I've named it, is something I came up with as an experiment in the kitchen.  I happened to have all of these supplies lying around, and I think you'll probably have some of them if not most of them currently in your pantry.  Not only is it delish, and full of veggies... The best part about this soup - to me, anyway - is the leftover factor.  Not only is it GREAT the next day, I've also frozen half and eaten it weeks later, and it's possibly even better than the day I made it. 

There are a lot of ingredients, so lets get started!
(READ ALL DIRECTIONS)

Ingredients:
- 1/2 lb Bacon, chopped
- 6-8 chicken tenderloins or 3-4 boneless skinless breasts, cubed
- 1/2 pkg. Smoked Sausage, chopped
- 1 Medium Sweet Onion, Chopped
- 1/4-1/2 Cup Milk or Heavy Cream (optional. this binds the soup more)
- 2 cups Chicken or Veggie Stock
- 1 Can Sweet Corn, drained
- 1 Can Carrots, drained and chopped
- 1 Can Butter beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 Can Campbell's Golden Mushroom Soup  
(this is my go-to ingredient, I buy some every time I go shopping)
- 1 Can Cream of Potato Soup
- 1 Cup frozen Spinach
Salt and Pepper to taste


Directions:

Chop the bacon, onions and chicken first while your pan is heating up.  In a large Stock Pot over medium heat, brown the bacon and onions, and remove from the pan immediately once it's done.  Raise the heat to med high. Add the chicken to the bacon fat and cook till almost done. Reduce heat to low. 

Now dump in the rest of the ingredients, yep all of them. Chicken and bacon, sausage, spinach, cans of everything - Dump it all in. Stir until it comes to a slight boil, and turn to the lowest setting on your stovetop.  Cover, and go do something for 30 minutes (check on it occasionally, to stir).  Let the flavors marry... then Taste it. Add salt and pepper to taste, and you're done!
(If it comes out thick, I serve over green onion mashed potatoes)

This one was freshly made.

*IMPORTANT: Make sure your pan is fully heated before adding chicken, otherwise you'll end up with water instead of bacon grease at the end.  If that happens, dump the pan, and use reserved bacon grease, crisco or butter.

Refinishing a Desk - Before and After

I think the photos will speak for themselves. 

After -- The Finished Desk

Before

Before

After

Before

After

 What do you think of the new desk?

Part 3a - Refinishing a desk...

I'm sure you're wondering - "Did she finish the desk?"  or  "Show us already!"

The truth is... I'm still working on it.  I've painted, sanded, painted again, and painted any touch-ups in spots that needed it.  I've also painted the INSIDE of ALL the drawers, to make it prettier.

What really slowed me down in this process is the drawer pulls.  I had decided from the beginning that I would throw out the old ones and get new ones.  But then, I started looking for new ones, and some were nice, some were beautiful, but none felt like they belonged with the style and paint job of this desk.  Until NOW.

Today (JUST NOW), I purchased a set of Fire Orange Vintage pulls on Etsy, and just can't wait to get them on the desk!  Here's a sneak preview...  what do you think?

Part 3 - Stripping and Painting

Now it's time for the FUN part - the desk has been stripped, sanded and primed - ready to PAINT!

Currently, I look to Pinterest for inspiration for everything from dinner to art, so I was pleasantly surprised when I found a ton of great DIY before and after images that involved refinishing furniture.  When I came across THIS photo (courtesy of Jesse Nine Red), I stopped in my tracks.  I turned to Jason and said "this is it." He smiled and said "that's AWESOME!"  I bought the paint the next day.

So, I've only just begun to paint. The above table was a jumping-off point for me, an inspiration. As you can see, my desk is starting out primarily Aqua/Turquoise (which I love!), but the cobalt just doesn't look "cobalt" enough for me. I painted the drawers anyway, hoping that after they dried, I'd like it better.

I don't.

So here we are in a holding pattern.  I'll be heading to Lowe's to get my paint darkened sometime this weekend.  I'll also be shopping for drawer knobs.

After seeing how great the wide drawer looks, I plan on painting the inside and outside of all the drawers now.

Your thoughts on the cobalt dark blue?

First Time Stripping (Furniture) - Part 2

Day 2 of stripping! Drawers are done and ready to prime, the next step is the beast of this desk. I started this at 11:30am by spraying the stripper all over the desk, coating it as evenly as possible.

(Note: let me remind you how harmful this stripper is - use protective gloves, and don't spray against the wind.)

I used nearly a whole can for just the drawers, so I was concerned that I might need more stripper for the desk body.

As expected, within about 5 minutes, the paint was already bubbled.  My suggestion: WAIT at least the full 10 minutes before you start clearing the paint off, or longer if you have the patience.

Again, the multiple layers of paint were a challenge.  The desk only had 3 layers of paint over the wood finish, and was easier to go through than the drawers.  Areas that didn't have as much stripper didn't bubble up as much. 

These legs were torture.  Using a flat scraper across a curved surface will make you a little nuts.  For tight corners, angles and curves, use a wire brush, tooth brush or steel wool. I used the paint scraper first, then followed up with a super scour pad.

At this point, I was ready to apply more stripper...

... and it helped! more of the paint was coming off, but it wasn't good enough, and I ran out of stripper.

Hours later...

When all else fails, grab a power tool.  As you can see from the shadows, this is much later in the day, around 5pm.  I broke down and used the power sander, which worked brilliantly.  I started with a 50 grit paper (very coarse) and finished with a 110 grit.  (Higher number = finer sandpaper)  My makeshift dust mask protected my air passages, but my glasses really weren't enough protection from getting bits of sawdust in my eyes. I'm ok.

All stripped, sanded, and ready to prime!

Since the sun was going down, I flipped the desk to prime everything except for the top.

I also primed the drawers, and since I was planning to paint the inside of the wide drawer, I primed that too.  I used about 2 cans of Valspar primer on all of it.

Coming soon: Part 3 & 4 - Painting and Finishing the desk!

First Time Stripping (Furniture) - Part 1

Let me start off by saying - if you don't have an entire weekend to tackle your first furniture stripping, try to go one piece at a time. Or buy a power sander. I bought this desk at a garage sale for $3. A wise choice, I felt at the time. I immediately thought: I can fix this up really nice! But isn't that what we always think when we see something at a garage sale that isn't quite perfect? I feel like I say that to myself a lot. And my husband probably thinks "Yeah, right!"

I've been longing to find a nice piece of furniture to re-finish all by myself. I'm no carpenter, but I do love to paint things. I probably paint too many things. see previous posts.  (notice the lamp? yeah, that's a project in limbo.)

Not only did I purchase this desk with intent to maximize it's hidden beauty, I also had a REAL reason for getting it. I need a new computer desk. One that has drawers. So this project is great in many dimensions!

Upon taking a closer look, I saw there were many layers of paint there, the chips in it were really deep nicks and gouges, so I decided to strip.  Which immediately scared the heck out of me. I had never stripped furniture before, so I scoured blogs and websites looking for the secrets of removing paint.  Then I made a discovery: there are no secrets. Just elbow grease.

So the first thing I did was take off all of the hardware, and take out the drawers.  Since I had no idea how long it would really take, I decided to take on only the drawers first.

I went to Lowe's earlier in the week to pick up the supplies I would need. These I found on a few blogs.  Several people suggested a stripper that I could not find, so I bought this Crown Tuff-Strip - 2 cans.  I should have bought 3.  The gloves and drop cloth were suggested on the can, and every blog I read.  The scrapers are basically a necessity, I used the narrow one more - it was easier to maneuver.  I never ended up using the brush.  I also got a very coarse scouring pad, but I would get steel wool next time.  and goggles.  (I also used wood putty, sandpaper and an electric sander before the desk was all done.)

Let me warn you now. This stuff is no joke.  Once while spraying, the wind moved in a different direction and a tiny mist of this went on my bare arm.  I knew immediately.  It felt like muratic acid burning my skin. I ran inside and washed off thoroughly.  Be VERY careful.  It's also not kidding when it says 10 minutes or less.

So I laid the drop cloth out, rocks holding it down. got my gloves on and sprayed these beauties.  I coated them moderately heavy and as even as I could with the stripper, making sure the wind wasn't whipping it in my direction.

In 3 minutes, I came to check on them. Paint was already bubbling up!

I started scraping, and scraped and scraped.  This stuff is amazing wherever it goes on heavy, but so-so where it goes on light.  Of course you can see the layers and layers of paint I had to get through. I scraped all of them down, and decided to spray them again.  The hardest part was the beveled edges. Scraping a straight knife on a curved edge will make you a little nuts.  Consider the nooks and crannys of a piece before you decide to strip.

After the 3rd time, it nearly all came off.  Good enough for me! 

I sanded with a coarse grit sandpaper block I already had, and filled in the hardware holes with wood putty.

The next morning, I sanded again with a finer paper, and now the drawers are ready to prime!

Check out the rest of the desk, coming soon in Part 2!