Mar 292011
 

Rick & I have been planning to put up a new ceiling in the kitchen for quite a while, and decided that it would be this year’s remodeling project.  We wanted to have it done this winter, and I guess with the snowstorm that we received last week, we can technically call it “winter” even though the calendar says spring.

Either way, the project was tackled this past weekend.

It all begins with this.  Exciting, no?

There is always prep work to be done before any project.  First we had to split some boards into strips to be used as the frame for the ceiling board to go on.  My job was to help guide these 16 foot boards through the tablesaw.

Even though you can’t tell, I really am helping.

Rick took a picture to prove it.  Too bad I don’t have it to show you.

I like to think of this ceiling installation as a giant puzzle that we are putting together.  First you assemble all the pieces that will be the “frame,” or the outside of the puzzle (those board strips that we did earlier), and put them together.

At least that is how I put a puzzle together.

Side note:  Notice the cool light coming out of the cordless drill?  A must-have for any carpenter… trust me.

These cross boards will become the “puzzle mat” that you lay the pieces on.

With me so far?

Now those puzzle pieces still have to be cut to fit in the frame.

Now the fun begins!  First piece put up.

Isn’t this exciting?

And you keep adding more pieces and locking them into place, hence the puzzle reference.

If you don’t run into too many troubles (which we didn’t), it starts to come together pretty quick.  This much took us about 3 hours or so, but we still had a lot of ceiling to cover.

By the end of day 2, we were 1/2 way done.

Rick likes to sit back and study his handiwork (which is quite awesome, IMO).

Actually, I helped too.  Yep, I even used the nail gun a couple times (cue the Tim the Toolman Taylor grunt).

Kinda gives you a visual feel of what the finished project will look like.

Which will occur next weekend.

Mar 092011
 

Sometimes work can be very stressful.  Heck, LIFE can be very stressful.  I like to think that I am pretty good at handling everything that is thrown at me, but some days, you just gotta say enough is enough.  On those days, I wish that we had a punching bag in our office.   In an office full of accountants, that thing would really get a workout.  I bet we could even make a little money on the side letting other people at the college use it.  Naw, I’m too nice for that… I like to share.

But, since that is probably not going to be an option in the very near future, I have brought a more holistic approach to those stressful situations that we often find ourselves in.

Ah, behold the beauty and calmness that is the lavender plant.

Some days, I could just swim in a field like this!

But since that is not an option, I turn to this trusty bottle.

This little baby will wash all of that anxiety away and bring you down to that calm, loving person that you know you are.  Aura Cacia (not a paid endorsement) has a great lavender essential oil that is so affordable, I give it to my fellow comrade-in-arms in the office for when she has to deal with people that are not bean counters like us.  In fact, I have dolled it out to students before they have a test to take to help calm their nerves.

Young Living (again, not a paid endorsement) provides probably the best Lavender  essential oil I have used.  One drop of this delicious oil and  you are calmer than a cat sleeping in a sunny window.

And of course, there are wonderful holistic benefits from its use!  Besides removing nervous tension, it helps with pain relief in muscles, blood circulation, digestion and relief from migraines, to name a few.  Heck, it’s even recommended to calm down pets!

And what’s more, you can cook with it!  I was passed on this nifty little tidbit by a friend of mine who used to live in Hawaii where it is very popular in butters and sugars.  Cruise the internet for lavender baking recipes and you will be pleasantly surprised at what you get for results!

So, the next time that the world seems to be totally out of control and your nerves are frazzled beyond belief, put a drop of this lovely potion on your wrist and breath in all the wonderful calmness that it has to offer.

Mar 082011
 

I know that I said this would be posted yesterday, but I wanted you to drool over the chocolate chip cookies a little longer.

To reiterate Sunday’s post, Rick was in the cooking mood.  First cookies, now pizza.

We try to support as many kids as we can when they are doing fundraisers in the area.  This happened to be what the special was this time.

The box included 3 each:  pizza crust, shredded mozzarella cheese and pizza sauce.  Since we like a few more ingredients on our pizza, we discussed what we wanted and Rick ran to the store to pick them up.

So, let’s get crackin’ by getting our fixins ready.

We always like to have some chopped onion.  Gives it a nice flavor.

Green pepper was Rick’s idea.

Green olive is a new addition to our pizzas.  It gives a wonderful little tang (trust me, you won’t be disappointed).

Many people already know this, but if you have fresh tomato laying around, use it on your pizza!  WOW!

Pre-made pizza dough.  Nothing really special here.

Glorp the sauce out of the packet.  Actually, this sauce was pretty good.  I could even smell the oregano in it.

After you spread that sauce around, start piling on the fixins!

In our house, we always make sure that there are mushrooms!  This is a “must have” in the pizza department.

Here’s where those wonderful tomatoes come into play.  If you keep them off the crust, it doesn’t seem to turn it soggy, and you get that great flavor when you bite into a piece.

Open that bag of cheese and start spreading it around.  I was pleasantly surprised at how much cheese was included with this kit.

Today’s meat topping was pepperoni (that way we didn’t have to spend time par-cooking hamburger or sausage).  Rick forgot to put it on before the cheese, but no matter, it will still get covered.

With more cheese, of course!  We take our pizza very seriously here.  The more cheese the better!!

Ready for the oven.   We could have used the Pizzazz Plus that Nichole & Corey gave us for Christmas, but the convection oven was already on from making the cookies earlier.

(Don’t worry kids, Rick uses that gadget every time he makes pizza and loves it!)

Baked at 450 degrees for 11 minutes, we had a truly beautiful pizza.

The chef and his masterpiece!

All sliced up and ready to eat.

And boy did we eat!

Poor baby worked himself right into a food coma.

He deserved the nap after all that cooking.

Mar 062011
 

Rick was in the baking mood today.

Discovering that we were out of cookies, he decided to show off his skills and try a recipe for Chocolate Chip Cookies that he found on the internet!

After he had mixed all of the ingredients together, he was quizzical as to why I wasn’t in the kitchen snapping away pictures.  Well, I had thought about it, but didn’t want to disturb his masterful process.

Taking that as a hint, I went and got my camera.

Yep, looks like cookie dough.

I offered him my measuring scoop that I use for cookies, but he wanted to do it the old fashioned way.

Just to show that he did everything (I helped by setting the timer).

Fresh out of the oven… Nummers!

Onto the racks to cool.

I’ll have to say that he did an excellent job!

Just had to try one hot out of the oven.

And yes, it was very delicious!

I love using my convection oven for baking.  It will cook things slightly quicker so you really have to watch your first batch to determine the correct cooking time.  If he had baked them as long as the directions said, we would have had burnt bricks on our hands.

Our normal, every day cooking appliance is this:

This is a 1927 Universal.  Rick had this before we were married and I fell in love with it the first time I used it.

Sure, the oven controls don’t work on it, so you have to light the oven from the broiler, and you have to eyeball the flame to figure out the temperature when you bake something, but I don’t care.

When we moved up north in 2001, he offered to leave this behind and buy me a new stove, and I declined.  I will use this thing until it falls apart!

But wait!  Rick wasn’t done with his cooking skills for today.  He was on a roll!!

Next on his list was pizza, but I will wait until tomorrow to share that (don’t want to overdo things).

Feb 262011
 

It’s that time of year again.

When the seed companies start filling my mailbox with tantalizing ideas for my gardens.

I hate them.

Don’t they know that I crave to get out and play in the dirt?

Don’t they know that I have been cooped up in the house for the last 4 months, dreaming about warm sunshine?

Don’t they know that I still have 3 more agonizing months before I can even consider putting my garden it?

Of course they do!

If you think that these are the only catalogs I’ve received since the beginning of January, you are sadly mistaken.  I think that I am on every list there is of companies that provide any type of gardening product there is.

Unfortunately, the only catalog that I have ever ordered from is Gardener’s Supply Company.  And I have have done that online.  Good products, good price.

Don’t get me wrong, these other companies have great products, but I prefer to buy my seeds and plants locally.  I have my “dealer” that provides a spectacular array of plants that are grown without chemicals, so I feel quite happy putting them in the ground knowing that they will grow in my area.

One thing that these catalogs do provide me are great ideas of what I would like to put in my garden.  Unfortunately, since I technically live in Zone 4, a lot of the products that I drool over are not suited for my area.  So I have my local connections to find similar plants.  And since I do not have a large area to grow everything that I want, I get the word out for veggies that I am looking for in the event that others have an over abundance when harvest comes around.

Almost March.  Days are getting longer, and will start getting warmer.

It’s almost Sugarbush, and when that happens, you know that planting season is right around the corner.