DIY Dining Table from a salvaged door: Part 1

I couldn't find a dining table I liked. Scratch that, I couldn't find a dining table I liked that was cheap or free. We have a large kitchen and dining area to fill (comes with the large house), and I wanted a big gathering place-type table to fill it. I'm trying to see how far I can go furnishing it with free, reclaimed, salvaged, second-hand, etc pieces. I believe we can do it, and I believe we can make a lovely home in this manner, indeed :)
Craigslist was unfruitful. People either wanted too much for things I wasn't willing to settle for, or they lived too far away, or I couldn't fit their "beautiful antique piece that just has to be out today" into the back of my hatchback. I took all of this as a sign pointing me in a different direction. How do I get all of the pieces of a large dining table into our place, on my own, on the cheap? Build it myself!!
Enter the GREAT idea found here: http://www.designsponge.com/2008/01/diy-project-dining-table.html . This sounded super fun and easy so..hell yes!

There are ways to make this project completely free. Scavenging a door, not treating it with anything, makeshift legs. I wasn't privy to any of these options at the moment, and hell, I wanted to see if I could build something beautiful from otherwise cheap or throw-away materials..so I may have splurged a little on the finishing details. The final product will still come in at hundreds of dollars less that an equivalent size table at retail, guaranteed. AND, this one will be personalized and one of a kind :)

Step 1: Find a door

Accomplished this at our amazing Urban Ore , the best salvage/recycling/treasure hunting warehouse I've found in the Bay Area. From the literally 100's of doors I whittled my choice down to a hollow core door (price - much cheaper), with no drilled though handle hole, and unpainted for easier staining. Cost: $25

Step 2: Find legs

The DIY recipe calls for a set of 4 Ikea Fintorp table legs, which as far as I can tell have since been discontinued. After much searching of flea markets, salvage yards, and craigslist, I couldn't find anything that floated my boat as a fancy replacement. My ideal vision was a set of 4 beautifully lathed banister type spindled legs...alas, nothing, so need overrode dream vision. I need a dining room table. Plan B mode set in and I checked my pride and walked in to Ikea. (Disclaimer: As much as I loathe the big box, assembly line, rat in a maze feeling of Ikea, {and the fact that buying their particle board shit makes me lose sleep} I do like walking through once in a while to brain-catalog design ideas. I can't lie, their designers are good, considering the materials they have to work with.) After 3 days of recon..no lie.. I settled on 2 of the Vika Fagerlid legs in birch veneer (which apparently is also discontinued). This choice came from a couple of other necessities. The fact That I chose a hollow core door hit me during my leg contemplations: How am I going to sturdily attach legs to this thing?? Oops... Well, the Fagerlids have large wide flat tops that I can easily screw in to the corner joints of the door, and will support a larger piece of the door. They were also half price due to the whole dc'd thing. Score! Bonus that they have neato storage shelves on the sides for pretty vases, bowls, etc. Might attatch thin safety rails across the shelves so wayward feet can't smash. We tend to have our share of wayward feet wandering through our place.. Cost: $40 (marked down from $80)

Step 3: Sand and Stain!!

The hands on part..my favorite. With my Aretha Frankiln Pandora station on I set to the job at hand. The door itself was lightly varnished so I only took a light sanding to it to rough it up for staining. It took the stain well.


The legs came in 6 piece segments that Sonny advised me (smartly) to stain before assembly. I was wary of staining Ikea pieces due to the fact that they were already "finished". I read through a few ppl's horror stories of trying to refinish Ikea pieces before totally losing interest and wanting to try it myself. My pieces are birch veneer and all these people were bitching about melamine and foils and laminate and whatever...I decided to try it anyway. I thought sanding to rough up light varnish would be better, but for some reason I went ahead and tried just a straight stain out on one of the smaller pieces on top of the finish. Call it laziness. It worked better that I could have thought. The stain penetrated and took on the gloss of the finish. Magic??


So, this is the stage I'm at. It's going to take overnight for the stains to set, then it's time for second coats, second opinions, second chances, etc..

Updates to come as the project is completed!

Muffins!! Applesauce, and Lemon-Peach-Berry-Cornbread! *Vegan*

I'm on a baking kick. It's pretty awesome :) You can't beat a house filled with the aroma of fresh-out-the-oven muffins! A couple recipes for some killer morning comfort food!

Lemon-Peach-Berry-Cornbread Muffins (adapted from a recipe from "Vegan with a Vengeance)

Ingredients (12 muffins):
1 cup unbleached all purpose flour
1 cup cornmeal
1 tbs baking powder
1/3 cup sweetener (recipe calls for sugar, I use a mix of sugar and maple syrup. Ideally I'd use agave sweetener if on hand)
1/2 cup canola oil
3/4 cup non-dairy milk (my fave is Hemp)
2 tbs soy yogurt
4ish tbsp fresh squeezed lemon juice
1 1/2 cup mixed berries and peaches, frozen bits are the easiest

Directions
1.Preheat oven to 400 F. Lightly grease twelve-muffin tin
2.In a large bowl, sift together the flour, cornmeal, baking powder, salt and sweetener.
3.In a separate bowl, whisk together the oil, milk, soy yogurt, vanilla and lemon juice.
4.With a wooden spoon, fold the wet ingredients into the dry.
5.Fold in the frozen fruit, being careful no to over-mix.
6.Fill each muffin cup three-quarters full.
7.Bake for 20-25 minutes, until a toothpick or knife inserted in the center of one comes out clean.

The key is using the soy yogurt to keep the insides moist!! Delish! This is also a recipe that could easily be changed to suit the fruit preferences of the diner :)


Applesauce Muffins (recipe from How It all Vegan... constantly tweaked..tried here with Raspberry )


2 cups unbleached all purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup non dairy milk
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
2 tbsp oil
1/3 cup maple syrup
1 1/2 cup fresh made applesauce

To make the applesauce:
3-4 cored, peeled, chopped apples
3/4 cup water
1/4 cup your fave sweetener
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

Combine all ingredients in a saucepan, cover and cook on medium heat for 20 mins or until chunks are mashable. Mash with a fork or use food processor to blend.

Muffins:
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
2. In a large ceramic bowl, sift together the flour, salt, baking soda, and cinnamon. Make sure your dry ingredients are thouroughly mixed before adding anything wet!
3. Add the milk, vinegar, oil, maple syrup, and applesauce.
4. Mix together gently until "just mixed". Spoon batter into lightly oiled muffin tins.
5. I added a little dollop of leftover applesause to the top of each of my muffins pre-baking, for extra sweetness.
6. Bake for 15-20 minutes. Test with a toothpick to see if done. Makes 6 BIG muffins, or 12 small muffins.



Stuff your face!!!

Spaghetti Squash Pizza

I love spaghetti squash. Love love love it. It's buttery, sweet, and amazing on it's own, and when combined with Italian spices, tomatoes, and served up in the place of cheese on a vegan pizza it's utter heaven! Here's how I usually do it up..apologies for the "approximate" measurements... I like to be pretty liberal with ingredients, changing it up a bit each time.

1 medium spaghetti squash, halved
~a couple teaspoons olive oil
~3 tsp Earth Balance, more or less depending on your butter taste preferences
1-2 14.5 oz cans Muir Glen Organic Canned Tomatoes with Basil and Garlic . This is also a preference. Two cans make extra tomatoe-y, 1 can makes a slight tomato tartness, a hint of Italy instead of a smack in the face :)
Crust of your choice - I like frech artisan french bread, or premade cornmeal pizza crusts.
Dried Basil and Thyme to taste (approx 1 tbs each)

1 - Preheat oven to 425 degress. Rub flesh of the halved squash with the olive oil. Place squash, cut side down, on a baking sheet and pierce the skin several times with a fork. Bake for 45 mins, turn squash over and bake for approx 10 mins more, until spaghetti-like strands can be easily forked from the flesh of the squash. Take squah out, let cool for a couple minutes then scrape spaghetti flesh into a bowl.

2- Raise oven temp to 475, or whatever temperature the pizza crust requires. Add tomato cans, Earth Balance, Basil and Thyme to spaghetti squash in bowl. Mix until butter is melted.

3- Evenly spread squash mixture on crust. Return to oven and bake until crust is slightly browned, about 12 mins, depending on your oven and crispy crust choice! I feeli like the most important part of a big pizza-like bake is checking on your pie. Every minute changes the consistency/quality of your outcome. Revel in the lush smell and keep an eye on your lovely dish!

Here's my last..

A wonderful, filling, rich, totally vegan meal paired nicely with a rich green salad and maybe some fresh fruit for dessert. YUM!