Landscape upkeep: Backyard

So far, we've just begun with what needs to be done in the backyard. 

Over grown flower bed, uneven fire pit, a lot
of over growth

 HELLO WEEDS AND LAYERED TREES!

We are very slowly getting there... I've redone our one flower bed back there so it's not overgrown and full of weeds, we've taken a tree out (thanks Tyler!!) and have been doing a lot of trimming and removal of small trees - for some reason, people previous to us had planted tree, on top of tree, on top of tree so they're all growing on top of each other and there's no space between them... Needless to say, we're getting there.

Here's a few of our photos of progress:

Overgrowth being trimmed...

Progress!

Filed with rock from other beds, pavers
are leveled out, weeds and sticks
thrown INTO fire pit

Existing flowers moved, new flowers planted,
mulch thrown down

Rocks and weeds removed, dirt cleaned up,
will rearrange existing flowers

Landscape upkeep

When we moved in, all of our flower beds were overgrown and not in real good shape... I don't have any photos on the "before" for the front yard but have a preview of what it looked like in the back - which is all very similar. 

We did a lot of weeding, rock picking, paver leveling, and planting. Used different sprays, preen to prevent more weeds, mulch, and bought  A LOT of perennials so we just need to take care of the up keep each year - hopefully next spring isn't so time consuming :)

Front yard: 

The front isn't quiet done as you can see - a lot of overgrowth also meant a lot of weeds. Currently tackling those, filling weed spots bit by bit, and doing a lot of fertilizing. The two trees in front are slowly dying, so next year we will be taking those out, replacing, and redesigning some of the pavers/replacing them with something a little more nice than cinder block pavers. 

Enjoy!

e.l.l

Living Room Renovation: Part 3

Part 3 is our last and final reno for the living room space - there's a few more finishing touches I'd like to do and we'll get around to doing, but for now, I LOVE the space and spend a lot of time in this room... 

All of the pieces that are tired together from our few years of living together and can be found here:

Side tables: Brownie Furniture

Entertainment center: Slumberland furniture

Couches: Parents

Chair: Slumberland

Lamps: Home goods

Mirror: Home goods

Baskets: Michaels

Ceramic Pots: West Elm

 
 

Enjoy!

e.l.l

Living Room Renovation: Step 2

Next step: Paint!

It's amazing how much a fresh paint job can do for a room - especially when you're starting with fairly white walls. We looked and debated for a long time what color to do on the walls - the ceilings in the living room walls don't have any corners so we didn't have the opportunity to do any accent walls - one solid color is all that we can make sure (although I have thought about painting the ceilings; Allan isn't too keen on that idea...) 

Supplies:

- Behr Brown Teepee pain

- Brushes

- Rollers

-Tape

- Canvas drop sheets

- Trim glider

- Step stool 

Before photos:



 

You'll have to check back for the next post to see all of the after photos - I forgot to take some after photos with the empty room - whoops! - but I promise there will be another post soon with the finished look with our new carpet!!

Enjoy!

e.l.l.

Living Room Renovation: Step 1

As promised (a few months ago...) it's time to start showing off some of the work that we've been doing in the house!

We decided to start in a room that we're knew we'd be spending most of our time in - with each other, family and friends. After shampooing our living room carpet (multiple times) it  became pretty clear we weren't going to get the dark, dirt embedded square out of the center of the room and it was time to replace it, open up the entry way by tiling it so people aren't walking in on nice carpeted floors, and it could use a real good paint job (the trim is next on the list for painting, but for now, we're trying to enjoy the last of our warm weather!). 

Materials:

- Ceramic tiles

- Cement backer board

- Thin set

- Drywall screws

- Grout mix 

- Spacers

- Mixing bucket

Tools:

- Power drill

- Trowels (2)

- Tile saw

- Sponge

- Rubber grout float

This project took about two weeks - not because it was real grueling, but on days that it rained we focused on inside work and of course once we started this project, the beautiful weather kicked in! We looked at a few different DIY tutorial and talked with my dad who just finished some tile work at home too - this was the DIY tutorial we followed most closely:

http://www.thisoldhouse.com/toh/how-to/step/0,,221776_156354,00.html

Here's the step by stop process in photos:

Previous carpeted floor

Our nice surprise!

Tile lay-out process

Tile lay-out process

Spaced out tiles

Finished product... Could not be happier with it! Especially with our fresh walls, new carpet, and decor! --- That post will be next ;)

 

Our "to-do" list is still about a mile long, but this project was great to do together and I am so looking forward to turning the rest of our house into our "own" with the help of our family :)

enjoy

e.l.l.

Lasagna Rolls

 Tonight's dinner was quick and easy! Not to mention delicious :)

Start by boiling your lasagna noodles till they're tender and able to be rolled without breaking

While you're noodles are cooking mix the following - serving size will vary on the number of rolls you're making:

- Ricotta cheese - Asiago cheese

- Parmesean cheese - Fontina cheese

- Cottage cheese - Spinach, sliced

- Pepper - Salt

- Oregano - Basil

- Garlic - 1 Egg

 Mix all of these together util mixed well

Once noodles are soft, removed from water and let dry on a CLEAN kitchen towel, begin the rolling process when cool.

When noodles are cool, spoon and spread cheese mixture over noodles in a thin or thick layer - depending on how many you want to make with your cheese mixture - I boiled 10 noodles and only ended up using 6 of them :)

Roll your noodles and place them in the pan with the seam at the bottom - this way it won't unroll itself while in the oven.

Bake at 400* until cheese is melted and golden to your desire - the noodles are already cooked so you don't need to worry about them!

Enjoy!

e.l.l.

Easter Dinner

During my last few weeks of class, one of the assignments we needed to complete was a "Legacy Project". For this project, I shared with my professor one of my hobbies - which is cooking. We had spent the Easter weekend in Duluth with friend and put together a pot luck style dinner while hosting at our house. I figured since I've already written all of this out for an assignment, it's easy enough to throw it together  for a blog. I know I've been MIA for a bit - in the past few months, we've been in the process of buying a housing, packing, traveling to see family, Allan's finished his Master's degree and taken his board exam, and I'm in the last week of class. SOON your feed will be blown up with house projects (fingers crossed!), but till then - Prepare yourself for a long post - here's the pieces we put together for the Easter dinner :)

Whole chicken

1 whole chicken

Garlic

Lemon

Onion

Salt

Pepper

Butter

*Brine the chicken in a salt/water combination for a few hours prior to cooking

1. Make sure the whole chicken is clean and dried

2. Separate the outside skin from the chicken

3. In between the chicken and its skin, place sliced lemon, onion, and garlic

4. Place lemons and onions in the cavity of the chicken

5. Apply to your likening, salt and pepper

6. Brush with butter

The chicken can be placed on a grill that’s been preheated to 350* - Cook the chicken till the recommended temperature

7. Serve :)

Small Ham

1 small ham

Course brown mustard

3 cups Chicken stock

½ cup Brown sugar

½ cup Water

2 oranges

1 lemon

2 onion

Salt

Pepper

Roasting pan

1. Glaze- Combine the zest of an orange and lemon, the juice of the orange and lemon, brown sugar, and water in a pot. Bring to a simmer and add the amount of course brown mustard to your liking

2. In the bottom of your roasting pan, add the chicken stock, a sliced onion, sliced orange, and sliced lemon

3. Score crosshatches in the ham. Brush the top of the ham with 1/3 of the glaze. Cover with foil and bake for 1 hour.

4. Remove foil, brush with half of the glaze and bake for another hour.

5. Baste the ham with some of the chicken stock mixture from the bottom of the pan and pour the rest of your glaze, back till the temperature of the meat reaches 155*

6. Serve :)

Au Gratin Potatoes

8 potatoes

¾ cup Cheddar cheese

¾ cup Parmesan cheese

Salt

Pepper

1 cup heavy cream

Nutmeg

Fresh thyme

Cupcake pan - greased

1. Peel your potatoes

2. Slice potatoes evenly

3. Shred cheese if bought whole

4. In a pot, combine cream, nutmeg, thyme, salt, and pepper and bring to a simmer

5. Once cupcake pan in generous greased, begin layering:    

            - Potatoes

            - Cheese mix

            - Potatoes

            - Cheese mix

6. Portion the cream into each cupcake tin

7. Bake in a 400* preheated oven until potatoes are tender and bubbling and the top is golden brown.

8. Let stand for 15 minutes – each cupcake tin is an individual serving

Deviled Eggs

8 eggs

½ cup mayonnaise

1 ½ teaspoons Dijon mustard

1 ½ teaspoons yellow mustard

Worcestershire sauce

Salt

Paprika

1. In a medium pot, cover the eggs with cold water and bring to a rolling boil. Cover, remove from heat and let stand for 12 minutes.

2. Drain the eggs and fill the pan with cold water. Let the eggs cool.

3. Drain and peel the eggs, pat dry. Cut the eggs in half lengthwise.

4. With the egg yolks, mix in the mayonnaise, Dijon, yellow mustard, and Worcestershire sauce. Season with salt.

5. Transfer the egg yolk mixture to a zip lock bag. Pack all of it towards the bottom of the bag. Cut off a cover and use to fill the egg whites.

6. Arrange the eggs on a tray and garnish with the paprika.

 Pancetta-Wrapped Asparagus with Citronette

2 pounds medium asparagus

½ pound pancetta

Finely grated zest and juice of 1 orange

2 teaspoons Dijon mustard

¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil

Salt and freshly ground pepper

2 teaspoons chopped thyme

  

     1. Tightly wrap each asparagus spear in a slice of pancetta.

     2. Preheat the grill, placing the asparagus over moderate heat, turning often until the pancetta is crisp.

     3. In a small bowl, stir the orange zest and juice with the mustard and olive oil. Season it with salt and pepper.

     4. Transfer the asparagus to a platter and drizzle with the dressing

     5. Sprinkle with the thyme and serve.

                  *This recipe found in Food and Wine

Enjoy!

e.l.l