Canning Adventure: Part 1

Before I left on my hiatus, I took advantage of my new stove and my pressure canned that I had yet to use.  If you'll remember back to the winter when I had the grand idea to can my own chicken stock, bought all the supplies, including a pressure canner, then realized that I couldn't use on our old and busted stove.

A quick review of the steps to create stock.

Step 1: Eat the protien.
For chicken stock I use the bones from a whole chicken or save the tips from chicken wings and roast them.
For shrimp stock I save the shells.
For veggie stock, you would save the trimmings from veggies.
For beef stock you need beef bones.
Step 2: Bring to a boil and simmer for hours, with aromatics.
Aromatics such as celery, carrots, onions, garlic, herbs, etc.
Step 3: Strain
I use a colander for the big pieces.
Then cheesecloth for the smaller pieces. I use an elastic to keep the cheesecloth on the top of a pitcher, this way I know how much stock I have and its easy to pour back into the pot. (The dish is to catch the drips)

Check back later for the rest of the story.

Whoops!

Did I forget to mention that I was leaving The Adventure for a few weeks?  Sorry about that.  I've been here:

Hanging out with my Nana, who at 90 is amazing.  Also with my cousins and Goddaughter and assorted other family. Kenny also learned how to swim.

I have lots of things to share from before and after my hiatus so stay tuned.

Dining Room Make-Over: Source List

I realized yesterday while I was looking things over that I forgot to source anything/everything I used in the dining room make over.  Or explain how I came to my choices. I have to give credit to my cousin Laura, she used a black toile in the dining room of her first house and I loved it.  Therefore, it's been floating around in the back of my brain for the past seven or eight years.  I knew that I wanted to stay true to the era of the house, replace the wall paper above the chair rail, use a darker color on the bottom and keep the light fixture.  I was also on the lookout for a sideboard/buffet that we could use a liquor cabinet, as the Christmas Tree Shoppe bookcase just wasn't cutting it. 

I was talking it over with my mom one day and looking at wallpaper patterns online and she suggested emailing her cousin John, who often helps with her decorating conundrums.  He sent back many ideas and the one which immediately popped was "Country Toile" in blue by Waverly. Hello toile!  It was just the license I needed to go for it, he liked it because it complimented my dinning set.  The blue however wasn't in the neutral theme that I wanted to be in and I was positive that Bruce wouldn't be on board.  I searched the Waverly website and found that the pattern came in many colors and decided that linen on white would work

Then came the bad news, it was discontinued.  I scoured the internet with no luck, so back to Waverly and retailers in my area, YES! My paint store sells Waverly wallpapers. I practically ran to the store, Beverly at my Painter's Supply made some calls and found it, I immediately ordered it.   

When I picked it up she seemed very impressed at my pick then helped me with some paint chips that might match it.  After much indecision and we decided on the wall color, trim color, and color for the interior wall of the China cabinet.

Three days before the planned wallpapering date my mom called and texted and photo messaged me, frantic. "I found this sideboard at this antique shop in Hanover it matches your dinning set PERFECT."  Photos were included.  Happy Graduation, she bought it for us!

So that's the story of our dining room make-over. The End.

Source List:
Wallpaper: Country Toile in linen, by Waverly (yes it was expensive)
Wall Color: Sherwood Tan (Benjamin Moore Natura, Eggshell finish)
Trim Color: White Blush (BMN, semi-gloss) - this also went on the bench Bruce built for the breezeway
China Cabinet Wall Color: Lambskin (BMN, - semi-gloss)
Curtains & Rods: Target
Table Cloth: Food Network Crossroads (Kohls) - absolutely amazingly stain resistant, microfiber so spills just bead up and can be wiped away! Thanks mom!
Vase: hobnail milk glass - goodwill
Votive holders - Walmart seasonal department (bought around easter)

Weekend Adventure: Hazmat drop-off.

As many of you know, our house was not quite "empty" when we purchased it.  The former owners were also former owners of the town hardware store, so we acquired a lot of stuff with the house, some good, some bad, some indifferent.  There was a lot of questionable old paint and cleaning products, some things we weren't even sure of their origin. We had the potential to blow up.  This photo show one of the places in the house where these things were stored, there were spots!

In New Haven county (were we live) the regional water authority offers free drop off of scary household chemicals, also waste oil and antifreeze.  So Saturday morning we loaded up the big red truck and headed down!  It took us at least an hour to get everything from the basement and garage, and it took them almost as long to unload it.

It is such a relief to know that all those hazardous chemicals are not longer lurking in the basement and garage.  It also gives use more space to organize and store our own tools and project supplies!

Dining Room Make-Over

My main mission before the party at which we celebrated my graduation/our housewarming, was to re-wallpaper the dining room.  Half the readers gasp in horror, whatever wallpaper has its place.  Here are a few photos of the dining room before and while we were moving in and getting settled.

This was and has always been one of my favorite features of the house.

Original light fixture, I always liked the crystal but it definetly needed some help.

And of course the original switchplate, just like the one in the half bath.

The mess while we were getting settled.

This was our first dinner in the dining room, with Bruce's parents the weekend they came down to help us with cleaning.

Shannon came and helped take down the wallpaper, which came down surprisingly easy.  The former owners were smokers and the paste behind the paper was brown from absorbing years of tobacco smoke (the stains are visible in the first photo). I washed, sanded, filled holes, primed then my mom came down for a few days to help hang the wallpaper.  It took two full days to do, I then painted under the chair rail, trim, and china cabinet.

My mom picked up a sideboard which matched our dining set, she and her cousin John picked up the curtains and rods, and table cloth. That table cloth is amazing, it's microfiber and doesn't stain!

I painted the back walls of the china cabinet with the lightest shade from the paint chip that the color from below the chair rail came from.  I also painted the outside and the shelves of the china cabinet the trim color.  I switched out the knobs for some clear acrylic knobs and spray painted the screws to match the light. I didn't get the top door on the cabinet until last week, it was very time consuming to paint!

I painted the radiator the same color as the trim, by first using a spray paint primer then a foam roller with the trim color. I love the way it turned out, I stayed true to the house by keeping the original light fixture and switch but now it's updated and clean!

The Big Reveal!

We got new appliances!!! Stainless Steel fridge, dishwasher, and double-oven stove! I love them all and they were such an upgrade from the 80's appliances.

Just as a reminder here are a few photos of the "old kitchen"

These are photos I took during our home inspection over a year ago!

And of course one of the first things we did was to pull down the curtains and clean up! To open up the kitchen a bit we decided to change the location of the fridge and we put the butcher block where the "old" fridge was.

We placed our new shiny fridge in this corner, I don't think that this table is the right fit here, but it's what we have for now. We're planning big things for this corner when we renovate the kitchen.

I love our new stove, the only way I could love it more is if we had gas.  Due to the double oven, Bruce had to run bigger wire and replace the outlet for the stove.  I only partially understand it so I'm not going to try to explain it!

The dishwasher proved to be more difficult than anticipated. Bruce had to sawzall off the legs of the old dishwasher, then once it was out and disconnected we discovered that the hot water for the kitchen sink was plumbed through the dishwasher! Hence doing dishes in the bath tub. The cabinets required some minor adjustments to allow the new dishwasher to fit, and in truth it's not quite flush with the counter.  But for now it's awesome.

What did we get:

GE 22 cu" French Door, Bottom Freezer with built-in ice maker (line for icemaker not run yet)

GE Adora electric stove with double oven

Maytag Dishwasher - with time delay, and heat-dry controls (I like to avoid using the heat-dry when I'm home, I just open up the dishwasher, give the racks a shake and let the dishes air dry)

Deals:

All appliances were purchased at The Home Depot, with free delivery and haul away.

GE was offering free stainless steel upgrades on all their appliances. - fridge and stove

The Home Depot was offering 10% off all Energy Star rated appliances. - fridge and dishwasher

Working Around It

So what do we know about the BIG delivery? We needed a bigger outlet, seen here. Bumpa's butcher block was refinished and moved around in the kitchen, seen here.  And Bruce had a few things to do before everything was operational!

Another outlet added, photographed below in the early stages.

And some dysfunction of the household.  Don't worry I did these dishes in the tub!

Come back tomorrow for the BIG reveal of the BIG delivery!