newly painted dining room and upholstered shield back chairs

What have I been doing for the past three months?  Painting my dining room...with an artist's brush, just  a few tiny strokes per day.  Actually, I've been working out of the home since the beginning of February but I did paint my dining room during my hiatus.  I am in absolute love with the color.  It's called Deep Sea Depths by Benjamin Moore.  I had it color matched to Sherwin Williams Duration paint because I like it and I get a family employee discount there.  My husband actually did most of the painting, it was his birthday present to me.  He's a really great cutter-inner, much more patient than I am.  Here's what it looked like before.

I've also been working on my dining room chairs.  I bought them just a little over a year ago, I actually have two sets of shield-back chairs for a total of 11.  I have 6 completed and plan to finish at least 2 more to flank the buffet.  I'm not sure if I'll keep going after that or not, they're labor intensive, and I'm not convinced it's really worth all that work for the (very seldom) occasion that I have more than 8 people seated 'round my table.   I may go into more detail about how I upholstered them (inspired by a Pure Design episode) if anyone is curious.  I didn't take process photos but I could with the next few.

The balloon centerpiece and chinese lanterns are left over from a birthday dinner I threw for a few friends last weekend.  Hosting the celebration was what helped me get in gear to finish up the chairs and paint, I work well with under pressure.  Now I need a new deadline for my next round of to-do's.  Anyone have a birthday or any other special occasion coming up?

happy new year

Happy New Year and welcome to 2011. What did you do for fun? We had planned to go visit friends in Chicago but decided it was too much driving after all that we did over Christmas, so we threw an impromptu dinner party, with yummy food, fun games and my favorite: lots of laughter.

I also worked on my photography a little bit, can you tell? We had a really sunny weekend, which isn't very common of the winters in Wisconsin.

The low point of the weekend was watching the Badgers lose the Rose Bowl on Saturday, though we were at a fun party with lots of delicious eats, so I didn't complain too much.

Yesterday, Ryan and I went to church for the first time in about a year, did some goal-setting and planning for the coming year, and cleaned. I love this time of year, it's a fresh start.

dinner under the stars

And now, for the 2nd of 2 rare dinner/food based posts...

Right on the heels of one of the best dinners I have ever had, this one wasn't far behind. It was a potluck style dinner with 6 couples from the dinner group I'm involved with. Though the food was amazing, it was really the setting, the weather and the company that made for the special night. You can see the Argentinian menu Sarah posted on The Hungry Bambino. Ryan and I were in charge of the steaks and desert which proved to be 2 really easy dishes to serve as the hosts--basically no prep which left more time for the details. One thing I love about being involved in a dinner club is trying my hand at different dishes that I wouldn't normally pick to cook. It was our first time with flank steaks and I'm happy to report we'll be making them again, soon. I really wanted to get my hands on one of the hand-cranking ice cream makers for the desert but alas, with my husband out of a job currently, it "wasn't a smart purchase"-his words. Sassy Cow did a good job of filling in where I left off.

Okay, so I didn't end up using any of my recommended porch party picks, but I did set a pretty table. I always like to add at least one thing to my "entertaining arsenol" when I have a party, so this time I bought the checkered table cloth, which was really just 4 yards of fabric at JoAnn's. I didn't even hem it, it cut really well and, frankly, I didn't have time, nor did I care. I also invested in 12 steak knives, because I'm forever trying to hunt them down for parties. I actually got mine at T.J. Maxx for $30/dozen! I didn't realize until just now what I great deal I got. The wooden container had me at first glance, I'm such a sucker for packaging. The napkins were tea towels from Ikea. I pick up 10 or so each time I make the grand voyage. With the ones I just added to my collection for this occasion, I probably own 50 now--no joke. The name tags were made out of old ledger paper I bought from Big Sheep Yarns ages ago, and the rosemary was clipped from my herb garden. Everything else was native to the Stephenson household from previous parties.

Any big picnic dinners in store for your holiday weekend? Bon appetite!

milkweed dinner club, can you keep a secret?

Hi there! How was your weekend? Is that a funny question for a Wednesday? I was struck with a horrible ailment on Monday and Tuesday and was left pretty much useless so the weekend is still fresh in my mind. I had 2 wonderful meals over the weekend, one of which I want to tell you about now. I don't usually write about restaurants or food here at Art Wall but this experience was too special to keep to myself.

We spent Friday night at an underground dinner club of sorts called Milkweed, tucked in the hills near Spring Green, Wisconsin on a family farm. Milkweed isn't a restaurant, per se, but rather a unique dinner party experience by invitation or referral only, given by Isaac Spicer and his wife Huvvah, along with other available members of their family.

On the drive through the rolling hills of Wisconsin to get to Milkweed, we (myself, my husband and our friends) discussed our favorite meals ever. Some were all about the food, others the company, the ambiance and the overall experience. Our dinner at Milkweed combined all of the ingredients it takes to make a really special meal, starting with the drive itself. I don't fashion myself much of a "driver" for hobby or sport but the winding country roads of Wisconsin that lead us to Milkweed are among the prettiest in the Midwest.

The drive ended when we pulled up to the most charming spot, with a pea gravel walk (my favorite) leading the way through a cut-flower garden to our table. Did I mention there was a baby bunny on the trail? I lie not.

The bunny wasn't the only animal we encountered at Milkweed. The chickens there are free to roam the grounds and a few walked right by our table. Lola the dog joined our little group for a while, we heard several cows mooing nearby and the frogs and crickets were in full-out orchestra by the time our meal began.

The meal itself was 7 courses prepared with only ingredients found on the farm or nearby. We started out with turnip soup followed by a green salad. Next was a berry sorbet served in the cutest teeny-tiny cup. The entree was braised beef with mashed potatoes, peas and baby carrots. Desert was a cream puff with ice cream and berries followed by a cheese plate and last-but-not-least: chocolate truffles with mint tea or cappuccino.

The little house on the grounds was nearly all hand made by Spicer. It is a tiny one-bedroom loft with a gourmet kitchen. A small studio structure stood there previously, and he added the living space, kitchen and loft. The bathroom which is shared with the dining guests is an outhouse 200 yards away. That's right, I said the guests use an outhouse. It's actually not bad, it's illuminated only with candles, strong incense is the only thing you smell and the sink is built into one of the many sculptures found on the property, complete with sparkle lights and flower boxes.

There are some meals in life that you just know you will always remember starting from the moment you sit down. Our meal last weekend at Milkweed was one of those experiences. The food was amazing, the atmosphere was breathtaking, our company: divine. Yep, this one is going down in the books, folks. Since we're now official members of "the club," feel free to ask me for a referral. I'll let you know the secret password if you're nice. Wink.

Images: 1, 5, 7: Katie Stephenson

Image 2: Katie Cannon

Images: 3, 4, 6: Milkweedclub

tuesday's top 12: planning a porch party

I'm in the middle of planning for an outdoor dinner party coming up in a few weeks. There's a group of 12 or so couples who get together for monthly meals, either at a restaurant or at someone's home. I'm in charge of June, but instead of making a menu like I should be, my mind is floating to the table. I'll probably end up using things I already have for the most part, buuuut it might be fun to indulge in a few new party things. Here's my top 12 picks for festive outdoor entertaining:

1) My favorite feature for summer atmosphere: bistro lights.

2) The inspiration for the color-scheme, 2 new Paper Source colors: peacock and persimmon circle cards and square envelopes.

3) I thought these galvanized drywall mud pans would make nice tea-light containers, with sand in the bottom from the beach.

4) What's more summery than drinking a vodka-lemonade from a mason jar mug?

5) I have fond memories of cranking out ice cream on hot summer nights with a White Mountain machine. There's just something about the process involved that makes the ice cream so rewarding.

6) Environmentally friendly Bambu plates. Luckily, they're cute too.

7) A suzani-inspired tablecloth from Anthropologie.

8) Pretty yellow napkins.

9) The Porch Parties book --just for fun.

10) Even plain water would look good in this drink dispenser.

11) I'm really into this straight, simple glass salad bowl. The prettier the salad, the better.

12) The verdict is still out on whether you would get mouth-splinters, but the cuteness factor, paired with the green-ness would make this flatware worth a try.