A State Of Disarray

I don't do well in disarray.

I'm the type of person who likes

clean and orderly.

That being said, there are times

that I will tolerate the disarray.

This is one of those times.

This is the current state of our kitchen.

I have no oven or cooktop.
Thank goodness for slow cookers and microwaves.

Also, no sink or working dishwasher.

And no counter tops.

I'm using scrap pieces of boards for counter tops.

But I'm o.k. with the disarray

because our kitchen remodel is FINALLY underway.

YEAH!!!

You don't know how much you appreciate
and take for granted something until you
don't have it.

Thankfully, we have a utility sink in our
basement that I'm using to wash our dishes in.
I'm getting lots of exercise running up and
down the stairs. Having our kitchen remodeled
is keeping me in shape.
That's always a good thing.

Hopefully, if there aren't any glitches along the way

we should have an updated kitchen soon.

Stay tuned for our new kitchen reveal.

Until Next Time,

Veronica

Finding A Treasure

I am always on the lookout for copper pieces

to add to our home decor.

If you want to add a little warmth to your home,

adding just a few copper pieces is the way to go.

Copper is a classic and timeless metal

that will never go out of style.

While on vacation I thought I would pop into a thrift store

to see if there was anything that caught my eye.

As soon as I walked into the store this

is what immediately caught my eye.

An antique copper tea kettle.

I was almost afraid to look at the sticker price fearing that

it would be out of my price range.

Finding  true antique copper pieces

is a rarity and when you do find them they

can be quite pricey.

What a wonderful surprise to see

that this little tea kettle was priced for less than $10.00.

It had a little more patina, plus a lot of grime, on it

 than I cared for. The handle had so much grimy grease

build up that you couldn't even move it, and the

 inside of the pot was pretty filthy also.

But I knew that I could easily

spruce this little tea kettle up

to look like a new shiny penny.

I wasn't concerned about removing the patina

from this kettle because I will be using it

and I know that over time this little copper tea kettle will

create a new patina, minus all the grime buildup.

Using just a few simple household ingredients

and a lot of elbow grease,

 this little copper pot went from this,

to this.

It took me a good hour and a ton of elbow grease

to clean up this little pot. But it was so worth it.

I think I'll go make a cup of tea now 

to relax and start the new patina process.

That's it for this week.

Until Next Time,

Veronica

Hippity Hoppity

Hippity Hoppity Easter's

on it's way.

This year I thought I would try

to make a cake in a bunny shape

for Easter.

Since the majority of my family

loves chocolate I was hoping I

could make a chocolate bunny cake.

Besides, what's Easter without a little

chocolate to go along with it?

Here is my take on a chocolate bunny cake.

That's a lot of chocolate bunny!

For his nose I used a pink peanut M&M

and created ears using colored cardstock.

I'm not much of a chocolate eater,

so I had to make a white bunny cake too.

His fur is white buttercream frosting topped

with shredded coconut, which I love.

Since I had leftover cake mix,

I made a pair to take to our Son's house.

Our 2 year old grandson LOVED them.

He kept pointing to them saying "bunnies".

Our daughter in law thought they were pretty darn cute too.

Create a bunny shaped cake for Easter. ✔

Happy Easter!

That's it for this week.

Until Next Time,

Veronica

DIY Inexpensive Photography Backdrops

This post is all about how I create my inexpensive

photography backdrops.

You can create any size backdrop boards using this simple method.

My boards measure 2 feet x 3 feet.

I buy a 2 x 4 foot MDF board and have it cut down to

3 feet at no extra cost to me. I make sure I save

that extra piece that was cut off. You never know

when I could use a scrap piece of board

 to create a new sign.

 Cost of a 2 x 4 foot MDF board, $6.46.

I can get 2 backdrop boards per board simply 

by painting the front and back different colors.

Cost of board per each side, $3.23.

We're off to a good start!

Supplies needed:

MDF board - 1/4 inch thickness

Paint - you will only use a few tablespoon

of each color

Inexpensive chip brush

rag

paper plate

water

I buy sample pots of paint in a flat finish which cost $2.94.

You can get these little sample pots of paint mixed into

any color you want.

For my boards I try to only use 3 different colors of paint,

otherwise the boards get a little too busy and the colors

blend together too much making them look like one

solid color.

For this board I used white, medium gray and dark gray,

which I happened to have in my paint stash,

cost for paint, $0.

Let's paint a photography backdrop!

Once I had everything set up and all the supplies ready,

I was able to paint one of these boards in 15 minutes time.

I poured out a little of the white paint onto the paper plate

then diluted it with water so it wasn't so thick and was

easier to paint on a thin layer using the chip brush, 

plus it would dry quicker. By the time I was done

painting the board the top half was already dry

and I could start adding the second color.

I diluted the medium gray and applied it with a wet rag that I

dipped into the paint and randomly dabbed onto the board leaving

part of the white showing through.

Once I had 1/3 of the board painted

I re-wet the rag with water only and lightly pounced over
the painted area again to blend the colors together.
I continued using this method until I had completely covered the board.

I randomly applied the dark gray the same way.

I let the boards dry overnight then applied 2 coats of

a matte polycrylic to protect the finish from spills and dirt.

How's that for quick and easy and inexpensive?
There really is no right or wrong way of making these boards.

This photo shows the board being used as a countertop

and a darker gray backdrop used as a wall in the background.

Each board has it's own unique design.
For something so simple and inexpensive
they sure do photograph beautifully.
A close up of the dark gray backdrop board.

By placing these boards in different rooms of our home,

I can completely change the shades of color,

along with the mood of the image.

Believe it or not,

this is the same board in the next 2 photos.

You caught a glimpse of this board

when I posted my pizza sauce.

These boards are so addictive to make.
To date, I have made 12 of these backdrops.
Here are just a few I created.

Oh, how I love this moody looking dark blue board I created.
Same flowers on different colored backdrops.

These boards will be used a ton in my photography.
Why buy professional backdrops, which can be
quite pricey, when you can create your own for
a few dollars? These DIY backdrops
 photograph just as well as the professional ones.
Don't you think so?

To store these I stack them on top of each other
and lay them flat under our bed.

That's it for this week.
Until Next Time,
Veronica

Waiting For Spring

Spring is finally arriving here in Wisconsin.
We've had a couple of warm days
that melted a lot of our snow.

On Wednesday our Robins returned

and covered our front lawn.

To me, this signifies that Spring

is just around the corner.

Then on Friday our Sandhill cranes arrived.

It's so good to hear their loud

rattling bugle calls as they fly

over our house.

I can hardly wait for Spring to arrive

so that we can open our doors and windows

to let in the fresh air and hear the birds chirping.

Springtime is such a pretty time of year

that brings a new fresh beginning.

I love to see everything waking up

and coming to life from the winter solstice.

Speaking of a new fresh beginning,

I thought I would give this tired looking

metal urn a new life.

I found this at Goodwill last year for $1.00.

I just can't seem to pass these things up.

Before I started to transform this urn,

using a piece of sandpaper, I lightly roughed

it up so that the paint would stick to the surface.

I pulled out 3 different paint colors from my stash,

white, light gray and dark gray,

and started dabbing on the paint with a wet rag.

I just kept dabbing on the paint until I achieved

a look that I was satisfied with.

It went from a tired looking vessel to this.

Isn't that pink background pretty?

I swapped out the flowers and started to play around with
different colored backgrounds that I created.
I like to create my own backgrounds when I can.
I'll do a tutorial later on how I created them
in 15 minutes and cost less than $15.00 per board to make.

                                   From this.......                                     .......to This

                      

It will be fun to fill this fresh new urn with a
real bouquet of flowers.
Hurry up Spring and get here!

That's it for this week.
Until Next Time,
Veronica

I'm Not Eating That!

Almost every Saturday night I make

homemade pizza from scratch for dinner.

I've been doing this for years.

I love making pizza from scratch.
I like knowing exactly what is going into our food.

No artificial or chemical ingredients added.

Nothing but wholesome goodness.

I start by making the dough with 

stone ground white whole wheat flour,

unbleached bread flour, yeast, raw honey,

salt, extra virgin olive oil and water.

While the pizza dough is rising,
I'll mix up a batch of pizza sauce.

I've been making the same recipe for pizza

sauce for years, which we love. But I also like to

try new recipes that happen to catch my attention.

I informed Hubby that I was going to try a new recipe

for pizza sauce this week.

When I told him what was in it he stated,

 "I'm not eating that".

I don't know, it looks pretty darn good to me.

What do you think?

Why didn't Hubby want to eat this yummy

looking pizza sauce?

Because it has anchovies in it.

Yep, anchovies.

Granted, I'm not an anchovy eater either,

or so I thought.

It wasn't until I started doing a little bit of research

on anchovies that I found out they totally dissolve

when you cook with them.

Think you don't like anchovies?

Do you eat Caesar Salad,

or add steak sauce or 

Worcestershire sauce to your steaks?

How about the many beloved Italian pasta dishes?

Do you eat any of those?

Well, if you eat any of these then you

like the distinctive flavor of anchovies

because every one of these has anchovies in them.

Who knew?

Even though Hubby informed me he wasn't

going to eat the new pizza sauce I went ahead

and made a batch anyway. I would just make

up 2 pizzas instead of one. Hubby could have

his pizza with our tried and true sauce and I

could have my own pizza with the new sauce.

Once the new sauce was made and had cooled

down some I did a taste test.

I really liked the flavor and coaxed Hubby

into trying it also.
He was pleasantly surprised
that there was no fishy taste to the sauce.

He was willing to have it added to his pizza.

I added his favorite toppings and it was ready for the oven.

After eating a couple slices of pizza

Hubby informed me this pizza sauce
needed to be added to our "Keeper Recipes" file.

"It's a good one".

Hubby is proof that it just goes to show,

Don't knock it until you try it.

HOMEMADE PIZZA SAUCE

INGREDIENTS:

2 tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil

2 Anchovy fillets

3 cloves Garlic, minced

2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh Oregano leaves

1/2 teaspoon Red Pepper flakes (optional, add if you like a little bite to your sauce)

1/2 teaspoon dried Oregano

1 (28 ounce) can whole peeled tomatoes, crushed

Salt to taste

1/2 teaspoon White Sugar

1 pinch Ground Black Pepper

1 small pinch Baking Soda (helps reduce acidity)

DIRECTIONS:

Heat olive oil over medium-low heat in a saucepan; stir anchovy fillets into olive oil; stirring often

until fillets begin to sizzle and dissolve. Mix in garlic and cook for 1 minute. Add fresh oregano and

reduce heat to low; cook until oregano is wilted.

Mix red pepper flakes, dried oregano, and tomatoes into olive oil mixture. Bring sauce to a simmer

and season with salt, sugar, and black pepper. Turn heat to low; simmer sauce until thickened and oil

rises to the top, 35-40 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Stir baking soda into pizza sauce, mixing until thoroughly combined.

Recipe adapted from: Chef John

That's it for this week.

Until Next Time,

Veronica

In Motion

We finally met with the electrician/contractor

and interior designer to discuss the changes

we would like to make to our kitchen.

Even though we won't be doing a complete

makeover the changes that will be 

made will definitely be noticeable.

We spent roughly 1 1/2 hours with them.

They were both very helpful and actually

pointed out a few things that we hadn't

even thought about but made

sense once they pointed them out.

Now we wait for the quote as to how

much all the changes are going to cost us.

GULP.

I've been so focused lately with our kitchen

design that I haven't had much time for anything else.

I'm excited about having our kitchen remodeled

but scared about the cost of it happening.

At least we finally have things in motion

and before you know it I'll be cooking

and baking again.

Speaking of getting things "in motion",

I've been playing around with my

camera lately trying to learn new techniques.

I wanted to see if I could capture things in motion.

So I set up a very simple stage on our

dining room table to see if I could capture

something in motion.

How cool is this?

I swapped out the black background for a white one

to show the first drop of the maple syrup better.

It's addictive doing this!

I actually started with water first.

I can't wait to apply this to my food photography.

That's it for this week.

Until Next Time,

Veronica