Moist Apple-Raisin-Spice Cake

Before you vomit, take a deep breath and rest assured, I didn't make this one out of trash...  I just had some apples in the fridge that desperately needed attention and a leftover bag of raisins from a tajine my boy-toy made a few weeks ago.

This turned out amazing, so I thought I would share.  It's SUPER moist and fluffy and yummy and is perfectly paired with a scoop of caramel ice cream.  So here goes:

Amelia's Apple-Raisin-Spice Cake

1/2 cup softened butter

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/3 cup white sugar

1/4 cup dark rum (+ a bit extra to drink while you are cooking)

2 eggs (large)

2 tbsp vanilla extract

1 1/4 cup unsweetened apple sauce

2 cups flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

2 1/2 tbsp cinnamon

2 1/2 tbsp nutmeg

2 tbsp allspice

2 large apples (peeled and finely chopped)

1 1/4 cup raisins

Preheat oven to 350F and put the oven rack to the second-lowest position);

Grease an 11 x 7 inch baking pan;

In a large bowl, cream the butter and the two sugars until creamy;
Add rum, eggs and vanilla.  Beat until well mixed;

Add in apple sauce and mix until combined;

In a separate smaller bowl, sift flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and allspice.  Add the dry mix to the creamy mixture and stir until well combined;

Add the apples and raisins.  Mix well;

Transfer to the greased baking dish;

Bake for about 45 minutes (start checking after about 30 minutes) or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean;

Serve with a scoop of caramel ice cream.

Fridge Disaster

So I've always wanted stainless steel appliances, but let's face it, if I could afford those, I certainly wouldn't be living in this crummy appartment.  The local Home Depot had what seemed to be a miraculous product on hand:  Stainless Steel Appliance Paint!  YAY! 

Here is what my stained, 1970's fridge looked like before:

I used a couple of cans of this stuff:

And this is the disaster I came up with:

It looks blotchy and spray painted, not at all like the real deal...  Lesson learned:  there's a reason why those sleek stainless appliances cost a fortune, and this paint only costs $6 a can.  This fridge is so ugly that it cuts my appetite.  Fine, a total of $12 for a great diet plan...  not so bad.

Ugly Bedroom Furniture Redone!

Sorry I have been lagging behind on my posts.  I've been so busy with the renos, and my fingers have been constantly covered in paint, I didn't dare to touch my keyboard.

Here's my newest project, my ugly olive-green French Provincial bedroom set.  It made me feel sea sick to stare at it, but I knew it was a diamond in the ruff.  At first, I wanted to stain it chocolate brown, but two months worth of inhaling paint-remover fumes yielded little results (see half-stripped drawers).

 

A coat of aerosol primer (Painter's Touch by Rustoleum is my fave) helped cover up some of the hideous pea-soup green color.

I then gave 4 solid coats of Heirloom White (also by Rustoleum) on the surface.  As you can see, I'm more of a night owl than an early bird!

The handles were still kinda gross and dated, and I desperately wanted to find some cute antique-y cup handles, but sadly couldn't find any that had screws 3 1/2 inches apart, so I crossed my fingers and gave them a refreshing coat of paint too.

I had to scrub the hell out of them first to make sure the paint adhered properly.

I used Satin Nickel and LOVED the results.

And here is the (almost) finished result!

I plan on rubbing a bit of brown pain in the crevasses to give it a nice shabby chic look, I just need to figure out how first!  I'll post pics when I get around to that part, but for now, I gotta say I'm pretty happy with the results.

With this dresser, I also inherited a night table and vanity and bench, but by the time I got around to it, it was too cold outside to spray paint.  Hooray, Canadian weather!  I'll do it in the spring and post some pics then.

This old Couch

So the boyfriend's moved in and I've inherited a whole bunch of bachelor furniture.  I guess this whole mess of junk will be as much of a project as he will be.

First project: his old smelly sofa.  His pal Mike found it in the trash years ago and instantly fell in love despite the missing cushions and odd smell that I don't even want to start trying to identify.  I've never reupholstered anything in my life, so this should be interesting...  wish me luck!

I started off by ripping out the piping around each cushion with pliers.

Then, I used a mini screwdriver, a hammer and some needle-nose pliers to pull out about a million staples that were holding the fabric to the wood frame.  First, I wedged the tip of the screwdriver into the base of each staple and hammered it lightly until it was behind the staple.  This helped loosen the staple enough so that I could get a good grip with my pliers.

I grabbed my trusty needle-nose pliers and ripped out all the staples individually.

When I got to the feared buttons, it turned out simpler than I thought.  

Behind the button, the fabric and the foam were these square pieces of cardboard holding the buttons in place.  I simply unattached  the buttons from the cardboard and took both the button and the cardboard off for future use.

And now we have a completely naked couch, except for the cushions (which I plan on doing last).

What a beauty, huh?