Friday, November 9, 2012

Butter Rum-Glazed Applesauce Cake


I can only say one thing about this cake--YUM!!  That is if you like an applesauce cake and the flavor of butter-rum lifesavers.  (and who doesn't like butter-rum lifesavers??)

And talk about easy!   This is one of the easiest cakes to make.  When you look at the directions there seem like a lot of steps, but really, it takes no time at all. 
I took this small cake to our   "Friday Night Friends"  (standing dates for supper--we've been getting together for years on  Friday nights if we have no other plans) and everyone loved it. 

It's not fancy at all, so if you are looking for a fancy dessert, this is not it---this one is just plain, simple and good.   Applesauce cake is such a throwback to when I was growing up.  It even sounds  old-fashioned.  I mean,  when was the last time someone served you an applesauce cake?    My grandma used to make an applesauce cake--it was so moist and dense and  I loved the taste of  cinnamon--and this reminded me of that cake, but she didn't glaze hers... we just ate big pieces without frosting.  Using the glaze brings the taste to a whole new level for me. It was so good.

It is my opinion that you should bring it back--bring the old-fashioned cakes back!  And start with this simple 'butter rum glazed' one.  It will be a hit, I guarantee it.

I did not 'frost' the cake but just dolloped the glaze on top of each slice.  Also, my 'glaze' looks really thick, so perhaps I turned it into more of a frosting, but that's fine, more butter-rum flavor in each bite that way.
In the photo in the magazine  (Betty Crocker's  Best Loved Christmas recipes) they frosted the whole cake.  You can do what you want.

It's been good to do a post again.  I've been gone for a bit from the blogging world.  I just needed a little break I guess. I still am in awe of all of you who manage to have lives AND  do blog posts every day.




Butter Rum-Glazed Applesauce Cake
from Betty Crocker's Best Loved Recipes

Cake:
1/3 cup butter  (do not use margarine)
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 cup applesauce
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt

Heat oven to 350 F. Grease bottom and sides of an 8-inch square pan with shortening or cooking spray.
In a 1 1/2 quart saucepan, melt 1/3 cup butter over medium heat. Cook about 3 minutes, stirring occasionally, until butter just begins to brown.   Immediately remove from heat. Stir in sugar, applesauce and vanilla.
In a large bowl, mix four, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. Stir in applesauce mixture.
Pour batter into pan.
Bake 30-35 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

Glaze:
2 Tbls butter
1 cup powdered sugar
1/2 tsp rum extract
3-4 tsp half and half or milk

In a  1 1/2 quart saucepan, melt 2 Tbls butter over medium heat. Cook about  3 minutes, stirring occasionally, until butter just begins to brown. Immediately remove from heat. Stir in remaining glaze ingredients until smooth. 
Pour glaze over warm cake.
Cool 30 minutes.  Serve warm.  Sprinkle with additional cinnamon if desired.

Saturday, October 6, 2012

Saturday Snapshot

Home, home on the range
Where the deer and the antelope play
Where seldom is heard a discouraging word
And the skies are not cloudy all day


(I am singing this now as I type!   It will now be stuck in my head all day.  sigh.)

Last month our friends, the Cain's, invited us out on their boat.  April gives me a bad time about not being
1) a spur of the moment person  (I'm not--I need to work from a list)
2) an outdoor person  (she's wrong with this one. I LOVE to work in my yard and take long walks and do some short hiking AND we eat our supper out on the patio every night during the summer)

Okay, she might mean I don't like to do ADVENTUROUS stuff outdoors.  But I do love the outdoors--I think sunlight on water is the most beautiful sight in the world!!  I could take my book and sit by it all day long.  In the shade, with my good book, and sunglasses and sunscreen, BUT HECK, I do too love the sounds of all those other people being adventurous on the water!! 

So, when they invited us to spend the day on the water in their boat--after giving me a few days advance notice of course--I jumped at the chance!   It was just the 4 of us,  and we didn't ski or swim or anything  (thank goodness),  we just relaxed  and enjoyed the day. Outdoors!!  April took some crab salad and shrimp salad and I took some fresh bakery rolls to put it on.  We had fruit and cheese  and some snacks ,  magazines, books.... It was a Pontoon boat, so we even had space to sit back and take a little nap.  Which April and I did.   Doug did a little fishing-- It was a glorious day.

I bet a couple of you are wondering--how can they have enough water to go boating if they live in the desert?  There is a huge reservoir about 40 miles from here, that's how.  Yes, it is 'desert' boating--I'll show you pictures--which brings me to today's post SATURDAY SNAPSHOT.
I'm going to link up with Alyce from At Home  With Books and her Saturday Snapshot meme.
You should too.  It's fun.  All you have to do is share a picture (or two) that you or someone you know took.  (nothing pulled from the Internet or anything).  You can write as little or as much as you want about the photos. Then link up at her Blog and wah-la!  That's it.  It really is fun.

Wait---this is all coming back around--with the antelope song--I'm working it in.

While we were boating, we saw some antelope on the shore.  Can you see them? 




We go closer so I could get better pictures--that and I changed lenses too.
This was a 'cluster' of antelope.  Or a herd.   I looked up collective nouns because I think they are funny.  I mean, who ever heard of a cluster of antelope?



A couple  of them climbed to the top of the bluff.







This one was walking the wrong way--I was a bit worried about him, as he was leaving his friends.


And that is the end of what I am submitting to Saturday  Snapshot. 
What follows are just a few for my friends  (but you can look too if you feel like it)

****************************************************************************************************

This is where we put the boat in.   Our lovely desert reservoir---it's huge tho.   22 miles long to be exact.  We went from the beginning  (here) to the end and back.  We saw birds and antelope and a beaver, whom we followed for a while to see where he was building his home.


There it is--SUNLIGHT on the water.  I love that sight.  And of course, April and the ol' Handyman.  ( did not, DID NOT say old.  I said  ol')


And Doug driving the boat.  We were just taking off from the boat ramp.



Just the desert as scenery.



And  a nap is always good in the afternoon!   (but I don't know how anyone can sleep on their stomach.  )



It was a great day! Thanks  Cains.

Friday, October 5, 2012

Lemon Graham Squares



Often,  even tho I love to cook and bake, my time seems very limited sometimes-- with work, social commitments and friends and family--so it's always a nice surprise  when I find a recipe that is really quick and really easy and most of all really good. 

I love the taste of lemon and these little graham cracker squares are packed with lemon flavor.  I used the juice a two lemons, but depending on how juicy your lemons are you might need a third.   This would be a great bar to take to potlucks, family gatherings, or to work--to woo your co-workers.   
Since it is just myself and the Handyman at home, and I have no co-workers, I had to give some of these bars away---to anyone who came thru my door. They would have been too dangerous to keep to myself.

The first day, the crust and the topping are  kind of crunchy or crispy and it is just right with the lemon filling.  I loved it.
The recipe doesn't say to, but I did keep them refrigerated after baking them--that creamy, lemony filling kind of begged to be refrigerated, but it does tend to make the graham crackers moist and not so crispy. Still good, but not as good as the day you bake them
Here's the thing tho--it's only a  9-inch pan, so if you have people over, they will get eaten all gone and then you don't have to worry about it!

I found these bar in the Taste of Home, Ultimate Cookie Collection cookbook. I've had this cookbook for about 5 years, but I think I glanced at it when I first got it and them it got stuck in a drawer or upstairs in a closet.  I had no room to keep all my cookbooks in one place.  Now that my kitchen is done,   I have been having so much fun looking thru old cookbooks...everything is displayed in my kitchen.  I've never had them all at my fingertips before---now they are all in sections, by theme, by author/chef--like I said,  SO MUCH FUN!
I'm really enjoying this cookie cookbook tho. 


Lemon Graham Squares
Taste of Home Ultimate Cookie Collection

1 can (14oz) sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup lemon juice
1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
3/4  cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 tsp baking powder
dash salt
1/2 cup melted butter

In a bowl, combine the milk and lemon juice, mix well, set aside. In another bowl, combine the cracker crumbs, flour, brown sugar, baking powder and salt. Stir in butter until crumbly.

Press half of the crumb mixture into a greased 9-inch square baking dish.  Pour lemon mixture over crust; sprinkle with remaining crumbs.   Bake at  375F for  20-25 minutes or until lightly browned. 
Cool in pan on a wire rack.
Cut into bars.

Saturday, September 29, 2012

Chicken Fiesta Chowder


I love soup.  And I'm always looking for good soup recipes, but still, I had a hard time purchasing a $10  magazine.   Do you?  I love all the special publication magazines--especially the ones that come out in the fall for autumn and the holidays.  I have to pick and choose, because I could easily spend  $20-$50 in special publication  magazines each week.  YIKES!
But one I'm glad I did pick up was the Taste of Home Heartwarming Soups.   I have marked about  20 that's I want to try---that's only  50cents a recipe. Not a bad deal, huh?

I love chicken soup and I love tortilla soup and I love beans and rice and chillies and corn. This soup was all those things/had all those things.   Plus the fact that Beth Jenkins Horsley of   Belmont, North Carolina (the Taste of Home contributor) won first place in a hometown newspaper cook off with this recipe--how could I go wrong?  

We really enjoyed this soup.  It was good, easy to make, had common ingredients that are easy to find in your local market.     While I did like it, the Handyman liked it more than I did. He loved it.  That should be reason enough to make it again, his seal of approval.  He used to think of soup as something awful...out of a can, watered down broth and a random noodle or two, but now that he's been introduced to real soup--homemade-- he loves it.  And he especially liked this one because it was hardy--like a meal--with a slight Tex-Mex flavor, which he loves.   
The reason I hesitate to say that I too, loved it,   is that I put in too much lime juice.  It calls for 1 T and I squeezed in a whole lime (and it was a really juicy lime).  It was a bit tangy for me--BUT that didn't discourage the Handyman--He ate 3 bowl fulls in one sitting.  He really liked it.   So, I guess  tanginess is all in the eye of the beholder.
I also forgot to buy cilantro which the Handyman was happy about--me, not so much, as I love the taste of it.

The bottom line?  It was a really good, slightly spicy  (but you could really spice it up if you wanted to),  fall soup.  I will try it again, without so much lime juice for me.  Oh, and don't forget the cilantro.



Chicken Fiesta Chowder
Taste of Home special soup edition 2012

3 T all-purpose flour
1 envelope fajita seasoning, divided
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into  1-inch cubes
3 T canola oil
1 medium onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
3 cups water
1 can, (15 oz) black beans, rinsed and drained
1 can (11 oz) Mexicorn
1 can (14 oz) Mexican stewed tomatoes, juice and all
1 cup uncooked instant brown rice
1 can (4 oz) chopped green chilies
1 can  (11 oz) condensed nacho cheese soup, undiluted
3 T minced fresh cilantro
1 T. fresh lime juice

In a large resealable plastic bag, combine flour and 2 T fajita seasoning; add chicken.  Seal bag and shake to coat.  In a large saucepan, saute chicken in oil until no longer pink. 
Remove and keep warm.

In the same pan saute onion until tender. Add garlic; cook 1 minute. Stir in water, beans, tomatoes, corn, rice, chillies and remaining fajita seasoning. Bring to a boil.  reduce heat, cover and simmer for   5 minutes or until rice is tender.

Stir in the soup, cilantro, lime juice and chicken. Heat through.




Satruday Snapshot



I always thought this picture was funny--if you look fast, it looks like on big long zebra, but upon closer inspection you can tell it is two zebras and a big rock.
We took this a few years ago when we visited the Portland Zoo. 

I'm linking to At Home With Books,  weekly meme, Saturday Snapshot.
Thanks Alyce for hosting.

Wednesday, September 26, 2012

Pumpkin Pecan Tassies




Everybody has had the pecan tassies, those little miniature pecan pie like treats, right?  I love them.  I also love pumpkin pie, so when I came across this recipe the other day, that used a pumpkin filling along with toasted pecans, I thought why not?  I'd give them a try.  It was a wonderfully cool day--a day that felt like fall, and what is fall without the taste of pumpkin?  Well, in my book anyway.
The recipe, which I found in  a Taste of Home Cookie Collection cookbook, said that the extra steps were well worth the effort.  I didn't think there were that many extra steps.  It was an easy recipe for me to make.  Funny how we all have different perspectives, isn't it.  And--this never happens to me---the recipe came out exact.  24 balls of dough and the exact amount of filling. I usually have too much of one, or not enough of the other.
I think if you like pumpkin and pecan pie and a little butter rum flavor (did I mention the rum extract? YUM!),  you will love these little cookies.   I did.
I ate them when I made them, and I ate some the  next morning for breakfast with my coffee. They are so good!




Pumpkin Pecan Tassies

1/2 cup butter, softened
1 3oz package cream cheese, softened
1 cup all-purpose flour


Filling:
3/4 cup packed brown sugar, divided
1/4 cup canned pumpkin
4 tsp plus 1 tbsp butter, melted--divided
1 egg yolk
1 tbls half and half
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp run extract
1/8 tsp ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
1/3 cup chopped pecans

In a small mixing bowl, cream butter and cream cheese. Beat in flour. Shape into 24 balls. With floured fingers press onto the bottom and up the sides of a greased mini muffin cup pan. Bake at 325 for 8-10 minutes or until edges are lightly browned.

Meanwhile, in a bowl, combine 1/2 cup brown sugar, pumpkin, 4 tsp butter, egg yolk, half and half, extracts, cinnamon and nutmeg. Spoon into warm cups.

Combine the pecans and remaining brown sugar and butter; sprinkle over filling.

Bake 23-27 minutes longer or until set and edges are golden brown.
Cool for 10 minutes before removing to wire racks.

Saturday, September 22, 2012

Snicker Doodles

August 27th was my last post?  MAN!  My hat goes off to all you 'daily' bloggers.  I just can't keep up.



I know this cookie is nothing new...but it's always been one of my favorites.  In fact,  I like them better than America's favorite cookie, the chocolate chip. But for some reason I never make them.
Last month, I was asked by a good friend to make some for her daughter's bridal shower, so I whipped out the old Betty Crocker cookbook---the one I got for my high school graduation, oh so many years ago  (back when teenage girls had 'hope chests' and collected homemaking stuff )--and made the traditional, nothing fancy, old-fashioned Snicker doodle.  And man was it good!  All sugary and cinnamony.  Mmmm. It was just like my mom used to make, because--it was the one my mom used to make!  (not flat, but a bit puffy)
No need to look any further than Betty Crocker.


What's your favorite 'nothing fancy, traditional, old-fashioned cookie?"



Snicker Doodles
from Betty Crocker
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup shortening
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour*
2 tsp cream of tartar
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
2 T sugar
2 tsp cinnamon
*I added  1/2 cup more flour than was called for. 
Heat oven to 400 degrees.  Mix thoroughly: butter, shortening, 1 1/2 cups of the sugar and the eggs.  Blend in flour, cream of tartar, soda and salt.  Shape dough by rounded teaspoonfuls into balls.
Mix the remaining sugar and the cinnamon; roll balls into mixture.  Place 2 inches apart on un-greased baking sheet.
Bake  8-10 minutes or until set.
Immediately remove from the baking sheet.
**I also refrigerated my dough for an hour or two before baking, and raised my heat to 415 degrees.  I have no rhyme or reason for this EXCEPT that I didn't want flat cookies.  I wanted them to be puffy like my mom's.  Since I live at  4000 feet above sea-level, sometimes I have to fiddle around with baking instructions.




My cookies featured at the shower... I wanted to share because the yard was so beautiful!



The backyard before the guests arrived.  And yes, those are parasols hanging from a tree.  It was so pretty.  And the Snicker Doodles were a hit!

Monday, August 27, 2012

800th post

Ta da!!  My  800th post! And today, we are talking about prostitution.  Why, you ask?

Because I once wrote this post.  Go ahead and click on it... I will wait till you get back.  January 2012, I said I'd write about it--and now here it is:  I blink my eyes and  7 months have passed before I got back to it.

Okay,  are you back?  WHAT?  You didn't even go there?
Well, here is an excerpt:

I do work at the Visitors Center...where sometimes people ask about the Brothels, and it is my job to "point them in the right direction." (laughing)

Seriously tho, someone will ask about them once every other year or so.

No one is EVER honest --they make excuses, such as: I have to make a delivery and I can't find the address. I told my wife I'd drive by and take a picture. We just want to see what they look like, we're not going to go in or anything.


I did have one older Italian couple come in once and he wanted to know about the billboards and why it said "girls, girls, girls." I told him it was a brothel. But he didn't quite get that word. I kept on trying to explain it in non-emotional way, and he just couldn't figure it out.

All of the sudden his wife said It's a WHOREHOUSE! Then he laughed and said, Oh "WHOREHOUSE". They thought that was the most amusing thing ever.

I got a kick out of them.

So that was from my January post.  Let me say right off the bat that I am not stating my opinion on the brothels one way or another.   Not a word from me if they are evil or good.  I will not tell  you if I think they are demeaning to women or it's the oldest profession in the world and it's never going away, and it's better and safer than walking the streets, and women have a choice to be what they want.  You can form your own opinion on that subject. (but please don't form a negative opinion of Nevada just because we have legal brothels )They are what they are, and right now they are a legal business in the state of Nevada.
BUT--that too, also differs from county to county.  Brothels are illegal in Las Vegas and Reno, so you tend to have really famous brothels right over the county lines from these two big cities--like the famous Mustang Ranch outside of Reno or The Bunny Ranch outside of Vegas.   In small rural towns where it is legal,  the brothels aren't nearly so fancy.

But back to me!  I work in a Visitors Center--I have to help people find businesses etc.  So if they want to go to Simone's, well,  I can help with that.  It's mostly funny to me.  AND, honestly some of the women are really nice.   I don't see them often and none of them are my friends, but once in awhile you just know...and it's okay.  They are nice.  Just trying to make a legal living.

One time, about 25 years ago, when the Handyman worked for a retail store, the store was having a big sale one day, and Inez, a  madame, wanted in a bit early to shop.  The Handyman let her in the back door  (geez---that doesn't sound good) and Inez told him  he was  "a mighty fine man."
He's always been proud of that---reminds me that it was an endorsement from a professional 'madame.'

And I have to live with that.  (laughing)

Anyway,  it is what it is.

Let me show you what it is like to drive to Reno from here:
(Not your average road signs)





 
  Wild Horse Saloon is where they  have the World Famous  Mustang Ranch Museum!  I made the Handyman take me there!   We just drove up to it.  On our way home from Reno.   Hmmm....so maybe couples really do just want to see what a brothel looks like when they come into my office and giggle and say they just want a picture. That's EXACTLY what I did.  
  LOOK--you can even eat there!  Who knew? (hmmm.....no, never mind)  

We had to drive thru a gate!  It's a gated community.  (I am finding myself amusing today)  They don't want any undesirables in there!




 
  Our home town signs are kind of sad looking---not that these are fancy by any means.   
  Just for the record,  I love where I live and it's like the old saying "I can make fun of it, but I'll get really mad if you do."  (okay,not really---I mean, it is kind of easy to make fun of this.  Just do it kindly)   Also, the whole freeway is not littered with these road signs---it is one small section about a mile long is all--I am just exaggerating and exploiting it for this post. And,  legal prostitution is so small now days---just a teeny weeny part of the really big  ( HAVE YOU LOOKED AT  MAP LATELY?!) picture of Nevada.   We are a great state!!    Let me leave you with one story about Simone's. It is a brothel (of course.  You saw the photo above).  One where you can use your Visa or MasterCard at.  Maybe even American Express.  We are talking businesses here.  Hunting is a big business here as well---hunting season is a busy time for the brothels.  OH...you have to remember that they are also just a bar.  Anyone can go in and have a drink. YOU CAN.  Once quite a few years ago, a woman called and wanted to come to town and surprise her husband, who had come hunting here for a few years in a row and he always had dinner at a place called Simone's.  It was on their Visa statement and she thought she's surprise him with dinner.   Oops.   That's it.  My  800th post.  Whew.... now I can post my snicker doodles!  (I almost did it by mistake earlier)

Musing Monday


This is my  799th post.  I wonder what tomorrow will bring.... well, besides the  800th post.  I KNOW that, but what the heck will I post about?  Food?  Books?  Random thoughts on life?   Even I don't know at this point.

But for now...

MUSING MONDAYS is a weekly event where MizB from Should Be Reading,  will ask a book/reading-related question, and you answer with your own thoughts on the topic.

and this week's question is:  
What is the weirdest/strangest/craziest book you’ve read?


This is easy---I have a tie, tho.  Both books have been for one of my bookclubs,  The Lit Wits.
On Friday night we met to discuss



Jitterbug Perfume by Tom Robbins.
It was---really strange.  It's hard to describe a strange book.  I can't find the words. So let me just give you what Goodreads says:
Jitterbug Perfume

is an epic.

Which is to say, it begins in the forests of ancient Bohemia and doesn’t conclude until nine o’clock tonight (Paris time).

It is a saga, as well. A saga must have a hero, and the hero of this one is a janitor with a missing bottle.

The bottle is blue, very, very old, and embossed with the image of a goat-horned god.

If the liquid in the bottle actually is the secret essence of the universe, as some folks seem to think, it had better be discovered soon because it is leaking and there is only a drop or two left

I will say again, that  although, this was tied for one of the strangest books I've ever read,  it was also interesting, and kept me reading to the  very end.  I was not about to put it down, because I had to figure out what the hell was going on.
Also, I'm sure smarter people than me  'got' this book and 'loved' it.  I feel stupid now.
I think everyone in my book club felt a bit stupid too.  It made for great discussion tho.  I mean it covered,   The god Pan, perfume and the reasons why perfume was used/invented,  present day Seattle, Paris and New Orleans, as well as ancient death rituals. Oh yeah, and kissing hadn't been discovered at the beginning of them book, but sex? Oh man sex had been discovered!  And there was lots of it in this book.
It's really a hard book to describe.    (sigh)
We had a great time at book club tho--we always do!
(these kinds of books are the ones we will talk about for months to come)



The second book which tied for the strangest is:



Geek Love by Katherine Dunn

and again, Goodreads says:

Geek Love is the story of the Binewskis, a carny family whose mater- and pater familias set out–with the help of amphetamine, arsenic, and radioisotopes–to breed their own exhibit of human oddities. There’s Arturo the Aquaboy, who has flippers for limbs and a megalomaniac ambition worthy of Genghis Khan . . . Iphy and Elly, the lissome Siamese twins . . . albino hunchback Oly, and the outwardly normal Chick, whose mysterious gifts make him the family’s most precious–and dangerous–asset.


As the Binewskis take their act across the backwaters of the U.S., inspiring fanatical devotion and murderous revulsion; as its members conduct their own Machiavellian version of sibling rivalry, Geek Love throws its sulfurous light on our notions of the freakish and the normal, the beautiful and the ugly, the holy and the obscene. Family values will never be the same.



  I couldn't say it better myself.

We Lit Wits consider this book our  signature book, because we were both horrified and intrigued at the same time.  We all finished it.  And we give it to any newcomer to the group.

So those two are the strangest books I've ever read in my life.
What about you?

Sunday, August 26, 2012

Weekend Cooking



 


Weekend Cooking is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book (novel, nonfiction) reviews, cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, quotations, beer, wine, photographs. If your post is even vaguely foodie, feel free to grab the button and link up anytime over the weekend.
This weekly meme is hosted by BethFish Reads.


This weekend I am going to show pictures of my old kitchen cabinets and my new kitchen cabinets, because finally, it's done. Hooray!!   And I love it.  My three friends who read this blog  (okay, maybe 5.  and my mom. ) might remember that we had invited   our friends Mitzi and Larry over for dinner and Larry was admiring the Handyman's tile job, and then he said  "you really need to do something with these cupboards"
I said,  "I know. We're going to paint them"
He said, "Don't do that---I'm build you some.  I'm bored this winter"
so I said,  "how much?"
he said,  "just materials.  I'm bored."
I said,  "I love you Larry!!"
He said,  "I know."

We've had the "I love you"  "I know" conversation quite a few times over the past 6 months.
(because I do love him and appreciate him!!  So does the Handyman)

Larry built the house they live in, so I knew what he could do.
Here goes:

Old cabinets:




New cabinets:  (finished EXCEPT all the new appliances,  (dishwasher and fridge) but they're coming soon)




Old cabinets:




New cabinets:  (is isn't as messy as it looks in that corner.   ~grins~ )




Old cabinets:



New cabinets:



AND THIS I LOVE:
all my cookbooks in one place!!


This is what I wanted to share--my kitchen cookbook case!
Every.  Single.  Cookbook.  At. My. Fingertips.  In order.   LOVE IT!!
(I'm never going to buy another one as long as I live.  Unless I see a really nice one. Pretty one.  One I just HAVE TO have. )




AND....hand stamped too!





Friday Friend recipe #352

  Making my way thru my  Friday Friend Cookbook , one recipe at a time. What is the Friday Friend cookbook?  I once had about 50 of my close...