Tuesday, December 18

90% Done!

Which, for us, is like 110% done. We seldom get this far. I still have the kick plate to put back on, and the wood putty in the nail holes is drying. We may, or may not, get those dealt with in 2013. For now, though, here it is -- The Window!

It's like having a whole new kitchen! We'll add upper cabinets, now, and put up the beadboard ceiling and trim, and then... I think that's it. The inside will be, dare I say it? :whispers: Complete. That's hard to comprehend. Oh, no. No, I take that back. The boys' bedroom windows still need to be replaced, Em's room needs new carpet, and we need screen doors. OK, that feels more like it. (I'm not sure I'd know how to behave in a finished home!)

So, I tried to find the original before photos of the kitchen, but it looks like I'd uploaded them to a Flickr account, which has since been... emptied? sucked into the ether? eaten by Yahoo? :shrug: I don't know. I could log in with my normal account, but they had an old address for main contact info, so I'm sure they warned me that they were deleting pictures, but I don't use the ISP email, so I never saw it coming. Hopefully, there are some tucked away on the hard drive James salvaged from the basement.

And then, because it's more fun to play in a well-lit kitchen, we've been busy in there...

The spiced nuts would make a wonderful gift. I think. We can't keep them around long enough to package and give away, so it's only a guess. The saltine toffee, of course, is a natural favorite. James has reached a Zen-like mastery of the Russian tea cakes (aka, Snowballs, or Mexican Wedding Cookies). And a dear friend brought the mock Turtles to the Troop meeting last week (pretzels, rolos, and she topped hers with M&Ms, although pecans are traditional, and almonds are not bad at all!) So Jase and Em have been making those. Rice krispy treat wreaths, and old fashioned chocolate chip cookies round out this week's adventures. I might make some of my Mother-in-Law's amazing candies the week after Christmas. (The kids need to be busy doing something else for that. I don't have it down well enough to supervise helpers, and there would be scalding. She would probably rescind my rights to the recipes, and rightfully so, if I scalded the grandbabies.) We're on the lookout for more ideas to make together, though. Do you have a favorite recipe you'd be willing to let me know about?

Kiss those babies!
~Dy

5 comments:

The Foil Hat said...

The window looks just like I have been picturing it, Dy!!!!

I'm doing what I fear might be the last annual neighborhood cut-out cookie party on Saturday. Do you want the recipe? The cookies are delicious and it's good messy fun. The kids, even my big ones, have a blast - we even cut dowels down to make everyone their own rolling pins.

Dy said...

Oh, Amy! *sniff* The last one? Take scads of pictures!!! Going back through, looking for the kitchen photos, I so wished I'd taken/shared/posted more pictures. But I didn't. And now they wouldn't fit in those outfits anymore, anyway! :wahhhh:

But :aherm: Yes. Yes, I would love the recipe, please. Love the individual rolling pin idea, too! You are my brilliant and creative friend! Thank you.

Kathy said...

Beautiful window!! Washing dishes won't be so bad with a view and window like that one! Enjoy!

I want the saltine toffee recipe, please. So far we have only made gingerbread men. We have had a nasty cold/flu virus here, and we are behind on our Christmas memory making.

Hope you all have a wonderful Christmas!

Dy said...

Oh, Kathy! I'm so sorry! We had something throaty lurking about, and Em was absolutely distraught over the idea of being sick at Christmas *again*. Maybe if you don't feel like you got your Christmas on properly by the big day, you could celebrate 12 Days style, from Christmas to Epiphany?

And I'm going to fight the urge to give unrequested medical advice and cluck over you like an anxious sister, okay? Promise.

Here's the recipe for the saltine toffee. http://www.delish-blog.com/2011/12/saltine-toffee/

You can put whatever you want on the top - the little kids like chocolate chips and crushed candy canes. James like dark chocolate. I actually like it just plain, with or even without the melted chocolate on top. Z likes it with nuts on top of the chocolate. It's very accommodating, so you can play with it, make variations with wild abandon, and it'll still be good.

Feel better soon! And here's to a wonderful memory-making week for you and yours!

Kathy said...

Yum! Thanks for the recipe!

and the laugh! you made me feel better! :D