Refinishing Furniture and Pumpkin Chipotle Pasta Sauce

Occasionally in life, you realize that having breakdowns isn't such a bad thing.  Because once you breakdown, you get a nice little chance to rebuild.  I had a rough December.   I was unsure of my job situation and had no idea how I was going to pay the bills come January, I had a horribly annoying relationship (or lack thereof) situation that was pulling me apart, and on top of it, I felt like everyone in my life was talking about weddings and I had to plan my whole social life around everyone else's relationship lives.  I was truly a wretched person by the end of December, snapping at people for no reason, giving in to my personal pity party, and crying a lot.  It came to a head in early January where I finally let out some of what was bothering me to my mother.  I felt like I was at the bottom of another pit, and at twenty-eight years old with a mortgage, it's not a really good feeling to not know if you will ever have a career or any sense of stability.

Anyway, one day in January sort of turned the tables because I found out that I am employed through at least next January, which is the longest I've known I'm gainfully employed well, ever.  And I got hired as a secret shopper on that same day, which is a pretty cool extra pay gig.  From there, I got accepted to Vanderbilt University for a graduate program that I really didn't expect I would be accepted to.  Now, I have more options than I know what to do with.  Do I take out tons of student loans, move to one of my favorite cities for two years and go to my dream graduate program?  Or do I stay here and mosey about on a continual semester-to-semester basis, paying bills and getting by doing the same old thing?  Obviously, Vanderbilt is looking a lot more appealing by day, especially coupled with the fact that my social life continues to depress me, and lately I feel like I'd rather gouge my eyes out than date.

Oh, I also am in the process of planning a trip to the other side of the world to get away from everything for a while.  A few weeks in Thailand and India should be a pretty amazing experience and I've just been really feel like you only get one life.  May as well do some awesome things during it.

On that note, I've been keeping very busy by querying agents about my novel (finally), cooking, playing music, reading, and refinishing a table.  See the results below:

Table Before

Adorable Shabby Chic Table After

View from the top

I had been searching Craigslist for the perfect shabby chic console table or cabinet when I though, why don't I just finish one myself?  I sanded the table down and then painted a dark grey layer (2 coats).  When that dried, I painted a light grey layer over it sloppily so that the dark grey would show through.  For the drawers, I laid a piece of lace over the painted drawer and just sprayed over it.  I love the results.  The knobs are from Anthropologie.  I am in love with my little table.


One day earlier in January, I looked at my food cabinet and realized I had an abundance of pumpkin left in cans from October that I didn't use.  Because I never want such food to go to waste, I looked up some ideas of what I could do with it and came across this delicious recipe for pumpkin chipotle pasta sauce.  I'm a total sucker for chipotle, so obviously this combination attracted my attention.  The results were really delicious and I would absolutely make this again.

I copied this recipe from Boulder Locavore.

Pumpkin Chipotle Pasta

Pumpkin Chipotle Cream Pasta   

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon butter, unsalted
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 medium yellow onion, chopped
• 2 large garlic cloves, peeled and minced
• 1-15 ounce can pumpkin puree or 15 ounces of fresh pumpkin puree
• 1 cup chicken broth
• ¼ cup dry sherry (if you prefer not to use sherry, substitute more chicken broth)
• 1 chipotle en adobo, seeded and chopped
• ½ teaspoon adobo sauce
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
• ½ teaspoon dried sage
• Salt and pepper to taste
• ½ cup heavy whipping cream
• 1 tablespoon crème fraiche or sour cream
• Finish: Hickory smoked salt and roasted, salted pepitas (pumpkin seeds)  (I didn't do this and it was still very delicious)

Instructions

1. In a medium, heavy saucepan melt butter and add olive oil. Add chopped onion and garlic; sauté until translucent (about 4-5 minutes).
2. Add pumpkin, chicken broth, dry sherry (note: the alcohol content will cook off), chipotle, adobo sauce, oregano, red pepper flakes and sage. Stir to incorporate. Bring to a very low boil, reduce heat to simmer and simmer on low heat for 20 minutes; stirring periodically.
3. Add the cream and crème fraiche or sour cream. Simmer on low for an additional 5 minutes.
4. Using an immersion/stick blender (or pouring sauce into a conventional blender) blend until smooth. Pour onto prepared pasta of your choice. Finish with smoked salt (I prefer hickory for this; available online or at spice shops) and roasted, salted pepitas. Serve immediately.

And just for fun, here is a cover video that I never added to my blog for all of you Les Miserables fans.

I wish my face didn't look so ridiculous in this still though!