kitchen mini makeover
So I did a little bit of updating in our kitchen. Even though it is just some paint and new shelves it makes all the difference. Though I’ve always loved our kitchen, it felt a little dreary and cramped. A fresh coat of white paint and built in shelves changed everything. Here are some before and after shots.
New paint covers up the ugly spots where our drawers were repaired. We had that problem where many of the cabinets didn’t close all the way, and I fixed those as well.
The new shelves make all the appliances easily accessible. Before, everything felt like it was on top of something else.
So maybe the top shelf is a little too high, but it’s still a vast improvement.
Here is the one during shot I have, just to show the difference between the previous paint and the white.
I feel like there is so much more space, even though it’s the same room. I still need to hang a little bit of decor, the Clowns poster will probably go back up.
Hooray! Happy, pretty kitchen.
little quilt
This little quilt may be the nerdiest quilt I make. It is officially my movie theater quilt. I am always getting cold in theaters, particularly older ones with massive, unregulated air conditioners. This little quilt is just big enough to cover my legs and fight off chill but not so big that I seem like a crazy lady bringing a blanket into a theater with me. It’s cute and colorful and folds up really small so I can fit it in my bag. Perfect!
And Mochi likes it too.
busy bee
The last week (or 10 days actually) have been crazy. We’ve been attending the Los Angeles Film Fest non-stop, packing in as many films as possible. I can’t reiterate how good it is for me to see so many films. It is the equivalent of flooding my brain with serotonin. Shawn sometimes teases me because I am so determined to see movie after movie, but I love it. It makes me happy and gets my creativity flowing. I love seeing great films and honestly, I do my best thinking during slightly boring movies. There were a few highlights I’ll definitely share with you all.
On top of that, Shawn and I shot a wedding this weekend at a lovely farmhouse. While Shawn is a seasoned pro event photographer, it was a totally new experience for me, and it was sort of awesome. I am pretty pleased with how things went. I definitely enjoyed having a front row seat of everything and license to take photos, it wiped away much of my timidness.
In other news, I’ve been slowly making over our kitchen and I’m finally ready to share. Hooray! There will be a before and after later this week.
donut love
Ever since we had our Twin Peaks marathon I’ve been thinking about donuts. A lot. In fact, yesterday I told Shawn I am going to open a tiny donut shop, just so I can have them whenever I want. Ok, not really. I would like to try out some recipes though.
I’ve always liked my donuts light and fluffy, and fried. The best donuts I ever made were spudnuts (potato donuts) that were soft and airy. If only I had written down the recipe. I’ve vowed to try again sometime. On the other hand, I’ve been dying to make these beignets forever now too.
The thing with fried donuts though is that they’re really only good for a little while. It doesn’t take long for them to get that weird old donut texture, so unless you’re eating them right out of the fryer, they’re not as awesome. So despite my love of all things fried, I am really starting to like baked donuts. I guess I’ll have to get a donut pan to make these.
Plus if I get a donut pan, I can make rice crispie treat donuts. Or maple donuts. Or any kind of donut I want. Donuts forever!
Do you have a favorite kind of donut?
jackfruit and potato pals
It’s been nearly a year since Pure Luck closed and I still miss it all the time. The only thing that takes the edge off is that it’s not too hard to recreate their menu at home. It’s not quite the same obviously, but works when you’re desperate for a jackfruit burrito.
There is not much to making your own, the key ingredient of course being the jackfruit carnitas. So, to make your life a little brighter, I’ve included the recipe below.
Pure Luck Jackfruit Carnitas
1 20 oz can Jackfruit in brine, drained and rinsed
1 bottle Mexican coke
3 Tbsp vegetable oil
1 medium onion, chopped
3 cloves of garlic, minced
2 heaping teaspoons Better than Bouillon mixed with 2 cups water (I used the No Chicken base, but could be done with the No Beef base I’m sure)
Generally speaking, I like to make this in my crock pot, because it’s easy to just let it cook overnight, but you could also just let it all simmer for 20-30 minutes on the stove.
Heat 1 Tbsp of oil in a pan over medium flame. Add onion and garlic to the pan and saute until the onions have softened, stirring so that the garlic doesn’t burn. Set aside.
Break up the jackfruit a little with your hands, separating the flesh (don’t worry too much about the core, it will soften up when cooked). Add jackfruit, cooked onions, garlic and all other ingredients to your crock pot and cook on high for 4-6 hours or on low overnight. You can keep the jackfruit in this broth until you are ready to eat it.
In an iron skillet or heavy bottomed pan, heat the remaining oil over medium high flame. Add the jackfruit and saute until browned. You’ll want to break up the jackfruit even more at this point, particularly the cores. Toss in your burrito and enjoy!
The other majorly important side dish from Pure Luck is the potato pals. Someone asked for the recipe to make these, but honestly, they’re basically premade. I suppose you could get all fancy and make some gnocchi from scratch, but that’s certainly not what Pure Luck did. So just pick up a package of gnocchi from the market (make sure they don’t have eggs in them), cook them following the instructions on the package, and then fry them up. I don’t have a deep fryer so, I just fry them in some oil in a skillet. They still taste awesome. Missing the dipping sauce? It’s just vegenaise and bbq mixed in equal parts.
I’m still dreaming that one day Pure Luck will reopen it’s doors somewhere else, but until then, I’ll just go on making jackfruit carnitas and potato pals at home. Now if only I could crack their caesar dressing I’d be set.
