We relegated to the basement......

We're living in the basement from now until Thursday after work. This will be more time than I have ever spent down here in the three years we've lived here :) It's all for a good reason though! On Saturday Blair and a friend from church installed hardwood floors in our family room (goodbye, icky, dirty carpet) and now the refinishing/staining/sealing begins. There was a Groupon this fall for hardwood floor refinishing, so we jumped on it. Our kitchen and entryway floors needed to be done for maintenance and we decided that installing hardwoods in the family room at the same time so that all the floors could be stained the same color would be a good idea.

Since there is no way in the main floor or upstairs without being on hardwood, we have to walk around our house to the basement sliders to get in. This will be interesting in heels with a carseat since it's uphill to our driveway! Oh, and it's also wintertime! We are going to eat out two nights and do another meal in the crockpot for dinners. Luckily, we are at work all day and the kids are in daycare as I'm not sure what I would do with two kids in the basement all day for 4 days!!

Our main floor looks incredibly bare except the playroom which is jam packed with EVERYTHING. It's amazing. I cannot wait to see it all put together next weekend. I just ordered a new rug from Overstock and am hoping it arrives at the end of this week. This truly is our "year of the house" as we have this floor project almost completed, another floor project coming up (new tile in the laundry/mud room/1/2 bath), and saving for/making decisions about our 2014 kitchen redo. Yea for getting stuff done!!

Weekend in the kitchen

B and I spent all weekend in the kitchen making amazing food, and I seriously didn't take one photo.  What was I thinking???  I wish I had some for you, but instead, I'm just going to have to write about it all instead.

Saturday our goals were to bake most of the day, pick up one Christmas gift for our niece, and watch the MSU/Wisconsin game.  We definitely accomplished all those things (don't you just LOVE a productive day?).  We made peppermint bark brownies, eggnog poundcake, buckeye bark, and soft ginger cookies with lemon glaze.  We also threw together "nuts and bolts" (our family's version of chex mix) and made apple compote.  We really wanted to have Christmas tins put together for all of our dinner guests, and we wanted a variety of things to put inside.  Between B and I, we were able to sample all of the above, and, I hope our guests will agree, it all tasted delicious!!

Today after church, we started on the meal for our Christmas dinner party (we hosted 3 other couples whom we just adore).  We served the baked brie with apple compote (from Annie's Eats), Smitten Kitchen's short ribs with swiss chard and pearl onions (I cannot rave about these enough.  They're time consuming but worth every single bite!!), mashed potates, and eggnog trifle.  Everyone seemed to leave the table full and happy. 

The best part?  Hanging out with delightful people that we just don't see enough of!!!  It was so, so, so nice.  Spencer was a little shy at the beginning but then loved showing off the "balls" (aka ornaments) to all our guests and climbing the stairs to turn the dining room light off and on.  It was a wonderful evening!!!  Another great part? We have a few cookies, brownies, and pieces of eggnog pound cake left, but most of it went out the door.  Enough for a few bites over the week but definitely not enough to gorge ourselves on.  Unfortunately, we didn't give away enough nuts and bolts, and this lady has been craving nothing but salt lately!! 

Did any of you make anything exciting in the kitchen this weekend?  Any fantastic Christmas cookies I should make next weekend? 

Lust List: Kitchen Edition

Below are a few items I've been thinking about, longing for, wanting for my kitchen. 

A pasta maker attachment for my kitchen aid.  Good friends have one and they love making homemade pasta.  B and I love to experiment in the kitchen, and with fall coming, I can totally see us using this on the weekends to make our own lasagna noodles, linguine noodles, and ravioli. 

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An ice cream maker.  I'm blaming this one sorely on Annie.  Her homemade ice cream recipes always look amazing, and how good would peach blueberry ice cream or peanut butter ice cream be when it is fresh, fresh, fresh.  I've had a few people tell me that they own ice cream makers that they've never used and that I shouldn't get one, but that's why it's a lust list, right?  And if any of you have one you never use and want to send me, you just let me know!!  I'm an ice cream-aholic and dang proud!!

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New bread pans.  I've been needing new ones for awhile, and these from Williams-Sonoma always get rave reviews.  I only have two big loaf pans and need at least four for my bread baking days.  I have a gift card to WS, so the next time I'm at the mall, I just have to remember to pop in there!!

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Ooooohhhhh, how pretty is this trivet??  Certainly pretty enough for a dining room table on a holiday or for a dinner party.  It's certainly better than the current trivets I have (yep, that would be an old potholder!!).  I get such a heady, lovely feeling when I peruse Le Crueset stuff.  I want it all!!

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New kitchen towels and oven mitts.  Ours have just gotten so ratty and I'd love to send them to the rag pile and get pretty new ones so that I'm not embarrassed when people come over.  I'll have to head to TJs sometime and see what I can come up with. 

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A new toaster oven.  Our moms both went on and on about how awful our last one was, so we got a new one.  The one we have now may look better, but it sucks (excuse my language).  It's tiny, it doesn't toast well, and the tray it came with is warped beyond belief.  I hate it.  I really want a new one, and the one below gets good reviews without being over $200. 

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So, those are my current "wants" for our kitchen.  What are yours?  Do you have a great toaster and want to divulge why it's so great?  Do have/love any of the kitchen aid mixer attachments?  Do you have a favorite dish towel?  Let's "dish" :)