The Week Ahead: Springing Forward

 

This week's kitchen is another of Hazel Dell Brown's designs, this one a little more of a Keeping Room meant for perhaps an older more historic home.

I love this sweet blue and white kitchen.  Of course, the brick pattern Armstrong Vinyl plays an important role in the room and appears authentic to the history of the house.  The lay out of the kitchen is not really visible, but it appears to consist mostly of that back wall.  Just in that nook behind the fireplace to the right is a window with the kitchen sink.  I have no clue where the fridge might be.  It appears we move from the stove to a short counter top space and then right to the Hutch or Welsh Dresser.  

I've looked at the larger picture and it seems that the floor near the fireplace is a different pattern of brick, bordered from the main body of the kitchen brick floor pattern.  Or is it just my eyes?

I just love the room though.  It's such an inviting space and I can just see how cozy it would be to have that fire going on a cold winter's day or night and the family gathered in the room near the fire.  The decor is just a lovely blending of the modern kitchen wall with the historic aesthetic of the home.  I love the Pennsylvania Dutch painting on the cabinets, obviously borrowed from the antique desk and Welsh Dresser.

Work:  

This week I'll be in Zone 3 Beds and Baths.  I  don't really know what I shall work on in these zones this time.  I've been doing tasks as I see them this month.  I think I'll do a declutter and deep vacuum. I would love to get new pillow shams and spring/summer spread for my bed and I may devote a little of my time to looking online and seeing what is available.  I also need a new spread for the guest room but think I can use my old spring/summer spread...I'm in the mood to refresh, can you tell?  The seasons are changing here with peach and pine trees beginning to bloom and I want to bring the new season into my home.

I'm sick of the guest bathroom mirror which was white and then I painted it a distressed silver.  Time to change that up.  I think I'll likely end going white on that again.  I also noted that the door that room needs a good scrub and fresh paint.  I'll try to get that done as well this week.

I still have plenty of yard work to do outdoors: flower beds to weed, pots to be removed and plans to make regarding what the little bed next to the back steps will look like.  Of course, it's meant to rain most of the week but I'll wager there are dryer spells when I can sleep outdoors to get a few minutes work in.  Okay...Anne pointed out my mistake in the last sentence and I really meant 'slip' but apparently some portion of my brain spelled out 'sleep' instead.  But it's funny enough to make me snicker, so I hope it makes you smile at the very least.  I'll just leave it as a mistake.

We haven't really gone grocery shopping yet so I assume we might go this coming week. I need mostly produce.  I'd like to get a corned beef while they are on sale.  Nothing big required though. 

 I'm going to plan a little heavier shopping next month to stock up on shelf stable milk, get up to date on some of the long term storage, etc.  I say long term, but what I mean is I'd really like to work towards having a year's worth of shelf stable foods in our home.  Kimmie (She's In Her Apron on YouTube) has been doing a food storage series each month and gives a list each month of things to stock up.  The list she reads from is a per adult stock up.  I'm going to go back to January and jot down each of the items in January/February/March and as I see them come up on sale, I'll buy what I can of them.

That mending I didn't do last week awaits.  And I found another tee shirt to alter to add to that stack of things.

I began my lists last week of projects to do about the house.  I now need to write down my list of items needed to complete those projects but I'll begin work on one or two that need other things down prior to the finishing touches.  I mean sanding and weeding and the real elbow grease sort of work will start this week I think.  I'm focusing first on those things because with pollen floating around there's little point in the washing/painting part and it's still too early to plant but there is plenty of preliminary work that must be done.

A list I'd like to make this week is of summer time menus.  As you all know in the depth of the summer heat which can be oppressive some years, I try my best to not use my oven for anything. I rely on the bread machine and toaster oven for months, and I use the slow cooker as much in summer, as I do in winter.  However, we prefer lighter meals overall.  So I want to make note of recipes we typically choose in summer and create a list of menus and have cooling ideas for desserts.  We still want out sweet once a day but baking is pretty much out.   So I really want to put thought into that matter before it gets hot and have a list ready.  Somehow, in summer, I just can't think of any foods I'd like, but I can in the cooler season of the year!   

I also want a cooling afternoon drink, not alcoholic but  refreshing,  as a sort of pick me up.  I find I want afternoon coffee far less in the heat of summer months.  So that's another list I'd like to make.  I've always loved those punches they serve at showers and bridal parties, but it's been YEARS since I've been to any such things and why not figure out how to make those punches in smaller quantities for our at home use.

Kitchen: 

 

I keep saying I'll make this or that but don't.  I'm not talking about menu plans but breakfast breads and yogurt and such.  

I really like the homemade bagel recipe I use so I'd like to make some up.  The more I eat homemade breads the less I want to eat commercial breads...Anyone else feel the same?    I've made English muffins exactly twice and it's no more fussy making those than it is to make bagels.  Again, there's a superior taste in making homemade.  I did discover though that we've never used English muffins overmuch.  However, I like them as burger buns and toasted for breakfast and find them a nice sturdy base for homemade "McCheneys", etc.  And they keep well in the freezer.  So put down those two breads this week on my list.

As for yogurt, I've had to come to the conclusion that cheap as it is to make at home, no one but me is going to indulge.  Even if I use my homemade yogurt in baking or salad dressing or as a sub for sour cream, there's almost always a waste.  I think I'm just going to have to figure out how I can make the smaller quantities as it's too much for me to use up when I make a half gallon at a time.   I'll have to buy milk this week before I can make yogurt.

I suppose I ought to have tucked grocery shopping into my kitchen list this week...Well here it is a second time.  Again, I don't need loads of things but I do find my list is growing.  However, I've only about $100 left of this month's budget.  I need to set aside a portion of this month's to help cover the coffee order coming in at the end of the month.

I'll mix up more of that expired powdered milk to use in baking this week.

Meals:

Weather this week will be rainy and mild.  I can continue this week with the heartier winter dishes but Sunday is meant to be in the 80's so we're definitely heading into the warmer days of the year.  Sneak peeks of it are showing up more and more!

Italian Sausage and Ravioli, Salad

Grammas Fried Chicken?  It's on sale this week...but Taylor's not coming because little Caleb was sick again with a virus.  I've yet to make an alternate meal plan but I've a load of food and time to think before then.  We might go on and do our bit of grocery shopping while we're already in town for church and this would be convenient.

Roasted Chicken with Winter Vegetables and Apples, English Peas, Rolls  This is using up some frozen sweet potato and butternut squash from the freezer.  I said I was going to pretty much empty my freezer of the stockpile of vegetables and fruits I have to make room for other things I'd rather have frozen like chicken products and milk and such.  This is the bare beginning but it's a beginning.

Red Beans and Rice, Coleslaw, Cornbread, Peach Cobbler

Corned Beef with Cabbage and Potatoes, Soda Bread

Fish Fillets, Fries, leftover slaw, Hushpuppies

Chicken Pot Pie, Pear Salads

Leisure:

I talked John into an impromptu date day on Friday and it was a lovely drive through country side and then a very late lunch/very early supper at a nice little restaurant we enjoy in that area.  In fact, we travel to that town to eat solely at that particular place!   It was quite nice and while it's hardly 'leisure' for this week it is worth mentioning here.

Last week I finished working on the one notebook of notes for my genealogy files in two family files. Now it's time to take that same notebook and work on two other family files.  I really enjoy this work so I do count it as leisure.

I also took time last week evening to hand sew and this process was so soothing that I shall continue it a few more evenings.

Continue to watch the first season of "Victoria" which is on Amazon Prime for free viewing.  It finally occurred to me that I'd been captive for the past year to John's YouTube obsession...and I can access Amazon and Katie's Netflix on my computer so I can watch some things I'd like to view.  Anyone watched "Bridgerton"?  I hope to get to that next when "Victoria" is done.

Reading.  I've started an Emilie Loring novel, Spring Always Come, which I expect I'll finish this weekend.  These novels seldom take me took long to read.  Then I have Anita Daimant's, The Red Tent on my table to start next.