The Nest at Finch Rest: April 2014

Monday, April 28, 2014

Thrift Side-Table Makeover!

OK, I am so stinkin' proud of this silly little project
that I am actually beaming with joy writing this!

Some of you may know about my weird aversion/fear of painting.

Anything. Walls, nope. Furniture? Never.

I was even too nervous to even paint
my tiny little doll house wooden bed -
I just asked my daughter to do it. She laughed at me.
But she knows me and understands.........

I have had for years a fabulous wall painter named Margie.

I shared her amazing faux finish in this old dining room tour post.

I have another daughter who paints my real furniture occassionally.

You can see an end table she painted here in a autumn tour post.

But I am happy to say I think I am ~~kinda~~ getting over my fear.

I know this project is silly easy-peasey baby steps to all you
amazing DYI crafty painter peeps...

But to me these steps are
LEAPS and BOUNDS!

So, without further ado, here is my
sweet little cheapie do-over side table!

I bought it several years ago for only $15 at a Goodwill.

I just loved it's legs, and that it has a lower shelf.

I just knew it had potential - seeing past it's red/brown

and all it's bumps and nastiness....

Ok, and yes, it took me 2 to 3 years

to work up the muster and gumption to do it,

but by golly I finally painted a piece of furniture!

And I actually like it, maybe even love it!

This table now resides next to the reading chair

in our khaki aviary guest bedroom!

It's just the right size there between the end of one of the beds
and the chair - not too low, not too high...like Baby Bear says,
"It's juuuuust riiiiight!"

Of course, being relatively new at the whole before and after thing
I failed miserably as a blogger and didn't take a before pic
of it's original reddish brown general bleckiness.

(It was terribly scratched and needed a lot of sanding!)

I used CC Caldwell's chalk paint in the colour SAND -

as I was hoping to match up that little bird tray -

and I believe I nailed it right on its beak!

FYI:

My absolute #1 favorite blogger
for amazing painting inspiration and transformation
is Lisa over at {createinspire}

After you are through being super impressed and drooling at my own ~~little project~~
~~~Masterpiece~~~
hop on over and be completely
impressed with Lisa's amazing creations!

(I soooo want to be Lisa when I grow up!)

As always, thank you for your visit!

♥

~Michele

Linking:

Metamorphasis Monday * Tweak It Tuesday * You're Gonna ♥

The Scoop * Nifty Thrifty Tuesday * WOW Us Wednesday

Centerpiece Wednesday

Saturday, April 26, 2014

Asparagus Frittatas Recipe

For Easter brunch this year we had a nice selection of yummables:

Three kinds of sausage, bacon, salad, scones,

bagels with various cream cheeses, a cheese tasting plate, fruit salad,

greens salad, herbed home fries, chicken vegetable soup, and asparagus mushroom frittatas. And cookies, which I tried to ignore and failed. Katie used a new Martha Stewart recipe on them and they were incredible.
I totally spoiled my diet with Easter this year.

We'v really been counting our carbs around here lately -
and trying to get more protein into our diets.

This frittata really fit the bill nicely for us!

It's a very nice brunch or luncheon dish to serve.

It's the first time I had ever made them, and they were a big hit!

I also made a cheese and bacon one - my husband hates mushrooms.
But by the time I was onto making the 3rd one I don't even know where my phone went. Sorry about the dark phone pic - all I could do, had a lot going on, and I am not a foodie blogger and seldom post about food I make so this is the best I could do. /blush in embarassment.

Anyway, I am not very good at foodie pics like all you other foodie pros - but hope you will like the recipe, as that is my reason for sharing.

FINCH REST - ASPARAGUS FRITTATA
(Serves 4-5 pizza sized wedges)

4 eggs well beaten
1/3 cup ricotta cheese
1/4 cup mushrooms sliced thinly
1 cup cheddar cheese (less a bit to put on top later) - or parmesan works too
1 tbl sweet onion chopped finely
half a "bouquet" of asparagus -prepared*
1 tbl green pepper finely chopped
2 tb fresh basil or 1 tsp dried - fresh makes a huge difference
1/8 salt
1/8 ground black pepper
Dash or three of nutmeg
Dash or three of dried garlic - fresh is too strong
1/8 Mrs. Dash (original)
butter

* Wash asparagus and then hold each one firmly and crack in half.
Put the top portion to one side and the stem portion on another side till you have 2 piles

Now take the flower side and break that in two - but save the topper pieces, keep them longer
I used organic and used the skinniest ones for my "star" on top of the frittata.

Now go to the stem pile and break THEM in half - the lowest portion is too hard and stemmy to use, but I put in a pan with water and boiled them forever till they were super soft then added them to my soup.......and if TOO hard and stemmy we put in our compost.

The upper part of the lower part (if that makes sense) I used.

Options: if you have long green onions or chives
add a few of the greens in this for color/flavor - optional

In a small oven safe sautee pan melt butter and sautee the stemmy part of the asparagus first because it is the toughest and needs to soften a lot. Once it softens add the onion, green pepper and sauteed a few minutes. When they are a bit softer add the mushrooms and tops of asparagus. The mushroom and tops won't need to sautee nearly as long as the others,
which is why one wants to fry in that order.

Fry on med/low till softer but not too mushy -
add a dash of nutmeg and a pinch of salt and pepper when nearly done

In med bowl : beat 4 eggs well and add cheese and mix well
then add to the sauteed items in the frying pan.

Cook a few minutes till it gets semi-set then take your 5 asparagus
and make a star shape on top. If it isn't set enough the asparagus will fall down and not sit on top.

Now cover, reduce heat to low and cook to set - around 8- 10 minutes.

Take off heat and sprinkle with remaining cheese you set aside

Meanwhile preheat oven on "broil."

This is why you need an oven safe sautee pan (like Calphalon, etc.)

You simple take the pan and put in the broiler till top is lightly browned
and cheese is nicely melted

Gently loosen frittata and place on serving plate

Garnish with fresh herbs or tomato slices

SEE MY EASTER TABLESCAPE HERE.

As always, thank you for your visit!

♥

~Michele

Linking:

Foodie Friday * Masterpiece Monday * Amaze Me Monday

Thursday, April 24, 2014

Easter Table & Dining Room

I hope everyone had a wonderful Easter Sunday!

We had perfect weather - rare for our Easter Sundays!

Thought I'd share our Easter table today - better late than never!

We're not terribly whimsical around here anymore-

our children have all grown up - so I kept it

natural and fresh and easy.

I gave my little sister, who has 4 younger children

all my fun colourful Easter decor.

It's fun to go over there and see it again -

making so many happy again.

(Note to self: get pics of it over there next year to share on blog.)

Here are some views before I remembered

I had burlap place mats.

I remembered only after I started scratching the table

moving those twig chargers around!

Duh.

Here is a close up of my real bird's nest

under a chicken wire cloche centerpiece-

toss some dried moss, a dried paper flower and faux ivy,

set a little ceramic birdie inside, voila - a perfect

outdoorsy centerpiece that did the trick perfectly.

The bird's nest my husband found me a few years ago

when we had a nasty storm and it blew out of the

tree it was in.....by the way - it weighs a ton!

Another pic of tablescape before my brain remembered

I had place mats... which made a big difference

in warming up our big long dark table.

Buffet behind the table against the wall:

Here is a close up of my jeweled precious enameled bunny

sitting on top of those green silk napkins.

My sweet and dear tea "sister" friend Karen

gave me as a hostess gift when I had her for tea a few years ago.

He stays out nearly year 'round here at our nest.

I ♥ him!

On the baker's rack in the dining room

nest to the piano - a simple touch of green moss:

My wonderful "hostess" gifts from the daughters:

Evelyn knows that white tulips are on the top

of my *very* favorite flowers list!

That glass hurricane is going to have lots of use

after the flowers are spent and get planted outside

in the fall!

My clever younger daughter Katie knows how to frugally impress -

she took a Christmas ornament she received

as a gift a few years ago

(since she hasn't had a large tree in a number of years)

and re-purposed it by spray painting it a new neutral colour

and using it as a lovely gift box, filling with spring items!

She found these alphabet stamps at the Goodwill for $1 -

love how she used them!

(Can't wait to see what plants bloom once this is all planted!)

It's wonderful spring has finally arrived! Yay!

Linking:

Tablescape Thursday * Home Sweet Home * Be Inspired

Show and Tell Friday * Spring Table Party * Sundays at Home

Masterpiece Monday

Saturday, April 19, 2014

An Easter Joke to Make You Smile

My cousin just sent me this

and I thought it was too cute not to share!

A man is driving along a highway

and sees a rabbit

jump out across the middle of the road.

He swerves to avoid hitting it, but unfortunately the rabbit jumps

right in front of the car.

The driver, a sensitive man

as well as an animal lover,

pulls over and gets out to see

what has become of the rabbit.

Much to his dismay, the rabbit is

the Easter Bunny,

and he is DEAD .
The driver feels so awful

that he begins to cry.
A beautiful blonde woman driving

down the highway
sees a man crying on the side of the road
and pulls over.

She steps out of the car and asks the man
what's it wrong.

"I feel terrible!" he explains,
"I accidentally hit the Easter Bunny

with my car and KILLED HIM!"

The blonde says,"Don't worry, darlin!"

She runs to her car

and pulls out a spray can.

She walks over to the limp, dead

Easter Bunny; bends down,

and sprays the contents onto him.

The Easter Bunny jumps up,

waves its paw at the two of them

and hops off down the road.

Ten feet away he stops,

turns around and waves again,

hops down the road another 10 feet,

turns and waves, hops another ten feet,
turns and waves, and repeats this

again and again and again and again, until he hops out of sight.

The man is astonished.

He runs over to the woman and demands,

"What is in that can?
What did you spray on the Easter Bunny ?"

The woman turns the can around
so that the man can read the label.
It says...

(Are you ready for this?)
(You know you're gonna be sorry!)

(Last chance!!!)

OK, here it is:

It says,