Updating Fireplace Tile

The bland, red-ish, dirty tiles in front of the fireplace had been bothering me for some time. We had already updated the brick with paint, which helped A LOT! But, the tile in front still looked pretty crappy. So finally, over the last few days, we had some extra time. Justin started the process by ripping up the old tile. Then we went to Lowes to get some tile. We got some tile for .58 cents for 6x6 pieces. The 3x12 was around $3. All together, we spent about $30 on the tile and $25 on the grouting materials.

That morning, I had played around with the tile pattern by cutting out paper patterns. While this wasn't exact, it really helped me know how many tiles I needed and how we needed to cut it.

After Justin mixed up the adhesive, I had to try to level out the surface because it definitely slanted down from the fireplace. Placing the tiles was a little tricky, because I had more spacing on the outside border than on the inside diagonal pattern. (Maybe we should have gotten the spacers). I went and cleaned up in the kitchen while it dried for a a little time. Next, I used a large sponge to start wiping off the excess grout and clean up. After the first round, it dries and then I was able to just use a towel to wipe off the final layer. I must say, I'm pretty proud of myself with this tile job. I think it looks pretty darn good!

Kitchen: Before and After

Finally, I am starting to feel like things are coming together. The kitchen isn't all decorated yet, but it's getting there. Here's a quick recap of the process- when we first toured the house, there was weeks-old litter boxes and feces around the floor. It smelled of dung too... A horrible blue-checkered pattern was on the damaged linoleum floor, and the cabinets were probably the originals. The kitchen had an arch in the middle, but it couldn't be seen because it was coved in the cabinets. A awkward layout was also an issue from the placement of the appliances, half-bathroom door, and many entrances.

To remedy this, we had family come help us tear out the cabinets. What a task! Some were completely unscrewed but still on the wall from the layers of paint!! They were heavy too, once we actually yanked them off. This left a lot of patchwork, which I did, and Justin sanded. We also cut a door into the master bedroom, and closed the door to the bath off the kitchen. Justin ripped up the old floor. We painted the walls with White Raisin from the Rustic Refined selection at Sherwin-Williams. Then, we stepped back and Brentwood Builders did the rest. Yay!!

Brentwood put down the new vinyl flooring, which looks like tile even though it's not. They installed the cabinets, which was quite a task since the floor sloped. Evening it out was a pain, I'm sure. They dropped the sink in, put in the electric and new gas line, and finished.

At this point, in mid-November, my kitchen already looked loads better, and I unpacked my kitchen stuff, went grocery shopping, and settled in. But I will wanted some open shelves, so our neighbor Bert (who is amazing!!) made some custom shelves that fit perfectly with the style. We showed him pictures, bought the wood, and then he made them for us. And they look great. We got these in just a week or so ago, and that's why I've been waiting to post, though many people have been asking for pictures. We still have more decorating to do, but this is where we are at now. I'm so pleased!!

BEFORE:

AFTER:

Mini Sausage-Cheese Biscuits

Once again, Justin's having a carry-in, and I'm the one cooking. Not that I mind; I love to cook! But I needed to come up with some kind of easy appetizer. I poured through The Appetizer Bible, which I picked up at a garage sale this summer. I really thought that I had seen a recipe for a cheesy-sausage biscuit, but I coudn't find one. So I decided to adapt my standard biscuit recipe from The Fannie Farmer Cookbook. Grandma M. gave me that cookbook a few years ago, and it has tons of good, standard recipes for reference. So followed their recipe, but adapted it for the cheese and sausage. And instead of cutting round biscuits, I cut them into 1 1/2 inch squares. It's a much better appetizer size and a fun shape for a biscuit!

Mini-Sausage Cheese Biscuits
2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 tablespoon sugar
1 cup grated cheese (cheddar or mozzerella)
1/2 pound sausage, cooked and drained
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2/3 cup milk

In large bowl, mix flour, salt, baking powder, and sugar. Then add cheese and sausage and mix thorougly with a fork. Add vegetable oil and cut in until evenly distributed (mixture will be lumpy and coarse though). Then add milk and stir just until dough forms a ball around the fork. Turn out onto lightly floured surface and knead 14 times. Pat to 1/2 inch thick, creating a rectangle. Cut into 1 1/2 inche squares, and transfer to baking sheet without the sides of the biscuit touching. Bake at 425 degrees for about 15 minutes, or until golden brown.

Installing a Tile Backsplash

A few weeks ago we undertook another small project on the house: installing tile back splashes in the kitchen and bathroom. We found those too-easy-looking tiles with mesh on the back for quick installation. The kitchen tiles were various shades of brown in a rectangle shape, and the bathroom tiles were a one-inch square blue assortment. We had to buy two of each, but that still only came to $20 total. A steal, I would say. Of course we still needed to buy the grout, sealer, and caulking…. which was probably around another $20 altogether. But for the visual improvement, I’m pretty happy.

To install it, I taped off in the shape of the tiles. In both the bathroom and kitchen, I cut the 12 by 12 inch tile mesh in half, for a six-inch tall back splash. This was just enough to fit under the outlet in the bathroom, and the pass-through above the sink in the kitchen. After taping off, I smeared a layer of grout on the wall. (Looking back, I should have put it on a little thicker, and then pushed down enough for it to come through the cracks. This would have let me get off easier when it came time to finish the grout work between each tile. Essentially, I wish I could have avoided that step! What a pain!)

 

I pushed the tile into the grout, and them wiped off excess grout. After waiting the day or two to dry, I went back and made sure grout was between each tile. This was by far the most annoying part, because trying to get it evenly between each tile, but still wiping so that the tile isn’t too cloudy is a hard balance to strike. Luckily, the grout was pretty each to wipe off with a sponge the next day, after between the tiles had dried.

Justin put on the layer of sealer, but he still needs to caulk around the bottom. Unless you look close, you don’t notice much, but we do need to get it finish soon. There are just too many little unfinished things around the house lately, like the shoe molding or painting the inside of the front door or laying the vinyl in the utility room.  While it never ends, I truly love having a house of our own to work on and be proud of! We’ve started to have people over, even though it’s still messy… I hope they don’t mind too much. It won’t ever be perfect though, so if I waited for that day, I’d never have company!

Christmas Candy Tradition

Gosh, I know I post about food a lot, but you know the saying, "Live to eat, eat to live!"

Last weekend mom and I got together to make Christmas candy. The past fives years I always made candy with my grandma, but since I have moved back to Ohio, I can do that anymore. (Sad face) However, it was great to get together with mom again, since we really haven't made candy together since I was in high school. Maybe once in college, but regardless, it's been half a decade or more!

We made several types:

• Holiday-shaped dipped chocolate pretzels
• Haystacks (butterscotch with crunchy chow mien noodles and marshmallows)
• Peppermint oreo's half-dipped in white chocolate and sprinkled with crushed candy canes
• Chex Muddy Buddies
• Mini peanut butter Ritz dipped in white chocolate
• Peppermint Bark
• Pretzel buttons (small round pretzels with chocolate in the center and an M & M)
• Buckeyes
• Orange Marbled Fudge
• Hard Candy (lime; watermelon)

It was perhaps slightly out of control. I like a few recipes similar to the ones we used if you want to join in the mayhem.

But I always make a lot and then give a lot away. I love using it for gifts for all my colleagues at school. Everybody loves a homemade treat, so why not? It's just fun because people walk up to me or email me saying, "I ate the whole box today!" That brings me joy!! Food just seems to do that to us.

If that weren't enough, I dipped pretzel rods later on too. It's getting out of control, but it's so fun. I haven't looked at the scale recently, and I don't want to either!!

 

Thanksgiving 2012 Review

So here's the truth: I would have posted sooner, but Google told me I had reached my storage limit. Now their charging me $2.49 a month so that I can have more photo space. So you better be thankful, people! I really contemplated just opening a new blog, but that's a pain. I guess they can just have their $2.49 a month....

 

On happier news, we traveled to NC for Thanksgiving the visit Justin's parents and extended family. It was a good trip, but before we went I dipped some pretzels to take along. Don't they look yummy? (On a side note, I totally heated the caramel too long and it was a little too chewy. But, hey, it was still decent.) The pretzels were gobbled up pretty quickly.

For the meal, we had, of course, deep-fried turkey. SOOOOOOO good. It is just really moist on the inside and crispy on the outside. Is your mouth watering yet? Mine is! Another southern staple is collard greens.(I dont' like them though..sorry...) Justin's favorite is sweet potato casserole. His mom makes it by chunking the sweet potatoes into quarters, then adding butter and brown sugar. It cooks till the potatoes are tender, then in the last few minutes you toss the marshmallows on top to brown slightly. I don't normally like sweet potatoes, but these were exceptional! Since we had a big meal both Thursday and Friday, the former with his mom's side, the latter with his dad's side, I was pretty much rolling along... But it was definitely worth it, and it only comes once a year! :)

Pumpkin Trifle

I love baking sweets!! Especially now that my kitchen is finished from the renovation. Last week, I made Chocolate Pumpkin Chocolate Chip muffins (mmm!) and had half a can of pumpkin left over. Since I was having company over for Sunday dinner, I wanted to make something for dessert, plus I had those leftovers to use. After looking in my pantry, I had a box of white cake mix, a vanilla pudding mix, and some Cool Whip. And thus the idea for Pumpkin Trifle was born. I'm sure that someone else has made this before, but here's my recipe.

Cake:
1 box white cake mix + ingredients on package directions
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon ginger
1 teaspoon nutmeg

Filling:
15-16 oz can of cooked pumpkin
1 block cream cheese, softened
1 box vanilla pudding
1 1/2 cups milk
White chocolate chips

Topping:
Cool Whip

Directions:
1. Mix cake according to package directions, adding spices to flavor.
2. Pour cake into a 12 x 17 pan, lined with tinfoil for easy removal.
3. Cook cake about 15-20 minutes, keeping a close watch since it will bake much quicker with a thin layer in the bigger pan.
4. While cake is baking, beat softened cream cheese until smooth, then add pumpkin and beat until smooth.
5. Add vanilla pudding mix and milk to pumpkin mixture, and beat 2-3 minutes. Place mixture in fridge to set up.
6. After cake is cooked and cooled, lift out of pan with tinfoil and onto a cutting surface. Use a long bread knife to cut the cake into 1-inch squares.
7. In a large glass trifle dish, layer about half of the cake squares. Add white chocolate chips around the edge to show along the dish. Sprinkle  chips some in the middle too!
8. Layer half the pumpkin filling on top of the cake and chocolate chips, being sure to be careful along  the edges where the layers will show.
9. Repeat layers, topping the trifle in the middle with Cool Whip. For garnish, add a dash of cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger across the top of the Cool Whip.
10. Chill and serve. It's just fine to chill overnight.

Notes on Substituting: 1) You could probably substitute a spice cake  mix for the white cake mix plus spices, but I just used white cake mix since that is what I had. 2) You could probably substitute  butterscotch or cinnamon chips for the white chocolate (again, white chocolate is what I had in the pantry). 3) You can use a 9 x 13, but you will just have to work harder when it's time to cut the cake into squares because you need the cake pieces to be 1-inch squares. 4) I don't think it would be a problem to leave out the cream cheese if you don't have it. However, you might want to double the amount of pudding mix and milk to have enough filling.

Here's the process in pictures:

 

Procrastination; Motivation

Right now, I have many things I should be doing. Such as, folding the clothes that are sitting beside me on the sofa, or the towels that are on the love seat across from the sofa. Beyond the love seat, I can see the Rubbermaid storage tubs which are keeping more packed clothes in safekeeping until I unload them into the crowded bedroom. I can also see the baseboards in the family room off to the left, which needed to be given their final touch-up coat of paint. And while I can't see the dishes in the kitchen, I know that they need to be put away. Off in the half bath in the back of the house, I can hear Justin sanding my patch job furiously. Downstairs, more laundry awaits its turn in the washer. Plus, I need to clean the bathroom. If possibly I got that done, I really wanted to get the backsplash put up on the bathroom sink and the kitchen sink.

I'm not sure what it is, but since we've moved in, I seem to have lost some motivation for the house. I guess it's just not as pressing since we are finally out of my parent's place. Or maybe I'm just plain tired of it. Or just tired in general. Either way, my hardworking husband isn't letting up, so I need to step up. Here I go, I'm getting off....

After I close the Facebook tab, the Yahoo mail tab, and the O'Reilly Factor tab. But, I need to finish the video, which is still buffering since we are connected to a slow server, which is really not ours  to begin with, but an unsecured line from one of our neighbors. So hopefully it will finish playing the Talking Points memo so I can get to work sometime soon.

Meanwhile, I'll try to do something productive and stop procrastinating.. lol!

Mississippi Mud Cupcakes... Yum!

My mom is into those gourmet cupcakes that have been made popular from shows like Cupcake Wars. So for her birthday, I decided to make her cupcakes! I had some inspiration from a recipe that I made as a kid that is super simple: Mississippi Mud Cake. It's just chocolate cake with a layer of marshmallow creme, topped with chocolate frosting. For the cupcake, I kept it simple and used a chocolate cake mix. I mixed up the batter according to package directions and baked in muffin tins. After they cooled, I scooped out a hole in the center with a spoon (about an inch wide by an inch deep) and piped marshmallow creme into the hole, making sure to keep the marshmallow creme level with the top of the cupcake. I don't have a full set of decorator bags for piping and such, so my cheap trick is to put the marshmallow creme into a sturdy Ziploc bag and then cut across a corner for a round tip.

Next, I needed to mix up the icing or frosting, whichever it is. I probably should look up the correct definition, but it's sweet and tasty, so who cares? LOL.... I found a recipie from allrecipies.com and adapted it to the ingredients that I had on hand. Here it is:

Simple Chocolate Frosting
Cream 1/2 cup real butter
Mix 1/4 cup cocoa powder and 1 1/4 cup powdered sugar
Add cocoa and powdered sugar mixture slowly to butter and beat until firm
Add 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla and 1 tablespoon of milk and beat again until all ingredients are mixed
Add more milk to desired consistency if needed

This icing will firm up if stored in the fridge, so pipe it onto the cupcakes right after mixing. Of course, you don't need to store it in the fridge, as far as I know, but the butter in the icing will soften if at room temperature. For the visual effect, I topped the cupcake with a marshmallow.

Mom loved it. Happy Birthday momma!

I love voting!!

I love voting. I just feel so patriotic. I know some people get all caught up and say that each vote doesn't matter because it's really up to the electoral college and yadda yadda yadda... BUT I still believe that voting is part of this great democracy that we have in America. And if no one voted, how would the electoral college vote? It's all tied together, really. MY VOICE DOES MATTER!!

So does your. Did you make yourself heard?

I was listening to B105.9, a country station, this evening and heard the announcer give a shout-out to all those 18-year olds who just voted for the first time. He was proud of them, and I am too. Being informed and participating in democracy is an American rite of passage, I think.  My first presidential election was the Bush/Kerry election in 2004. I was a student at Cedarville U. when Bush drove through Cedarville,  and everyone lined the streets with signs to show support. Of course it is a conservative town, so the reception would be welcoming. I think he stopped in Xenia too, though I didn't leave campus for that. Nevertheless, it was an exciting time and I am glad that I took part in voting in that election. It was great to see some of my students, seniors, who went to vote before school, or were going after. That's just great!

One thing I just keep thinking about too, is how tired Romney and Obama and their teams must be. While they surely both want to win, they must be glad that the campaign is over now. (Heck, I'm tired of seeing the ads). I hope both of them get to relax with their families after this is over. While I don't agree with everything either of them say, I still respect them both as people who are trying to lead. I sure hope they get some rest now!

Peace out... I'm going to check the electoral map and voting results.

Fixing a broken vent and ductwork

As we continue to settle into the house, and as it gets colder, we realized that we really needed to fix the broken duct work that brought the heat to our dining room. I've mentioned before that we bought a foreclosed home, and as such it has had many issues, both large and small. Luckily, this was a smaller issue that only took about an hour to fix.

After a run to Lowe's (they know us pretty well in there) we picked up the three pieces of duct work  that we needed: a 4" x 12" x 6" angle boot ($6.19), a 90 degree elbow ($2.99), and a 6-inch pipe ($7.49). Justin had to trim the pipe to size with wire snips, then he fastened the angle boot into the ceiling (floor of the dining room), since our furnace is downstairs. The elbow was attached next, and finally the pipe was fitted into the elbow. I had to help him hold the pipe for just a minute so that he could attache it with screws. We haven't done anything like the before, but hot air is filling the dining room, so I'm guessing that it's ok. :)

My husband is amazing!!

 And it's connected!!

Sneak peek at the bathroom

Finally, all the drain and plumbing issues are resolved and the bathroom is in place! The walls are painted Bracing Blue and the tub is Antiquity, both from the Rustic Refined HGTV/Sherwin-Williams collection. I don't have decorations up or anything, but what do you think so far? I like it!

Visit to Michigan

We got away from the house renovations this week. We still don't have a shower, so we can't move in, and we needed/wanted a break. So we went to visit my sister Bethany, her husband Mike, and their little one, Dani. She's the first kid in our family, since Justin and I don't have any yet. And boy, is she cute. She's about 1 1/2 now, and she is talking like crazy! She is a little sponge that wants to learn every new word possible. You'd better watch what you say, cause she'll repeat it! I said something like, "Sit down, honey," and she starts repeating, "Honey, honey, honey." It's so cute! She is really bright though; she picks up new words, even multi-syllable ones, really fast. On our walk to the park, she learned "motorcycle." Like I said, she's pretty smart. Speaking of the part, I snapped a few pictures of us having fun while mommy and daddy were away.

I think that Dani went down the slide about 10 times!!

First peek at the cabinets!

Finally, some visual progress. The floors went down yesterday, and part of the cabinets went in today. Here's a peek:

Walling up a door frame

After we cut the door frame out yesterday, it was time to put framing and drywall in so could make it disappear. Justin had a little bit of experience with framing, so he put in the 2x4's after trimming them to size. Then he cut the drywall to size and hung it with screws. Sure, he's not a pro, but it did the job.

 

After that, I started mudding up the seams. This is the most frustrating part because mudding is truly frustrating for the novice. The professional that drywalled the bathroom was a pro- he was so skilled and didn't seem to sweat it at all. But me, I take a lot of time, and still I don't think that I am too good. I am getting a little better with keeping the edges smooth, but I know that Justin will still have to sand quite a bit. But this was just the first coat, and we will hopefully get it where it needs to be. We did use the drywall mesh on the seams, which seemed to help. Now we just wait for it to dry and then finish it off.