Kitchen Makeover Part 4: Add Doors

We left the doors to sit unattached and cure while we were at the beach for the week, and upon returning they definitely were harder, although I was able to pick off a few of the drips (just the top part) from painting the sides.  We got the bottom doors back on on Sunday evening after we got back, then got the top cabinet doors back on on Tuesday evening.  It was definitely a two person job, especially with my bum hand (recovering from the cut and anding sprain still, starting PT soon, should have started sooner).

all done!

with natural light the next day

Before and After

A couple lessons learned:

• Put the screws for each door in one bag per door so they don't get all mixed up and then you use the wrong screws for the wrong door and have to re-do it.
• Before taking the doors off, take pictures of how the hinges go, especially if you have any funky ones like for the lazy-susan cabinet, and check if all the hinges are the same or whether you have one set of cabinets that just happen to have different hinges from the rest.  Note it all or take pics.
• Not sure that the foam roller that we used was the right one as there are still some areas (like the back of the doors - don't look too close if you come over) that are a bit light and could have used another coat, despite being cabinet rollers.  Maybe a different roller or just needed more paint/coats? 

The full story:    Part 1: Prep and Sanding     Part 2: Priming      Part 3: Painting  

And the hand story...

Tiny cut with the blade below trying to get a rubber bumper off the cabinet before painting.

Do not put your stabilizing hand in front of the blade in any way, shape or placement - keep the area in front of the blade clear for multiple feet!  Two feet away was not far enough.

Added a band-aid, continued to sand, then dropped the sander and tried to catch it - possible sprain?

All wrapped up 3 days later to travel to NYC - trying to straighten the thumb

One month later, hand weakness and loss of left thumb extension due to cutting that tendon - the hand doc said surgery is the only option - I'll try PT first thank you, and maybe only ever have 1.65 thumbs up - so much for hitchhiking with the left hand - ha!

Beach Pie 2018 #dairyfree

This pie became called Sand & Surf Pie, not sure why, as the others got called other beachy names for the competition.  You could also call it DF Ice Cream Chocolate Strawberry Pie which would be way more descriptive.


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Dairy-Free Ice Cream Chocolate Strawberry Pie

Crust Ingredients:

5 1/2 ounces (about 3 1/2 cups) pretzels (crush slightly to fit in the measuring cup if measuring instead of weighing)

1/4 cup brown sugar

6 tablespoons vegan butter, melted

Chocolate Drizzle Ingredients:

8 oz. Vegan Chocolate, chopped

½ C. Coconut Milk

1 T. melted vegan butter

1 pint Vegan/Dairy-free Ice Cream – Cookie Dough (but any kind that would work well with chocolate and strawberries would be good)

1 lb Strawberries, cut into coins

Vegan Whipped Cream Ingredients:

1 14-ounce can coconut cream or full fat coconut milk

1/4 - 3/4 cup icing/powdered sugar

STEPS:

• Put one can of coconut milk in the fridge overnight (or in the freezer for 30-ish minutes).

Make the crust:

• Preheat the oven to 350F. Lightly grease a 9-inch pie pan with cooking spray.
• Place the pretzels in a ziploc and crush into very small pieces. (A food processor might be better here, but leave some centimeter-ish pieces for the crunch) Pour into a bowl and add the brown sugar and vegan butter. Stir to combine.
• Pour into the prepared pan and press into an even layer. Bake for 10-12 minutes until toasted. Let cool for 15-20 minutes before filling.

• Chill a large mixing bowl and beaters in the fridge for at least 10 minutes.

Make the Drizzle:

• Place the chocolate, coconut milk, and vegan butter in a glass or metal bowl.
• Fill a small saucepan with 1 inch of water. Bring to a boil.
• Place the bowl of chocolate on top of the saucepan.
• Once the chocolate begins to melt, whisk the ingredients together until all of the chocolate and vegan butter is melted and the mixture is combined and smooth.

Assemble the Pie:

• Take the vegan ice cream out of the freezer so it can warm up a bit
• Drizzle the bottom of the crust with chocolate and let cool (5 mins in the fridge)
• Spoon the vegan ice cream onto the crust and smooth out with a spatula or the back of a spoon
• Drizzle the ice cream with chocolate (if not serving immediately, put it in the freezer now and finish just before serving)
• Layer strawberries on top of the ice cream and then stick in the freezer for a short bit to firm up the ice cream.

Make the Whipped “Cream”:

• Remove the coconut cream or milk from the fridge without tipping or shaking and remove the lid. Scrape out the top, thickened cream and leave the liquid behind
• Place hardened cream in your chilled mixing bowl. Beat for 30 seconds with a mixer until creamy. Then add powdered sugar and mix until creamy and smooth - about 1 minute. Taste and adjust sweetness as needed.

• Remove the pie from the freezer and then add the whipped cream on top.

• Serve immediately (or drizzle some more chocolate on top, because #chocolate) and enjoy!

Competition results?  Second place...not bad!  Beaten out by Grandpa's peach pie for the first time "because it's a classic pie" and I'll add because we were in North Carolina which has fine peaches, and he boiled down the juices to concentrate them.  I see your tricks...

It was delicious, but melted a bit too much before it got to the judges, so maybe for the next competition I should stay away from ice cream.  But I make the pie for myself and I love ice cream, so we'll see.  

Sources:

Crust: https://meaningfuleats.com/gluten-free-vegan-chocolate-pudding-pretzel-pie/

Chocolate Drizzle: https://www.thekitchenmccabe.com/2014/02/12/vegan-chocolate-ganacheglaze/

Vegan Whipped Cream: https://minimalistbaker.com/how-to-make-coconut-whipped-cream/