Kate Makes: A 15ft Wall Unit (ok... Paul Makes it)

Well, Monday came and went and now my Kate Makes post is LATE. Oy. But hopefully this makes up for it... 

While most 20-somethings who are out to furnish their first apartments flock to big box stores like Ikea, Target and West Elm, I head... well, home. To my sweet and talented Daddy. 

Below is a sketch I drew out in one of my moleskin journals back in early June. Because our apartment is lacking in square footage, I knew I needed a work horse of a wall unit. It had to function not only as a bookshelf, but also as kitchen and office storage and as two clothing wardrobes. And it had to fit EXACTLY along our living room wall. No one but my Dad could build it. Everyday I wake up and smile as I walk by and see the stacks of music books and nicknacks that now live on this massive piece of furniture made with LO and VE by none other than Pauly C. :)

Two months and an incredible number of hours of hard work later by my incredible daddy (with assistant from Jake and my mom) - here is what we got!

Some details of our living room below...  our favorite chair from Aunt Hortie and my Jonathan Adler pillow (from the back and front) a peek into Jake's wardrobe, my favorite moment framed, my new clutch from Roberta Freyman, my sacred Domino Magazine collection, my children's book selection and the Ampersand Jake gave me a few years ago, a few of my favorite owls, and Rufus (our Rhino's profile!) ....

Kate Makes: Her famous Banana Bread

Second post in our Kate Makes series... realizing now both have been doughy and require bananas. Oh well, will mix it up next week! But thought you really all should know about this awesome recipe. 

For the past few years I have been harboring a secret recipe for outstanding banana bread.  It's delicious. It's moist. It's so freakin' easy you wouldn't even believe it!

I am not a baker. Not at all. But this recipe makes me look like Betty Crocker. When I look for a recipe I use google (even though I own a silly amount of beautiful cook books) and my search usually looks something like "easiest recipe for [insert food]" or "simplest recipe for [insert food]". 

That is exactly how I stumbled across the recipe below. Now, before I share the recipe I will give you a few of my very own tips. Use the ripest bananas you can. The shmushier, the better. Also add more bananas than the recipe calls for. And last but not least substitute brown sugar for white sugar and don't be shy with the chocolate chips (or in this case, semi-sweet chocolate chunks!) Ok, go.

Found on: Simply Recipes

Poor Jake. I make him wait for what probably feels like an eternity to eat his banana bread so I can snap the perfect photo. And then I take pictures of him while he is trying to enjoy it. 

Kate Makes: Pancakes!

Kate Makes is going to be a weekly series here on little k + little j. Today's post was really just for fun, I made pancakes for the first time in our teeny-tiny kitchen and documented the event. I used bisquick, it was not a big deal. BUT, in the future, I hope having some allegiance to this series and my readers will inspire, or rather - guilt me into trying new recipes and projects that I haven't attempted thus far. Today I will be highlighting some of the fantastic gifts we've received off our wedding registry since there isn't much of a recipe!

Jake is allergic to dairy, I am allergic to soy. So for this particular chocolate chip pancake afternoon delight, I halved the recipe and made half dairy free and half soy free. And that's all there was to it!

The blue ceramic egg crate from Anthropologie (similar found here) was an engagement gift from my sister, it looks equally gorgeous filled with white or brown eggs and it's always my favorite thing in the fridge. West Elm's Owl Measuring Cups make any recipe cute. Crate and Barrel's 5-Piece Parker Nesting Mixing bowls are so pretty that I own two sets. They are great when baking or for filling with treats during a party! 

 Dilemma: no orange juice for a mimosa

Solution: diet snapple peach tea

Creation: White Trash Bellini 

Two parts champagne, one part peach tea and you've got yourself a white trash bellini. (name credit goes to Armand) I was so excited to finally use our Tour Champagne Flutes from Crate and Barrel (You should know later that same evening one was accidentally smashed on our floor, which is why we registered for reasonably priced aka easily replaceable glasses!).

The Griddler by Cuisinart is by far our favorite kitchen appliance on the registry as well as the most used. No burning, no sticking, no smoke and more importantly no smoke alarm piercing through your peaceful afternoon. We make everything from eggs to breaded tilapia to pancakes and panini sandwiches on it! 

voila! let's eat!