From the Kitchen

Here are the first two things I baked in our new house. After doing so it started to feel like our home. I like how I decided to show my small kitchen who was boss by baking two things at the same time. 

These bars are Martha Stewart's Chocolate-Caramel Cookie Bars. Her picture is not showing up on the site for some reason. I guess it's better since mine look (and tasted) more fudgy than caramel-y. I think I didn't cook the caramel long enough, but I admit, I was terrified. They came out tasting pretty amazing, so oh well. Next time I'll try to be braver. More brave? (On a side note, Annie's Eats has another version of this treat which makes them seem ever more Twix-like.)

I had ripped these cookies out of a Living magazine. I don't know why. I hate oatmeal cookies. Plus they don't have chocolate in them. However, those who ate the Oatmeal Cookies with Dried Apricots and White Chocolate were not disappointed. I couldn't find California apricots so I don't know what the tasted difference between those and the Mediterranean ones that I used would be.

From the Kitchen

Hi! I've been in La-La Land. Also, I have a few posts in the works, but I have to figure out how to get the photos off my phone. That's right. I upgraded my phone. Who knew being able to take pictures with your phone could be so rad? But I need to figure out how to get the photos without making my phone die. Because I managed to mess it up an hour after getting it. Further proof of my electronic kiss of death ability.

Anyway, make this Shrimp, Feta, and Fresh Herb Mac and Cheese from Annie's Eats. I thought this was delicious. The feta didn't really melt all the way. I don't know if it was supposed to. The lemon and dill really make the dish.

As you can see, it made a ton. Definitely would half it next time.

Dining Room Before and After

This first photo shows you how blue the gray paint was in the living and dining rooms. You can also kind of see the light fixture that was in the dining room. Same one as in the kitchen above the stove.

And here's my better half checking out the wax on the walls.

Annnnd here's our dining room after a fresh coat of Stonington Gray and a fancy chandelier that Michael and his dad wired and hung. I am getting new chairs from World Market for the two end chairs. They were on sale the other weekend and I dashed there to buy them, but they were on back order until November. They rain-checked them for me and I'll still get them at the sale price.

I bought some super fun Amy Butler fabric to make some new placemats. They'll be reversible so one side will look like this and the other side like this. I'm trying to decide how to make them (read: procrastinating).

These two etchings are on either side of the window in the dining room. We bought them in Venice. I had them framed at Hobby Lobby and I'm really happy with the job that they did.

 Ah, Italy. I think of you often.

Banana Cupcakes with Chocolate Hazelnut Butter Icing

For this post and possibly others in the future I'm going to add the label "Go to Your Grave" along with the usual "Cooking with the Perrys". That way you'll know that you should make it. That is, of course, if you have the time to go to your grave and come back again.

I had been wanting to recreate the banana cupcake with Nutella buttercream icing that I had for my birthday in Houston. I couldn't find Nutella at Whole Foods and since it's the only thing I needed, I decided to try Justin's Chocolate Hazelnut Butter. You will never want to settle for Nutella again, although you have to admit it takes way less time to type. It was a little pricey, but I used about a tablespoon or so in my steel cut oatmeal every morning for a few weeks, and it was so worth it. So, so worth it.

I decided that I would wait to make these cupcakes until my little brother got into LSU as a celebration of his awesomeness. Good thing he is awesome and got accepted into LSU because these cupcakes were perfection. The actual cake part was from Martha Stewart's Banana Cupcakes  and the icing was pretty much a basic buttercream with the Chocolate Hazelnut Butter mixed in to taste. I don't think you need to add any kind of flavoring like almond or vanilla extract. You can find actual recipes for Nutella Buttercream icings, but keep in mind that the recipe makes 12 cupcakes so you don't need a lot of icing.

September Book

I recently finished reading The Help, and let me tell you I could not put it down. I was a little nervous reading another book that everyone seems to like after reading Water for Elephants.

I actually laughed out loud and teared up a little at times. Excellent storytelling. It's one of those books that I really want to know what happens next for the characters, and I'm definitely going to go to the movies to see it.

July or August Book

I can't remember when I read Water for Elephants. I do remember getting to the end and thinking it was kind of dumb. I didn't even have the slightest interest in seeing the movie afterwards. This could also be because Robert Pattinson is in it and his acting is worse than Keanu Reeves'. Actually let's say Bill Paxton, because Bill Paxton plays normal people and not aliens and Neo like Keanu Reeves who is actually good at being strange. Bill Paxton makes me cringe. I watched Titanic the other day and he is just so painful to watch. Yes, pain best describes sitting through a movie with Robert Pattinson in it. Although I was told that he's not as bad in this movie as he was in Twilight, I just don't think I'll waste my time on it. Unless it's on TV. And I'm looking for something to watch while crafting. Which means I won't really be paying attention.

Back to the book, there was stuff in it that could've been left out. And well I just didn't like it. I wasn't that entertained by it. And I really don't like books that start with the part of the plot that the whole book is leading up to. I'm going to read the book anyway. Why give that part away?

A lot of people have liked the book. I just feel that there's way better stuff out there.

Kitchen Before and After

I bought a card reader! This means I can easily upload photos to the computer! This means blogging will be easier! YAY!

So I said I was going to make the curtain for our kitchen window this weekend. Michael's parents came over to spend the day with us on Saturday so Michael's mom helped me figure out how the curtain should be made and then she helped measure and cut the fabric. I did a whole lot of procrastinating because I was nervous. Cutting the fabric seems so final. Anyway, I finished the curtain on Monday.

I did not, however, start on the final project for the kitchen which is using the border fabric on the bottom of the curtain as "wallpaper" for the back of the glass cabinet in the kitchen. The cabinets are kind of cheap and I'm not sure exactly how to affix the fabric to the cabinet. I'm thinking about attaching the fabric to poster board and then using that foam tape in a few places to hold it in place. I bought the tape but forgot to buy posters. So hold your breath on that one.

Since I'm nice, I decided to show you the kitchen even though it's not completely finished. So here's what it looked like before:

Here's the super fun surprise we found when we moved the fridge. Yay! Mold and a hole in the floor!

I called our realtor because I wasn't sure what one does when they find this two days after buying a house. In her New Orleans accent she said "welcome to homeownership." (Not that she didn't care. She was awesome! Did I tell you that we looked at over 20 houses in 3 days?) No big deal though. Two men that work for my dad came over and fixed the wall and the floor in no time.

And after:

Somehow we ended up with less counter space that we had in Charlottesville. I'm definitely making it work. I'm enjoying having a gas stove but I wish we had four burners instead of two burners and a grill. Somehow I am also making two burners work.