Lemon Bundt Cake Gluten Free

Today was a baking day.

I searched through my Gluten Free cookbooks and saw this recipe.

It's from The Allergen-Free Baker's Handbook and there are some

delicious recipes that I can't wait to try.

The recipe for Lemon Poppy Seed Bundt Cake is so delicious and the glaze is tangy.

Great with a hot cup of tea, of course you're wondering who is drinking tea when it's 98 degrees out?
Well, I am, especially since it's quite comfortable in my house so I enjoy a cup of afternoon tea with a piece of this wonderful, 

delicious beauty.

Things around here are still moving along, hubby tiled the laundry room floor,

I can't wait to show this room before we did this, it was dark, dirty, exposed and it smelled horrendous.

In fact, this whole house stunk, a smell that you can't forget. They had carpet in this room, yes in the laundry room and on the stairwell that I think their dog peed on occasionally.

Plus the fact that it was empty over a year and closed up didn't help things.

As soon as hubby took out the carpet tiles and tossed them out, the smell is practically gone,

I hope after painting it'll vanish completely.

So, he has to grout tonight, 

the contractor is adding doors to hide the AC and water heater units, then I can prime and paint.

So, I've yet need to paint this room, the bathroom down here, the basement, then the master bath, and hall bath upstairs, also have some painting to do on the stairwell, then some touch up painting throughout the house.

It's coming along.


I thoroughly enjoy the fact that I can actually live in this house. 
When we put our home on the market, 
it was as if it really wasn't ours any longer.
It was decorated for people to see, for them to see how their stuff would look in that space.
I felt like I was house sitting instead. 
But now, I can do what I want, decorate they way I like
I can even put the magnets back on my fridge!

When I opened the box that contained these, I was so excited!
I know, stupid, but not if you've been 
through selling a home.
These little things mean a lot. 
Putting out family pictures was also so much fun

Having to pack them away because the possible buyer may be distracted by seeing your pictures and may not be able to visualize themselves in the space.
Seriously! 
It's called imagination. 
Well, whatever, it's nice to open the boxes and put things in their place.
There's still some unpacking to do, but hopefully before this month is over we'll have the majority of it done.

Just Because....

I know it's been awhile since I've posted.



No one told me that when you put your house on the market

your life is OVER!

What I mean is, it takes OVER your life. You can't let a day

go by without organizing, sweeping or vacuuming,

when you've got cats, you've got to do it

EVERY DAY

because you'll see rounds balls of fur scurrying across your

floors, (did we get another cat?)

DID I NOT JUST SWIFF THESE FLOORS YESTERDAY!!??

So yes, I'm stressed, and frustrated and tired of people

walking through my house,

having to leave when they come, not knowing exactly when they will show up since they can't give you an exact time,

so they make it an hour.

Yes I'm whining, can't help it, I'm tired, and we dont' have kids

how do you do it with kids and toys and all that extra stuff?

My mom gave me this pretty and simple white valance with a lacy detail at the bottom and I think it is so sweet, so I put it in our

bathroom and I love it. It'll be the summer curtain.

I bought this sugar bowl a few years back and loved it. I used it

well, for sugar, until one day the lid broke and I was

so upset, I got it from an antiques store, not sure if it is

antique but either way, I thought it was sweet and I wanted to figure

out another way to use it, and,

Voila!

I can use it for my make-up brushes and it matches the bathroom

color so well.

Now I feel better.

Gluten Free Yumminess and Redecorating

I made some wonderful, peanut butter filled chocolate cupcakes

by using Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free Choc cake mix then found a

recipe from Taste of Home website

PB filled Chocolate Cupcakes

and they turned out so good, the only thing I would do differently

is add more PB in the cupcakes, the recipe says a "scant"

whatever that means, but I'll add more,

either way they turned out moist and yummy.

DH is a peanut butter freak, and I say that in a very loving way,

so when he came home I surprised him with these.

They need to be refrigerated, so before you eat one, let it sit

out for a half hour and they're perfect.

Very tempted to have one right now for breakfast, hmmm!

I also made salmon, one of our favorite meals,

salmon has been so expensive lately so when it

FINALLY went on sale, I bought some and made

Salmon Dill

You salt and pepper your salmon, then add chopped garlic

and chopped dill and sprinkle over it.

Next you slice lemons and place over the chopped herbs

and sprinkle with chopped green onions.

Cover it like a gift

Lay it on a sheet of aluminum foil before seasoning,

after seasoning then lay another sheet over it

and close in the edges tightly.

Bake it at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes, or till it flakes

easily

Then you have this wonderful, fresh goodness.

We had it with a BLT salad that I got from Allrecipes

website.

We were very happy!

I also decided to do a little furniture arranging.

Since I was a kid I was

ALWAYS

rearranging my bedroom, I get bored easily with the same

look,

so I rearranged our sitting area off the kitchen, one of my

favorite spots in the house.

So it went from this

To this

I feel by moving the folded table over closer to the fridge it

allowed more light to come in.

I like angling furniture, not sure what it is but I like the look

of it and I feel that sometimes, not always, it opens

up the room a bit.

So I'll live with this for a while, or if the house sells,

we have two more months from today before the contract is up

then we'll decide what to do.

Hope you enjoyed my recipe ideas and decorating ideas.



Herb Bouquet

We're having gorgeous

weather today!

I wish summer could be

in the low 70's

all summer long.

It seems for the first time in

YEARS

I am minding the heat.

I NEVER thought

I'd say that.

Well this morning I picked

herbs.

Greek Oregano and English Thyme.

Oh they smell so good.

I decided to hang them

from my light

fixture above my sink

so I can smell them as they dry.

I planted French Thyme, Rosemary

and Basil.

This season I didn't plant as much

as I would of liked.

With the house for sale I didn't want

to invest too much into

my garden.

So we planted two types of tomatoes

and a zucchini plant.

A few flowers and all my containers.

So I'm still enjoying some

gardening,

I've just done it simply this time.

I never thought how

time consuming

it is to have the house

for sale.

Spring Brings a Smile

April was such a cold and rainy

month,

bone chilling some days with a

couple of

80 degree days.

But May has turned out to be a

GORGEOUS

month so far and everything is

either in bloom

or ready to explode

bleeding heart almost done

but so beautiful!

columbine in bloom now, love the colors

clematis in full bloom

you see my rose bush?

It's massive and loaded,

can't wait until they open

and smell the air

I can't believe how quicly this rose

bush has grown, it has

pale pink small roses,

it too is loaded with buds!

Tulips are just about done, but

right now I have tulips that are

about 3 feet tall and pink

in bloom,

they're from Holland,

my one brother-in-law

brought those back for me

they are my pride and joy!

I'll need to post those next time!

I take a walk almost

everyday around my yard

looking at the progress of

my flowers!

Love this time of year!

Hope you are too!

(although right now I'm dealing with

horrible allergies, the worst ever

and evidently I'm not the only one,

I guess you have to suffer to enjoy the

beauty that surrounds you)

An Adventure

So DH and I are planning a new

adventure!

We have our home on the market,

yes I know,

of all times, right?

It's one of those things, you know,

there's someone

out there who's looking for a home

like ours

in this area,

we hope.

Today is a week it's been for sale

and we've had

one showing, so that's good.

We'll have our first

Open House

on Sunday,

so we shall see.

But in the meantime, we've

been busy

staging our home.

Fresh paint,

organizing,

rearranging,

cleaning,

etc..

Our Kitchen:

Dining Room

Sitting Area

Living Room

Master Bedroom

lots and lots of stuff to

get our home

ready.

This is our first house together

so it's hard to

try and let it go but

at the same time

we're excited about our future

plans and are ready

to move forward.

No matter where we live

it will be our home.

It's kind of exciting

decorating a new place,

although we'll be renting

for a bit

so we can't do

whatever we want,

but

that's

OK,

we're ready to let some one

else worry

about the leak

under the sink,

or the toilet

not working.

And we'll

get to live outside

of a

big city,

and I am a city girl

at heart

so it'll be fun.

We shall see what happens.

On a cute note,

here are my

"kids"

looking so cute

Kahlua was trying to figure

out how

he could

fit in there with them,

but it wasn't happening,

poor baby!