bye-bye poop smears!

As K and I stared into our sun room last weekend, I decided it was time to paint.  The previous owner enjoyed "decorative paint"  To me this looks like poop smears.

 I can't believe it took me 8 months to paint this, but we really haven't used this room.  It's mostly been a dumping ground.  It was enclosed about 20 or more years ago and never insulated properly

But we are going to be moving in some more furniture in a few weeks, and this room will become our office space.  So I'm a little more motivated now.

We also had some window people out last week, because the windows in this room are unbelievably cold, it's aluminum frame with single pained glass.  And they don't close all the way either.

The long wall opposite from the windows backs to the garage.  And since this was originally an outside porch, there was no reason to insulate the wall.  So we have to tear off the drywall in the garage and put in to insulation and re drywall.  I'm hope the will happen next month when some nephews are one spring break.

The walls are just primed, so it's kind of patchy and streaky.  The concrete floors have been stained and look awful.  K wants to have them re stained, which is fine, as long as it looks nicer. 

We are also going to take down the beams on the ceiling, and put up some floor to ceiling shears as soon as we have new windows.

Ok, Ina Thurday is now, the Occational Ina Thursday

I've been doing better in the new year with postings, but for some reason, can not get in the habit of doing Ina Thursdays.  And it's not due to a lack of cooking and enjoying everything Ina. 

So I made this a couple of weeks ago, and I actually made it in the rice cooker.  I have a large one, and when I was reading the directions, it said I could make risottos in it, so I gave it a try.

And believe it or not, it came out great.  The texture of the rice was perfect.  Slightly al dente.

 

From the asparagus on, I stirred in after the rice had cooked and left the cooker on warm for about 10 minutes.  I think I might hold off on the marscarpone next time and just put a little dollop on top.

If you don't have a rice cooker, just fallow Ina's directions.  It's perfect for a one pot meal.


Ingredients
1 1/2 tablespoons good olive oil

1 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter

3 cups chopped leeks, white and light green parts (2 leeks)

1 cup chopped fennel

1 1/2 cups Arborio rice

2/3 cup dry white wine

4 to 5 cups simmering chicken stock, preferably homemade

1 pound thin asparagus

10 ounces frozen peas, defrosted, or 1 1/2 cups shelled fresh peas

1 tablespoon freshly grated lemon zest (2 lemons)

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

1/3 cup mascarpone cheese, preferably Italian

1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan, plus extra for serving

3 tablespoons minced fresh chives, plus extra for serving

Directions

Heat the olive oil and butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the leeks and fennel and saute for 5 to 7 minutes, until tender. Add the rice and stir for a minute to coat with the vegetables, oil, and butter. Add the white wine and simmer over low heat, stirring constantly, until most of the wine has been absorbed. Add the chicken stock, 2 ladles at a time, stirring almost constantly and waiting for the stock to be absorbed before adding more. This process should take 25 to 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, cut the asparagus diagonally in 1 1/2-inch lengths and discard the tough ends. Blanch in boiling salted water for 4 to 5 minutes, until al dente. Drain and cool immediately in ice water. (If using fresh peas, blanch them in boiling water for a few minutes until the starchiness is gone.

When the risotto has been cooking for 15 minutes, drain the asparagus and add it to the risotto with the peas, lemon zest, 2 teaspoons salt, and 1 teaspoon pepper. Continue cooking and adding stock, stirring almost constantly, until the rice is tender but still firm.

Whisk the lemon juice and mascarpone together in a small bowl. When the risotto is done, turn off the heat and stir in the mascarpone mixture plus the Parmesan cheese and chives. Set aside, off the heat, for a few minutes, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and serve hot with a sprinkling of chives and more Parmesan cheese.

Weekend Shopping

I went to an estate sale last weekend and came home with a few purchases I was very pleased with.  It was a house that was built in the 50's and I think the family bought everything new when they moved in and then never bought another single thing.

First up, a mama and baby pitcher.  I only have one other ceramic pitcher, and I love these.

I particularly love the spouts, the shape helps keep the ice from coming out.  Don't you hate it when you get a glass full of ice instead of water?

Next up is a a table lamp, I'm planning to put it on our desk, whenever we finally move it into the house.

I think those three legs are so cute.  I don't think I've ever seen a lamp like this before.

This copper pot was hand made and really heavy.  I thought it was awesome and couldn't wait to fill it with ice and wine for my next party.

In the mean time, I think it will live in the fireplace, cause it's heavy and big and I don't really have any where else to put it.  I also got it on bid.  I didn't really want to pay full price and on the second day, everything goes to half price.  So I put in a bid that was a little over half and the people putting on the estate sale tally up all the bids at the end of shopping day number 1.

I did the same on the chairs, I did a bid instead of paying full price.  It's a little risky, cause anyone can come in and buy them at full price, but I was willing to take the chance.

They are Russel Wright and they are in perfect condition. And most importantly, they are comfortable.  I have some Russel Wright dishes that were my grandmothers so I'm excited to use them together.  There are only three of them, but oh well, I'll use them a ton anyway.  And they fold, so I can hang them in the garage when they are not in use.

House Hold Projects

Along with getting ride of paint, I'm trying to get the house a little more organized and little projects accomplished while the weather it nice.  And to feel like I'm getting somewhere.

 Those silly Young House Love people are getting shit done like nobodies business, and they have only been in that house for 2 months. 

So here are 2 little things I've been meaning to do.

The window to our garage had some seriously dirty mini-blinds.  It was a diy from some preivious owners where they took some left over blinds and reporposed them in the garage.  There were no contols and I couldn't get them to close.  Making them completely useless, not to mentions, hard to clean.  Here's before...

So I took them down and gave the whole window and surrounding wall a good scrubbing

And then used some good old contact paper. 

 I'm not sure if contact paper will last a super long time.  But for $5 and 20 minutes, it's worth it.

I can't believe how much morning light we get in there now, it's great.

By the way, garage organization is up near the top of the list, but I need some help from the husband and he's been working like mad lately.


Next up is the bathroom.  We have a teeny tiny one with not much counter space and a pretty funcky vanity.  It's really hard to see into the cabnet because it is set back a few inches from the counter.  So I wanted to put in some pull out drawrs to make it easier to get to things.

At first I bought a simple human pull out shelf, but it was too deep.  I couldn't have anything for the 16".  So off I went to the container store to see if they had anyother brand that would fit.

Thankfully they did.  Elfa drawrs come in a few debths and 16" was perfect.

I got two of these, a 9"wide for the top shelf, there is plumging in the way

and a 16"wide for the bottom.

And of course they were out of the 16"wide bastket, so I got the base and will have to go back in a couple of days. 

Here's the first one completed, and apparently I need to wipe off the pipes, it looks extra disgusting.

Left Over Paint

The previous owners left behind almost 30 gallons of paint.  Some of the colors I have already painted over, and some aren't even in the house anymore.  So I thought, while the weather is nice this week, I would try to tackle it.  I did a quick google search and found that by mixing kitty litter in, it helps to dry out the paint.  And it's working.  It takes a little work and some serious stirring muscles, but it'll get there.

It's only for latex paint though.  I accidentally tried it with oil paint, and it's not drying out.  I'll have to google that to see what I need to do.  I've also been scraping the dried bit off of the top each day to help speed it along.  I should be done by the end of the week.  The google search said to line a box with a trash bag and as the bottom layer dries to add another one, so if I do this with several more cans, I might do that.


This is one of the paint cans left that isn't being used anymore.

I'll camp out for these

Glee Nail Polish!!! I write this as I sit here waiting for football game to end so I can watch a new Glee.

So right So wrong

This dress is so amazing, right

This one doesn't even compare.  Not that it's aweful, cause it's not, just not in the same league. 

This is all the more I will do on the GG's cause everyone else has already done it.