A table!

When we first got married, we bought this small oval table that we thought was a pretty good deal but it didn't have chairs.  No biggie.  We can buy some matching chairs later.  Did we? No. Chairs can be expensive! We borrowed some from Kart's parents for a couple years, and then returned those and ended up buying cheap folding chairs, and that's been our table set for the last 8 years.  It barely sat 6 with the leaf.  I guess I always thought we'd upgrade to a better table that came with chairs long ago, but other things always took financial priority. This year, after getting our tax return, I finally had enough and MADE it priority! Kart decided to use our old table as an art table he can do his spray mounting on in the garage, and I happily told him to take it away but only if I could buy a new table.  He said ok, and I was determined to find something as soon as possible.  Well, agreeing on something "solid" enough for my carpenter husband and stylish enough for me was tough.  Luckily we finally found something we both liked and the price was great.  So we got it! But we had to wait for it because they had to order it.  A week and a half later it arrived, but when we got it out of the box we discovered the leaf was severely damaged! I was so frustrated! Luckily Kart convinced them to come pick it up (we had to pick it up from SLC) and replace it.  (they have to replace the whole table because the leaf is custom for each table) But they can't do that until the 30th.  So until then we're just going to use the table.   I hope it doesn't take long to get it replaced.  I hate being without a table. Here's some pictures of the table in our home.  When we get the new table we'll be able to put the leaf in and it fits 8 people! I'm so excited to have a big table so we can comfortably have people over for dinner!

 I love the color of the wood stain.  It's pretty much a walnut stain even though it's listed as cherry, which is great because our other furniture Kart has made for us is all a similar stain.

I was so excited to serve dinner on our new table the night we got it set up.  It sounds silly, but I felt so fancy and grown up eating eating on our nice table with our new-ish dishes, and eating a beautiful salmon dinner. It was delicious! I think you should try it sometime.  And get your Salmon at Costco- it's the best! (it's in the refrigerated section where the fish comes whole, boneless and skinless)

Roasted Salmon with Shallot Grapefruit Sauce

recipe via Ellie Krieger

Ingredients

• 4 skinless salmon fillets, 5 to 6 ounces each
• 1/4 teaspoon salt, plus more for seasoning
• 2 ruby red grapefruits
• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• 1 tablespoon minced shallot
• 1 teaspoon freshly grated ginger
• 2 1/2 teaspoons honey
• Pinch cayenne pepper
• 2 teaspoons lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons thinly sliced basil leaves

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Season the salmon with 1/4 teaspoon salt, place in a baking dish and roast until cooked through, about 18 minutes.

While the salmon is cooking prepare the sauce. Cut 1 of the grapefruits into sections by cutting off the top and bottom of the fruit, then standing it on 1 end, cut down the skin to remove the pith and peel. Then, with a paring knife, remove each segment of fruit from its casing and cut the segments in half. Set the segment pieces aside. Juice the other grapefruit and set the juice aside.

In a medium skillet, heat the oil over a medium heat. Add the shallot and saute until softened, about 2 minutes. Add the ginger, grapefruit juice, honey, and cayenne pepper and bring to simmer. Cook until sauce is reduced by about half about, 10 minutes. Add lemon juice and season with salt, to taste. Right before serving, toss the grapefruit pieces and basil into the sauce. Put the salmon onto a serving dish. Spoon sauce over the salmon and serve.