Megadayoff: Episode 3

I finally painted our bathroom.
I've hated it passionately since we moved here in July.
The walls and ceiling were painted mint green.
GREEN CEILING! In the bathroom??
Every time I turned the vanity light on to do my makeup, my skin had a sickly green glow.
Not good.

With Pat gone to work, I got started taping and painting.
This was a big job for one day!

It took three coats of white ceiling paint to totally hide all of the green.
I was super picky about it, because the lights are so close to the ceiling, and so bright that they would show any green.

For the walls, I used the leftover paint from our bedroom.
Sherwin Williams: Gray Shingle
I love it!

Pat is obsessed with Snoopy, so our bathroom has a bit of that theme going on.
The gray works with the black and white and occasional pop of red.

I have a lot of spots I'll need to touch up since they were very sloppy with the green. It's in the tile grout, and on the door frame. That will be a project for another day.

Green painted grout!

I also stripped and painted the wall mounted heating vent.
It doesn't look perfect, but it's was a bit damaged under all the layers of paint, and a new one costs about $40 for that size.

Blends into the wall.

This vent had about 10 coats of paint on it. Apparently no one ever bothered to take it off the wall when painting.
I removed the paint by boiling water with some baking soda. It came right off.
It was a pain trying to get in every line of the vent, but I used tweezers and an old toothbrush and it off pretty easily.
The metal was damaged and pitted, so it did need to be repainted.
I decided to paint it metal color. Imagine that!
I hit it with a spray on primer first, and then a coat of chrome spray paint. Boom. Done.


The next project will be to redo the vanity.
I read this post about how to give it a dark look for a pretty low cost.
It will take a few days to do, and I'm excited to get started!

I'm still not happy with the giant mirror, ugly counter top or the floor colors. However, they will be fine for now. There isn't anything functionally wrong with any of them, and the cost of redoing that can't be justified at the moment. (If I do get that counter-top kit for the kitchen, I'll hope to have enough left to do the bathroom too!)

Megadayoff: Episode 2

Today felt very short.
Partially because I slept in until 10am!
And partially because my Dad is coming over for dinner.
This was not a megadayoff at all!

I'll still tell you what I did, which was not much.

I worked on reorganizing my dresser drawers!

Such a mess!
These drawers are so deep, I can almost fit two rows of clothes in them.
Sometimes when I dig, I get excited because I find clothes I haven't seen in ages!
I'm constantly just wearing the things on top.


I just flipped the clothes sideways, and organized them by type of clothing. Long sleeved, short sleeved etc.
I want to look into find a new way to fold the clothes to maximize the height and space, but I ran out of time.

One drawer down!

Megadayoff: Episode 1

Pat is still in grad school, doing one class a semester.
This semester his night class falls on Tuesday, which is my day off!
I'm calling it MEGADAYOFF. He leaves for work around 7am, and comes home around 10pm.
At first I was a little bummed because on Tuesdays I would always make a nice dinner since I had tons of time.
Instead, I decided that each MEGADAYOFF would be devoted to a project around the house.

This MEGADAYOFF I decided to tackle something that has bothered me since we bought the house in July.
This is a seriously outdated 80's look celing fan in our kitchen.
The whole kitchen needs to be updated. I can't wait to get rid of the ketchup and mustard look the previous owners had going on.
I decided to start with the fan since I was pretty sure I could complete it in one day.

Obviously make sure the power is off to the fan.

Remove the lightbulbs, and glass shades.

Remove the screws holding the fan blades in

Remove the scews holding the bracket to the fan blade.

I put on a coat of Kilz primer on the fan blades. I didn't want to risk any horrible fake wood showing through.

I didn't worry too much about the side facing the ceiling.

Spray paint the brackets. This took about three thin coats, letting them dry between coats.
(Apparently I forgot to take a picture of this part.)

You can take down the drum of the ceiling fan, but since it was just me, I left it up. It looked like it would be more of a two person job to put back up even if I didn't kill myself taking it down.

Carefully tape and paper a large area around the fan base if left on the ceiling.
Make sure you have a tarp over anything under the spray area.

This was also about three thin coats of paint.

I put two coats of white semigloss on the fan blades. I went with semigloss because it should be easier to clean when they're dusty. Plus I had that sitting around.

While everything was drying, I ran to Home Depot and bought new glass shades. These were about $4 each. I splurged and treated myself to some new dangly bits for the fan pulls. I didn't NEED them I suppose, but they matched!

Carefully start to reassemble the fan once everything is totally dry.

This was only about a $20 project! Can of spray paint, and 4 glass shades! Boom! Done!

Before

After

It was a great day...aside from when I locked myself out of the house in painting clothes. I had to go to a neighbor's house to use the phone. So embarrassing!

Roasted Veggies: Leeks, Brussel Sprouts, Delicata Squash

It's Wednesday again, and that means girly dinner!
I really enjoy these evenings that Pat is in class.
When he's home, I feel more pressure to make a well rounded meat and potato focused dinner.
He's come a long way since we've been together.
He's learned to tolerate my "side dish" (meaning vegetarian) dinners.
Despite this, I enjoy trying new things the first few times for just me.
Roasted veggies happen to be my most favorite food ever.
They're candy good!

Today at Wegmans, I spotted Delicata squash.

I'd never had it before, but it was described as being rich and nutty, similar to butternut.
Butternut has always been my favorite squash, so I was definitely willing to try this.
It's a much smaller squash which is also a good thing since it's always just me eating the squash.
Pat just hasn't come around to squash.
Delicata is also a squash that you don't have to peel.
The rind is edible!!!
That is one of the most annoying parts of other squash!

I also decided to make leeks since I've eaten them many times, but never actually made them myself.
I will tell you right now.
Degritting them is a pain in the ass.
How does that much sand and dirt manage to get between ever layer?
EVERY LAYER!
I soaked them, I washed them, I scrubbed them.
I was wet and irritated by the time they went on the baking sheet with the squash.
Wet and irritated....like a cat! Don't make a cat wet, and then irritate it. Bad things happen!

Everything turned out well.
The leaks were delicious, but still a total pain.
Use a serrated knife, my steak knife was just not cutting it (Hah! Get it?? Cutting it!).

The squash was actually pretty amazing.
It reminded me of a sweet potato.
I ate them like fries, even dipping a few in ketchup!
This will be something I make again.
Pat may be able to eat these since ketchup could be involved...


Roasted Veggies:

Preheat oven to 420ish, 400 is probably fine, so is 425. This is where my finger stopped pushing the up arrow on the heat button for the oven.

Rinse the Brussel sprouts.
Cut in half. Toss in a roasting pan with a drizzle of olive oil, and a sprinkle of salt and pepper.
Boom. That part is done.

Cut the rooty part, and dark green leaves of the leeks off.
Remove the dirt and sand. Maybe you have some better way of doing it than I.
If not, prepare yourself to soak, rinse and scrub for several minutes.
Place on an edged baking sheet and drizzle with olive oil.

Scrub the squash.
Cut it in half by length and scoop out the seeds.
Discard, or clean and roast these too!
I threw them out.
I was too wet and irritated like a cat to rinse any slime off of seeds.
Cut into one inch sections. They should resemble frowns, or smiles if you aren't wet and irritated yet.
Place on an edged baking sheet and drizzle with olive oil. (about a tablespoon. they can get soggy if you use too much)

Place everything in the oven, and roast for about 35 minutes.
Flip the squash periodically to ensure even browning.

Mustard Vinaigrette

1 Tbs Olive Oil
1.5 tsp vinegar
1 tsp mustard
1/2 tsp herb blend (I used Penzeys Parisien Bonnes Herbes)
Whisk together everything in a small bowl.
Drizzle over the leaks and enjoy!

Devil's Food Cupcakes with Caramel Buttercream!

We live across the street from a elementary/middle school.
Today was the first day of classes, and it was a flurry of activity for a few hours this morning.
I would have had a difficult time getting out of the driveway, so I decided to stay in and bake cupcakes!

Devil's Food Cupcakes with Caramel Buttercream!

I had been thinking about chocolate and caramel cupcakes for a few weeks, but the temperature refused to go below 80 for any length of time. Not optimal baking weather.

This morning it was a crisp 55 degrees and I decided to go for it.

I used a basic Devil's food cake recipe from my Better Homes and Garden Cookbook.
This is it here.

 I filled the cupcake liners half full, and then added a caramel to the center.
They sink a little on their own, don't push them down, or you'll end up with caramel stuck to the bottom of your cupcake liner.

Once they were done and cool, I frosted them with a fluffy buttercream with caramel flavor.

I wish I had some chocolate sprinkles to top them with, but white sprinkles and sugar crystals look pretty too.

Fluffy Caramel Buttercream Frosting

1/2 Cup butter at room temperature (2 sticks)
4.5 Cups of confectioners sugar
5 Tbs milk
2 tsp caramel extract.

Beat butter in a large mixing bowl until light and fluffy. Do this for about 5 minutes!
Don't cheat! Let the air get in there or it won't be fluffy.

Add sugar about a cup at a time.
You can also add the caramel extract and milk at this stage.
I added it as needed with the sugar so it didn't get too hard to mix.
You can alter the amount of milk to get the consistency you want.

Add frosting to a piping bag with your choice of tip.
I used a 2D for this look.

Pipe it on once the cupcakes are totally cool.
Sprinkle with fun things!
Let cupcakes sit, or chill briefly to set the icing

I found the caramel center to be a bit too chewy to go with the cake, so I may change things up next time.
It was a delicious combination of flavors, and the frosting was exactly what I wanted!

Well, It's September....where did summer go?

Brief recap of the past few months.
We finally closed on our house, and moved out of the apartment.
While I enjoyed the apartment, and our landlords were pretty cool, it's even better having our own place.

It's a cute little house, on a quiet street, and it's in really good shape.
There will still be plenty of projects to keep me busy. More on that later.

First and foremost I want to get back in the habit of writing and taking pictures.
I suppose technically this is a public blog, but I'm pretty sure it's just me reading these diary like entries, and that's how they'll stay.

I had a terrible day at work, and couldn't wait to get home to my liquor cabinet.
Choices choices.....
I ended up with the Buffalo Trace White Dog Mash #1.

It's got a major bite to it, which I like, and tastes of creamed corn.
I like it straight, with maybe a few drops of water, or an ice cube if I plan on drinking it quickly.
Tonight it's straight, and I finished the bottle.
I am so hardcore.

September is apparently Bourbon Heritage Month, so I may have to take advantage of that and have a few extra cool night drinks this month.


Patrick has grad-class tonight (he had the summer off) so it's my girly night of whatever I want for dinner.
I'm doing roasted Brussels sprouts (favorite food ever!) and a stuffed Portobella mushroom. I'm also making an ear of corn though that may end up being breakfast instead...

I'm trying the mushroom two ways since it's something I'd like to make for Pat, but I'm not sure which way he'd like best.
My two-for mushroom features ricotta cheese, and one side topped with spinach and tomatoes, the other side with tomatoes and pepperoni. I'm attempting a pizza like mushroom, and a lasagna type mushroom.
I used ricotta on both because it's delicious. I also only wanted to open one type of cheese tonight.

Oven Picture!

Behold its messy glory!

I made a sriracha-mayo dipping sauce for the Brussels sprouts, which turned out well.
I've made chipotle mayo before, and while I liked the chipotle more, I always have sriracha on hand, so it's more convenient!

Every part of the mushroom was delicious! My favorite was the side with the spinach and tomato, but I'm sure Patrick will enjoy the pepperoni option. They crisped up nicely.

I could probably use sauce, but we had this bowl full of heirloom cherry tomatoes from my Mom's garden. Who could resist an amazing explosive little warm tomato? Not me!

I ended up needing something a bit more drinkable to go with dinner, so I had a bottle of Southern Tier Brewing Company's Harvest Ale. It's that time of year that all these harvest or Octoberfest beers come out. I enjoy them the entire time they're available!

Now it's time for a little couch time. I've got big plans of curling up with Half Life 2, and possibly a book if I get tired of shooting things!

Cheers!

Stuffed Portobella Mushroom for One
Ingredients:
-One large Portobella mushroom cap
-1/4 Cup ricotta cheese (with seasonings mixed in if you like. I added a little salt, pepper, basil and crushed red pepper flakes)
-Tomatoes or tomato sauce
-Fresh spinach leaves
-Pepperoni (optional...ok, most everything in this list is optional! Put whatever you want on it!)

Preheat oven to 425. Set mushroom cap gill side down in a small baking dish. Add about a tablespoon of water to help it juice up. Cook for 5 minutes, and then flip it gill side up. Cook another 5 minutes.
*Some recipes call to remove the gills and entire stem. I didn't bother. The stem was small, and I hate giving up any of that delicious mushroom.
Remove the oven and dish from the oven.
Top the mushroom with ricotta cheese. Smush the tomatoes into the cheese. (If using sauce, you may want this layer directly on the mushroom to allow the cheese to hold it together). Top with spinach and pepperoni.
Bake for 10 - 15 minutes until tomatoes are hot, and cheese is set.

Healthy Everything Muffins

June has been rainy and cool so far.

Honestly I haven't minded. I could never be one of those people to complain about rain.
It's just wet. It's been cool enough to help out at my Mom's house in her garden.
This will be the last summer she has me since next summer I'll have my own garden to work on!
She's keeping me very busy at her house, but I enjoy it.

I dug out along her neighbors fence and put in a bed for vegetables.
She bought some heirloom tomatoes, and I can't wait to taste them!

Then I dug out along her other neighbor's fence and replaced the root filled soil with fresh soil and some hosta.
It's looking pretty nice.

Finally I dug out three giant bushes along the back fence.
Eventually we'll put in a Japanese Maple.

I love to be busy, and I'm really trying to stay active since living with Pat, I've put on some love weight.
When I lived on my own, I cooked like it was just me.
Now, I cook for a man and eat like one too.
Ugh.

So! I made some healthy everything muffins.
Remember how we'll be moving soon?
Well, I went through the cupboard and freezer and dug out some odds and ends and made muffins!
Also, there is no added sugar or oil, so they're actually pretty healthy.
They make a great breakfast or late day snack.

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Keep in mind these are anything muffins, so you can add what you want, but use the same basic ratio.
In a bowl combine about 3 cups of wet things and 2 cups of dry!

What I did:
(Wet)
2 Cups Pumpkin Puree
2 Medium Overripe bananas
2 eggs, beaten

(Dry)
2 cups flour (or almond meal leftover from almond milk!)
1 tsp salt
1.5 tsp baking soda

Mix all of this up, and then add your whathaveyous.

I added:
2 cups frozen blueberries
1/4 cup chocolate chips
1/4 cup sesame seeds
1/2 cup coconut 

Mix up and spoon into greased (or paper-lined) muffin tins or mini loaf pans. (I used both!)
Makes about 18 muffins.