Kitchen Updates w/ Photos....

I hope.  I've been having a fit with getting pics to upload onto here so here we go. 

Tried to find angles that were similar - which involved me digging through the old pics (remembered where those are thanks to recent picture presents for Christmas) then jumping up and taking a shot of the 'new'.  

 Above is looking in from the garage door (looking to the left).

 And to the right...

 

Last pic is the same angle believe it or not.  

All in all - we are 99% done. There's a little bit of trim work to be done on the floorboards, back splash, the curtains, and ceiling finish work but at least we have a fully functioning kitchen again.  I'd love to switch the door opening but we'll see about that.  

Of course, there are lots of glamor shots of all this that didn't make it into the finals.  Like these....

 

Sub floor replacement.  My Alan makes everything seem simple.  I was ready to sell the house and move at this point. 

I had left the house for some reason and he texted me these.  Egads....It was fixed by the time I got home. 

He's that good. 

The End.  :) 

Sheesh

October 31, 2012 was the last post?  Egads.  Slighly pathetic.

I'm working on being more 'checked in' to real life and not so much watching for blogging fodder although our lives and various remodeling/therapy projects sort of lend themselves to it naturally.

Our trusty Flylady calendar can give some clues as to why it's been so long since I've updated this thing.  That and the fact that somehow, loading pictures stopped working on blogger and I've yet to decide to put much mental energy into learning how to fix that.  I *know* that the pictures are a huge deal.  Heck, blogger is the 'new' babybook.

November, and December are a blur, in all honesty.  In making the following list, I can see why.

*We did more school.

*Janelle started ballet here in town and is loving every minute of it.

*Charlotte had more doctor appointments.

*Two surgeries - ear tubes put in and the sedated test in which they monitored her auditory nerve to determine whether her hearing issues were due to nerves or blocked passages.  Yay - just blockage.  So as long as the tubes stay clear - her nerves are getting the signals.

*Alan went to China for two week for work.

*A fun girl sleepover with some other moms I know through home-schooling.

*Got nose pierced.

*Visits from my dad, his wife, and his mom, who I've not seen in ages.  Good to see her again!

*Visits from in-laws as they're now closer (eastern WA vs. CO), and to in-laws.

*Various pet issues:  a couple of dead cats, a few missing cats, a hunted and taken out rooster, and another random dead chicken.

*Leg braces for Charlotte Joy to help encourage her to stand on weak joints.

*Sister visits for Christmas holidays!

*Work on finishing up the kitchen remodel/redo that we started about a year ago.  :/  Various other house projects that we 'gifted' to each other that will do several things, like....get things tied off for refinancing the house (Funny, but they don't like refinancing when you have half a kitchen.).  Get them off the to-do list.

That's about it.

2013 might be more calm.  Or not.  We shall see.  

My Husband's Sense of Humor

Do you see that???

BLUE tape to tape up the holes I put there in a valiant effort to take out the soffit and save him some time *cough, cough* by getting 'things' ready on this side.

BLUE tape, people. 

Honey, I'm so glad you're sense of humor is still intact. 

Soup and Bread

We love soup and bread nights.  I try and do it at LEAST once a week.  I think I get in that range.  I've gone from once a month cooking to trying to 'meal plan' to more of an idea list.  It seems to work better but it means I don't track as well as I used to.  :/ 

Looks more like catagories or themes.  Beans, Rice, Chicken, Beef, Pasta, Pizza, Soup, Finger foods. 

99% of what we do is from scratch and more than half of our meals are bean based.  I've tried cooking all fancy and then the kids 'oooohhh' and 'aaaahhhh' over the simple and AWESOME beans and rice.  Guess what?  That's where we're livin'. 

ANYWAY - what do you do when it's POURING buckets outside, you are trying to use up freezer items, and just the other day you came across a gallon bag of roasted carrots you did late summer? 

You decide SIMPLE CARROT SOUP is for dinner, thanks to having read your girlfriend's post (a sweet gal who *follows a recipe*...then shares it!).

Then, you remember this AWESOME bread recipe* another friend posted and you've now learned to finesse to look exhaustingly beautiful when in actuallity, you dumped everything in a bowl, forgot about it for the rest of the afternoon, and will shape to let rise once more an hour or so before you want to serve it.

SEE????

I love it when a plan comes together.  Or a throw it together that looks like you had a plan well thought out in advance.  Whatever.

*Angela Bread aka: No Knead Artisan Bread

BASIC DOUGH:

Add to large bowl, in order:

• 3 c. lukewarm water
• 1 1/2 T. yeast
• 1 1/2 T. salt
• 6 1/2 c. flour

Mix with wooden spoon.  Dough will be sticky.  Lightly cover (not airtight) and let sit at room temperature 2 - 5 hours. At any time after 2-hour mark, may bake and/or refrigerate dough (keeps for up to 14 days in covered but not airtight container). Will take on better, almost sourdough flavor after 24+ hours.  Makes 4 1-lb. loaves.
_______________________________________________
PREP TO BAKE:

• Pull off 1-lb. of dough (large grapefruit sized ball)
• Dust surface with flour, then pull floured top layer of bread around itself and to the bottom, rotating 1/4 turn each time, until top of ball is smooth and bottom is 4 corners pulled together (don't worry, can't really mess this part up). Should take about 30 seconds.  Finish options:

Option 1:  Round Artisan Loaf

• Let dough ball sit (rise) at room temperature 40 minutes
• Use serrated knife to cut deep grooves in top of bread
• Bake!

Option 2:  Herb Loaf
*Add 1+ teaspoon each of herbs of your choice to water when making dough.  Our favorites:  dill, basil, and rosemary.

Option 3:  Dinner Rolls

• Divide dough ball into 6 dinner roll
• Let sit (rise) at room temperature for 40 minutes
• Bake!

Option 4:  Baguette

• Pull/roll dough ball into elongated loaf (may need to dush with flour again)
• Let sit (rise) at room teperature for 20 minutes
• Use pastry brush to "paint" with water to remove excess flour
• Use serrated knive to cut grooves in top of bread at angle
• Bake!

_______________________________________________
BAKE:

Pre-heat oven (and baking stone, if using) to 450 degrees, with metal cookie sheet or broiling pan on bottom shelf

Place bread/rolls on baking stone or baking sheet on top shelf in oven

Toss 1 c. hot water on hot sheet/pan on bottom shelf to create steam; shut oven door to trap steam

Bake 30 minutes for bread (35+ minutes if baking 2 loaves), 20-25 minutes for dinner rolls, or 25 minutes for baguette

Cool on wire rack

Option 5:  Sticky Pecan Caramel Rolls

• Spread bottom of 9" baking pan (i.e. pie plate) with creamed mixture of: 1/2 c. brown sugar, 6 T. melted butter, 1/2 t. salt, and pecans
• Roll 1 1/2 lb. dough ball into large rectangle 1/8th inch. thick (flour as needed)
• Spread with creamed mixture of:  1/4 c. sugar, 4 T. butter, pinch pepper, 1 t. cinnamon, 1/4 t. nutmeg, then sprinkle with 1/3 c. pecan bits
• Roll into log and slice with serrated knife into 8 equal pieces
• Place in pan, sprinkle with extra cinnamon to taste
• Let sit (rise) at room teperature for 20 minutes
• Bake at 450 for 40 minutes
• Scrape sides with knive to loosen, then invert on plate while still hot
• Serve warm!

Vary to taste. Our personal preference:  fewer pecans and more butter/sugar topping.  I used a pie plate with handles, which worked very well in inverting onto plate: placed dinner plate on top, held firmly against handles and tipped upside down.  Voila! 

I usually make the two big loaves at once as...well...everyone loves it, but last week I saved half the dough for fresh, hot bread another night that same week.  Worked fabulous...but, use a bigger bowl than I did when I stored the half for later or you'll wind up with this. 

Enjoy. 
 

The Window Side

Half the kitchen is done.  That other half is driving me batty.  I know what end result we're shooting for.  Unfortunately, it costs money we don't have right now so I mentally back up and find out something I can do to be ready when money grows on trees. 

Like rip out another cabinet and soffit. 

Honestly, I have this demo thing kind of down to a system and lined up my tools, idea, permission, and three hour time slot.  If it had only been as easy as the first soffit to go. 

Wouldn't you know it, this one is open to the attic as well.  I couldn't believe it.  Once I'd started it was a bit hard to stop, so I (recklessly) kept at it, now fueled with a serious dose of irritation in addition to the normal caffinee. 

This cabinet wasn't horrible to take out, although again - 30 layers of paint is pretty good glue.  Unbelievable. 

 

Back and forth, back and forth - like wiggiling a loose tooth.  Then some yanking was involved. 

While I was there and the mess was unavoidable - let's just rip out all the tile that's going to come out someday anyway.  Efficient aren't I?  What's uglier than blue countertops?  

Yep.  That is....

Here's the DIYer's best friend.

Looking slightly better...



Here's the after.  Well.....the first after of that day's project.  Yes, those stupid holes are still there.  I'll wait until the real talent can take care of the holes to the attic, the electrical, and possibily some structual issues.  His name is Alan and you will recognize him as he will be the one with REALLY BIG JEWELS in his crown.    

Once those pesky little details are finished off nicely...I'll finish preping.  More mudding and then...paint.  Be afraid, be very afraid.   



Everything 'ology'

This month has been a smattering of doctor's visits.  Some for the big kids (shocker) and most for Charlotte. 

We've had Pediatric for her one year 'I'm big stuff and see how great I'm doing' appointment.  20# 6oz and 29 1/2 inches long.  Following her growth curve in a very smooth fashion.

Then it was Opthomology for her eye check.  It's routine for her.  Originally we were sent there because of the complications there can be with Down Syndrom and vision but she's doing pretty well, so they're just monitoring to make sure that the little bitty issues she has don't escalate more quickly than can be counteracted.

Later that same week was Audiology and the Pediatric Otolaryngology.  I don't even know HOW to pronounce that one.  Basically ENT.  (ear, nose, and throat)  This step is another standard with her diagnosis of Down Syndrome although this one has more of a 'yes, there's a bigger issue' element.  She has not passed their hearing screenings adequately.  We know that she can hear some things but there seems to be delay.  She's had a few of these appointments and this one was another follow-up to see if she had matured enough to respond to the testing - or not if her hearing was an issue.  

Yep - These last test revealved that she has fairly significant inability to hear at certain frequencies and or determine WHERE sound is coming from.  Our Audiologist (who is stinkin' awesome) was telling the big girls and I that Charlotte was hearing basically like the rest of us would if we were underwater in the deep end of the pool.  Not great for developing hearing...or speech.



Lunch in the waiting room at Doernbecher

 After that, we were off to another part of Doernbecher (that place is HUGE and yes, we did get lost) to the ENT offices and they checked her out.  Different doc, same results.  They are the ones that get to lay out the surgery card though.  Looks like that's the direction we're heading.  Tubes will be placed in her ears (both sides) to help drain the fluid.  This will be the first step in determining if her auditory nerves aren't functioning as well as they should or she was just blocked with fluid.  It's a very routine surgery but there is sedation so we have to get permission and clearance from her cardiologist for that first.  Hopefully within a month we'll be on the other side of this and she'll be cringing with all the noise that IS our home and family. 

Our new normal is a bit on the wild side.  It's good though and we're finding our groove.

Chicken Business

Alan made some improvements to our chicken coop recently.  The girls needed some better roosting places and so off he went with leftover boards and a plan.  He tweaked it a bit as they didn't like the boards placed at a 45 degree angle.  Now it's at 90 and they're all perched up there cooing at him in the evening when he goes out to put them to bed for the night.  

It's like high school bleachers for chickens.  They're pretty funny to watch parked up there at night.  Most of them like the top two rails vs. being on the lower ones.  Maybe the view is better from there?  We still have a few random chickens and those dang turkeys that mill around and sit in random and inconvenient spots but those birds are too big to mess with.  

I don't love the turkeys in case you can't tell.  

They would go a long way in restoring their relationship with me if they'd quit squeezing themselves into the chicken's nesting boxes and either cracking some eggs or flipping them out because they want to have the nest.  Grrrrr.....

We're getting about 10-14 usable (not cracked...grrrr..hiss....) eggs a day so production has gone down.   It's the changing of the weather but  now we have a light up and on a timer so hopefully, that will get at least us through the winter without having to buy eggs.  Next weekend we may do some winterizing of the coop that may keep them happy as well.  

*A little extra:

Here's the mama and her babies....all 14 of them. (One met its demise at the paw of one of our cats...natural consequences of not staying with it's mama...eeesh.)  They're doing great and finding their place in our zoo.