Painted Furniture Completed! And a Recipe!

You remember the two pieces of furniture I scheduled to paint this winter in the little room off the kitchen we call the Butler's Pantry?  I painted them this week and it was a really enjoyable project because I used chalk paint, Annie Sloan chalk paint to be specific and that stuff is a dream to work with!  We decided on Greek Blue for the cupboard below and in the picture right below that one, the cabinet where we keep all our cookbooks would be Emperor's Silk, a delightful red.

With this chalk paint, you don't have to do any prep work to prepare the wood except for taking off any hardware if you so choose.  Two coats are necessary - the first one goes on in short, kind of dry strokes which leave brush marks (don't even worry about those!) and the second coat, which you can apply an hour later, smooths out flawlessly.  Then you wait an hour or more to apply the Crisco shortening-like clear wax (which smells like motor oil), let that cure for an hour or more and then buff it to a gorgeous sheen.  That's it!  I did both pieces in one day each from start to finish where they were both put back together and totally done.  I used time well when I was waiting for coats to dry; I baked cakes for one event after coat one, went to the gym between the second coat and waxing, and then ate dinner between the waxing and buffing on the blue piece.  For the red piece, I baked brownies (a new recipe I will include in this post!) between coats one and two, went for a walk with Dan between paint and wax, and then I had to wait until this morning to buff and finish because last night I had a meeting and a dinner back to back which took the rest of the day or I would have finished it by day's end.

Since I wasn't painting the interior and there is no dripping whatsoever with this paint, I was able to leave all dishes in place.  I did paint both sides of the doors.  And I listened to classical guitar music on Pandora which transported me back to both Chile and Spain and I drank plenty of diet mountain dew mixed with cherry coke zero (it is really good!).

Below, detail of the finish - I roughed this piece up a bit before waxing it to give it a more aged look.

That bottom cabinet I have had since 1989 - I mail ordered it when I lived in Elko Nevada as an unfinished cupboard, put it together and then gave it a clear varnishing.  The top piece, the dish rack, I bought in Rye NH shortly after moving to this state, at an antique shop in their annual parking lot sale for $100.  I rubbed it with a clear wax years ago and want to keep it that way.  Now below, look how smooth the second coat is; I used a cheap all purpose nylon paint brush and the second coat goes on smoother than the first coat and just evens out on its own.  This shot is before the wax coat.

When you brush the wax on, it goes on like Crisco shortening.  After you cover your area like this, you wipe off the white excess with a smooth cotton cloth but you do not rub it in.  It will be greasy and tacky.  Then you let it cure and harden for an hour or two.  The buffing is done with a clean cotton cloth where you polish it and buff just like you are polishing your boots.  You might work up a sweat in this step; I sure did.

 You have to use a firm, fat brush to whisk on the clear wax because it is thick and a flat brush just doesn't cut it.  Annie Sloan sells a wax brush for $26 but I just used a less expensive 1 inch square trim brush that worked beautifully.  By the way, you can only buy her paints in specially selected home/decorating shops that apply to carry her paint.  If you go on her website, you can find locations all over the country.  You will not find this paint in any paint store.  I read about this paint in several magazines and blogs and I am so glad I found it!

 Look at the sheen after buffing the hardened wax.

 All done!

Both painted pieces in that tint little room between the kitchen and the powder room.

Now, while I was taking the doors off the red cabinet yesterday to do the prep taping, I noticed a cookbook that I had forgotten I bought!  The Tartine Cookbook from the renowned and excellent bakery in San Francisco that always has a big line out the door.   The first time Dan and I went there, I stood in line for 40 minutes while Dan circled the block in his car because there was nowhere nearby to park and the place was packed inside and way out the door.  Since I waited in line so long and had been anticipating the visit to this bakery for years from when I had first read about it, when it was finally my turn to order, I bought about 15 things in a big box to take home with us.  Everything was outstanding.  When I opened up the cookbook yesterday, it went right to the brownie recipe page and I was surprised that I hadn't yet made that one - surprised because when I buy a new baking book, I always make the brownie recipe first and right away.  While the first paint coat was drying I baked a pan of the brownies and when we finally partook between the second coat and waxing, we found them to be fantastic!  Rich, fudgey, souffle-like in the center of each bite and such a creamy mouth feel.  Here is the recipe for all of you because it is so worth sharing and trying.  Enjoy!

TARTINE BROWNIES
Grease a 9 x 13 pan and preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a medium saucepan, melt one and a half sticks of unsalted butter with 1 pound of chopped up good bittersweet chocolate.  I mixed 58, 62 and 72 % chocolates from Vahlrona, Callebaut and Arnaud Lahrer just because it sounded like a fun idea and all three are excellent chocolates but you can use any one minimum 60% chocolate or chocolate chips you have on hand.  For heaven's sake, don't use Nestle morsels!  Melt these ingredients over low heat. Stir until smooth and leave to cool down.

Meanwhile, beat 5 eggs, 2 cups lightly packed brown sugar, 1 tsp vanilla and 3/4 tsp salt in a standing mixing bowl on high for 4-5 minutes until it thickens, becomes pale in color and falls in a ribbon from the beater when you lift it up.  This long beating creates the leavening and souffle texture and is very important.  Then fold in the melted chocolate followed by one cup minus 2 tablespoons of flour (or 3/4 cup plus 2 Tbl).  Just fold the last steps in so you don't delate the eggs.  Pour in pan and bake 25 minutes - it should have cracked and risen but still be very moist - don't bake until the crumb is clean upon testing - you don't want that; don't test it at all, just pull it out of the oven and let cool for at least a half hour before you try one.  This is a 30-35 minute recipe from the first melting of the chocolate until pulling the brownies out of the oven and one of the few brownie recipes that taste really good while still warm.  They freeze well if you don't eat them all right up.  They can also be chilled in the fridge or kept tightly sealed at room temp as you eat them to keep fresh but I froze ours to save for sugar Sunday (after we both sampled of course - we had to rate them!)

While I was waiting for paint to dry on the blue cabinet, I made a couple Guava cakes for an evening church activity.  You add guava nectar to the yellow cake batter in place of milk and the glaze is made like lemon curd using guava nectar instead of lemon juice.  The frosting was cream cheese, whipped heavy cream and vanilla.  This would also be a good cake using apricot nectar or really any kind of fruit nectar you fancy.  The cake was delicious.

This week also, I spent a day in the Boston area, Belmont to be specific, at the Temple, to attend with my very good friend Kasia Clark and her mother Linda, who where both going for the first time.  We were accompanied by three other lovely ladies too.

To end, the sun streaming through the window yesterday morning just might have inspired my next painting project on this canvas that was sitting on my easel.  I quickly traced the shadows with a pencil and will play around with it and see if any thing comes out.