kitchen design

I'm in love with our kitchen design.  I look at the printouts from Lowes quiet often and I'm so excited to see it take shape in real life!

Before I show you the new design, let's recap our current kitchen.

this is all of our cabinets and all of our counter space.  The dishwasher will be moving to the other end - to the right of the sink

this was pre-wallpaper stripping when we moved in.  We will be opening up that doorway and the wall above the sink

the stove will remain where it is.  The fridge will move to about where the microwave is.  We have a new microwave to go above the range.

Our eating area isn't changing much - just new paint, window treatments, and table (eventually).  That doorway on the right will be opened up a little more

Here's the new design!!  (courtesy of Lowes)  Look at all the cabinets and counter space!!!  I can't wait to bake in this kitchen!

<3

kitchen cabinets and countertops

In a very short amount of time, we've made decisions on the two biggest aspects to a kitchen renovation - cabinets and countertops.  We found great deals that we just can't pass up (and luckily for me, MrT loves deals!).  We're looking to order this week which will mean the project is officially underway!

Cabinets (not our house obviously) - Kraftmaid, maple cabinets, color = Chestnut

Countertops - Silestone, color = Kalahari

Things are looking good for a springtime renovation!

Reese's Peanut Butter Cup Cookies

I might be in heaven.  When Jenny over at The Picky Palate said she had a recipe using Reese's PBCs and an egg, I thought, "how could this not be awesome??"

I usually have to go to the store to buy ingredients for a recipe - for this one, I bought a little food processor (somehow, with all the gadgets we got for our wedding, a food processor was not one of them).  I wasn't sure my hand mixer would work and there was no way I wasn't making these.

These are so good and you really can't get much more simple than 2 ingredients!  Stock up on Reese's PBCs (I used 30) and make sure you have an egg (I used a jumbo egg that seemed to get mistakenly packed within my carton of large eggs).  Unwrap the Reese's, put them in the food processor, and process until finely chopped.  Once all your Reese's are processed, add the egg.  Since I bought a small (3-cup) food processor, I couldn't fit all the Reese's in there, so I did those in batches and then in a separate bowl, added the egg and mixed with my hand mixer.

Line your cookie sheets with parchment paper and roll the dough into 1 inch balls and place on cookie sheets.  Flatten with spatula to ½" thickness.  Bake 15-17 minutes or until the edges start to firm up.  Let cool on pan for 15 minutes before transferring to wire rack.

Then, pour a glass of milk and enjoy the deliciousness...

and so it begins

the kitchen renovation :)

okay, so it hasn't actually started yet, but the brainstorming/planning has!  We're working on the layout and I'm starting to figure out cabinet styles and finishes.  I got some samples from Kraftmaid and looking at them up against the paint color we're thinking of using. 

so far I'm liking the first wood sample and the white.  I really love the wood stain that's next to the white, but I think it's too dark for our space - our kitchen isn't open enough to pull of such a dark wood.  I also browsed Lowes for the type of tile we have talked about using for the backsplash - so you can see that there too.

Even though we may still be a few months out from starting the actual work (depending on which one of us you talk to), I'm so excited this is finally our next project.  It's been a long time coming!

Valentine's Day Treat

I wanted to make some Valentine's Day treats and I had originally planned on making one of my go-to cookie recipes - Chocolate Chip and M&M - but with Valentine's M&Ms.  Then I saw red velvet cake mix and decided something with that would be more fun!  I know MrsD loves red velvet so I knew she'd have a recipe I could try and once again, she didn't disappoint!

Red Velvet Sandwich Cookies

Ingredients
Cookies
1 box Red Velvet Cake mix (I used Duncan Hines)
2 eggs, room temperature
1 stick of butter, room temperature

Cream Cheese Frosting Filling
8 oz package cream cheese, cold
1 stick butter, firm, but not cold
3¼ C confectioners sugar, sifted
½ tsp vanilla extract

Directions
Cookies
Preheat oven to 350. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper.  Beat cake mix, butter, and eggs with electric mixer until combined.  Roll dough into 1-1½ inch balls and place on cookie sheet.  Bake 10 minutes or until inserted toothpick comes out clean.  Let cool for a couple minutes before transferring to wire rack to cool completely

Makes about 24 cookies (12 sandwiches)

Cream Cheese Frosting 
Beat together cream cheese and butter until just combined.  Gradually add in sugar until just combined.  Lastly, add in vanilla.  Be careful not to over beat as the frosting will get too airy.


To assemble, once the cookies are cooled completely, pair them by size and frost the flat side of one cookie generously.  Take the other cookie and place the flat side to the frosting and gently press together so the frosting reaches the edges.

Then, enjoy!

Candy Bar Chocolate Chip Cookies

I recently started following The Picky Palate and she posted a recipe for these cookies last week and I knew I had to make them.  It's no secret that Reese's PBC are my favorite candy, so how could these cookies not be the most delicious cookies?!  Luckily, I was not disappointed - these cookies are awesome (and huge!) and super easy to make.

pure heaven

Ingredients:

2 sticks of butter, softened (I used margarine)

1 C granulated sugar

3/4 C light brown sugar

2 large eggs

1 Tbsp pure vanilla 

3½ c all purpose flour

1 tsp baking soda

½ tsp salt

10 oz bag of chocolate chips (I could only find 6 and 12 oz bags, so I just didn't use all of the 12oz bag.  And I used milk chocolate chips instead of semi-sweet)

variety of fun sized candy bars (I used Reese's and Snickers)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line cookie sheets with parchment paper.

2. In a stand mixer, combine sugars and butter.  Add eggs and vanilla.

3. In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking soda, and salt.  Gradually mix flour mixture into sugar mixture.  At some point, you will have to mix by hand so as not to put a lot of strain on your mixer's motor.  I got about 3/4 through adding the flour before I had to mix by hand.  The batter will seem a little dry, but that's ok.  Add in chocolate chips.

4. Using a cookie scoop (or spoon for those of us that don't have a cookie scoop), place one scoop on top of your candy bar and one scoop on bottom like this:

photo courtesy of The Picky Palate

5. Seal the dough around the candy by pressing and shaping the dough until the candy bar is completely enclosed.  Place onto cookie sheet and bake 9-13 minutes or until edges are firm.  Cool on pan for 5 minutes before transferring to wire rack to cool completely.

Makes about 24 cookies (LARGE cookies)

One thing I would change is the size of the Reese's I used.  I bought the small ones because I was worried about how big the cookie would be if I used a regular sized one, but next time I will definitely use regular sized ones (more peanut butter!), but the same amount of dough now that I know how easy it is to make these cookies exactly how you want them.

She also makes this recipe using Oreos instead of candy bars, those are on my list as well!

first house project of 2011

After almost 3 years in our house, we are finally nearing the end of our major renovation projects.  All we have left is the kitchen and the room next to it (we call it the breezeway) that will end up being a den/playroom area with a small mud "room" area as well.

The first step to this project was replacing the door from the garage.  When we had our home inspection, one of the major things found was that the (former) door was not fire-rated (it was wood - so more like fire-inviting) and it also opened the wrong way (opened into the garage instead of into the house.  this wasn't a concern of the inspector, just a pain to us).

MrT installed the new door yesterday and also rearranged/added some electrical work.  There's now a new recessed light inside the door and the light switches have been moved to the other side of the door.

old door:

you can see the (black) light switches on the left of the door

also notice the cardboard in the bottom left pane - the glass fell out quite a while ago and we've had cardboard there ever since - not really insulating or secure!

 

new door:

it now opens INTO the house and no more cardboard window panes.  

here you can see the new light in the ceiling - there's a second one just out of sight by the windows - it's so bright there now!

Next up is knocking down the mini-closet (seen to the left of the door) and building a new closet.  Not sure when MrT plans on doing that, but hopefully soon!

so much snow

Happy 2011!

Living in New England, we're accustomed to getting a lot of snow each winter.  This winter has been no exception so far.  Today we dealt with blizzard #2 of this winter (the first hit the day after Christmas).  By the time we woke up this morning, we had probably 8 inches.  By 10am when MrT went outside to clear the driveway, we had a foot and it was still coming down like crazy.  It's stopped snowing, we have probably 18", and it's drifting all over the place.

Sugar Cookies

This is one of my favorite cookie recipes and it's so simple!

Ingredients

2/3 cup butter, softened

3/4 cup sugar

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1 egg

1 Tbsp milk

1 tsp vanilla

2 cups flour

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 275 degrees.

2. Beat butter w/ electric mixer (I used my stand mixer) on high speed for 30 seconds.  Add sugar, baking powder, and salt.  Beat until combined.  Beat in egg, milk, and vanilla.  Beat as much of the flour as you can w/ mixer. Stir in any remaining flour.  Cover and chill dough for at least 30 minutes.

3. On a lightly floured surface, roll half the dough at a time until 1/4 inch thick.  For best results, keep the half you're not working with in the refrigerator.  Cut into desired shapes.  Place 1 inch apart on ungreased cookie sheet.

4. Bake 16-18 minutes or until edges are firm and bottoms are lightly browned (Add 3-4 minutes for insulated baking sheets).  Transfer to a wire rack (or counter) and let cool.  Let cool completely before frosting - I used Wilton Cookie Icing that I found at Target.

Enjoy!

Christmas Festivities

Instead of doing multiple long posts to recap the last couple of weeks, I'm just going to do one really long post :)

Last weekend, all of the girls from Mr T's side of the family (aunts, cousins, cousins' wives, etc) were planning on taking his grandmother to the Rockette's Christmas Show that was showing in Boston.  However, she had hip replacement surgery just before Thanksgiving and while she is doing very well, she wasn't up to going out for a night on the town.  The rest of us went anyway and had a great time!  We had dinner at a great family-style Italian restaurant and enjoyed the show (despite getting yelled at to stop taking pictures - we arrived as the show was starting and missed the announcement about no pictures - oops!)

The day after the show, Mr T and I hosted our annual holiday party - I don't have any pictures from it, but we had a wonderful time with our friends and family and I have many recipes to share!

Then, my favorite night of the year - Christmas Eve!  Ever since Mr T and I have been dating, I've attended the T family Christmas Eve "Extravaganza" (as I've designated it).  It is one of the two holidays that basically no one in the family misses (4th of July being the other).  In all, 28 people gathered at his aunt's house for dinner, gifts, and quality time together.  My love for this night as only grown since being privileged enough to experience this family gathering - I'm so blessed to have such a wonderful second family.

 my father-in-law

Mr T and his dad

 The grab (basically a Yankee swap)

my brother-in-law and Santa

family love - the "kids" and great aunt G

And last but not least, Christmas Day!  Mr T and I spent the morning opening our gifts to each other and getting ready to host our parents, my sister, and Mr T's brother for dinner.

Mr T and the beer-brewing kit I gave him

he got me the Kinect for our XBox - this thing is awesome

playing with the Kinect - who says you can't get toys when you're a grown up?!

Sox and me

 Sox tired from the morning gift-opening

my mom, sister, and parents' dog, Lucy

my dad and his baby girl

Lucy and my mother-in-law

We actually have one more day of festivities awaiting us - our Christmas with Mr T's parents, brother, sister and brother-in-law.  But we're in the midst of a blizzard (12-18" expected by tomorrow morning!) so we postponed our get-together until next weekend.  Instead, I'm curled up on the couch, in front of a roaring fire and the NCIS marathon on TV, hoping we don't lose power!