Furniture Friday - File Cabinet Redo

File Cabinet makeover

I love a bit of Sidewalk treasure hunting and this piece was just that

It was out by the side of the road waiting to be dumped

I screeched to a halt and ran out and threw it in the back of my vehicle

I had no idea what state it would be in, but it was perfect, not solid wood or anything fancy but it was still functional and usable

File cabinet makeover

Now to work on making it glamorous

I painted it with some homemade chalk paint and stenciled the front

I painted the hardware and it was all shiny and new again

Isn't it way better?

I think so

File cabinet makeover

File cabinet in chalk paint

Thanks for hanging with me on this installment of Furniture Friday

Angela

linking to homestoriesatoz

Scottish Recipes - Battenberg Cake

Did I ever tell you that the Hubs and I share a birthday?

Did I ever tell you the little story of when we met years ago, one of the great big questions he asked me was when my birthday was, I told him and then he said "me too" !

Now for some reason, instead of thinking wow this is cool, we have the same birthday, I thought, wow, he is being creepy, why is he pretending to have the same birthday as me, lol

It has been a long standing joke with us, but really it's kind of nice having a birthday with him, I mean no-one can ever forget the others, so there is plus right there

So it was our birthdays this past weekend, and I made Mr Tartan Tastes a cake we cannot find here in Texas, but one that he loves and misses from home

the Battenburg Cake

A battenburg is a rectangle cake made of two colours (pink and yellow cake) and placed like a checked pattern, covered in marzipan

It looks fancy but it is actually quite simple to make

You will need

175g/6oz Butter
175g/6oz Fine Sugar
3 Eggs
175g/6oz Self-raising flour
grated rind of 1 lemon
some drops of red food colour
2 tablespoons of lemon curd (or apricot preserves)
450g/1lb Marzipan
sugar for sprinkling

battenburg ingredients

• Set oven to 180C/350F

• Grease a 8" square cake tin and divide down the middle with parchment/grease proof paper

square cake tin

• Cream the sugar and butter together in a bowl until fluffy

butter and suagr

• Gradually beat in the eggs

add the eggs

• Add the flour and fold in until well mixed

cake batter

• Split the mixture equally into two bowls 

• In one, add the lemon rind, in the other add the red food colour until it turns pink

yellow and pink cake

• Put mixtures separately into the two halves of the tin, bake for 35-40 minutes until risen and done

two cakes one pan

• Leave on a wire rack to cool

yellow and pink cake

• Trim and cut into 4 long strips, 2 of each cake

cake strips

• using the Lemon curd or apricot preserves, sandwich the pieces together alternating the cake in two layers

battenburg

• roll out the marzipan into a thin layer big enough to cover the cake on all 6 sides

• Cover the outer sides with Lemon curd and wrap the marzipan around, pinching the edges together

• Sprinkle the top with sugar

battenburg cake

• Serve in slices

battenburg cake

This cake is light and fluffy and tastes so delish with the almond flavor of the marzipan, go on give it a try

Angela

Linking to homestoriesatoz ; chef-in-training ; serenitynowblog

Furniture Friday - Fleur de Lis End Table

I reworked this end table a few months back, it needed a new lease of life, it was a pretty shape and was solid wood through out, what can be better than that?

End table makeover with stencil

Here is how it looked when I first acquired it, old and tired with a few flaws

End table makeover

But, some paint and a pretty Fleur de Lis stencil and it was looking ready to live a great life again

Fleur de Lis stencil

Fleur de Lis End Table

Thanks for looking at my pretty end table makeover

Angela