Hardwood Floors Refinishing

Sunday, November 30, 2025

Getting some much needed work done on the house. Refinishing some beat-to-heck hardwood floors! They look so, so much better. But it's hard not to!
I even used the miter saw to cut some shoe moulding for the dining room, which just didn't have it before (likely due to having unfinished carpet when we first moved in).

Recipe: Brisket Tacos with Pickled Onions and Green Onion Slaw

Sunday, November 16, 2025

Yet another recipe I've been making for decades. I like to make all three of these recipes together, all from Smitten Kitchen. So it'd be handy to store them all on the same page!

Southwestern Pulled Brisket (Slow Cooker)

Ingredients

• 3 pounds beef brisket
• Kosher salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 2 Tbsp vegetable oil
• 5 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed
• 1 large onion, halved and thinly sliced
• 1 Tbsp chili powder
• 2 tsp ground coriander
• 2 tsp ground cumin
• 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
• 1 to 1.5 cups water
• 1 (14.5 oz) can whole peeled tomatoes, with their juices
• 2 bay leaves
• 1/4 cup molasses
• Optional: 1 to 2 chipotle chiles en adobo, from a can [to taste] (I'm a spice weenie)

Directions

1. Heat a large, heavy skillet over medium-high heat.
2. Add the oil and heat just until beginning to smoke.
3. Add the meat and cook, turning once, until browned on both sides, about 10 minutes total. Don’t skimp on the browning.
4. Transfer the meat to the slow-cooker.
5. Add garlic, onion, chili powder, coriander, cumin, and 1 tsp salt to drippings in the skillet and stir until fragrant, about one minute.
6. Add vinegar and boil until it’s almost gone (get your head out of the way of the steam), scraping the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon.
7. Stir in 1.5 cups water.
8. Crush the tomatoes through your fingers into the slow cooker; add the tomato juices, chipotles, bay leaves, and molasses. Pour this mixture over the brisket in the slow cooker.
9. Cover the cooker, set it to Low, and cook the brisket until it pulls apart easily with a fork, about 8 to 10 hours (check it at 8 hours, but a thicker piece might need up to 10 hours).
10. Optional: Remove the brisket and use two forks to pull it apart. Discard bay leaves and use an immersion blender to puree the sauce. Taste and adjust seasonings. Return the brisket to the sauce and serve as is.

Green Onion Slaw

Ingredients

• 1 c green onions, coarsely chopped
• 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
• 1-2 serrano chiles (I'm a spice weenie)
• 2 Tbsp mayonnaise
• Salt and pepper, to taste
• 1/2 c pure olive oil
• 1 head purple cabbage, finely shredded
• 1 small red onion, halved and thinly sliced
• 1/4 cup chopped cilantro leaves (on the side, depending on diner preference)

Directions

1. Blend green onions, vinegar, chiles, mayonnaise, salt, pepper and oil in a blender until emulsified.
2. Place cabbage and red onions in a bowl, add the dressing and stir until combined.
3. Fold in the cilantro and season with salt and pepper to taste.

Pickled Onions

Ingredients

• 1/2 c red wine vinegar (or half red / half white)
• 1/2 c cold water
• 1 heaped Tbsp kosher salt
• 1 Tbsp sugar
• 1-2 shots hot sauce (I'm a spice weenie)
• 1 red onion, sliced into very thin rings

Directions

1. Make ahead! The night before, or ~8 hours to let it sit and absorb!
2. In a small bowl, combine red wine vinegar with water.
3. Stir in salt, the sugar, and the hot sauce.
4. Add the sliced onions and let sit for at least one hour.

Kitchen Renovation: Finishing Up!

Sunday, October 26, 2025

A few steps happened since the lower cabinets were installed in the kitchen nook. Specifically: holes in the floor evened out; new, chevron luxury vinyl plank flooring from LifeProof in Canopy Tree; a wood threshhold lavender paintwashed, stained, and oil polyurethaned to match (approximately); the little folding table next to the stove was also paintwashed, stained, and polyurethaned; doorway trim was reinstalled; made a little coffee maker cover.

Oh, and we finally built, painted, polyurethaned the upper cabinets! And paintwashed, stained, and polyurethaned giant open shelving! And added a bit of [removable] crown moulding. The uppers are Benjamin Moore Advance satin in Chantilly Lace, like the uppers in the rest of the kitchen. Interior is oil polyurethaned like the lower cabinets in the nook along with more soft close hidden hinges. Hardware is Sumner Street High Desert which I oil polyurethaned a few times to keep them from peeling (because that matte black finish does not want to stay!).

Done! | Nook Lower Cabinets | Window Staining | Staining Open Shelves | Countertops | Ceiling Light | Temporary Storage | Painting Cabinets | Window Stripping | Nook Demo | Nook Design | Details | Ideation | Inspiration

Kitchen Renovation: Installing Lower Nook Cabinets

Sunday, October 19, 2025

After demoing the kitchen nook and painting the walls Benjamin Moore Balboa Mist (eggshell), we lived with just a stainless steel table in the nook for FAR too long.

Eventually, we got our act together and built, sealed, painted, and installed the lower cabinets. Like the lowers in the other side of the kitchenI painted the exteriors with 1 coat of dark-tinted Zinsser Bullseye 123 primer and 3 coats of Benjamin Moore Advance satin in Enchanted Forest, waiting 16+ hours between each coat of paint (this is really very important with this paint). Unlike the rest of the cabinets, I used a oil-based polyurethane to seal the inside of the cabinets. We built these ourselves, so there was no bright pink paint to cover up. The wooden tops are white-washed and then stained with Minax Provincial.

Cabinet hardware is Sumner Street High Desert pulls; can be tricky to find drawer hardware that fits vintage cabinets without filling and redrilling. The nook hinges are hidden soft-close hingest,just to be fancy.

Done! | Nook Lower Cabinets | Window Staining | Staining Open Shelves | Countertops | Ceiling Light | Temporary Storage | Painting Cabinets | Window Stripping | Nook Demo | Nook Design | Details | Ideation | Inspiration

Kitchen Renovation: Staining the Window

Sunday, October 12, 2025

At some point, I stripped the paint from the window and left it unfinished for a very, very long time. Now, I've finally stained it!

As with the open shelves, I was going to oil polyurethane the window, which will yellow the stain, so I first did a diluted purple-gray paint wash on the trim. Then I used Minwax Provincial stain. I diluted the stain, and it turns out I should not have, as the purple paint wash really comes through at night. Oh well.

Done! | Nook Lower Cabinets | Window Staining | Staining Open Shelves | Countertops | Ceiling Light | Temporary Storage | Painting Cabinets | Window Stripping | Nook Demo | Nook Design | Details | Ideation | Inspiration

Kitchen Renovation: Color-matching Woodwork to LVP

Sunday, October 5, 2025

I've had to do some experimentation to get the wood in the kitchen to be in a similar color family as the purple-gray Lifeproof Luxury Vinyl Planks in 'Canopy Tree'. The first, and somewhat failed attempt is in the above-right photo: I white-washed the tops of the lower nook cabinets, stained in Minwax Provincial, and then put a few coats of oil-based polyurethane on top. The oil polyurethane, even the "clear" type, is actually fairly warm. So for my next attempt, I did a lavender paint-wash, since purple is on the opposite side of the color wheel from yellow. I applied this to the open shelves (shown in the above-left photo), and that is a much, much better match. Huzzah!

Done! | Nook Lower Cabinets | Window Staining | Staining Open Shelves | Countertops | Ceiling Light | Temporary Storage | Painting Cabinets | Window Stripping | Nook Demo | Nook Design | Details | Ideation | Inspiration