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• Making Home Improvements

  27Oct
  Categories: Announcements Comments: 2

  We’ve been pretty happy with our house since moving in a few months ago. The previous owners took great care of it and seemed to do a lot of work to make it nice. One thing that was lacking was working light in the kitchen. The kitchen just has one ceiling light and that’s it. So, I started looking around at what to do about it, and decided to add some under-cabinet lighting.

  Among the many websites I looked at, this HGtv’s HowTo article is what convinced me that it would be easy and make a great improvement. I also learned about the different kinds of lighting: fluorescent is efficient but not great color — something important when working with food; LEDs are very efficient but you pay a lot for that new technology; halogens have great light but get hot; xenon has the same color as halogen but only gets 1/4 as hot. So, we went to Lowe’s and found a nice looking xenon puck light system.

  First, the “before” picture:

  

  Read more »

  Tags: kitchen, lights

• Uniflame Gold Gas Grill

  16Aug
  Categories: Announcements, Barbeque, Cookware Comments: 3

  I’ve always wanted a nice barbecue, but living in apartments put a damper on that idea for a while. So, since we moved, I’ve been thinking about getting one and watching to see what was available. First, this is what I’ve been cooking on for the past 2-3 years:

  

  It did its job pretty well. You could get it hot, slap some food on it, and it would come out good. But those gas tanks are so small, they only lasted a few weeks when we use it alot. And don’t even get me started about bending down below my knees to cook! Also, its not big enough for a rack of ribs..

  I did some shopping: The cheaper barbeques have smaller grills, usually 2 burners, and put out up to  about 40,000 BTUs. These are the sub-$200 grills, and they usually look the part. They’d certainly get the job done, but if I could get something better, I’m sure I would appreciate it.

  The big grills were anywhere from $200 and up. They have larger grills, 3 or 4 burners, side burners, and put out about 50,000 BTUs. Most come in stainless steel, and some come in colors as well. Different models have various features like the side burners, digital timers, meat thermometers, wood-chip boxes, etc, etc.. So of course I wanted one of those with all the fancy gadgets and gizmos!

  In the course of my web travels, I saw this BBQ at Walmart, that they had just dropped the price on: Walmart.com

  It looked pretty nice: stainless steel, multiple burners, and 68,000 BTUs. It also has a searing burner, a back burner (rotisserie), and storage underneath. Did I mention that it will give off SIXTY-EIGHT-THOUSAND BRITISH THERMAL UNITS. Afterall, you gotta cook with heat.

  A few days later, we went to the local Walmart to check it out. And bought it. The guys at Walmart were nice enough to help us tie it into the trunk — since it wouldn’t fit anywhere in the car! And this is my new BBQ:

  

  

  

  
  

  

  
  

• Kohl’s KitchenAid Sale

  08Aug
  Categories: Announcements Comments: 0

  Kohl’s department store has 25% off KitchenAid cooking accessories. I don’t know how long the sale lasts (probably until tomorrow), so hurry in. I picked up a set of stainless steel measuring cups for $12! Watch the prices though — the measuring cups rang up as $25 even though they were marked at $16. They have spoons, spatulas, graters, and all kinds of gadgets and gizmos too.

  Tags: Kohls, sale

• Is this thing on?

  04Aug
  Categories: Announcements Comments: 1

  Hmm.. no new posts in July. Probably not a good sign. But, now I’ve got a new theme that looks pretty cool. Same old content wrapped up in a fancy new package! I really like the yellow, and a sharp but simple design.

  Living in Arizona is pretty cool! The biggest change food-wise is the fruit. The fruit is really good, and we go to this local fruit market so its really cheap. I think we eat four-times as much fruit since moving here, and we probably spend about half of what we spent before we moved. We can get a box of strawberries for $.33! Also, cherries, watermelon, grapes, and more.

  There’s also a lot of new restaurants to try. There’s most of the usual chain restaurants, but there are also quite a few local restaurants too. I’ve been to 3 new barbeque places that I like: Tom’s, Waldo’s, and Joe’s. For mexican, Serrano’s is pretty good, and Crackers & Co. is my latest discovery. My first time there, I had a prickly pear chicken sandwich — a grilled chicken breast with grilled poblano pepper and prickly pear jelly (cactus). They also make really good burgers. Some unique and new things to try!

  Tags: Announcement, Misc

• We’re Homeowners!

  04Jun
  Categories: Announcements Comments: 3

  We now own a house! Email me for more pics if you haven’t seen it yet.

  Its an 1800 sq. foot, single-level. 3 Beds, 2 baths, and a den. It even has a cactus taller than me!

  Old and busted:

  

  The New HOTNESS!

  

  And then there’s this:

  

• BBQ Wrap-up

  11May
  Categories: Announcements Comments: 1

  Thanks to everyone who came to the barbeque!

  We had a good turn out, and we were glad to see everyone there. The day had great weather, but in the evening, the wind was blowing through the river bottom and made it a bit chilly. Everyone stuck it out for a while, but in the end I think everyone got cold.

  The Zweigles redhots and whitehots were as good as I remembered them. Everyone said they were really tasty too. Only a few people didn’t care for the whitehots but I didn’t hear any complaints about the redhots. We ate 58 hotdogs!

  There was a lot of food overall. We had everything from baked beans to potato salad to fruit salad to chips and dips. Then we had a separate table for the desserts: cookies, rice krispy treats, cinnamon rolls, and my own desserts among other things.

  Here is the recipe for the Butterfinger bars. I’ve already posted the recipe for the smores bars (which got a lot of compliments)

  And the hotdogs were from NY Style Deli. They pack your order in a styrofoam cooler with ice packs, and ship it overnight or 2nd-day.

  Thanks again, and keep in touch!