DIY projects for the weekend

One of my new favorite blogs is little-byrd. She has great simple DIY projects. Here are a few for the weekend. Granted you may have seen them done before, but the way she photographs them makes the look new again. I am sure looking at them in a new way :)

You can bake rustic artisan loaves at home.

I found this great recipe at Mother Earth News. My favorite favorite weekday breakfast is crusty bread with european butter and cafe au lait.
Now I can make my bread at home!


No Knead, Dutch Oven Bread
1/4 tsp active dry yeast
1 1/2 cups warm water
3 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting. You may use white, whole wheat or a combination of the two.
1 1/2 tsp salt
Cornmeal or wheat bran for dusting

In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in water. Add the flour and salt, stirring until blended. The dough will be shaggy and sticky. Cover bowl with plastic wrap. Let the dough rest at least 8 hours, preferably 12 to 18, at warm room temperature, about 70 degrees.
The dough is ready when its surface is dotted with bubbles. Lightly flour a work surface and place dough on it. Sprinkle it with a little more flour and fold it over on itself once or twice. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let it rest for about 15 minutes.
Using just enough flour to keep the dough from sticking to the work surface or to your fingers, gently shape it into a ball. Generously coat a clean dish towel with flour, wheat bran or cornmeal. Put the seam side of the dough down on the towel and dust with more flour, bran or cornmeal. Cover with another towel and let rise for about 1 to 2 hours. When it’s ready, the dough will have doubled in size and will not readily spring back when poked with a finger.
At least 20 minutes before the dough is ready, heat oven to 475 degrees. Put a 6- to 8-quart heavy covered pot (cast iron, enamel, Pyrex or ceramic) in the oven as it heats. When the dough is ready, carefully remove the pot from the oven and lift off the lid. Slide your hand under the towel and turn the dough over into the pot, seam side up. The dough will lose its shape a bit in the process, but that’s OK. Give the pan a firm shake or two to help distribute the dough evenly, but don’t worry if it’s not perfect; it will straighten out as it bakes.
Cover and bake for 30 minutes. Remove the lid and bake another 15 to 20 minutes, until the loaf is beautifully browned. Remove the bread from the Dutch oven and let it cool on a rack for at least 1 hour before slicing.
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Yummy Sunday BBQ

We love to BBQ at our house and often do it in the middle of the week because the weather is so nice. Our new favorite potato salad is a recipe from the June/July issue of Domino. My husband does most of the cooking and loves it when I find really good recipes for him :)

My husband changed the recipe slightly so here's his version:

Dave's Domino Potato Salad

2 lbs.small red potatoes
Plugra european Butter to taste
8-10 garlic cloves peeled ( whole )
1 tbsp. kosher salt
1 tsp. Dijon mustard
1/4 tsp. coarse black pepper
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
20 cornichons cut in half lengthwise
10 fresh tarragon leaves torn

Wrap red potatoes in foil with a few pats of the european butter, the garlic cloves and salt and pepper to taste. Close the foil and place on the BBQ for about 30 min. until the potatoes are tender.
Let the potatoes cool and cut into quarters. In a large bowl, combine the mustard, vinegar, pepper and a 1/4 teaspoon salt. Stir until uniform. Add the olive oil and stir again. Add the cooked potatoes ( with the cooked garlic ), cornichons and tarragon. Toss and coat.
ENJOY!!!

This weekend's DIY

I finally decided to devote some time to the kitchen island I should have finished long ago...

This is what it looked like before... ( above - hideous brand new contemporary - courtesy of the builder ). Actually, the whole kitchen looked like this :(

And this is what it looks like in process....

Remember...these cabinets are going to complimnt the cabinets I finished below. I just gave it a slightly different look because I want to have the island look like a separate piece of furniture. It also functions as our dining area.

The view from here

It looks like Napa doesn't - but it's really Malibu and view from the top of my street is all ocean. Sometimes we'll open the sliding glass doors and put on the movie "A Good Year" ( with Russell Crowe ) with the surround sound and we feel like were on vacation in Provence ( similar climate ). My husband loves this movie as much as I do. I think we've seen it 30 times - literally - and believe me my husband is old school southern California surfer - he is definitely manly man ( at least by Cali standards ). Yes, I know how lucky I am ladies!

OMG - to die for

Flourless Chipotle Chocolate Cake. Found the recipe here.
You better believe this will be on my table this weekend.

Rock n roses

I l-o-v-e this idea I found in Lucky Magazine years ago. Rose wallpaper with vintage rock posters. Very old Malibu, especially Latigo Canyon ( Axel Rose - no pun intended - is one of our neighbors ).

I was thinking about doing this downstairs in the teen apartment, but now I am thinking the upstairs powder room could use this kind of a perk up.

I dig it.

Looking for Lynn

I spent most of the last year looking for inspiration in any form from designer Lynn Von Kersting. I first fell in love with her work around 1990 and was lucky enough to get through to an editor from House Beautiful who tracked down the pics for me from a spread they did on her.

Thankfully I live close enough to Indigo Seas ( her insanely beautiful shop next to her restaurant "The Ivy" ) and low and behold the heavens opened up and granted all of her fans their dying wish - her book -equivalent to a decorating bible...at least for those of us who adore this style of decorating.

As I do more work on the house, I will include inspiration from her book, "La Strada della Dolce Vita" so you can see where the ideas are coming from.

This ramen doesn't say "recession"

Fine Furious Life is now one of my favorite places to get recipes. Check out this one for the beautiful ramen dish ( left ). Makes you want to eat ramen even if it isn't a recession! Or maybe it just makes recession a bit tastier!

DIY to plan ahead for...like the entire summer...

Our fireplace is plain and boring ( per the design expertise of our builder...need I say more? ). It is a simple concrete square. Here is what I envision to be one heck of a DIY undertaking.

Tiny Pies with a tiny price tag

Love this idea from Not Martha.

Smells like a great idea for 4th of July!

Cherry, blueberry, Yummy!!!

Mini vacation with a mini price tag

In this economy one not only needs time away, we need to make every buck count and not use a lot of it.

Our solution is a mini vacation down to Ensenada. Only a three hour trip from L.A. , it is well worth every penny if you know how and where to spend it.

Here's how:

First, I highly reccomend going down in a hybrid ( duh ). Even at today's ridiculous prices I can assure you it won't cost more than about $60.

Next, the place you pick to stay at is important. I suggest The Grand Baja resort in Puerto Nuevo. It's clean, the beds are really comfortable and the rates are really reasonable. During the off season w can get a "suite" for $89 a night. During the week the rates are as cheao $24.9! You'll be right in heart of Puerto Nuevo and walking distance from the center of town where you can get fabulous lobster, margies and beer.

Which leads me too Ortega's. They have the best tasting fresh lobster for less than $20. You get huge tails either steamed or fried ( Puerto Nuevo style )- the only drawback- no margies. They have plenty of beer though and you can easily go down the road to "The Palm" and get smashed. They have the best margies in town and their guacamole and the lobster bisque are to die for.

Not your typical taco stand. this is a restaurant with great food. Speaking of taco stands, the best one is right before you get to Ensenada in the little seaside town called El Suasal. It will be on the left side as you are headed south ( after the toll booth ). If you get to the traffic light you know you're close. it's the biggest one on this stretch of highway. Tacos are only 10 pesos ( $1 ) and you can have all the free roasted jalapenos, key limes, radishes and green onion ( the locals eat these while they are waiting for their food ). What a deal and it's delicious!!!

I'll have more for you when we return. Take some time off. You deserve it!

43 that's me

Tonight I am going to have my cake and eat it too - somewhere here in Malibu :)

June gloom

I had to break out a picture of what it looks like when it's sunny here because the sun didn't feel like making an appearance.

This is the view at the top of my street. The point out there is Point Dume.

Magical Matzo Ball Soup

You don't need to be Jewish to understand the healing properties in this delicious soup. My husband and I went the entire last year dodging pneumonia, bronchitis,and every strain of the flu out there and we firmly believe that the reason is because we ate this homemade soup minimum twice a week. When the warm weather came, I slacked and didn't make it for the month of May and wouldn't you know it, I am now sick with the flu and it sucks. Needless to say, we spent yesterday making our version with the Streit's mix- which I think is the best. Here's our recipe:

Matzo Ball Soup

2 pkgs. of Streit's Matzo Ball Soup mix.
Follow directions but add 1 cup sliced carrots, 1 cup sliced celery half of a bag of Streit's egg noodles.

This feeds a slew of people and can be frozen for later too.

A lesson in kitchen remodeling

Lesson #1: It ALWAYS takes longer than you think.

Lesson #2 There will ALWAYS be touch ups and little areas you forgot about.

Above is the kitchen before. You might be asking why I would want to remodel. Well this is not a contemporary home. It's a mediterranean style home. The builder we bought it from didn't think that the kitchen ( or any other room in the house ) should look like it belonged.

I am not a contemporary person and I could not live with it. Even though I am an artist. My husband insisted that we get a quote from a faux finish specialist. The guy we called was literally off the boat from Italy and his family spent generations doing faux finishes like in the "old country". The quote was $3000 and the finished sample was not impressive by any means. So I was off to Home Depot.

Here is the inspiration:



Here are some of the after pics. I am still working on the island.

I am floored by this floor

Remember the vinyl hardwood I told you about yesterday that was being installed in the kids' apartment downstairs?

This is the VINYL hardwood. Trully amazing stuff and 100% waterproof.

Decor is the next concern. The lamp I found at Salvation Army and is part of the inspiration for this room as well as the couch which I also found in excellent condition at Salvation Army for $150. It is a Restoration Hardware couch with a brand new pullout mattress. It looks a little worn only because it needs to be thrown in the wash after this renovation. It's a comfortable couch and the slipcover is a sage green chenille. Very durable for sloppy teenagers and dogs :)

One can really LIVE in these rooms

I love these living rooms, both from Domino Magazine ( at different times ). The best part is that these looks are easily achieved if you have a keen eye at flea markets and thrift stores and some sewing skills.

The best part is I am already ready on my way with an authentic Shabby Chic sofa and ottoman we purchased off of Craigslist ( owned by the ex wife of one of the Marciano Brothers of GUESS fame ) - barely used for $800 for both! Brand new these pices would have been well over $4000 - if not closer to $5000.

More thrifting to do and some sewing projects for pillows but I will be sure to have some updates.

Jalapeno Cilantro Hummus and Pita Chips

This is a favorite snack and/or appetizer in our house. It also is a fraction of the price of store bought hummus and pita chips - not to mention gourmet.

I like to go to the 99 Cent Store in Venice to get the large cans of garbanzo beans ( they also have great black beans ) and they have the pita bread too.

This recipe is a combination of G Living's recipe and Giada De Laurentiss "Everyday Italian". Below is a pic of our homemade version...pretty huh?

Pita Chips
4 Pita breads
2 tsp. olive oil
1 tsp. italian seasoning

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cut pita bread into 8 quarters. Arrage pieces on a baking sheet.
Brush ollive oil on pita pieces. Sprinkle oregano and lightly salt and pepper to taste. Bake for 8 min. then turn the chips over and bake for 8 min. more until golden.

Jalapeno Cilantro Hummus

1 15 oz. can garbanzo beans
1/4 cup cilantro
1 jalapeno pepper
2 Tbsp. lime juice
1 garlic clove
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper

In a food processor combine beans, cilantro, lime juice, garlic and 1/2 tsp. salt and 1/4 tsp. pepper. Pulse on and off until mixture is coasely chopped. Add olive oil and pulse until consistency is smooth. Serve on a platter with warm pita chips and enjoy!

Saturdays are for for DIY

Most households are doing the weekend DIY thing and believe me, Saturdays in Malibu ( specifically Latigo Canyon ) is no different. We are completely ripping out the floor downstairs in the teen "apartment" and putting in a "luxury vinyl tile". This flooring looks just like wook but is waterproof. VERY important with sloppy teens and dogs.

Now I know I mentioned this blog would be about saving money and I am sure it doesn't sound like it when I described the flooring as being "luxury vinyl tile". Well, my husband is in the flooring business and he just purchased this flooring for a customer and in order to get the best deal for the customer's budget ( and ours ) he had to buy a palette so we were able to accomplish saving the customer money and us as well. Pics on that whn w are finnished!

Knack is another blog I love to visit for great ideas on furniture re-do. They have great ideas ( like the pics above ).

Living Project Ecolife

Each day that I have posted on the Project Ecoart blog, I have thought of many other topics that I would have loved to touch upon but really didn't fit the artistic vibe of "Project Ecoart". Hence the beginning of this blog. Project Ecolife is not just about living a sustainably, earth friendly life. It's about saving money and your sanity which are also eco friendly principals.

My family and I live in Malibu, CA. Alot of you may be thinking that we probably have a lot of money. While my husband and I do fairly well for ourselves, we have to watch very carefully what we spend, and it takes a six day work week to accomplish what we have attained so far.

I often tell our teenagers that we are "working class Malibu", not "Malibu Rd. Malibu". Basically that means our kids get jobs when they turn sixteen ( all are that and above ), they don't spend money on $300 jeans, no brand new Range Rover when they get their first car ( commonplace in this town unfortunately ). We were very fortunate to find a great deal on a house here, less than what we would have spent in Venice Beach ( because of the commute into town I'm sure ) and our kids don't have to go to school with gangs. The lesser of two evils is that they live around VERY priveleged spoiled kids of producers, rock stars, actors etc... They also go to school with a old Malibu surfer families to that have to work just as hard as we do.

So this blog is meant to inspire you to live the good life without over consumption. That translates to living sustainably, and earth friendly everyday.