Two Down, Two to Go

Posted on September 30, 2014 by Janet Vrasic

Scratch that, make it Three Down, One to Go. Scott has been busy today, and I started this post way earlier in the day. Since then, he has completed the 2nd outdoor cement pit-filling project. That leaves the one in the basement. It will probably be a while before that one happens because Scott’s work is picking up (new projects) and this concrete thing just sucks. I feel bad for him….hours and hours of heavy lifting, back breaking work. All I can really do to help is stock the fridge with Gatorade.

To add to that (just a little pressure), we’re expecting delivery of the remaining building supplies, such as the trusses, lumber, roofing materials, dumpster, port-a-potty, etc. Those will be stored on the driveway/parkway area which already has a pile of gravel and 3 pallets of concrete.  If you’ve been following along since last year, that means I’ll be replacing a break light or having body work done on the Saab. Waah!!! (Sob/Saab, get it?!?!) Heh. Catch up here.

It should be GO TIME in just a few short weeks. Once we start, we should be under roof within 2 weeks. This is, of course, providing that we have good weather (no rain). I’ll be taking lots of photos, so hopefully I can crank out short daily posts (or every other day) so show the progress. We’ll see how it goes.

Mother Nature has been throwing us some wacky weather (think hot flashes) which has been great for the garden. I went out there Sunday to pull up all the bean plants, but we’re still in full production mode. The tomato plants, eggplants and even zucchini are back in swing. I was pretty shocked (read: dismayed) to find 6 more zucchinis out there. They should be ready this week.  I was also happy to discover that the horseradish root I planted back in May (or was it early June?) is growing. I found that when I cut back all the dead potato plants. Can’t harvest it until late October/early November, but yay!

Mocha and Truffles have a vet appointment to test for baby heart worms (microfilarie), which is our first milestone after the treatment. The next big test is in March, where we test for adult heart worms. In the interim, we need to get the boy “fixed” and hopefully get them slowly accustomed to daily walks and excercise. Just in time for winter!!! (YES!!!)

Here are some photos of Scott and his concrete pit project, the garden, and a dog or two.

Posted in Exterior Remodel, Interior Remodel, Phase II: Going Up, The Dogs, The Garden, The House | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

It Feels Like Perma-Pause

Posted on September 10, 2014 by Janet Vrasic

Paws would probably be more accurate, since we have 16 of them. 4 dogs, 16 paws, yup. That’s correct. So many paws (so much dog hair).

Since we’re on the dog topic, I’ll give you a quick update on the pups. Mocha and Truffles did great with their first heart worm treatments in August. We just did the 2nd and 3rd shots last week, so they’re now home and trying to rest comfortably. Pepper and Nutmeg are doing their best to stir up trouble! But so far, so good. YAY!

House-wise, it feels like we’re stagnating. It has been roughly 6 weeks since my last post, and I finally have enough to update. In theory, we are moving very, very slowly, and the progress does seem to be forward, as a whole. Let’s see, what has happened:

  • Our windows were ordered and delivered
  • Scott continues the “big dig” both in the basement and for the front stoop
  • Scott put in the forms for the front support pillars and our contractor approved them, so we’re going for inspection this week (!!!)
  • The lumber has been ordered, as have other supplies (tarps, dumpster, etc.) but are on hold due to our insane weather
  • The two pin oak trees on the west and south sides of the house have been trimmed for construction
  • Scott persisted in challenging the creation of the Sears Tower replica chimney on the back of the house. (Fine, Willis Tower. Whatever.) Seriously, the thing was obnoxiously tall and would have been hideous. He challenged this by researching the type of fireplaces we could use instead of what we had in order to meet code. Voila: ventless fireplaces here we come + tons of $$ saved. Nice!
  • The utility marking company flagged and marked our lawn again

We’re starting to discuss the concrete component, providing we pass inspection. I do not want to know how he’s going to get liquid concrete into the house and into the basement without ruining the new tile/wood floor/carpet. I do not want to be around to see it. Just clean it up before I get home.

We also hired a landscape architect firm! That was a big event. We need to get the water management issues solved, and this is a big part of it. They’ll be doing our master landscape plan for the whole yard, so that’s Phases III-CC. Heh. It’s a 20 year plan! Or 200 year plan. Who knows.

The garden continues to hang on. The eggplants have sprung into action, so that’s exciting. The Ichiban plans are producing more eggplants, 2 on each, so that’s neat and unexpected. The twin butternut squashes are still out there, they just don’t seem ready to come in. All the other squash are done, as are the cucumbers. No pumpkins for us this year, though the vines are everywhere. Tomatoes are done, too, as are the peas and beans. I pulled off the dried pinto beans, broke them open, and they’re nice and dry. Next year, I’m planting them by themselves so I don’t accidentally harvest the pinto beans early, like I did this year. Whoops. I still need to bring in all the potatoes, and some of the garlic. We have some ripe peppers: Habanero, more jalapeno, pepperoncini; the Peruvian Ahi Amarillo are actually growing but have not yet turned yellow. I did not do any fall plantings, I just was not feeling it. I will say, however, that the 2nd round of beets and carrots I planted suddenly flourished, so that’s kinda exciting.

The mosquitos are NOT exciting, in fact, they’re the worst I’ve ever experienced, anywhere. But holy smokes, they are voracious and unstoppable. Even during the day. Walking the dogs is no longer fun!

That’s all for now. Enjoy the photos! Oh no photo yet of the forms in place outside because, (gasp!) it’s raining and he just put those in yesterday, when I started the post. Sigh.

Posted in Exterior Remodel, Phase II: Going Up, The Dogs, The Garden, The House | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

The Dog Days of Summer. Not.

Posted on July 27, 2014 by Janet Vrasic

Grumble, grumble, grumble.
As I finally sit down to write a post, mainly spurred by two new house events (Scott put the silt fencing up yesterday and he’s currently in the basement cutting concrete, which is a little worrisome), it is 71 degrees outside at 2 pm. In case you’re losing track of time (like I am, some days), today’s date is JULY 25th. That’s right, JULY. (yes, I am shouting). Because this weather, while independently awesome and perfect, is totally messing up my garden. Grumble, grumble, grumble. 

So much to share in the past almost-two months. I will tackle this by category: Dogs, Garden, House.  How have you all been? We’re good. Really.

The Dogs
As you may remember, since my Cinnamon girl crossed the bridge last September, I’ve been angling for a third dog. You know, trolling Facebook and the various Chow rescue group postings, showing Scott pictures, etc. Imagine my surprise when I showed him a couple of pictures and gave him the back story for two chows in rural Illinois, just a few hours away, when he said “should we go do something about it?”. Um, WHAT?

Fast-Forward about 24 hours from that initial moment of disbelief and we suddenly doubled our pack. That’s right, 4 dogs.

Say hello to Mocha and Truffles.

Mocha is a purebred Chow Chow, about 8 years old or maybe a little more. She had a litter of puppies about 3 years ago, and we have Truffles. He is our fist boy! Baby-daddy must have been a black lab, because this guy is so happy, so affectionate, a total love-bug, a power chewer (you lab folks know what I’m talking about!), and very eager to please (read: trainable!!). How exciting, given our last training experience with Miss Nutmeg (You want me to sit? Nope, not happening).

Both were outside pups, so we had to go through all the vaccinations, lots of grooming, and of course, they’re not house-broken. Say hello to my little friend. Not a day goes by where I’m not cleaning up dog pee. Not a day.

IMG_2535

They’re also both heart-worm positive. Mocha is very severely affected, Truffles is mildly affected. They start their shots next week on Wednesday, so please send loads of happy thoughts for Miss Mocha, she is very high risk for complications (aka stroke, heart-attack, death).

Nutmeg is displeased with the new additions, as her role as Alpha-Female has been challenged. Pepper, on the other hand, is in love with the Boy, so she couldn’t be happier (though she could do without Mocha, she gets jealous). Thanks to her, I’m getting some new throw pillows for one of the couches!

Sidebar: Scott has rented a jack hammer and is now tearing up the basement floor. Dislike. The dogs, thankfully, are nonplussed. Meanwhile, my ears are ringing.

The Garden
What a huge disappointment! We have had the most atypical spring and summer, and the impact on everything is shocking. It has rained so much, that since my last post, I have watered my garden exactly 3 times. The leaf rot is out of control, the blossom rot is out of control, and the tomatoes are still green. We have had such cool weather, too. We even had a Polar Vortex in July, the temps dropped to the low-mid 50’s overnight, 60’s in the day. Here in the Chicago area, we’re supposed to be in the 80’s and 90’s. (Don’t get me wrong, I prefer the cooler temps, but this is hugely problematic for the garden).

Having said all that, we did get quite a few radishes, beans, and peas, though the peas are dying off at the moment. The eggplant are producing flowers, but they die, too, so no eggplants, it’s just too cold. Well, that’s not entirely accurate, I’m whining about the awesome Black Beauty variety I planted last year. I did spring for two eggplant plants from the garden place, and those each have an eggplant but they’re a Japanese variety, so they’re small.  We had lettuce for about 3 weeks once it finally grew. Beets and carrots, thanks to the evil squirrels, were all dug up at seed-time (both times) so there are less than a dozen of each to harvest. (No you pests, there are no walnuts in this bed. Stop looking!).

Oh and shallots, well, those did great for us. Onions by seed, not so much. The red onions I planted by starter sets grew nicely, but since I planted beans next to them, I quickly learned about the concept of companion planting and lost about 8 onions due to bean overgrowth. I have harvested potatoes, but not nearly as many as I had anticipated, given that I planted 24 square feet of potatoes.  Zucchini has been decent, but we’re getting one squash for about 10+ blossoms due to the rot. I have had one yellow squash make it, many have just rotted off. We have 3 baby butternut squash growing, so I’m hoping they make it. Cukes, well, they’re slow to show up as well, so if I make any pickles this year, it will be very small batches. New to the mix are peppers, and we have jalapeños galore, a few pepperonis, and gorgeous banana peppers from our neighbors, Suzanne and Rich. Scott tried a pickling recipe with those, and wow, so good. This is coming from a gal who isn’t a pepper person. Perhaps that will change!

NO FRUIT
One of the weirdest things to happen this year is the total absence of fruit. I am talking no fruit. None. Zilch. Only at the grocery store and farmers’ markets. We had that horrible winter, and clearly it has taken its toll. There were cherry blossoms, then cherries, then they all rotted off. Same with the plums: saw a few, then they rotted off. There are no apples or pears on most trees. We had a few black raspberries, but just a few. By the time I was remotely interested in harvesting any, they were all gone. What a bust. The only positive here is that I won’t be baking as much, which is good because I’m not running these days. Whoops…in uploading my photos, I did find the strawberries. We harvested about 10 in our new bed. Aren’t they pretty!

IMG_2362

The House
Ugh. We have our permit, but we have lost our minds. It looks like we are living our very own version of “The Money Pit”. (If you’re not familiar with that movie, it’s a 1986 Tom Hanks and Shelly Long movie about, well, their house being an endless source of repairs and expenses. Hello!).  The bids came in 3 times what we were prepared to spend. When you’re talking all those zeros, that’s a deal breaker. Hence, Scott is in the basement breaking up the floor with a concrete saw and jack hammer. Hence, Scott purchased and put up the silt fencing. Hence, this just became a 20 year project. No seriously. We should be happy, but we feel like we’ve been sucker-punched. Not at all what we were prepared for. I can’t wait for it to be over, and we’re only just getting started.

Posted in Phase II: Going Up, The Dogs, The Garden, The House | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Now That You’re Caught Up….

Posted on May 12, 2014 by Janet Vrasic

Alrighty. Now that you’re up to speed, let me throw some more photos and updates your way.

The Garden
IMG_2303As you know from my last post, the tomato plants are out of control. Well over 24″ at this point, they need to go into the ground. That’s planned for Mother’s Day weekend (May 10/11). Not being able to control myself, I actually planted a few things last weekend (May 3/4) because it was actually nice outside (60+ F). We had 2 yards of garden mix delivered (freshly mixed = stinky poo!), and I spent the day mixing it into the old beds and then shoveling it into the 3 new beds that Scott built. Yay! So, I planted: radishes (2 kinds), carrots (kaleidoscope mix again), beets (2 kinds), lettuce (3 kinds), arugula, spinach, onions (4 kinds), garlic (5 kinds), shallots (1 kind because I thought the red onions were red shallots, oops) and I transplanted both the strawberries and rhubarb into their own 2 x 4 beds.

I just retrieved the seed potatoes out of the pantry to get them on the window, only to discover that they were doing just fine in the pantry and did not need to sit out to “sprout”. Um, yeah. Crazy!

IMG_2315

This weekend, we’re hopefully getting the rest of the items in: eggplant, beans, peas, peppers, potatoes, and, of course, the tomatoes. I still am waiting on the potato bed to be built. At some point, we’ll plant cucumbers and squash, maybe this weekend as well. I’m just not sure.

The House
IMG_1089It occurred to me that I have neglected to provide you with the bathroom photos of the hardware and such. That will be in a gallery below, at the bottom of the post. I have also snapped a few photos of the new exterior elevation design as well as the new floor plan. We are meeting with our architect and contractor next week to review the construction drawings and such, hopefully going out for bid and then permit is on the horizon soon! After all, this is a house-remodel blog!

The Birds and More
DSC_0025In other house-ish news, we are having the best time with our birds and other wildlife. This year, for the first time ever, we have Baltimore Orioles at the house, pictured on the left. (No, not the baseball team, but real birds!!). They are so very beautiful! We also have Rose-breasted Grosbeaks, and a ridiculous amount of Goldfinches. Of course, we have all the other beautiful birdies, too (cardinals, jays, sparrows, robins, nuthatches, house finches, starlings, cow birds, red-wing blackbirds, woodpeckers, doves, hawks….and more!).  Photo credit goes to Scott for this Oriole.

IMG_2298We also have a raccoon. I have named it “Fat Mamma” and it turns out, that she is a female and she is likely pregnant. She has her daily routine, though at first she would come out at 7:15PM, pretty much on the nose. Now we’re seeing her out as early as 4:30PM. I know, I know. A raccoon out in the daylight = crazy or rabid. I think she’s just hungry. (Because she’s a FAT MAMMA. Heh).

Enjoy the photos below. Wishing everyone a very Happy Mother’s Day!

Posted in Exterior Remodel, Interior Remodel, The Birds, The Dogs, The Garden, The House | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Where to Begin….

Posted on May 7, 2014 by Janet Vrasic

Greetings, Friends. It sure has been a long time. I wish I could say I’ve been away on a beach for the past 3 months, but I haven’t. We did get away to Barbados for a week, but we didn’t spend it on the beach, that’s for sure. We spent it under water! Say hello to my little friend, Flounder. Snuck up on the guy (or gal) who was resting on the top of a coral reef, which allowed me to get a) close and b) eye-level shots. A personal best, I believe!

Flounder JVGeneral Update
IMG_1296So what’s new over here….let’s see.  We had ice daming and water leakage in our family room just 3 days before our departure to Barbados; we had a rough time getting to Barbados (Uh, this is your captain speaking….we’re about half-way to Barbados but we need to turn around and land immediately in Miami. You may have heard some of the noises, well, some of the back-up generators have stopped working and we can’t fly over water without all the generators and engines working). 12 hours later….we made it to Barbados, so it was all ok. Plus, we (that would be me) saw seahorses the next day on our special dives (though Scott was sick with a migraine so he didn’t dive). We returned from our trip harried and stressed out due to poor personnel managment and staffing in Charlotte, but we made it home. We also arrived to learn that the Condo Board of one of our properties was planning to adopt a massive, multi-million dollar special assessment, and that essentially took up the next 4 weeks of our lives, wrangling the unit owners, rallying the troops, and putting a stop to the madness. Oh and we overthrew the board, too, so yay. I don’t remember March at all.

Garden
IMG_2262Back in the first week of March, before the insanity, we were able to squeeze in our plantings for the garden. I believe that was the weekend of March 8/9. Scott rigged up this massive, and I mean massive (move the furniture all out of the way kind of massive!) lighting system. We even have a fan going from time to time to strengthen the stems and produce more leaves. (Thank you various pot growers around the world for the advice). Heh. No really. Their websites had some good info. (No, we are not growing pot!). But our plants are out of control. Some of the tomato plants are nearly 18 inches tall….around here we don’t plant until Mother’s Day. Just what the heck are we going to do with them for 2 1/2 more weeks? Oh. My. Gosh! We just don’t know how the weather is going to behave. Speaking of which….

Mother Nature, you’re drunk. Go home.
IMG_2265We’ve had quite the winter as you know, with record snowfall and record low temps. The snow is finally gone. But not to be outdone, Mother Nature dumped 2 inches of snow on us just a few weeks ago. We had frost again just 5 days ago. It has been windy like nobody’s business! What madness! Trees finally have buds, and the tulip trees have bloomed. But I need to get those tomatoes in the ground!

The House
So outside of our water leaking problem, things with the house itself have been status quo. But with regards to the renovations, we are making progress! We have been meeting with our architect, and have redesigned the 2nd floor layout along with the exterior of the house. We are SO excited! We are now getting the construction drawings done, and should hopefully be going out to bid within the next 3 weeks.

Nutmeg

The Dogs
Pepper and Nutmeg are good, mostly. Nutmeg was prominently featured in the promotional materials for the Hound Egg Hunt, so that was neat. They also took lots of photos during the Egg Hunt, and our girls are stars, along with neighbor dog Rex, cousin dog Francie and friend dog Annie. Good times, good times. But not always….the girls got into a tussle about 2 weeks ago, and Pepper needed stitches in her face, poor gal. Nutmeg has some big teeth, almost tore all the way through her cheek. Never a dull moment. Happy to report that Pepper had healed very well, and she had her stitches removed.

I hope to be better at keeping you up to speed. Oh! Wait, I forgot. FOOD!

Fruit Update
Would you believe that I am down to 4 apples left in my fridge? That’s right, just 4. (Yes, I am still talking about last year’s Apple Harvest). I had made a new receipe for apple cake, it was fabulous. Made that a few times, then discovered Apple Dumplings while trolling on AllRecipes.com. Talk about insane. I halved the recipe and pretty much ate the whole thing myself. I should be ashamed, but I am not. I also used up the rest of the frozen cherries from last summer’s bender. I made a neat cherry cream cheese shortbread bar cookie thing. 3 different recipes and then I just punted. Soooooo good. I’m hoping the cherry tree produces this summer, after the wicked winter we just had. Finally, I did use the lemons that our neighbors next door gave us. I made lemon bars. They were divine!

Random garden/snow/dog/plants photos below for you to enjoy.

That’s all for now….

Posted in The Garden, The House, Underwater Photos | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Queen of the Quick Bread

Posted on February 3, 2014 by Janet Vrasic

As we’re getting ready for our first Phase II meeting with our architect tomorrow, not only does that mean design prep, but it means back to baking. Not that the baking ever stopped, it didn’t. But it did get me thinking about the fact that I have really become dependent upon the concept of “quick bread”.

I honestly didn’t know about that term until just recently, when I received a recipe for Cherry Almond Quick Bread. Then I realized, well, I make those all the time, and I should be made Queen. Plus, you’ve already heard about the zucchini bread and the banana bread, so I’ve already established that foundation. So there you have it. Here is a link to the recipes I just posted. Here is a link to the zucchini bread and banana bread I posted last year.

This winter, it has been all about the cranberry-walnut bread, the pumpkin bread, the cherry-almond bread, the eggnog bread, and now the apricot-brandy bread. Soon to be added to that list is an apple-cinnamon bread recipe that was circulating on Facebook, as yes, I still have apples in the fridge. I’m just not motivated to make any more pies at the moment.

Tonight’s endeavor was Apricot Brandy Bread, a recipe torn from the newspaper in 1978 (December 7th, to be precise). I made a batch a few weeks ago, received rave reviews. I can tell from today’s batch that my attempt to substitute oil for applesauce (no applesauce to be found…and I didn’t want to whip up a batch with the apples in the fridge) resulted in a bit of a fail. Smells good, tastes good, not so pretty….meh. Scott liked it, so that’s something.

I don’t have any images of the designs we’ve been working with, but Scott has been magically making revisions to our exterior elevations, so it’s really neat to see options right away (and for free!) to help us determine what we’re going to do. As a reminder, here is a photo of where the exterior elevations/house design ended up last year.

Front of House: Proposed ElevationAs soon as I get the images, I’ll post them. But this is certainly an interesting process….more driving around, more photo-taking, more decisions. Pinterest has been pretty handy, I must say, as has Houzz. So I’m confident we’ll be able to narrow down our ideas and present the architect with good directions.

We’re going with the dark blue cedar shake, lots of white trim, and we’d like to have more of the awesome stone on the front. We also have the massive bow-window, and that entire wall is ultimately the problem, it’s just too wide. Way too wide to do an all-stone, two-story wall on the front. Time to get creative.

I also owe you more bathroom photos, of the hardware we installed. It just looks great, though Polished Nickel is a PAIN IN THE A** to take care of.  Oh, did I shout that? You bet! Between all the minerals in the water and the lack of a cleaning-lady, it has been very challenging to keep spot-free. Great for show, but truly not practical unless you have someone wiping everything down after every single use. Not happening.

Lastly, I did finally get my shelves in the pantry. I have to say, I’m really happy with them. They’re from Williams Sonoma, and I’ve been eyeing them for a long, long time. Some of the boards were warped, which sucks, because someone built everything together so there was no option to whine to WS to get replacement boards. They’re up, they’re not coming down unless I disassemble them. Guess that means I can deal. Thanks to everyone who ever gave me a Williams Sonoma Gift Card!!

Pantry Shelves 1

Pantry Shelves II

Posted in Betty Freakin' Crocker, Exterior Remodel, The House | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Recipes: Quick Breads

Posted on February 3, 2014 by Janet Vrasic

Apricot Brandy Bread (makes 2 loaves)
1/2 c. butter
2 c. sugar
2 eggs
1/2 c. apricot brandy
1 16oz can applesauce
2 1/2 c. sifted AP flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/2 c. dried apricots, chopped/cut into small pieces
1/2 c. chopped pecans (optional)

  • Cream the butter and sugar, add eggs and beat until fluffy.
  • Add applesauce and apricot brandy, mix.
  • Sift together the dry ingredients, add to the batter and mix until combined.
  • Stir in apricots and pecans, if you’re adding nuts (I do not).
  • Pour batter into 2 well-greased and floured loaf pans.
  • Bake at 350F for 50-60 minutes.
  • Check for doneness with a toothpick at about the 50 minute mark. This is a moist bread, so be careful not to overcook it.

Cranberry-Walnut Bread (makes 1 loaf)
2 c. sifted AP flour
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 c. sugar
1 egg
1/4 c. vegetable oil
1/2 c. orange juice
2 Tbsp. hot water (I just use more orange juice)
1 c. raw chopped cranberries (I use a heaping, heaping cup)
1/2 c. chopped walnuts (again, heaping)

  • Chop cranberries
  • In a large bowl, sift all dry ingredients, including sugar
  • In a different bowl, combine egg, oil, orange juice, and hot water.
  • Add the liquid ingredients to the dry ingredients, mixing only to combine.
  • Stir in cranberries and nuts.
  • Pour batter into a greased loaf pan.
  • Bake at 350 for 45-55 minutes, could be longer depending on your oven.
  • Check with a toothpick for doneness around the 45-50 minute mark, just to be safe.
  • Let cool for about 10 minutes in the pan, then turn loaf out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Pumpkin Bread (makes 2 loaves)
3 c. sugar
1 c. vegetable oil
4 eggs
1 can pumpkin
2/3 c. water
3 1/2 c. AP flour
2 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. baking powder
2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. nutmeg
1 tsp. allspice
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground cloves

  • In a large bowl, cream sugar and oil.
  • Add eggs and pumpkin, mix well.
  • Add dry ingredients, alternating with the water.
  • Pour into 2 well greased and floured loaf pans
  • Bake at 350 1 1/2 hrs. or until done.
  • Use toothpick to test for doneness at about the 60-70 minute mark.
  • Let cool for about 10 minutes in the pan, then turn loaf out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Cherry-Almond Bread (makes 1 loaf)
2 c. AP flour
1 c. sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 c. dried tart cherries, chopped (I think I used close to a whole cup)
3/4 c. milk
2 eggs
1 stick unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1 tsp almond extract
**not in the original recipe, but I added about 1/2 c. slivered almonds that I chopped into smaller pieces

  • In a large bowl, sift all the dry ingredients together, including the sugar.
  • In a different bowl whisk the eggs, milk, butter and almond extract together.
  • Add the liquid ingredients to the dry ingredients.
  • Stir in the cherries (and almonds, if you decide to add them).
  • Bake at 350 for 55-60 minutes.
  • Check for doneness with a toothpick.
  • Let cool for about 10 minutes in the pan, then turn loaf out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Eggnog Bread (makes 1 loaf)
3 c. AP flour
1/2 c. sugar
4 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1 egg, beaten
1 3/4 c. dairy eggnog
1/2 c. vegetable oil
1/2 c. pecans, chopped
1/2 c. golden raisins (I did not add these, Scott doesn’t like “cooked raisins”)

  • In large bowl, mix the dry ingredients, including sugar.
  • In a different bowl, combine the egg, eggnog and oil.
  • Add the liquid mixture to the dry ingredients, stirring only until just combined.
  • Stir in the nuts (and raisins).
  • Pour into a greased and floured loaf pan.
  • Bake at 350 for 60-70 minutes.
  • Cover with foil after 50 minutes if bread browns too quickly.
  • Test for doneness at about the 60 minute mark.
  • Let cool for about 10 minutes in the pan, then turn loaf out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Optional drizzle: 1/2 c. powdered sugar + 2-3 tsp. eggnog, stirred together to make drizzling consistency. Add more eggnog if necessary, drizzle over bread.

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Apple Mania and a Few House Notes

Posted on January 27, 2014 by Janet Vrasic

So, on the heels of the pear post and the New Year’s post comes the second apple post. I do actually have a few house updates to get out there as well, so this’ll be a nice mix of food + house. I know, I know, this is supposed to be a house-remodeling blog. I have to write about something while we’re in between the phases!

The apples. The never-ending apples. I’m not complaining, honestly. I’m glad I’m on the receiving end of such bounty. I use them, and it’s like they’re magically reappearing, and I’m not making a dent whatsoever. I was almost out, and I moved the rest of the apples into the fridge. This was probably at the time of the Apple Madness post. But on November 16th, I received the mega-bag of apples from Joe, which I really should have weighed and photographed. Into the garage they went, and that’s where they’ve been. At Thanksgiving, I used 4 cups of the apples in the cranberry sauce; 2 cups in the stuffing, 3 apples in the bird and in the drip pan while roasting, and maybe 8 or 9 in the pie. Still no progress. (That’s pie #8, if your tracking from the previous apple post Apple Madness).

Today I made another pie, the Apple-Cheese pie, which I made at Thanksgiving (the “Johnny Likes It” pie. (#9, and I’m getting very good at the crust part, if I say so myself).

I plan on making the 10th pie for our association meeting this week, and I think that’ll leave just a few in the colander out in the garage. I still have a drawer full in the fridge. I’ll be baking apple pies into 2014. No lie.

Garden Update

It wouldn’t be Chicago unless we had wacky winter weather. Let’s see….we had early October frost, very early November snow, then temps in the 10’s. This is when I attempted to harvest my remaining carrots and radishes for Thanksgiving. Silly me. Then suddenly, like the week after Thanksgiving, we’re having 55 degree days. (WTH!!) Naturally, I trekked up the garden. Those carrots are coming out! And….they did! Looking pretty good, actually. The radishes, all mush and yucky. I guess something ate the beets. I know the squirrels were in there because I found walnuts buried in the beds. Nice!

Also, on the garden front, I forgot to let you know that we finally ate the one Anne Arundel Melon that I picked just after the first frost! It was big-softball size, but totally green. It finally ripened, about a month after I picked it. Yes, I ate it. Scott, being Scott, hates melons. He had a piece the size of a chick pea. He wants to plant them again next year. (Apparently, so I can give them away).

House Updates

IMG_1089Gosh, it has been so long since I posted about the house. We did finally order and install our bathroom hardware. Towel racks and such, along with the cabinet hardware. We hung a few pictures, which I had used in my condo bathroom. Because I used paint colors that I had in previous houses, it meant I could use all my old wall art and other pieces. Plus, I really like some of these things!

Thanksgiving really gave us the motivation to unpack more boxes and hang lots of stuff, so I’m especially happy about that. That, in turn, got us talking about and thinking about Phase II, which is just around the corner. As you may remember, we had our architect draw up floor plans for the 2nd story way back when we started this whole project. We’re both so glad we waited to “go up”, as now that so much time has passed, we have a much better idea of what we want to do upstairs. Just like the first floor plan, Scott and I talked and talked, and Scott drew it up. The architect drew up what we had discussed, and the final outcome is pretty much what we had envisioned.

Now, we independently had ideas as to what we wanted to see upstairs. The other day, Scott has the plans spread out all over the dining room table, and he announces he has redone the upstairs floor plan. (You what?!?!) But once again, we were on the exact same page (freaky, right?!?) without really even talking about it. That’s quite a relief, honestly. One less thing to have to “negotiate”.

As far as the remaining days in 2013 and the other non-poop days in January, we’ve just been decorating for Christmas, making pies, enjoying the snow, riding out Polar Vortex 1 and Polar Vortex 2 (still walking the dogs!), and finally taking the Christmas decorations down.

Posted in Betty Freakin' Crocker, Interior Remodel, The Dogs, The Garden, The House | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

New Year Musings

Posted on January 2, 2014 by Janet Vrasic

Dear 2014:

You have started off a little crappy. Literally. Nothing like kicking off a fresh new year with doggie poop in the fancy new bathroom and shower. White tile, white grout. But it’s all how you look at things, right? I’m not going to take this as a bad sign, or as an indicator of how the year will be. This is a good thing (unpleasant at the time but good in the end). An opportunity to clean things up. Make changes. Do the things that have been put off for months.

Like clean the grout in the shower. I have been staring at the shower floor and just dreading the hours I would spend cleaning it. Pepper called me on my laziness and procrastination, so that shower got cleaned this morning. Well 90% of it, I ran out of the solution and cracked my head on one of the shower valves, so I was definitely calling it. I did finally try the “miracle cleaning solution” that was circulating around Facebook, and I’m happy to report that it actually worked quite well. Recipe to follow at the end of this post.

2014 has great potential. If there is anything we have learned from 2013 is that it’s really up to us to make things happen. Many have lost jobs, found jobs; ended battles with cancer, started battles with cancer; moved to new places, returned to familiar ones. We have lost many good people in 2013, young and old, brothers, sisters, parents, friends, grandparents, and while that happens every year, it seems 2013 was particularly difficult. Many of our pets crossed the rainbow bridge…I know more of us in 2013 that have lost our furry friends that I can remember in the previous 5 years in total. All these things, good and bad, are going to happen. It’s how we look at things, how we react to things, how we absorb and experience things that makes the difference.

As the great Ferris Buehler said: “Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it” (John Hughes, Ferris Buehler’s Day Off“).

I wish you all a fabulous 2014, may all your wishes and dreams come true. But most importantly, may you have the stones to stand up for what you believe in, may you have the courage to be open-minded and respectful of others, and may you have the backbone to accept and love yourself for who you are.

Cheers!!

Oh, and when you need to clean up the crap (light-colored tile grout only, I wouldn’t use this on slate, carpet or wood): 7 cups water, 1/2 cup baking soda, 1/3 cup lemon juice, 1/4 cup vinegar. Mix thoroughly. I just used a cup to pour the solution all over the grout. The post on FB that went around suggested putting it in a spray bottle and then just spraying it where it is needed. That could work, too. I needed to clean a huge space so I did need it to go everywhere. But ultimately use your best judgement and as always, test a small area first and use at your own risk. Not my recipe, so no holding me to anything here!!

Posted in Interior Remodel, The Dogs, The House | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

PEARapalooza

Posted on December 9, 2013 by Janet Vrasic

Who knew pears could be so awesome! I certainly did not. They’re just not a “go-to” fruit for me, never really have been, even though we had two pear trees while I was growing up.  But that’s what friends are for, right? One day, Candy asks “Hey, want some pears?” “Yeah, sure. Why not”. Then, that turned into “Um, hey, got any more pears? I’ve got pear cake for you!” and then again, when I have 6 pears left and I’m feeling really sad and desperate after a not-what-I-expected pear pie:  “Uh, Candy….any chance you have any more pears? Oh you’ll go pick some more for me? YAY! You’re the best. Guess what?? I have pie for YOU!!!”. We meet at Starbucks for coffee, I hand over a slice of pear pie, and walk away with a massive bag of pears. After coffee and catching up, naturally!

IMG_1059Chef Wendi suggested a pear frangipani tart. Sounded complicated, and I was hoping to score her recipe, but the pears were ripening fast, so I went in search of something a little easier. I found a fabulous recipe for pear cake. Made that twice. Then I tried a pear custard pie. I liked it, but Scott felt it was to “eggy” (um yeah, it’s custard). I made it for the office, they liked it as well. But I kept looking. I was into my second bag of pears.

I then found the recipe for “pear butterscotch pie”. LIARS! Not butterscotch. Not. At. ALL. It still was tasty, maybe a little too much nutmeg. It was my first attempt at a double-crust pie, and that turned out quite well. This is where I ended up getting the last mega-bag of pears.

So I made another pear cake (I will share the recipe, I promise) and that is an absolute keeper. (That’s 3 pear cakes, keep up). While Scott was out-of-town, I whipped up another pear custard pie, but with one less egg and quite a few more pears. Oh yeah, it was perfect. I’ll share that recipe, too.

I had just a few left, and I moved them into the fridge because of the apples. With the chaos of Thanksgiving, and the bonus mega-bag of apples (and I mean paper-grocery-bag full of apples), the pears sat in the fridge just until yesterday. I’m happy to report that I was able to get one last pear cake out of them, #4. I am so going to have to start running again.

Who knew pears could be so fantastic? I certainly had no idea. Add “pear trees” to my list of trees I’ll be planting. Good stuff. Enjoy the photos!

Posted in Betty Freakin' Crocker, Interior Remodel, The Garden, The House | Tagged , , , , | 4 Comments