Fresh Strawberry Pie

One of many reasons I'm looking forward to moving to Stanley, NC(and out of kinda-in-Charlotte-but-not-really) is I'll be right down the street from Lineberger's Farm Stand. It's a local family-owned farm(not sure if it's organic. probably not). They have pick-your-own strawberries and pumpkins. People drive 30 min just to go there, and it will be 5 min from our house.

I happened to be over there driving by during opened house, so I pulled in to see what they had that day. I left with strawberries, squash, green beans, tomatoes, and apple butter. In 3 days, we'd eaten everything but the tomatoes and apple butter.

This is what I made with the strawberries:



















(not my photo)

It was fantastic!

I googled and found a recipe for Fresh Strawberry Pie, made with jello and pudding mix, instead of a sugar syrup.

Fresh Strawberry Pie

1 graham cracker crust(I used a pre-made large size)
1 carton of strawberries
1 small box Jello gelatin Strawberry flavor(sugar-free optional)
1 small box Jello pudding COOK AND SERVE Vanilla flavor(sugar-free optional)
1 1/2 cups water
Fat-free Cool Whip as topping

1. In sauce-pan, combine dry pudding mix, dry gelatin mix, and water. Bring to boil, stirring constantly.
2. After boiling and thickened, remove from heat and stir in chopped strawberries.
3. Pour into crust. Refrigerate at least 2 hours before serving.

*Must use COOK AND SERVE pudding mix.
**Try substituting other fruit and jello flavors.

Columbia Jacket

Matt has one of those parkas with the fleece/jacket liner and waterproof outer shell. You know the ones. The fancy-schmancy outdoor gear from Columbia. I have one too(one of 4 of my coats). It's the warmest thing I own.

In the 7+ years Matt has owned it, I've seen him wear the outer shell....twice? I think. Once to go skiing. Once during a snow storm. He wore the inner jacket a lot. It was his go-to coat(IF he even worn a coat!!) It wasn't just a fleece kind. It had a wind-breaker layer on top.

The zipper pull of the inner jacket broke off like....2 years ago. He kept wearing it that first winter, but had no way to zip it. He got a different jacket the next year, but still missed his old one, and kept bugging/reminding me to find out if Columbia would warranty it and repair the zipper.

So I finally mailed it in. Two weeks later I got a phone call. The lady explained that because the jacket was so old(like from 2000), their current zippers are a different model and they don't have the correct part to repair it. She called to tell me that if I sent the outer shell back too, I could pick out a whole new coat as a replacement since they warranty craftmanship for life.

So that's what I did. They told me what my replacement options and color options were(the closest current model of the coat).

We picked out this one in navy:



The original price? $200
What we paid? $0

(well...technically we paid the shipping for sending the original coat to them, so it was more like $10)

Matt modeled it when it came in 70 degree weather.



The inner jacket:



And the best part? This jacket is reversible! It was this cool aluminum foil fabric on the inside that we just had to show off! (it's way shinier in person)



I'm just kidding about the reversible part. You knew that, right?

This new coat also fits Matt better. The old parka was way too long. It hit him mid-thigh. This one has a shorter cut, so it's much more flattering.

Tree Stump Table

What's better than a good deal or a cheap DIY project? A free project! I absolutely love making things for FREE with stuff I already have around the house. Especially if it's something that looks expensive and that you want to display proudly.

Today's it's a pottery barn knock-off. I've wanted these tree stump tables since I first saw them in the catalog a few years ago. But $200?? No thank you!



Since then, I've seen other versions of this table popping up all over the interwebs. West Elm has their version:






Others bloggers have being making their own too. The Nester decided to keep the bark(a neat look as long as your bark doesn't start falling off) of the tree limb of the tree that fell in her yard. Read more about how she made hers here.



And she added casters to it, because I'm pretty sure hers it a lot heavier than mine(it's larger and greener since mine has been drying out for 2 years).



Or add a glossy stain and modern legs like this girl:



If I remember correctly, the Pottery Barn catalog said it was imported Brazilian wood. Well, I happen to think it's way cooler to have local wood from your very own yard!

Enter the black walnut.

The bark look like this:



But after sitting for two years, it had completely separated from the wood, making my job of removing it much easier. In fact, I pulled it off by hand before even carrying it to the house(because of the bugs living between the bark and wood. better to get those out now). I picked a kinda skinny one so I could carry it by myself. It's about 30 lbs.

After the bark was off, it looked like this:







The dark center is what makes black walnut black walnut.

I don't have any "in progress" photos, but it's a pretty simple explanation: just sand the heck out of it.

I have this palm sander that I bought for about $40 at Lowes.

























I use it ALL THE TIME, but have never used any of the attachments(which was why I bought this model). I find that when refinishing furniture, you have to apply more pressure than you can with an attachment sticking out the end. I always revert to a finger and sandpaper, and good old fashion elbow grease for tight grooves. I would buy a better brand with less attachments if I could do it over. This one heats up over a lot of use and you have to give it(and your hand) a break.

So anyway, I used the course grit sandpaper pad(60 grit I think) and sanded for about 2 hours. The hardest part was getting the chain saw grooves off the top. The wood it a lot harder in the cross section than on the sides.

And either the wood has natural variations or I didn't sand enough on one side, but half came out blonde, and half came out brown. I tried really hard to even it out, so I'm pretty sure it just the color the wood is going to be. We don't get to have ALL the control in situations like this. Just embrace it.

To get the wood smooth, always use a finishing sandpaper that's 250 to 350 grit.

I didn't want shiny wood, so I used about 4 coats of Tung Oil. It finishes and protects the wood but doesn't sit on the surface and look shiny or fake.

The finished blonde side:




The finished brown side:



The top:



Here it is parked next to my thrift store chair:



I can't wait to get in on "hard wood" floors in our future lofty apartment! I just love it. The top isn't flat because I couldn't recut it by myself. But a glass can still sit on top just fine. That may be something I fix later if it bothers me.