Spring Scents

Can you smell them from where you are?

So Many Reasons to Celebrate

This pasta recipe is usually reserved for celebrations, you know, baptisms, birthdays, graduations, wedding showers, Independence Day...but there were so many things to celebrate yesterday.

1. The Hawks are headed to the Final Four
2. Sunday, March 25 2012, 6:30 pm 74 degrees, Kansas
3. Spring Break 2012 is over and the kids are headed back to school!
4. The great lakehouse renovation is essentially complete
5. Green grass, blooming dogwoods, blooming redbuds

There are more I'm sure, but here is the recipe in case you have your own reasons for celebrating.

Bowtie Pasta

Dressing

1/2 cup olive oil                                          1 Tablespoon parsley

3/4 cup sugar                                              1 Tablespoon (or more) dill

3/4 cup white vinegar                                 1 Tablespoon Accent

2 Tablespoons yellow mustard                   1/2 teaspoon pepper

1 Tablespoon garlic salt

Whisk ingredients together and set aside

1 16 oz. package bowtie pasta cooked        1 green pepper chopped

1 cucumber  chopped                                  1 or 2 tomatoes chopped

1 red onion chopped                                    1 yellow pepper chopped

1 red pepper chopped                                  2 cups chopped carrots

You can add any vegetables you like.  I like radishes but usually have to leave them out for pickier eaters.  Add all ingredients together and chill.  It's best on day 2 or 3!

When Spring Comes Early

What have you been doing with your early spring days?  We loaded up and headed to the lake.  Can you believe what happens when you mix children and water?

Official water temperature at Lake of the Ozarks? 53 degrees...some of us were smart enough to stay out of the water.

Dear Craig's List, I love you!

We are making some improvements to our lakehouse (more on that later) and I needed some nightstands for our new master bedroom.  Although I want it to look awesome, I don't want to spend a lot of money.  Enter Craig's List.  If you haven't started searching Craig's List, don't.  It is highly addictive and purely impossible not to click on all the listings for "very nice couch."  But I digress.  This is what I found:

A matching pair for $80.  I think I overpaid a bit for what they are, but I just love the "basket-weave" look of the fronts.  My first step was to remove the old hardware, doors and drawers.

I repaired some places with wood filler and then sanded it all down.  Next, I primed the inside and out with Zinsser Primer and gave it another light sanding.

Next came the fun part.  It wasn't such a windy day so I decided to try out my Christmas gift from my mother-in-law.

I chose Martha Stewart's Wrought Iron.  I requested it in semi-gloss oil based enamel, which now I understand most places aren't carrying, but instead of telling me that, they mixed it in semi-gloss latex.  I was already in the thick of things so I decided to give it a go anyway.  Let me just say that oil based enamel is the way to go for furniture.  You just can't beat the smooth hard finish it provides. 

I gave everything a couple of light coats and since it was latex paint it dried rather quickly outside.  After the first two coats, I did a light sanding with fine grit sandpaper and then sprayed a couple more coats.  I found these great ring pulls online and I love the aged brass look of them.  Now I wish I would have ordered more just to have in my stash!  After letting everything dry overnight, I replaced the hardware, doors, and drawers.  I must say I love the finished product.  The navy blue is just the perfect shade.  I'll share more when the bedroom is complete.