Porch Party

How I love my new porch and this pretty patio set I scored at the Rosebowl Flea. It was a "worse for the wear" white but I had it made over by the amazing guys at Sundial Powder Coating who you may remember also transformed this iKea cart. Now I have the perfect place to entertain on a lovely spring  or summer day.

A salad is a great choice for a small or large group. Easy to make ahead (just do not add dressing till right before serving) and you don't have the worry of timing a complicated entree.

For my "cobb-ish" I started with a mix of baby spinach and butter lettuce, then added red onion, avocado, bacon, chicken and goat cheese instead of blue. Then dressing was made with aioli mustard (from Trader Joe's, love this stuff), red wine vinegar, fresh lemon juice, olive oil, a dash of Worcestershire Sauce and salt & pepper.

I've mentioned fried green tomatoes before, they are a southern favorite and easy to make. Green tomatoes are just red tomatoes that have not yet ripened. I was able to find  some at my local Sprouts.

I mix corn meal and flour, some bay seasoning and garlic powder and then dip the sliced tomatoes into a mixture of egg and low fat buttermilk, then dredge in your dry mix, then put into a hot pan. I used the left over bacon fat (from the salad) to fry them. This is really the key for a true southern style taste. On top, a cilantro dressing with a touch of sriracha mixed in.

I made my life easy by picking up a ready made "mini" cherry pie, also from Sprouts. Everything else I picked up at Trader Joe's, naturally. Check out this book, it had the best reviews of the many TJ's cookbooks I discovered.

 

all photos & content © Lara Rossignol

Cart Kawaii

My bright ideal: turn a boring metal cart into a super kawaii one with just a bit of color. After reading this Apartment Therapy post, I did a little googling and found Sundial Powder Coating in Sun Valley. They specialize in painting metal with a special baked on process.

I chose this iKea Flytta cart, I liked that it had 3 shelves and was the perfect fit for my space. The very nice folks at Sundial instructed me to just bring in the box, no need to assemble it (big bonus) and they are just a few minutes from the Burbank iKea. I picked out a soft "Fire King" green, they also have some special order options if you don't find the exact color you want. It's not cheap, prices start around $250 for a custom color job (there is a lot of labor costs in switching out the custom painting area) but the result is really worth it.

Powder coating is a much different process than spray painting, the paint is actually baked on, for a beautiful, glossy and durable finish. They hung my cart in parts, spraying each separately before wheeling it into the 400º oven. The turn around is fast, they assembled it for me (!) and I picked it up the next day.

I am very happy with the final color, it is just the right compliment to my Smeg but not an exact match. The finish is flawless and it wipes up easily.

I love how well my new DeLonghi coffee maker goes with it, extra compact, it also makes terrific coffee and I adore the cup warmer on the top. I'm also in love with these sweet little iKea coffee tumblers, just $5 a pop.

I could not leave my microwave without some kind of kawaii bling, so I added this owl decal I'd been wanting ever since I featured my pal Pam's house of Sweet Peach blog last year. Love it!

 

all photos & content © Lara Rossignol