What can you do with a window?

That is the question that actually bugged me for 2 years. Yes, I held on to an old window for TWO years debating which DIY project I wanted to use it for.

Before I get into the inspiration that I had and what I ended up doing, I HAVE to share the best potato salad recipe with you!! My belly is happily full...so I have food on the mind!

It is from The Pioneer Woman and Brian actually found it and whipped it up to go with some brisket we had.
Here is the recipe for the perfect potato salad. You should seriously try it!

Anyway--back to window DIY! My blank canvas of a window frame had several possibilities.
Here are some of the inspirations from Our Small-Town Idaho Life, Lovely Nest, Dollar Store Crafts, and the Bees Knees Bungalow :

(source)

(source)

(source)

(source)

(source)

In the end, I decided I would make it a.......bulletin board! I took one of my long weekends and sanded, painted, waited, painted, and then glued in 6 cork tiles (from Michaels). The tiles had to be cut down to fit in the widow frames snugly, and was much harder than I initially thought (each pane was a slightly different size).

Here is the finished product hanging above my desk. I love how it turned out and how practical it is for the office area. I've noticed that I might need to do something else to reinforce the wood glue that I used to hold the panels in place because there is a little bit of give when you push a tack in--but it's not broken yet! 

A Texan take on Fish & Chips

Cue the Olympic music and let the games begin!! We welcomed in the 2012 Summer Olympics last night by having some friends over and eating Fish and Chips--since that is one of the traditional dishes from England. We debated between going the easy route and buying frozen fish sticks and fries...or finding a legitimate recipe and well... here was our choice

(source)

We made a few adaptations to make it serve 6 (1 1/2 times the original recipe), and use what was available at our grocery store...and to get it out of Celsius. So here is our take on the recipe:


Ingredients:
6 Tilapia frozen fillets *thawed and cut in half lengthwise to better fit in our deep fryer
2 Cups Flour, plus some extra
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 Bottle of beer *We used Ziegenbock (our favorite Texas beer), but the recipe really called for a British beer
2 Tablespoons lemon juice from concentrate 
salt and pepper
5 lbs potatoes, peeled and cut into fries
good cooking fat or oil (we used lard)


Directions:
1. Heat up fat/oil in deep fryer to 375°F.
2. Peel the potatoes and cut into fry size pieces. Rinse off and then dry.
3. Fry potatoes for about 3 minutes or when they are soft but not completely done (haven't changed color). 
4. Drain and set the fries on a plate or in a bowl off to the side.
5. Pour some flour on a plate and dredge the fish fillets in the flour -this makes the batter stick to the fish when fried. Let fillets rest in the flour while you work on the batter.
6. Whisk together flour, baking soda, salt and pepper into a nice big bowl. Then gradually add the beer until it is a thick batter (we added our whole 12 ounce beer, but you can add less if you want a little drink). Whisk until all the lumps are gone. Add the lemon juice and mix thoroughly again. 
7. Change the temperature of the deep fryer to 325°F.
8. Now start taking individual fish fillets and dip them in the batter and put them straight into the deep fryer. Add one at a time and don't crowd them before batter is crisped up. We cooked 2 at a time for 3-4 minutes since we had small pieces (the original recipe said 6-10 min depending on thickness). When done the batter is a light brown.  Put them on a plate and keep warm in microwave or oven.
9. Crank up the heat to 375°F again and cook the fries until they look done. Put on a plate and add salt.
10. Serve and enjoy!!!


This recipe was pretty simple, and very tasty! While we really enjoyed the fish, I think we were more impressed with the simplicity and tastiness of the fries. I don't think we will go back to buying frozen french fries again (unless we are feeling lazy -which we sometimes do)! 


Anyone else as excited about the Olympics as we are? Did you make anything tasty to celebrate?

Many Blessings,
S + B

Welcome-- Make yourself at home!

Hello Blogging World!
  We have been meaning to start a blog since...well what seems like a long time. We're a somewhat newly married couple ready to share our daily lives filled with DIY projects, cooking, and other fun things. I'm a 3rd grade teacher who loves making things for my classroom and home, while my husband, Brian, is an engineer who likes building things and being handy. Brian is the chef in the house, but I get involved with baking, we both like trying new recipes and experimenting a little. We hope you'll stay tuned! 


Many Blessings,
S+B