Tearing up the Floor and Other House Stuff

We have done quite a few remodels around the house in the 6 years that we have lived here. Including scraping all of the popcorn off of the ceilings. The latest job has been keeping me very busy and moving from room to room.

This project started with the front door. We had it replaced but we did not do it ourselves.

Replacing the front door.

Before

This is almost the after. We stained the trim with a walnut stain. I will take a new picture.

When we moved in the floor in the front hallway had many cracks. Eventually tiles started popping right out.  The person that installed it just glued it to the plywood. So finally we decided it was time to replace the floor.  While my husband was at work I started tearing up the tiles. Since they were not laid correctly they came out super easily. The hardest part was carrying them to the garage.

Tearing up the tiles.

The new tiles.

Ripping up the plywood was so difficult. Moldings had to come out and hundreds of nails had to be pried up.

Hubby working hard.

The picture above, on the left, was before we move in. (not our cat). It has cracked tiles and wallpaper. The picture on the right is with the new tiles and painted walls. I have also started painting the moldings. I am not a fan of the crappy oak moldings with stain that doesn't really match around the house. I decided to paint it. :) Yes, I know now I have to just keep moving around the whole house.  I am loving the way that it is turning out.

Here is the view from the kitchen down the hall toward the front door. The picture on the left is when I just started picking up the tiles, which is why the rug is there so we could walk over it. The picture on the right is the 'after'. Loving it.

Another shot of the floor and the new moldings.

In addition to the floor, the door, and the molding painting we had to replace the floor in the half bath too because it's right off the hall and had the same tiles. So, since the sink and the toilet were being removed I thought it was a great time to repaint the room. (Hubby rolling his eyes).

The first set of pictures below are of the half bathroom when we moved in. I started peeling off the wall paper pretty quickly.

Half bath before

We painted it an orange color and put new... everything.

The first remodel

The last set of photos is how the half bath looks now. New paint new towels, new floor and white moldings. Love it.

Current look

More to come....

~Michelle

Snickerdoodle Bars

I thought I would try this recipe that came over my email from the Betty Crocker website.  I am always up for a new recipe.  It was a pretty cool evening and the boys and a friend were watching a movie so I decided to bake.  The great thing about this recipe is that the ingredients are things that I already had on hand. After I took it out of the oven I thought it was going to be under-baked however as it cooled it had a chewy, soft and very delicious texture. I also didn't use the glaze.  I wrapped some for the boys' friend to take home and took some to work the next day... Everyone loved them. Yeah

recipe from Betty Crocker

Snickerdoodle Bars

Ingredients
2 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup butter softened. (I used cold butter and just sliced it into tablespoons before beating)
1 1/4 cups sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla

Cinnamon Filling
1 Tbsp sugar
1 Tbsp cinnamon

Glaze - I didn't put any glaze on mine.
1 cup powdered sugar
1 to 2 Tablespoons milk
1/4 tsp vanilla

Directions
Preheat oven to 350F. Spray or grease bottom only of a 13x9-inch baking pan with cooing spray. In small bowl, combine flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside

In large bowl, beat butter with electric mixer on hight speed until creamy. Beat in sugars. Gradually beat in eggs and vanilla into sugar mixture until combined. On low speed, add dry ingredients until well combined.

Spoon half the batter into pan; spread evenly. Sprinkle cinnamon-sugar mixture evenly over batter.

Dollop teaspoon size amounts of remaining batter evenly over cinnamon-sugar mixture.

Bake 20-25 minutes or until golden brown and toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool completely, about 1 hour.

(Glaze) - In small bowl, stir glaze ingredients until smooth and thin enough to drizzle. Drizzle over bars.

Cut and serve
~Michelle

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Walnut Cake

This is an amazing fall recipe and I made it for work, as usual, and it was an absolute hit. Everyone loved it. It was moist and chocolaty  with the perfect amount of pumpkin.

I have made this recipe before I included the recipe in both posts.  I didn't have any pumpkin spice in the house so I made my own. Recipe below.

original recipe

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Loaf Cake Recipe


Ingredients

1 3/4 cup unbleached all purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice - I made my own, recipe below
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1 1/4 cup sugar
3 large eggs
1 cup canned pure pumpkin
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/3 cup whole milk
3/4 cup miniature semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup chopped walnuts


Directions

Preheat oven to 350F. Butter and flour 9x5x2  loaf pan.

Sift first 5 ingredients into medium bowl. Using electric mixer, beat butter in large bowl until smooth. Gradually beat in sugar, then beat in eggs 1 at a time. Beat in pumpkin and vanilla. Beat dry ingredients into pumpkin mixture alternately with milk. Stir in chocolate chips and nuts. Transfer batter to prepared pan.

Bake loaf cake until tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 55 - 65 minutes. Cool in pan on rack 15 minutes. Turn cake out onto rack; cool completely. 


pumpkin pie spice

1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1 teaspoon ground ginger

3/4 teaspoon ground all spice

~Michelle

Pear Pandowdy

It's time for FALL BAKING!!

What do yo do with 4 ripe pears?  You make a pear pandowdy. What is a pandowdy you ask? It is a fruit dessert with a biscuit crust that is sometimes stirred into the fruit before serving.  I tossed this together and took it over to the in-laws house for dessert during the Buffalo Bills game. The cinnamon and pears cooking made the most wonderful smell that the boys couldn't wait to dive right in. The biscuit crust was very delicious I love the flavors. Happy Fall baking.

Pear Pandowdy

Filling

4 cups sliced peeled pears (about 4 pears)
1/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
3 Tablespoons butter
1 Tablespoon lemon juice

Topping
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter
1/4 cup water
1 teaspoon sugar

Directions

Heat oven to 375F. Grease 8-inch square (1 1/2 quart) baking dis or 2-quart casserole. In medium saucepan, combine all filling ingredients. Cook over medium heat until mixture is hot, stirring occasionally.

In small bowl, combine flour, 1/4 cup sugar, baking powder and salt; mix well. Using pastry blender or fork, cut in 1/2 cup butter until mixture forms coarse crumbs. Add water, stirring just until dry ingredients are moistened. Pour hot filling into greased baking dish. Drop topping by rounded tablespoonfuls onto hot filling. Sprinkle with 1 teaspoon sugar. Bake for 30-40 minutes.  
I used my temptations baking dish. I love using it for baking. 

Contains affiliate links

The recipe is from Pillsbury The Complete Book of Baking

~Michelle

Coconut Lime Cookies

This is my second coconut lime cookies in as many days. The first one was ok I used vanilla chips in them and I think that they overpowered the flavors a bit. I also didn't use actual coconut in the first batch; I used a coconut cream pudding. I didn't take any photos but I will write the recipe.

The second recipe came out much better and the co-workers said they could taste the flavors much better.

Zest and Juice

Coconut Lime Cookies - I liked this recipe

Ingredients:

2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup butter
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1 egg
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
zest of one lime
4 TBSP lime juice
1/2 cup sweetened coconut

1/2 cup sugar for rolling cookies

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a small bowl, stir together flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
Using a mixer, beat together the butter and sugar until smooth and very fluffy. Beat in egg, vanilla, lime juice and lime zest. Gradually blend in the dry ingredients and coconut. Roll rounded teaspoon full of dough into balls and roll in sugar. Space them 1 1/2 inches apart because they do spread. Bake 8-10 minutes or until lightly browned. Let stand on cookie sheet two minutes before removing to cool on wire racks.

The first recipe that I tried went like this.

Coconut-Cream Lime with White Chocolate Cookies

Ingredients:

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 TBSP baking soda

1 cup butter

1/4 cup sugar
1 cup light brown sugar

1 package coconut cream pudding

2 eggs

1 TBSP vanilla

2 cups white chips

2 TBSP lime juice

1/2 tsp lime zest

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350F.

In a medium bowl, sift together the flour and baking soda and set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream together the butter, brown sugar and white sugar until light and fluffy.  Beat in the vanilla pudding mix until well blended, followed by the eggs and vanilla extract.  Blend in the flour mixture slowly, just until incorporated  Finally, by hand, stir in the white chocolate chips until everything is evenly combined and no flour remains at the bottom of the bowl.

Using a cookie scoop (I suggest a 1 1/2 tablespoon scoop) for even portions, scoop the cookies and place them on a parchment-lined baking sheet.

Bake 10-12 minutes just until edges are golden brown. Cool on cookie sheet for 2 minutes then place on wire racks to cool completely.

~Michelle

I Won a Gift Basket

I did, I won a gift basket.

My Brother is getting married in November.  His bride-to-be is a wonderful woman and I can't wait to have a sister-in-law. I was so happy when they finally got engaged.  Her shower was recently and I made some cake pops for the occasion. I also made the one where you make the chocolate cup, put the cake ball in and dip it in the candy coating.. oh, so yummy.  She loves candy and my cake pops. So I did win a baking gift basket, how perfect, right? I made the Mrs. Fields cupcakes for work and they came out great. Very moist and good flavor. On to the wedding. :)

The Happy Couple

The Bride-to-Be loves my cake pops and I made some to add to the beautiful candy table that her sisters put together.

Look at this beautiful  candy display.

My Gift Basket

The Contents

The Mixes

Cute Kitchen Towels.... from Kitch Towels on Etsy ♥

Confetti cupcakes with homemade strawberry buttercream frosting.

White Cupcakes with canned Vanilla Frosting, I added chocolate chips.

 ~Michelle

Lemon Cookies

I seem to always choose to make recipes that include chocolate.. That is probably because I LOVE chocolate. I decided to make something lemony. I found this nice recipe for lemon cookies.  

I thought the dough was a little sticky and I had to cook the cookies for 11-13 minutes instead of the 9-11 that the recipe calls for.  They came out crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside.  The flavor was delicious.  My son really loved them.  He was very upset when I took the cookies to work and didn't bring any home for him.  I think I may try a recipe for Lemon Coolers soon.

recipe from Lauren's Latest

The cookies get rolled in powder sugar before baking so you get the crackle effect.

Lemon Cookies

Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup granulated suger
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 egg
1 tsp lemon zest
1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup powdered sugar

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350F. Grease light colored baking sheets with non-stick cooking spray set aside.  I use air-bake sheet so I do not have to grease them.

In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Whip in vanilla, egg, lemon zest and juice. Scrape sides and mix again. Stir in all dry ingredients slowly until just combined, excluding the powder sugar. Scrape sides of bowl and mix again briefly. Pour powdered sugar onto a large plate. Roll a heaping teaspoon of dough into a ball and roll in powdered sugar. Place on baking sheet and repeat with remaining dough.

Bake for 9-11 minutes or until the bottoms to barely brown. Remove from oven and cool cookies about 3 minutes before transferring to cooling rack.

I got about 2 dozen cookies. :)

~Michelle