A little of this, a little of that.

I spent a few hours on Saturday painting those previously mentioned tables. They turned out really nicely if I do say so myself. They look like completely new pieces and go great with the other wood furniture already in the room(s). Once I get my new furniture I'll commence with the chair project. If it turns out remotely well, I'll throw up some before and after pictures. I didn't think to take any before pictures of the tables and bench I painted over the weekend so if I can find any pictures that just happen to have those items in it, I may take some after photos for comparison.

I made a truly delicious citrus risotto on Saturday which I basically made up - check it:

1 small yellow onion
2 T butter
1 clove of garlic
1 c arborio rice (risotto)
1 c dry white wine
4 c hot water or chicken broth
1/4 c mascarpone cheese (or cream cheese)
zest from one medium lemon
zest from one medium orange
1/4 c grated Parmesan cheese
salt and pepper

Cook onion, garlic, butter, salt and pepper (to taste) together over medium heat until the onions are translucent. Add rice, stir to coat, let cook about 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Add wine and bring to low boil, stirring constantly. The rice will begin to release some of its starch and it will become a creamy consistency. Once that happens, begin adding the water or broth about a cup at a time. The water/broth should be hot (boiling if possible). Stir constantly to keep it creamy and prevent sticking. As the rice soaks up the water, add more. The rice will not soak up all of the liquid but should remain a thick, creamy consistency and is done when there is no more excess "liquid" in the pot. Taste the rice to make sure that it's not undercooked and still "hard" or "raw" in the middle. When it's fully cooked, turn heat to low and add the mascarpone, Parmesan and zest, stir thoroughly. Salt and pepper to taste and serve. De-lish!

Turns out Serena didn't kill anyone so much as stand next to a guy who OD'd on his own damn drugs. Between that and the Georgina/Dan storyline it was the first time I was disappointed by Gossip Girl. Fortunately they included a fair bit of Chuck/Nate/Blair perfection and a soupcon of Rufus and Lilly awesomeness which salvaged the episode from being a total loss.

Dan is so totally going to kill a minister to get to the top of the transplant list! Mark Schwann has 86'd almost all of the "adults" from OTH - killed Keith, sent Karen to live on a yacht with Andy, wrote Whitey off into the sunset, hell, they even sent Victoria packing already - yet he keeps shoving Dan down our throats. WTF? I don't think this is a show that needs a "bad guy" anymore anyway, there is plenty of drama to be had without him. Like Nathan's struggle to get basketball back and also be a good husband, father, brother and coach; Hailey trying to balance being a wife, mother, teacher and aspiring pop star; Brooke's journey to becoming an adoptive mother; Mouth shooting his career in the foot to protect Lucas from being exposed for the massive tool that he is; Lucas mooning over Lindsey and totally telling Peyton that he hates her and she ruined his life which, I have to admit, was kind of fantastic. Also, hopefully, Brooke having an affair with Dr. Gorgeous the baby-saving heart surgeon. Meanwhile, the less said about the un-holy Skillz/Deb union, the better!

Booth got SHOT! He'll obviously live but still, that's a pretty good cliff-hanger ending to an ep. I still think that Zack is either Gormagon or Big G's inside man at the Jeffersonian so I think we shall be bidding him farewell in some capacity next week.

Reaper was inexplicably renewed for another season which is news that makes me kind of happy, I guess. This weekend I found some spare time to get caught up on three episodes of Reaper I had saved up on the ol' TiVo and I enjoyed them all. I was sad to see Steve die but I love Ken Marino to an almost disturbing degree so I was more than thrilled that Tony was the sole survivor of the failed plot to take down Lucifer. I hope they keep him around past this season. I would hate to have the one story arc that finally captured my attention and made the show more than just a middling escaped-soul-of-the-week time-passer be pissed away so soon. Which reminds me, Ken Marino's Vinnie Van Lowe is one of the things I miss most about Veronica Mars. I think I need to bust out those DVDs again.

I didn't manage to watch House last night but as I was finishing my delayed viewing of Gossip Girl I did see part of it wherein Cuddy was dressed as a school girl and working the hell out of a stripper pole, much to House's delight. I must admit, I'm intrigued, so I'll be attempting to catch up on that tonight.

I'm all caught up on The Tudors. I hate everyone in the Boleyn family but I just love how the greedier Pappa B gets, the more unhinged Anne gets and the more she winds up shooting herself in the foot. I mean, if she wanted Katherine and Mary killed, she really should have asked him to do it just after he effing married her. Maybe the first time she was pregnant and he fully believed she'd give him his long-awaited son. Instead she waits until Henry is pissed off at her for about a million different reasons, has the worlds most aggressively hot sex with him after God only knows how long of him avoiding her bed like the black plague, then, about 45 seconds after he comes, essentially DEMANDS that he kill his first WIFE AND DAUGHTER! (And after that scene reading her dying words to him, I totally believe Henry still loved Katherine.) The look on his face at the moment of Anne's post-coital idiocy was priceless. I could practically see her head being sliced off in his mind's eye! Oh, and as if that weren't the very height of stupidity, she compounds the problem by purposely making an enemy of Thomas Cromwell - one of only two people left at Court that Henry still trusts (Brandon being the other one)? It's no damn wonder the woman ends up a head shorter!