more recipe reviews

Last Saturday I had the privilege of helping one of my friends with a little retreat focusing on relationship with God and personal purity for girls in our community. The last item on the agenda was a fancy tea party, and that's where my help came in. I got to bake some goodies for the girls to enjoy as well as helping decorate and set the tables and serve the treats. I very much enjoyed being able to help.

The tea party gave me the opportunity to try a couple of new recipes. Here are the recipes I tried, the adjustments I made to them, and my impressions of the finished results.

The first recipe I made was Coffee Toffee Bars. This recipe is most definitely a keeper! It is quick and easy to make, and I loved the way the finished cookies tasted. Almost everyone who tried them who expressed an opinion to me also loved them. Benjamin was the only one who didn't really care for them. He likes neither bar cookies nor cookies with chocolate chips in them in general, though. As far as changes to the recipe, I used the optional two tablespoons of instant coffee and one-and-a-half cups of chocolate chips for the top. Also, I used vanilla extract instead of almond extract because I don't like almond extract. I will certainly be making these again; however, I'll make sure that I'm making them at a time when I can share because the combination of my love for them and Benjamin's disinterest in them could be bad. : )

Since the friend planning the tea party requested scones to go with the tea, the second recipe I tried was Petite Vanilla Bean Scones. I changed this recipe around quite a bit, though. I didn't have vanilla beans, so instead I flavored the scones with 1 teaspoon of cinnamon and 1/2 teaspoon of nutmeg. I left the vanilla completely out of the glaze. I also substituted milk for the cream in the scones. The finished results, while delicious, didn't resemble the picture on the original recipe. The scones were not exactly petite and seemed to have a much looser crumb. They were, in short, more like lightly sweet, delightfully puffy biscuits. I'm certainly not disappointed with how they turned out and might even plan to make the recipe the altered way again.

hopes and [kitcheny] dreams

True, my kitchen has come a long, long way from where it began. We are firmly convinced that the dreadful state of the kitchen was the primary reason our house stayed on the market for years, allowing us to get such a good deal on it. It was awful. However, thanks to Benjamin's hard work, it became quite usable, and I have worked quite happily in it for a little over two years.

The open cabinets that house our dishes even look quite stylish trimmed in antique linens and showing off the various greens of the dishes.

The cabinets housing our food, however, leave something to be desired. As do the cabinets beneath the sink that do not really close. And so does the non-functioning and clogged garbage disposal in one side of the sink. These inconveniences in addition to other aesthetic problems, have led us to dream of a modest kitchen remodel. It looks like that dream will be able to be made reality this year.

We received glowing reports of the same company from two different friends, so last week we had a representative of that company measure our kitchen. Soon we will get a call from the kitchen designer and can work out further details. In the meantime, we've been enjoying pouring over the books and pamphlets left for us to peruse.

This simple yet elegant style is my personal favorite. I even like the color on the sample photo and think cabinets like these would look beautiful in my kitchen.

[Little Man takes his helping responsibilities very seriously.]

I can't wait to see what both the next step as well as the finished project will be.

Monday Menu

Here is what I'm planning on making for us to eat this week:

M-Roasted chicken, with carrots and rice with gravy.

T-I'm making the side dish for home group: corn bread.

W-Chicken pot pie

Th-Chicken noodle soup and extra chicken broth to freeze

F-Pasta with red sauce, sausage, and carrots or fruit (carrots are pretty much the only vegetable we have right now.)

What are you making?

Project Spring Clean: Bathroom

Yesterday I cleaned and organized our upstairs bathroom. I thought it was going to be an easy and quick project since it is quite a small room. I didn't take into account of all the stuff that we had stashed in the medicine cabinet and the cabinet underneath the sink that needed to be sorted and organized, though, and it took longer than I expected. It's worth worth it; I find it so satisfying to walk into a sparkling room and to open up a perfectly organized drawer. : )

I am especially delighted with this Martha Stewart-worthy organization scheme for one of my drawers. I used several small glass dishes that I don't use frequently in my kitchen to sort pony-tail holders, clips, earrings, bracelets/anklets, and frequently used necklaces. I like the pretty (and orderly!) touch they add.
I think I'm going to take a break from spring cleaning today for several reasons. First, I need to wash the dishes because, well, they need to be washed. Plus we have a guy coming to measure our kitchen for the new cabinets we hope to get this year, and it would be nice to have a sanitary if not perfectly orderly kitchen. Second, I have a mountain of clean laundry to fold and put away. Third, I'm getting sore and whiny from all the extra scrubbing I've been doing, and my knee hurts. Anyway, all that to say that I'm taking a break.

More will come soon.

"Shall we plant seedlings?" he asked hopefully.

"Yes, we shall," I answered.

And so we did.

Grow, little seedlings, grow.

Project Spring Clean: Master Bedroom

Well, as I anticipated, my spring cleaning plan was a bit too ambitious. I am planning on stretching it out over two weeks now. I have, however, completed the thorough cleaning and organizing in the master bedroom and the large master bedroom closet area. The curtains are all clean, and the bathroom is underway, so I'm making satisfying progress even though I'm not going as quickly as I hoped I would.

Our house was remodeled before we bought it to have an almost-master-suite. The bedroom connects to a large closet area by a short private hallway. The closet area then connects to the upstairs bathroom by a second bathroom door. The layout it a little odd, but we like it most of the time.

Here is the master bedroom from our doorway. (The lighting in the room makes it impossible to photograph well; I finally gave up on good and settled for reasonable.)

Here is our room from another angle. My parents-in-law gave us the dresser set they purchased early in their marriage, and I like it's substantial, vintage feel. I also like our bold, red accent wall. The red combines nicely with the rest of the walls which are painted "toasted oat" color to make a room that is perhaps the darkest in our house but that isn't drab.
These little shelves are on the wall across from our bed.
In this photo you can see the mirrored doors to our closets on the left and right, and straight ahead is what I call my "baby nook." Even though Brother has outgrown the cradle, I don't feel ready to put it all away yet; after all, it's not really in the way were it is, and I like being able to see it.

I must go and continue to conquer the bathroom. Hopefully there will be more pictures tomorrow.

Recipe Reviews

On Tuesday evening I was battling flu, so we weren't able to go out as we had anticipated. This left a gap in the menu plan, and since I wasn't feeling like cooking, Benjamin did. I think that I've mentioned before that he's an amazing cook, so when he cooks, it's always a treat.

This time he chose to make a new recipe: Cacio e Pepe Pasta. (I think it means Cheese and Pepper pasta.) It was an amazingly easy recipe, and as I recall Benjamin didn't really change anything about it except halving the recipe. It was also amazingly delicious. I expected it to be rather bland but instead found it to be full of rich though subtle flavors. I certainly expect to make this again and think that it would be tasty paired with some lightly lemony fish.

Last week I also tried this recipe for Strawberry Lemonade Bars. I love the combination of the shortbread and the custardy topping. I also love how pretty these cookies are and how each bite just screams "spring." I think that because of their color and unusual flavor, these would make nice bridal or girlie baby shower treats. I suspect that these will become one of those make-once-a-year recipes that are too good to not make again but not good enough to mix up a batch just to satisfy a craving.

The recipe instructs to wait until the cookies are cool to cut them, but I was anxious to try some, so I used a spoon to sample a couple of bites (cook's prerogative, right?). I also gave a bite to Little Man and shortly afterward went into the other room for a couple of minutes. When I came out, Little Man was acting guilty, and I soon realized why. He had pushed a chair over to the counter and helped himself to a generous amount of topping, scraping it off of the crust. Obviously this recipe was a hit with him in spite of its pinkness.

Monday Menu

Here is what I have planned for our dinners this week.

M-Portobello French dip sandwiches and fruit salad (didn't get to it last week)

T-Home group. I have this week off, so I won't have to worry about cooking.

W-Steaks with garlic-lemon roasted potatoes and green salad

Th-Grilled chicken salad (also didn't get to it last week)

F-Pork chops topped with dressing and cream of mushroom soup with a side of carrots

What are you making this week?

Project Spring Clean: The plan of action

We moved into our house almost exactly two years ago. I did quite a thorough cleaning when we moved in, so I didn't have to worry about spring cleaning. Last spring I was expecting Brother, chasing a 1 1/2 year old and trying to cultivate a garden, and spring cleaning just didn't happen. This year I am determined to do a thorough, spring cleaning of at least the upstairs section of our house. I am hoping to get it all done this week. Here is my optimistic plan of action.

Monday: Wash curtains thoroughly clean bathroom.

Tuesday: Dust, vacuum, de-clutter, and organize master bedroom. Go through clothes and decide which need to be gotten rid of. Put curtains up again, make bed with clean sheets.

Wednesday: Dust, vacuum, de-clutter, and organize boys' room and the bathroom. Put the curtains up again. Work on organization system for boys' clothes.

Thursday: Dust, vacuum, de-clutter, and tidy living room and dining room. Put the curtains back up.

Friday: Sweep/mop the dining room and kitchen. Clean cabinets and drawers, organize and sort what is in them. Clean all the woodwork.

Saturday: Finish any of the jobs that needed to be postponed during the week.

My goal is to take photos of the shiny-clean rooms as I complete them and give a virtual tour through the week. I'm hoping doing so will help keep me motivated and on task. : )

made me smile

Last week Mum shared this clever little bee made of a gumdrop and sliced almonds with Little Man. A lady in her church made them as a garnish for the refreshments at a ladies' meeting, and Mum saved it for Little Man. He was delighted. It made me smile.

Last week we also received the invitation to the wedding of two of my childhood friends. They are so perfect together, and I'm sure their wedding will be a joy to attend. This in itself was enough to make me smile, but the wording of their RSVP card made me smile even more.