The Saga of the Rocker Recliner

I can honestly say that reupholstering this rocker/recliner has been one of the most mentally, physically, and emotionally taxing tasks I have ever completed, in fact in may only come in second to labor and delivery of my son. However I don't feel so proud of the latter "accomplishment" simply because I had no choice to see it through completion, I mean he couldn't stay in there forever... Anyway, I want to emphasize "completion" because while I have attempted greater things than reupholstering a chair, I usually don't follow through when the going gets tough and I see the completion of this project as an indication of some newfound maturity, a maturity that will see me through completion of even more difficult projects that I previously dared not approach.

Here is the long drawn out story, skip to the bottom if you just want to see before and after pics... I kind of had the thought that a comfortable rocking chair might be nice to have for the new baby. I remember with my son that we had a pretty uncomfortable (but cute) rocking chair that didn't really work well for extended rocking and we ended up having to pace with him more often than not.

So I started scouring thrift stores for a comfortable rocker/recliner. I wanted something that could recline with a foot rest so that I could elevate my feet. Initially I found this AWESOME Ekornes recliner. Even though it didn't rock, I couldn't resist buying it because it was only $25, which is an insanely good deal to me, considering how comfortable these chairs are, and I was digging the "distressed" look of the leather. I figured at the least it would be a comfortable chair to nurse in during those extended newborn nursing sessions. The bonus is that my husband fell completely in love with the chair at first sight, which I didn't expect at all, mainly because he isn't big on secondhand stuff. I think that chair may be bringing him around though. Maybe in 20 years we'll be "antiquing" together on the weekends:)

I kept looking for a rocker and finally found a vintage Barclay recliner with a lot of cute details, like tufting and rolled arms. It had some dingy, faded mauve courduroy upholstery and somehow still on a high after slipcovering a thrifted camelback sofa, I figured I could either slipcover or reupholster it. Little did I realize that the cute little details were going to make re-covering this chair a beast of a project. Not only that, it was a rocker/recliner with moving parts, so I had to detach the mechanical part of the chair and even make a special trip to the hardware store for a bolt remover thing-a-ma-bob, not sure of the name but I know how to use it and what it looks like... All of this leads me to rate this as an ADVANCED upholstery project, and let me make very clear this is my FIRST upholstery project. Although I did manage to make a couple of fairly simple slipcovers a few weeks before attempting this I have never upholstered anything. I stripped the upholstery off a tufted chair a few years back with the intent to reupholster, and then set it beside the dumpster when I realized it wasn't quite as simple as wrapping a present.

I took some pics while I was stripping and taking it apart, and also labeled the fabric pieces. However this didn't prove to be as helpful as I thought. I still had to measure the cushions and tailor the fabric to the shaped semi-detached cushions. I had hoped I would be able to use the old fabric pieces as a pattern for the new, but somehow it seemed to make things more difficult, not easier. I wanted to make a tutorial, but since I didn't really know what I was doing and got more and more overwhelmed as I got deeper in the project, I abandoned that idea and just focused on doing it. Honestly I don't think a tutorial would have helped me and don't see how it could help anyone else. You need some basic sewing skills, common sense, and a lot of patience and determination if you are tackling a project like this for the first time. Obviously tools as well. I improvised with some tools and materials and purchased others. The chair itself was $32, the fabric was $10/yard and I used 7 yards, so altogether, I spent around $100 on this chair. I feel it is worth every penny for the learning experience and the pride I felt upon completion. It is NOT perfect, but to the casual viewer the mistakes aren't really that noticeable in my opinion. I don't really notice them and I KNOW exactly what they are so I don't feel its too big of a deal.

This is the chair before and after:

The fabric is a microfiber velour in an eggshell blue.

Paneer Butter Masala

I love each of the components of this dish so much individually that its no surprise that I also love it when they come together. Paneer is a cheese served as the "protein" part of many North Indian dishes. The texture it takes on when fried, its difficult for me to describe but its somehow both chewy and creamy. Like tofu, paneer is bland, but soaks up the flavor of whatever sauce or seasoning it is cooked in readily. This is where masala comes in. Masala is a rich blend of spices and seasonings that is spicy and sweetly aromatic on one end and musky with cumin on the other, with bright, peppery notes of cardamom and ginger dancing in between. Butter and cream form the perfect velvety base for these flavors.

Ingredients:

1 stick of butter

2 yellow onions (chopped finely)

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 inch piece of ginger, minced

1 hot pepper, chopped finely

1 Tbsp. garam masala (see recipe below)

1 tsp. red pepper

1 block of paneer-cut into cubes and fried (see recipe below)

2 cups half and half

1 tsp. salt

Saute onions in melted butter until translucent, then toss in garlic, ginger, and hot pepper and saute a few more minutes. Add garam masala, red pepper, and salt to a bare spot in the bottom of the pot, and then stir into onion mixture. Slowly stir in half and half and bring to a simmer. Carefully plop paneer cubes into sauce and heat until hot. Serve over basmati rice or with naan.

Rustling up some breakfast,

This morning I decided to take advantage of the vittles available in the yard, which entailed a bed of curly lettuce and a grapefruit tree whose branches were hitting the ground from the weight of the fruit. Honestly, neither of those two offerings do I find particularly appealing but I felt a strong sense of obligation to at least incorporate them into some kind of meal, simply because locavorism is the new thing to do and you can't get more local than your own backyard (and your neigbors front yard).

Anyway I made a salad for breakfast that was passable but the lettuce was bitter, and the grapefruit vinagrette was too abundant (my bad)... so then I thought, what can I do with all this grapefruit? Then I remembered this interesting little recipe I found over at smitten kitchen- http://smittenkitchen.com/2007/01/cake-paradisi/ yogurt grapefruit cake. The recipe seems to be similar to a lemon pound cake but with a lighter, moister crumb, and although at first glance graperfruit cake sounds a little strange, thinking of it in context of a lemon cake it isn't too strange... so now the question is whether or not I "feel" like making and eating cake. I know I could give some of it to family or even the neighbors whose yard I scavenged the fruit from (that would be nice, huh), and the more I talk about it the more I kind of starting wanting it, so there it is, I've pretty much talked myself into trying out this recipe, I'll come back with the results of my effort...

Pizza

Despite, my first attempt when I was a teen, I have discovered that whipping up homemade pizza is EASY. I remember the first time as tedious and time consuming, and tasting nothing like pizza, it was actually pretty gross. I guess if I weren't so damn unrelenting I would still think of homemade pizza as a task for someone with mad skills and lots of time. Thank goodness I kept trying, because after learning a few elemental basics, I've got it down pat and turn out great pizza on the regular. I also have a deceptively simple pizza sauce recipe, adapted from here http://www.101cookbooks.com/archives/five-minute-tomato-sauce-recipe.html And no, I don't make my own mozzarella, maybe a future project...

Pizza dough:

3-3 1/2 cups of flour
2 1/2 Tbsp. dry active yeast soaked in 1 cup of warm (105-115 degrees F) water for 10 minutes
1/2 tsp. salt
1 Tbsp. sugar

Dump the ingredients in the food processor, let it whir. Take the resulting ball of dough, coat it with oil, put it in a BIG bowl covered with a damp cloth, let it rise at room temp for about 1 hour, punch it down, re-cover and leave it in the fridge to rise overnight. Make sure bowl can accomodate rising dough without dough exceeding bowl height, dough usually doubles in size. The overnight rise isn't necessary but in my opinion gives a better flavor and texture. The next day divide the dough in two. Allow dough balls to rest on counter until room temperature, about 15 minutes, then roll each ball into 16-ish inch diameter circle and top. Bake at 500 degrees for 7-10 minutes.