Guest Blogger {Laurenne Sala}

I would like to welcome my FIRST guest blogger for the week! 

And Laurenne went ALL out...she has TWO post for you!
A tutorial and a recipe!!

Be sure to leave a comment for Laurenne saying HI.....

<3 - Brittany

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Laurenne Sala from humansarefunny.com is a writer living in Los Angeles. She used to work in a cubicle and make jewelry and bags on the side. But after spending 2009 traveling around the world, she's now trying to figure out how to blend her new hippie lifestyle with power lunches and meetings. Just getting acclimated to having a place again, she's on the lookout for crafty/thrifty ways to make her apartment feel like home. 

When Brittany sent out a call for guest bloggers, I jumped on the chance because it was exactly the push I needed to finally tackle two projects: Bar stools & Mochi. Neither has much to do with the other except for the fact that they’ve both been sitting around my apartment for two weeks.

I moved mid-January and inherited a 2-person bar area. Hence, I went on a search for some affordable seats with personality. The problem with most though is that they are either super slick and modern or leather and wood. All scream ‘boring!’. So after eating dinner on the floor a few nights in a row, I settled for some plain microsuede stools from Target.com ($100 each). 

The mochi made its way into my place much the same way: I settled. There was a man at Whole Foods giving out samples. And boy was he a master of persuasion. He told me I had ‘amazing energy,’ and since I haven’t had a date in a while, I blushed and put this weird brown square stuff in my basket, promising myself I wouldn’t waste it.

Tonight I must make something out of these items: barstools with personality & a meal worth writing about.

BARSTOOLS:

Reupholstering these stools was so simple. You only need a staple gun, screwdriver, scissors, marker, and a sturdy fabric. Crafty people might have more specific tools, but this is what I got. I also recommend using an iron, but I don’t seem to have one anymore so I’m saying it’s optional. 

MOCHI:

Mochi is a bread alternative made out of rice. It’s wheat-free, dairy-free and gluten-free. Sounds tasty. I decided to use it as a base for bruschetta and then fill it with peanut butter & jelly for dessert. For these you need: One tomato, a half onion, fresh basil & fresh oregano, olive oil, salt, balsamic vinegar, peanut butter, jelly. And of course, the package of mochi ($3.39 at Whole Foods).

BARSTOOLS:

I spent a while looking for a fabric sturdy enough to withstand the up and down of my "rear" every day, and decided on toile. I love it. It adds just enough color, matches with everything, reminds me of the olden days, and is pretty thick. I wouldn’t recommend it for an entire room, but for a small stool or pillow, it’s pretty rad. Most crafty people would  sew this into a perfectly fitted circle with a band that easily slides onto the top of a cushion. But I’m a working woman. I have one evening. I’m going ghetto style. This means that the fabric will fold slightly as it bends over the stool, but I don’t mind this at all. It seems fairly simple, but here’s a way to ensure it goes swimmingly:

1. Screw off the cushion (took just a second.)

2. Designate a front and back of the cushion.

3. Position the cushion exactly where you want it to land on the fabric. I wanted the lady with her sheep front and center, so I placed it accordingly. 

4. Mark about 5 inches around the cushion and cut out a circle. 

5. Starting at the front and center point, fold the fabric over to the back, smooth it with your hand, and staple as close to the edge as possible. (less than a centimeter in).

6. Pull the fabric tight until it’s smooth and staple on the opposite edge. 

7. Do the same on both sides so you have the four sides pinned down.

8. Starting in the front again, smooth the fabric around the cushion and staple about every inch. Use both hands to smooth the fabric as far as you can go so that the tiny folds start on the very bottom of the cushion. Work your way from front to side and then front to side again before getting to the back. This way, if you have any loose fabric that needs a large fold, it will be in the back.

9. Once you’ve stapled all around the edges, cut off all the excess fabric.

10.          Screw the cushion back on the stool. And repeat.

11.          You now have 2 stools with personality in 40 minutes.  

MOCHI:

1, Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.

2. Cut the weird brown log into one-inch squares. It takes a bit of strength. 

3. Place them on a cookie sheet & bake for 10 minutes (I went 13 minutes, and they sort of exploded). 

4. Meanwhile, dice the tomato, onion, oregano, and basil and mix in a bowl. Add salt and oil to taste.

5. Once the mochi is out of the oven, it will be a warm puff. Poke the top with a knife to form a hole. 

6. Fill this hole with the bruschetta topping. I added a tiny avocado slice as well and drizzled with balsamic.

7. Total time=20 minutes

And that’s it. I sat on my new stool to eat my new meal. The stool felt fabulous. It’s such an accomplishment to know you can make something for yourself instead of relying on stores to have exactly what you want. And the mochi... was good. The bruschetta mixture tasted fresh and light, but I knew that already; it’s one of my go-to recipes.  I’d say the mochi was a bit too chewy for this dish. I almost felt like I was eating gum long after I’d swallowed the tomatoes. Afterward though, I filled the mochi with PB+J, and it was delicious. The baklava-like consistency paired much better with sweet. I would buy it again to serve as a fun mouse bouche at parties. Thanks, persuasive man at Whole Foods!

And thanks to Brittany for motivating me. I tried two new things and am no longer staring at that weird brown log eyeing me when I open the fridge.

*more Mochi info here: http://www.grainaissance.com/mochi.html