Yard furniture

While in the city this week, I managed to find this folding fleshy beige colored cafe table for nothing. It just needed some TLC. I also found a couple of outdoor metal chairs near a dumpster and snatched them away from the jaws of extinction.  I brought them all up to the house and cleaned and spray painted them.  Voila! A new outdoor set for the yard.  Wish I had before pics but it was such a quick project that it was done in the blink of an eye.

Marsala Meatballs

Marsala Meatballs

Always looking for new meal ideas.  Found this one in Skinny Taste.  Chicken marsala meatballs but because the grocery store here doesn't sell ground chicken, substituted ground turkey.  Served on riced cauliflower with lemon and parsley.  Delicious. Thanks, Tim.

 This winter has been so long. The minute the sun came out today, I was outside working on a basement full of projects. I finished the wreath on the porch. I wanted to add some old garden tools I attached along with the pots. My Mom's gardenia bushes that I had brought in for the winter, survived, and I took them out because they are blooming and need some sun and heat terribly.  Adding more planks to the upper part of the pergola, cleaning up the vegetable garden for summer and a slew of other projects to get started.

Architectural Salvage

I have an obsession with architectural salvage stores. I drove over to a store this week with one specific project in mind.  3 hours later, I realized I must have been drugged or something. I have to get a quote on a couple things but wanted to buy everything I found.

Lemon Chicken Thighs

Tim made the most delicious chicken recipe the other night. It was awesome. So much flavor, and rises to the top of our dinner party entree recipes.

Alamo Chili

It's almost the end of Winter but this weekend just felt like a Chili weekend. This recipe is so flavorful without the heat.  Tim loads his up with hot sauce and jalapenos. We change out beans based on what we have in the pantry. 

Alamo Chili

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon vegetable oil
2 medium onions, chopped
1 1/2 teaspoons dried oregano
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 1/2 pounds lean ground turkey
1/4 cup chili powder
2 bay leaves
1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 28-ounce can whole tomatoes
3 cups beef stock or canned beef broth
1 8-ounce can tomato sauce
3 15-ounce cans small white beans, rinsed, drained
Chopped red onion
Chopped fresh cilantro
Plain low-fat yogurt or light sour cream

Directions:

        

Heat oil in heavy large pot over medium heat. Add onions; sauté until light brown and tender, about 10 minutes. Add oregano and cumin; stir 1 minute. Increase heat to medium-high. Add turkey; stir until no longer pink, breaking up with back of spoon. Stir in chili powder, bay leaves, cocoa powder, salt and cinnamon. Add tomatoes with their juices, breaking up with back of spoon. Mix in stock and tomato sauce. Bring to boil. Reduce heat; simmer 45 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Add beans to chili and simmer until flavors blend, about 10 minutes longer. Discard bay leaves. (Can be prepared 1 day ahead. Cover and refrigerate. Rewarm over medium-low heat before continuing.)

Ladle chili into bowls. Pass red onion, cilantro and yogurt separately.

After 3 days of rain and snowmelt, we finally had a real Spring day.  Sunny,  warm, muddy - typical April.  I already have a crazy list of projects for the summer. I just needed to get one completed this weekend. The willow wreath that I had put lights on for Christmas, I wired terra cotta pots to it and re-mounted it over a mirror on a porch trellis panel. Can't really plant anything yet for a month but I plan on trying succulents in the pots this summer. In the meanwhile, I can sub some artificial succulents until the time comes to plant. It would also be pretty with crocus bulbs and smaller bulbs for Easter.  Will have to try that next Spring.

Santiago Chile

A crazy first quarter of the year. We decided to celebrate Tim's birthday in Santiago, Chile. We love South America and it's a great place to go for the Winter. We have been in Brazil, Argentina, Peru and now Chile. It was an awesome trip.  Each country is so different. Santiago is still such a hippy town and it's lovely. Had an awesome time.