Diana is an avid collector of antique rolling pins and so am I.  I’ve picked up a few during our antiquing in Arcadia. I like to find vintage and antique items that are still purposeful and can be used everyday. That way they are not just dust-collecting-decorations but functional pieces of art; especially when it comes to kitchen items.

I used the solid doorstops (not springs) I found at Home Depot (They have the same ones at Lowe’s.) They were already the color I desired on the base but with the standard white plastic caps. So I used my favorite paint, Rustoleum’s “Oil-rubbed-bronze” to cover the entire doorstops. I gave two coats, allowing the first to dry before the second.

I measured and marked my desired position on the wall and then firmly screwed in the posts.

The first rolling pin was up!

I then did the same for the second pin.

I think it looks great!

Diana used one of her pins as a twine dispenser, but being as these are displayed in the kitchen, I would get much more use out of butcher’s string to use while cooking.

I think this project was another success. And just in time for the big baby shower!

You wouldn’t think that Key Lime Pie would be difficult to do right, but you would be suprised. It doesn’t help that I’m picky. I have had some REALLY awful attempts. You can nearly always tell if fresh lime juice was used as opposed to bottled and you can definitely tell when regular kaffir limes are used as opposed to key limes. I also prefer whipped topping to meringue everytime. But all those issues can be remedied with the right ingredients.

The HARDEST part of a Key Lime or any similar style pie is the texture. One end of the consistency spectrum is a dish of liquified goop with some graham cracker crumbs. The other is sour, opaque gelatin. The perfect Key Lime pie will hold it’s shape when cut while chilled but still be creamy and light when it blesses your tastebuds.

There are a few variations of Key Lime Pie these days, baked and chilled, icebox, or pudding. The classic recipe is little more than condensed milk, juice and eggs. And the BEST, tried-and-true version I have found is included below.

DISCLAIMER: Yes, the recipe says you will need to juice about 25-30 key limes. And YES after juicing about the 15th lime your arms will want to fall off and you will feel discouraged because honestly, you will be lucky if you get a tablespoon of juice from each lime. But DON’T GIVE UP and run to the store for that little green plastic lime-shaped juice container in the produce department.  Trust me, IT WILL BE WORTH IT! Consider it a premptive workout for your impending caloric intake.

Crust:

• 1 + 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 3/4 of a stick  of butter, melted

In a bowl, mix ingredients well and then press into a 9-inch glass or ceramic pie dish.
Bake at 375 degrees for about 15 min. or until golden brown.
Allow to cool completely before pouring in pie filling.

Filling:

• 2 – 14oz cans of condensed milk
• 2 whole eggs
• 2/3 cup key lime juice (about 25-30 key limes)
• 1 tbs. key lime zest (reserve a pinch for garnish)

In a separate bowl, combine the condensed milk, lime juice, and eggs. Whisk until well blended and then pour into cooled graham cracker crust.
Bake at 325 degrees for 15 minutes.

Whipped Topping:

• 2 cups (1 pint) heavy whipping cream
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 1 tbs confectioner’s sugar

Beat cream and vanilla until mixture starts to thicken and holds loose peaks. Add powedered sugar and continue until cream is light, fluffy and holds its peaks.

ENJOY! :)

Our family always had fresh herbs growing up: in pots along the porch or the pool deck, or the sidebed outside the lanai. The difference between fresh and dried herbs is night and day and these potent little babies can make a dish entirely on their own. Few things taste better at the dinner table than a big bowl of tiny red creamer potatoes soaked in melted butter and diced fresh rosemary and chives.

Our past year in the apartment was torture for me for many reasons; one of them being my inability to have my own herb garden. I attempted raising indoor potted herbs but it was always a failure. We had few windows and no window sills making the natural light required for photosynthesis hard to achieve. I quickly gave up.

Since we moved in to the new place, I have been hesitant to plant anything in the ground till we have drawn up our landscaping plan. Our goal is to get the curbing in and the fence up before planting our garden. BUT I couldn’t wait any longer for my herbs! Now that I had a REAL kitchen again and my desire to cook returned, having fresh herbs available was imperative.

I have seen numerous versions of stacked-pot arrangements over the past year for flowers, herbs, and also succulents. Besides not wanting to create a permanent herb bed at the time, I also wanted a portable arrangement that I could bring indoors as Florida whether is so unpredictable. I need to be able to bring my herbs indoors to protect from the occasional frosts, frequent scorching sun, and the often days of drowning rain.

I chose to use plastic pots in order for them to be light enough for me to lift them (filled with bricks and dirt) easily back and forth into my home. Trying to do this with terracotta would be more eye-catching, but not portable.

I also used the following supplies:

• 3 plastic pots in the following sizes: 16-inch, 10-inch, 6-inch
• 3 curbing bricks (any bricks will do as long as when stacked, they remain 2-3 inches below the rim of the largest pot)
• hand trowel
• sphagnum peat moss
• potting soil
• desired herbs; I used basil, dill, parsely, thyme, rosemary, oregano, chives, and spearmint

 

The first step was to stack the bricks in the base pot. I did this to provide stability to the pots which would sit atop, I did not want them sinking over time into the bottom pot. The rocks also serve a dual purpose by reducing the amount of potting soil needed to fill the large base.

I then filled the bottom pot with 2 parts potting soil and 1 part sphagnum peat moss. The peat moss is optional, but I like to use it in my potted plants as it helps to retain the moisture and nutrients in the soil which potted plants are quickly deprived of. I filled the pot up till the top of the brick stack. Before filling the remainder of the pot, I place the next tiered pot on top of the brick stack. I will then fill the soil to the brim, hiding the bricks and the base of the second tier.

Make sure to periodically punch down the soil. When first potting, the soil and peat moss are light and fluffy, but over time the will settle and you don’t want to see the bricks or the base of the second pot. This can be avoided by punching and packing the soil in.

Again I filled the second pot with 2 parts soil and 1 part peat moss.

Because the top pot is so small and light even when filled with soil, it does not need the support the second pot did; it can simply be placed on top of the second tier and lightly pressed down into the dirt to ground it for stability.

Now that everything is assembled, the planting can begin! The plants are going to be root-bound when you purchase them, so make sure to tear some roots free so that they can better incorporate into their new home.

I purposely planted the climbing herbs on the bottom tier so that when they expand and crawl, they will hang over the side of the pot rather than doing the same and smothering the herbs underneath if planted on the higher tiers. This also allows the taller growing herbs such at the chives and basil to grow erect unobstructed.

Colt approved of this outdoor project as it gave him plenty of time to roam and find mischief the backyard.

And look what a little miracle grow, sunshine, and 2-3 three weeks can do!

Well, since Zac and I are not coffee drinkers and therefore not familiar with the price of coffee beans, my hypothesis that they were more expensive than I would like was correct; $12/lb at Walmart! No thanks! Maybe for a smaller vase which would require less beans, I could rationalize that price, but these large vases left over from my wedding would have taken at least a pound and a half each. So I spent the next 20 min wandering around Walmart in aimless circles trying to think of an alternative. Maybe wooden beads? or Rice?

Leaving Walmart feeling a little frustrated that my project was being put on hold, I told Zac my plight when he got home from work. In less than 30 seconds that brilliant boy solved my query! He simply suggested, “Why not use beans?” BEANS! Of course! They are coffee’s cheaper cousin and would serve as the closest substitute. I knew I loved that boy….

I decided to go with pinto. When measuring them out in the vases to figure how many I would need to paint, I seriously considered not painting them as they were naturally beautiful on their own. I would definitely consider using them in their raw form for another holiday or occasion.

After measuring how many beans I would require, I layed them out on a double-width of wax paper as I was trying to minimize the spill-over from the spray paint on the concrete pad (that I just cleaned).

After thinly spreading them out, I applied a light layer of spray paint to the beans. Then I allowed them to dry for 15 min before gently rolling them over with my hands and applying another coat. I repeated this process four or five times. There were a handful or two of beans which may not have been completely coated, but I did not care enough nor have the time to hand-pick out all the undercoated beans. I didn’t mind the variation in some of them to peek through as I thought they were beautiful pre-paint.

After about 30 min for the beans to dry (I was impatient, as usual!) I loaded them up with my winter stems in the vases.

I figured the total cost for these centerpieces, using existing vases, was:

• $4.00 for pinto beans
• $10.00 for floral stems
• $5.00 for spray paint (which I also already had too!)

I think they turned out quite nice! What do you think??

There is just a strong feeling of satisfaction we both get when we are stripping away at something and bringing it back to its original glory. I think a large part of the satisfaction that comes from deep cleaning is the visual results; being able to actually SEE your progress and efforts almost instantly is a great motivator. That’s why dieting and I never get along. The scale keeps trying to tell me I have lost weight, but the mirror won’t corroborate its story.

Well, let me tell you about the “mother-of-all” cleaning cartharses. I LOVE pressure washing. I mean, what is there not to love? You get to use a giant gun to blast the dirt and grime off of almost any surface.

While slaving away to get the house ready for Thanksgiving (which really means make it look less like a construction zone), we borrowed a power washer from a friend and assigned my dad the task of washing the exterior of the house since it had been sitting for over a year collecting every insect nest, cocoon and chrysalis imaginable. I worked away the day painting the interior downstairs but when 5 o’clock came around, I was feeling a little defeated. I just spent 6+ hrs of painting and still had soooooooo much left to do.

And then it was my turn to use the power washer. I had asked my dad to save me the cement pad off the kitchen. That thing was a nasty shade of black and green and we all had assumed it was permanently stained from neglect. But within seconds, the 3000 PSI revealed unscarred pavement below. I finished cleaning that cement pad in 30 min. and felt like I had accomplished more then than I had the entire day. It made the hours of painting I knew I still had left, a little less painful.

So to anyone who might be reading this…. If you ever find yourself in one of those situations where all your efforts feel like their for naught, go out and find yourself a pressure washer and blast something REALLY, REALLY dirty. It will make your day a little brighter (and a little cleaner too). :)

Here are the before pics….

And the afters…