Easter Treats

Oh the culinary joys of this season!! Ham, mashed potatoes, ambrosia salad, deviled eggs and all sorts of tasty treats! But save room for desert! Lemon cupcakes plumb with dark raspberry filling and frosted in rich butter creme.

And who can resist crispy squares dipped in milk chocolate!

Happy Easter!

Black And White

It is not completely done but I wanted to post some pics of the guest bath I have been working on all by myself! To think that a short time ago I had a complete disaster in this room! Now it is so crisp and fresh. Here is a view of the vanity area. The paint color is a little off in these photos. Think more creamy butter. I found this picture at Hobby Lobby. I love the monogram! It matches the towel hook by the sink!

Here is the tub area. I am not a big fan of traditional towel bars so I used this pegboard instead.

This rug was a bargain buy and I love it. It isn't a bath rug at all but it was the perfect size for this space.

In this picture you get a better idea of the wall color. I sewed the vanity skirt and attached it to hide the area I store a dehumidifier in.

The one thing I haven't been able to find yet is a mirror for above the sink! Still looking.

Now I have a bath I really enjoy walking into. A few more touches and it will be even better!

Anthropologie!

I had seen a lot lately about this store called Anthroplogie and all the super cool stuff people were finding there. One problem, I got the impression they were also super expensive! But today, while Jenn and I were shopping, we saw that one had opened in our really posh mall. We thought we could just look around inside for "ideas". Oops!

Oh my, were they ever expensive! But so cool! Lots of really neat and unusual things. And I found just the right little jewel for my guest bathroom redecorating project! And it has a P on it. I was meant to have it! Plus it was the only thing in the store I could afford!

Perfect for my hand towels!

Diana

I Did It Myself And I'm Still Alive

I am not being overly dramatic...really. I am terrified of electricity! But if you lived with these lights for close to six years (and a dragon fly theme decor) in your guest bath, you'd be tempted to climb a ladder with a screw driver yourself. It started with a desire to paint the bathroom, your know, freshen it up a bit. But the lights, well, they looked so bad. And the sink had a ton of chalk on it. The wall were badly patched so the sink top had to be removed and cleaned. That's when I found the hole in the wall.....and the leak behind it. This just became a much bigger job than a gallon of paint and new shower curtain! I will show more pics when it is finally completed.

But back to the lights. Brass, and so very 80's....maybe even 70's......But definitely not vintage and cool. Just outdated and ugly. So I got real brave or maybe stupid, depending on your fear level, turned off the power switch thingy in the big gray box in the basement, and started. Stopping now and then, when my hands shaking made thing a little difficult, I got the old fixtures down. They really hide the screws that hold the thing to the junction box, but if you bend them up a bit, you finally can find them!!! Now I had three bare wares sticking out of a hole in the wall. Video calls to Ron helped when I got stuck (too many wires in the fixture to hook up to the corresponding wires in the wall). And then today I finished!!! New lights!! Attached to the wall!!

With lights that actually work!! Amazing!!

And I am still alive!! Wait til you hear about my foot in the paint tray and hooking up the sink!!!

Slap Your Mama-They're So Good-Cupcakes

Seriously, they are that good! First I made, from scratch, devil's food cupcakes. Then I filled them with cherry pie filling and frosted them with homemade cream cheese frosting. There are a few chocolate jimmies sprinkled on top of each one just for a little contrast.I took these to the Chili Cook Off we have each year at our church. These are so luscious and were the perfect end to all that spicy chili!!!

Mozzarella Cheese Please

Finally found low pasteurized milk so I could try and make mozzarella cheese. The whole milk is not homogenized and comes from a dairy in glass bottles. Too cool. So one gallon of milk makes one pound of cheese. Really expensive cheese. I found out that this process has a really big learning curve. Requires some special ingredients and a lot of time watching a thermometer. Plus kneading of really hot curds (burns) and having to guess when enough was enough. I think I guessed wrong but....

It does look pretty good. I thought I added too much salt and it was a bit drier than I expected. But I think I will try this again now that I know what not to do.

Love Hate Relationship

Let me begin by saying that we really like having our roads plowed. Really. Would not be happy if we had to drive in a foot or more of snow. Love that snow plow! But......ever since we have lived here we have had an unwelcomed surprise waiting for us after every snow storm. A totally destroyed mail box. We are on our third mailbox and that is not counting all the repairs done in between. And in case you think our mailbox is sitting too close to the road, hidden by snow, etc., making it's demise unavoidable, nothing could be farther from the truth. It sits back from the road, (and has been moved even farther back one mailbox ago), and is visible with reflective numbers. And yet we still seem to be a target. We believe that if he actually misses it the first pass, he backs up and tries for another shot at it. This last time I tied it to the pole and the next morning the mailbox had been hit again, mail in snow and me just a bit peeved.

So Ron invented a plow proof box. It is on a lazy susan base....so if he hits it, it will swing around and avoid too much damage. Yippee! I can't wait for the plow to come at this!

Here it is swung a quarter turn but still attached!!

And here is a pic of the underside with the box back in it's proper position. Works good in trials. so have at it Mr. plowman, we're ready for you now!