Finally Done

So I had the bright idea of refinishing this hutch that the prior owners had left in the dining room. I thought it would take me the better part of one weekend to finish it and that it would be relatively easy. Well, approximately 3 weekends later (and so many trips to Home Depot that I can't count), I am finally done. I had to remove all the doors, glass, and hardware and then sand the entire thing. Then I had to prime all of the pieces, sand again, and then start on the paint. I had the whole thing painted after the first weekend and thought I was home free. Apparently this thing was built in 1825 (slight exaggeration) because I couldn't find any new silver hinges to replace the old ones, and none of the new cabinet hardware worked either. So, we spent the next two weekends drilling new holes and spray-painting some of the hardware. Here are some pictures:

And finally...FINISHED:

In other news, we tried two new Bobby Flay burgers -- the Trattoria burger and the Wild Mushroom burger. These were very different, but also very good. The Trattoria burger was very fresh and a little light (if that is possible for a burger), while the wild mushroom and cheddar burger was much more decadent.































The Trattoria Burger (basil, mozzarella, tomato, and balsamic vinaigrette) and the Wild Mushroom and Cheddar burger...pretty much speaks for itself.


Reggie got a nice surprise last weekend -- my mom sent him a few things to get ready for football season. He was nice enough to pose for you:







































So I may be a bit biased, but the A&M ones are my favorite - eat your heart out Reveille (for those of you who don't know...Revellie is A&M's mascot and an American Collie). Please note in the other A&M photo, Reggie is giving his best gig 'em (another A&M tradition).

Coming soon...

For the 4 people who read this...I promise I have a post coming soon!

Another weekend of food

Well this weekend was much like our last. We ate lots of good food and worked on the house. We started the weekend off with taking Reggie to play frisbee. Then we grilled some brauts on Friday night. Derek subsequently threatened to sue Johnsonville (and give up brauts forever) because he burned himself while eating a braut (imagine Seinfeld episode here). He quickly got over it and ate a braut for lunch the next day, so I guess all is forgiven.

Saturday, Derek had a new, new personal best on the golf course (see post below) and shot a 74. I began work on the dining room (because the slipcovers look so good, the rest of the room had some catching up to). As you can see from the pictures in the last post, the previous owners had a wallpaper border that resulted in a weird geometric shape of paint left on the wall once I got all of the paper off. We then primed the wall where the paper was and proceeded to paint the whole room -- it looks great! It was a little scary getting some of the corners (see photo below), but it was worth it. We also installed a new light fixture in the guest bath, and I started sewing the curtains for the dining room (picture to be posted later).

We also tried out hamburger number 2 from the Bobby Flay book. This time it was the Bolo Burger. This consisted of an aioli (mayonaise, roasted poblano peppers, garlic, paprika, salt and pepper in the food processor), manchego cheese (first time I've had this...definitely getting it again), and ham all on the burger. I didn't think it would be possible to outdo the Sante Fe, but apparently this Bobby Flay guy knows what he is talking about...the hamburger was AWESOME! We also made some steak fries (also from the book), which were just chunky russet potato pieces grilled. For dessert we grilled some peaches, and then sauteed some brown sugar, butter, cinnamon, and vanilla and drizzled it on the peaches. I'm pretty sure I am still full from this meal. I will need to run approximately 25 miles every day this week to work that off. Totally worth it.

Bolo Burger with Grilled Steak Fries.

Grilled Peaches with Sweet Sauce.

Derek painting the ledge in the dining room.

That's a picture beneath the ledge...it's probably 25ft...looks much scarier in real life.

Me beginning the curtains.

Kirk putting up the curtain rods. (P.S. Kirk has been working at the White House this week...yep, the actual White House...he has pictures right next to the front door and got to walk around the kitchen!)

Good Food and Good Company

This is a little out of date, but last weekend both my mom and dad flew up to hang for a few days. Friday night, we headed out to Uno Chicago Pizza for happy hour and pizza and then continued the party at our house. Let's just say cigars and cigarettes were involved along with some good beer and a tribute to some great country music.

On Saturday, my mom and I headed out on our great fabric search. Part of the reason my mom decided to come up was to help with sewing some chair covers for our dining room chairs. When we moved into our house, the previous owners left their entire dining room furniture for us. And while I wouldn't necessarily have chosen this type of furniture, it was FREE and we didn't have to move anything. To make it look a little more like our style, I thought it would be a good idea to make slipcovers for the chairs. Well, Saturday was quite disappointing...4 fabric stores and nothing. Derek and my dad, however, had much more luck on the golf course. Derek had a personal best with a 76 on the course and my dad had a great game too.

Saturday night we started the great hamburger feast. My mom and dad got Derek the new Bobby Flay cookbook, titled, "Burgers, Fries, and Shakes." After a lot of deliberation, we selected the Sante Fe burger, which consisted of a homemade queso, with roasted poblano chiles and crumbled blue corn tortilla chips placed on top of the burger. One word. Amazing. Wow. We also had grilled corn on the cob, and for dessert, baked pears with North Dakota pear wine.

Sunday was much more productive in terms of sewing. We successfully found fabric and my mom created her own pattern for the chaircovers...pretty impressive. We all hung out for a while before taking my dad to the airport. My mom stayed for a few more days, and spent pretty much the entire time sewing the slipcovers -- she may never want to come visit us again after that! The chaircovers look amazing! She also made some tasty grilled shrimp and salmon on Tuesday night with my absolute favorite...peach cobbler. (I'm beginning to realize that it probably sounds like all we do is eat, drink, and do home stuff, which is actually correct....oh well, such is our life.)

Thanks Mom and Dad for a great weekend!

Here are some pics...

The Sante Fe Burger.

Fun times with the parental units.

Reg loves it when Grandma and Grandpa visit.

Baked pears with vanilla bean (I'm still bitter that we can't get Blue Bell here).


Here are the chairs before the covers.

Mom sewing away.


The chair covers!

We are going to refinish that hutch black to match the table


I made Reg some Frosty Paws -- dog "ice cream" with banana, honey, peanut butter and yogurt. My dad ate the leftovers.

The peach cobbler