The kitchen backsplash is a definite design feature in today's modern kitchen. There are many materials to choose from, glass mosaics, marble, marble mosaics, ceramic tile stainless steel and even 24 ct. gold plated tiles.
If you are on a budget here is a way to create a really beautiful backsplash design.
This takes a little bit of time to do, but material costs are very inexpensive or totally free depending on your sources.
This is a broken tile mosaic that I have personally installed in one of the finest restaurants in South Florida.
First you need to decide what colors of tile, stone, marble, glass tile, whatever you can find that appeals to you.
Many tile stores have closeout sections with very inexpensive colorful tiles that you can buy for a song.
You need to figure out a ratio of the material and apply it to the square footage of area to be worked on.
Most full backsplashes are between 16 inches and 18 inches tall, so if you have 10 lineal feet of full backsplash you have approximately an area of 15 square feet.
Then decide on what is your dominant color tile you will use in the splash. Let's say that a beige color tile is 50% and then you decide on your other colors and the percentages you want to install of these.
So for our hypothetical backsplash we have beige tile at 50%, a brown tile at 20%, mauve color tile at 15%, a biscuit color tile at 10% and a gold colored highlight tile at 5%.
You can apply these percentages for each tile to the square-foot area you need to cover and add a little waste factor and then this will give you how many square feet of each individual tile you will need.
Now we're almost ready to apply the tile but first you will need multi-purpose mastic, a pair of tile nippers, the grout color you have chosen, and a grout float.
All of these can be purchased at your local home store for about $25.00 or better yet maybe you have a neighbor you can borrow them from.
Okay let's get started:
This is the fun part; we are going to break the tiles. It might be a good idea to wear some gloves and eye protection for this; some broken tiles can really get sharp.
You can break them with a hammer or a piece of wood or you can lay the tiles on top of a pencil and push down from both sides and this will snap the tile. Adjustments can be made using your tile nippers.
Apply the mastic to a small area of the wall at a time and just start sticking the broken tiles on the wall keeping in mind the ratio of all the different tiles you are using.
You will never get this ratio 100% correct but it doesn't matter, after all this a custom mosaic mural we are making.
It is worth it spending time trying to keep the grout joints between every tile close to the same size if you can, cutting, nipping and fitting as you go.
After the installation is complete, let the mastic dry for 24 hours.
Mix up a small amount of grout and apply it to the tile with the grout float, pushing it into the grout joints and then going across it with a diagonal motion to clean off the excess and still leaving it in the joints.
Let it set up until it is semi hard and then begin washing it with a damp sponge in a circular motion.
Try to keep the joints smooth as you leave an area and move on to the next.
After finishing that there will me a lite haze. Let it dry a little longer and then take clean damp sponge and wipe it across the tile and then use the other side of the sponge and wipe, rinse the sponge and repeat.
Wait two days until the grout is cured enough and seal the joints with a penetrating sealer. This will protect it from an over enthusiastic cook.
Then stand back and admire it! You should have a fantastic kitchen backsplash that will be totally unique.
More and more of us are using chicken which means we are in the need of great leftover chicken recipes. Without these recipes we could find ourselves wasting tons of money each month throwing the food away. Or we might be subjects to our children's endless complaints of eating the same things as last night. Well have no fear, I will help you end those complaints and save that money by introducing you to some fantastic recipes for that leftover chicken.
The first recipe I want to share is a very quick and simple recipe for chicken pot pie.
1-2 c. leftover chicken cubed or shredded
1-2 c. Vegetables (you can use canned, leftover, or my favorite, frozen)
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 package of prepared gravy (don't worry if it's not very thick, it will thicken in the oven)
6-8 Biscuits cooked (if I'm short on time I just used the packaged biscuits)
Mix the top 4 ingredients together. Then cut biscuits in half and layer a 9x9 pan with halved biscuits. Pour the chicken mixture over the biscuits and top with the other halves. Cook at 350 for 30-45 minutes or until golden brown.
Another really great and tasty thing to do with leftover chicken is make a chicken teriyaki bowl and I have a very simple recipe to make it.
½+ c. leftover chicken cubed
1 Tbsp oil
1 bag frozen Stir-fry vegetable mix
¼ c. Teriyaki sauce
1-2 c. cooked rice
In a medium skillet heat the oil, then add chicken and vegetables, once the oil has been just about soaked up then add the teriyaki sauce. Continue stirring until well heated. Serve on top of cooked rice. This should serve about 4-5 people but can easily be expanded by adding more chicken, veggies, or cooking more rice. If you don't like rice much try adding a little teriyaki sauce while cooking the rice.
Every end of term at my daughters' kindergarten, finds us baking cheese biscuits for their festival. These are delicious, easy to make, light flaky mouthfuls of crunch, just like cheese straws only more fun, as you can use any shaped cookie cutter you like. We have pigs, bunnies, stars, moons, hearts, fish. They are the perfect answer to the dilemma of providing a treat snack for school feasts and festivals, that doesn't break the school guidelines of minimising sugar but is still fun for the kids. They are also an essential item at birthday parties for my children. The last birthday had me frantically rolling and cutting out these cheese biscuits, in between trying to get a roast lunch on the table before the afternoon party. The original plan had been for the kids to do all the work, to keep them entertained and gainfully employed in the lull before the party, but the birthday girl was too busy playing with her new toys and the others too busy bemoaning the fact it was so long before their birthdays, so that I got left with the job at the last minute!
Today though I had the five year olds in charge of the cheese biscuits, kneading then rolling out and cutting out with animal shaped cookie cutters. This still required a fair amount of timely intervention, to get the dough to hold together before frustration set in and make sure my youngest got a chance to cut out some shapes without destroying her older sister's carefully ordered scheme of things. I also had to get a batch of bread done while they were cooking, as we had finished up the last slice at lunch, but that used up the rest of my energy reserves so I settled on baked potatoes as a minimal effort supper. The oven was on anyway for the biscuits and bread so it was all in aid of energy conservation...mine and the world's in equal measure.
Here is the recipe for the cheese biscuits:
100g/4oz finely grated cheese
50g/2oz self-raising flour
25g/1oz soft butter
pinch of cayenne pepper
For the cheese you can use a mature cheddar or 80g mild cheddar with 20g parmesan cheese. Put everything into a bowl and rub in, squidge and knead for about 5 minutes until it comes together into a soft dough. It will do, just as you are about to give up hope of it doing so unaided. Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface to about 2.5mm/ 1/8" thick and cut into whatever fancy shapes you have cutters for. Bake at 200C/400F for 10-12 minutes until golden. Cool on a rack. This amount disappears very quickly, even before you've turned your back on them sometimes, they're very light and moreish, so I usually make double or triple quantities for the festivals.
The cheese biscuits go down very well with adults too. At the last birthday party one father polished off a whole plateful, rather than sample the birthday cake. They would make a great accompaniment to drinks before dinner. You could cut them into long strips and give one twist to make them into cheese straws, then sprinkle them with extra parmesan or find a more sophisticated shape as a cookie cutter - the star shapes would still be good. Mind you most laid-back adults would be just as happy as the kids to be eating pigs and bunnies!
Copyright 2006 Kit Heathcock
