Home Sweet Home - Stairs

I've been pretty neglectful of the work needing to be done on the stairs. They still aren't done, but now they are on my almost done list instead of my to do list. They've come a long way from their original condition. We were going to carpet them with the rest of the upstairs but did not like the price tag so we opted to stain and paint them once we saw that the wood underneath was in good condition. It's been fun to take on home improvement projects and see the final results. Well, really it's just more fun to look at the after pictures and just tiring during the process.

Mmm looks real clean right? Cat hair central.

Our stairs were furry like a muppet monster, but not in a cute way

Goodbye carpet. Hello cat hair in the air!

Justin makes ripping out this carpet look easy. But it was not. The little sticks attached to my body couldn't even come close to helping. Thank goodness for my awesome husband!

3 months later...
Pull out staples, sand, vacuum, wipe, stain, finish, sand, wipe, finish, prime, spackle, sand, vacuum, wipe, paint! Just 15 easy steps!

Nadine started the handiwork

Almost there

Maybe someday I will finish...

Still on the to do list is to finish the railing then paint the tops and bottoms of the spindles. Another project is tackling the upstairs railing that you see in the first picture. I'm really looking forward to having that done, but not so much doing it!

Home Sweet Home - The End (Almost)

Last week we spackled, sanded and primed. This week we finished painting. What a relief! Observe the finished results. Of course we still have a bit left to do like finish the railings and stairs, but I'd say our house is now ready for a home study!

Before...obviously

After!

This room just keeps changing

Home Sweet Home Days 3-9

 Progress on the house goes slow on the weekdays, but we were able to get a lot done over the weekend. After many long hours/days we've finished all the wallpaper paste scraping at last! The living and dining rooms are also finished except for a few final touches. We're now trying to tackle some upstairs projects like carpet removal before we get our new carpet in on Thursday. We were waiting for it to cool off before moving anything in, but it looks like that just will not happen. Luckily we had a cool day (87) today and moved a few things in.

Carpet

Carpet-Be-Gone

Before

After!

Jalapeño poppers are a little taste of heaven in my belly

I have a list of recipes that I want to make so I decided that I should try a new one every weekend. This weekend we made jalapeño poppers to go with a really good buffalo chicken wing recipe we found a while back. (This meal was definitely not healthy but soooo so good!!!)

It's also more fun to pretend you are hosting your own cooking show while you prepare your treats.

Filling the jalapenos

Ready to fry!

chef Justin 

Tasty perfection!

Naughty sparky thought he should have some too.

These jalapeno poppers were so good! This recipe was definitely a keeper!

Ingredients

·         12 ounces cream cheese, softened

·         1 (8 ounce) package shredded Cheddar cheese

·         1 tablespoon bacon bits

·         12 ounces jalapeno peppers, seeded and halved

·         1 cup milk

·         1 cup all-purpose flour

·         1 cup dry bread crumbs

·         2 quarts oil for frying

Directions

1.      Blanch your peppers to desired tenderness (I would also salt the water or your poppers won't be salty enough)

      In a medium bowl, mix the cream cheese, Cheddar cheese and bacon bits. Spoon this mixture into the jalapeno pepper halves.

2.      Put the milk and flour into two separate small bowls. Dip the stuffed jalapenos first into the milk then into the flour, making sure they are well coated with each. Allow the coated jalapenos to dry for about 10 minutes.

3.      Dip the jalapenos in milk again and roll them through the breadcrumbs. Allow them to dry, then repeat to ensure the entire surface of the jalapeno is coated. This double coating and drying is important!

4.      In a medium skillet, heat the oil to 365 degrees F ( 180 degrees C). Deep fry the coated jalapenos 2 to 3 minutes each, until golden brown. Remove and let drain on a paper towel.

This recipe for buffalo chicken wings is also amazing if you are interested (you don't have to use as much butter as they say). Tastes just like Buffalo Wild Wings!

Ingredients

·         1/2 cup all-purpose flour

·         1/4 teaspoon paprika

·         1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

·         1/4 teaspoon salt

·         10 chicken wings

·         oil for deep frying

·         1/4 cup butter

·         1/4 cup hot sauce

·         1 dash ground black pepper

·         1 dash garlic powder

Directions

1.      In a small bowl mix together the flour, paprika, cayenne pepper and salt. Place chicken wings in a large nonporous glass dish or bowl and sprinkle flour mixture over them until they are evenly coated. Cover dish or bowl and refrigerate for 60 to 90 minutes.

2.      Heat oil in a deep fryer to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). The oil should be just enough to cover wings entirely, an inch or so deep. Combine the butter, hot sauce, pepper and garlic powder in a small saucepan over low heat. Stir together and heat until butter is melted and mixture is well blended. Remove from heat and reserve for serving.

3.      Fry coated wings in hot oil for 10 to 15 minutes, or until parts of wings begin to turn brown. Remove from heat, place wings in serving bowl, add hot sauce mixture and stir together. Serve.

Ice Storm