Strawberry Gorgonzola Grilled Cheese (or Panini)

How many of you LOVE strawberries??? How many of you head to the strawberry patch every year with your kiddos in tow only to pick more strawberries than you really need. My question always is..."What am I going to do with them?" I can only have Strawberry shortcake so many times. This year I tried freezer jam and froze a bunch which I used for smoothies as well. Well, after going to this one restaurant in the city called Garces Trading Company (if you're in Philly...I'd definitely recommend it because the food is AMAZING) I had a cheese sampler plate and one of the cheese was a 'stinky' cheese. I can't remember but I think it was Gorgonzola and though in my head I was wrinkling my nose at the idea of eating a 'stinky' cheese I tried it anyway, for one...because I wasn't paying, and two because it was made on the premises...so...when in Rome....I absolutely LOVED it! Ever since, I have been getting crumbled Gorgonzola to put on my salads. So after getting home with all these strawberries, having strawberry shortcake twice, making freezer jam and freezing a ton, I still had some left over. So, I decided to make my own version of a grilled cheese. Sorry, this post doesn't have step by step with pictures...I was too hungry to grab my iphone. 

Ingredients:

2 slices of bread (I used white Italian because it's what I had on  hand)

strawberries, sliced (however many you think looks good)

crumbled Gorgonzola cheese (ditto)

arugula or lettuce (I used spring mix bagged lettuce)

butter/margarine

1. Preheat griddle or skillet. 

2. Spread butter on one side of both slices of bread.

3. Put the slices of bread on the NON-buttered sides first to toast it up a little so the inside won't be too soggy.

4. Once the bread is a little toasted, flip to the buttered side. 

5. Add the Gorgonzola cheese to one piece. Add strawberries and lettuce/arugula. Place the other slice on top buttered side up.

6. Once the bottom is toasted, carefully flip to grill the other piece and press down a little with the spatula.

7. Once toasted, remove from pan and Enjoy!

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Just Sayin

Homemade Chalk Paint Record Player Re-do

Sigh....life has been C-R-A-Z-Y!!

I know, I know.... I've been MIA lately...but it's been a necessity. There is just way too much going on in my life so the RHP is on the back burner for now. I am still crafting and cooking and re-doing stuff so I have some things in my blogging arsenal but my family and school are first....so the blog suffers....don't give up on me yet!

Okay, so anyway...I got this Awesome record player years ago for FREE on craigslist...and even posted about it HERE and how it's one of my favorite things. I love old pieces that are nostalgic like this. I wasn't in love with the color though so after much deliberation and hemming and hawing (and Pinterest research) I decided which direction I'd like to go....homemade chalk paint. I tried a few recipes on a trash-picked end table and on two yard-sale night stands and wasn't too impressed. They all seemed to make the paint WAY too thick! And the result wasn't to my perfectionist OCD standards...I still love the pieces I painted but they were my guinea pigs. THIS piece, however, I loved how it turned out. I painted TWO coats with NO SANDING OR PRIMING!!! Then I applied wax. This post won't be a step by step tutorial, that'll have to come later when I've perfected it...maybe I'll even do a video...because I totally had to watch some youtube video how-to's to decide what to do.
For my recipe:
I mixed two cans of Valspar sample paints in tropical oasis and one can of gray mountain smoke in a plastic paint container. (You can use to old plastic ware) Then in another bowl I mixed 1 Tablespoon of plaster of paris and 2 Tablespoons of HOT water. I bought a few forks and a whisk from the dollar store to keep in my paint supplies for this. I whisked it together until there were no lumps. Then I added only half of the mixture to the paint and stirred. It thickened up but not TOO much. All the other ones I tried were awful. Maybe they worked for them, but it DROVE ME CRAZY! This stuff dries seriously fast too! I re-coated in half an hour. The next day I used Briwax clear paste wax which I got off of amazon to coat the entire piece. Make sure to use a rag to wipe the wax into the paint and wipe off the excess. Then after about 20 minutes I sanded it to give it a little distressed look. I read somewhere to sand AFTER the clear wax so you have less dust and since I painted inside the house, this was what I was going for...less dust. Then I added Minwax DARK paste wax and wiped off to give it a more aged look. I would have applied another coat of clear wax if it was painted on the top, but since I only painted the sides, I didn't bother. Ta-dah!! The most lovely record player re-do ever!! I may end up stripping the top and staining it darker at some point, but for now...it'll do. :)

You can kinda see the sample paints next to the container.

I used this Wooster size 10 stencil brush from amazon for the clear

 wax  and a Wooster size 6 stencil brush from amazon for the dark wax.