Category / the big move

by princesshotflash

Getting Ready for the BIG MOVE

Been busy freshening up my house to put it up for sale. Painting, clean and purging seems to never end. I just can’t wait to finish.

Thought I’d share what has been happen.

Painting

This is the bathroom which I was doing before or after work. The cats were very interested that I was spending so much time in the bathroom. There was a lot of playing going on as I painted.

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Ollie wanted to help me paint the upstairs bathroom

New Appliances

Got new dishwasher after 3 years of living with a broken one. I know my kitchen looks like a wreck but it gets worst before it gets better.

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Nice to have a dish washer after the long break

And I got a new water heater. My realtor suggested it since the other major appliances are older. No sexy pictures of the water heater. Sorry.

Outside

Finally painted the shingles on the breezeway and the garage door and house washed the front and back of the house. That some good stuff that house wash.

 

I also had the my handyman fix up the back door and the French door. These pictures were pre-house wash.

Emptiness

All the rooms are getting empty. It is kind of sad. Had the 1800GotJunk guys come to my house to get rid of the all the heavy stuff I couldn’t do by myself.

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Beside Ollie and the ladder that’s all I got in my living room

Got myself a storage unit to move all my boxes so the how doesn’t look like a hoarder lives there. The unit is good test if I to see if I one Ubox is enough for me. I’ll get a picture when I bring more boxes the next time.

Well, there still a lot to do but making a lot of progress. I hope my realtor thinks it good enough to put on the market. More pictures to come.

by princesshotflash

Recipe Testing: Quiche for Kate

Kate came over to the house to help me paint in my quest to get my house ready for sale. In return, I made her lunch of caramelized onion and broccoli quiche.

This was a fast and dirty quiche. Started late (as usually). Frozen crust, shredded swiss and gruyere from Trader Joe’s, little bit shredded havarti, broccoli caramelized onions and shallots, . I blended my two favorite quiche recipes to come up with Kate’s quiche.

Add the caramelized onions/shallots to the par-baked crust, broccoli on top, then cheese. Finally add the custard to the filling. Custard has milk with dash of heavy cream, eggs, pepper and masala wine. Then finally top with some grated parmesan. Baked for a 1/2 hour @ 375° or till crust golden brown and slightly brown on top. I think it could have use a little more time. Just a little loose but the taste was good. Maybe it was the havarti, hmmm. Love caramelized onion, you can add more for a more onion-y flavor. It makes everything taste yummy. And the broccoli had a slight bit to it not too mushy.

Quiche for Kate

I combined my two favorite quiche recipes to make this one–Smitten Kitchen’s Leek and Mushroom Quiche and One Perfect Bite’s Zucchini and Caramelized Onion Tart. Both great recipes but as usual, I didn’t have all the ingredients.

INGREDIENTS

Frozen pie crust (I used TJ’s)

Preheat your oven to 400º Place your crust in your pie pan and crimp edges (if needed). Put it back into the refrigerator to rest.  Let it rest for at least 20 minutes. Take out the crust, prick the the crust with a fork. Add parchment paper and pie weights (I use a lentils) to the pie. Put the crust in for 15–20 minutes. Edges looks slightly brown. Take the parchment paper and pie weights off and put the pie back in the oven for 2–3 minutes. Cool slightly. Turn down the oven to 375º.

Caramelized onions
2 t olive oil
1 small onion and 1 shallot, sliced thin
salt

Add olive oil to hot pan on medium low.  Add the onions/shallots and salt to taste to the pan. Stir the onion/shallots every once in while (keep an eye out that it doesn’t burn). Slowly onions/shallots will soften and turn brown. Take it out of the pan and cool slightly
1 1/2 c of chopped broccoli, chopped small to fit in pie crust
1/2 c shredded cheese (I used Swiss/Gruyere mix from TJ and some havarti that I had)
1 1/4 c whole milk
1/4 c of heavy cream
3 eggs
splash of masala wine
pepper
grated Parmesan cheese

 

Mix together milk, heavy cream, eggs, masala wine, and pepper (to taste). Layer the onions to the crust, starting with onions, then broccoli ending with cheese. Pour in the milk/egg mixture to the crust. Add grated Parmesan (to taste) to the top. Bake quiche for 25–30 minutes or till top is browned and doesn’t jiggle.

Hope you like it. Enjoy!

by princesshotflash

Distraction from the purge

UPDATE: I found the link for the scones. Here it is: https://www.realsimple.com/food-recipes/browse-all-recipes/buttermilk-cheese-scones

Purging, sorting, dumping. Sigh! Purging, sorting, dumping. Putting your house on the market is a lot of work.

I need some distraction and I’ve been baking for the crew at work. Made scones–Gruyere and Swiss and dried cranberry served with some homemade mandarin marmalade.

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It was very hard to resist right out of the oven

Ugh!! I can’t find the recipe I use for this scones? And I want to make it again. Oh well. . .

I wanted to share a recipe and I decided to share one of my favorite quiche recipe–smittenkitchen.com Leek and Mushroom Quiche that I change with what I have in my kitchen. I posted in my old blog Rainbow Swiss chard and Comte Cheese version.

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Not the best picture, doesn’t do the quiche justice

Enjoy!

by princesshotflash

The Big Yellow Beast

The Big Yellow Beast aka the giant weight machine has gone to a new home. Who knew it would take so long to find a new owner.

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It took C’s Dad and me a half day with no instruction just a printout of what it should look like from the company’s website. It was like a jigsaw puzzle. Here’s the post of the it being set up.

This time it only took 2 guys about 1/2 hour figure out what to take apart and move it of of the space. I was able to also find a home for fig tree #2, my girlfriend, sister of the new owner of the Big Yellow Beast. Now I have half empty garage that I need to find a home for a thread mill, gardening tools and all the miscellaneous that still resides there. Not too bad.

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Donation boxes filling up the space the Big Yellow Beast stood

In the meantime, I wanted to share a recipe with you. I thought I’d random post about my new adventure and post a recipe at the same time. This way I can start filling my recipe page.

Tanaka Bars

It’s kind of a blondie, an old family recipe, Tanaka Bars. Not sure what the back story is I’m assuming the recipe is from Mrs Tanaka, but I don’t know who she is or I just don’t remember. Been making since we have been baking at my parent’s house. It was part of the Christmas cookie line up.

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This were a little well done but still had a great taste.

Tanaka Bar

1/4c butter, melted

1c brown sugar

1 egg

1t vanilla

1c flour

1t baking powder

1/4t salt

3/4c chocolate chips (I like bittersweet)

3/4c chopped nuts (I use walnuts)

 

Pre heat oven to 350º. Combine sugar, egg, and vanilla to warm melted butter, beat till fluffy. Shift dry ingredients. Add to the sugar butter mixture. Mix to just come together, don’t over mix. Fold in chocolate chips and nuts. Spread mixture evenly into a 8″ or 9″ square pan, greased•. Bake for 30 minutes, golden brown or when knife comes out clean. Cut into while still warm.

• I line my pan with a sheet of parchment paper so it comes out of the pan easier and it easer cut up into the squares.

Now back to the house. sigh . . . .