Rebecca Homecca

Finished Product. This is what I was working on when we took our studio tour a couple of weeks ago. It is a little different for me, as I usually do not fill the whole page. I have been a little obsessed with mushrooms lately.

I had big plans to make my SIL’s Honey Mustard Pretzals for Wienie Wednesday. However, due to the fact that it has been in the 90’s the past couple of days, I decided having the oven on, for any reason, was not going to happen.

So I made cheese dip instead. You cook it in the microwave. Can’t go wrong there.

Luckily, I did not decide to make pasta salad. There were 3 pasta salads today. Sometimes that happens. On a good day, too many people bring dessert.

One gal brought home made salsa. Yummmmmo. Since I don’t have a garden this year (sad face), I have not made any home made salsa. It was so fresh and good. Perfect summertime treat.

Random topic shift. Hold onto your hats.

So I stop and get milk today at the gas station near our house. There is a man who goes in ahead of me. I know he saw me because he held the door open as I walked towards it. As I grab the door, he goes in.

And stops.

Right in front of the door. For no reason.

I almost plowed right into him. I was not expecting him to put on the breaks, I assumed he would either;

a. go straight ahead to the counter to pay (where there was no line, I might add)

b. veer left towards the coffee

c. veer right towards the cold beverages

There is no option d. stop like an idiot in front on the door

They say less is more. In the cost of groceries that seems to be the case.

Have you noticed how the sizes of things are getting smaller? But the price is the same, if not more.

I bought some cereal the other day and could not believe the size of the boxes! We eat ALOT of cereal around here. The price of milk has been going up for a while, so we may have to start eating air for breakfast.

Speaking of milk, have you seen the new cartons? They take up less room in the fridge, which is good. However, I can’t figure out why they had to make the hole so big. It makes it hard to pour and not make a mess. However, it has a bigger cap. This is only important if you give your kitty a cap full of milk when you get to the end of a gallon. In which case, said kitty just won the milk lotto.

Speaking of Milk and Cereal (where is this post going anyway?) since we have started recycling our milk cartons and cereal boxes, it takes all week to fill up the trash can in the kitchen now. I am switching to a smaller can, as I start to recycle more things, like paper and glass & cans. Once I get my compost bin set back up (after the pool is gone), we will have next to nothing to throw out. Day to Day stuff, I mean. We are still creating some construction waste, burning as much as we can, but that should be ending soon too. For a while anyway…

Well, this post went off track a little, so I will leave it at that. Enjoy your cereal and milk!

The bathroom is painted, for the most part. It still has some touchups and a few places that were still being patched. But the majority of the work is done.

The color is Tattered Sail otherwise known as Taupe.

I shall remain neutral in my opinion of the color. Because really, what else can you be?

Due to the BLUE! countertop, I had to go more neutral on the paint. As you may recall, it used to be RED! in here, and was more than a little obnoxious.

I intend to use accents of the BLUE! in the curtains (window and shower) and on the bench that will be going in the little cubby area. I think it will be nice when it is done, and the little pops of blue here and there will make the Tattered Sail a little less boring.

Here is a picture by the white tub, I thought you might be able to see the color better.

I love making Pork Roast on the Grill, but since we are only 2 people, there is the issue of leftovers. You slice off a couple of pieces for dinner and then what? There is still practically a whole roast left!

A quick search on the internet brought up about 1,000 pulled pork recipes. I really enjoy eating pulled pork. However, I do not enjoy the actual pulling of said pork. That’s what they invented Lloyd’s for.

Finally, I stumbled across a couple of recipes for Cuban Sandwiches. I had heard of them, but did not really know about them.

The recipes were all very similar, with condiment choice being the main difference.

Difficulty: EASY. It’s a sandwich.

Healthy: Pretty good, depending on condiment choice and amount used.

Hubs: Liked it. Not his favorite ever, but would be ok with eating it again.

Cuban Sandwiches (adapted from cheapcooking.com)

Leftover slices of pork roast

Sliced Swiss Cheese (some recipes used other white cheeses)

Slices of Ham

Thin slices of tomato (I did not have this, but think it would be good)

Pickle Slices

Sliced Red Onion

French Rolls (I used a big French bread and sliced it to size, some recipes called for Cuban Bread, but I have no idea what that is)

Condiment Choices are

Mayo

Mustard

Mojo (recipe to follow)

Basically, make a sandwich with the above ingredients and then put on a sandwich press (or The George) until the cheese melts. If you don’t have a George, you need to buy one. I am not even going to give you alternate suggestions. I use mine CONSTANTLY. Love it.

Mojo (This is the full recipe, I made half-ish. I guesstimated the quantity. Measuring is for wimps.)

1/2 cup Olive Oil

6 Galrlic cloves (mine were huge so I used 2 in my half-ish recipe)

1/2 cup Orange Juice (I squeezed 1/2 an orange)

1/2 cup Lime Juice (I used 1 & 1/2 limes, and 1 would have been plenty)

1/2 tsp ground cumin (I forgot this, so I sprinkled a little on the sandwiches)

1 tsp salt (did not put this in, figured the ham was salty enough)

1/2 tsp pepper (forgot, did not miss it)

Mayo (1 tbs to each 2 tbs of Mojo)

Heat the oil and garlic until the garlic is just turning brown. Remove from heat. Add the rest of the ingredients.  Cool and keep in fridge for up to a week.

Mix w/ mayo an spread on sandwiches before assembling.

I really like the sauce. I had some leftover, so I am going to use it on my turkey wrap tomorrow for lunch. I thought these were quite tasty, very satisfying, and a great use for all that pork. I had some leftover queso dip and chips, so we had that on the side.  But I would recommend a veggie of some sort or cole slaw.

Due to the oppressive humidity the drywall took a little longer than planned.

Funny thing, drywall mud doesn’t dry well when everything is damp. So weird.

Anyway, with the aid of some fans and patience, that part is done. I finished priming yesterday. So now that the prep work is over, the real work can start!

I put the first coat of paint on the ceiling tonight, and since the humidity is down, it may actually dry in a reasonable time frame. My goal is to have all the painting done by the weekend. We’ll see.

I went to a going out of business sale at the local Towels and Whatnot store in search of a shower curtain but no luck. I have a feeling I will be making one again. I have an idea in my mind, which means there is small chance I will find it out in the world.

There’s no update pictures, because everything is just white. I put white ceiling paint on white primer. Not too dramatic.

I found the site Cake Wrecks today and it is hilarious! All the cakes are done by professionals and range from spelling errors to just plain creepy.

My favorite is one that  was clearly decorated verbatim as it says “Best Wishes Suzanne Under Neat That We Will Miss You”

The creepiest is a tie between the pregnant belly (it gives cutting the cake new meaning) and the “real” baby. The sad thing, the creepiest thing about that baby is NOT that it is a cake.

When you have a few minutes go through them all. It’s worth it!

Today I am going to take you around to some of the interesting and hidden things in my yard. Here is discarded Lego in the leaves. There are lots of little toys lurking in my yard, among other things.

A scary looking garden tool that was left behind.

We had to cut down some stumps and they left interesting patterns.

A mystery plant growing by the side of the house.

We have a lot of logs and downed wood laying around. I liked the juxtaposition of these. To the right you can see trees and vines winding around another tree.

Mossy Bricks behind the shed. And the broken wrung on the ladder to the play fort.

And finally, our little turtle friend on a dead tree covered in moss. He was also left behind.

I just saw the video for New Kids on the Block “Summertime”. Here’s a couple of observations.

NKOTB are marketing geniuses. Releasing a catchy pop song called “Summertime”, in well, the summertime is bound to be a hit.

It was not a bad as I thought it would be. Which is not saying it is good, by any stretch.

Some of the band members (are they a band? maybe group would be a better word) have aged better than others.

Jordan is even better looking now. He was always my fave.

They could do with out the dance routines. Your old. It’s ok to just stand there now. However, having said that, I did like the “hangin tuff”  arm waving at the end of the video. Remember your roots.

Check out the size of these hydrangea flowers! They are probably 6 inches. Funny thing is, we moved this bush from the old house, where it barely ever made flowers at all.
We moved another bush also, which used to be the “good” bush. It has had nothing but trouble getting acclimated to its new environment. But this “little” bush is going crazy!

The flowers are more white here, they were green in the old dirt. Must be missing something!