where dose the time go

So I've been neglecting my blog the past few weeks.  Seems like life has started to get a little on the busy side between a new job and a bunch of things going on the time seems to just vanish.  I do have a bunch of cool things to post here hopefully over the next week or so.

Stay tuned
Drew

Basement bar renovations, part 1.

The basement of our house is partly finished.  In the 60s or 70s the old owners added some walls clad in fake wood paneling along with a drop ceiling.  They also built a bar also clad in the fake wood panels.  The bar frame its self is in good shape and will serve as a base structure for a full rebuild.

The starting point

My plan is to move the bar 90* from where it is now so its in front of the wall  and not the foundation.  Also under the wood paneling is the brick chimney.  I plan on using that as the back wall of the new bar.  I started stripping down the paneling today.  I do have some mortar work to do  to the bricks to fill in some spots but over all the wall is in very good shape for being over 100 years old.

Hopefully tomorrow I'll get the bar stripped down and finish up removing the panels around the brick.

Chicken and salsa

My fiancee, Cassie, came up with this when we were moving from Florida to PA and trying to clean out the fridge.  Its super simple quick and easily adjustable to your heat comfort level.  This is one of my favovite things to make.

Chicken and salsa

Recipe:

2 boneless chicken breasts

1 16oz jar of salsa

1/2 a lime

Rice

1/4 of a sweet pepper

Sour Cream

Cooking

Start cooking the rice per directions.  I like to use Near East's Spanish rice blend.  Then add the jar of  salsa to a deep pan over medium heat.  I normally use a medium chunky salsa but you can pick your poison here and make it as hot or mild as you like.

Next cut the chicken into chunks and toss into the cooking salsa.  Stir often.  Then add the juice from half of a lime, about 2 oz or so and some chopped sweet pepper.  Normally I use just a quarter of a green or red pepper.  Once the chicken looks nice and white turn the heat to low and stir occasionally.

When the rice is done turn the off the chicken and salsa pan.  Plate the rice first then add the chicken and salsa mixture top with sour cream.  For a little crunch you can also add some corn chips on the side.  Enjoy

Working on the kitchen

So our kitchen is old but not original old.  My guess based on some of the other stuff that was done to the house is that the kitchen was put in in the early to mid 60s.  Thankfully the appliances were installed by the previous owners and they also tiled the floor.  While we would love to redo the kitchen over with new cabinets counter tops excreta its just not in our financial means right now.  So we're trying to make do with what we have until we can redo it the way we would like.

The kitchen its self is a good size 13 by 10 roughly.  However with the door to the back yard and garage on one wall and a small hallway to a powder room on the other the usable space gets a lot smaller.  When we moved in the exhaust fan over the stove wasn't working 2 of the 4 drawers were broken and the lazy Susan was stuck closed.

What we started with.

Luckily I've spent my whole life in and around the building trades first with my dad growing up then in my working career in various trades so we don't need to call people in to do things around the house.  First order of business was replacing the vent hood.  Next up was replacing the broken drawers.  My dad was able to find the same style drawer slides that were in the cabinets and built me replacement boxes.  I just swapped over the drawer face and pull.  We're also not huge fans of the yellow walls in the kitchen so today I painted one of the walls red to see how we like the color and to act as an accent wall.  We're still undecided on what to paint the rest of the kitchen.  I'd love to hear your ideas

The red back wall.  Still needs another coat 

The new drawer box

The kitchen as of today

Ham with Montreal smashed potatoes

Last weekend while grocery shopping there was a sale on small 2 pound hams.  Simple toss it in the oven for an hour no work mid week type meal.  Severed it with steamed broccoli and my own Montreal smashed potatoes.  The idea for the potatoes came from a local Erie restaurant, Bertrand's Bistro.  Over the summer we they had a roasted Montreal seasoned potato choice with dinner.  I'm a big fan of smashed potatoes so I took the seasoned roasted potatoes from Bertand's and gave it my own spin.

Montreal Smashed Potatoes.

3 to 4 quarterd yellow potatoes

1 table spoon of butter

2 table spoons of half and half

Montreal steak seasoning to taste 

Cook the potatoes in water until soft then drain.  Add butter half and half and a few dashes of the Montreal seasoning.  Smash the potatoes and add in more seasoning if desired.

Wednesday soups, beef barley.

Wednesdays are soup days.  My fiancee has a work related class and a problem to solve every week with a small group of co-workers.  Often she has no idea when she can run home quick for dinner so I tend to make some sort of crock pot based soup.  That way its ready when ever she can come home.  Once i get a few more typed up I'll have a section on the top for Wednesdays soups.  This week I made a an easy crock pot beef barley.

Crock Pot Beef Barley.

Ingredients

2 Quarts of beef broth

6 oz can of tomato paste

1 cup of barley

A couple of potatoes cubed

1/2 to a pound of beef cut into cubes

chopped mixed vegetables.

Salt and pepper

I normally start out with the beef broth and tomato paste in the crock pot on low while I get everything else ready.  Add in the barley and potatoes.  I used 2 white potatoes washed then cubed, I like the skin of the potato so I don't peal them.  Next add in the beef.  Ended up using some stir fry beef strips that I cut into rough cube strips.  I always try to keep a bag of frozen mixed veggies in the fridge for soup.  Open the bag and pour them in.  I'll also add whats ever in the fridge either fresh or left overs.  This soup got a carrot some celery and fresh green beans along with some tex-mex corn mix left overs.  Stir everything together with a good helping of salt and pepper.  Leave on low for 6-8 hours and enjoy.

Cheater Chili

Nothing beats a warm bowl of chili cooked in a crock pot for a few hours on a mid winter's day.  Now I'll admit I cheat and use Bear Creek's "darn good" chili mix as a base.  I'll add a pound of browned ground beef a chopped green pepper garlic and some crushed red pepper.  Throw it in the Crock-pot for 6-8 hours and enjoy.

Ingredients for my cheater chili

1 package of Bear Creek "darn good" chili mix

1 pound of browned ground beef

(cooked with slat fresh black pepper and a clove of garlic)

1 small can of tomato paste

1 chopped green pepper

1 clove of garlic

couple shakes of crushed red pepper

Stir together and cook on low for 6-8 hours.

Serve with your choice of cheese and sour cream.

forgotten wardrobe

The family we bought our house from were great people.  They left a bunch of items behind that they had no use for in their new home and instead of hitting the dumpster they offered them to us.  One of the pieces the left was an old small simple wardrobe.  It had been painted white at some point in its life and the bottoms of the legs have seen better days.  The rest of the piece is still in good shape under the paint. I plan on getting the paint stripped off and give it a little restomod flair with new pulls and a new hanger rod.  Not 100% sure one how we'll use it yet but got a few ideas.

4 square 411

You may ask what is an American 4 Square?  Well its a style of home built from the 1890s-the 30s that were often square to make the best use of smaller city building lots.  They were some of the first houses built with a more open floor plan compared to the traditional and Victorian style homes.  The square shape allowed for larger rooms on the first floor and the upstairs the bedrooms tended to be build off a center hallway.  The attic space tended to be open with dormers on the sides.  They also tended to feature handcrafted wood work and built in features.

Our 4 square was built in 1905 on the lower east side of Erie, PA.  Unlike many of the homes from this era this one kept many of its as built 1905 features on the first floor.  Solid oak floors with oak panels on the walls along with a large built in oak chest in the dining room.  The first floor also has large bay windows that let a large amount of light into the living room.  The dining room enteranc is framed by 2 large columns creating and open feel.

Please pardon the mess I'll get better photos soon.  most were taken while we were still moving in.

The front entrance and stair case.  The small oval window is stained glass.

The living room and fire place

Looking into the living room from the dining room

The built in hutch in the dining room

Beginnings

We all need to start somewhere.  I decided to follow my good friend Steph @http://www.neverthesamespicetwice.com and jump into this blogging thing.  So welcome to life in an American 4-square I'm your host Drew.  My wonderful fiancee, Cassie and I purchased this wonderful 1905  American 4-square style home in August.  This is our adventure in home ownership cooking and life in general.

Sit back, grab a drink and enjoy the ride.

Welcome to Life in an American 4-Square