There was a back porch removed

There was lots of digging and hauling of dirt!!! Jake told me he felt like Mike Mulligan!

They dug for days!

Then there was pouring of gravel and concrete and building the foundation with stone blocks. And then came the framing and sheeting.

And then the trusses (this was truly beautiful!) I have a new love of architecture and hardware stores.

From there it was more framing and sheeting

Here is Ginger standing on our new pantry. This will eventually have railings and be a loft above the kitchen.

We have windows now too! And heat as of today–thank goodness!

Daytime view and night time view:

Sorry for the blurry photos–my auto focus is broken and according to my eyes with out glasses this WAS in focus! This is a shot of Ginger’s old bedroom (the green walls and carpet) now open to the new part. That was a small bedroom but now it looks even smaller!

New steps-horray!! Anyone who ever came to my door and tried to enter while carrying anything or happened to be greeted by the dogs or kids (which is everyone, always!) knows how awkward our old steps were and how awesome these will be!

Here we are at the bottom of the stairs, standing in the new super wide hall way looking at my old back door. To the left is my bedroom and to the right is another bedroom.

This is our new bedroom and below is a lucky kids new bedroom (luck is in the eye of the beholder because there is a war going on for my current bedroom)

We have hard wood floors and tile picked out and new appliances purchased. All I have to say is thank god for Pinterest and google!! I love you both beyond words! And more empty promises to update more often! Sorry!

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Post tags: addition, architect, architecture, Building, demo, google, house, Kitchen, loft, lucky kids, mike mulligan, Mulligan, pantry, PepperPaints, Pinterest, trusses, window, Windows

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Now as much as I would like to say this was my great idea..I found it on Pinterest. I have said it before, I LOVE PINTEREST!! And I will say it again, I LOVE PINTEREST!!  As a visual person, this site takes the cake!

These were easy to make and called for only a few ingredients. You just need a little time and space.  And having a little helper around really helps!!

First arrange pretzel sticks into a star pattern on a lined cookie sheet or large tray

Next melt some chocolate (white or dark)

Now pour that melted chocolate into a plastic baggie and cut a tiny bit of the tip off. This makes it so much easier to make webs around the pretzels. Be sure to drizzle the points in the middle together really well and make sure to hit each stick on your way around the web!

Next we tried putting 2 raisins into the center of melted chocolate for spider bodies. Then we covered the raisins with more melted chocolate and made some legs.

And after about 4 or 5 of these my helper quit on me! So I was on my own. I decided to simplify– but I must say I like my version better!! I skipped the spider in the center and just shook some Halloween sprinkles into the melted chocolate. Ta da…

Just the right combination of salty and sweet. These were a big hit with both kids and adults alike!

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Post tags: Cake, choc, chocolate, Cook, COOKIE, halloween, halloween parties, halloween season, Kids, melted chocolate, PepperPaints, Pinterest, potluck, Pretzel, pretzel sticks, Pretzels, Pumpkin, pumpkin cake, Snack, snacks, Spider, spider web, star pattern, Web

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In case you were wondering where I have been…..I have been browsing and pinning. I am addicted!! Check out my boards!

http://pinterest.com/pepperpaints/

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Post tags: new obsession, PepperPaints, Pinterest

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Over the weekend my very nice, helpful and generous husband mixed up several buckets of plaster of paris and poured it into empty milk cartons. We let these dry or “cure” for a couple of days.

Most of the instructions I found for this included adding vermiculite to the plaster of paris to make the carving process easier but because of the health concerns over breathing in the vermiculite we decided to leave it out. You can also add sand or dirt but I was already way over budget and could not purchase another thing so straight plaster of paris it was.

I brought lots of different tools to class and we were lucky the weather allowed us to do this messy-dusty project outside. We looked at works of art of Barbara Hepworth, George Segal, Jean Arp and The Nana’s. We talked about abstract art vs realistic sculptures.

And then we got to work:

Hammers and mallets were pounding, flat head screw drivers were poking and lots of plaster was flying around. The kids really enjoyed this physical process but were definitely challenged by the material.

Once kids were happy with there work they sanded their sculpture and used tempra cakes to paint their pieces. The paint dried almost immediately on most pieces.

And I love the consideration of all sides and angles on this piece!

This was the final week of this session of our unschooler’s co op. I absolutely loved leading these classes. I learned so much along with the kids. Looking forward to doing it again!

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Post tags: abstract art, Additive, additive sculpture, art, art work, barbara hepworth, class, empty milk cartons, george segal, husband, jean arp, Messy, milk carton, nana, Outside, Paint, Paints, PepperPaints, photo, photos, plaster of paris, process, project, realistic sculptures, screw drivers, Sculpture, sculptures, scupture, tempra, unschool, unschooler, vermiculite, works of art

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Today at our Unschooling Co op we talked about Alexander Calder’s Finny Fish and Nathan Carter’s Radar Reflector. I was really excited to share the works of these artists with the kids because last Fall we went to Chicago to see this exhibit live and up close!!

We used coated copper wire to fashion  the outer shape. It wasn’t stiff enough on it’s own so I doubled the wire by twisting 2 pieces together. The kids each brought a bag of ” junk” from home—odds, ends, bits, pieces, old keys, washers, spools, buttons, caps, beads etc…

After each student was happy with their outer shape we taped them down to the floor to help with stability as they worked on adding more wire from end to end.

We used both galvanized and copper wire and floral wire to wrap objects and secure them on to their sculptures.

It was so neat to see how each was so different and how some kids spent lots of time beading or wrapping while others spent a long time on getting their piece to be just the right shape.

Some kids spent lots of time on the details!

Next week….paper mache!

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Post tags: art, Artist, beading, Chicago, class, copper, copper wire, exhibit, finny, fish, floral wire, Kids, nathan carter, odds ends, old keys, paper mache, PepperPaints, radar reflector, Reflector, school, sculptures, stability, unschool, unschooling, wire sculptures

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I don’t usually just link or post  a recipe on Thursday’s unless I have made it and it is actually worth sharing. This weeks plan was to share a Kale and White Bean soup. I made it but it was nothing worth sharing. So instead I planned to share my new and favorite kitchen gadgets but my poor daughter has been here all week

It is almost 10 am as I write this and she just woke up still sniffling and sneezing. My youngest germ is coughing in bed with her Dad who has been working all week until the wee hours of the morning. It’s been a rough week around here!

So that is why I am just getting around to Thursday’s post…on Friday morning afternoon.

With all the germs flying around the house, this week turned into soup week.  There was the mediocre kale and white bean and the cure all chicken noodle

Everyone has a version of chicken noodle soup. Mine is nothing special but it certainly hits the spot. I added some pea shoots to mine…soup and salad all in one bowl is a favorite of mine! There was also a beef vegetable that I made in my new lead free crock pot.

Yes, you read that correctly. I don’t know how I didn’t know that crock pots typically carry lead in there glaze but apparently they do. I did some googling and found that the Cuisinart brand is lead free as is Vita Clay. Both are expensive. I did a little more digging and found this Supentown Slow Cooker. And even better I found it on the cheap at Home Depot The crock is made of the same zisha, purple clay, that the Vita Clay cookers are made from.  Supentown website writes that it is not only free of chemicals but rich in natural minerals. Someday negative info may come out about this cooker too but I couldn’t find it anywhere for now.

I used my new slow cooker to make beef veg soup and all was good. It is a little bit smaller than my other crock pot but not much. But because the crock is not non stick there was a little sticking. It washed out easily and the soup tasted great. Just be sure when you store any small appliance you do not put the cord inside the pot because the soft pliable coating on the cords do contain lead…so wash your hands after use. I also read that there is lead in the coating of the heating elements in the outer part of slow cookers. I am done researching lead for a while. In other news I hear they are planning to take some of the fluoride out of our drinking water…gee thanks. it’s about time. Don’t breath or drink or eat…chemicals are every where!!! It becomes exhausting. Trying not to get too caught up in all of that!

I do know for sure that this is lead free…it is stainless steel

Also by Supentown and purchased at Home Depot this thermal cooker was way cheaper. I haven’t used it yet but can’t wait!! I have had my eye on these thermal cookers for a while but they are  very expensive and couldn’t really find a difference between the two that warranted the extra cost so we finally went with the cheaper one. I love the idea of making food and taking it with us for later, all the while it is cooking on the move with out being plugged in!!! Can’t get more energy efficient than that!

Take a look inside-a simple design!

I promise to use it soon and let you know how it works.

I love my Olympic juicer…especially for carrot juice

Last but certainly not least one of my favorite kitchen gadgets….I shared my love for this thermos before in my OUT WITH PLASTICS post.  During the winter i fill it it up with hot water so a cup of tea is only minutes away. I LOVE it!! Again no electricity used here!

What is your favorite kitchen gadget?

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Post tags:   Supentown, appliance, bean, bean soup, carrot, chicken noodle soup, clay, Cook, Cooker, cookers, cookin, cooking, crock, crock pot, crock pots, Cuisinart, Depot, fluoride, Food, Home, home depot, juicer, kale, Kitchen, kitchen gadgets, Natural, natural minerals, Noodle, Olympic, PepperPaints, photo, photos, post, purple clay, recipe, slow cooker, steel, Thursday, Vita, Vita Clay, white bean soup

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Here are a few highlights of the weekend.

We always go to my Mom’s for Christmas eve. She cooks delicious things and makes everything pretty just for us! This year she surprised Ginger with a karaoke machine! And a Hannah Montana CD…. Oh boy! Does she LOVE it!

Molly asked “how early can we wake you up?” Joe told her 5 AM…guess what time she woke us?

We are pretty good about sticking to the kids lists. Buying them things they want and not as much stuff that I think they should have. Yet there are always a few surprises thrown in. This year I hit a home run with my surprise for Molly!!

Bento boxes for her and Ginger along with a Bento cookbook and all the little tools and treasures. The perfect gift for my little Martha in the making!

It didn’t matter that we just had a huge breakfast, she couldn’t wait to get to work making lunch!

One of our other Christmas traditions is Molly’s Christmas day cake. This year she made a red velvet cake with cream cheese frosting from scratch. Look out Cake Boss!

I LOVE the week between Christmas and New Years. I feel like I can breath a sigh of relief and just enjoy. I wrote all about it last year too.

We are anxiously waiting for a friend to arrive in a few hours to stay with us for the week along with a cousin who will also be visiting. We are looking forward to some sledding today before the snow melts, a trip to the movies and the zoo to see holiday lights, sushi and chocolate fondue with friends. It will be a stay-cation around here and I am loving it!! Hope your week between is filled with more holiday joy!

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Post tags: bento boxes, book, Cake, chocolate fondue, Christmas, christmas day, christmas eve, christmas traditions, Cook, Cookbook, cooks, cream cheese, cream cheese frosting, holiday, holiday joy, holiday lights, Home, karaoke machine, Kids, lunch, Molly, PepperPaints, perfect gift, photos, red velvet cake, red velvet cake with cream cheese frosting, sigh of relief, sledding, snow, tradition, traditions, weekend, zoo

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This year we made xmas trees out of magazines. I found it very relaxing to sit and fold these!

I found this great idea at Just Like Martha

We also made beaded star ornaments.

The beaded star idea came from Mrs Picasso’s Art Room

We also made these beautiful novena candles inspired by Artsyville

I personally made 4 of these!  Who said crafting day was just for the kids?!

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Post tags: art, art room, blog, candle, candles, Christmas, craft, Crafting, friends, holiday, magazines, ornament, ornaments, PepperPaints, trees

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Yes-that’s right there really is a National Learn Nothing Day and it is today July 24.  So let’s take the day off from learning today, give ourselves a break. It’s only one day-surely we can slow down  for just one day to take it easy and learn absolutely nothing.

If schooled kids can take the whole summer off and do nothing, unschoolers can can take just one day.

(Did you even know there was a National Learn Nothing Day?-Well there you go you already failed! Try again!)

How will you learn nothing today? or any day???????  Good luck

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Post tags: July, Kids, Learning, PepperPaints, summer, unschool, unschooler, Unschoolers

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I shared on my twitter and face book about how great my countertop pickles tasted and was then asked by so many people for the recipe–So here it is!

I belong to an organic produce co-op. One of the other members spoke of her counter top pickles and was also asked by many of us for the recipe. She referred us to Wild Fermentation.  I linked to this website back when I made fermented carrots and sauerkraut.

Basically this is what I did–Because these were not just picked out of my garden -I soaked my cucumbers in cold water in the fridge for a few hours to crisp them up. I had regular old large cucumbers not pickling ones so I cut them in half and then quartered them. I dissolved 1 Tablespoon of salt for each cup of water. I think I did 8 cups of water for the 3 large cucumbers I had. I did not have a large enough jar so I used the inner crock from one of my crock pots. Perfect!!

After stirring and stirring to dissolve the salt I gently crushed several heads of garlic-say 4 or 5 with the back of a spoon-just to crack them open and threw those in the water with a small handful of peppercorns , 4 heads of flowering dill and a small handful of fresh dill and 2 freshly washed oak leaves from the big tree. The oak , grape, sour cherry or horseradish leaves are to help keep the crunch.

I mixed all of that around and placed a plate on the top to keep the cucumbers submersed in the brine.

I then put the lid on very loosely–leaving it slightly cracked open on one side.

The next morning I noticed a few bubbles–IT”S  ALIVE!!! Then there was a film that I scraped off over the next couple of days-then we tasted on day 2–delicious!!  Actually we ate several!

It has been really hot here so the fermenting went quickly! I left them 1 more day and then moved them into jars (that I have been saving from our Bubbies pickles) and put them in the fridge to slow down the process.M more were eaten this morning as I moved them into the jars–lucky I ordered several more pounds of cucumbers this week!

We might need to add some Rubens to the menu!!

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Post tags: art, brine, Bubbies, bubbies pickles, co-op, countertop, crock, crock pots, crunch, cucumbers, cup, dill, Farm, Fermentation, Fermented, Fermenting, Food, Foods, garden, garlic, horseradish, Kitchen, leaves, organic produce, PepperPaints, photos, pickle, pickles, recipe, Rubens, salt, sauerkraut, Sour, Thursday, Thursdays, twitter, Wild, wild fermentation

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