Ma Maison d'aujourd'hui...une mise a jour

(My house today...an update)

So today I painted some more of the door jams...less crisis over painting the wood today. I also finished up painting all of the baseboards. Did I mention that we are replacing all of the trim and baseboards? This also means I am painting the door jams. Tuesday night I started painting. Now, we have oak trim, which is ok but I really wanted larger trim and white so that there wouldn't be quite as much wood and not be so dark. When I started painting, it looked horrible. The paint was streaky and I instantly regretted it. I asked Derek to come and look as the anxiety was growing. I could hear all of the pro-wood, painting nay-sayers coming into the house and saying "I can't believe you painted the wood" and the feeling of regret grew. Thankfully, Derek came and talked me down from the ledge (metaphorically) and I'm ok...I think.

The nice thing about all of the changes is that as things are completed, Derek and I look at each other and say "It's going to look so great when it's done". I definitely have to keep my eye on the goal as the disorganization is threatening to get to me. (I know I shouldn't complain at all about being able to renovate though)

Here is an updated look of what my house looks like this evening (at the request of my Dad):

This is what the wood looks like after 1 coat of paint (so ugly):


Front Hall-the grey is levelling compound:


Living Room:


Dining Room-storage space (can you see my new rug? I love the chevron pattern!):


Bedroom with white painted trim!:


Our Bedroom-hardwood is in, but might come out for floor re-levelling:


Kitchen:


More Kitchen:


Laundry Room-catching stuff (I'm embarrassed about this room especially)


The Office-subfloor down and ready for hardwood:


The Back Closet with Garbage Can:


The Back Entrance:


The Garage:


The kitties don't seem to be bothered by the reno:

House Renos!

So...as with all renos, we started with something that actually needed doing. Our linoleum needed replacing, so we wanted to replace it with hardwood. Since we were doing that, we thought why not replace the carpet with hardwood too. Then we thought we would put tile at the entrances and the laundry room.

Realizing that doing the floors would require us to move the kitchen island, we thought that perhaps we should replace it. Then we thought, while we were doing that, we should raise the cabinets as we like my parents that are higher than standard. Since our oven is in the island we considered what we would replace it with and I said that I would eventually like to have a double oven and a flat cooktop. But if we're doing that we will need to replace the countertops. So then we might as well do a full kitchen reno as we don't like the configuration and the light fixture (nice 80's flourescent that breaks every time we replace a bulb)/ Oh, and I forgot to mention that baseboards and moldings are easier to replace and upgrade since they're already off.

Oh gosh, even with writing it down, it seems like a lot. ETA: June/July...I hope...

So we've been going at this for a week and a half, we are living downstairs, we have already had a few setbacks (unlevel front hall and out of stock tiles)

Here's a peak at what it started as and what is happening around here:





(before)

(before)

(My brother-in-law Scott doing the flooring in the kitchen)

(Derek and Scott removing the toilet. I had to crop the pic to avoid showing the plummer bum ;) )

(yes, that is a toilet in my kitchen)

Apple Bread Pudding

I was almost prepared and on top of things...almost. I bought a loaf of bread on Thursday to make garlic bread to go along with mussels in a tomato & white wine sauce that I was planning for supper. Well, that supper didn't happen, so tonight I was prepared to make it and realized that, while my mussels went off without a hitch, my bread was stale. My large (LARGE) french loaf, which fortunately only cost me $0.98, was crusty and dry.


So what was I to do? I didn't want to waste it, so I went on allrecipes.com and found a recipe for bread pudding, which also worked well since I had hard raisins and soft apples to get ri of as well. After soaking the raisins, they were as good as new.


GRANDMA'S APPLE BREAD PUDDING

Ingredients

PUDDING
4 cups soft bread cubes
1/4 cup raisins
2 cups peeled and sliced apples
1 cup brown sugar
1 3/4 cups milk
1/4 cup margarine
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs, beaten

VANILLA SAUCE
1/4 cup white sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup margarine
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 7x11 inch baking dish. In a large bowl, combine bread, raisins, and apples.


In a small saucepan over medium heat, combine 1 cup brown sugar, 1 3/4 cups milk, and 1/4 cup margarine. Cook and stir until margarine is melted.


Pour over bread mixture in bowl.
In a small bowl, whisk together cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon vanilla, and eggs. Pour bread mixture into prepared dish, and pour egg mixture over bread.


Bake in preheated oven 40 to 50 minutes, or until center is set and apples are tender.



While pudding is baking, mix together sugar, 1/4 cup brown sugar, 1/2 cup milk, and 1/2 cup margarine in a saucepan. Bring to a boil, then remove from heat, and stir in 1 teaspoon vanilla.


Serve over bread pudding.

Unplugged for a month...

I unplugged from blogging for a month and from email for part of that. It was nice but since email is one of the best ways for people to contact me, I had to get around to responding to emails. I don't know what it is about this time of the year but I get the urge to unplug the phone, stay at home in sweats and read or quilt with a hot cup of tea...maybe those will be my Saturday plans.

So in the last month we went to Florida for a winter getaway, a bit cold, but still not the daily grind. We've bought hardwood flooring that we will be installing in the spring. I still need to find tiles for the front and back entrances and the power room. Any suggestions on good tile sources?

Mexican Night-Ole!

Ok, so Ole is not Mexican, but we did have Mexican food last week, thanks to my brother-in-law , Adrian. He and my sister, Heather along with my cousin and her husband came over for supper. We had Carne Asada (BBQ beef tacos). The food was just as delightful as the company. Thanks Adrian!

(unfortunately I forgot to take more pics than these)

Comfort Food

I've been on a big comfort food kick as of late. I'm talking about warm, cooked until soft, give me a warm tummy feeling (with a hint of nostalgia), comfort food. I think it started with the Lamb, Rosemary, and Yam pie in Australia and has continued with the cold of winter.

Last week I made individual Mac and Cheese, Green Beans with Mushrooms, and Goat Cheese, Cranberry and Pecan Salad, Hot Chocolate and Cupcakes. Oh my, I'm getting hungry just thinking about it.

I found a very delightful little blog (by a Canadian!) called Everybody Likes Sandwiches thru a link via a link. The author had a great post about her favorite recipes of 2009 which, by the looks of it are comforting.

It looks like this comfort food trend may continue...

Blood Orange Cupcakes

I am loving the citrus that is showing up in the grocery store as of late. While grocery shopping last week, I saw blood oranges. With their bright color and strong orange flavor, I knew they would be lovely paired with some chocolate cupcakes for girls night!

I made chocolate cupcakes using my favorite recipe (so light and perfect for filling). Blood oranges took the place of lemons to make a curd filling and blood orange buttercream topped it all off. While it sounds like a lot of work, it's not too bad as each step is relatively simple.

Chocolate Cake
*makes 24 cupcakes or 3-9 inch round cakes

Ingredients
2 cups boiling water
1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup butter, softened
2 1/4 cups white sugar
4 eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease 3 - 9 inch round cake pans. In medium bowl, pour boiling water over cocoa, and whisk until smooth. Let mixture cool. Sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt; set aside.
In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs one at time, then stir in vanilla. Add the flour mixture alternately with the cocoa mixture. Spread batter evenly between the 3 prepared pans.
Bake in preheated oven for 25 to 30 minutes. Allow to cool.
*via allrecipes


Citrus Curd
*substitute your favorite citrus fruit. Makes enough to fill 24-30 cupcakes

Ingredients
1 cup sugar
Zest of 3 lemons
3 large eggs
4 large egg yolks
1 cup Meyer lemon juice
5 ounces unsalted butter, chilled and cut into small pieces

Directions
Prepare and ice-water bath. Set a medium bowl in ice-water bath and set aside.
Place sugar and lemon zest in a mortar and grind with a pestle to combine and release the oils. Transfer sugar mixture to a medium heatproof bowl along with eggs and egg yolks; whisk to combine. Place over a saucepan of simmering water and whisk until sugar has dissolved. Add lemon juice and continue whisking until mixture is thick and reaches 160 degrees on an instant-read thermometer, scraping down sides of bowl as necessary. Add butter and whisk until well combined.
Strain lemon mixture through a fine mesh sieve set over prepared bowl. Cover lemon curd with plastic wrap, pressing plastic wrap directly onto surface. Transfer to refrigerator until completely chilled
*from Martha Stewart

Citrus Buttercream
*you may substitute any citrus for the blood oranges

Ingredients
zest & juice of 1 orange
1/4 cup icing sugar, plus 2-3 cups
milk
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup butter, softened

Directions
Combine 1/4 cup icing sugar with lemon zest in a mortar and blend to release the citrus oil. Place orange icing sugar and butter in a bowl and beat to combine. Add 1/4 cup of icing sugar and the orange juice. Blend. Add the vanilla extract and 1/2 cup of icing sugar. Blend. Add milk and 1/2 cup icing sugar. Add icing sugar until desired consistency is reached.