Finished Bathroom

THE BATHROOM - BEFORE...more dizzy wallpaper, a fixture that literally fell apart when we took it down it was so rusted, and a bathroom that was filled with mold due to lack of fan. It's already a small bathroom and this "dark" made it look smaller. Bathroom size was of no importance in 1917(ish)

A FINISHED BATHROOM

...new drywall, fresh paint, some serious sanding, new plugs and electical wiring, a fan installation, deep bleaching with a toothbrush type of scrubbing, and again, A LOT of love later, we have a new bathroom.

Finished - One Room At A Time

BEDROOM #2 BEFORE

...it felt so tiny I often wondered how anybody fit furniture in there.

...are you dizzy yet?

..ugh..



BEDROOM #2 DURING RENOVATIONS

...layer after layer after layer...we gave up.

...and put up new drywall.



BEDROOM #2 FINISHED!!

..fresh paint ceiling to floor, new trim, new floors, new electrical fixtures including overhead light and A LOT of love.

Everytime I walk in this room, I can never believe it used to be so dark, dank and ugly. It's so light and airy now. The energy that runs through this house is amazing compared to what it used to be.

The Good And The Bland

The good. I ventured into the Skagit Valley Food Co-Op the other day with one thing in mind. Wild rice. Everywhere else has wild rice but it's mixed in with other rices. I wanted pure, untainted, wild rice. At almost $10/lb, I bought just under 1lb and then slowly walked over the chocolate isle. A $3 chocolate bar. A treat to savor and hide from the little miss. Both me and my husband have thoroughly enjoyed a tiny piece of this bar after dinner. Now off to experiment with wild rice. It now even has it's own jar. Yay!

The bland. Brown rice. This was one of our healthy days. The chicken wasn't bad, I seasoned it with pepper and tarragon. The rice however, was bland. The sad part is, that it took almost an hour to do. I sauteed onions and peppers, the added the rice, then added thyme, pepper, water, and vegetable broth. I covered it and let it simmer for 45 minutes. It looked good but I was disappointed in the flavors. I won't be adding that recipe to my box.

Treasures Amidst Projects Of Past, Present, And Future.

As of this moment, my #1 project is of course, the house we are renovating. We are so so close to being done before we can put it up for rent. I can almost count the hours. That of course is my project "soon to be past".

This fabric, is project #2. An apron. This is suppose to be a gift, but I fall in love with the pattern more and more each day so I'm thinking about keeping it for my own apron, and shopping for another pattern for my friend. Which is all good, because a brand new and twice the size JoAnn Fabrics just opened and I have really good coupons to use. I only have a few weeks to complete this so it won't be sitting around for long. This is one of my projects "future".

Project #3. About 8 years (ish) ago, my in-laws moved into a new house. They took with them I assume, pieces of large furniture and put everything else in boxes. All of those boxes, went directly into storage and haven't been opened since. I'm told there are 140-180 boxes of more stuff than you can imagine. So, without my husband in the room, me and my father-in-law made a deal. He brings me 1 box a day, and I get to go through it and take whatever I want and sell everything else. This is my project "future".

I've heard over time of the treasures that lie beneath. Like this set of crystal. Now their mine. There's 3 different sizes, and although I'm missing 2 pieces, there seems to be 6 of each. This alone is worth the work I have ahead of me. Also, I found a ton of fabric. Fabric, is not cheap. I found this white fabric all bundled up and a light went off in my head. I've been wanting to make my own napkins because buying cloth napkins is ridiculously overpriced. This will be perfect for everyday use and I can make like 20. But that still leaves about 8 yards left over. Tablecloth? Ahh, the possibilities.

This is another piece of fabric I found. There seems to be about 8 yards. It's very soft, and I've learned that the softer a fabric is, the more expensive it gets so I'm keeping this and in time will find something to do with it. Maybe an outdoor tablecloth to use during summer when we eat outside? Again, the possibilites are endless.

Among other things that I have found; an apple peeler with multiple settings, and individual soup bowls that have lids so you can serve them, and the soup won't get cold. Perfect for Miso soup, and they're even from Japan so how fitting! Also, I found some unique small/medium size stainless steel bowls. Some stuff will be going to Goodwill, some just needs to be thrown out, and I have to say that there is a lot of good stuff for a garage sale...or 5. Anyone want a big gumball machine?

I plan on doing a slow roast for dinner. With the little time I've had, I try and get to the garden, I start to make progress, and then it rains for 4 days. I've planted some seeds but am wondering if they're going to even be able to come up with all this rain. They need sun. I'm starting to wonder if I am going to need to buy starts.

A Long Desired Item - All Mine!

Big, sealing jars. I have wanted to fill my kitchen with these for a long time and have bought just 2, both at least 2 years ago. I was driving along one day and it was the first day for garage sales in my area. I need a bumper sticker that says "will break for garage sales!" So true. I stopped at one and saw these immediatly and went straight for them. No matter what this woman was asking, it had to be cheaper than the ones I've drooled over forever. I wasn't leaving without them. I got 8 of these for $1! A total savings of $142. Score!

The large jars go for about $20 each at Gretchens and Dicks, the small ones about $12. I felt like I stole them. I searched out for some new seals today, spending only $7 to replace them all. I filled one with coffee beans, replacing my smaller jar which will now be used for something else. One with jasmin rice, long grain rice, powder sugar, and brown sugar. I still have more to fill and am planning on going through my cupboards to search out another annoying bag of something so I can trap it a jar...that seals!

The designs on them may be "outdated" and some people might think they're ugly. I for one have already warmed up nicely to the unique design on them. I'm sure that by tomorrow, they will have grown on me nicely.

90% Finished...Just A Taste.

Living room before. Can you believe there was a carpet over another carpet? Just different shades of green.

I know it's a dark picture - but this is the dining room - the room with all the gold wallpaper...before.

Sort of a view of both rooms. Refinished hard floors (still drying in this picture), freshly done walls, trim, and ceilings. Will provide more detailed pics later.

Hallway storage before.

After. Fresh sanding and paint, new knobs.

The darkness of the master bedroom before.

After. Again, refinished hardwood floors (still drying so it looks funny), fresh painted walls, trim, doors and windows.

Birthday Baking

So I asked my husband what kind of cake he wanted for his birthday. He thought for a minute, and replied with "a simple chocolate cake, with vanilla ice cream." Ok! So I looked for a simple chocolate recipe. Found one that was so simple, I spend a whole 15 minutes putting it together. No melting chocolate, no heating milk, no chocolate shaving.

But then I did the frosting. Fudge frosting. I got to do some melting, boiling, stirring, cooling and mixing. It was fun and sooo good. Perfect amount of fudge taste to it.

His cake. The way the cake baked, caused it to go lopsided once I frosted it. I didn't notice it before or I would have done some shaving. Oops! Made for a few interesting cuts later in the evening.

So I asked my husband what he wanted for his birthday dinner. He literally looked up "good birthday dinners" online. Clicked on the first thing and called out - "I want pork tenderloin and roasted potatoes with a side of salad." OK!

So here, I am browning the pork before I throw it into the crock pot for a long slow cook.

I realize this picture looks pretty nasty. My camera batteries died, and I couldnt get a picture of it all mixed and ready to serve. It was a mushroom sauce, cooked with some white wine, evap milk and lemon juice as a sub for sour cream, and some salt and pepper. It was really good! I was surprised how it turned out! Almost like a stroganoff, but I thought it was better. I made his roasted potatoes seasoned well, browned a bit and topped with just a bit of parmesan cheese. His salad was baby spinach, feta, tomato, pepper, and oil. He was happy and so I was successful.

Friday Night Food

My new honey stock. I got it from a different farm today. It claims to be pure, raw honey, but I'm convinced it's been strained to some degree. :( Why do they do that? I hope my normal bee man starts selling again soon. Maybe he's saving his stock for the farmers market that will start in a couple of weeks. Well, I suppose this will have to do.

Pork. Topped with fresh rosemary, thyme, garlic, a bit of salt and drizzled with olive oil. Stick a temp reader in it, and toss it in the oven. These pieces were huge and took almost an hour. Well done for pork is 170, so I took it out at 165. Meat will always continue cooking even when pulled out of the oven so you should always take it out a bit early.

The "rustic Spanish tomato sauce" as Chef Ramsay calls it. Chopped onion, bell peppers, chili powder, tomatoes, powder sugar, a splash of water, and the drippings from the meat when you take it out of the oven.

Then you throw your sauce over the meat and serve. He suggested you serve this with rice. I wanted to make potatoes, but followed his suggestion and went with a simple rice pilaf with peas.

This is Tequila Lime Chicken that I started marinating last night. This was for my dinner party tonight, but we had to cancel and reschedule it. So I have this huge bowl of chicken. I'm thinking it's going to be pretty spicy. This was going to be the main course, so I'm not sure now what I should serve with this tonight. Maybe I'll do some tortillas, a simple spanish rice and roll it all up. ?? I'm not sure.

Quick Update

Sorry, I haven't been taking my camera to the house lately. It's probably a good thing because there's been a lot of sanding going on and the dust is pretty bad. My husband started sanding the old wood floors yesturday and even though they aren't finished - they're already beautiful! It's such a shame people would cover that up with blue and green carpets.

I on the other hand, have been painting more than I ever have in my life, I am almost done though! I've learned to caulk edges and stuff to make it nice and flush, which is time consuming, but necessary. The window frames have taken up at least half of my time and I only have 1 more to go, those are by far my least favorite thing to paint. They're nice old windows so the frames have all sorts of edges. Nothing like the blah blah you see today in houses. I must say, they sure do look good with fresh paint on them!

So I actually get some time away from this project to be home with the girls. Tomorrow, some new flooring will be installed as well as a few other little things. Like a new ladder going up to the attic in the mother-in-law house out back, and gutters. In my head, I'm writing a quick guide to renovating an entire house - with both realistic expectations, and humor all in one. It will be fun!

Let's Talk Cake Shall We?

Again, this is what I want for Isabels 1st birthday cake. I am going to make this cake if I have to re-do it 10 times, I will. Obviously, it will have it's differences. I am no fan of fondant - it tastes terrible.

So I searched and searched and searched online for butterflies that looked real, and found these. Considering they're going on a cake, these cost me a small fortune. I have 24, in various different sizes, mostly shades of pink with a few that are much lighter in color - it will create the perfect contrast. I am so excited! Now to buy new round cake pans and get back to finding the perfect white cake.

I have decided, since I mentioned that dirty little phrase "white cake", that if I can't find the perfect recipe - I will make carrot cake. That I know I can do because I have the perfect recipe for that. Or there's lemon cake...

Comfort Food

Chicken & Dumplings. I have mixed feelings about the way this turned out. The whole thing took 3 hours. I had to slow cook my chicken and vegetables with just salt and pepper to make a good broth. Although it looked and smelled great, I felt it lacked in strong flavors. Next time I will either use a different recipe or add a bit of chicken stock - like maybe 3 cups of water and 1 cup of stock, and throw in some other herbs.

Thickening it with Bisquick. I then dropped the bisquick dough on top of this once it was nice n' thick. It was suppose to cook 10 minutes with the lid on, and then another 10 minutes without the lid. The recipe said to not let the dough be submerged in the soup. How was that possible? The weight factor alone made that impossible. They didn't cook very well, and you had to spoon some of the dumpling off to the side. Most people would wonder why I just didn't cook it any longer. Well, the parts that were cooked would have then been overcooked and then we would be eating an odd type of soup. Plus, I just spent 3 hours on this dinner and this household is on a tight schedule, so I just didn't have time.

In the end, it wasn't bad, but just needed some tweeking, and maybe next time add an additional 30 minutes of cook time to be safe and ensure that the dumplings are cooked properly. I fell asleep reading my Fast Food cookbook by Chef Gordon Ramsay. I can't wait to start really cooking again, so many yummy things to try!

P.S.

Apparently it is time for new round cake pans. I did some reading on cake pans, and my pans are no longer shiny therefor no longer reflecting resulting in cakes browning too fast and drying out. There's a bit more to it, but in the end, I have round cake pans on my grocery list so I'll get some next time I go out grocery shopping. Maybe it's time anyways. Haven't been to Gretchens in a while so this will be fun!

Electrical Specticle With A Pot Of What?

A plug. LOL, that's funny. I took a picture of this plug because it's the first plug I've ever changed and I didn't electrocute myself! I've made it my goal to know this house through and through. One thing I realized I hadn't bothered with, was the electrical - which might I add - was a mess! So to replace each of these plugs takes time. Your dealing with stiff copper wiring and to make it more interesting, as my husband says "this house is not normal", we never know what kind of wiring we are going to find until we pull the whole plug out. Some are wired with stuff from the 20's, then the next one is new and properly installed, then the next one is updated, but backwards. Changing these requires about 10 minutes of time per plug, and that's if it's done properly from the beginning. So he taught me how to do this, and again, if it's done right to begin with, I can do it. I have to say I was proud of myself.

Part of kitchen. Ready to be finished with a high gloss paint and new knobs.

This is another corner of the kitchen and a view of the storage in the small hallway. All ready for paint and new knobs.

I finally painted one of the bedrooms today. All the plugs and switches have been replaced (after they were fixed), windows and trim all primered and ready for paint and then my favorite part - the new floor. This "color" is called Classic Khaki - a good color for a rental house. Not plain ol' white, but something everyone can work with no matter their style.

I'm in the mood to cook today, but am craving spaghetti. I'll do a slow cook I think and bake some fresh bread. My husband is at the house doing electrical, so I'm enjoying a bit of quite time with Mia. I always enjoy having time to set the table without any kind of rush. Been a good Friday so far!

Sore Like An Old Lady

I'm sore. My whole body hurts and the worst part? I MISSED my massage yesturday thinking it was today! I just about died when I went to check what time it was at to see that it was 7 hours earlier! Awful.

I didn't cook at all yesturday because I was at the other house doing some work. Primer, primer, primer. It took me 8 hours to do a handful of small, tedious things that require time; like windows, door frames, a door etc; It's comin' along well although we are having a problem with the electrical. Some is still from the 20's and whomever was paid to come in and update it, cut a lot of corners. In the beginning, there were live wires hanging all over the place in the attic and it's a wonder the house didn't burn to the ground decades ago! That part has since been fixed but also, it's as if 2 different people did the wiring because at one plug, black is live and white is ground. The next plug over will be opposite - and all in the same room. It's definitly been a pain in the ass for my husband to change the plugs, but in the end the house will no longer be a sitting fire trap.

Oh ya, I did make someone something yesturday - my daughter told me her bunny needed a cup of hot coffee and brought me a tea cup to fill - so I did, and she sat at the table and ate her breakfast while bunny enjoyed hot coffee.

How To Eat Upside Down & Crumbling Cake...Sigh.

My "moist white cake" going into the oven.

A new recipe for chocolate frosting. First, it only made enough frosting to frost in between layers or do maybe 10 cupcakes, if that. Second, it was too sweet. So I modified the recipe by quadrupling the ingredients, but cutting out a lot of sugar. By doing so, I not only got enough to frost a 2 layer cake, but it actually tasted like chocolate frosting, not brown powdered sugar frosting. Score!

First time I've ever had a cake spill or overflow in the oven. Once I saw the huge mess on the bottom, I quickly threw some tin foil in there to help with the mess.

Here I added more melted down chocolate and butter into the small amount of already mixed frosting.

Carefully plotting out how much sugar to NOT use. One bit at a time and numerous taste tests later, success!

So here's the thing. These cakes would not come out of the pans...at all! Instead I had a pile of warm, crumbled, piled up white cake - that was nice n' moist. I didn't care too much because this was all an experiment for my daughter's birthday cake in August anyways. I have had some pretty bad results with white cake in the past and I'm determined to fix it. I greased and floured the pans pretty well, and I even added a bit of powdered sugar to the pan. Don't know what this was about, I just gave up thinking about it and moved on.

So when I tried to do the second one, I got the same thing. Now I'm just annoyed AND I have a messy kitchen. Is it too early for a shot of Kahlua?

So this is what you do; you spoon or fork a bit of frosting, then...

You grab a bit of cake...

And you take a bite and call it good.

In the end, with eyes closed, it's a good cake. But what went wrong with trying to get them out of the pans, I don't know that I will ever know. The frosting was just a bonus really. I plan on having cream cheese frosting for the birthday cake, a recipe I spent a long time working on and after about a year, I finally had the perfect mixture of sugar and cream cheese.

So do I add this to my white cake list of disaster? Do I make chocolate, devils food or german chocolate cake for Miss Bel or do I continue to be brave and hope one day I can come up with a cake I can actually present to other people? Gosh, life is tough isn't it? LOL