Thursday, April 30, 2015

...a Frame for a really big Mirror...

...so y'all know that we had this whole wall mirror in the bathroom...over the new countertop...

...and it just needed something...to bring it a little bit more up-to-date...

...and we decided that the something it needed was a frame...but there is nothing to attach a frame to...nothing on which to attach a frame...(to avoid the dangling preposition)...sounds funny though doesn't it...sorry to be a grammar geek like that...
...so we added a strip above the mirror as a nailer...
...then did a dry fit with the frame...which is a little bit offset as the bottom two corners exactly match the dimensions of the mirror...

...so basically the mirror hangs from the top...and we'll attach it to the mirror itself with some construction adhesive...
...now it's out to the garage for some stain...
...and poly...and now it matches the existing cabinets (which we're not replacing) pretty well...

~Have a lovely day!

Wednesday, April 29, 2015

...Spring Concert...

...we were at the Clay Center last night...with all the other proud Band Parents...
...for Scout's Spring Concert...
...I drew an arrow to Scout...but you still can't really see him at all...even at full zoom I could only see the outline of his head/hair...

...here's an AWESOME video clip...Scout is really lucky to be a part of this band...

~Have a lovely day!

Tuesday, April 28, 2015

...in the kitchen with Julia...

...we had an amazing vegan casserole...all of the info for this Vegan Poulet en Cocotte Bonne Femme is at The Vegan Version

~Have a lovely day!

Monday, April 27, 2015

...Vegan Cloverleaf Rolls...

...we had these delicious and simple...and pretty...Cloverleaf Rolls with our Sunday Dinner...
...they're from an old Betty Crocker Cookbook that we got for a wedding present...
...it's pretty basic...but fun to shape them this way and put the three little balls into a muffin tin...
...butter the tops with some melted Earth Balance...
...so they'll get nice and golden brown...
...aren't they the cutest littl rolls you've ver seen
...and they're so light and fluffy...
...delicious...

Vegan Cloverleaf Rolls

1 3/4 - 2 cups flour*
2 T sugar
2 T Earth Balance - or other vegan margarine
1/2 t salt
1 1/2 t yeast
1/4 cup warm water
1/4 cup warm almond milk - or other vegan milk
2 T flax seed goo

Mix 1 cup flour, sugar, Earth Balance, salt and yeast in a bowl. Add water and milk and flax seed goo. Mix well scraping the bowl often. Stir in enough remaining flour to make the dough easy to handle. Knead on a lightly floured surface for about 5 minutes. Then place in a greased bowl and turn greased side up. Cover and let rise in a warm place until double, about 1 hour. (Dough is ready when indentation remains when touched.)

Punch down dough, cut into 36 pieces and shape into balls. Place 3 balls in each of 12 muffin cups. Brush tops with melted Earth Balance. Cover and let rise until double about 30 minutes.

Heat oven to 400° F. Bake until golden brown. 12 to 18 minutes.

*if using self-rising flour, omit salt.

~Have a lovely day!

Saturday, April 25, 2015

...and a new light...

...you may remember there was a hole in the ceiling where we took the old light fixture out (you can see it here)...and we couldn't reinstall it right up against the new bar...
...so we got a different one...
...and got that wired up...
...and put the cover on...
...and now the bar area is well lit...
...and we can cross another little thing off our list...

~Have a lovely day!

Thursday, April 23, 2015

...New Post at the Vegan Version...

...we had these delicious VEGAN CÔTES DE PORC POÊLÉES for dinner...

...all of the details are over at The Vegan Version...

~Have a lovely Day!

Wednesday, April 22, 2015

...Mini Bar...Final...

...so now the Corian countertop is in place...
...and the mini bar is finished...
...what can I pour ya?...

~Have a lovely day!

Tuesday, April 21, 2015

...Mini-Bar almost finished...

...you can really see the shape of it all now...
...and the shelves on the back...for glasses and bottles...

...all it needs now is a counterop...and that will be a leftover piece of the Mesa Corian from the bathroom...

...F.O. tomorrow...

~Have a lovely day!

Monday, April 20, 2015

...Prom 2015...and some vegan baking...

...Scout's Junior Prom was this weekend...
...so we had a few before prom snacks...and some punch...

...the Sugar Cookies are from a Vegetarian Times recipe here...

...and the Chocolate Chip ones are from VegWeb...Chocolate Cookie Heaven...

...and the Red Velvet Cupcakes are just a veganized Duncan Hines Cake mix...

...and then Scout got all dressed up...
...and went to prom with a group of friends...sorry about the headless pic...of course I don't have permission to post all their photos...

~Have a lovely day!

Saturday, April 18, 2015

...Vegan Tofu Feta...and a Big Vegan Greek Salad...

...my lunch today...
...a couple of days ago...I cubed up a block of firm tofu...using my egg slicer...like I did for the cottage cheese here...and mixed it with some lemon juice...vinegar and Italian seasoning...
...the measurements are not exact...but probably a 1/4 cup of lemon juice and a 1/2 cup of apple cider vegar...and a couple of teaspoons of herbs...and let it marinate a few hours...or overnight...or a couple of days...
...then just assemble your Greek Salad...I added pickled baby beets and black Kalamata olives and a generous serving of the tofu feta on top...
...it was delicious...and it might look like this salad was big enough for all of us...but I really did eat the whole thing all by myself...

~Have a lovely weekend!

Friday, April 17, 2015

...from my kitchen window...

...I know I usually do these posts 'from my back deck'...but this was my view as I was cleaning the kitchen yesterday evening...

...a couple of things are making me happy here...this view with all the Spring outside...and the sweet smelling grape hyacinths that I brought inside...they are so fleeting in the spring...

...oh and another thing...the daylight until past 8:00 o'clock PM...that's making me happy too...

~Have a lovely day!

Thursday, April 16, 2015

...the bar takes shape...

...another days work on the little bar in the big room...
...you can start to see how it will look now...the top part will be open...and the bottom part will have shelves...and the whole thing is wrapped in cedar...

~Have a lovely day!...

Wednesday, April 15, 2015

...W.I.P. Wednesday...

...one sock is finished...
...I like it a lot...
...that stretchy cotton yarn sure is comfy...
...now I can't wait to finish the other one...still hoping that I'm going to have enough yarn of both colours...and I really like the white toe and heel...
...this is what the colour change looks like on the inside...always picking up the other yarn from underneath...
...and this is the right side...so...it follows the knit purl change of the princess sole as well...so it isn't at all noticeable when you're wearing it...but there is a little jog in the stripe...

~Have a lovely Wednesday!

Tuesday, April 14, 2015

Vegan Salades de Riz...

...a pretty salad that used up the leftover ham seitan from our Easter dinner...

...all of the details are over at The Vegan Version...

~Have a lovely day!

Monday, April 13, 2015

...Countertop and Sink F.O. ...

...here's the finished countertop...
...we're really happy with it!

~Wishing you a lovely start to your week!

Saturday, April 11, 2015

...the Countertop and Sink have arrived...

...awaiting installation in the garage...
...it's Mesa by Corian...and the sink is biscuit...
...in place...
...we still need to add the backsplash...but we're loving it so far...it makes such a difference...

~Have a lovely weekend!

Friday, April 10, 2015

...Using up that zucchini...

...one more cooking post...and then I'll stop...we have actually done quite a bit of work on the house that I'm dying to show you...

...remember the vegan zucchini noodles...and the leftover center bit...
...as promised...I used up that leftover zucchini by puree-ing it in the Vitamix...
...I used the pureed zucchini instead of all the liquid in the spaghetti sauce...
...just stirred in some tomato paste (1 can)...
...I used my Favorite Spaghetti Veganized recipe...and added the onions and spices to the zucchini puree and tomato paste...
...then I added some TVP from the SDA store in NC...
...and I had a super thick and flavorful sauce...
...it was delicious...and you can't tell that it has three zucchini cores in it at all...pretty sneaky...as the boys are not particularly fond of zucchini...

...have you ever sneaked veggies into your cooking and not told anyone?...

~Have a lovely day!