Salmon Burgers | Bok Choy

Delicious Produce 

Chopped Green Onions and Garlic and Shaved Ginger

Sauces

Salmon Burgers with Asparagus and White Truffle

Dinner Date

Shopping List:

• 2 large garlic cloves 
• 1/3 cup chopped green onions 
• 1 1/2-inche cube shaved ginger 
• 1 large bok choy 
• 8 ounces salmon 
• 1 small bundle asparagus
• 1 ounce white truffle 
• 4 ounces shiitake mushrooms, stemmed
• 2 teaspoons sugar 
• 1/4 cup of soy sauce 
• 1 tablespoon wine (dry Sherry)
• 1 teaspoon toaste sesame oil 
• 3/4 teaspoon sriracha

Preparation:

We adapted this recipe from epicurious. Using a food processor combine: 1 garlic clove, green onions, ginger, sugar, soy sauce, wine, sesame oil, and sriracha to make marinade. Prepare bok choy, mushrooms, and 1 garlic clove in skillet over high heat. Begin with garlic and bok choy stalk and proceed by wilting leaves and adding sliced mushrooms.  Add marinade and reduce to simmer.

Form salmon fillets into patties. Mix in cooked asparagus and white truffle. Cook salmon burgers for 4 minutes on each side. Eat and enjoy.

DIY | Barn Door to Table

I found the old barn door at a local antique store, The Backroom, and instantly fell in love. My family convinced me to sleep on the purchase for a week but I couldn't stay away :) 

Now I can't get enough of this table I restored and repurposed from the barn door. We use it every day and it adds a unique up-cycled look to our apartment.

So many trips to Home Depot for: reinforcing wood, sandpaper, more sandpaper, waxes, oils, varnishes, shellacs, lacquers, water-based finishes and brackets for the ikea trestle legs. I did a lot of research on what finishes were best for indoor tables in terms of protection and ability to withstand temperature changes. I settled on a lacquer which I learned is not cheap but it was well worth it because the table is holding up very well and the finish is beautiful. 

The process was pretty basic but tedious. I used an electric sander on both sides of the table to resolve the splintering paint and wood. I then used three coats of lacquer (4-6 hours of drying per coat) and finished it with a think layer of a spray shellac.

Now I just clean it as I would any other surface and maintain it with a wood oil.

Bar Cart Renovation | IKEA DIY

 IKEA Birch Kitchen Cart and Wine Glass Rack

We have a thing for Whiskey 

IKEA DIY Bar Cart 

DIY Supplies 

FÖRHÖJA Kitchen Cart, Birch [IKEA] New: $99.99, Used: $40

INREDA Glass Rack [IKEA]

Electric Sander 

Sandpaper 60, 220 

Espresso Wood Finish [Minwax] 

Paint Thinner 

Polyurethane Protective Coat

Brushes 

 

The toughest part was lugging the kitchen cart from the Upper East Side, where I purchased it, back to Alphabet City. After 30 minutes of getting weird looks, I did eventually find a cabby willing to put up with my cart. Thankfully, IKEA has pdf instructions available online because I had to dissemble and reassemble this cart four times to get it from New York to Massachusetts to it's new home in Philly. 

DIY | Ikea Chair Reupholstery

In my two months off before starting medical school I decided to reupholster a chair. I bought a used ikea chair from a coworker and put my 9th grade sewing class skills to work. 

First, I took apart the existing cover and carefully labelled each piece to make a pattern and estimate how much fabric I would need. 

Next came the fun part of picking out a fabric! I went to a local fabric store and wasted about two hours looking at every durable fabric and texting Lauren to see which she liked best. We (eventually) decided to go with this green and white medium scale print. I needed four yards of fabric which was only $21 because of some absurdly amazing store wide sale and mama Rainer's coupons :)

Laying out the pattern and pinning and cutting and unpinning and pinning over and over again...

The moment I realized that sewing a pillow or a laundry bag do NOT qualify you to reupholster a chair or even thread a bobbin. Thanks to Sydney, my youngest sister, for catching the moment of defeat on camera.

(much later) I got my act together and very carefully learned how to sew around contours and put in a zipper. At the end of two weeks the chair turned out pretty well