Craigslist Made Me Happy

I have long heard mythical stories about fabulous Craigslist finds. You know the kind: "I found an antique ebony dresser and matching vanity for $3.00! Woohoo!" Now, I totally believe people when they tell me these stories. But, during my Craigslist searches I was seeing items that were more like "you can have my 1980s era, gigantic, laminate entertainment center for $125.00!" Until Monday, that is, my friends.

I was just glancing through the latest listings when I saw one that said "free pianos". I've been wanting to get a piano for Mr. 31 for ages; he loves to play but doesn't have much opportunity to do so. So, I opened the listing, thinking it was going to be (a) a scam, or (b) a serial killer trying to lure me to his house, or (c) a piano missing all the strings and hammers or something.

But it was for real! A local church was giving away old pianos they no longer used. So I told Mr. 31 to call the church first thing Tuesday morning. He did one better: he went to the church first thing Tuesday, and it's a good thing he did. The church's phone was ringing off the hooks with people interested in the pianos, but Mr. 31 was the first person to physically show up to look at the pianos, so he got first dibs!

So, long story short (too late!), we are now the proud owners of an upright grand piano that we know was built by a company that was located in our hometown and it was built somewhere between 1900 and 1920. And it's really pretty (oh yeah, it sounds good too!)!

Below are some pictures, including some closeups of the decorative accents. Also, I love how the center panel tilts out to hold music!

Thank you Craigslist!!

Anniversary Top Ten List

Today is Mr. 31's and my 4th anniversary. Yay! So, in honor of that, here are the top 10 reasons I love my husband:

10. He indulges me by pulling into Dairy Queen when I've had a bad day....or a good day.

9. He cares enough and is honest enough to stop buying me Dairy Queen for my own good.

8. He has great taste in women. He married me, didn't he?

7. He thinks outside the box. Which means I'm never bored.

6. He's got a good sense of humor, which helps when you live with ME :)

5. He's funny. Like REALLY, genuinely funny...which a lot of people don't know because he's fairly reserved in public.

4. He is beyond patient and compassionate to everyone around him.

3. He always aims to be a godly husband and always has my best interests at heart...though sometimes I act like I don't know that when he makes some decisions...like when he says we can't go to Dairy Queen.

2. He loves me.

1. He loves the Lord.

Happy anniversary Mr. 31!

Recipe Flip-Stand

Recipe printouts have been a long standing problem in my house. I find recipes I want to try, so I print them out and add them to my recipe folder. Then I find some favorites and they slowly disintegrate into a food stained, folded edged, hard to read piece of paper. Another big problem: when Mr. 31 goes to get one of his tried and true recipes, it is lost in the stack of my new recipe finds. And, believe me, I hear about it: "Why is this recipe you've never made on the top of the stack, and my waffle recipe is in the middle? You aren't even going to make that recipe right now - we don't have any pumpkin (or heavy cream or pudding mix or some other ingredient we don't normally stock in the house)."

Then I saw the fabulousness that is the cookbook stand at Finding My Aloha. And I knew it was the answer to my prayers - or Mr. 31's prayers, whatever.

I had the perfect frame on hand already. I had gotten it during the summer between high school and college, and it was still full of homecoming and prom pictures from senior year.

Here it is with Sammy, who shouldn't be on that table. Photographic evidence of misbehavior! Yeah, like that'll keep him off of it.

So, I emptied the pictures from the flip frame and added them to my stack to be added to a photo album/scrapbook at some point. You know, when I have spare time to make a scrapbook.

My frame is two sided, as evidenced below:

So, I made one side Mr's 31's favorite recipes and the other side my favorite recipes. I retyped our favorite recipes onto 4x6 pieces of paper and slipped them into the photo sheets.

I love this solution! It keeps our favorite recipes close at hand and in protective sheets. Perfection!

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Spaghetti and Meatballs

I adapted this recipe from the FABULOUS Pioneer Woman. I do not make my own sauce, though. Not that brave yet and, honestly, sometimes that extra time makes a big difference between eating at a decent hour and falling asleep in my plate. I doctor up jarred or *gasp* canned spaghetti sauce with extra seasonings or our own crushed tomatoes we canned last year.

Spaghetti and Meatballs
Adapted from The Pioneer Woman

1 ½ lbs. ground beef
5 cloves garlic, minced (separated)
¾ cup seasoned bread crumbs
2 eggs
½ cup shredded mozzarella, chopped into smaller pieces
¼ cup fresh parsley or basil, minced
¼ tsp. salt
Freshly ground pepper, to taste
splash of milk
½ cup olive oil
½ large onion, diced
1 16 oz. package spaghetti or favorite pasta
1 jar/can of spaghetti sauce
1 can diced or crushed tomatoes

Combine meat, 3 cloves of garlic, breadcrumbs, mozzarella, Parmesan, eggs, salt, pepper, parsley or basil, and splash of milk in a bowl. Mix together well with hands. Roll into 1 1/2 inch balls and place on a cookie sheet or plate. Place meatballs in freezer for 10 minutes to firm up.

Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add meatballs 8-10 at a time, turning until browned on each side. Remove to a paper-towel lined plate.

In the same pot, add onions and remaining garlic and cook for a few minutes, until translucent. Add spaghetti sauce and tomatoes. Add meatballs and stir in gently. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook for 30 minutes, stirring gently every so often.

Serve over cooked spaghetti. Sprinkle with extra Parmesan.

Check out my link party page for all the wonderful blogs I'll be linking up with.

I Love Fried Green Tomatoes

All I want to say today is that I love fried green tomatoes. They make me happy.

I also want to say thank you to Mr. 31's little brother for knocking down a bunch of green tomatoes with a basketball. Mr. 31 is more into letting the tomatoes go red than eating them green.

Fireplace Redo

Well, I've been kind of busy lately and haven't really tackled any noteworthy changes to the house. Just keeping it clean enough to not be condemned is kind of a victory right now.

Soooooo....I decided to do a blast from the past. Part of what Mr. 31 does is remodel rundown homes. Our first house that we bought together was a flat (one apartment upstairs, one down). It was a mess. It looked and smelled BAD. We bought it at an auction and, when we went back inside to sign the papers after the bidding, we were like "What did we do?!?"

But, after four months of hard work (we were doing it after working 8 hour days at our other jobs), it looked pretty good if I must say so myself.

The project from the flat that I'm going to highlight today is the fireplace from the upstairs apartment. It was U-G-L-Y. The bottom part had been plastered with a texture and the upper part was turquoise painted plaster (and not a good turquoise) and the plaster was crumbling terribly.

You can also note the lovely gas fireplace insert, the nasty carpet, and the 80s-riffic ceiling fan.

So, after scraping and pulling out the worst of the plaster (and some serious disinfecting), I got my behind up on a step ladder with some joint compound and a large putty knife. I used the putty knife to layer a texture onto the top of the fireplace, trying to copy the texture on the bottom as closely as possible.

Then I painted the mantel with the white we were using for the trim, except for a small inset that ran the length of the front of the mantel, which I painted the same color as the walls (the color is called Sabrina, but I don't remember what brand of paint, so that information probably isn't helpful).

It was really simple and it made a big difference! Here's the fireplace afterwards:


Also gone is the retro (in a bad way) ceiling fan, nasty carpet, and ugly insert. You also might notice the woodwork between rooms was stripped and stained. My mother-in-law did that. It became a personal battle between her and that woodwork and the rest of us stayed out of the way. It turned out gorgeous though!

So, that's my blast from the past. I'll probably share more of these from time to time. We've had to tackle some pretty crazy projects along the way!

Check out the link parties that I'm joining up with!

Cuban Mojo Sauce

Mr. 31 and I were introduced to mojo on our honeymoon in Key West. There was a great Cuban restaurant on Mallory Square. We went there a few times in the span of less than a week. This sauce is great on all kinds of grilled meat and seafood.

In the interest of being honest, on one particularly busy and hot day, I ordered plain chicken wings from the local pizza joint and tossed them in the mojo when they were delivered. You know, whatever works.

Mojo Sauce

1/3 cup olive oil

6 cloves garlic, minced

2/3 cup fresh lime juice

1/2 tsp. cumin

salt and pepper to taste

Heat the olive oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Add the garlic and cook until lightly toasted, but not brown (about 30 seconds).

Add lime juice, cumin, salt, and pepper (be careful - the sauce might pop a little bit!). Bring the sauce to a boil. Correct the seasonings if need be.

Cool before serving (though I have tossed meat in it when it was fairly hot!).

Mojo sauce will keep in a sealed container in the refrigerator for a few days, but it's best fresh.

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