Kitchen Remodel: AFTER

 

Ahhhhh, this is my new kitchen.  I am obsessed.  I can't quit baking. OMG.

Here's a sneaky of the way it used to look, just for a refresher.

Little stainless shelf above range was cut to size.

I inherited the idea from my friends, Adam & Jade.

It's an under $50 find from Ikea.  Love.

Why yes, I did plan the cabinet hardware to mimic

the appliances.  Again, obsessed.

The counter (peninsula) that separates the kitchen

from the dining room used to be a full wall, with

an arched doorway, that led into the dining room.

I am so thankful that we took that wall down.  

I am even more excited that the walk through

was roomy enough to support my metro rack 

of random things.  There is a chunk of 

kitschy, old lady that lives in my soul and she just

loooooves kitchen sh!t...

Let's be real, my favorite things are favorites for

great reason!!!  My grandma's juicer, random bowls

I found at garage sales or acquired from my mom, milk

bottles that held flowers at our wedding, a hand blender I scored a flea market

in Seattle, when I took the train up to see a friend when we were newlyweds 

in Oregon...and on and on.  I loooove this stuff. 

One of my favorite things about having this wall gone 

(yes, this was the wall), is the amazing sight lines. I can

see the kids playing in their tent (which was lovingly crafted by my in-laws).

 I used to have to peek around the corner every few seconds, just

to make sure they were playing okay.  Now, they play in peace, while I 

prep dinner.  Very much a win/win on that front. 

I am equally excited about the great work surfaces, which the old set up lacked greatly.  

The microwave/convection combo was a must have, as I didn't want to lose 

our limited upper wall space to a microwave, and I love the idea that I have 

an additional oven, when I am on a roll and can't shove everything into the

main oven.  Priorities, my friends...priorities.

 

Can you now even stand that a wall used to stand

here?  UH-mazing, right

So...come visit.  We'll get our bake on!!!

Kitchen Remodel: BEFORE

 

 Celebrating the one year anniversary that we moved into our house,

it is fun to report that the kitchen remodel is complete.  

This is a few snaps of the old space.  Yes, yes...it was a clean little space.

It just wasn't a functional space.

I never got used to electric heat cooking.  Pulling a gas line in for the 

kitchen remodel was at the top of my list.

It is a bit hard to see in this photo, but just beyond the sink island

was a gas fireplace that jetted out and created an awkward corridor.

It also blocked the views of South Table Mountain (and Coors Brewery...oh what)

from the living room. 

A little desk in the kitchen is a nice idea.  Although steps

off of the kitchen is a proper office, so this felt like a 

waste of space, where instead there should be storage.

the footprint of the kitchen is small enough, that every corner

needed to be utilized for functionality.

Here is the fireplace.  I do already miss it, on cold nights...

although I don't mind snuggling up in blankets.  I also enjoy the view

so much more.  There is a large niche in the wall, just to the left of 

where the fireplace used to sit.  Someday, that will house a gas fireplace,

as we had them turn the gas line, to accommodate that down the road.

Mountain view BLOCKER.  Bad design choice!

Okay friends, I can't wait to show you the new space...this week. 

the very hungry caterpillar CUPCAKES!

My sweet Benny turned 1 (yes, over a month ago...I so do not have my act together!)

I let my sweet 4 year old, Logan, decide what we would make for his big celebration.

She instantly said she wanted to make him 'the caterpillar who eats pie and sausage...'

It was on.  

 I started by baking off vanilla cupcakes.  Make the caterpillar

as big as you want (you could gather a ton of mini cupcakes for the

body and use a standard cupcake for the head).  I used

standard cupcakes for the body and a large cupcake for the head.  

No rules.

Next whip up the frosting. 
It is super easy and SUPER tasty!

Then get out your food color.  

ROY G BIV.  I loved teaching Logan about primary and secondary

colors, while we mixed the color gel into the frosting.  

Doesn't this need to be on the Weather Channel.  Hurricane Frosting!

Frosting, ready to go.  You can do this days in

advance, if that is helpful.

Use a knife and randomly spread the green

frosting across the body of cupcakes.

We have all read the book and he is whimsy, so

keep it that way with your frosting.

Red face.

I pulled a little yellow and blue frosting in, around the edges,

to mimic the look of the caterpillar (this step is not necessary, but

I think it gives it an authentic look)

While I was trying to figure out what to use

for the antenna, my husband walked by eating

sour worms (this is not a joke) and they were

PERFECT!  I snagged two.  I smeared the 

yellow on for eyes.

I popped a bit of green in the microwave for

5 seconds, it was easier to apply to the yellow of

the eyes, when it was heated a bit.

 

Unfortunatley, we didn't have any pie or sausage to decorate

the cupcake with.  We made do with some fruit we had on hand.

 I made Benny a cupcake, just so he wouldn't be covered in coloring.

He looooved it!

Breakfast Burrito Bake

Friends were in town so I whipped up a quick breakfast.  Pulling together things that I had on hand, I ended up having most ingredients needed for breakfast burritos.  I didn't want to make individual burritos (so I could shower), so I tossed the items together and voila Breakfast Burrito Bake.

For a 9x13 baking dish, combined the following in a bowl:
32 oz carton Liquid Eggs (any brand will do)...or the whole egg equivalent- 16 eggs
2 cup milk
2 small cans of diced green chiles (I used mild)
1 cup sauteed, diced onions (I had this prepped the night before)
6 flour tortillas cut or torn into pieces
4 cups thawed, hash brown potatoes
3 cups shredded cheese (cheddar, jack, Mexican blend...whatever you have on hand!)
salt and pepper

If you wish, mix in any other breakfast burrito favorites: sausage, bacon, olives, roasted peppers, etc. (I didn't happen to have any other ingredients on hand, but it was definitely not lacking).

Pour the mixture into a greased 9x13 pan and bake at 375 degrees for 30-45 minutes (until the top browns a bit and the center bounces back when touched).

I served with cubed avocado (sprinkled with sea salt), salsa, sour cream and additional flour tortillas cut into wedges.  I wished I had tomatoes in the fridge, as diced tomatoes would have been a delish topper.

Happy Breakfast (or breakfast for dinner...), friends! 


PS...Of course blogging this delish creation was an afterthought, so many apologies for the single cell phone picture.

PPS...I also whipped up little strawberry pastries (super simple!)...will certainly blog those at some point. 

10 Year Wedding Anniversary!

I cannot believe that today my sweet husband and I celebrate 10 years of wedded bliss.  It feels like yesterday, but when I pause and think of our years in Oregon, Oklahoma and now Colorado, since that date, it starts to feel like a lifetime ago!

August 16, 2003

 

I loved my tea length dress, with just a splash of antique lace

peeking out of the bottom.  It was perfect for a garden party and dancing. 

 

I had hoped to be super organized and scan some pictures (yes, when we were married the film was not digital...crazy!) but alas, I am in Minnesota and I did not have my act together before I headed this way.  But, I will share some fun details of our very special day.

 

We got married in the yard I grew up in.  My mom is a ridiculous gardener (her gardens have been featured on tours) and the big yard on the river with her gardens as the backdrop was all I had ever wanted for my wedding day.  I wanted to play off of the setting, so instead of having a florist arrange pristine bouquets and centerpieces, we ordered thousands of flowers, (with lots of variety, that you would actually find in a Minnesota garden) from wholesale and did all of the arrangements ourselves (we ladies all got together the day before the wedding to knock this out.  How very pinterest-before-pinterest of us, huh!) the splashes of color were placed in Mason jars, old milk jugs, antiques, etc.  It was perfect.  It was us (well, that is a stretch as my husband did not care about the ridiculously cute milk jugs my mom and I found at a junk store...but whatevs!)

 

We couldn't decide what we wanted to serve for dinner, and after meeting with several caterers for tastings and menu selecting, we decided to really go for it and serve our favorite pizza and salad.  It was a hit.  Who doesn't love them some pizza?  We served the pizza on big boards, propped up by big, industrial size cans of roasted tomatoes and roasted red peppers.  We found the cans up in the UP of Michigan at a little Italian market, and hauled them back.  They really did the trick in helping to create dimension on the tables so the pizza didn't fall flat (yes, it's just pizza...but I still wanted it to look fabulous).

 

We know I love cake...this is fact.  Well, I knew I wanted to have lots of cake at the wedding, since I had this amazing antique plant stand (that basically looked like a conglomerate of vintage cake stands), so we found a baker who make us 8 different flavors of cake.  They were so tasty, and truly everyone got to pick a favorite.  We also did jars of all of our favorite candy all around, including one of my favorite ideas from the day:  JARS OF RING POPS...so everyone, young and old, could pop on a 'wedding ring'!!! 

 

Since I grew up on a river (as did Zac, just a different river...but still one that drains into the Mississippi-  can you say meant to be??? haaa) and we both love canoeing and being on the water.  To pay homage to this love we used a canoe as a big vessel to keep all of the drinks cool for the celebration.  We moved the canoe out back near the rivers edge, and filled it with ice and cool drinks.  It was lovely and gave a nod to something that is very important to us, being on the water. 

 

With clothespins, we decorated a tree in the back yard with card stock printed, standard size, pictures of Zac and me from our 5 years of dating.  All the fun adventures we had camping, skiing, traveling and just being...on display in the tree as a little walk down memory land (well, a 5 year lane)

 

As a parting gift to all of the friends and family that traveled near and far to spend this day celebrating with us, we sent them home with a box of donuts with a note attached, 'breakfast on us'...as it is a given that we also LOOOOVE DONUTS!!!

 

Oh boy, it was such a great day!  I can transport back to that moment in a flash.  My favorite place on earth, marrying my favorite person on earth.  What a blessing that day was and what a continued blessing our life has been.  I am thankful for him each and everyday.  I am excited to zip to the airport to get him today, as he flies in from Colorado so we can celebrate!!!

 

Oh, did I mention that at 2am, 3 weeks before my wedding I decided that I needed a perm???  Oh, this is truth and I let my girlfriends do it!  It was a disaster (ummm, who would have thunk it) and my mom was so unimpressed.  Her exact words, 'next time you think you need a perm at 2am, please call me...'  haaaaa.  It all had to be cut off!  All part of the memory of this wonderful time, 10 years ago!  

 



Benny, 10 months

 

Benny turned 10 months, and also popped his first two bottom teeth, all in the same week.  Very big milestones in a wee ones life.  A friend of a friend is a wonderful photographer and she popped over for literally 5 minutes to snap a few photos to document this big step, and I am so happy with how much of him she captured in the few snaps.

 

What a little blessing Benny is.  We are thankful every single day that he is ours!

Photo Credit: Tara Rehrig, Clara B. Photography

Chance Encounter with Wolfgang Puck

I am going out on a limb, and really using the words 'chance encounter' very loosely when I reference a fun little run in we had last week.  It was not really out of the ordinary, since we were up in Bachelor Gulch, and Wolfgang Puck owns a restaurant, Spago, at the hotel...but come on, how often do you get to say out loud, I JUST SAW WOLFGANG PUCK HIKING!!!!!  IN HIS CHEF JACKET!!!'  It was a wonderful moment as I think he seems a tiny bit magical.  I, of course, didn't have my camera handy when we saw him hiking (certainly he had to be foraging for something fantastic, yes?), but later I did have it on hand when we saw him in the lobby, as we were getting ready for some swimming.  Since Logi is a bit of a novice with the camera buttons, I thought I would have her stand it, for me, for a picture with this cooking legend.  She was thrilled, and did inquire if he was santa!!!  No joke.  I can't blame her. Her mom (me) just asked her to snap a pic with a total stranger, the only other time that is kosher is when we meet up with the jolly old man in the red suit each winter. 

Photo proof of this AmazeFest run in.  Photo proof that Logi could not give 2 shakes.

Here's to hoping I can teach her my ways, before Sundance 2018...that might be the year she gets an invite.


xoxo.