Dollar Saving Ideas

How do you like my utensil rack.
An old garden rake makes a great place 
to hang your equipment or pot holders.  

I built these lamp holders out of scrap fencing 
and inserted those little solar garden stakes. 
 They don't give a lot of light, 
but they do light your pathway 
and provide a nice ambiance. 

Just another view of our solar lights. 

My crafty wife surprised me 
with this menu board. 
She used chalkboard paint 
and built it from scrap fencing 
and a scrap of plywood. 
We enjoy using it when we throw a dinner party. 

We have a family motto,
"Never throw out scrap lumber",
You would be surprised at all the things 
we have built with wood from our scrap bin. 

Have a wonderful day!
Keep improving your home and making it you,
and please leave a comment.

Steve

Hell's Canyon Fishing Trip

Entering the 
Hells Canyon National Recreation Area.

We were greeted by these curly horn sheep.

Our guides and boat.

 Fishing.

The views were breath-taking 
 throughout the canyon and 
the boat ride was a fast and exciting voyage.

Look at my catch!
Pretty nice.

Our trip included a river side barbecue.

If you ever have the chance to take this trip.
Do it!

You'll be glad you did.

Steve

All American Squirrel Feeder

On a Sunday afternoon Connie and I decided to build a new squirrel feeder.

She already had a plan in mind so I just started cutting out the parts she wanted. 
 Fairly simple design here but still a fun project.

A little glue and we nail it together with my nail gun.

Connie spreading on more glue.

 About an hour and a half from start to taking the first photos of the squirrels checking it out. 

A really fun afternoon project. 
Old license plates for the roof are a nice touch for stuff like this.

They love those peanuts.  We watched them take peanuts out onto the lawn and dig a little hole to bury them, each peanut in a different spot.

Thanks for stopping by my blog.  I would love to hear your comments.

Steve.

Home made Pizza Pie

 
Back in the 1950's when 
Pizza hit America by storm 
everyone called it Pizza Pie.

Simple basic ingredients, here's my recipe:


1 and 1/2  CUP WARM WATER (105 to 115 degrees)
1  TABLESPOON YEAST
3  TABLESPOONS  OLIVE OIL
1  TABLESPOON SALT
1 TABLESPOON HONEY
4 CUPS OF ALL PURPOSE FLOUR

Cover and let rise in a warm place.
If your house is on the cool side, 
turn the oven on for a few minutes, 
then turn it back off, and  set your bowl in. 
let rise for 1  1/2  hours or so.

The dough will at least double in size.

I love punching it down after it rises.
 Doesn't that look good?
It smells good too!

 

Now it's time to have fun!

Putting corn meal on the wooden peel keeps the dough from sticking.

I would love to be able to toss the dough but it would take a lot of practice and I don't make pizza often enough.

Marinara sauce.
Mozzarella and turkey pepperoni, sweet basil leaves right out of our garden. 
We will add cheddar cheese,black olives and mushrooms.

We have a pizza stone on the Grilla pellet grill.
We are at 550 degrees.

Wow does that ever look and smell good.

YUM!!!!

For the second pie we have garlicky hamburger, mozzarella, basil, black olives and mushrooms.

Such beauty!

In it goes for 10 -12 minutes.

Double YUM!!

Grab a plate and let's eat! 
Thanks for stopping by my blog.
Please leave a comment.
(I hope this made you hungry)

Lucy's Birthday Kitchen

This was the birthday present I built for my second
granddaughter when she turned 2 years old.
Her very own kitchen.
Connie and I designed this ourselves with no plans so it is one of a kind.

The sink is an 8 inch stainless steel mixing bowl.  
Check out the real faucets.

The stove burners are mahogany.

This is the refrigerator.
Like most of this project, it is made of pine.
I love working with pine wood. 
 It is beautiful and easy to work with.

I used dowels for the shelves so they would look more like a real refrigerator.
The dowels are made of oak.

Dowels also for the oven racks and a clear plexiglass oven door to give it the feel of a real oven.

 The frames for the oven door and pan storage door are made of oak with oak handles also.
 I love to mix different kinds of wood in my projects.

I wish I had taken photos of the construction of this but I was not a blogger then.

Anyway my little darling loves her birthday present.
See my  Motorcycle Rocker post if you have not seen it.  


Thank you for stopping by my blog.  I would love to hear your comments.
Steve.

Father's Day Prime Rib.

There is nothing closer to a man's desire than a
 juicy delicious Prime Rib. 
 Well, almost nothing.  :-)

First we cut the rib bones away from the meat.  
We'll tie them back on later because they add 
a ton of flavor to the meat while its cooking.

Here are the spices I have decided on for this yummy Father's Day roast.
The Everglades seasoning is something we picked up on our Florida vacation. 
 It has a strong but very nice sage taste.

Let's mix them up so we can hammer this prime rib with flavor!

Next we coat the meat with regular yellow mustard
that everyone has in the refrigerator. 

We will completely cover the meat with these spices.

Then we heavily salt and pepper the rib bones 
before tying them back on to the meat.

Back on the bone!

We tie it up tight!

And back into the refrigerator it goes 
to sit overnight and 
let the meat absorb those flavors.

The afternoon of the following day,
 its time to put it in the Grilla Pellet Smoker.
(www.mygrilla.com) 


We will set the grill for 275 degrees F.
We will be using American Hickory pellets.

This Maverick digital meat thermometer with remote unit 
makes cooking it to a perfect medium a breeze.
We will bring the meat temp to 140 degrees F.

Tell me this isn't making your mouth water!

Now we cut the butchers twine and prepare to carve
 this luscious smoky prime rib.

Cooked to perfection, exactly the way Connie and I like it.

Dinner is served!

The following day we vacuum pack 
the leftovers in meal size packages 
and into the freezer they go. 

The Food Saver works great 
and keeps food good in the freezer for up to 2 years.  
Not that this yummy food will last that long.

We had enough leftovers for nine more meals for two.  
We will be enjoying this prime rib 
for many meals to come.  
I hope you liked this Father's Day Prime Rib post.

Thank you for stopping by my blog 
 and 
please consider being a follower.

Steve