DIY radiator makeover

After mostly finishing my room make-over (which I love!!), my awkwardly placed radiator still seemed to be trying to suck all attention toward it.
So I figured...
Why not let it?
So, I researched, and read, and talked to the Home Depot paint department, and decided my course of action.
I have hot water radiators, so if you have steam, I'm not necessarily recommending this.
But as it turns out, you don't need special paint for hot water radiators, because they don't even get that hot. So after a VERY thorough cleaning, which has certainly improved my radiator's heating ability, I began chipping away at the paint.
This process is totally SUCKY! Paint EVERYWHERE. (I just hope it doesn't have lead...) And it's not the easiest thing. Most of the time, I'm whacking at it with a screwdriver. blehhhhh. After Nate came over and was helping me, he suggested rubbing a little paint thinner on the paint before we kept chipping at it, which did seem to help.
So, I'm still in the process on chipping off the paint, and then I will be painting it a bright blue-aqua latex paint.

This is what it looked like. I had just started chipping the paint here, clearly. Especially in the right picture, you can see the color I will be painting it! Exciting!
Now, 5 out of the 6 front segments have been chipped, and most of the sides as well. Keep checking back for follow up pictures!
Have you ever painted a radiator? Or wanted to?

Cookies n Creamy Brownies

That's what was on the menu this past week for youth group. Delicious! I mean, I had to do something with all my left over Oreos. Besides me eat them, of course... ;)

And so the wonder of brownies' versatility continues...

I started with my brownies recipe which is pretty rich, chocolate, and chewy.
Then I added a layer of "creaminess" in the middle, which was similar to a cream cheese brownie. Then I thew the crushed oreos on top, and plunked the rest of the brownie batter on top.

Here's my recipe -
1 c. butter, melted
1 1/2 c. brown sugar
1 c. granulated sugar
1 T. vanilla
4 eggs
1 1/2 c. all-purpose flour
1 1/4 c. cocoa
1 t. salt.
Whisk together the butter, sugars, and vanilla. Add eggs one at a time, whisking well after each.
Separately whisk flour, cocoa, and salt together. Add wet ingredients and fold gently until mostly mixed.

Cream Cheese Mixture:
1 8-oz package cream cheese, softened
1/4 c. sugar
1/2 t. vanilla
1/4 t. salt
1 egg
Beat together cream cheese, sugar, vanilla, and salt. Add egg and mix well.

Pour most of brownie batter into a greased 9x13. Add cream cheese mixture, and broken oreo bits (use as many as you want!). Splatter the rest of the brownie batter on top, and bake at 350 for about 35 min.

Enjoy! :)

Your daily chuckles :)

Ever see those little things while shopping that just make you laugh, simply because they describe life so well, and so humourously?
Here's one that I found in Target. Hope it makes you giggle! :)

Adventure Rock's annual Quick on the Draw (QontheD) climbing competition is coming up on the 26th. This is my first time ever climbing in a competition! For the past year I have been working on creating my own custom chalk bag. I really liked Evolv's knitted ones, but I wanted to make my own. So I had my mom knit the bag, and help me sew it together, but I designed most of it and did a bit of sewing myself. Here are a few pictures of the finished product.

 

I recently finished building a bouldering gym in the attic of my garage. It took about 2 months, and a lot of planning and design. It turned out pretty sweet. I used 3/4" OSB and 2x6's and 2x4's to build the framing and blocking. I was able to get grips for really cheap at Adventure Rock Climbing Gym. If your looking to build your own I would highly recommend getting used grips from local rock climbing gyms.

Here are a few pictures of the building process: 

This was the space I had to work with. Not huge, but big enough
to set some challenging problems.

This is the framing I build to give me a little more to climb on.

Started fitting plywood. I also build a few volumes to
add a few more dimensions to my wall.

And done! I put a mattress down for padding.

Cardamom and Cast Iron...

Upon finally releasing myself from the warm, comforting clutches of my bed this morning and plodding down the stairs, I realized to my dismay that the breakfast choices were quite minimal, and those that were present, saddening.
What better opportunity to try out my new-to-me, reclaimed cast iron muffin pan!

English Breakfast Heaven

I grabbed a recipe my sister and I had created last summer: Buttermilk Oatmeal Muffins. That was, of course, after I had begun to warm yesterday's Earl Grey for a refreshing cuppa while I baked. :)

Buttermilk Oatmeal Muffins with Cardamom and Toasted Sesame

1 c. oats                                                                         1/4 c. flaxseed

1 c. buttermilk                                                               1/4 c. wheat germ

1 egg                                                                              1 t. baking powder

1/4 heaping c. brown sugar                                           1/2 t. baking soda

1/4 c. canola oil                                                             3/4 t. salt

1/4 c. all purpose flour                                                  1/2 t. cardamom

1/4 c. whole wheat flour                                                toasted sesame seeds

Little side note: I used Penzey's cardamom. 

Great place to pick up QUALITY, amazing spices!!

1. Soak the oats in B-Milk. For buttermilk, I always just combine 1 c. milk + 1 T. lemon juice. Soaking the oats really helps soften them up before baking. I use steel cut oats, so this is especially true.

2. Combine flours, flax, wheat germ, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cardamom, and toasted sesame seeds, and whisk thoroughly. I toasted mine in the toaster oven at 350F, until they were lovely and brown and smelled delicious. :)

Toasting Sesame!

How much sesame? However much you like! If you look at the picture below, you can get an idea for how much I used. By the way, they were darker in real life.

Dry Ingredients

 3. Now we can throw the egg, brown sugar, and oil right in the measuring cup with the thick buttermilk-oat goop. :) Mix it right up.

Wet Ingredients

 4. Combine the wet into dry and stir/fold gently, so that most lumps are gone. You don't want to overmix, or else you'll get a dense, horrible muffin. Plop the batter into your greased muffin pan. I love cast iron because it heats SO EVENLY, puts iron into your food (great for women!), last generations, and when properly loved, can stand up to anything and requires so little cleaning if it's been well seasoned. It also gives baked goods these great crusty edges. Yummm!

 


5. Bake them at 400F for about 15-20 minutes. Let cool for ~5 min. in pan, and then tip out, and enjoy (great with butter)! By the way, if your cast iron pan looks like this because they didn't just slide out, it needs TO BE SEASONED! Just like mine. :)





I realize cardamom and toasted sesame aren't the most common combination, especially for breakfast, however, the muffins were delightful. They were extraordinarily light, tender, and soft. And those edges! So crispy! Like a perfect waffle. :)

Your Goal: Boulder Harder

Your Goal: Boulder Harder By Kris Peters Q: “I am a boulderer and would like to climb two or three grades harder within one year.” —Adam A: Being motivated and dedicated is the key to reaching any goal. This year-long program, geared toward intermediate and advanced climbers, will show you how to get stronger and more powerful, but you have to work for it. “Trying hard” is V15-climber Ian Dory crawling across the bouldering pads to get to his next problem, being determined to succeed and refusing to stop or give up. This is how you need to approach your training. Hard work beats talent when talent stops working hard, so bottom line is: Work hard! Click here to read full workout!