Friday, October 18, 2013

Furniture Friday - a Desk for a boy

I love painting furniture and turning something that looks tired into something that can be used again for years to come

I love the Shabby Chic finish but a lot of Shabby Chic furniture is very fancy and girlie to say the least, you know what I mean, all frilly and pink and off white, with ornate distressing

I felt that we needed to represent the boys in some great furniture revivals

and so here is a "Desk for a boy"

First I painted it in a grey, gun metal paint tone and antiqued it to give it depth and an industrial feel

its kinda what I call shabby industrial with a bit of distressing thrown in for good measure

Shabby chic for boys


Here is the before.... how it looked when I got it. Sad and dated and a little scratched up, but with great strong bones and a ton of life still left to live another few years





So again, here is the finished results

It is in a little boys room, and I can imagine him doing his homework at the desk with his action figures and Lego's on the shelves

Desk and chair


Industrial painted desk and chair


Yes, lets do more Shabby chic furniture for boys

Angela

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Tuesday, October 1, 2013

Scottish recipes - Cullen Skink

Cullen Skink



Cullen what?

Cullen Skink

If you are not Scottish you will think this is the weirdest name for any food, ever !!

But bear with me and wait until you try this wonderful recipe and you will forgive the strange name

Cullen Skink is in fact a soup

It is a soup made with smoked haddock (finnan haddie) and potatoes

It can even be mistaken as a stew if you don't blend or mash the ingredients all the way down, which is fine by me, I like it that way

Some say it can be compared to Chowder here in the USA but really Cullen Skink has a more smokey, creamy flavor, due to the smoked haddock which is a meaty, mild, smokey fish. Try not to buy the fake dyed yellow fish, a natural smoked haddock is best

Cullen Skink, for me as a kid was considered an "adult" soup. Is there such a thing? I don't know

But it reminds me of the kind of soup my Dad would have, like Game soup for instance, all adult in nature and flavor, but really this soup is a great family soup, loved by kids and adults alike

It is hearty and filling and wonderful on a cold autumn evening with some crusty bread



Makes a large pot of soup

You will need

2 large pieces of Smoked haddock (about 1lb/450g)
knob of butter
2 medium onions (chopped)
4 medium potatoes (un peeled, chopped into cubes)
1 leak (chopped)
1 pint of whole milk
Black pepper and salt to taste


smoked haddock

potatoes, onion and leak


  • Put fish in a large saucepan, cover with cold water
smoked haddock

  • Bring fish to boil and turn off, leave in water until cooked through, leave to side

  • in a large soup pot, melt butter and add chopped onions and leaks, let sweat on a medium heat for 10 minutes until soft
leaks and onion

leaks and onion

  • Meanwhile, take fish from liquid, place on a plate and remove any skin and bones, break the fish into flakes (keep fish liquid to side)

cooked smoked haddock

flaked smoked haddock



  • Add chopped un peeled potatoes to the onion and leaks and stir to cover in butter, pour in the fish liquid, stir well
potatoes

Pots and leaks

  • Cook on a medium heat until the potatoes are tender 

  • Once potatoes are ready, lift out a few spoonfuls of the potatoes, leaks and onions and set aside (only do this if you like a chunky soup)
Pots and leaks

  • Add the milk to the pot, with half of the haddock and using a potato masher, mash the soup to thicken
Cullen Skink

  • Add the rest of the haddock and the chucks of veg back into the pot and stir, add oodles of salt and pepper to taste
Cullen Skink

  • Serve with crusty bread or oatcakes

Cullen Skink



Enjoy, my Scottish chums

Angela 

Linking to homestoriesatoz ; savvysouthernstyle ; michellestastycreation ; serenitynowblog





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