Easy as pie

Hello! All my furniture projects are "in progress" at this time and the horrendous heat we've been having has made working outside with paint near impossible. So I'm switching gears for this post! Being a DIYer doesn't just mean I work on furniture. I DIY a lot of things and one of the things I like to DIY is pie. Yes, real, edible pie! Today I'm going to take you step, by step, through making a blackberry pie :)

First off we need blackberries. I'm lucky enough to be able to pick mine in my back yard. 

Wash the berries thoroughly and set them aside to drain.

Next, using wax paper, I  measure out 8 ounces of Crisco. I prefer to measure the Crisco by weight instead of a measuring cup. It's less messy and I think more accurate.

Oh, you noticed I'm measuring Crisco on a Weight Watchers scale . . . Don't judge!
















Then I toss that wax paper into the freezer for a bit. (15-20 minutes should do the trick)

Meanwhile back at the ranch . . . errr . . . I mean workstation . . . In a small bowl combine 1 1/3 cups sugar, 1/2 cup cornstarch, 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon and 1/8 teaspoon salt. Stir well and set aside.

Grab those well drained berries and place them in a bowl. Sprinkle with 1/2 teaspoon grated lemon peel.

Sprinkle on the sugar & cornstarch mixture.

                                                                         Gently toss the berries to coat. Set aside.

Time to make pie crust!

First grab the flour out of the freezer . . . Oh, you don't keep yours in the freezer. Hmmm, I do. I think cold flour makes better crust. Anyway, measure out 2 cups of flour and 1 teaspoon of salt.

I like to use the pastry blender to "fluff" the flour and mix in the salt before proceeding.

Remember the Crisco in the freezer? Time to get it and add it to the flour.

Use the pastry blender to cut the Crisco into the flour.

Next, sprinkle in 1/2 cup of cold water. Don't just dump it all in at once. Sprinkle, sprinkle, sprinkle. You may not need it all. Using a fork, lift and toss the flour mixture with the water. When making pie crust you don't want to stir it like you're making brownies. Sprinkle more water. Lift and toss. Repeat until the dough sticks together but isn't gooey.

Once the dough is sticking together, divide the dough into two equal sized dough balls. I use all the dough for the two crusts.








On a floured surface, pat down one of the dough balls and begin to roll it out. I find it best to begin in the center and roll out to the edges.

Roll, roll, roll your dough gently down the stream . . . oh wait I don't think that's how that song goes . . .

Roll the dough until it's just slightly larger than your pie plate. I might also mention at this point that I prefer to use heavy glass or ceramic pie plates. I find the pies bake more evenly in these than thin metal pie pans.

 Folding the pie crust in half makes it easier to get it in the pie plate.

Time to add the berries! The sugar and cornstarch have dissolved nicely.

Top the berries with about 1 tablespoon of butter that's been cut into small bits. Yes, I said butter. If flies won't eat margarine, why should you??

Roll out the top crust.

Fold it in half . . .

 

                                                  And in half again . . .
 

 Place the crust on top of the berries

                                          And unfold it . . .

Once the top crust is unfolded, pull the edge of the bottom crust slightly away from the edge of the pie plate, just enough to tuck in the top crust.

 
When you've tucked the top crust in all around, it's time to add the decorative seal.

To prevent burning the edge, tear three pieces of foil approximately 2 inches wide. Pinch the ends of the foil together to form a ring. Place the foil ring around the outside of the pie.

Brush the top crust with half-n-half. Then cut a design into the top crust to allow for steam to vent.

Fold the edges of the foil over. Place your prepared pie on a baking sheet and bake in a preheated 425 degree oven for 45 minutes. After 45 minutes remove the foil and continue baking 10 - 15 minutes longer.

Taa Daahhhh!!!

 There it is . . . Easy as pie!!

Are you ready to give it a try?

Till next time,
Julie :)

IT. IS. FINISHED!!!!

Hello again :) I hope you enjoy today's journey!

My dining set is FINALLY finished!! WooHoo!!! This week I'm going to take you along to see just exactly what we did to the table and then show you the whole set. Are you ready?

I found this set on Craigslist and instantly fell in love. I didn't necessarily "love" the way it looked but I loved it for what I knew it could be. My husband, not so much . . .

Luckily he was willing to go along (I think just so he could say "I told you it wouldn't work" later!)

The first step to refurbishing the table was to give it a GOOD scrubbing with TSP. Believe it or not, the apron and legs of this set were originally white . . . or at least a much lighter version of what you see here.

Even though it didn't smell like smoke, I'm pretty sure this set had lived with a heavy smoker at one time.

Once the nasty yellow gunk was removed it was time to fix the gouges. I lightly sanded the gouges, applied wood putty and waited for it to dry. When it was good and dry I sanded again. Then it was time to paint!

I have to tell you the redo of this set involved a lot of blood, sweat and tears. And this table top caused more than it's fair share of the tears!! Because the table top was a veneer it couldn't be sanded down and stained. That is possible with some veneers but because of the gouges it had to be painted. First we tried spray paint in a can. Oil Rubbed Bronze is the color I chose. The first couple coats were definitely an improvement but it looked streaky. A third coat didn't seem to help. We decided to apply another coat with a roller. That helped some but it still wasn't the look I wanted. (Queue the tears!) After the fifth and final coat I finally decided I was over having a perfect table top!

Let's just move on to painting the apron!!

And the legs . . .

 After the paint dried I applied a coat of antiquing glaze.

 I prefer to wipe some of the glaze off with a damp sponge and follow up with a clean cloth.

I applied a coat of Miss Mustard Seed Soft Wax with a brush once the glaze had dried. . .

allowed the wax to dry for a bit, then lightly buffed with a clean cloth.

We put the legs back on and stood her up in her new home. Sorry, I was too excited to take a picture of that!

Are you ready? Huh? Huh? Are you ready?
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Drum roll please . . . . . .

 

I'm so over the moon with how it turned out! And the hubs? Ya, he's pretty much in love with it too!

Thanks again for stopping by.

Till next time,
Julie (the DIYer)

Up next:
Hmmm . . . not sure. I've got another china hutch and a kidney desk that have been patiently waiting . . .

Chair for a Queen

Hello, and Welcome! So glad you stopped by :)

Today we're going to look at the process for redoing the chairs that are part of my dining set. They started out like this.
 

 

Luckily the chairs were all sturdy and solid with good cane. Two of the chairs had arms and four did not.  I started this process before I started this blog so again, I do not have sufficient pictures of the "during" part of the process . . . Hanging my head in shame.

On to the actual process. First we removed the seat cushions and gave the frames a really good scrubbing with TSP. Next all frames were sprayed with two coats of the same custom paint blend I used on the china cabinet.

Once the paint had dried I began to apply the glaze.
-And I took pictures!!!

 After the glaze was applied I wiped it right back off. First with a damp sponge . . .













 Then with a dry cloth . . .

Once the glaze was dry I applied a coat of Miss Mustard Seed Clear wax.

Then I started  the process of recovering the seats . . . UGH!!! First I had to remove 250 staples from EACH seat! Yes, I'm sure it was 250 . . . I actually counted . . . Believe me, my fingers were so sore from shoving that tool under each staple to dig it up, counting staples was a welcome break!












 
Pulling upholstery tight is a tough job! It required both hands so I couldn't take pictures . . . Are you convinced? Sounded good didn't it? Truth be told I forgot to take pictures :(. I get so excited I just forget to grab the camera. We'll just skip to the end, ok?

Here's a good shot of the fabric I chose.

And the final product! It's so exciting to see this project coming together!

 

Thanks again so much for following along! I love hearing your comments so please be sure to leave one :)

Till next time,

Julie

Up next, the table!