niall and mitch got hitched

The List: Medicine Cabinet

2011-08-11T22:40:00.000+01:00

I've wanted a mirror/storage for the bathroom for AGES but everything I liked was too expensive. After a very non-narcistic house guest mentioned there wasn't a mirror in the bathroom we decided we had to do something. We bought this beauty from ebay for a grand total of 99 pence. (That's about $1.64 at the current exchange rate.) Do you see a little head in the reflection?

I took the cabinet apart, taped off the mirrors (couldn't remove them without damaging the frames), cleaned and sanded the cabinet and put on two coats of primer. Then three coats of Eco-eggshell finish paint. (It was not working.) I finally used three coats of Wickes Cupboard Paint that was left over from the spice storage re-do. That did the trick.

I was kind of proud of myself for hanging this solo. Now there's a mirror in the bathroom.

Complete with storage.

Which, let's face it, we really need. Grand total? 99 pence. Not bad.

The List: Spice Storage

2011-08-11T22:26:00.000+01:00

We like to cook. And have a lot of spices, herbs, sauces and various ingredients to show for it. For years we've used a sideboard (which I recently learned is actually a baby changing table.) It was overflowing, but we've made it work.

Unfortunately, it didn't quite fit in then kitchen. We turned it on its side, and have made due for months because of budget. I finally couldn't take it anymore and sold the sideboard on ebay. And then started frantically looking for a replacement. Not only constrained by budget, we also had a very limited space to work with (66 cm at the most.) I'll spare you the details, but I went to a lot of effort trying to find new spice storage.

Finally! We found a wall unit, not very lovely, but priced at 40 pounds and space requirement I was just glad to get it.

It's laminate and had some dings. Niall agreed to go with this piece if I promised to paint it. The process took a while (allowing the various coats to cure.) I used Wickes Cupboard Paint in white mist and ended up putting on three-four coats.

I was going to put on a protective finishing coat, but Niall was pretty anxious to get things back in order. He brought the painted unit back in the house and filled it to surprise me. I cut some scrap pieces of wood to size, glued them and painted them and used it as steps for some of the spices.

The four drawers weren't deep enough for the storage we watned, so I detached two of the drawers and just used the fronts. I glued the drawer fronts to the two complete drawers so we had two drawers with deeper storage. I may have gone overboard on reinforcing the drawers but I didn't want them to come apart.

And we got some small jars from Ikea to fill with spices that never saw the light of day (which isn't always a bad thing) because there wasn't space on the sideboard.

Now, newly painted, reinforced and loaded up...our new spice storage. I'm pretty happy about it.

The handles are "reclaimed". There was a wardrobe on the side of the road with lovely hardware. The owner said I was welcome to take them.

I used the wood steps to give height.

And we finally have a place to put bread and produce.

Oh, bless ebay for helping us get rid of a sideboard that wasn't working. I love having all these cooking ingredients at my fingertips!

The List: Under-Stair Storage

2011-08-11T21:09:00.000+01:00

We have a great little space under the stairs, but were not using it very well. The stroller is just something that is going to have to stay. But at least there's somewhere to kind of tuck it away, a luxury we were missing in our rental property.

First order of business was to get the shoe situation sorted. The moving box just wasn't cutting it. Second was to get a replacement wardrobe. The tall 1950's closet/wardrobe used to be for linens, back when we had a big bathroom. I really like it, but it wasn't deep enough to hang things properly.

So most of the coats and jackets ended up on the newel post at the foot of the stairs.

We got a shoe storage system from Costco. It works for us, especially because Niall actually uses it. If he had to lift or move anything to put his shoes away they'd never make it. Most of the shoes are upstairs but this is a decent holding place.

Since we didn't have budget for a new wardrobe, I sold the one we had (and a few other things) on ebay. Goodbye cute little cupboard. You served us well!

It took weeks of searching, but I finally found a replacement piece that fit our budget. (After several trips to the British Heart Foundation they eventually let me upstairs to go through all their storage. I found this piece after scaling several layers deep of furniture. It was in fantastic condition and I felt like it was a bargain for 40 pounds.)

So pretty and all wood! And deep enough to hang coats properly. British Heart Foundation delivered it. I gave it a good clean and found a newspaper clipping from 1980. There is a tag inside saying the pieces is from 1960. I didn't even bother tidying for these pictures.

And guess what? The newel post stays empty.

Painted Kitchen Cupboards

2011-07-18T21:39:00.000+01:00

The kitchen was based off the Leckford collection from John Lewis. I liked the idea of leaving the kickboards/plinths and molding oak, painting the doors and having oak handles. (Well, truthfully, I don't love oak. But it was what we had and seemed to work well enough.)

The kitchen was one of the main reasons we bought the space. It was larger than most of the kitchens we'd seen in other houses our price range. It was light and had tall ceilings. And a favorite of Niall's was the range cooker with the eight hob stove. (And yes, there are days when we use all of the burners!)

The kitchen wasn't horrible, but we thought it might be nice to change a few things.

The easiest thing was to change the hardware.

I took off all the old hardware and sold it on ebay. And used the money to buy new knobs.

After some deliberation we decided to paint the doors and drawer fronts. I took them all off.

The cabinets are melamine. I washed them with sugar soap, sanded, wiped them down again and then used a roller to put on three coats of International Paint Melamine Primer, on each side. I let each coat dry for a day. Then we put on three (sometimes four) coats of International Paint Furniture and Cupboard Paint in Antique Cream. We took a long time painting the cupboards and letting them cure before installing them.

Then reinstalled the doors and added the knobs.

We had the cabinet doors at the rental house. When we moved everything to the new house, somehow to drawer fronts went missing-permanently. It took me months of emailing, phoning and looking in dumpsters until I found a suitable replacement to paint. During the wait the kitchen sink looked like this.

Eventually I got the drawer fronts put in, just as the baby figured out how to open the cupboards. (Hence the rubber band.)

We're still missing a dishwasher and a dryer, but the kitchen is coming along.

The List: Niall's Desk

2011-07-01T15:30:00.001+01:00

One of the many items on The List was to get Niall a desk. Mind, we had a desk the first couple years we were married. It was inexpensive and looked it, but worked. And it never got used. Niall spent so much time "working" from the sofa that he sprained a muscle. (I'm serious.) After moving the cheap desk three times I finally shipped it off to the US (long story, but there was method to my madness and it didn't cost us anything) and then took it to get donated when we visited Utah last summer.

I was not about to get another pressed wood desk just to have Niall "work" from the sofa.

Lately, however, Niall has insisted that he's desperate for a desk. Our budget was 25 pounds and it doesn't go far. For over a month I kept getting outbid on ebay, checking the "Desk-Cardiff" feed I set up on gumtree.com and hitting up the charity shops on a regular basis. No luck.

What I did find were frames that would work for all of Niall's degrees.

And a frame for the print Niall got from the steam railroad. (Did you know he's kind of obsessed with trains?)

We kept looking for a desk. I was not going to get another fake wood one, just to ship it off to America as well. But Niall insisted he had to have one, and said I needed to lower my expectations. (Given the ones I was outbid on were going for 3 figures.)

And then, magic! Monday morning my Vienna reader told me a wooden desk was for sale in Cwmbran for 12 pounds. No picture, but I didn't care. I contacted the seller and made arrangements to pick it up. It was a 30 minute drive, but worth it. Somehow I managed to cram the desk into our little hatchback along with the baby and myself and get home safely.

Niall and I carried the desk upstairs (even with his bum knee, I guess he really is desperate for this desk.) It smelled a bit of smoke and wet dog. And it was banged up. But it's a lovely hardwood, and nice and deep.

I cleaned it with water and wood soap. Then rubbed it with steel wool and boiled linseed oil (the combination works wonders, I tell you!), then let it sit. A few hours later I rubbed it with cotton (or with an old sock, if you will). Then polished the handles with Brasso. (I wanted to replace the handles but Niall vetoed the idea.) I found a little tag saying the desk was made in Worcestershire.

I wanted to refinish the top but Niall said he likes it just how it is and needs it NOW. So I put it together and it's sitting in the loft. It smells fine. It's waiting to be used. Maybe someday it will get a proper desk chair.

But only if Niall will actually use it.

The List

2011-07-01T14:14:00.000+01:00

There were so many things on the house that needed work that it was weighing me down. Niall says "slowly, slowly catch a monkey" so I made a list and we're very gradually working our way through. It hangs on the fridge and I love when I finish something and can cross it off. We're currently at 88 items (I keep adding things.)

Just to make myself feel better, here are some of the completed items.

1. Paint recycling center
2. Add recycling center handles

3. Add pantry handles (Hanging on the fridge is The List in shorter form, with fewer items crossed off.)

4. Put paint away

10. Find a storage piece for back room alcove. (We found a lovely wooden bookcase in Pontypridd at a charity shop. They delivered it, I just had to clean and oil it.)
11. Clean and oil the mantle
12. Ventilation for back room chimney

13. Move brown sofa downstairs
14. Fix handles for the cabinets in kitchen
15. Fix drawer front under sink (These got lost in the move. A nice lady from freecycle gave me an extra pair she had and I painted them to fill the void.)

19. Put doorknobs on downstairs doors
20. Edge and paint hallway
21. Move the microwave (sounds easy, but it meant we had to organize the whole kitchen!)
22. Hang utensil holder in kitchen (bless Ikea for clearing up counter space!)
23. Organize cupboards in kitchen

26. Remove carpet from the stairs
27. Prep stairs
28. Paint stairs

29. Paint front hall cupboards

30. Find shoe storage (This ended up being so much easier than I thought. I thought I'd have to make this, but Costco had a shoe storage system for 20 pounds.)
31. Put shoe storage under stairs (The best part is that Niall uses it!)

32. Hang pictures in back room
33. Hang pictures in front room
34. Hang pictures in bedrooms (It took me about three months to get around to hanging this last picture.)

37. Move wardrobe into baby's room
38. Move wardroom into guest room

40. Tidy paint edging on stairs
41. Clean paint off the wood floors upstairs (that's the problem with sanding the floors and then painting the walls!)
46. Organize the baby's clothes (Sounds easy? I felt like it was a major accomplishment!)

47. Tidy back bedroom
48. Find storage for the linens
49. Build a shelf for the airing cupboard

50. Paint door frame in bathroom
51. Touch up paint in upstairs hallway

52. Sand and stain banister to loft
53. Paint stairs to loft
54. Get additional banister in loft room

55. Clean the eaves in the loft
56. Clean storage items
57. Wrap storage items
58. Put storage items in eaves

59. Cost flooring for loft (ended up being too much, move to Plan B which is paint the loft floor)
77. Prep loft floor
78. Paint loft floor
60. Paint loft
61. Get trim/baseboards for loft
62. Get bookcases for loft
73. Make bookcases for loft (since "getting" ended up meaning buying wood)
62. Unpack books
76. Tidy loft

65. Clean piano (a friend gave us her old one. It had been in a garage for a while and needed some attention)
67. Buy hooks
68. Hang hooks on back of doors upstairs (the towels have to go somewhere)

72. Hang mirror in wardrobe (It has been leaning against walls in our various apartments for the past four years. Time it got a permanent home!)

There. Just to make me feel better and avoid working on the still pending items on The List!

Upcycled Chair

2011-06-16T22:12:00.000+01:00

When we bought our 90-year old house and started clearing out the attic, we found a few things we decided to keep. One of them was a chair. For the six-month renovation it was the only place to sit in the house. I used to come up to the house with the baby. I'd work on the house and the baby would sleep or play on a little mat. And then I'd sit in the old, dusty attic chair to nurse.

I'm so glad that phase of life has passed, but I love the memories this little chair holds for us! And it must have been through a lot.

As I started unpicking the upholstery I found three layers of fabric. This little chair has been well loved and gone through a lot of facelifts already! The worst part about this project was working with the very dirty original fabric. I wanted to keep it as a pattern, and couldn't wash it for fear it would shrink. Finally I got to the bare bones.

The wood was in great condition. I just gave it a good scrub with water and wood soap. And then gave it a clean and condition with steel wool and boiled linseed oil. The cushion, on the other hand, was shot. I checked on cut foam options, but decided to go with a clearance cushion at Ikea. It was the right(ish) size, cost less and by unpicking the covering I got a good pattern and "free" zipper.

I sewed a new cushion cover and then recovered the chair in fabric that matches the Nursing Chair. (When we found the attic chair, I ordered the fabric from Suppose before they ran out. The fabric has been sitting in the sewing cupboard waiting patiently for this day.)

And voila! The chair has been "upcycled". But seriously, given this is at least the third makeover this chair has seen, I think the chair just sees it as a new outfit.

Now we kind of have a set!

Toy Chest

2011-06-16T13:59:00.000+01:00

We helped some friends with a house clearance (I love getting rid of things) and they let us have this sweet ottoman. I loved the paper inside, but it was water damaged.

I took off the lid, removed the fabric/stuffing and hardware and repainted the wicker (or rattan, if you prefer) with white spray paint (sorry environment.)

The original foam stuffing had deteriorated to dust. I wanted a really comfortable, plush top so I used long pillows for the stuffing. And then used fabric from Alexander Henry. (It's a Hoot in Blue from Suppose) I love the fabric. Though he probably wouldn't publicize it, I think Niall likes it too. When we visited Suppose last year he said we had to get it and make something out of it. It's also the color palate we used to paint the house. I took some of the fabric every time we were picking out paint colors. Niall could pick a color but the hue/tint had to match the owls!

I boiled the hardware to remove the old paint, and then put it back on the ottoman and attached the lid. We filled it with Margaret's toys and the job's done!

Painted Stairs-Loft

2011-06-04T15:27:00.001+01:00

When we converted the loft we had a joiner custom make stairs for the space. They were expensive, and we didn't have money left in the budget for carpet. And guess what? The banister is wood so we could sand and finish it. But the risers and treads are made of MDF, so we decided to paint the stairs.

The new staircase started out looking like this.

The carpenter put in the spindles and banister. I was so excited to get a staircase I didn't clarify the details on the price with the builder. It would have been nice to have a fancy dowel post, but the carpenter finished off the plain post nicely. The stairs have looked like this for the past two months.

The carpenter put in a banister upstairs, but we were short one spindle. The carpenter showed me how to put it in and finish the railing. I had to do some searching around town and finally found one that matched.

I put it in, sanded and then sealed the pine banister with Osmo Clear Polyx Oil. Then I prepped and painted the risers. And then we prepped and painted the treads.

Once the paint dried we took off the tape and I touched up some parts with a little tiny paint brush. Here's how the loft stairs look now.

The rail at the top has all the spindles.

Painting the stairs was one of the last big projects on the immediate "to do" list. It feels good to finally have them done!

Painted Stairs-Main Floor

2011-06-04T15:24:00.000+01:00

The carpeted stairs took a real beating in the remodel. Since the carpet was glued to the stairs in some places, we couldn't remove it and put it back in. We covered it, but when the lath and plaster ceiling came down the stairs were covered in black dust. No amount of cleaning could save them. So we decided to paint the stairs. It only took us two months from start to finish.

Here's the before picture, April 15, 2011.

We pulled out the carpet and were left with this. I was pleasantly surprised. For 90 year old stairs, they were in good condition. The treads were all solid, with a few minor dings.

Niall went out of town for a week. While the baby napped, I spent about 30 hours prepping the stairs. I took out hundreds of staples, patched, sanded, cleaned, chipped away paint and then took out the staples I had missed, patched and sanded again. I watched a lot of episodes of Castle while doing the prep work. Thanks, Castle, for making prepping the stairs less boring.

Niall came home and the stairs looked like this. He said (in the nicest way possible) that he couldn't tell I'd done any work.

Next I taped and painted the risers. This took a while because they needed so many coats. And I got sidetracked doing other projects. I started with four coats of a satin finish acrylic in white. Then added two top coats of Ronseal Floor Paint in white.

Then we taped the treads for painting. Holy cow. Taping took AGES. So much longer than painting took. With everything we've done so far the prep work always takes much longer than painting.

We painted every other tread so we could still get up and down. Three coats on each tread of Ronseal Floor Paint-Slate. At one point Niall wanted to leave the stairs like this.

But we ended up painting every tread gray. I put little pieces of tape on the "safe" treads so we'd know which ones were dry for walking.

Finally the paint dried and we pulled off the tape. I was disappointed that despite meticulously taping the lines weren't perfect. I did touch-up with a tiny paint brush and this is as good as it gets.

Presto! Painted stairs.

We spent about 40 GBP on paint and supplies. And about 45 hours (seriously) of labor over two months. I like how the stairs look, but painted stairs aren't for everyone. It was definitely the most economic solution for us. Plus, back in 1920 when the house was built, I'm told the stairs would have been painted with possibly a carpet runner down the middle. I think painted stairs are so much easier to clean than carpeted. But they're nosier. And my mom and dad have expressed concern about how safe they are.

I'm a clutz anyway, but I do hold the handrail tightly when I carry the baby down the stairs. We painted the loft stairs at the same time, I'll put those photos in a separate post.

We're happy the stairs don't no longer have the dirty carpet

And have an easy-clean paint job.

Loft Conversion Part 2

2011-05-25T22:50:00.001+01:00

In the Loft Conversion Part 1 the attic went from this

To this

That was the hard part of the renovation and it took all of our money. We focused on getting the rest of the house unpacked and in order. For the past few months we've been putting all the items without a home in the loft.

To get the attic finished, we sold anything we could think of (including some GS stock I was saving for a rainy day) to raise the extra money. I love ebay. It's amazing how much we sold and what people were willing to pay!

We got a carpenter in to put in skirting/baseboards, doors to cover the storage under the eaves and shelves. The carpenter would work during the day and at night I'd paint. One day the missionaries from church came and helped and pretty soon the loft looked like this.

Almost done, but so much stuff to unpack. Including boxes and boxes of books.

We don't have enough cash for proper flooring, so we decided to sand and paint the chipboard that makes up the loft floor. I started by taping, cleaning, filling holes and seams, sanding and painting the edges. This took a long time because there was so much plaster that needed to be cleaned off the floor. And the sanding! I only did a light sand to smooth the chipboard, but I did it by hand. Major workout. The first coat pulled up the wood fibers so I did a light sand (by hand again, after cleaning sanding dust for months I'm done with electric sanders inside) and did a second coat.

Most of the boxes upstairs were books. The shelves the carpenter put in were not sufficient (Niall has A LOT of books) so I made bookcases. The space was a really awkward size and I couldn't find any pre-fab bookcases that would fit. Plus it was less than 40 pounds to make them myself using furniture board.

We unpacked the books.

And went through the rest of the boxes, and suddenly (you know, after hours of working on it) the loft floor was clear.

I did more cleaning, scraping, filling and sanding.

Originally I wanted to do a stencil but Niall wasn't sure about it. I know it was our choice to do so much work on the house ourselves, but I'm pretty sick of it. Plus the stairs still need to be finished. So no stencil right now.

I may have shed a few tears as I finished prepping the floor to paint. Prep work for painting takes so much longer than painting!

Niall stepped in to paint the rest of the floor. We used Ronseal Slate Floorpaint and I was so happy it didn't make me vomit. (Since I have problems with solvents I tried finding an eco-friendly version. But floor paint needs to harden, and solvent free eco-friendly paint would not do.)

As a side note, Ronseal was so helpful. I called them before painting to check that our process would be okay and didn't need a primer.

Here's the final product, a rather empty room with a lot of books. We're pleasantly surprised at how nice the painted chipboard is. The plan is to find a desk that Niall loves and make this the office. And in time, a guest room. So, seriously, who is coming to visit?

Living Room

2011-05-15T22:55:00.001+01:00

The front reception room is more of a grown-up room. It's mostly baby safe, but it has a lovely walnut and glass cabinet and our antique chaise longue. Oh, and it's where Niall plays Black Ops on the Wii (also know as "merc-ing".)

When we bought the house I liked the front bay windows and the light in the room. And the old, thick baseboards and the crown molding.

And, of course, I liked the door.

The floor was covered in laminate. (Which we ended up removing and selling.)

As with the rest of the house, there were problems. There were obvious signs of rising damp. I decided to try and address the problem myself, and so began our work on the house.

After getting a survey done and talking with some experts, I decided to put in a damp course. It basically involves drilling a series of holes and injecting a special paste. Supposedly the injection dissipates through the bricks over time, forming a protective layer that prevents the moisture from rising up into the walls. Sheesh. I'm from the desert. Rising damp is news to me. To start the course I had to remove the laminate. And then the baseboard/skirting. And I totally botched it and ruined the baseboard. (Later we'd learn this baseboard is old and no longer sold. Luckily a friend found a matching piece in a skip/dumpster which we "reclaimed".)

I put in the damp course. After some discussion, Niall and I (mostly I) decided to lift the floorboards to put in underfloor insulation. I went to a builder's merchant to buy a crowbar. I guess it was odd having a woman with a baby buying a crowbar in this particular store. Several of the guys there asked if I was mad at an old boyfriend.

The floorboards were in pretty good shape. But on the left hand side you can see the shorter, mismatched boards. They were put in, presumably, to replace a rotten joist some time ago. We decided to relay the boards and replace the shorter ones with some from the salvage yard.

I had no idea how hard it would be to pry up the floorboards. Getting two up took hours for me!

As a birthday gift for me, Niall came and lifted the rest.

For about two months the "floor" was just a gaping hole while we waited for the salvage yard to get the right floorboards and started on the backroom/Family Room.

We found there was additional damp on the outer wall, so made the necessary repairs.

We put in another damp course on the outside. (Don't ask my why the first one was put in so high, and why they drilled right into the bricks!)

Finally the salvage yard got boards so we put in the underfloor insulation and then laid the boards. (Handyman Dave helped so much in this room!)

We sanded the floor. Then put back in the baseboards/skirting, finished the floor, laid tiles where the hearth used to be, added a new vent and painted. (Mostly the handymen did those bits.) And moved in!

The piano and the round cabinet were given to us by a friend. The painting of the lady is from Jared Gillett and is one of my favorite. The painting of Niall looking like stained glass is by me, back when I used to paint pictures instead of walls.

The same friend gave us an old telephone. The chaise longue is in front of the bay. (And no, we don't have any window coverings yet. Our living room is on display for anyone who walks by!)

The baby wanted to be in this shot, I guess. She does live here after all, and has spent a lot of time putting up with us renovating this house. If you've been anywhere Niall has lived in the past decade, you'll probably recognize his photo of Dora. (He doesn't know her, he picked it up in Detroit years ago.) And another painting I did of Niall.

The living room was the first one we started working on and was almost the last one finished. But I guess it was worth it, because for the past week Niall has hardly left the sofa! (In his defense, he is writing.)

Family Room

2011-05-15T22:50:00.000+01:00

When we bought our house the family room looked nice. I really liked (and still do) the four paneled door. My guess is it was added as a replacement, since it doesn't match the other doors in the house.

The room looked fine on the surface, but structurally things needed attention.

The biggest problem (that we know of) in the room was the floor joists were rotting and needed to be repaired. Every time we stepped on the laminate it was like a wet sponge.

There were loads of wires.

There was also this odd door leading into the kitchen. Originally this was the outside door. When the kitchen extension was put on the door didn't get removed.

To address the rotting joists we lifted the laminate.

There was one part of the floor that had a huge gap. See how the floorboard is just missing right before the door?

And then lifted all the floorboards.

We ended up having to fully replace two joists and reinforce almost all the rest, plus have some foundation work done and put in a damp course. I thought I'd do this myself. Whatever. Handyman Dave started coming to help. Thank goodness.

Since the floorboards were all up anyway, we added underfloor insulation. (I'm always cold. Underfloor insulation has been a dream.) We added the insulation and then put back the floorboards.

The builders removed the door and made the plaster good. A local building yard took took the used door and gave me store credit in exchange. The store credit was used very quickly.

Once we got the floorboards back in the family room became a storage room because most of the other rooms in the house were undergoing major work.

Since Niall and I didn't love the laminate and some of it got damaged in our leaky garage, we decided to sell it (on ebay, and someone bought it!) and to sand the floors.

We didn't get this room finished before moving day, but it got the last coat of poly oil shortly after we moved in.

Slowly we painted it. Light blue? Why not.

Niall calls this the safe room, because it is baby friendly.

He puts the playpen/travel cot and toy chest across the opening in the kitchen to block the baby.

The fireplace with the Spanish tiles isn't a worry with kids.

George (that's what Niall named the dark sideboard we got when we lived in Cambridge) fits snugly in one of the alcoves. And Amber's painting of the Bowery hangs above George.

We should probably get a rug. But after all the work to get the floor fixed and insulated I'm okay leaving it bare for now.

Loft Conversion Part 1

2011-05-15T16:49:00.002+01:00

We bought our home with the intention of converting the loft into a usable space. We got an architect and started cleaning out the attic/loft in preparation. There was so much left in the attic from previous owners! (We bought the house through an auction so we got it as is, contents included.) We filled a skip/dumpster, gave away loads on freecycle, sold some things on ebay and kept a few items. We were left with this.

A very dusty, leaky attic with a lot of potential.

I spent several Saturdays up in that cold, dark, dirty attic clearing out old insulation and debris. Niall would watch the baby and help clear out the bags of garbage when I dropped them through the loft access hole. On a typical Saturday we'd clear out about this much. (Yes, those are dust particles in the air. It was messy work.)

We got planning permission to add a dormer (extending the head height, making way for a shower room) but it ended up being way too expensive to go the dormer route. We decided to do the conversion without a dormer. One unique thing about the houses on our street is (for whatever reason) the upstairs ceiling (what would be the loft floor) is built on two levels. See how just behind the light in the photo below there's a step down of about six inches? It's a big problem if you're trying to build a level floor and maximize head height!

Things started from the top and worked their way down. First thing to tackle was the roof. The roofers took off the old (asbestos, unfortunately) and put in a new roof with two Velux windows.

The architect and structural engineer said the ceiling had to come down. It's what the neighbors with their loft conversion had to do. So down came the ceiling. It's probably a good time to mention we fortunately were living in a rental house while all of this was going down.

I think it was around this time Niall said we owed the house an apology for ripping it apart. He was probably right. Sorry house!

With the old ceiling gone, the carpenters moved forward with putting in a proper reinforced loft floor. (We had to get party wall agreements with the neighbors to put in the new beams.)

And the new ceiling/floor was framed.

The loft floor was was laid.

Originally, this point is where budget wise we had agreed with the builder to go. The plan was to stop here and finish the rest of the loft when I went back to work and we had more money. But after some thought and tweaking our finances we decided to go for broke (literally) and finish up as much of the house as we could before we moved in.

So my insulation dreams (I love warm) started coming true. Insulation went in the roof.

Two layers, actually.

And insulation got added to the loft floor/upstairs ceiling.

The carpenter boxed in the loft room, leaving storage in the eaves.

And the plasterboard went over the insulation.

And over the chimney. We asked the plasters to box around the chimney, rather than over it, so we'd still have the original shape. (But not the cold of the exposed brick.)

And a hole marked where the stairs would go.

And finally, stairs to the loft!

When we moved in, the loft basically looked like this (but the walls had been skimmed with plaster.)

Hurray! The expensive/hard work was done. But there's still more. We've sold a few things to get some extra cash and are putting in a lot of hours for the final push to make this room habitable. I'll post part 2 when we're done. Here's what the loft looked like a few days ago.

Radiator Remodel

2011-05-15T16:49:00.001+01:00

The kitchen came with a high breakfast bar with a long radiator underneath. It wasn't horrible, but it wasn't very deep and the bar was so long it wasn't comfortable. A bigger problem is we didn't have a place for a refrigerator (the previous owner had a small under counter fridge). The logical thing was to remove the breakfast bar and horizontal radiator, and install a vertical radiator. Our plan was to have a professional do the job.

I applied for Niall and I to be on a new TV program, "If It's Broke...Fix It!" The producers said they'd like us to do a program and they'd teach us to do the work ourselves. We went to a day long "boot camp" where a plumber taught us to make the changes. There are parts of the program (viewable in teh UK only) here and here. We then had 36 hours to do the work while a cameraman filmed our efforts.

We removed the radiator and bar and installed the long radiator.

We then froze the existing pipes and then installed the new ones. Six months into it and radiator is working fine. And plenty of room for a fridge!

The radiator that was under the breakfast bar we moved to another part of the kitchen. There was a smaller radiator there; I'm up for a warmer house!

Back Bedroom

2011-05-15T15:21:00.001+01:00

This is the closest I have to a before picture of the back bedroom. I just started tearing down wallpaper.

I read somewhere that painting over wallpaper (rather than removing it) is bad karma. During the days it took to strip the wallpaper I tended to agree.

I started taking off the paper on the ceiling, but stopped.

The ceiling had to come out for the loft conversion so why waste my time? As part of the loft conversion the ceiling was lowered about six inches. The built-in wardrobe was removed.

The ceiling came down, and a slightly lower, reinforced, insulated one was put in its place.

The plaster on the outside wall was hacked off (that was a miscommunication, I intended to have the front wall plaster hacked off because of the damp!) and the window was packed out with insulation. Then the wall was covered in plasterboard.

The room was rewired and skimmed with plaster. We sanded and finished the floors and repainted. We chose green because we liked how it looked with the light in the room. (It has a western exposure.)

I did my best to fix up the airing cupboard.

When the baby is bigger I think we'll turn this into her big girl room. But for now it's the guest room.

We found original tiles to the hearth under the laminate.

I started cleaning them when I realized they just may match the tiles for the front door. The plan is to get a tiler in to try to use the hearth tiles for the front door and then use other tiles for the hearth. Here's what the front door tiles look like now.

So folks, if you come to visit us, this is the room that awaits. Original tiles, airing cupboard and all (at least for now.)

Spanish Tiles with Fireplace Surround

2011-05-15T14:49:00.000+01:00

I lived in Seville, Spain as an exchange student in high school. Seville and my Spanish family are dear to me. I've been back to Spain many times to visit. There's a neighborhood in Seville called Triana. It's famous for its ceramic tiles. Last summer when Niall, the baby and I were in Seville for a visit my Spanish family gave us some amazing Triana tiles that are around 100 years old. We packaged the tiles carefully and flew them home. We've been looking for the right way to use the tiles ever since.

When we bought the house, there was a non-working fireplace in the backroom. In order to lift the floorboards (to repair the rotting joists) we had to take out the hearth (which overlapped about nine of the boards), which meant we had to take out the whole fireplace. For a long while there was a just a hole where the fireplace used to be.

We planned to put in a cast iron period fireplace with a gas fire. But when the chimney sweep came we found out the chimney wasn't sealed. We were out of money, and the fix was costly, so we needed to find another solution.

Rather than seal up the fireplace entirely, we decided to keep the wooden surround and sold the rest of the fireplace. (I love ebay. And parentheses, apparently.)

I think Niall came up with the idea to use the tiles as a feature in the fireplace. We unwrapped them and laid them out in the pattern that we liked.

We cleaned up the wooden surround and put in a piece of thick plywood, then attached the surround to the wall. The idea is we can remove the plywood down the road to keep the tiles, in the event we move or decide to put in a proper fireplace.

The plasters bonded the gap above the surround and a handyman adhered the tiles to the board and added a wooden frame.

It makes me happy having the tiles as on display, and it makes for a baby safe fire feature. I find myself staring at the pattern and thinking about Triana.

So thank you, lovely Spanish family, for sharing these Triana tiles. And thank you house, for having a faulty chimney.

Front Bedroom

2011-05-14T23:12:00.001+01:00

Before:

The front bedroom has a big bay window that I really like. When we bought the house, the bedroom had built in wardrobes with louvre doors, laminate floors and painted wallpaper.

And a ton of damp. So much that the wallpaper was coming off in one corner. So much damp that the walls were falling in. (The roof needed to be replaced and was letting in rain.)

The fireplace had been covered over. Maybe someday we'll restore the fireplace. (The chimney is faulty and isn't safe to use currently.) Before the big work started, I stripped the wallpaper off the walls.

Then the builders came in and knocked down the ceiling as part of the loft conversion. (The ceiling upstairs had two elevations and had to be knocked in so it would be level.) Out came the wardrobes (we sold them on ebay) and a whole bunch of other things!

The ceiling was rebuilt (to make for a strong floor for the loft conversion.)

The bay and the ceiling were packed with insulation.

The room was rewired. (See the new wiring running down the left side? This is the view looking out onto the hallway.)

The walls were skimmed. We removed the laminate (and found original hearth tiles underneath), sanded the floors, repaired the baseboards/skirting and got the walls painted.

It looked much better. We moved in and used a clothes rail for the first few months, then had built-in wardrobes put in. I had my mom bring metal vents from the US. The fireplace needs to be vented and I couldn't find any reasonably priced metal vents that I liked in the UK. Can you see some of the tiles?

Here's what the room looks like now (wardrobes and all.)

Window treatments haven't made it on the priority list yet. We currently use netting that we somehow had. It makes it so I can be a proper curtain-twitcher (because don't you have to have net curtains to twitch properly?) I still like the bay. I also love our bed. It doesn't look great, but that's just my photography.

The bed just may be the most expensive piece of furniture we own. And worth every penny. It's so comfortable.

The tallboy (under the mirror) is the first piece of furniture Niall and I purchased. We named it Jeep. If we ever put the fireplace back in we'll have to find a new place for Jeep. I think it's safe for now.

Door Molding (Architrave)-Paneled Look on Flat Door

2011-05-13T22:45:00.000+01:00

For ages we've had our clothes on a hanging rail and on wooden shelves (that's what the picture above is.) It wasn't ideal and we recently got built-in wardrobes! I wanted to use as much of the space as we could, so we had a carpenter build floor to ceiling cupboards. The doors are about 10 feet high and are actually two flat doors connected (a full door and part of another one). I really love the doors that came with our house (I think I've mentioned that before) so we wanted to add some molding to the wardrobe doors.

I kept having the carpenter do extra things (like add drawers and shelves) which meant I had to add the molding/architrave myself.

Here's the inside of one of the wardrobes, just in case you wondered.

Doing the molding myself made me nervous, but luckily Ron Hazelton had a helpful step-by-step.

I primed the doors.

Then taped the design. Niall gave his approval. Then I painted the wardrobes white.

The miter cut was tricky for me. I ended up using a handsaw, pencil and plastic triangle/set square and doing a lot of practice cuts. I used an excel spreadsheet to plan how to cut the molding and minimize waste.

I used No Nails as an adhesive and really thin nails (is it ironic that I used nails anyway?) to fasten the molding to the doors. I'll just mention, once again, that I'm not a great photographer.

Then painted the molding white to match the rest of the door.

Here's the finished product.

The wooden shelves that held our clothes have a new home in the garage, holding the paint.

Nursery

2011-05-11T22:03:00.000+01:00

The UK cracks me up. Our house was considered a three bedroom house, even though one room BARELY fits a single bed. It's small. I can touch both sides of the wall by stretching my arms out. For now we use it as the nursery. This is what the room looked like when we bought it. It looks fine, right? (I love the door.)

But looks are deceiving. It needed a lot of work. We stripped all the old wall paper. The ceiling came down to make way for the loft conversion. Then the new ceiling got put in. The walls and ceiling were skimmed when the loft work was done.

The floor (under the laminate) had to be repaired and then we sanded and finished the floorboards. During this part of the renovation I was so glad the room was small because it made all the work easier! Niall did not like the dado rail. It wasn't original and caused problems for the plasters so down it came.

We painted the room blue. The room was the practice room for sanding. I tried filling the imperfections in the wood with an eco-friendly filler on half and with a mixture of glue and sawdust on the other. We didn't love how either looked so we decided to not fill any of the other boards in the house.

Here's how the nursery looks now. Don't worry, we let the baby have blankets. They were just in the wash when I took the pictures. And the curtain? Well, it was something we had and it works (as in keeps out most of the sunlight) for now.

The wardrobe fits snugly to one side and finally we finally have the baby clothes organized.

Bathroom

2011-05-10T19:02:00.001+01:00

Oh, the bathroom. Yes, there's one and only one. We looked at adding another one, or at least a water closet, but everything was prohibitively expensive. But given that we spent a couple of weeks without a toilet and months of a bathroom with no door, I'm so grateful for what we have.

The original bathroom looked okay. And there were a lot of things going for it.

We were fine with the taps.

The toilet and sink were fine. And we really liked the huge mirrors on both sides of the bathroom.

But the core of the bathroom had problems. The floor was sloping. (And the "wood" in the picture above? It's vinyl.) The shower over the tub was next to the window so water would pool in the window sill. The window wasn't insulated, the plumbing was dodgy, the electrics weren't to code and we had to knock the ceiling down as part of the loft conversion.

And I didn't like the shower head.

The tiles looked okay from a distance. But they were horribly uneven, not flush and it was doubtful whether the proper work had been done to make the over tub shower watertight. (Guess what? It wasn't. So glad we took the tiles out.) It turns out there were tiles over tiles.

So out they came. And behind the two layers of tiles was some old wallpaper with sweet little flowers.

Above the window there was just brick. Water ingress and cold air was a problem.

And the floor sloped so much that I worried the toilet would tip over!

There were huge mirrors on both sides which Niall and I both liked and we wanted to save. I'd arranged for a glass specialist to come and remove the mirrors, but things didn't work out as planned. The day before the demolition (where the ceiling came down to make way for the reinforced loft floor) we tried to remove the mirrors ourselves. One broke before we could get it out. The other made it safely downstairs (it was SO heavy) but ended up breaking later. It's still in the back garden because I haven't been able to throw it away. Shame!

The whole bathroom was gutted. I thought we could reuse the entire suite, but the sink and tub ended up being unusable. For weeks we didn't have a toilet and it was a major pain. Not having two bathrooms is a minor inconvenience. Not having a toilet is fairly dire. I took a lot of trips to the local cafe. (Which has public restrooms.) Mind you , we weren't living in the house at the time. Just working on it. (Thank goodness!)

After the walls and ceiling were plastered, I spent a whole day putting in a new sub floor. It was one of the most discouraging days of the renovation. It was cold, I was in the house alone for 12 hours (Niall and the baby did come by to visit for a bit) and it took so long for me to lay the floor, which should have been a couple of hours at most. Part of the problem was nothing is straight in this house. More of the problem was me!

But, I finally got the floor in and it was flat and almost level.

I started tiling. We'd special ordered hexagon mosaic tiles off ebay. And guess what? I did a total botch job trying to lay them. There was no power in the house aside from one socket. I kept unplugging the portable lantern to boil the kettle so I could put my hands in warm water. But in the dark I started thinking about how the house is 90 years old and maybe has ghosts...I totally ended up freaking myself out. Also, I can't tile. I used too much adhesive. The tiles weren't level. It looked really bad.

I tried and tried until I'd used so many of the special order hexagon tiles that there weren't enough left. And we were so tight on money I had no idea how we'd ever afford new ones.

Several amazing things happened. We were able to use Tesco vouchers to get more tiles. (Not the ones I really wanted, but tiles all the same.) Our builders stepped in and did the tiling for us at an amazing price. I didn't use enough screws when I laid the subfloor. Since we had to pull up the mosaic tiles it gave me a chance to put in loads more screws. And now we have a bathroom!

My mom got us the towel radiator as a gift. Thanks mom.

The window has insulation and we had the tub flipped around so the shower doesn't shoot water into the window sill. And there's a vent.

We used metro (subway) tiles for the bathtub. I laugh now that I thought I could do the tiling myself and have it look good. It took a professional three days!

We're short on storage so used a tall DVD storage unit from Ikea for some of the supplies. And there's a new shower head.

And the sink? That was a saga. The original sink has been installed with a black tar that oozed out when it was removed for the demolition. So we couldn't reuse it. Our builder gave us an extra sink he had, but it had to have a counter under it. The least expensive solution we could find was to have a vanity built (yes, a handyman built it as per my design.) It ended up being a good thing because it means more storage.

If you ask Niall, I'm obsessed with storage.

Airing Cupboard

2011-05-09T10:36:00.001+01:00

One of my favorite things about the house is this door. Mostly it's the high knob and the panels. In the UK a closet that has the boiler is called an airing cupboard. I think it's just a euphemism to make up for the fact an entire cupboard is lost because of the boiler. I love the door even though the "airing cupboard" has caused a lot of grief.

When we bought the house the cupboard looked like this. There were four vents because the boiler and water heater it housed needed a lot of ventilation. I didn't love the holes that had been drilled in the door. Or the boiler and water heater that lurked behind.

I had dreams of turning this space into the one closet in our home. I thought we could use it for clothes and shoes. Our plan was to get a new combi-boiler and have it moved down to the kitchen. But due to logistics, delayed hot water return and cost we decided to leave the boiler in the back bedroom. Losing the closet was an emotional one to get over. Plus the closet didn't get re-skimmed when the builders finished the work on the house so it needed a lot of work.

To fix the holes in the door I used two-part wood filler. The wood filler worked a treat, but it has a very strong smell. I sanded and filled again, then sanded, primed and painted the door. A handyman helped us fit a new knob. I stripped the wallpaper from outside the closet so it could be skimmed. Once the old boiler was removed I spent about four hours stripping the wallpaper inside the closet and then a couple hours cleaning it.

We'd talked to the plumber about placing the new boiler in the cupboard to take up the least amount of room as possible. Somehow the instructions were lost and the new boiler took up almost the whole cupboard! To try and get some storage I talked to the plumber about where we could store things ( I was concerned about risks or fire or lack of ventilation, etc.) It took ages, but I found a flat pack options that fit (with a bid of modification) to store linens. I also installed a shelf for additional storage.

It's not perfect, but it works for now. I love the door. I love our new boiler and the heat and hot water it provides. And I'm happy that we at least got a little storage from the airing cupboard.

Maybe someday we'll paint or wallpaper and get better storage.

But for now I leave the door closed and enjoy the view.

Pull-Out Kitchen Pantry (Larder) and Refrigerator Enclosure

2011-05-08T22:51:00.000+01:00

The kitchen in the house came with a lot of cupboards, but without a proper pantry. We looked at buying a pull-out larder, but they were too expensive. I found a used one on ebay but even that was too much money. Too bad the metal components for a larder/pantry were very pricey. And I wanted a big "American" style fridge, preferably with an enclosure so it wasn't sitting by itself. Ron Hazleton's video and step-by-step link on building a Slide-out Pantry seemed to have the answer.

I made plans based on the Ron Hazleton video and had MDF boards cut at the lumber yard.

A handyman helped me put it together. (He actually did most the work. We had to modify a few of my plans because, as he put it, "just because it's on TV doesn't mean it works.") I'd hope to have one fixed shelf on the bottom and one in the middle, with the rest being adjustable. We ended up having a fixed shelf on the bottom and two fixed shelves higher up in order to keep the pantry casings sturdy.

Originally I had planned to use drawer runners for the pantry cases to pull out, but was concerned about how much weight the runners could bear. We opted for casters.

I had planned to install doors on the front, but when put in the pantry casings we discovered that, surprise, surprise, the floor was definitely not square. Because the casters rest on the floor the pantry inserts weren't straight and doors wouldn't be flush. So we decided to leave the pantry as it was, adding some molding to the top.

We primed the MDF with acrylic primer and then painted with a eco-friendly eggshell white.

Then added some handles.

Now we have the pantry/larder storage and the big American style refrigerator with an enclosure. It's a great solution for us for now. It ended up costing more than I'd hoped (around 250 pounds), mostly because of the cost of the handyman's help.

Sanding Wooden Floorboards

2011-05-07T23:57:00.000+01:00

Our house came with laminate in all the bedrooms and living rooms. Underneath the laminate were the original pine floorboards. We took the laminate up downstairs to fix the joists and put in underfloor insulation. The laminate was stored in the garage or left in while the walls got plastered. Since Niall and I didn't love the laminate and some of it got damaged, we decided to sand and finish the floorboards. I'll tell you what I wish I would have done. HIRE SOMEONE TO DO THIS.

We replaced the damaged floorboards and relaid the floors downstairs.

Before we could sand the prep work took hours. We need to make sure that ever nail, staple or other piece of metal was either removed to punched below the surface. Otherwise it would rip the sanding belt. It meant going over ever inch of the floor on hands and knees. Twice. And we still missed a few. We had to make sure all the floorboards were secure. I accidentally punctured a gas pipe below the floorboards upstairs while doing this by moving a nail 1 mm to the right without checking what was underneath the board. (Luckily the gas was off and the plumbers found the hole when the gas was turned on and were able to repair it.)

It is dirty, sweaty, painful, frustrating work. My little brother and mom were visiting and helped. I rented the sanders for a week. Sanders are heavy, like 100+ pounds heavy. The sawdust choked anyone involved in the process (even with super amazing dust masks) and the noise drove me crazy (even with ear protection.) After one day my mom and brother sat me down and begged me to please hire someone to at least come and help, and then my little brother flew home. We were so short on money that I didn't listen at first. For two days I sanded and cried and sanded and tried to breathe through the dust (very difficult, even with the dust mask.)

I started with 24 grit sandpaper, which is the most expensive. I kept ripping it (at about 3 pounds a sheet, it was an expensive lesson) because I didn't put it on the machine tight enough. I finally figured it out and got sanding and then the real work began. The larger sander was okay to manage, but the edger was a beast and I was not strong enough to sand for more than a few minutes at a time. Short of giving birth it is the most physically demanding thing I've ever done. After two days of sweat and tears (literally) Handyman Dave came to the rescue.

Together we worked on sanding the two downstairs living rooms and three bedrooms and a hallway upstairs. I prayed a lot. And somehow we manged to get all the rooms sanded with the roughest grade of paper. Once we had sanded the rooms twice with the 24 grit, we went to 60 grit and things were so much easier. By the time we did the finest grit it was a cinch (in comparison.) But don't get me wrong. There was so much dust. I swept and vacuumed and swept and vacuumed and then did it again. There was dust everywhere.

But the wood started to look really pretty!

Niall and I wanted the natural pine so we didn't use a stain. For the finish, we used an eco-friendly poly oil called Osmo Polyx Oil. The stuff is not cheap, but we had heard good things and I'm very sensitive to solvents, so it was our best option. It was easy to use and the smell did not make me vomit. We let the dust settle for a day before we started applying the finish. We worked together and it took ages to get the floors clean enough to apply the oil. This was the most rewarding part of the process by far. Because we didn't have heating at the time it took AGES for the first coat to cure. It was only supposed to take 12 hours, but it took 36. I was in a panic because we were moving in a few days later and had to have the floors done. We had to stagger which floors we coated. We did the first coat and then started having the skirting/baseboards reinstalled. (Which in itself was a big job, but by this time we were racing to get the house done and I'd hired all the extra labor I could find.) We used large brushes to apply the oil because we'd heard that roller didn't result in as nice of a finish. But we ended up finding a few brush hairs so I'm not sure what the best application method is.

We did the second coat the day before we moved in. Luckily we had heat by then so the second coat dried overnight. We did a third layer in the back reception room because that's where we have the most traffic.

It's now about six weeks since we've moved in and I love the floors (though I still wish we'd had someone else do them.) We sweep or vacuum and then mop with soap and water to clean them. We are still dealing with dust (I'm serious. I've spoken to a few others that sanded their floors and they said it takes months for the dust to really settle) and I'm a bit precious about scratches or marks on the floor. Pine is soft so the floor can get damaged easily, but after 90 years there's already a lot of character so I'm trying to remember that a few more marks are fine.

Overall Niall and I are both very pleased with how the exposed floorboards have turned out. Little Margaret is crawling everywhere and the floors are smooth and easy for her to play on. One of my favorite things is there are certain spots where the radiator pipes are just under the floorboards and when the heating is on those sports are extra warm.

For us to sand and finish the floors it took about eight solid days of work (10-12 hour days) and cost about 600 GBP to finish six rooms (two reception rooms, three bedrooms and the hallway.) If I hadn't ripped so many pieces of the expensive sanding paper, hadn't had the handyman help and used something other than the eco friendly polyx oil then it would have been much less. But seriously, I wish we would have paid more and had someone do the sanding for us!

Sander Rental and Supplies: 200 GBP from Travis Perkins, Screwfix and Rounded Development
Polyx Oil (3 cans): 210 GBP from Rounded Development

Cleaning Cupboard

2011-04-27T22:39:00.000+01:00

We had this odd empty space at the end of our kitchen counter. I think the previous owner had a freezer with a top opening lid. We decided to build a storage cupboard to hold the vacuum and cleaning supplies. But after all the home improvement we've done around here we needed a place to house some of the work materials as well. Plus, it gave us a chance to use the other wardrobe door.

I drew up some plans (the photo of the paper is useful, right?) and had 18 mm (3/4 inch) plywood cut at the lumberyard. I used the Kreg Jig, screws (I think 1 1/4 inch, maybe 1 1/2 inch) and wood glue to join the plywood. Then the handyman adjusted the wardrobe door and attached it.

There are a few short shelves along the back of the cupboard for supplies. But I wanted to leave a large enough space in the front for easy access to the vacuum, mop and brooms.

Refurbishing Antique Wood Furniture

2011-04-27T22:13:00.000+01:00

We love antique wood furniture and are always on the lookout for old pieces. Sometimes we find things that are in pretty good condition but need a little sprucing up. I've found that using Boiled Linseed Oil and steel wool is an easy way to refresh old furniture. I bought both at a hardware store ages ago and keep finding more uses for it. Most recently I used the oil and steel wool on a little table we wanted to use for our telephones.

We loved the table overall, but it had scratches and water marks that wouldn't come off with a soap and water.

Once the wood had been cleaned and dried I used some fine steel wool (it's 000) with Boiled Linseed Oil. The steel wool comes in a large roll, so I ripped off a piece and applied the linseed oil directly. I then applied the oil along the grain. It's kind of like putting lotion on dry skin; but it also cleans out grime that has gotten into the wood over time. As a bonus it helps make scratches less apparent.

I usually leave the oil on the wood for a few hours to give it a chance to sink in. One some pieces I've left it for more time, some less...and I can't tell a huge difference. The Boiled Linseed Oil does have a strong smell so I like to use it in a well ventilated area. On a large wardrobe it seemed to took weeks for the smell to go away completely, but on this small table the smell only lasted a few days.

I use a clean soft cotton cloth to wipe off all the remaining oil and am always so impressed at how clean and shiny it leaves the furniture!

I love such a simple process that leaves us with lovely old pieces!

Tall Cupboard

2011-04-22T22:12:00.000+01:00

One day we were walking in an unfamiliar part of town. There was a beat up wardrobe out on the street and I loved the doors. I didn't have any tools on me to remove the doors and I thought MAYBE we could use the entire wardrobe. So I asked a friend to pick it up for me. It was a heavy wardrobe and he managed to put it in his van and deliver it to us so I gave the friend 20 pounds. It turned out the wardrobe was in too poor of shape to save, but my pride was on the line. I either had to admit to Niall I paid money for garbage or find some use for the wardrobe.

We have a funny alcove in our kitchen that is narrow but very high. I didn't want the space to go to waste, but because of the odd shape I couldn't find anything that would work. I modified the Single Locker plans from Ana White to design a tall cabinet. And used one of the wardrobe doors.

My favorite thing about the wardrobe door is the handle. Niall used Brasso to clean it up and I think it looks lovely.

I made the tall cupboard out of 18 mm (3/4 inch) plywood. I tried cutting it myself with a circular saw, but the cuts weren't straight enough. So I took the wood to a lumber yard and had it professionally cut. I had to get a little help from a handyman to get the cupboard straight, attach the door and get it anchored to the wall. (It's so tall it could easily topple!)

My second favorite thing about the door is the detailing at the top. The veneer was so damaged that I didn't think I could strip the door (and I didn't have the patience) so we primed and painted the door to match our kitchen cupboards.

We primed the plywood with two coats and then used and Eco-Friendly eggshell in white to finish it. To keep the door securely closed we used a long double sided magnet strip. Now that funny alcove is being put to use.

Recycling Center

2011-04-18T20:41:00.001+01:00

We had a shelving space at the end of our kitchen counter that felt like wasted space. Do you see the shelves on the left next to the sink in the photo below?

The shelves came out and Niall and I decided that's where the garbage should go. But I wanted the garbage out of sight and out of reach of a very curious little girl.

I decided to build a unit for our garbage and recycling. I modified plans from Ana White for a recycling center and used Ron Hazleton's video on building a slide out trash bin for additional guidance. I carefully drew up plans and had MDF cut at the lumber yard so the cuts would be straight. However, my plans weren't spot on at the project was difficult. One of the handymen helped me with this (or more like I helped him as he did the bulk of the work) and he told me it was a headache! What made it difficult was the slide out drawers with the tops cut for the plastic garbage liners. Can you tell there's a plastic garbage can in there?

We painted it to match the kitchen cupboards and added the oak handles. Now it's finished and I never knew I could be so pleased with garbage.

Suspended Underfloor Insulation

2011-03-17T22:45:00.000Z

Guys, we bought a house that needs so much work. And I had this stupid idea that I could try doing some of the work myself. So I started going all DIY and stopped taking pictures of food. (I still cook but not quite as much. I'll get back to it soon.) So will you forgive me while I talk about some of the non-food things I've been trying to make? The first is suspended underfloor insulation.

I love older homes, but the floors are so drafty (by design). I wanted to make our period property warmer and insulated the floor with suspended insulation. I am posting this just because I looked all over the internet for a step-by-step and couldn't find it. Maybe my search skills need serious help.

We bought a terraced house from 1920 that has the typical build for a British house of the time. I don't know the technical terms, but the house foundation is made of bricks. There are supporting walls that make up the rooms, and then in between there rows of little brick walls. About a meter above the ground the mini-walls stop and long joists rest on top of the bricks. The floor is made up of floorboards laid across the joists and then nailed in place. You want to see a picture of me demonstrating, right? All the floorboards in the room have been removed and I'm standing down on the dirt between the mini-walls.

In order to insulate (oh, and repair some rotten joists), we took up all the floorboards. I did this by removing the baseboards (skirting) with a crowbar and then carefully prying up each of the boards. I wanted to lay the floorboards again so I numbered them and removed them carefully. (Some still broke.) Also-these are photos from two different rooms.

Once all the boards were removed, I got breathable roofing membrane (PermaVent-it was cheaper on Ebay than anywhere I could find locally) and used duct tape to tape the individual sheets together. I wanted to make a breathable, hanging "net" for the insulation. I taped the front and back of all the adjoining pieces. I made it big enough to allow for about six inches of insulation between each joist.

The goal was to allow the joists to still be exposed to the air from the vents but then to have breathable insulation on top. (So the floorboards would have the benefit of the air without the cold drafts!)

We rolled the breathable membrane over the joists.

We used batons and screws to fasten the membrane to the wall. We also used some spray foam in some of the gaps to prevent thermal bridging. We wanted to allow the ends of the joists to still breath (and not touch the wall), but also to make the membrane layer as tight as possible.

Once about half of the membrane was fastened (we wanted to still have wiggle room to make adjustments as we started putting the floorboards on) we put back the first floorboard. (This is where I was so glad for the numbers!) I used floorboard brads from Screwfix, they're about 2 1/2 inches long. We hammered them in by hand.

We put a second board on and then starting pushing the insulation (it looks like dirt, but really it's loose fill insulation made from recycled newspaper that I got from the EcoCentre) under the floorboards. So what we have is dirt, then about 2 1/2 feet of air, then the membrane draped over the joists, six inches of insulation and the floorboards on top.

We kept adding more boards and adding more insulation.

And then filled the insulation to the end of the room.

And hammered in the rest of the boards.

The floorboards have been down for about four months and it has made SUCH a difference. Our house has been under renovation with no heating all winter (don't worry, we're in a rental) but these rooms still felt warm. It was a huge pain and because I'm so slow and I waited for the salvage yard to get the right replacement boards it took about two months. But (as long as we did this right and the wood stays nice and dry) I am so glad we did it.

Sturdy Cut-Out Sugar Cookies

2011-02-01T01:43:00.000Z

Niall passed his driving test. Yesterday he asked me to make some sugar cookies with passion fruit frosting. I had made some soft sugar cookies over the weekend, but wanted to find a sturdier dough so I could take these to Niall's work to celebrate. I ended up using a recipe from Cookie Madness. I'm copying the recipe from Anna's blog below because her entry has a few recipes. The only modifications I made were a little more almond extract and no shortening (I haven't been able to find a shortening in the UK that works in sugar cookies.)

The dough is unbelievably sturdy. It has a half cup of cornstarch! The cookies are still pretty soft and taste pretty good as well. (I still prefer a softer dough if the cookies aren't traveling, but these cookies hold up well.)

The frosting I made using a passion fruit reduction mixed with a swiss meringue buttercream frosting. (1 part passion fruit puree with 1.25 parts butter cream.) I used a fresh passion fruit reduction to make a puree. It was okay, but I wanted it to have more passion fruit flavor and tartness. I'm not in love with this frosting and don't plan to make it again, so I'm not posting it. But it looks pretty! (The yellow in the frosting comes naturally.)

Sturdy Cut-Our Sugar Cookie Dough
(adapted from “Big Fat Cookies"-from Cookie Madness)

2 3/4 c flour
1/2 c cornstarch
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/4 c unsalted butter — at room temperature
1 c sugar
1 egg
2 tsps vanilla
1/4 teaspoon almond extract

Combine flour, cornstarch, baking powder and salt. Set aside.

Cream the butter, shortening, and sugar until smooth, about 1 minute. Add the egg and extracts and mix until blended, about 1 minute. Add the flour mixture and stir until incorporated. If you have a Kitchen Aid, you can use the paddle attachment on low speed. Otherwise, you might have to use your hands – the dough seems dry at first (I thought I'd done something wrong), but comes together nicely.

Divide dough in half and form it into 2 smooth disks about 6 inches in diameter. Wrap disks in plastic and refrigerate for 30 minutes to 1 hour. I found the dough was very firm when it came out of the fridge. It was nice to have it already in the disks; it made it easy to roll out and cut straight away.

Roll out dough to 3/16 inch thick. Cut out cookies and transfer to parchment lined (baking paper) baking sheets. Bake until bottoms are lightly browned, about 14 minutes at 350 degrees F. Cool cookies on baking sheets for 5 minutes and then transfer to wire rack to cool completely before frosting.

Quorn Balti

2011-01-17T22:05:00.000Z

Yes. I do watch the TV show Come Dine with Me. I was intrigued by the Chicken Balti Kishor Paw made on the Birmingham series. The episode showed him making curry with specific spices. (So often someone will make curry and say a few spices and then add "a secret spice blend" made by a brother or uncle or something.) I was intrigued because every spice he mentioned we have!! I made a few alterations and halved the recipe. Niall and I were pleasantly surprised with the recipe. It tastes like curry, but using our own spices (rather than a paste, which is what we usually do) made it so much lighter!

Ingredients
1/2 Tablespoon butter
1 Tablespoon olive oil
1 cinnamon stick
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon fresh minced garlic
1 onion, diced
1/4 teaspoon fresh ginger, diced
2 birds eye chilies (I used pickled chilies)
1 can chopped tomatoes
1 package Quorn
½ teaspoon hot chili powder (I used Korean chili powder)
½ teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon medium curry powder
½ teaspoon garam masala
½ teaspoon sea salt
½ teaspoon black pepper
1/2 Tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup water
1 Tablespoon tomato puree

In a large pot melt the butter with the oil. Fry the cinnamon and cumin for a few seconds. Add the onions and stir gently until the onions begin to sweat. Stir in the garlic, ginger and chilies and cook for 2-3 minutes.

Pour in the tomatoes and cook, then add the Quorn. Sprinkle in the remaining spices. Stir in the lemon juice then add the water and tomato puree.

Bring the curry to a simmer and turn to low. Cover and cook for 45 minutes. Serve with rice.

Gingerbread Cookie Cut-Outs

2010-12-07T19:22:00.001Z

In case you were wondering if it's possible to substitute treacle for molasses, the answer is yes. And, in case you're looking for a really good gingerbread dough recipe, the one from Cookie Madness is fantastic. The dough is really easy to work with (a two year old and four year old were able to work with it no problem), hardly requires any chill time, and makes a really good cookie. This recipe is a keeper.

The only modifications I made were:

1. Substituting treacle for molasses (apparently they're pretty close and I couldn't find any molasses)
2. Heating the egg for the royal icing over a double boiler. I didn't have any pasteurized eggs, so I whisked the normal egg whites in a double boiler with a thermometer until they reached 145 degrees F. I don't know if that means they're safe, but the eggs whites were starting to cook so I removed them from the heat.

Update: The recipe from cookiemadness.net is listed below:

1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup molasses
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon cloves
1 1/2 teaspoons ginger
1/2 teaspoon allspice
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 stick (4 oz) butter, cut up
1 large egg, lightly beaten
3 to 3 1/2 cups of all purpose flour

Place sugar, molasses, cinnamon, cloves, ginger and allspice in a 2-3 quart
saucepan. Set saucepan over medium heat and bring mixture to a boil,
stirring often as it heats. When mixture starts to boil, remove from heat
and stir in baking soda. Mixture will fizz up and become very airy. Stir in
butter and allow mixture to cool for about 5 minutes.

Dump slightly cooled sugar/molasses mixture into a mixing bowl and stir in
lightly beaten egg. Add flour, 1 cup at a time, until mixture forms a
not-too-sticky dough. Form dough into two equal sections. Wrap tightly and
chill until ready to use, or use right away if you need to. The dough is
easier to work with after it's been refrigerated, however, it's manageable
without the chill period.

When ready to cut, pre-heat oven to 325 degrees F. Roll dough into 3/8 to
1/2 inch thick circles and cut out shapes. Bake on a Silpat or Parchment
lined cookie sheet for 12-14 minutes or until cookies appear done. The
cookies thicken during baking, so keep that in mind when you are rolling out
the dough.

Chocolate Cupcakes with Swiss Meringue Buttercream

2010-10-11T20:32:00.000+01:00

The Swiss Meringue Buttercream? It is rich. Very rich. The first day I thought, "This is too much butter, even for me." But I tried the frosting the next day and liked it so much better. So if you want some really pretty really rich frosting, this recipe is for you.

Let's see. Why did I make this recipe? We had some fresh mint, and I wanted to use it in cupcakes. I tried to make the frosting by steeping the mint when with the eggs. Guess what? It didn't work. I tried whipping the egg whites for 30 minutes and they would not get stiff, so I had to start over. And by that time, I didn't want mint anymore, so I ended up using almond extract.

The cupcakes are a favorite standby, the base from black bottom cupcakes.

The frosting is a version from Martha Stewart's Cupcakes. I only made a quarter batch, it frosted about 12 cupcakes.

Ingredients

3 egg whites
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 cup (225 grams) unsalted butter, room temperature
pinch of salt
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Put the sugar and egg whites in a bowl that can handle heat (I used the bowl of the Kitchenaid Mixer.) Put the bowl over a pan of simmering water, and stir until sugar has dissolved and egg whites are hot to the touch, about 3 minutes. (I used a candy thermometer and heated the eggs and sugar to 150 degrees F. This is where I tried using fresh mint and it did not work!)

Remove the mixture from the heat, add the salt and beat the egg whites until they form stiff and glossy peaks, about 10-15 minutes.

Cut the butter into 1-inch cubes. With the mixer on medium add the butter, one piece at a time. Let the butter get incorporated after each addition. Don't worry if the buttercream appears curdled after all the butter has been added; it will become smooth again with continued beating. Add vanilla and almond and beat just until combined.

I didn't do this part, but the recipe suggests: Switch to the paddle attachment, and beat on the lowest speed to eliminate any air pockets, about 5 minutes. If using buttercream within several hours, cover bowl with plastic wrap, and set aside at room temperature in a cool environment. Or transfer to an airtight container, and store in the refrigerator, up to 3 days. Before using, bring buttercream to room temperature, and beat on the lowest speed with the paddle attachment until smooth, about 5 minutes.

Sour Cream Chocolate Cupcakes

2010-09-26T20:34:00.000+01:00

We had a lot of sour cream in the fridge. It was either use it or throw it away. And if I'm ever going to lose weight I'm going to have to stop baking. But not today. Instead I used the recipe from Cookie Madness for Sour Cream Chocolate Layer Cake. I halved it and made cupcakes.

The link is here. These are some good, dense, chocolate cupcakes.

Niall's mom sent me some fancy frosting tips, so I'm giving them a go.

Triple Coconut Cream Pie

2010-09-15T18:55:00.000+01:00

I bought some coconuts for props (because we're making a little video for church based on "Jungle Book".) A friend is coming for dinner and said we should have the coconuts. I've never used fresh coconut before, but decided to give it a try. We have a lot of whipping cream in the fridge, so I decided to try this recipe from the Dahlie Bakery in Seattle. I used the link from Family Friendly Food for the recipe. (Clink the link for the details.)

I found this video was so helpful. Since moving to the UK my grandma's never fail pie crust recipe hasn't worked so well. I'm always on the lookout for how to make a decent pie crust and the video gave some great tips. (Mainly to have everything, including the pie plate, very cold.)

The pie was good and rich. But I made the crust a bit too thick!

I thought I rolled the pie dough thin enough but in hindsight I wish I would have gone thinner.

And the tip about tucking the crust under around the top made it looked pretty.

Blind baked the crust, then made the coconut custard.

Cooled the custard and then poured it in the crust.

It took me ages to open the coconut. I tried draining the coconut water. Then a hammer. Finally I just banged it against the cement step outside. I cooked the coconut for about 20 minutes at 400 degrees, which helped to peel it. But it was still difficult to shave.

Then I browned the coconut.

Whipped the cream and then topped with the shaved coconut and shaved white chocolate.

Nursing Chair

2010-09-14T11:58:00.000+01:00

It's not a recipe, but since someone asked, here's something I made. We bought this chair at the charity shop. I really wanted somewhere to sit to nurse the baby that had a high back and arms. I loved the shape of this chair but knew it needed some work. Now that the baby is moving onto solid food, I finally got around to fixing it.

Supplies
Piece of glass (from a broken bottle)
Sandpaper (4 A4 pieces of 60 grit)
Wood stain (Teak colored)
Danish Wood Oil
Screwdriver and pliers (to remove fabric staples)
Rags (to apply stain and oil)
Staple gun and staples
3 1/2 yards of upholstery fabric
Thread, straight pins and sewing machine
Scissors
Needle and string (to sew on buttons)
3 buttons/button cover kit

Initially I just thought we'd reupholster the chair. However, the arms were worn so I realized I need to work on the wood as well.

I really liked the dark finish, but didn't feel like I could only redo the arms and have them match the rest of the chair. So I decided to strip the chair back and start from there. I didn't want to use a chemical stripper. A guy at the hardware store suggested a piece of glass, so I broke a bottle and took and used a broken piece that was about three inches long. It was fantastic. I used the glass to strip off as much of the finish as I could (I thought it might scrape the wood, but it only scraped up the lacquer), then I used sandpaper to smooth off the wood.

To remove the upholstery I used pliers and a screwdriver to pry out the staples. I really should have used a specialized tool. The inside of the chair is stuffed with springs and burlap (jute). I didn't want to have to restring the springs so I left part of the old fabric attached. Here's the stripped back chair.

The Eco Centre down the street suggested a water based teak stain. I applied four coats with a rag, letting each coat dry for about an hour. I really liked the water based stain because it did not smell. I would have liked the wood a little darker, but the stain was starting to build up and I didn't want the finish to be too tacky.

I used a rag to apply the Danish oil as a seal. I did two coats, letting the first coat dry eight hours and the second I left overnight.

I sewed a new cushion cover (reusing the zipper and stuffing from the old one) and reupholstered the chair, using a staple gun to apply the new fabric. I tried using regular staples. But the wood was quite hard, so I switched to heavy duty staples and it made all the difference. I didn't quite make the fabric tight enough in a few places, but here it is.

I covered three buttons and sewed them into the chair back and then put on the back fabric. We might have been better off buying a new chair. (The entire project cost about 100 GBP. Chair-35, Fabric-50, Supplies-15.) It isn't perfect, but I think overall we're pretty happy with it. Niall sat in it last night without complaining.

Momofuku Cereal Milk with Chocolate-Hazelnut Thing (vegetarian vesion)

2010-09-12T21:41:00.002+01:00

So, you know I'm not a great photographer, right? Sorry about the shadows.

Anyway, I've never made panna cotta before, so this was fun. I don't think I've ever even had panna cotta. I modified the Momofuku recipe a little to make this dessert suitable for Niall.

To make the Cereal Milk vegetarian I used agar flakes instead of gelatin. I halved the recipe (and also used 2% milk instead of whole) and after straining the cornflakes I had almost two cups of liquid. I poured the liquid into a pot, added the brown sugar and salt, and sprinkled two heaping tablespoons of agar flakes on top. I heated the liquid on the lowest heat possible without stirring. Once the liquid was piping hot (but not boiling) I stirred in the agar flakes and continued stirring until they dissolved. Then I poured the milk into the molds.

Niall (who has had panna cotta) said this was a little stiff. It may be because of the agar but most likely it's because of who was making it. Maybe the tablespoons shouldn't have been quite so heaping. Overall, this was pretty good. Niall probably liked it more than me because I'm not a fan of hazelnuts. The Cereal Milk on its own tasted like milk and cereal. But adding the chocolate-hazelnut thing with the caramelized corn flakes added sweetness and salt.

The chocolate-hazelnut thing has a praline paste, which is roasted hazelnuts with caramelized sugar. I poured the caramel into the blender with the nuts and almost broke the blender. (The sugar hardened right away and stuck to the sides. Luckily Niall got it fixed and cleaned.) Once we had the paste, I mixed sugar, powdered milk, salt, butter and cornflakes and then baked them in the oven. Then mixed together the bittersweet (okay, half semi-sweet half baking chocolate) with the praline paste and other ingredients. The book calls for gianduja, but I cheated and just used Nutella. I spread the mix on waxed paper and topped with the caramelized cornflakes. I didn't do it fast enough and the cornflakes didn't stick.

I put it in the freezer. After it was cold, I broke it into pieces and sprinkled it on top of the panna cotta, which had been removed from the mold. You're supposed to make an avocado puree as well, but I didn't. We still have half of this left (it's in the freezer) so maybe next time I'll add the avocado.

Momofuku Sour Cream Ice Cream with Miso Butterscotch

2010-09-12T21:01:00.000+01:00

Ice cream made from sour cream had me just a bit skeptical. But it was delicious. It reminded me of lime ice cream we used to have when I lived in Farmington, Utah. Niall said the recipe may be in competition with my mom's strawberry ice cream. (The strawberry recipe is Niall's favorite homemade ice cream.)

Sugar dissolved in water, sour cream, lime zest, lime juice, sour cream and an ice cream maker. So simple and so good.

The miso butterscotch I didn't try because it has uncooked alcohol in it. But Niall said it was tasty, it made it seem like there was a biscuit (cookie) with the ice cream. The shiro (white) miso is baked almost to the point of being burnt, then pureed with equal parts brown sugar, slightly less mirin (that's where the alcohol comes in), some butter and a splash of sherry vinegar. We have plenty left over if you want any.

Momofuku English Muffins

2010-09-11T21:26:00.000+01:00

I live in the UK. And you know what I miss? English muffins. Niall has just informed me that they're in all the shops, only they're just called muffins. But I've lived here for 3 1/2 years and go to the store all the time and do NOT recall seeing them. So, maybe English muffins are all over the place, but I was really excited to make these because I haven't had them in ages.

How amazing are the dough recipes in the Momofuku cookbook? Seriously, the directions are so good for making dough. The steamed buns recipe made a very stiff dough. This recipe was one of the stickier doughs I've made. It wasn't easy to work with, but was manageable. And the dough really was pillowy and tender and delicate.

The muffins I made weren't symmetrical. But I was so proud of them! I had never griddle baked dough before.

We were supposed to make Bay Leaf Butter, but didn't get around to it. I froze more than half the dough and will make these later with the butter. Once the muffins are made, the cookbook suggested searing the muffins in a hot griddle, which I tried. But truth be told, we liked them better from the toaster.

Momofuku Shortcakes with Macerated Strawberries and Whipped Cream

2010-09-11T21:09:00.000+01:00

I was in the local food market and English strawberries were on sale. They looked so perfect and small. So I bought them and made the Momofuku shortcakes. I was worried that macerated strawberries would mean adding all these extra ingredients to the beautiful little berries. But it was only a little sugar, which was divine. The shortcakes are good and sweet and salty. But my first attempt did not turn out well. The shortcakes were flat.

For the next batch I added more flour and made the shortcakes a little bigger. The cookbook said to bake for 11 minutes. But it was closer for 15 for me. These shortcakes turned out much better!

I wasn't sure about the sour cream whip cream, but a day later...I'm sold. The dessert is really filling, and less sweet than the strawberry shortcake I'm used to. But I liked it and I'll have it again.

Momofuku Roasted Sweet Summer Corn

2010-09-05T21:15:00.000+01:00

Brigham suggested this recipe as one of the easy-win vegetarian options from the cookbook, and he was right. It took us a while to find shiro (white) miso paste, but now that we have it I'm pleased. To make the shiro butter it's one part shiro paste to one part butter. Easy! And the corn at the the green grocer was beautiful. Cut it off the cob, fried in a hot skillet with a little oil. Then stirred in the butter, Roasted Onions, some Ramen Broth...added salt and pepper and some scallions and dinner's on!

To keep it vegetarian friendly we skipped the bacon (I can only imagine how tasty this would have been with bacon.) I added a few dashes of liquid smoke and topped with smoked tofu.

Smoked Tofu

2010-09-05T21:12:00.000+01:00

We had some tofu that was almost out of date. And we just got a bottle of liquid smoke. So I used the recipe from Vegan Yum Yum to make smoked tofu. I followed the ingredients/directions on from the site except I didn't use the yeast, and used shiro (white) miso instead of red. Also, I ended up cooking the tofu for about 30 minutes instead of 20.

Niall and I both really liked this tofu. It's certainly not a replacement for bacon (oh, I love me some bacon) but it was good. We had it with roasted summer corn yesterday and in some ramen today.

Momofuku Roasted Cauliflower (and Brussel Sprouts) with Fish Sauce Vinaigrette

2010-09-05T20:51:00.000+01:00

We usually make a scaled-back version of this dish. But I decided to follow the recipe a little closer. The exception, to make it vegetarian, meant I used veggie fish sauce. I still couldn't bring myself to deep-fry the vegetables (stayed with the oven roasting-must tidier!) but did fry the cilantro leaves. I also added the toasted puffed rice, which we've left off in the past. This version takes longer to make, but Niall said it was worth it. Every time we make this Niall talks about how it's the one dish that makes him like brussel sprouts.

Momofuku Ramen

2010-09-05T16:47:00.000+01:00

Once you've done the hard parts (pickling, making the broth, poaching the eggs, making the pork (or grilling halloumi-which is easier), stewing the Bamboo Shoots)...you're ready to go.

I'm pretty happy with the stuff that that gets cooked in three minutes and costs about a quarter. But, this is some good ramen. Definitely a filling meal. And we've been going through nori (the dried seaweed used in sushi) like crazy. It's so good when it gets soggy in the ramen broth!!

Momofuku Taré (and vegetarian version)

2010-09-05T16:33:00.000+01:00

This stuff is good. Supposedly it's a Japanese BBQ sauce and it's used in place of salt for ramen. And fairly easy (you know, when compared to the Ramen Broth or Roasted Pork Belly). It has a lot of alcohol, but doesn't it become Word of Wisdom friendly when you cook it out? I mean, it simmers for about an hour.

The meat version starts with chicken bones, which are roasted for about an hour.

Then you add 1 part sake to 1 part mirin to 2 parts light soy sauce. Simmer for about an hour, then strain.

For the vegetarian version, I tried it two ways. The chicken makes a fond-the fatty liquid caramelized on the bottom of the pan. My favorite way is to use halloumi fond* (the juice/whey that the halloumi releases as it's frying The other way is to use browned butter.

Ingredients

Either the "fond" from a package of halloumi or 2 tablespoons of browned butter**
1/2 cup sake
1/2 cup mirin
1 cup light soy sauce
Fresh ground pepper

Pour a splash of sake into the butter (or halloumi "juice") and allow it to bubble. Stir and then add the sake, miring and soy. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a low simmer. Cook for about an hour then add just a bit of black pepper. It can be used immediately or refrigerated for a few days.

*When the halloumi finishes frying remove it from the pan, but don't wash the skillet. Use the leftover "juice"for the taré.

**Place the butter in a saucepan and heat it until it melts. Continue stirring the butter, allow it to become nice and dark.

Momofuku Ramen Broth (and vegetarian version)

2010-09-05T15:22:00.001+01:00

The Momofuku Ramen Broth has more meat than I've ever used in a broth! For ten servings it has ten pounds of meat (five pounds of meaty pork neck bones, four pounds of chicken...whole, and a pound of bacon). And it takes ages to make. (I think about eight hours total, but it ended up taking me a couple of days.)

Yeah, that's a lot of meat and a lot of broth. I made the meat version first, to see what it tasted like. (And then invited anyone who would come to help eat it.)

Making a similar vegetarian version is beyond my culinary abilities, but here's what I came up with. (I mean, Niall's not going to know the difference, right?) I used the Momofuku recipe where I could and then modified the broth recipe. In an attempt to get a smoky flavor without bacon I used a bit of Lapsang Souchong (a smoky Chinese tea) and just a touch of Liquid Smoke. This version takes about six hours, which is still a long time. But I like the broth enough that I'll do it again. Plus it makes so much that it's easy to freeze extra.

Ingredients

2 sheets of konbu (dried kelp)
3 cups dried shiitakes, rinsed

2 medium-size yellow onions, quartered
1 bunch green onions (white and green parts), cut crosswise into several pieces
1 head cabbage, cored and coarsely chopped
2 medium-size carrots, cut into chunks
1 head garlic, with the cloves separated and left unpeeled but cut in half
8 thin slices fresh ginger, left unpeeled (about 1 1/2 inches of garlic total)
1 Tablespoon Szechuan peppercorns
1 Tablespoon Lapsang Souchong
Taré
Liquid Smoke (just a few dashes)

Pour six quarts of water in a big stock pot and put it on the stove on high. Rinse the konbu and put it in the water. Bring the water to a boil and then turn off the heat. Let the konbu steep for about ten minutes. Remove the konbu. (It can be used in the Grilled Octopus Salad, which I haven't made yet.)

Turn the heat back to high. Add the shiitakes and bring the water to a boil. When a rolling boil is reached, turn the heat to low and simmer the shiitakes for 30 minutes. Use a slotted spoon to remove the mushrooms. (It's okay if you miss a few. The boiled shiitakes can be pickled.)

Now add the remaining ingredients, except for the Taré and Liquid Smoke. Gently simmer the broth and vegetables for 3-4 hours. Add more water as needed. I stopped adding water after about 2 1/2 hours and let the soup reduce.

Line a strainer with cheesecloth and pass the brother through the strainer. You can use the broth now, but I put it in a container to store for later.

When you're ready to make the broth, it needs to be seasoned. This is where the Taré and Liquid Smoke come in. Heat the broth and add Taré and Liquid Smoke to your taste. The cookbook recommends 2-3 Tablespoons per quart, but let your tastebuds guide you. Be very reserved with the Liquid Smoke because a little can go a long way. Add a dash at a time. "Taste it and get it right. I like it so it's not quite too salty, but almost. Very seasoned. Under-seasoned broth is a crime." -David Chang

Momofuku Pork Buns

2010-08-27T21:21:00.000+01:00

Assembling the ingredients for the buns is what takes the longest. But, with the pork belly roasted, the buns made and steamed and the cucumber pickled, all you need is some store-bought hoisin sauce and sriracha sauce.

Niall's vegetarian version (the lower bun in the photo above) had all the ingredients except the pork belly. Instead, he had halloumi cheese grilled with maple syrup, which gave the cheese a nice brown and crispy shell.

Momofuku Pork Belly Ssäm with Mustard Seed Sauce

2010-08-27T21:14:00.001+01:00

The pork belly ssäm photo didn't turn out, it was too blurry. But trust me, we did have this recipe with the pork. However, Niall had it with Halloumi to make it vegetarian. (And so did I. I liked the cheese substitute almost as much as the pork.) What made it for me was the mustard seed sauce. It's a little pickled cucumber, a few pickled mustard seeds, mayo, two kinds of mustard and green onions. Fantastic!

Momofuku Ginger Scallion Sauce and Noodles

2010-08-24T22:49:00.001+01:00

This was another easy vegetarian recipe. And who knew a bunch of scallions+ginger+oil, soy sauce, vinegar and salt could be so tasty? I bought so many green onions I thought I'd never use them all. I was wrong.

And so much ginger.

But the scallion sauce really does make so many things taste better. And adding the sauce to pickled cucumbers, bamboo shoots and noodles made a tasty (yet mostly green) meal.

Momofuku Vinegar Pickles

2010-08-24T22:47:00.000+01:00

Brigham suggested pickling like crazy in order to start making Momofuku recipes, and he was right. I started with cucumbers, cabbage and chilies. Then moved on to mustard seeds and shiitake mushrooms. The vegetables pickle so quickly and I had no idea how nice they'd make everything taste.

Momofuku Stewed Bamboo Shoots

2010-08-24T22:38:00.000+01:00

Canned bamboo shoots + a pickled chili + soy sauce + a few other things=delicious. I would eat this plain, and have. Canned bamboo shoots are suddenly becoming a kitchen staple.

Momofuku Roasted Onions

2010-08-24T22:22:00.000+01:00

Did you know that you can cook onions for 50 minutes? I didn't. And I had no idea they'd be so delicious.

Also, since it's just onions, salt and oil it's an easy vegetarian recipe. And they're so good on so many things! We've had them in noodles and soup and a sandwich in the last 24 hours!

Momofuku Roasted Rice Cakes (Noodles)

2010-08-24T22:12:00.000+01:00

What? Yeah, these are not rice cakes. I could not find rice cakes. I've looked all over Cardiff. The closest I have been able to find so far is roasted rice noodles. And they're pretty good. Niall loved this one. He kept talking about how it was sweet and savory and salty and so good. And then wanted more. It's that Korean Red Dragon Sauce!

It was easy to make vegetarian. Rather than using the meat ramen broth, I used a vegetarian one (from an instant ramen packet we got at one of the Asian grocery stores.) Otherwise it was ready made for Niall!

Momofuku Korean Red Dragon Sauce

2010-08-24T22:06:00.000+01:00

This sauce is good. Good like the kind of sauce I like to eat on its own. What makes it for me is the ssamjang (the a is supposed to have two dots over it but I'm rubbish at adding those things), the fermented bean and chile sauce. At least that's what the guy at the Asian grocery store told me that's what this is. I wish I would have bought another container!

Momofuku Pork Belly

2010-08-24T21:57:00.000+01:00

The final product may not look pretty but I did try on this one. I have no idea about pork belly, whether I got a good piece, how it was supposed to turn out, etc. I was very surprised at how fatty the cut was. Maybe that's the nature of the beast? Also, I have never been good at carving meat. And this was no exception. But despite my lack of skills this was really tasty.

Here's the pork belly before I cut it. The rub was salt and sugar and the result was savory, sweet and salty. In an effort to make something for Niall to have on his "pork" bun, we decided to use halloumi cheese.

Halloumi is so delicious and salty. And when it's fried in a dry pan it crisps up nicely. To give it a bit of sweet I added a little maple syrup to the cheese as it fried.

Momofuku Steamed Buns

2010-08-24T21:43:00.001+01:00

I've hardly had steamed buns, so it was really fun to make these because I wasn't sure how they were supposed to turn out! Even when they had finished steaming I wasn't sure they were done.

The recipe made a dough that was very easy (not sticky) work with. Dividing the dough into 50 different pieces was not hard because the dough was so easy to handle. I used butter instead of rendered pork fat so Niall could eat as many as he liked.

And rolling out the buns wasn't too hard either.

I tried steaming them in a steamer and on the stove. The stove steamer worked much better! We ended up steaming, cooling and freezing most of the buns.

Momofuku Cherry Tomato Salad

2010-08-24T21:32:00.001+01:00

The cherry tomato salad was another Momofuku recipe that comes vegetarian friendly. The local vegetable stand had beautiful red tomatoes, but no other colors so it was straight red. The cookbook talks about a version using deep-fried tofu, so we threw that in.

I loved how easily the tomatoes peeled after blanching for 10 seconds. And the peeled tomatoes tasted delicious! (And leaving a few tomatoes unpeeled was a nice contrast.)

Momofuku Slow-Poached Eggs

2010-08-24T21:25:00.001+01:00

Eggs. They fit Niall's diet, so they're one of the first things to cook. It was kind of crazy to cook these eggs for 40 minutes, crack them, and have them slide out of the shell. I'm not sure if they turned out like they were supposed to, but I liked them. They're the first non-scrambled eggs I've had in about 20 years. Mixed into ramen it didn't bother me (like most runny eggs do.)

I used our biggest pan and put the eggs on a steamer. It took AGES to slowly heat the pot to 140 degrees F but because it took so long it wasn't hard to keep the temperature constant. The candy thermometer was so helpful to monitor the heat.

Vegetarian Fish Sauce

2010-08-24T21:13:00.000+01:00

A few of the recipes in the Momofuku cookbook call for fish sauce. In the past we've substitute soy sauce but at Niall's suggestions I made this version of Veggie Fish Sauce, found on Chowhound. I am reposting the recipe that's found a few replies into the thread, with minor modifications.

Ingredients
2 sheets nori (dried seaweed)
4 cups water
3 cloves garlic (smashed but not minced)
1 1/2 Tablespoons Szechwan peppercorns
1/2 cup soy sauce
4 teaspoons lemon juice
2 Tablespoons rice wine vinegar
3 teaspoons sugar
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground garlic
1/4 teaspoon chili powder

In a large bowl, add the nori and water

Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes. Add the other ingredients and stir. Bring to a boil, turn heat down to medium and simmer for 30 minutes. Adjust the salt level by adding water and allow to cool. Strain (through cheesecloth and a strainer) and then put in a bottle.

Momofuku Experiment

2010-08-21T20:19:00.001+01:00

Remember how I mentioned that Brigham loves Momofuku (the restaurant group based in the East Village in New York City)? And how Niall is really interested in Momofuku's food and wants to try as much as possible? But we didn't eat there when we went to NYC because it's not super vegetarian friendly? It's okay if you don't.

But, anyway, in an attempt to learn more about cooking Asian food and making it so Niall can eat it, we're embarking on an experiment.

Step One. Get the Momofuku cookbook. Done. It hasn't been released in the UK yet but Niall got the US version for Father's Day.

Step Two. Read the book and try and try to get as many of the commonly used ingredients to have on hand. I've read most of the book and yeah, there's meat in almost everything. (Mmm...pork.) After hitting up four Asian stores, three butchers and spending about 60 pounds I think we have enough of the ingredients to give this a go.

It was really interesting browsing the different Asian markets trying to find the ingredients. I'm such a novice with making Asian food. A few things we had on hand or we've bought before. But the majority of the ingredients neither Niall nor I have ever used (or seen). And most often I ended up having to ask the store clerk for help and then found out what I wanted was right in front of my face.

In case you're interested, here's the checklist I've been using:

Flour and water lo mein noodles
Rice Vinegar
Kosher salt
Pork belly (skinless)
Nori (the dried seaweed commonly used to roll sushi)
Scallions
Bamboo shoots (canned)
Mirin (rice wine)
Meaty pork bones (mostly neck)
Konbu (Japanese kelp, dried in flat sheets)
Dried Shiitake mushrooms
Cheesecloth (okay, this is material and not an ingredient, but I still need it)
Sake (Japanese rice spirit)
Usukuchi (light soy sauce)
Dried scallions (I'm hoping drying fresh scallions is good enough)
Katsuo-bushi (dried fish flakes)
Grapeseed oil (I still don't have this)
Sherry vinegar (I don't have this either!)
Hoisin sauce
Sesame seeds
Mochi/rice cake sticks (frozen-in long tubes)
Ssamjang sauce (fermented bean and chili sauce)
Mustard seeds
Kochukaru (korean chile powder)
Fish sauce
Sriracha
Denjang (Korean fermented bean pate)
Shiro (white) Miso (I'm hoping this means the soup, otherwise I'm not sure)
Coriander seeds
Szechuan peppercorns
Kewpie mayo

Step Three. Start making the recipes from the book, as closely as possible, including the meat. Please could you come by for dinner so I don't have to eat all the meat alone?

Step Four. Once I have a vague idea (hey, the best I can do with my cooking skills) of what some of the sauces and recipes are taste like then we can try making vegetarian versions inspired by the cookbook. Heaven knows we have enough ingredients to do some experimenting.

So, yeah. That's the experiment. Wish us luck. Hopefully Niall will eventually get to eat something.

Gnocchi and Creamy Marinara

2010-08-19T21:54:00.001+01:00

I've never made gnocchi. I have only eaten it a couple of times, so I don't even know the difference between good and bad gnocchi. But it was raining today (so I didn't want to go out to the store) and we had a lot of potatoes, so I decided to give gnocchi a go. I followed the instructions from Italyum. It worked really well, but made a lot so we froze the leftover gnocchi. (Uncooked, placed them individually on a cookie sheet and then put them in the freezer. Once frozen we put them in a plastic bag.) It was kind of labor intensive, but fun. I think it took about an hour and a half from start to finish.

Ingredients

Gnocchi
6 medium size potatoes
Flour
1 egg

Marinara Sauce
3 fresh tomatoes
1 can plum tomatoes
1 medium sized zucchini, cut into small pieces
1/2 green pepper (washed and seeds removed)
2 small chilies
sea salt to taste
5 clove garlic
1/2 cup single cream (half and half)
Basil to taste (I used dried)

Wash the potatoes and put them (whole) in a large pot, covered with water. Bring to boil. While the potatoes are boiling, place all the marinara ingredients except the cream in a blender and puree until smooth. Pour the sauce into a saucepan and simmer (I simmered the sauce about 80 minutes until the gnocchi was ready to eat.)

When the potatoes are soft and the skin comes off easily (I boiled the potatoes for about 35 minutes), remove from the heat and rinse with cold water until they can be handled. Remove the skin from each potato.

Mash the potatoes. (I washed the pot I boiled them in and used that.)

Get a large piece of parchment paper, if you're like me and don't like wiping a lot of flour off the counter. If you don't mind the mess then skip this step.

Put about 2 cups of flour on the parchment paper (or directly on the counter) and put the mashed potatoes on top. In a small container, crack the egg and whisk it.

This is where it gets messy. Add half the beaten egg to the potatoes and start kneading the flour into the potatoes. Keep kneading the dough and adding more flour (I found this super messy and had Niall add the flour) until the dough is smooth, not sticky. It took me about ten minutes to get to this point. (I hope I didn't overwork the dough.) You can use the egg for something else (like a quarter batch of chocolate chip cookies.)

Wash your hands and get a big pot of water on the stove, with plenty of salt, and bring it to a rolling boil while you roll and cut the gnocchi.

Flour a knife (dip it in flour so it doesn't stick to the dough) and cut the dough into five or six segments.

On a floured surface, take a segment and roll into into a ball. Then continue rolling the dough until it makes a long "snake"...for lack of a better word! Per the instructions, I rolled until the dough it was about as thick as my thumb. Then with a floured knife cut the dough into one-inch pieces.

If you're like me and have no pasta making equipment, you can roll the dough with a fork to get ridges.

Drop the gnocchi into the boiling pot of water. Once the gnocchi float to the top take them out of the water with a slotted spoon.

Place the gnocchi on a flat surface so they don't stick together. (On the first attempt I put a bunch of gnocchi into a bowl and they stuck together. There's probably some neat trick to get around this problem but I'm a novice.)

Stir the cream into the marinara sauce, then pour the sauce over the gnocchi. Serve hot and enjoy!

Peach Cobbler Crumble Cupcakes

2010-08-18T21:06:00.000+01:00

The fruit shop down the road has really lovely peaches. So when I saw the recipe from Land O' Lakes Recipe Buzz Blog for Peach Cobbler Coffee Cake I bought a bunch of peaches and let them ripen. Oh, I love a fresh peach. The original recipe calls for canned peaches, so I think it will be sweeter.

I halved the recipe, substituted creme fraiche and milk for the sour cream, made cupcakes and used the fresh peaches. I also skipped the glaze because I thought the crumble would be sweet enough. My version is listed below. Overall, I really liked this recipe and will use it again. (I loved how the batter tasted.) But, I put in fairly large peach pieces and the cupcakes separated when we ate them. Next time I'll cut the peaches into smaller pieces and mix them directly into the cake.

Ingredients

Filling
1 1/2 fresh peaches

Topping Ingredients
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened

Cake Ingredients
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
1/2 cup creme fraiche (I used the reduced fat)
2 Tablespoons milk (I used 2 %)
1/2 Tablespoon vanilla
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt

Heat oven to 350°F. Pour boiling water over the peaches and let sit for about a minute to loosen skin. Peel the skin and remove the pit. (I overestimated and peeled three peaches, only using 1 1/2.)

Stir together all crumble ingredients in medium bowl with a fork until mixture resembles coarse crumbs; set aside.

Combine sugar and butter in large bowl. Beat until creamy. Add eggs, creme fraiche, milk and vanilla. Continue beating, scraping bowl often, until well mixed. Add all remaining cake ingredients. Continue beating, scraping bowl often, until smooth.

At this point I would suggest cutting the peaches into small pieces and mixing into the batter. I didn't and regret it!

Line 12 muffin tins. Divide the cake batter between the cups. Sprinkle with topping. Bake for 25 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 15 minutes and serve!

Ultimate Chocolate Cupcakes

2010-08-15T21:52:00.001+01:00

There are some people that when they tell me something is good I just have to believe them. When Anna from Cookie Madness says something is good I have to try it. And she raved about these Ultimate Chocolate Cupcakes, so I had to make them. Wow. That's a lot of chocolate. If you're a chocolate fan then these are for you.

I followed Anna's recipe here to make six cupcakes.

A few differences. I meant to buy bread flour but never did, so I used regular flour. We didn't have any bittersweet chocolate so I used half semi-sweet and half unsweetened chocolate.

I'm not sure if baking with coffee is a Mormon no-no, but I did it anyway.

The frosting was a new one for me. Cooking the egg white, sugar and salt over the stove then adding the butter, vanilla and chocolate was pretty interesting. My frosting was not fluffy so I put it in the freezer for 15 minutes and then mixed it again. It fluffed right up! It's so rich it gave me a headache right away-a typical sign that there's a lot of chocolate!

Laverbread with Cockles

2010-08-10T10:58:00.000+01:00

Following on with the attempt to try more Welsh cuisine, a cab driver suggested to try cockles. As far as I can tell cockles are little clams that have been removed from their shells. When we got them from the fish stall they had been cooked and we could have had them right there with vinegar, salt and pepper. But instead we decided to try this recipe for a gratin from Chef Keith Floyd. (I think he's Niall's favorite TV chef.)

Ingredients

Laverbread (warmed)
Cockles
Salt and Pepper
Breadcrumbs
Cheese (we didn't have any good Welsh cheese and used Mozzarella)
Butter mixed with garlic

I have no idea on the measurements and probably put in too many breadcrumbs in. In an ovenproof dish, place a layer of laverbread and a lacker of cockles.

Mix the breadcrumbs with the cheese and salt and pepper and sprinkle on top of the cockles. Drizzle the garlic butter on top.

Broil for 3-4 minutes until browned on top and serve directly.

Laverbread Patties

2010-08-10T10:40:00.000+01:00

Since we live in Wales it's high time I get to know the cuisine a little better. The first order of the day? Laverbread. First mistake? I went to the bakery to get it. I didn't know laver is seaweed (that has been boiled for about six hours.) The bakery sent me to the fish stall. I was advised to mix the laverbread with oatmeal and fry it in bacon fat. To make it vegetarian friendly I used butter instead. I'm not sure if this is anything close to the authentic laverbread patties, but I liked it.

Ingredients

1 cup laverbread
1/2 cup uncooked oats
salt and pepper to taste
butter for frying

Here's the laverbread from the fish stall. (Sorry about the picture.)

Mix it with oats and a little salt and pepper. Use a teaspoon to make a little patty. Heat some butter in a skillet and place the patty in the skillet.

Fry until browned on both sides.

Red Velvet Cake

2010-08-10T09:25:00.000+01:00

Our friend was in town and it's almost his birthday. For his birthday cake, he said he didn't care which type of cake as long as it had a Red Dwarf theme. Here's the cake. (Have I mentioned my decorating skills are not the greatest?)

We decided we should make a red velvet cake. I used the very thorough Red Velvet Cake recipe comparison from The Bake More blog. Based on the results, I used the Cake Man Raven recipe. It was pretty straightforward and except for not having buttermilk and forgoing the nuts, I followed the recipe pretty closely. I would use it again. Except I think I added double the baking soda. Which I do not recommend! The recipe is here.

Strawberry Ice Cream

2010-07-05T09:05:00.000+01:00

My mom's homemade ice cream is a favorite. I like that she doesn't use eggs. She uses all cream and no semi-skimmed milk, which makes the ice cream doubly rich. But I like the milk and have to make a much smaller batch. Someday we'll get a big fancy ice cream maker like hers, but for now our little counter top one is fine.

Ingredients

2 cups sugar
1 cup double cream (or whipping cream)
1 cup milk (I used semi skimmed)
1 small can (170 grams) evaporated milk
Juice of 1 lemon
2 cups strawberries, washed and stems removed

Mix ingredient together in a blender. Place frozen ice cream machine bowl into machine and start. Slowly pour the mixture into the machine and keep machine stirring until the ice cream resembles fresh whipped cream (½ hour or more). Scrape mixture into a freezer proof container and freeze.

Peanut Butter Cookies

2010-07-04T21:04:00.000+01:00

We got some Skippy peanut butter and I was reminded how much I like it. I've been fine with whatever peanut butter I can find in the store, but having a big jar of Skippy is like being a kid again. To celebrate I made these cookies. I should have halved the recipe because it made so many! (I forgot to count, but more than 40.) But, it's an old standby that has worked pretty well over the years, another one from the Ivory Family Cookbook.

Ingredients

1 cup butter, softened
1 cup peanut butter
1 cup granulated sugar + additional to roll the cookies in before baking
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
½ teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 3/4 c flour

Cream butter, peanut butter and the sugars. Add in the eggs and vanilla and mix well. Add salt, soda and flour and mix just until combined. Pour sugar in a bowl. Roll the dough into balls and then roll in the sugar. Place on ungreased cookie sheets and press with a fork in a crisscross pattern before baking.

Bake for 10 -12 minutes at 350 degrees.

Pasta, Spinach and Cheese Torte

2010-07-04T20:47:00.000+01:00

We had a big bag of spinach. And a lot of eggs. So after looking through loads of recipes, it was a unanimous decision to make a pasta recipe based on the one from Jennifer's Cooking. It turned out pretty good, but next time we'll use flat pasta and goat cheese instead of spaghetti noodles and mozzarella.

Ingredients

3 Tablespoons olive oil + extra to grease foil
1 lb fresh spinach, washed
1 large onion, diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
salt
pepper
1/2 lb spaghetti
4 large eggs
1 1/2 cup milk (we used semi-skimmed)
3 ounces cream cheese
3 Tbsp Parmesan cheese
1 cup mozzarella cheese

Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Line pan with foil and grease with oil.

Cook spinach in a 5- to 6-quart pot of boiling salted water, uncovered, until just tender, about 3 minutes. Transfer with a slotted spoon to a sieve set over a bowl. Press hard on the spinach to extract as much water as possible, then transfer to a cutting board and chop.

Reserve cooking water in pot. Return cooking water to boil and cook the spaghetti until al dente. Drain the pasta in a colander.

While pasta is cooking, heat 3 Tablespoons of oil in a skillet. Add the onion, stirring occasionally for about 10 minutes. Add garlic and cook, stirring, 1 minute. Stir in spinach, salt and pepper and remove from heat.

In a separate bowl (or blender) blend together eggs, milk, cream cheese and salt and pepper until smooth.

In the pot used to cook the pasta, stir the spinach, mozzarella and pasta together.

Pour into greased springform pan set on a baking tray (to catch any drips). Pour in the egg mixture and top with Parmesan cheese.

Bake until just set and top is golden brown, 50 minutes to 1 hour. Cool in springform pan on a rack 10 minutes, then loosen the pan. Serve torte hot or warm.

Pasta Salad with Halloumi

2010-07-03T08:27:00.000+01:00

When summer rolls around I still want to bake but on warm days loathe using the oven. Most recipes focus more on the stove and less on the oven. Enter pasta salad. Here's a recent one we made that turned out pretty good. My favorite is to get all the ingredients in one forkful.

Ingredients

Salad
300 grams penne pasta
1 cup cherry tomatoes, diced
1 bunch green onions, diced
225 grams Halloumi
1 cup green olives, pitted and cut and half

Dressing
1/2 cup Ranch salad dressing
1/2 cup Salsa Verde

Cook the pasta according to the package. Heat a skillet and cut the Halloumi into 1/4 inch slices. Fry the Halloumi until it is browned on both sides. Remove from the skillet, allow to cool and cut into small pieces.

Mix the dressing. Drain the pasta. In a large bowl, combine the salad ingredients and toss. Then stir in the dressing. The salad can be served immediately or placed in the fridge before serving.

Gabriel's Banana Sorbet

2010-07-02T20:06:00.000+01:00

Our friend Gabriel is visiting and he whipped us up this tasty treat today, just in time to watch The World Cup.

Ingredients

3-4 large ripe banans
1 teaspoon (or more) lemon juice
granulated sugar (about 1/4 cup)
12 ice cubes

In a blender, grate the ice until it is fine like snow. Add in the bananas and blend. Add the lemon juice and sugar to taste, then serve.

Pasta with Cilantro Pesto

2010-07-01T20:37:00.000+01:00

I couldn't bear the thought of turning on the oven or going to the store. So I used the ingredients we had in the house to make a pasta based on Erin's Food Files. I liked it as it was, Niall said next time I should only use one green chili instead of two.

Ingredients

1/2 bunch fresh cilantro
1 small yellow onion
2-3 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice
3 garlic cloves, pressed
2 Thai green chilies (or one, if you want to keep the spice down), stems and seeds removed
1/4 cup olive oil
salt to taste
~1 pound spaghetti
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
Red salsa

Shrimp (optional)

Cook spaghetti in a large pot of boiling water. While pasta is cooking make the pesto. Blend cilantro, onion, garlic, lemon juice, olive oil and chilies in a blender. Season with salt.

When pasta is done, drain and place in a bowl. Stir in the pesto. Garnish with finely grated cheese, salsa and cooked shrimp (if desired).

Easy One Bowl Brownies

2010-06-16T21:05:00.001+01:00

I finally found an easy go to recipe for brownies that doesn't require baking chocolate (a rarity in these parts) and actually works in the UK. (I've made so many bad batches of brownies here it's kind of a tradition.) It really is easy and they turned out great. They're gone now. I wish I could eat one right now.

The recipe is here- The Sisters Cafe.

If I hadn't used a metal bowl, it really would have been one bowl. (I used a ceramic bowl to melt the butter in the microwave.)

The recipe was great. The only extra thing I did was line the pan with greased foil because it makes it so much easier to wash. My photos are rubbish, but the brownies are great.

Update: I've had some problems with the link so am pasting the recipe below:

1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup canola or vegetable oil
2 cups sugar
1/2 cup cocoa
4 eggs
3/4 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla
1 3/4 cup flour
1 cup chocolate chips (although I never measure--I just sprinkle them on top)

Preheat oven to 350. In a medium bowl melt butter in microwave, then stir in oil, sugar and cocoa. With a wooden spoon stir in the remainder of the ingredients except for the chocolate chips. Spread into a 9x13 pan sprayed with nonstick cooking spray. Sprinkle the chocolate chips over the top. Bake in a preheated oven for 25-30 minutes. If your toothpick comes out clean you have cooked them too long! DO NOT OVERCOOK!

Chicken and Bean Enchilada Casserole

2010-06-12T23:18:00.000+01:00

While this may not be a pretty dish, it's good. It's like an enchilada lasagna. But, let's face it. This is a bowl of slop. It looks disgusting. Doesn't that sound appetizing? It didn't stop us from eating almost the whole thing tonight.

Ingredients

1 cup plain yogurt
1 can condensed cream of mushroom soup
1 vegetable bullion cube
1 onion
3 cloves garlic
1/4 cup green chilies
1 can black beans

3 Tablespoons Adobo sauce
2 cups cooked chicken (or 1 bag of Quorn pieces)
6 white corn tortillas
2 cups grated cheese (we used Red Leicster)

Make a sauce by pureeing the yogurt, soup, bullion, onion and garlic. In a saucepan, bring the beans (undrained), Quorn (or chicken) and adobo sauce to a boil and allow it to simmer for about 15 minutes. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

In a greased casserole dish layer the meat, cheese, 3 tortillas and sauce then repeat. Top with cheese.

Bake for 30 minutes or until the casserole is hot and bubbly. Remove from the oven and allow to set for about 10 minutes, then serve.

Halfway Cookies

2010-06-06T23:11:00.000+01:00

Jo sent me the recipe for these cookies. They're a chocolate chip cookie base with a meringue filling, and they sounded interesting to make. It was a nice way to change up chocolate chip cookies. For the recipe and great directions, the link is here. I followed the directions, but made a half batch and used a round pan instead of rectangular. And used oil to grease the pan instead of cooking spray.

Make the cookie dough and press it into a pan with greased tinfoil.

Sprinkle on the chocolate chips and press them into the dough. (Sorry fuzzy picture.)

Whip the egg whites with sugar. This step took forever. I contemplated who had the patience to whip the first egg white? It takes such a long time I wonder how it was ever discovered that egg whites really do get stiff.

Cover the cookie with the meringue.

Cover with baking paper and cook. Remove the baking paper five minutes before the cookies are done.

Fresh out of the oven the cookies are fluffy.

After cooling the meringue sunk. I don't know if that was by design, but they still tasted good.

Shrimp Tacos with Mojo de Ajo

2010-06-05T07:34:00.001+01:00

Niall's gone and my parents left shrimp in the freezer. So I went for the non-vegetarian option for dinner tonight. I don't even know why I bother cooking when it's just me. But I'm glad I did.

Once I happened upon a recipe for Mojo de Ajo from La Cocina De Nathan. It's some good stuff and is delicious on vegetables, potatoes (in case you don't consider them vegetables), chicken, fish, etc. It has become a favorite around these parts.

Ingredients

Mojo de Ajo
14 cloves garlic
1/2 small onion
1/4 cup olive oil
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon oregano
Juice of 4 limes

Tacos
20 shrimp
1/2 onion
6 corn tortillas
olive oil
salsa
guacamole

To make the Mojo de Ajo, puree all the ingredients in a blender. I only used part of it for the tacos and saved the rest of the sauce in a jar to use later.

Marinate the shrimp in the Mojo de Ajo for about 20 minutes.

In a skillet, heat the oil and saute the onions Add the shrimp and marinade and cook for about five minutes until the shrimp are done.

Serve the tortillas with shrimp, onion, guacamole and salsa.

Asparagus and Onion Quiche

2010-06-04T20:03:00.000+01:00

We had some of Niall's students over (all male) so I decided to make chick food. Quiche is girl food, right? They serve it at showers, so it must be. The quiche filling was pretty good. I'd use the recipe again. It's based on one from The Sisters Cafe.

Ingredients

1 pie crust (for 9 inch plate)
10 spears of asparagus, washed and cut on the bias into 1/4 inch pieces
1 medium onion, diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon basil
3/4 cup single cream (similar to half and half)
3/4 cup milk (I used 2%)
3 eggs
1 1/2 cups grated cheese (I used mature cheddar)
2 Tablespoons butter
salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place the crust in the pie plate and flute around edge of pie crust. Line with paper and bake with beans.

Bake for 7 minutes. Remove the crust from the oven and lower the temperature to 375 degrees.

While the crust is cooking, heat the butter in a skillet and saute the onion over medium heat. After the onion begins to soften (3-4 minutes) add the asparagus and the garlic and continue to cook until asparagus softens. (About 3 minutes.) Remove from heat.

Spread the asparagus mixture in the bottom of pie crust.

Layer the grated cheeses on top of the asparagus mixture.

In a medium bowl whisk the eggs together then add cream, milk, salt and pepper. Stir well. Pour the eggs over the cheese.

Bake for 30-40 minutes (it was more like an hour in our oven...have I mentioned I can't figure it out?) The center should be set and the top and crust should be golden. A knife inserted into the filling should come out clean. Let stand 10-15 minutes before cutting.

Sour Cream Butternut Squash Cupcakes with Lemon Frosting

2010-06-03T13:50:00.000+01:00

We had a butternut squash that needed to be used. I'm hopelessly out of canned pumpkin so it's butternut squash until I find more pumpkin. I used the recipe from Libby's Sour Cream Pumpkin Bundt Cake. I halved the recipe, made cupcakes, and modified a few of the ingredients.

Adding the streusel to cupcakes mostly worked, though in some cakes the streusel dropped to the bottom. The cake tasted fine but was a bit sticky as a result.

Ingredients

Streusel
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
3/4 teaspoon pumpkin spice1 teaspoon butter or margarine

Cake
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
1 large egg
1/2 cup cooked butternut squash, pureed
1/2 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Frosting
1/2 cup (4 oz.) cream cheese softened
4 Tablespoons butter
1 1/2 (or more) cups powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 Tablespoon lemon juice

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. (I still can't figure out our range cooker.) Line a muffin tin. To make the streusel, cut the butter into the brown sugar and pumpkin spice with a fork until crumbly.

For the cake you're supposed to combine the flour, cinnamon, baking soda and salt in medium bowl. (I'm too lazy to do this step so I added the dry ingredients separately to the wet ingredients.) Then beat the sugar and butter in large mixer bowl until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the butternut squash, sour cream and vanilla extract; mix well. Gradually beat in flour mixture.

Fill each muffin cup about 1/3 full. Sprinkle a bit of the streusel on top of the batter then add more batter until the muffin cup is about 2/3 full.

Bake for about 35 minutes, until the a fork poked into the cupcakes comes out clean. You may want to check the cupcakes at 25 minutes because I still can't am not great at using my oven.

While the cupcakes cool make the frosting. Mix the cream cheese, butter, vanilla and lemon juice until creamy. Then mix in the powdered sugar, scraping down the sides of the bowl, until you have your desired consistency. Frost and serve. Makes 12 cupcakes.

Potato and Leek Soup

2010-05-13T12:32:00.000+01:00

Since we now live in Wales I thought I should start using leeks more. So the first attempt was with this soup.

Ingredients

1 leek, washed and diced
1 medium onion, diced
4 medium potatoes, washed and diced (I didn't peel them)
3+ cups of vegetable stock
soy sauce
salt and pepper to taste
bay leaf
1 Tablespoon butter
1 Tablespoon olive oil

Heat the oil and butter in a pan. Add the leek and the onion. (I read that to wash the leek I should slice the leek lengthwise and wash out all the sand.) Saute for about five minutes.

Add the vegetable stock, potatoes and bay leaf. Simmer for about 20 minutes, until potatoes are soft.

Remove the bay leaf. Puree until smooth (I left it just a little chunky), season and serve.