Stepping Back

I finally had the perfect trio of time, daylight, and a clean kitchen to get some photos of how the shelves look (you can read about them here).

And as for the details on the shelves:

• Bowls from Anthropologie - check.
• Toy truck from Bangladesh - check.
• Condiments container from France - check
• Baskets to corral junk like tape and candles and batteries - check, check, check, and check!

Did you notice the collection of vintage mason jars on the counter?  They are an early Christmas present from a friend and I'm working on the details of using them on the sideboard at Christmas.  Stay tuned!

Oh, and did you notice the chocolates that coordinate with the accent colour on the shelves.  Very important to always have chocolates that coordinate with your decor.

The $3 Addition to Our Kitchen

As some of you know I had a wild and crazy spring and was away for most of the summer so not much got done around our casa.  In fact, more like the opposite happened - things rather deteriorated.  The main floor was fine, but if you opened any cupboard or went down to the basement the disorganization became apparent.  I've been spending my time over the past two months putting things aright.  I'm not, by any means, finished yet, but I'm working on it and it feels good to declutter and claim back the house.   I really wish it was more interesting blog material though.  


So let's talk instead about something much more interesting than decluttering and tidying. I've been working on an insanely labour-intensive, but very frugal $3 addition to our kitchen.


Here is how things evolved.  I painted our kitchen cabinets last summer and love them (you can read the details here).  However, one of the things that remained undone was finishing the open shelves.   I had always wanted to put something on the back of the shelves to liven things up, but I wasn't sure what to do and what colour to use.  

I collected inspiration photos and let the ideas percolate through my mind - for over a year!  Apparently I have a slow percolation time.  Here are a few of the photos I love.  I considered painting the back of the shelves a solid colour, but I wasn't sure what colour would work since the kitchen is open to the dining room and family room.  I love these two photos below:

Our Humble Abode

Domino

Then it occurred to me that what I really wanted was a modern simple pattern to liven things up like in the photo below.

Manola Home

That still didn't solve the colour problem however.  One day when I was staring at the kitchen trying to decide what colour to use it occurred to me that gray would be the perfect choice.  Not only would it be flexible enough to coordinate with any colours I put on the shelf, but it would match the colours already in the kitchen since the cupboards are painted gray and white.  I considered wallpaper, but had no idea where I could get the small piece that I needed without spending a fortune on a whole roll.  Then I thought of a solution to the problem, which was to paint the pattern using the dark grey paint that I had used on the lower cabinets.  That way the colour would be a perfect match and it would be free since I had leftover paint.  And I do love freebies.  


My next problem was where to get a stencil or a pattern that I could use.  When I came across some of the remnants of the patterned material I had used in the basement I thought I would try using it (you can see the material rolled up in the photo below and on our basement wall here).  

The plan was to cover some foam core boards with the fabric and paint it using the cabinet paint.  But that wasn't how things turned out.  Why, oh why, do craft projects always have more twists and turns than a mountain road.  I guess it's all part of the fun.


When I put the paint on the fabric it bled into the material.  Oops!  I guess that's why they invented fabric paint.

On to Plan B.  


I decided to trace around the design with a pen (you can see that I've started in the photo above) which left a slight indent in the foam core board that was underneath the fabric.  Then I painted the sections that were orange in the fabric with the grey paint.  

You can see I needed to use two foam core boards to cover the back of the cupboard which means there is a seam.   Not to worry though, the seam is behind the shelf.


It took a couple of days to fully dry and then I put the painted boards up and did a bit of styling.  I went for a limited colour palette of yellow and white which is a combination I love.

I'll add another photo of the whole kitchen when I have time this weekend.   


Oh, and the $3 was the cost of two foam core boards.  Since I already had the paint the project was otherwise free, unless you count my time that is!  It took me a ridiculous amount of time to paint the grey, although I did find it very relaxing and peaceful to paint (and drink copious amounts of tea) while the rain poured down and the wind howled outside.   Using painted foam core board has the additional advantage of being easy to change if I decide I want to do something different in the future.

p.s.  You can see more photos of the shelves in this post.


Linked to:
Sunday Showcase at Under the Table and Dreaming, 
Wow Us Wednesday at Savvy Southern Style,
Flaunt it Friday at Chic on a Shoestring Decorating,
Inspiration Friday at At the Picket Fence,
Potpourri Friday at 2805,
Thrifty Thursdays at Inspired by Charm,
White Winter Vignette and Linky Party at Songbird

WISH Wednesday #1

What is WISH Wednesday, you ask?  Well it is a new series that I'm going to do every Wednesday - WISH stands for Weekly Inspiration for a Seasonally-decorated Home.  I do realize it should really be WISDH, but that just doesn't make sense so we're going to ignore the 'd', making it the ever so appropriate acronym WISH.


Every Wednesday I will post one picture that I find somewhere on the internet that just tickles my fancy and completely enthralls me.  It might be a craft project or a table setting or a piece of furniture or a decorated room, but it will be something house related.  The pictures I select may be things that I would actually like to do or incorporate in our home or they may be things that are just so beautiful that I want to share them even though I will never be able to do or own what is in the picture.  


I also thought it would be an interesting idea to look back at the end of a year and see what sorts of things caught my attention.  I will have twelve months worth of decorating inspiration which may help me define what my taste and decorating style is.  

Martha Stewart

Today's picture is from Martha Stewart.  Of course!  Who else would spend all that time cutting holes in a pumpkin that is going to be composted in a few weeks.  Now that being said, I still absolutely love these pumpkins.  I adore the blue-gray colour - don't they look like they are made of stone-glazed pottery.   I love the lacy look the cut-outs give the pumpkin.  I bet they are just as pretty in the daytime as they are at night with the lights twinkling through the holes.  


This is not a project I would ever do because I would go completely mental digging out all those holes, but I would definitely modify the idea and use a drill to make a lacy pattern on a pumpkin.   It wouldn't be an A+ pumpkin like Martha made, but it would be a C+ or even a B+ pumpkin and that would be enough to make me happy.



Would you ever be tempted to spend hours making one of these gems?

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I neglected to put the 1 tsp of orange zest in my recipe that I posted on Monday (many thanks to Sandra for noticing and emailing me about it).   If any of you had already copied the recipe out I wanted to be sure and let you know to add the grated orange rind as it is a nice addition.

Harvest Pumpkin Bread with Orange and Raisins

I love pumpkin bread and really feel like fall has arrived when I smell the pumpkiny-cinnamony aroma wafting from the oven.   


Not only is pumpkin bread fantastic, but it is loaded with beta-carotenes, carotenoids, fibre, potassium, and zinc.  I really sound like I know what I'm talking about, don't I?  Well I just Googled it and thought I would impress all of you with how healthy pumpkin is.  I'm willing to make it for a lot of less virtuous reasons than that, but all those beta-watchamacallits certainly help convince me I am doing a good thing when I make it.

Just in case you are getting the pumpkin cravings, here is my recipe - quick, easy, and sooo delish.


Ingredients:
2 cups flour (even better would be to use 1 cup of all-purpose flour and 1 cup of whole wheat flour)
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp each of allspice, ground ginger, and salt
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1/2 cup sour milk (add 1 tsp vinegar to 1/2 cup milk)
1 tsp orange zest 
1 1/2 cups canned pure pumpkin (make sure it is pure pumpkin and not pumpkin pie filling)
1/2 cups raisins (optional)

Method:
1. Preheat oven to 350F.  Oil a 9 x 5 x 3 (1.5 L capacity) inch loaf pan. 
2.  Measure dry ingredients into a large mixing bowl and stir.  
3.  Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients and add the wet ingredients (the recipe said to combine them together in another bowl first, but between you and me I just dumped them in and it worked).   Stir just until blended - batter will be very thick.
4.  Turn into loaf pan and smooth the top.  Bake in the centre of the oven for about 70-75 minutes.  Turn out of a pan and cool on a rack.  

Very tasty and thankfully the good news about all the health properties justifies my eating seconds and even thirds!

Easy Dinner - Honey-Glazed Pork Roast with Cabbage and Apples

Today I made some significant modifications to a recipe I had cut out of a magazine so that the final product was nowhere near the original, but the path it went down was a good one.  I made Honey-Glazed Pork Loin Roast with Cabbage and Apples.  The cabbage looked like glazed onions when it was done and was delicious.  I often find it hard to use up a whole cabbage when I buy one for a recipe, but this tasted fantastic and was so easy.  

Ingredients:
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp dried thyme
black pepper to taste
1/4 - 1/3 of a head of cabbage, sliced and cut into pieces
1 onion, sliced thin
2 apples, peeled and cut into 1 cm thick pieces
pork loin roast (approximately 900 gm)
1/4 cup butter or margarine, melted
4 tsp brown sugar
black pepper to taste
2 tbsp honey
1 tbsp soy sauce

Method:
1. In a medium bowl mix soy sauce, thyme, and pepper. Add pork and roll to coat. 
2. Lightly oil a Dutch oven.  Layer half the chopped cabbage, apple, onion, and then repeat the layers.  Put the pork loin roast on top.
3.  Combine the melted butter, brown sugar, pepper, honey, and soy sauce and pour over the roast.  
4.  Cover and cook at 350 for about 1 1/2 hours (check to be sure the pork is cooked in the centre with a meat thermometer as you don't want to take any chances).  Periodically baste the pork with the sauce.


I served the pork and cabbage mix with rice, but that was only because we were out of potatoes.  It would be good with either.    


I also cooked up the squash that I had on our sideboard.  I've been a bit obsessed with all the different kinds of squash available at the grocery store and have been buying them if they look interesting or lumpy or wildly coloured or pretty much anything.  The only problem is we get a bit attached to them and don't like to cook them - sort of like cooking the family pet or something.  Anyway we got over our weird attachment to our squash and had a very yummy dinner indeed.

Say goodbye to the large green squash cause it's gone!

p.s.  Stay tuned for details about the pumpkin bread I made for dessert - recipe coming up tomorrow.


p.p.s.  Also stay tuned for details about the insane craft project I spent hours doing this weekend.  Let's just say it was a calm and therapeutic way to spend a cold and rainy weekend.  Here's a sneak peak.  It needs to dry and then some styling has to happen before I'm ready to reveal it.

Linked to Sunday Showcase at Under the Table and Dreaming