Hurricane Irene, the Artist!

As I'm sure you all know this past weekend we had Ms. Irene on our coast which left us inside most of the weekend. One of my favorite experiments is to see how nature and art work together, thus the post and cool pictures! Hurricane Art, Hurricane Irene the Artist, however you want to put it, this was a fun project that I will definitely be doing on our next rainy day!

First I taped down a piece of watercolor paper to cardboard and/or any flat, durable substance. I put globs and random lines of watercolor paint on the paper.

First I tried to tape it to this cabinet that we have on our porch which didn't go over so well because it had already been raining and was quite wet. So I nailed the cardboard to the cabinet. One of the many pleasures of having a nice sturdy piece of junk around :)

 

 The artist at work. The cabinet was also on a slight slant which helped bring the color down. I love how the purple moved! If you can use a slightly slanted surface I would recommend it.

Here is a before and after. I think this one turned out the best.

Here are a few others that I did. My cousin suggested also using iridescent paint on top which would look really cool. Or you could use a simple black to paint something on top. Just a few suggestions but you could do anything with these, or leave them just as they beautifully are!

( The one on the top right was left out all day. The one on the top left was left out for maybe a half hour or so.) I would suggest doing several and taking them in to dry at various times to see what you like best. When you look outside and you fall in love with it, that's when you know it's time to let it dry!

Have fun, be creative and free with this one, you've got nothing to lose!

To purchase, please click here. 


 Kristen

Spicy Sesame Ginger Salmon

This recipe is definitely a keeper and highly recommended if you're looking for a twist for the average baked salmon.  The perfect combination of spicy, sweet and that "kick" aka ginger.

Spicy Sesame Ginger Salmon
-The Next Bird 

Printable version here. 

Ingredients:

• ¼ c orange juice
• ¼ c soy sauce
• 2 T honey
• 1 ½  T ginger juice
• 2 t sesame oil
• ½ T red pepper flakes (at your spicy loving taste buds discretion)
• Sesame seeds (for top, if you’d like)
• Salt and Pepper – for salmon

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Take the skin off of the salmon and pat dry. Please in a foil lined dish, spayed with PAM or other non-stick substance. Place salmon in dish and season with salt and pepper. Bake for 5-7 minutes (varies with thickness) 

Meanwhile…

In a medium saucepan combine orange juice, soy sauce, honey, ginger juice and red pepper flakes. Bring contents to a boil and then reduce the heat. Heat until the sauce thickens and bubbles. Set aside and stir in sesame oil. 

After the first 5-7 minutes of baking, switch the oven to broil, take out salmon and generously brush with glaze. Bake for another 5-10 minutes, brushing several more times with glaze ( I took it out every 2 minutes or so) 

When the salmon is done to your liking, sprinkle with sesame seeds and serve immediately.

If you love the sauce as much as I did, you can use it as salad dressing the next day J

Enjoy!

Bathroom Mirror

I really don't know who ever thought these itty-bitty mirrors for the bathroom were a good idea. Lucky for us we found a pretty large piece of mirror out by the trash! Double awesome. Giant Mirror AND free! If i could roll around in the awesomeness of the universe for this I would. Thank you! Thank you! Am I overly excited? Free & Useful makes me just beside myself. Moving on...

Here is the mirror before: Ew. Ew. Ew. Can you even see in that little space? Difficult, I know.

 First, I unscrewed the old one:

Then I went to the hardware store and found small metal clips that would hold the mirror against the wall. Normally I would have added extra support at the bottom but we have the convenience of using that white ledge for support. So the clips were really just used to hold it against the wall.

Sweet! I really wanted it to be a little more to the left but for the assurance of "studs" we needed to put it in this position. Oh well. Safety first!

We also added that metal rack to the right of the sink to give a little more counter space. We got it at Target and it's actually shelving for a garage. The bathroom cabinets and storage units were so much more expensive and this would serve our needs perfectly, so we went with the cost savings!

I thought about framing the mirror, but once again I'm torn with the fact that we are renting. Maybe in our next place!

Banana Bread!

I don't think I will ever stray from this Banana Bread Recipe. It's perfect. Full of flavor, moist... perfect....

Best Banana Bread
-slightly adapted from Sophistimom  





Printable version here.

Ingredients:

• 1 ½ cups sugar
• ½ cup butter (1 stick at room temperature)
• 1 cup apple sauce
• 2 cups mashed bananas (overly ripe)
• 3 eggs, lightly beaten
• 2 ½ cups flour
• 1 tsp. soda
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• 1 – 1 ½ cups walnut pieces (at your nut-loving discretion)

 Directions:

Cream together the sugar and butter until smooth and fully integrated.

In separate bowl lightly beat the three eggs until there is no separation.

Add apple sauce, mashed bananas and lightly beaten eggs to sugar mixture. Mix until just incorporated. You should see some banana chunks in the batter.

Sift together and add flour, soda, salt and cinnamon to the batter. Do not over mix!

Bake at 350

For loaf pans: 35-45 minutes or until done

For cupcake pans: 25 -30 minutes or until done

Enjoy!

SCOUT!!!

Hooray! We finally got a puppy! Ever since we moved to NC I've really wanted a friend dog. So on the anniversary of our 1 year in Raleigh, we picked up the cutest little muffin at the SPCA. We spend 6+ hours playing and filling out paperwork, so were definitely ready to bring the little one home. He didn't have a name for  first 4 or so days and I think we've settled on Hudson. Although I wouldn't be surprised if we change his name, it's not really sticking. We'll see :)

***We've changed his name to Scout, hopefully it sticks this time!***

First Bath!

 

So there is the newest addition to the family and we're loving every most minutes of it!!! We'll keep you updated on his new name :)

Painting a tub?

Confession - I painted the tub. Something about that makes me feel like I did something bad. Sorta like this kid, but on a scale from 1-10 what I did was like a 3 and this kid.. um a 10. A 10 for sure. But we probably used the same paint color. :)

The tub in our bathroom is one of my most favorite things about the house. It comes in at a close tie with the sun room <3. As you may notice I tend to focus on one room at a time and do all the little fixer-up things before moving on to the next room. Bedroom: check. And we move on to the bathroom.

Here is the tub before. Its really one of those things that you fantasize about having in your house some day and  it really gives the place that unique charm we were really looking for. Except this guy has that grungy look that is not so pleasant. Solution = paint.

RUST CITY!!! But behind that wear and tear is a beautiful foot! (I never thought I would say that) But a beautiful foot it is indeed! I know you will all agree :)

And after an awkward tape job...

 

So after a coat of primer and a coat of white paint, waalah! SO much better, don't you think? All that rust below the pipes is no longer there and that is the best part. Or maybe the feet is the best part. Oh heavens, I can't decide. It's all wonderful.

  

Pedicure time. Ha! 

No More Rust!

Much better! Makes my soul smile every time I see it. Moral of the story, even though it may seem wacky or a weird way to do something, you might as well try! I never thought that paint and tub would ever make sense, but it did and it's amazing! Have you ever done anything uncommon around the house? or used something odd for a solution?

Cookie Mission

You know those perfect cookies you can never make at home? Well I have news. And if you've had this same problem, it's BIG NEWS! I found this recipe that was altered a bit from the New York Times Recipe .  And it was awesome! They were the perfect crunchy on the edges and amazingly gooey and soft on the inside. Simple phenomenal dipped in a glass of milk, if you're into the sorta thing. I will be making these again and sharing them at parties. Yeah, that good.

NY Times Chocolate Chip Cookies
-slightly adapted from One Lovely Life

Printable Version here.

Ingredients:

• 2 1/2 sicks (1 1/4c) butter, softened**
• 1 1/4c brown sugar
• 1c sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 1 3/4tsp salt
• 1 1/3 tsp baking powder
• 1 1/4tsp baking soda
• 2c minus 2 Tbsp cake flour
• 1 2/3c all purpose flour (or bread flour)
• 2c semi-sweet chocolate chips (I used the minis and they worked out great!) 

**When baking I have had more success when I let the butter sit out to room temperature rather than microwaving. Highly recommended.

I bet some walnuts would be really great in here too. 

 Directions:

In a large bowl, cream butter and sugars until light and fluffy (about 4-5 minutes). (Try not to eat this amazing concoction just yet. Trust me there will be lots of dough and if you start now you will be sick - advice from the experienced.) Add eggs and vanilla and mix thoroughly.

Sift in salt, baking powder, baking soda, and flours(s). (And if you don't have a sifter, like myself, you can use something around the kitchen. I used a pasta strainer that had little holes and just shook the flour through. It seems like a sifter is one of those random tools that you never think to buy and usually just inherit or something, just sayin')

Stir until dry ingredients are well incorporated. Fold in chocolate chips.

Press plastic wrap against the surface of the dough and refrigerate dough at least 24 hours (dough can remain refrigerated up to 72 hours) *This is an important step and most of us piggies want our cookies NOW! But trust me, something about the overnight fridge takes the salt taste way down and makes them perfect. You may be disappointed if you make them too soon.

When ready to bake cookies, scoop golfball-sized balls of dough onto a cookie sheet lined with wax paper or silicone mat. Bake 6 cookies at a time at 350 degrees for 10-15 minutes (keep an eye on them at 10) Stick around until the edges are golden but the centers are not fully cooked (the best way to tell is the golden edges) Allow cookies to rest on the warm baking sheet about 5 minutes before moving to a cooling rack (this will allow for the centers to finish cooking)

Usually I hesitate and take the cookies out too late because I'm scared of under cooking them. But heck I'm taking "firsts" with everything else, so I took them out when they looked golden and OH MAN! These are the best I've ever made. This will for sure be my cookies recipe until I feel like trying for something even better!

Enjoy!