Renovation Vacation

Well… the time has come… a major renovation project… well, at least more major than I can do on my own.  At some point in time, round about ’84 I’d say, someone turned the old porch into an enclosed porch/sunroom area.  Why 1984 you ask? Well, because I still have the washer and dryer from 1984 as proof (no, they won’t be staying much longer).  Whomever did the work certainly didn’t have an eye for design or function, at least not one I can figure out.  Genius put the washer and dryer right in the middle of the room, rather than on a side wall, therefore cutting down on the good “usable” space for the sunroom part.  Behold…

Door to Nowhere

Well, the room was “ugly as homemade sin” (as my friend Angela’s husband William likes to say).  Well, maybe not ugly, but very bland.  There was a Door to Nowhere (one point was a window, someone made into a door, but to go through it meant you had to climb over the dryer, lame). Something had to change.  So I covered the Door to Nowhere with a curtain, pulled up the old worn out carpet, put in new doors, and painted the walls and floors.  I fashioned another curtain to disguise the appliances as best I could.  Still, the “sunroom” felt more like a hallway to the back door.

May the odds be ever in my favor... 

Day 1: Must try to have vision.  I can see it all coming together, I’m just more of a finished project, “oh let’s pick out pretty paint colors and furniture” kind of person, not so much on the demo and drywall.  The odds were not so much in my favor today, shit happened...  What was supposed to be a simple tear down of some 70s wood paneling turned into a full exterior wall replacement.  Not only was the thing COVERED in mold (yikes!) but apparently it was also the final resting place of six birds (GROSS!).  Birds and mold gone and the entire side of the room taken off, here’s what it looks like partially put back together….

On the left will be the enclosure for the washer & dryer, behind closed doors, out of sight!  On the right will be a broom/ storage closet.  The third picture is the outside of the new wall in progress.

Oh, and what was supposed to be a simple replacement of deck boards turned into a total deck redo, what did I get myself into?!

Whar'd ma deck go?!

New Years Resolution

Okay... this is probably the most common resolution in the world, I guess I'll just join the ranks.  In 2012 I'm going to stop being fat.  Yes, I said stop being fat.  Not loose weight, be skinnier, but stop being fat.  Somewhere back many years ago I started eating less healthy and exercising less and less.  It happened by my choices of food, one too many beers, and plain laziness... so this year I choose to stop those bad habits!

It's been 5 days since I started my new commitment and so far (aside from NYE) I've stuck to my calorie count/eating plan and have exercised more in 1 week then I have in the past 6 months.  I downloaded an app to help me keep track of my eating habits, learn where I need to make changes, enter my exercise and weight... and hopefully watch that number steady drop in a meaningful way!  I'm already feeling better in general!

Oh, and if anyone is looking to be a free personal trainer, I'll gladly be your client :o)

A little Friday afternoon redecorating

Well, thanks to my new found obsession with Pintrest, I came across a pin yesterday that I looooved and had pretty much all the pieces for!  This morning i just went out and got a floating shelf (why are those things always so hard to install?!) and some spray paint.

Before of the wall:

Voila!  It's hanging over the chest with my TV on it...

The colors are a little off in the pictures, thanks to my crappy camera, but what do you think?  Success or unnecessary holes in the wall?

Soup, Stew, oh I love you!

It’s a rainy day in the neighborhood…  so that means I’m spending the day in my sweatpants inside!  I got tired of sitting in front of the TV, so I decided to get up and do a little cooking.  I’ve officially depleted my homemade frozen soups, so I needed to make more.  I made the squash soup I wrote about back in November, but this time I subbed plain Greek yogurt for the cream to make it a little healthier.  This is probably the best soup I’ve ever made!

To keep the cooking trend going, I decided to tackle a beef soup recipe I’ve had my eye on for a while now.  This recipe is from William Sonoma, The Weeknight Cook cookbook (slightly modified).  If anyone is looking for a cookbook with easy to make and very delishious meals, I highly recommend this!  There is a hardback version with main and side dishes and a binder version with starter recipes (sauces, doughs, etc), mains, sides, and desserts.  You will have people thinking you’re a gourmet chef after making something from here!

Hungarian Beef Stew (4-6 servings)

2 Tbs Olive Oil

2 lb Boneless beef chuck, fat trimmed, and cut into 1 ½ inch pieces

2 large yellow onions, chopped

salt and pepper to taste

3 cloves garlic

1 ½ Tbs paprika

2 Tbs tomato paste

4 cups chicken broth

1 lb new potatoes

1 cup baby carrots, cut in half

Ingredients!

1. In Dutch oven or large pot over high heat, warm olive oil.  Add beef and onions, season with salt and pepper, and cook, stirring frequently, until the beef is browned and onions begin to caramelize, about 10 minutes.

The beef & onions braising!

2. Stir in garlic, paprika, and tomato paste.  Add the broth, bring to a boil, reduce heath to low, cover and braise about 1 hour.

Baby new potatoes & baby carrots!

3. Add the potatoes and carrots, and continue to braise covered until the vegetables are tender, about 30 minutes.  Serve or cool completely and freeze.

Cooling down!  This isn't the best picture, but it's the best my cell phone camera could do!

Now, for the beef I used the already cut up “for stews” beef chunks, rather than a whole slab of beef, just seemed a lot easier.  As for the tomato paste, seems like all you ever need is 1-2 tablespoons, but you have to buy a big can or tube.  I don’t use it enough, but I hate to throw away good food!  So, I store the leftovers in 2-3 tablespoon portions, I put portions in separate corners of a baggie, then freeze.  Then when I need some again, I just pull out the one chunk and thaw.

Tomato paste ready to be frozen!

The mailman just dropped by a gluten free cookbook I ordered ($2, heck yeah Amazon!), the new Better Homes & Gardens magazine, and a Burpee catalogue… I think I’ll spend the rest of my afternoon deciding what new recipes to make next and creating hypothetical dream gardens!

T minus 2.5 hours until trivia, Goooo Clark W Griswold, Jr. you can do it!!

Internet heaven

Hello, my name is Anne and I am a pintrest addict!

Seriously, whoever invented Pintrest is AMAZING! I get lost on that site for hours on end and have to force myself to put the computer down.  I won't let myself start a board, because I know I'll just spend more time than I already do on there, but I love browsing others!

If you haven't tried Pintrest, check it out!

Buddy the Elf, what's your favorite color?

Is your house on fire Clark?  No, Aunt Bethany, those are the Christmas lights!

I just love Christmas movies... Christmas Vacation, Elf, Love Actually (ok, not completely a Christmas movie), and the original Grinch Who Stole Christmas are my favorites.  I love putting on a holiday movie or music and decorating!

The one thing I really miss in a house is a fireplace.  Not only for the warm and cozy glow, but mostly because I have no mantle to decorate! So I gotta figure out something else instead.

Now, I don't go all out like my man Clark W. Griswold, Jr., but I like to have a touch of something in every room.  Behold

My (fake) tree!

My Hokie Tree!

Arraignment on my coffee table

My dining table (I need a table cloth or something)

A little snowman and jar of ornaments for the guest room

A Santa hanging on the mirror in my room

Those turkeys were wobblin down the field!

Well, my Hokies tried.... sort of.  I guess I can't whine about it too much, we did lose to Clemson once already this year, I was just hoping for some redemption.  Instead, we got a slaughter!

Until next year (or the bowl game in a few weeks!) Gobble Gobble bitches :o)