We Have Achieved a Pink Living Room

Well, the flu did get me, and then we painted our living room pink.  It's nice to be back on the blog!

 

 

Around the time Genevieve was born, we painted the living room a mushroom color, which I chose because it was between brown and gray and might go with anything.  It did look nice with the creamy trim and the stone fireplace.  My  husband and I figured we'd get a vision for the living room sooner or later.

Then we got our twin red sofas and I sewed chartreuse drapes.  The mushroom walls did not assist the aura of the room, you know?  We wanted a wall color that played nicely with the drapes and kept the focus on the red sofas.  Pink!  Very pale pink, like the inside a seashell.

My husband and I, with help from friends and family, have done all our own painting over the years on our fixer-upper.  We save our home-repair dollars for the projects we don't have the expertise for.

But there was a lot of choreographing to get this room painted, let me tell you.  We arranged babysitting part of the time.  I made sure the freezer was stocked with easy food to keep our morale up and dinner for our Sunday guests.  I made a list of every task that needed to be done, what day it needed to be done on, and possibly how long that task might take.  The idea was to have the children around as little wet paint as possible, and to have the room torn apart for 2 days only.

We did it.

We're exhausted. 

The living room looks fabulous. 

But I must say, as we applied the first coat of paint (Benjamin Moore's "Gentle Blush"), the living room looked scarily pink, like a little girl's nursery. We were dismayed, but we painted doggedly on and reminded ourselves how rigorously we had chosen our color. Amazingly enough, once the dropcloths were put away and the furniture and drapes were back in place, the pink settled down into the background where we wanted it.

We were only planning to touch up the trim, but our standard trim color (Benjamin Moore's Navajo White) suddenly looked sickly green next to the pink; we wanted creamy white.  So I made an emergency trip to our paint store, got their expert help, and we painted the living room trim Mascarpone.  Much better.

How the Stomach Flu Did Not Overwhelm Us

1.  The house was clean and the laundry was nearly caught up. I attribute most of my sanity to a clean house.

2.  We had several small plastic buckets that the sufferers kept in arm's reach.

3.  I had a cache of ginger-ale for just such an occasion.  I did go down to the corner store and get Gatorade (and added it to my grocery list to keep for later; because the stomach flu always finds you later).

4. There were warm rice bags for hurting tummies and cold feet. I had, on a whim, made this rice-bag heart a few days before. I had been planning to show it to you on Valentine's Day for a cute heart post.

 

 

the other side

I am so happy with how this patchwork turned out.  I love to look at it.

5.  When the sufferers were climbing out of their pit, I served them warm jasmine rice with salt in a ramekin with a tiny spoon.  Then a little applesauce.  Then an inch of banana.  And later, homemade chicken stock with kluski noodles and thyme.

6.  My husband threw away toothbrushes and washed handles, lightswitches, and bathroom with assiduous care.


It was, surprisingly, a peaceful weekend.  Or maybe that was because all our social plans were cancelled.  I had been disappointed to miss the northeastern snowstorm, but it turns out we were housebound by the stomach flu. 

The 50-cent Tapestry

I think it was priced fifty cents because it wasn't technically finished - I think those yellow Xs are basting stitches.  There was also a spot, a tiny spot, that looked to be moth-eaten.

 

 But I had eyes only for the rich colors, so I brought it home.  I mean, really, fifty cents.

 

After about two years of closing the drawer wistfully on the tapestry, I bargained with my husband:  he could hang his three Roman soldiers and I could hang my tapestry.  Both of us tolerate the other's picture.  But at least mine is cheap!  I got the frame with a coupon at AC Moore for something under $5 - I think the frame gives it an elegant, minimalist edge. 

 

the soldiers

 

 

An oil painting by a local artist who is also our friend; I do clean up the mantel sometimes, but I rarely "decorate" it.

We're gearing up to paint our living room next week while the children have an overnight at Granny and Grandpa's house.  It's taken a lot of color swatches and scheduling plans to get to this point - we are so excited!

Growing Sprouts

I've been growing our own bean sprouts after being inspired by friends.  We invited them for dinner, and their hostess gift was a bowl of alfalfa sprouts!  That inspired me on several levels (I am always looking for easy, thoughtful hostess gifts).

I re-read the section in More With Less on sprouting.  I bought a bag of daikon radish seeds at the health food store - I wanted to get alfalfa seeds or at least a sprouting mix, but apparently everyone is sprouting seeds at this time of year and daikon radish was the only thing left.

daikon radish seeds soaking

The picture is actually of lentil sprouts.  Genevieve wanted to sprout lentils. 

 

the dark, warm place where I put them:  the cupboard above the oven hood

 

Here is our method:

1.  Soak 2 tbsp. of seeds or mung beans or lentils overnight in water.  Best choice are seeds marked specifically for sprouting.  I keep the extra in the freezer.

2.  In the morning, place the drained seeds in a glass jar.

3.  Cover the mouth of the jar with a piece of cheesecloth and rubber-band it in place.

4.  Place the jar on its side in a warm, dark place (a cupboard next to or over your fridge or oven or close to a heater).

5.  About three times a day, swish water through the jar, wetting all the seeds.  Drain it again and put it back in its dark spot.

6.  You'll see sprouts in a few days.  When they're a few inches long, remove the cheesecloth and rubberband and put the lid on the jar.  Keep in the fridge about a week.

So far, we've just tossed the sprouts in salads and made lunchtime sandwich melts with them (the secret to great melts under the broiler:  put thin rings of onion on TOP of the cheese so that the onion gets slightly browned and sweetens up while the cheese melts underneath). 

What do you like to do with sprouts?

A Handy Trash Bag for the Sewing Room

When I began my sewing career, I put my snipped threads and fabric trash in a little pile immediately to the right of the machine.  I never put a trashcan proper at my sewing station, and I was forever picking up little piles of threads from the floor or my children's shoulders when they leaned in to see what I was doing.

Finally, I looked on Pinterest for a solution.  I found one!  I made a little fabric can to dangle over the side of my worktable, held in place by a wide ribbon glued around a baked-potato-sized rock. Nifty,  huh?

 

The thread catchers I saw online had pin cushions to keep them in place, but I subbed in a rock because I have a pin cushion I'm devoted to (Genevieve reminded me that she picked up the rock on this blissful vacation last spring). 

I did try to sew a sleeve for the rock, but then I thought the trash can would be more portable if the rock was firmly attached to the ribbon.  I wrapped the ribbon around the rock a time or two, hot-gluing as I went.  I intend to carry the little can to the living room coffee table or dining room table when I carry my handsewing there. No more sewing snips on the floor!

There was Ice Cream for Breakfast

Did you have ice cream for breakfast on Saturday morning? We did!  It was decadent and silly and my sister stopped by, which always makes a party.

I used the fabulous vanilla recipe that Jennifer Jo posted. I was not pleased with my yeast waffles from More With Less. I made baking-powder waffles last year, and I think that's the way to go. I also attempted to make a blueberry syrup which was too watery and nobody ate it; in fact, nobody ate any fruit of any kind at that meal. 

How to Freeze Unbaked Sticky Buns to Bake Later

Here are some helpful ways to fit a warm yeasted sweet bread (sticky buns or sweet rolls, etc.) into your life - what is better on a bitter winter morning? Start these methods before the morning of.

Method 1.  Allow dough to rise in bowl per recipe.  Once the buns are shaped, put them in their pan and pop them, covered, in the fridge overnight (I use my metal 9x13 with its metal lid, which is not airtight, but an airtight bag is fine too).  Let stand on the counter for 10-15 minutes in the morning. Bake 10 degrees warmer than the recipe originally called for OR add 5-10 minutes to the original baking time using the original baking temperature. 

Method 2. Allow dough to rise, allow shaped buns to rise to the point where you would bake them.  Then, instead, wrap the pan up tight and freeze them.  The day before you want them, put the frozen buns in their pan in the fridge for 12 or so hours.  Then, bake the same way as #1.

Isn't that handy?  I made sticky buns using method #2 on Christmas morning because there were so many festivities piled up that I couldn't bear the thought of fiddling with sticky buns on Christmas eve evening.

Sticky buns in the pan, just before baking.

Now, here is a bread-freezing trick that I tried over Christmas that did not work for me.  I parbaked French bread and froze it, so that I could bake it another day and have hot bread then.  The first time, the parbaking, I baked the loaves just until they were taking on color.  When I baked the bread a second time, it kept its doughy, underdone center no matter how long I baked it and how dark the crust was getting.  Not successful!  So, now you know.