What's for Breakfast?

Decided to try a new recipe from Martha Stewart for "Sugar Buns," or as we call them here in Wisconsin, "Morning Buns" ...bundles of cinnamon-sugary goodness! The featured image above shows them rising in my grandmother's vintage muffin tins.  Below are a few photos of the process, followed by the final product. I must say, they turned out pretty scrumptious. :-)

I even had a a little dough left over to make a mini "Monkey Bread" - a pull-apart loaf that's fun to eat. I'll freeze the little pan below and bake it up some cold Sunday morning in the future.

Compact Kitchen Remodel

After 6 weeks and a few 'snafus', we're finally done with our little remodeling project!  While I wish we could have afforded a major overhaul by gutting the existing tiny kitchen and revamping the design to create a more open and user-friendly layout, it just wasn't in the cards.  

We had to keep the existing oak cabinets and white appliances, but by painting the cabinets and adding a new sink & faucet, redoing the backsplash with field and accent tiles, and replacing the worn white formica with updated quartz counter-tops, I think we've brightened up the place a little. Not shown is the the eat-in dinette cafe table which seats 4, located behind the counter stool area, and we kept that "as-is." It's a great place to have breakfast and morning coffee as we enjoy the east-facing view of the back yard out the bright patio doors. (Nik's favorite spot, too!)

The best part of the whole project is that we finally got rid of our old, tinny electric stove and replaced it with a sleek gas range. 

(For some reason, I can't seem to find my "before" photos - but if/when I do, I will add them.)