Budget Makeover: Radiant Red Accents

Hello radiant red!

In an effort to add budget-friendly accents to our new apartment, I have been experimenting with colour. More specifically, I have been experimenting with spray paint. 

I love, love spray paint. It's such an easy, economical way to transform boring or outdated fixtures! For the budget-minded student, or for S and I who are being budget-minded because I'm a student and we're trying to save for a wedding, spray paint is making it really easy to add cute accents to our new apartment. 

For this transformation, I assembled a collection of old and outdated picture frames. I also found a fabulous black and white poster in a pile of items to be recycled at home - score! Whoever bought it - it's mine now! 

Easy Frame Collage

Equipment:

Can of Spray Paint

Assorted Picture Frames

Poster or Large Photo

Art Knife

Steel Ruler

Cutting Mat

I found picture frames at yard sales, thrift stores, and in the pile of things my parents were going to throw out after doing some de-cluttering. Remove the glass and backing to the frame before beginning. 

I purchased this fabulous bright red at a local arts & crafts store. I recommend Krylon Indoor/Outdoor MultiPurpose Paint. It is recommended for use on most surfaces. Always use spray paint outside or in a really well ventilated area. I can't stress this enough. You have no idea how irate my housemates have gotten in the past when their breakfast tastes like paint because I spent the night spray painting in the basement. 

Do your spray painting outside!

I found one coat of paint was more than enough. Applying only one coat allowed some of the original colour of the frame to show through, which made for great variations in colour! Once the paint has dried, spend some time arranging your frames in a way that makes you happy. If you are dissecting a poster rather than using a collection of photos, check out the size and shape and arrange your frames to suit the poster.

Funky painted frames!

Lay your poster out on the cutting mat, and carefully cut blocks of the poster in sizes to suit the picture frames. Measure often.

Before cutting too many blocks of poster, make sure you fit it in the frame to see how it looks with the rest of the frames. How much do you love how the molded frame looks in the candy red colour? And how about that black and white traffic photo? 

I love the molding on the frame!

Almost done!

One more to go!

Are you loving the final product as much as I am? The best part of this transformation is that, if S and I decide this candy-red colour just isn't our thing, it will take a can of paint and about half an hour of my time to change our decor.

Total cost of this makeover? $4.99 + tax - and it left me with half a can of spray paint which I then used to paint other things in the apartment! (S is just so thrilled when I get all artsy on him...)

Butternut Squash Gnocchi Recipe

October is my salute to squash! Salute to seasonal vegetables in general! Possibly November as well, that's how excited I am about this salute!

Oh So Delicious Butternut Squash Gnocchi!

I love everything about Autumn, with frosty nights and nippy mornings and root vegetables all around. I find myself inspired by squash, and parsnips, and sweet potatoes, and possibly even pumpkin (though I haven't given pumpkin much of a chance in the past).

First on the roster: Butternut Squash Gnocchi.

My mother makes the most delicious butternut squash gnocchi, in a brown butter sage sauce, served usually as a primi piatto to a delicious turkey dinner - which means we had to wait all year to have these gnocchi. Not anymore mom! Today I learn to make gnocchi!

One thing that excites me about this gnocchi is that it's a totally vegetarian dish. It could even be vegan too, if you swapped out the butter for some extra virgin olive oil in the last step.

Take one butternut squash.

For starters, find a sexy butternut squash. Perfect specimens should weigh about 2lbs, and be nice and firm. Don't mind the jealous stares of the people at the grocery store - they probably know you are on your way home to create delicious things with that fabulous vegetable.

Butternut Squash Recipe

Ingredients:

One Butternut Squash

1/4 cup olive oil, plus extra for cooking

2 1/2 cups flour, plus lots of extra

Salt

Pepper

Fresh Sage, finely chopped

Oregano

Garlic Powder

Butter

Grated Parmesan (optional)

Take the butternut squash and chop it in half. I wish S was around for this part, because these squash are extremely firm and fairly tough to cut through. Scoop out the seeds and fibers and discard. Coat that gorgeous orange vegetable lightly with olive oil, and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Bake face down on a baking sheet, in a 375F oven, for one hour. Squash should be knife-tender when you remove it.

Let cool slightly, then scoop out the innards into a bowl, leaving behind the tough outer skin. Mash with a potato masher (or some forks) until no lumps remain. 

Let squash cool for another 20 minutes or so, until room temperature (or nearly). Drizzle 1/4 cup of olive oil into squash, with approximately 1/4 tsp ground pepper, 1/2 tsp of salt, 1/2 tsp sage, 1/2 tsp oregano, and a dash of garlic powder. Adjust spices to suit your particular tastes - I certainly tasted the mixture a few times as I was stirring!

Slowly add flour, mixing constantly until you achieve a soft dough ball. The consistency should be much like Play Dough. Cover with plastic wrap or a damp tea towel for at least 45 minutes to let the gluten in the flour become nice and sticky.

When my dough's time was up, I found the mixture had become insanely sticky again. To counter this, I poured a small mountain of flour on the cutting board so I could work it into the dough as needed. Roll small pieces of the dough into skinny sausages, approximately 3/4 inch in diameter. Notice how the beautiful orange colour goes away because of all that flour? Not to worry - it comes back in the cooking process. Chop the gnocchi into small bite-size pieces. For added gorgeousness, roll the tines of a fork over each individual gnocchi. I didn't do that step - I had much better things to do than spend all evening rolling hundreds of gnocchi over a fork just so they are a bit prettier.

                              

I taste tested the first dozen gnocchi I cut to see if the consistency was right. To do this, drop the gnocchi carefully into a pot of boiling water. Stir gently. Cook for several minutes, until they float to the surface. 

To store the gnocchi I wasn't going to eat immediately (anything you aren't going to eat that day) I spaced them evenly on a cookie sheet that was well dusted with flour, and I froze them all. It made servings enough for 8-10 people (depending on their level of hungry).

Cooking the gnocchi right away? Yum, I approve. 

Prepare a pot of lightly salted boiling water. Drop gnocchi individually into pot, stir gently to make sure none are stuck to the bottom. Cook for several minutes or until gnocchi float to the surface. Melt some butter in a pan, add some chopped fresh sage, oregano, pepper and garlic (or any combination that suits you). Remove floating gnocchi from water with a slotted spoon, deposit into pan. Stir to coat with butter. I like to cook them for several minutes in the pan, or until just firm on the outside. Sprinkle with parmesan and serve hot. 

Your lucky guests will beg for this recipe. It is great on it's own, or as a starter to a wonderful meal. Unfortunately it was midnight when I finished, so I didn't really bother making side dishes.

Cheers!

Delicious butternut squash gnocchi.

Welcome to Our [Tiny] New Apartment!

Hello Internet! I missed you!

For the last week, S and I have been inundated with boxes, bubble wrap and packing tape while we moved into the new apartment. Despite stacks and stacks of boxes filled with miscellaneous treasures, this place is really starting to shape up. Downside: now that the apartment is filled with stuff, it seems a lot smaller than when we first came to view the apartment a month ago.

So many thanks to my cousins, Seth and Eli, and my Aunt A, who helped enormously with transporting all of our worldly possessions from the gigantic uHaul into our minuscule new living space.

On another note - I may have to take a short break from posting exciting wedding developments, recipes and assorted crafts... because the entire apartment is covered in boxes. I haven't seen the kitchen table in days, and the towering pile of boxes in the studio make it difficult to even contemplate pausing to post for you lovely people.

However, Thanksgiving is next week (Canadian Thanksgiving) and my parents are contemplating visiting the area and seeing my new place! Now I'm in a tizzy of unpacking, and dreaming about fabulous fall foods... possibly involving squash. Butternut squash bread? Or maybe sweet potatoes. Or parsnips! I know I saw a great recipe for parsnip brownies somewhere!!!