i cannot tell a lie

Okay, so I'm no George Washington and would never claim to have a cherry tree, but I seriously cannot tell lies.  I'm terrible at it.  So I assure you, when I keep saying we're getting really close, it's the truth.  It's just that getting really close is a long phase, I guess.  We're getting really close.  Seriously.  Like I think pictures this week.  (I think.)

Now that we're getting so close, all sorts of new logistical issues are popping into my head and I need your advice....If you were to come to a bed and breakfast, would you want music playing during breakfast?  I can't decide if that would make guests feel more at ease or be distracting.  And, if you would want music, what kind would you want? I'm gonna go out on a limb here and assume it's not p.diddy style rap. But seriously, classical? Jazz? Oldies? Newer stuff?

One more thing, when should we serve breakfast? You guys who have jobs with a regular schedule, do you wake up early even on the weekends/vacation? How early is early? Should we have a few different seatings, and guests can choose which one they want to eat at? Or, should we just have a window of time when breakfast is served and guests can wander downstairs as they choose? What would be your ideal breakfast situation?

bad night, better morning

Last night was not a good night.  Nope, not at all.

First, my sleep was laden with nightmares about brown paint dripping all over everything and me with a severe lack of paintbrushes to clean it all up.  I was desperately trying to prevent the brown paint from destroying everything I'd already painted.

Second, there were thunderstorms all night.  Big, Kanas-style thunder.  In my sleepy delirium, I kept imagining it looking kind of like a cross between an atomic cloud and a sonic boom, reverberating over the ocean and then bouncing off of an island and back to me.  Also, it was raining cats and dogs. Or in French, il peuvait des cordes. The French think it's hilarious that we say it's raining cats and dogs, because, well, why would it rain cats and dogs? They're right, it is a silly expression.  "Cordes" means ropes, which is a bit more easily imagined.  Anyyyyyywayyyy, all of this raining business left me to picture my poor little plants desperately drowning in pools of water.  Especially the delicate spring mix lettuce, that stuff doesn't hold a chance.

Third, all of this worry turned into more nightmares punctuated by thunder, where the pools of water in my garden were suddenly big enough for me to swim in and filled with some kind of shark.  Why? Grr.

This morning, things are a lot better.  It's still raining, but nothing in my garden has drowned.  Phew. Also, the brown walls look more appealing in this light.  Maybe I'll keep them that color.  Of course, I'm still exhausted after a night of restless sleep, but that's nothing a cup of coffee can't fix (preferably from Dunkin Donuts of course).

p.s. Sorry for the lack of pictures.  Dan has his camera in Vegas this weekend, and my camera doesn't work anymore/is so old that most phones take better pictures.

hmph.

i just started painting the dining room and i am not a fan of the color.  good thing this is the first time i bought an entire gallon of the color without trying it out in sample size first. maybe when i see it in the morning, i will like it better. i'd post a pic, but dan has the camera in vegas, so i can't even get your opinions! aaaaaargghhhhh.

p.s. the name of it is mission hills, kind of funny, huh?

furniture rehab/ design*sponge envy

I always see those before and after posts on Design*Sponge and wish that I had some cool piece of furniture to revamp. Well, now I do.  This house is full of old furniture that is just begging to be modernized. Of course, my mom won't let me touch most of it.  But there are a few pieces over which she gave me free reign.  My first project is a couple of night stands.

Above is a before picture of one of the night stands.  Unfortunately, I forgot to take a total before picture of the other.

I sanded them first with 100 grit, then with 150, then with 220. It's amazing how soft they feel.  It's also amazing how much stain came off of them. I was absolutely covered in it.  I went to help my dad and Dan install some of the new woodwork, didn't wash my hands well enough, and got brown finger prints ALL OVER the clean white stuff.  They wanted to kill me.  Whoops?

Despite all of the stain that came off of the pieces (and onto my hands), they are still not stripped.  I had toyed with the idea of stripping both pieces and staining them anew. But given our time constraints, I decided just to paint them.  This better fulfills my design*sponge dream anyway.

I was actually really smitten with the way this one looked half-stripped.  I really debated leaving it like that and just applying polyurethane.  I eventually decided to paint it, because I wasn't sure if other people would appreciate its beauty or if I just thought it was beautiful because I am sick of sanding and painting.

Here are both pieces primed and ready for something more exciting.  I think I know what that something is...you'll get to see the final product soon.

p.s.  speaking of design*sponge: check out their new design guide for Portland, Maine! 

blueberry boy bait

This afternoon I made a blueberry cake recipe from Smitten Kitchen.  It's called blueberry boy bait and apparently it lives up to its name.  "It's perfect," said Dan, "crispy on the top, warm on the inside.  Soft and moist and succulent."  He then proceeded to grab the rest of my piece off of my plate and stuff it in his mouth.  And then I smacked him.  Jk.  But he probably deserved it.  Luckily, we have almost an entire cake still sitting on our counter (because it's a big cake...not because it's not delicious).

The wet and dry ingredients about to be combined into one batter of deliciousness.  Man, I wish I had a real mixer.  A nice big kitchen aid one.  Oh well, at least I have an electric handheld mixer now.  We were originally using one that you cranked by hand.  I'll try to post a picture of it sometime.  Needless to say, it was fun for about, oh, five seconds.  Although, if I am going to be eating all of these decadent pastries, I could probably use the extra work out. 

Before the oven.  Dan asked if I arranged the blueberries in that square and arrow.  The answer is no; I hadn't even noticed it.  But it is pretty crazy that the blueberries randomly landed like that. 

Out of the oven.

My piece, which promptly became Dan's piece. 

Guilty.  

I wonder what I could bribe him to do with this cake....

Deb of Smitten Kitchen explains the origins of the recipe, which are pretty cute.  In the 1954 Pillsbury Junior Bake-Off a 15-year old girl baked the original blueberry boy bait cake, which she had named because of its power over boys.  She only earned second place, but the story was catchy.  Also, if she only got second, I wonder who got first!  Hmm...I'm going to try to look that up.

Update: I looked up who got first place and, turns out, it was a girl from Kansas! Her recipe sounds rather disgusting though.  Marlyce Ann Snay of Haven, Kansas won the junior bake off in 1954 with her Chicken Salad Pie recipe.  Sounds okay, right? Just wait....it calls for pineapple, American cheese, chicken salad and a mayo-whipped cream topping.  Hmm.  If you're more daring than I, the recipe is here.

Recipe

preheat oven to 350 and grease and flour a 9x13 baking pan

2 cups flour
1 tbs baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 sticks unsalted butter at room temperature
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
3 eggs
1 cup whole milk
1/2 cup of blueberries and 1 tsp flour

Whisk together dry ingredients in a medium bowl.

Mix together butter and brown and granulated sugar until light and fluffy.

Add the eggs to the butter/sugar mixture (mmmm) one at a time until just combined (now you can't eat the butter/sugar mixture anymore, bummer ).  Scraping the bowl as needed.

Add 1/3 of the dry mixture to the wet mixture.  Then add 1/2 cup of whole milk.  Then add half of the remaining dry mixture.  Then another 1/2 cup of whole milk.  Then the rest of the dry mixture.

Mix 1/2 cup blueberries with a teaspoon of flour.  Fold them into the batter.

Topping:

Add another 1/2 cup of blueberries to the top of the cake.  Mix together 1/4 cup of sugar and 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon and sprinkle over the cake.

Bake for 45-50 minutes at 350.  After it's done baking (yes this is torture) let the cake cool for 20 minutes before serving.  Then watch the boys come in throngs.