Grilled Pizza

What's a person to do when it's hot out, you don't have air conditioning, and it's PIZZA NIGHT!? It's like the perfect storm, right? Lucky for you, I have a workaround to this vexing issue: grilled pizza.

Although I had heard of people grilling pizza before, it still wasn't an easy decision to grill our homemade pizza. If it didn't work pizza night would be ruined and there's no coming back from a ruined pizza night. Disappointment would be lasting.

None the less, I maintained a positive-can-do attitude and did not show any doubts as I boldly laid our homemade pizza on the George Foreman grill confidently reassuring everyone that it would work; no problem, the internet never lies!

As it turns out, at least in this case, the internet didn't lie! You can grill a pizza, although oven cooking it is still our preferred method.

To grill our pizza, I set my George Foreman grill to the highest setting (5) and let it heat up for about 3 minutes.  I then placed the pie on parchment paper directly on the grill.

I cooked it covered on the grill for about 30 - 40 minutes until the toppings were well done and the dough was fully cooked.

The bottom of the pie looked beautiful and had a nice crunch to it, as though it was cooked on an open fire.

Grill cooking doesn't get the pepperoni crispy and oily which, let's face it, if you're putting pepperoni on your pizza, you want it crispy and oily!  However, if the choice is heating up an oven on a hot day or non-crispy pepperoni, I'll take the latter (notice forgoing pizza altogether was not an option!)

Click here for my pizza dough recipe.

Another Kitchen Gadget: Ice Cream Maker!

Last weekend was the Home and Patio Sale! I sold all the furniture except the two coffee tables which I'll list on craigslist. Best of all, a lot of furniture was saved from the landfill and (hopefully) will still be used for years to come.

I also sold quite a bit of soap and once the weather cools down I'll need to replenish my stock of Peppermint Ice and Cinnamon and Honey goats' milk soap!

Now, on to more important things, like ice cream!

Fourth of July came and went this year with little fan-fare around our home. Since the holiday fell on a Tuesday it meant work on Monday, holiday Tuesday, and work on Wednesday.

None the less, I thought I should do something for the holiday, after all, I did have the day off! Well that something led me to searching ice cream makers which in turn led me to this attachment for my KitchenAid mixer.

I'm always amazed at the versatility of the KitchenAid mixer and this attachment did not disappoint. The most important thing about this attachment and how it's different from the many other KitchenAid attachments, is the bowl HAS TO be put in the freezer for AT LEAST 15 hours.

Notice, I capitalized and italicized those key words? That's because I bought my attachment July 4th afternoon with hopes of having homemade ice cream for Fourth of July night. I went so far as to read the instructions and felt they were obviously written for someone else so I only froze my bowl for about six hours. Let's just say, we topped our ice cream with some chocolate wine and drank it that night (still yummy and would have been good with our homemade nocino as well!)

Since that night we've made plenty of homemade ice cream that came out great. I've experimented with several recipes to find one that's awesome tasting but still not completely laden with high-fat cream and I think I've finally landed on one.

So here it is, my first ORIGINAL (you won't find this anywhere else) recipe!

Low Fat Homemade Ice Cream

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups plain non-fat yogurt (not Greek just the original kind)
• 1 cup low-fat coconut milk (I used the kind in a can)
• 1 cup non-fat evaporated milk
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• Any and all kind of toppings you can think of!

Directions:

• Mix sugar, yogurt, evaporated milk, and coconut milk together in separate bowl.
• Chop up toppings.  I've used fresh mint, chocolate chips, walnuts, blueberries, mango, coconut, and yes, even Fruity Dino Bytes cereal.
• Add ingredients to ice cream maker and immediately start churning for 15-30 minutes until preferred ice cream consistency.

Makes about 1 - 1 1/2 quarts. 

After making ice cream, clean the bowl and store it in your freezer so it will always be ready for the next batch! Also, if your ice cream tends to get super hard in your freezer and you end up bending spoons to get it out of the container, an easy hack is to store the container in a plastic bag, remove all the air from the bag, then place it in the freezer. 

This attachment works good on all versions of KitchenAid mixers; the kind where the head lifts back and the kind where the bowl lifts up.

Summer won't last forever so start making ice cream today!

Final Push: Home and Patio Sale 2017!

Last week before the 2017 Home and Patio Sale! I've passed up many free sidewalk finds these past couple weeks simply because I don't have the time to refurbish them before the sale and I don't want to be left with them.

I still need to price and tag everything and I have special little tags to make each item seem more like a boutique-one-of-a-kind piece and not a yard sale find. Each item in this year's sale is a boutique-one-of-a-kind piece as they've been personally selected from the many items left on the Portland sidewalks then hand refurbished by me!

Take for instance this beautiful wrought-iron table.

This isn't some light weight fake wrought-iron plastic, this is HEAVY wrought iron.

I scrubbed it with a steel brush and used Restor-A-Finish (walnut)to make the top pop!

Who wouldn't love this one-of-a-kind piece gracing their homes? I would and I won't be upset if I'm stuck with it!

Also available in the sale is this beautiful oak drop leaf table.

Seriously, look at the little casters on each leg *swoon*! Drop leaf tables are great for people who don't have a lot of space for a large table but still like to eat their meals in a civilized fashion and occasionally entertain.

Don't forget this farmhouse table and chair set! Yep, it's in the sale!

Need a rolling cart to serve drinks outside this summer? This sweet cart came with a bird cage for Ed and Olive.

We didn't need the cart so we cut a couple boards to fit the top and I painted it with Miss Mustard Seed's Shutter Gray Milk Paintand added a stencil to the top. Can you not see yourself behind this cart as you wheel it to the deck full of ice tea and sandwiches?

Wait! You say you don't have a place to sit outside!? Well this beautiful wrought iron bench will be in the sale as well!

Also available will be plenty of clean and well kept clothing, like-new shoes and sandals, jewelry, leather handbags (Coach even!!), vintage wallets, dishes, Lora's Beauty artisan fresh-from-the-goat goat's milk soap, and lots more!

The sale will be Friday and Saturday July 28 and 29th in NE Portland, Oregon. Go to NE 17th and Fremont and follow the signs! I promise you'll find it, even the signs are one of a kind!! Sale starts at 9 am and items went quick last year so get there early!

Chalk Paint Patterned Table

This table showed up free on a neighborhood social group I follow.

After seeing it, I decided to paint it because there were a fair amount of scratches and frankly it was a pretty imposing table for a coffee table and I thought a lighter color would help make it less so.

The wood grain on the top of it had a pretty pattern. As you can see from the photo, I taped off the wood grain pattern and started to paint it.

I used Rust-Oleum Chalk Paint in Linen White and Rust-Oleum Serenity Blue Chalk Paint then trimmed the design with Miss Mustard Seed's Milk Paint Curio. In the cracks on the legs and sides, I used beeswax so the paint wouldn't stick giving it a little definition that would have otherwise been covered with paint.

This was the first project I've painted completely (other than the brown trim) with chalk paint rather than my typical milk paint. Chalk paint is definitely thicker than milk paint which made the top design easier to paint, however, I think I like the finish of the milk paint a little better; it seems less matte and 'chalky'.

Because this is a table and will see plenty of cups and spills, I sealed it with Rust-Oleum Clear Sealant. It's important to finish milk paint and chalk paint with some kind of wax or sealant if the surface will see a lot of use and possibly spills. An unfinished surface could lead to stains.

This table and the lamp that matches it (seriously, doesn't that lamp look great on it?) will be available in the Home and Patio Sale in Portland Oregon July 28 and 29! Go to NE Fremont and 17th ave and follow the signs!

A Few More Furniture Redos

I'm beginning to forget what I've shared and what I haven't. So, sorry if I've shared this little table before, but better twice than not at all!

Here's the before picture of it after we picked it up from the side of the road.

I initially I thought I'd leave the top the way it was, but I decided against that and ended up painting the whole table.

I used Miss Mustard Seed's Milk Paint Ironstonefor the top and Miss Mustard Seed's Milk Paint Shutter Grayon the legs.

The table was a little flimsy but only needed a couple screws tightened.

It never was and still isn't a fine piece of furniture but could work nicely in a family room or play room.

I almost forgot to share these beautiful windows I got free from my Mom and Dad's condo's free-pile (wow that was a mouthful!)

I just cleaned them up, added eyes and wire so they could hang easily, and removed the hardware.

The hardware I reused (as it was AWESOME!) on my backyard gate.

Speaking of windows, I also picked up this window free on the side of the road. I don't have a before picture of this one but you can imagine; it was old and dirty.

I painted it with Rust-Oleum Chalk Paint Serenity Blue. I added some pretty knobs I had in my stash for hanging items. To the glass, I used Krylon Mirror Spray Paint to give it a old mirror-like quality.

To the back, I added eyes and wire for easy hanging.

All these items will be in my Home and Patio Sale July 28 and 29th in Portland! Go to NE 17th and Fremont and follow the signs!

Rolling Kitchen Cart

Wow, this cart really sat for a while, 8 months to be exact. We originally picked this up off the side of the road after a day at the Greek Festival back in October. It was thrown (figuratively speaking) on the roof rack of the car and pushed into the laundry room/work room of the house where it sat. And sat. It sat so long stuff began to get piled on it and it risked getting lost and forgotten.

Besides needing painted, it was missing a back. I'm not sure why there was no back considering it was on casters and rolled quite nicely.

It took all Spring but the weather finally changed and we were able to drag the table saw outside and make a back for it. Once the back was on, the project became just a little bit more doable.

Before painting it, I added a little decorative lip to the top of it.

I also sanded and seasoned the cutting board with mineral oil.

I added two little stays to the sides of the cutting board so it wouldn't get shoved in too far and hit the new back of the cart.

I also added a hook to hang a dish towel.

Finally, I painted it! I used Real Milk Paint, Cheesecake colorfor the base and the top I painted in Rust-Oleum Chalk Paint, Linen White.

Since I pictured this being used in a kitchen, I sealed the top with varathane.

After I cleaned the inside drawers and cupboards, I lined them with contact paper.

I love the knobs and kept them on the cart!

This versatile rolling cart will be available in the Home and Patio Sale July 28, 29th in Portland. Go to NE 17th and Fremont and follow the signs!