Summer DIY Plans

With the summer off from school (besides all the relaxing, reading, PD and planning I want to get done) we have several things that I want to do around the house.  Here's the list to help keep us (mainly me) accountable:

• Fix the screen porch door - done! It didn't close fully as the door was installed level but the porch isn't level, and it had this crappy spring as a closer so I installed a proper slow closing hinge
• Finish caulking the edges of the screened in porch, especially where mosquitos can get in
• Paint the kitchen cabinets a white - the dark cabinets facing north in a galley kitchen that goes all the way to the ceiling is way too claustrophobic for me, exact white TBD
• Repaint the half bath in semi-gloss - flat paint was the wrong choice, especially around the sink
• Paint the shutters for the half-bath and then install them
• Replace some ancient outlets
• Build a pantry in the kitchen 

We'll see if we end up repainting the master bedroom, the upstairs hall bath (I'll eventually want to redo the brown tile, but that's down the road), and the upstairs guest bedroom.

Then outside we have even more to do, some need (like dealing with the flooding) and some want (tear out those holly bushes that keep sticking me! Terraced raised planter bed, rain garden and permeable patio) - but lots deals on how much we can DIY and what we need to hire out.  

We'll see what gets done!

House Paint Colors

Posting this more as a record for myself, but here are the current house colors we have.  Only two rooms haven't been painted since we bought it, we'll see how long that lasts.  You can tell I gravitate towards cooler colors.

That Master Bedroom color, SW Tradewind, while I love it on paper, I don't think it's really working in the room.  Granted we have uncoordinated furniture, and it's a north facing room with low ceilings so that makes it tough, but I think we can do better.  Ideas in the works...

Spring Break Painting

School took over and there was zero time to post, so I hope to spend some time this summer updating on what we've done with the house, and also doing some DIY myself.

During spring break in March we painted a large bookshelf white using extra paint from the house trim - SW Extra White in Semi-gloss with a few coats of clear polyurethane that won't yellow.  We did sand the bookshelf first with the Ryobi hand sander we got, but could have spent more time there getting all of the finish off.  We let it dry for a few extra days just so it would harden as much as possible.  So far it's held up pretty well, but one edge has chipped already, I'm betting from a massive textbook that I didn't gently place down.

We ended up deciding on SW In The Navy for the office and painted it as well during Spring Break.  It was our first time painting plaster rather than drywall and you definitely need to get the right rollers.  As a south facing room, it gets a ton of light in the morning and afternoon so it doesn't feel as dark as it looks.  Plus the white trim that I gave another quick coat to once we were done, and the white bookshelf definitely helps lighten it too.  It does get dark in the evening, but with a bright desk lamp it feels rather cozy when getting work done.  Eventually we'll get new filing cabinet that match and do some more organizing and getting put together, but it works for now.

First coat done!

Painting finished!  Looks much darker in picture than it does in real life #excusethemess

A little gallery wall developing

Office Color Debate

Renovations have finally finished and now it's time to choose some paint for areas of the house we haven't touched yet, like the 3rd bedroom that will be an office.

The listing image

Some samples painted...The choices (evening view) top to bottom: SW Indigo Batik, SW In The Navy, SW Naval, Behr Adirondack Blue, SW Storm Cloud, SW Smoky Blue

With the SW visualizer, we have...

In the Navy

Indigo Batik

Naval

Charcoal Blue

Smoky Blue

Those are a bit hard to compare when scrolling... here's the images together (thank you PowerPoint!) 

Thoughts?

D-F Vegetarian Pot Pie

A mash-up of 3 different recipes for a dinner party with friends

Bon Appetite's March 1996 Vegetable Pot Pie
Smitten Kitchen's Pancetta, White Bean and Kale Pot Pies
Crust veganized from Smitten Kitchen's Better Chicken Pot Pies

Serves 6-8
Time: ~3 hours

1. Top (30 mins plus 1 hour chill)

• 2 cups (250 grams) all- purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon fine sea or table salt
• 13 tablespoons (185 grams or 6 1/2 ounces) cold unsalted vegan butter (like Earth Balance), diced
• 6 tablespoons (90 grams) vegan sour cream or vegan Greek-style yogurt
• 1 tablespoon (15 ml) cider vinegar
• 1/4 cup (60 ml) very cold water
• 1 egg, beaten with 1 teaspoon water, for egg wash

Make pastry lids: In a large, wide bowl (preferably one that you can get your hands into), combine the flour and salt. Add the vegan butter and, using a pastry blender or your fingertips, cut them up and into the flour mixture until it resembles little pebbles. Keep breaking up the bits of butter until the texture is closer to uncooked couscous. In a small dish, whisk together the vegan sour cream, vinegar, and water, and combine it with the vegan butter-flour mixture. Using a flexible spatula, stir the wet and the dry together until a craggy dough forms. If needed, get your hands into the bowl to knead it a few times into one big ball. Pat it into a flattish ball, wrap it in plastic wrap, and chill it in the fridge for 1 hour or up to 2 days.  Then make filling.

Filling (30 mins prep + 1 hour bake)

• 15 pearl onions, or 2 medium onions cut in 1/2 inch pieces
• 2 large carrots cut in 1/2 inch pieces
• 2 celery stalks, finely chopped
• 2 russet potatoes (about 8 ounces each), peeled, cut in 1/2 inch pieces
• 2 rutabagas (about 6 ounces each), peeled, cut in 1/2 inch pieces
• 1 red bell pepper, seeded, cut in 1/2 inch pieces
• 1 leek (white and pale green parts only), chopped
• 10 ounces mushrooms, coarsely chopped
• Thinly sliced Swiss chard leaves from an 8- to 10-ounce (225- to 285-gram)
  bundle (4 cups); if leaves are very wide, you can halve them lengthwise
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 3 teaspoons dried herbs de Provence
• 1 cup frozen peas, thawed
• 2 cups white beans, cooked and drained, or from one and a third 15.5- ounce
  (440-gram) cans
• 1 cup canned vegetable broth
• 1 cup dry red wine
• 1-1/2 tablespoon cornstarch

1. Preheat oven to 425°F. Blanch pearl onions in large pot of boiling water 2 minutes. Drain onions and cool. Peel onions.
2. Cut carrots, potatoes, rutabagas and bell pepper into 1/2-inch pieces. Place in heavy large baking pan with onions, leek and mushrooms. Add olive oil and herbes de Provence and toss to coat. Roast until vegetables are tender, stirring occasionally, about 1 hour. Transfer vegetables to 8-inch square glass baking dish. Saute celery until soft, then add swiss chard for 2 minutes, and add in to baking dish. Stir in peas and white beans. Season vegetables to taste with salt and pepper. (Can be prepared 1 day ahead. Cover tightly and refrigerate.)
3. Reduce oven temperature to 350°F. Mix 1 cup vegetable broth and 3/4 cup dry red wine in heavy small saucepan over medium heat. Bring to simmer. Stir remaining 1/4 cup red wine and 1-1/2 tablespoon cornstarch in small bowl until smooth. Add to broth mixture and simmer until sauce thickens slightly, stirring occasionally, about 4 minutes. Pour sauce over baking dish.
4. 1. Roll out the dough so that it will cover the baking dish.  Brush edges of baking dish with egg wash, place top over baking dish and press down to adhere to the outer edges.  Brush the top with egg wash, then cut decorative vents to let steam escape.  Bake on top of a baking sheet to catch spills until crust is bronzed and filling is bubbling, 35-40 minutes.
5. 

1. Spoon pot pie onto plate; serve hot.
2. Enjoy with friends!

DF Gingerbread Brownies

DF Gingerbread Brownies
(adapted from Epicurious)


INGREDIENTS

• Nonstick vegetable oil spray
• 2 cups sugar
• 1 1/2 cups unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted EarthBalance "butter"
• 4 large eggs
• 3 tablespoons molasses (not robust/blackstrap)
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 2 teaspoons ground ginger
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

1. Place a rack in center of oven; preheat to 350°F. Coat a 9x9" (or 9x13" for thinner brownies) baking pan with nonstick spray. Line pan with 2 overlapping layers of parchment, leaving a 2" overhang on all sides. Coat parchment with nonstick spray. 
   
2. Whisk 2 cups sugar, 1.5 cups cocoa powder, and 1 tsp salt in a large bowl. 
3. In a small bowl, mix together 1 cup flour, 2 tsp cinnamon, 2 tsp ginger, 1 tsp baking powder, and 1/2 tsp cloves.  (Heap those spices!)
4. Melt 1 cup (2 sticks) butter in a medium heatproof bowl in the microwave or in a medium pot over medium heat. Immediately add hot butter to sugar mixture and stir with a wooden spoon or rubber spatula until smooth. 
5. Add 4 eggs one at a time, stirring vigorously with spoon or spatula after each addition, until batter is thick, shiny, and smooth. Stir in 3 T molasses and 2 tsp vanilla.  (I got about 2.5 T molasses before it ran out, close enough.)
6. Using a sifter or fine-mesh sieve, sift in the flour-cinnamon-ginger-baking powder-cloves mixture. 
7. Stir until well incorporated, then beat vigorously for 40 strokes.
8. Transfer batter to prepared pan; smooth top. Bake brownie until top is firm to the touch, edges are set, center is moist but not uncooked, and a tester or paring knife inserted into the center comes out with moist crumbs (not runny batter) attached, about 20 minutes.  *Note: It took about 40 minutes to bake in my oven (gas) probably because they're so thick.  Next time I'll use a 9x13 pan so that they're thinner and bake faster.
9. Transfer to a wire rack and let brownie cool completely in pan. Using parchment overhang, lift brownie out of pan and transfer to a cutting board. Cut into 16 squares.

Summer Blueberry Pie

Yesterday we did a little graduation party with friends for CP and of course he requested a pie for dessert so I made a blueberry pie, adapting this recipe from Inspired Taste to be dairy free.

Ingredients:

2 pie crusts (I used store bought for ease)
2 pounds of blueberries (about 6 cups or 3.5 pints)
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch
3 teaspoons lemon zest
1/4 teaspoon allspice
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon kosher salt

1 tablespoon DF butter (we use earth balance)
1 egg yolk
1 tablespoon almond milk

Directions:

1. Let the pie crusts warm up to room temperature then roll the bottom crust into the pie pan, pushing the edges up on to the very edge of the pan.  I had to stretch the crust a bit.  Put the pan in the fridge.
2. Mix the sugar, cornstarch, lemon zest, allspice, cinnamon and salt in a large bowl.
3. Wash and drain the blueberries, then toss in the sugar mixture to coat evenly.
4. Pull the pan out of the fridge and add in the blueberry mixture.  Mine ended up being domed, but flattened out in the oven.
5. Roll out the top pie crust and cut into 1/2 to 3/4 inch strips (try to be as even as possible).  Watch the video from the Inspired Taste for how to do the lattice top.
6. Cut up the butter and dot in the holes on the top
7. Make the egg wash and brush the top of the pie
8. Refrigerate the pie for 20 minutes
9. Bake at 400º for 20 minutes on the middle rack
10. Lower the temp to 350º and bake for 35-45 minutes until the top is golden brown and the filling is bubbling.  I had to cover my pie with tin foil 10 minutes into the 350º so it wouldn't burn, and then took the tin foil off for the last 10 minutes to get that golden brown crust

Next time I will push the edges up higher on the bottom crust to make it easier to hook the lattice, but it was DELICIOUS!  The lemon really made the blueberries even better and it wasn't too sweet.

I suggest serving with some vanilla coconut milk ice cream, but some people like their pie solo.

Keeping this recipe on hand. :-)

Save Public Education #opposeHR610

House Bill 610 makes some large changes. Inform yourselves. This bill will effectively start the school voucher system to be used by children ages 5-17, and it starts the defunding process of public schools. In addition the bill will eliminate the Elementary and Education Act of 1965, which is the nation's educational law and provides equal opportunity in education. It would repeal ESSA (Every Students Succeeds Act). ESSA is a big comprehensive program that covers programs for struggling learners, AP classes, ESL classes, classes for minorities such as Native Americans, Rural Education, Education for the Homeless, School Safety (Gun-Free schools), Monitoring and Compliance and Federal Accountability Programs. The Bill also abolishes the Nutritional Act of 2012 (No Hungry Kids Act), which provides nutritional standards in school breakfast and lunch. The bill has no wording whatsoever protecting SN kids, no mention of IDEA and FAPE.

Some things ESSA does for Children with Disabilities:
-Ensures access to the general education curriculum.
-Ensures access to accommodations on assessments.
-Ensures concepts of Universal Design for Learning.
-Includes provisions that require local education agencies to provide evidence-based interventions in schools with consistently underperforming subgroups.
-Requires states in Title I plans to address how they will improve conditions for learning including reducing incidents of bullying and harassment in schools and overuse of discipline practices and reducing the use of aversive behavioral interventions (such as restraints and seclusion).

Please call your representative and ask him/her to vote NO on House Bill 610 (HR 610).

Celebrate #BlackHistoryMonth through learning and listening

From the ActionNow news-email

Celebrate Black History Month through learning and listening:

So, how do we listen to Black History month? In all the ways above—and I would love to hear more—and, I thought, through this list. It's 31 black women, mostly activists, that are an important part of history, and who you should know, and who you (and all of us) should listen to. You might know some of them but you probably don't know all of them. I'm not linking their names, you can google them. Read more than the Wikipedia page, if they even have one. Do one a day for the month. It will take 10 minutes, and that's 10 minutes you aren't scrolling through the news and panicking, so it's double plus good.

1. Florynce Kennedy
2. Elaine Brown
3. Assata Shakur
4. Hallie Quinn Brown
5. Chirlane McCray
6. Barbara Easley
7. Chaka Khan
8. Loretta Ross
9. Maxine Waters
10. Fannie Lou Hamer
11. Barbara Smith
12. Charlotte Fortin Grimke
13. Demita Frazier
14. Ida B. Wells
15. Tamika Mallory
16. Ella Baker
17. Septima Clark
18. Daisy Yates
19. Ruby Dee
20. Alicia Garza
21. Sybrina Fulton
22. Patrisse Cullors
23. Charlotte Ray
24. Opal Tometti
25. Cathay Williams
26. Jarena Lee
27. Amy Jacques Garvey
28. Maria W. Stewart
29. Erica Garner
30. Diane Nash
31. Margaret Sloan-Hunter

How to call your Reps - Insider Knowledge #resist #callnow

Copied from a friend:

"Friends! As some of you know, I used to work on Capitol Hill as the person in charge of all the incoming phone calls to my Senator's office. I have some insider tips to make calling your reps easier and quicker.

1. Give your name, city, and zip code, and say "I don't need a response." That way, they can quickly confirm you are a constituent, and that they can tally you down without taking the time to input you into a response database.

2. PLEASE ONLY CALL YOUR OWN REPRESENTATIVES! Your tally will not be marked down unless you can rattle off a city and zip from the state, or are calling from an in-state area code. I know you really want to give Mitch McConnell a piece of your mind, but your call will be ignored unless you can provide a zip from Kentucky. And don't try to make this up; I could often tell who was lying before I even picked up the phone from the caller ID. Exceptions to this are things like Paul Ryan's ACA poll.

3. State the issue, state your position. "I am opposed to a ban on Muslims entering the US." "I am in favor of stricter gun control legislation including background checks." "I am in favor of the Affordable Care Act." That's it. That's all we write down so we can get a tally of who is in favor, who is against. It doesn't matter WHY you hold that opinion. The more people calling, the less detail they write down. Help them out by being simple and direct.

4. Please be nice! The people answering the phones on Capitol Hill already had the hardest job in DC and some of the lowest pay as well, and for a month now their jobs have become absolute murder, with nonstop calls for 9 hours every day. Thank them for their hard work answering the phones, because without them our Senators could not represent us.
What does this sound like?

"Hi, my name is Mark, I'm a constituent from Seattle, zip code 98***, I don't need a response. I am opposed to any ban on Muslims entering the United States and I encourage the Senator to please oppose implementation of any such ban. Thanks for your hard work answering the phones!"
This is how I wish every caller had phrased their message. It makes it easier for the people answering the phones and takes less time and emotion than a long script. I know that you want to say why, but keeping it short and sweet helps the office answer more calls per hour, meaning more people get heard. The bigger the tally, the more powerful our voice.

Also, when you're reading off the same script as 100 other callers that day... well...they can tell.
Pick one issue each day, use this format (I am in favor of _____ or I oppose ______), and call your 2 Senators and 1 Representative on their DC and State Office lines, and you'll be on your way to being heard."