I followed this recipe from Food & Wine for the pulled pork exactly, and this recipe from Bon Appétit for the slaw, which I modified slightly by adding 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar for more acidity and 1/2 cup mayo for creaminess. Serve sandwiches on a picnic table with a cold beer, slathered in barbecue sauce.

Also, I’m very excited to announce that I am collaborating with my friend Max, who started the amazing site Wine & Bowties. It is pretty much the go-to site for everything that’s cool in music, art, style and culture, and I am incredibly excited to begin a recipe series with them. My first recipe (the guacamole that I posted here) went up on Monday night, and you can look for more new recipes every couple of weeks. Wine & Bowties also has a ton of other fascinating content, so be sure to check out their other features as well.

Right then and there, I decided to change my dresser from a mediocre red to dramatic black and gold. I like the look of chalkboard paint but I didn’t want to actually write on the dresser, so I picked up some matte black paint from Benjamin Moore, along with some primer. I already had some Rustoleum gold spray paint from a previous project for the knobs, and I bought all of the gold leaf supplies (Leaf, Adhesive, and Sealant) from a local art store (it was around $30 total, as I needed two packets of gold leaf to cover the top of the dresser). See the step by step process and “after” pictures after the jump.

1.  Remove knobs from drawers, drawers from dresser, and sand all surfaces (drawer fronts, sides, front, and top of dresser. I chose not to do anything with the back as it would be against the wall).

2. In an outdoor space, (or, in your living room when your boyfriend is out of town with the windows wide open if you are in a tiny New York apartment) paint drawers and body of dresser with primer. I found this to be important, particularly with Ikea furniture since it isn’t always made of real wood. Let dry for about a day.

3. Lightly sand knobs to make sure that the paint sticks. Spray paint gold, making sure to cover all surfaces. I did two coats.

4. Paint drawers and body with 2-3 coats of matte black paint, letting dry for 12 hours or so in between coats (this took about 2 days for me).

5. Once paint is completely dry, follow steps to gold-leaf top of dresser here. I would definitely recommend using gloves and painter’s tape — I had kind of a hard time getting the leaf to lay evenly, but now I kind of like the marbled effect.

Not necessarily the easiest of furniture makeovers, but I’m really happy with the way it turned out. Have you done any furniture makeovers lately?

We have been having a lot of smoothies lately for breakfast — which is great, but in an effort to switch things up a bit from the routine, while still being healthy, I decided to try out this chia seed pudding recipe from Food & Wine. It couldn’t have been easier. Ari was not as big of a fan — I will admit, the texture takes a little getting used to, but it pretty much just tasted like vanilla almond milk — so, delicious. I used maple syrup (my dad makes it!) instead of agave, and vanilla almond milk (from Trader Joe’s — it’s SO good), and served it with diced mango and just a touch of maple syrup drizzled on top. My note would be to make sure that you shake it occasionally while refrigerating — the chia seeds in mine were a little unevenly distributed, making some parts more liquidy than others. Overall, it made a delicious, healthy , and filling breakfast — and I always love anything that you can make the night before to make getting out the door in the morning that much quicker.

It did take me a couple of hours (I made 10), but in the end I think it was definitely worth it. I of course won’t be giving up fresh flowers completely, but in the meantime, these make a great alternative that last all year-round. Note that the ugly phone in the picture above is one of the unfortunate parts about living in a rented apartment, but I think that the anemones brighten up my little entry way considerably.

Be sure to check out The Elli Blog for more amazing tutorials!

Disclaimer: Ari told me that I had to tell you that this is very messy to eat. We tried our luck with forks but ended up just picking up the whole tostada at once. It still tastes good, in any case.

Black Bean, Corn & Egg Tostadas (serves 2)

1 tablespoon olive or vegetable oil

1/2 small red onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 teaspoon pickled jalapeños, minced

1/2 teaspoon cumin

1 can black beans, drained

1 cup fresh or frozen corn kernels

4 corn tortillas

1 tablespoon white vinegar

4 eggs

1 avocado, thinly sliced

Cilantro, chopped

Salsa

Hot sauce

Heat oil over medium-high in a saucepan. When hot, add onion, garlic, jalapeños and cumin and sauté until the mixture begins to soften, 2-3 minutes. Add black beans and lower heat to simmer. Heat through, about 10 minutes. Stir in corn and season with salt and pepper. remove from heat and set aside.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In the meantime, fill a sauté pan with about 2 inches of water, add vinegar, and bring to a simmer. Carefully crack first egg directly into pan. Immediately use a spoon to fold white over yolk so that it is covered, using the spoon to hold the egg together. Cook about 1 minute, then carefully flip over and cook until white is set but yolk is still runny, 1-2 minutes. Remove egg to a small bowl with a slotted spoon. Repeat with remaining eggs.

Place tortillas on oven rack. Toast until crispy, 5-6 minutes. Place two on each plate, then top with bean & corn mixture, avocado slices, and egg. Serve immediately with cilantro, additional chopped onion, salsa, and hot sauce.

West Elm, $79

Martha Stewart Living, August 2010

I’ve been working on a few projects lately to spruce up the apartment (more to come!) This definitely isn’t turning into a DIY blog, but given my love of design I figured I would share a few of these projects with you. The first one is really simple: all you need is a basket, one or two colors or paint, and some painter’s tape. Using these pictures as inspiration, I decided to capitalize on the color-blocking trend and take this red-hued basket (not really my style) to a much more modern black and white. Here are the steps I followed:

First, choose your base color (alternatively, if you like the original color of the basket, you can skip this step). I used white spray paint, and sprayed about 4 coats on the exterior and interior of the basket until I had covered it completely. Let dry between coats, and let dry fully (1-2 days) before moving on to the next step.

Next, tape your basket about a third of the way up from the bottom. Carefully paint sides and bottom of basket (below tape) with your second color, and let dry fully. Remove tape.

That’s it! Super easy. I also think it would be really fun to use silver or gold for the second color to add a bit of glamour. What do you think? Would you be interested to see more projects like this?

Roast Chicken & Kale Salad with Buttermilk Dressing & Challah Croutons (Dressing adapted from Food & Wine, serves 4 as a main course)

10 stalks kale, center ribs discarded and cut into 1-inch pieces

1 rotisserie chicken, shredded (I used about half the chicken and saved the rest for leftovers)

1 avocado, diced

2 cups challah or other bread, cut into 1-inch pieces

Olive oil

1 tablespoon thyme

Dressing:

1 clove garlic, chopped

1 egg yolk

3 tablespoons buttermilk

1 tablespoon whole grain mustard

1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar

1/2 cup olive oil

Combine first three ingredients in a large bowl. Set aside.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Toss bread with olive oil and thyme in a large roasting dish until well coated, then roast until golden-brown, about 15 minutes. Let cool.

For dressing: combine first 5 ingredients in a blender with salt and pepper until well blended. Keeping blender on, add olive oil in a slow stream until well incorporated.

Add croutons to salad, then dressing. Toss well to coat, and serve immediately.

Open-Faced Egg, Prosciutto Avocado Sandwich (serves 1)

2 slices bread of your choice

4 slices prosciutto or other ham

1 oz brie, cut into thin slices

1/2 avocado, sliced

Butter

2 large eggs

Preheat broiler. Place prosciutto, then brie, on top of bread. Broil until cheese just melts, about 2 minutes. Place avocado on top. Meanwhile, melt butter in a large sauté pan over medium-low heat. Crack eggs directly into pan, season with salt and pepper, and cook until just set, about 2 minutes. Carefully flip eggs over with a spatula, and cook until whites are set but yolks are still runny, 1 minute more. Top sandwiches with eggs and serve immediately.

Kale Chips (adapted from epicurious.com)

10-12 kale leaves, center rib removed and cut into 2-inch pieces (Trader Joe’s sells pre-cut bags which are really great)

2 tablespoons olive oil

1/2 teaspoon onion or garlic powder

1 teaspoon salt, or to taste

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper, or to taste

Preheat oven to 250 degrees. Toss kale leaves with olive oil, onion powder, salt and pepper in a large bowl. Lay flat on a baking sheet, and roast in oven for 30 minutes, until crispy. Store in an airtight container for up to 5 days.

This guacamole also goes very well with tacos or on sandwiches — but my favorite way is the most simple, with some good corn chips and a beer, and summer doesn’t feel quite so far away.

The Best Guacamole

4 avocados, pitted and sliced into 1/2-inch pieces

1/2 small red onion, finely diced

2-3 tablespoons pickled jalapeños, chopped (or to taste)

1 clove garlic, minced

1/4 cup cilantro chopped

1 teaspoon Sriracha, or to taste

Juice of 1 lime

Salt and pepper

Scoop out avocado from peel into a medium bowl. Add onion, garlic, jalapeños, cilantro, and Sriracha, and mash with a fork until mixed together but avocado is still slightly chunky. Stir in lime juice and season well with salt and pepper. Serve immediately.