This hilarious video comes from the lovely and talented, Helen Rennie, and I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. Fellow YouTubers Laura Vitaleand ChefSteps are also given the business. Great job, Helen!
Broiled Chicken – Welcome to Plan “B”
I once heard Alton Brown say that a broiler is nothing more than an upside-down gas grill, which is certainly not how most Americans think of theirs. While most people are fine melting cheese over their nachos with it, or browning a casserole, the broiler is seldom used to cook meats.Well, the next time rain ruins your dream of a grilled chicken dinner, I hope you fire it up, and give this easy, alternative method a try. Not only are you getting the same intense, direct heat, but you also have more control, since you can adjust how far the chicken is from the flame. I prefer the meat about 7-8 inches under the heating element, but feel free to adjust as needed.
As you’ll see, I like to flip mine over every 6-7 minutes until it’s done. This should take between 30 and 40 minutes, but that can vary greatly depending on the size and temperature of you chicken, as well as your broiler’s heat.
By the way, you’ll want to finish with the skin side up, so the bird gets a nice, crisp finish. This is important, especially if you’re recording sound effects. I hope you give this simple and delicious broiled chicken a try soon. Enjoy!
For 2 portions:
3 pound chicken, cut in half, back bone removed
salt as needed
lemon and fresh herb to finish
- Broil on high for about 30-45 minutes, turning often, or until done.
*Note: Some glass baking dishes will shatter under a broiler, so unless you're sure yours is high-heat proof, a metal pan is a better bet.
- Broil on high for about 30-45 minutes, turning often, or until done.
*Note: Some glass baking dishes will shatter under a broiler, so unless you're sure yours is high-heat proof, a metal pan is a better bet.
August before and after!
Hello everyone! Can you believe August is here? It’s always a confusing time for me –I’m a little excited about some structure to our days again but sad that the kiddo heads back to school. For some here school has already started…crazy!!
The first Monday of the month means the monthly before and after party, and yet again it was so fun to browse through your projects. I picked a few favorites but you can see them all here. Link up your own for this month at the end of this post!
Laura’s kitchen table redo turned out SO well – I was so impressed:
Her kitchen is so pretty with those windows too. She shared how she refinished the base and the stained tabletop in this post.
I’m loving the industrial look and have wanted to DIY a table – I just couldn't figure out the metal legs. Cristina figured it out for me!:
She used a wine crate as the table top too – brilliant! Love the look!
I thought this outdoor idea was SO SMART – Marie used some old louvered doors to hide their trash cans:
Awesome, right?? And I love her little added touch of the bird houses at the top of each post. :)
Nicki shared a simple, inexpensive solution for getting grout looking good again:
I really need to try this in our foyer – it’s looking rough out there.
I’m all gung ho about the outdoors in May and June, then my excitement wanes. But the early fall is my absolute favorite time outside so Holly’s deck transformation was inspiring:
The difference from the before is really amazing, be sure to check it out.
The start of school has me completely obsessed with organizing our house again. The fall gets crazy around here and then the holidays bring in lots of STUFF, so I like to get the house cleaned out early. I loved Christina’s craft closet organization:
She didn’t spend a dime on it and shares some great organizing ideas!
Cassie shared her kitchen redo – it is SO fun and the colors of that tile are fantastic:
That island is pretty amazing too, yes?
Love them all, as usual. If you’d like to be considered for next months’ recap, be sure to link to TDC at the bottom of your post or copy and paste this cute button:
<div align="center"><a href="http://www.thriftydecorchick.blogspot.com/" title="TDC Before and After" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.homestoriesatoz.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/beforeAndAfterButton_thumb1.gif" alt="TDC Before and After" style="border:none;" /></a></div>
Now it’s time to link up your current projects! The link up will be open for a week:
Bonus Burrata
Anyway, you're going to need other ways to enjoy your new addiction, and this very sexy fig brulee with burrata comes highly recommended. I can't think of a better quick summer dessert. If you'd like, you can check out the original post here, and as always, enjoy!
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Stacked Tomato & Mozzarella Salad – Now 100% Mozzarella Free!
Comparing mozzarella and burrata is a little unfair, as burrata is significantly richer and creamier. It’s not like comparing apples and oranges; it’s more like apples and supermodels. In fact, burrata means “buttered,” which is really all you need to know.
Like I said in the video, if you do use burrata, please try it “as is,” before pouring over any vinegar. The subtle sweetness of this mildly tangy cheese is a delicate flower; so don’t crush it with a heavy hand.
Burrata used to be a specialty item, but I now see it next to the fresh mozzarella at all of your nicer grocery stores. While it will cost a little more, and may take a drive across town to find, I believe you'll find the extra effort well worth it. I hope you give this a try soon...before it snows. Enjoy!
Ingredients for 1 serving:
1 perfect vine-ripened tomato (don’t even bother using a supermarket tomato!)
4-6 tablespoons burrata cheese, or fresh mozzeralla
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
flaky sea salt, freshly ground black pepper, and torn basil to taste
Family room reno: week four
Happy Friday! Two things to be excited about today. First of all, the weekend, duh. Secondly, by the end of the day today the work on the family room will be DONE! Whooooo! Well, the work by other people. Mine has just begun.
Here’s an update on where we stand! Last week the flooring guy came and patched the floors:
He did SUCH a good job. To make them look seamless he recommended sanding down the entire area and restaining – especially since we added the spot where the island was too. He said smaller spots are OK to just stain/poly, but bigger ones like this would look better if everything was redone.
Here’s a bigger shot of the three areas he patched:
Monday he came out and sanded:
I’m always tempted to just poly them and leave them this color – the natural wood is so pretty!
And then Tuesday and Wednesday were stain and poly days. This is what the rest of the main floor looked like till last night:
If you follow me on Instagram, yes I found my keys. Yesterday. They were in the garage. :)
It’s ALL worth it though…here they are in their finished glory:
The ceiling has been patched and painted and now there’s absolutely NO sign that a wall was ever there! YES!!
Here’s a shot from mud room into the whole space:
Instead of moving everything back in first thing yesterday I got to work. I took down the molding on the walls:
It’s been up for eight years now – it’s time to go. This is that “foamy” molding I told you about years ago. It will be replaced with the board and batten look that’s in the office.
While I was at it I took the trim down from around the two doors in the room:
I’m replacing them with my craftsman trim I’ve been slowly adding around the house:
Still have some work to do. ;)
You’ll notice the new baseboards too – our old ones were impossibly small. Since we didn’t remove them when the floors went in years ago they looked even smaller:
Because 1.) our base is so hard to remove (the builders used two inch heavy duty nails every few inches) and 2.) with the hardwoods down it’s hard to remove them without damaging the floors – I have to get creative when it comes to beefing up the base. You can see my master bedroom solution here.
Because I’m adding the board and batten around the room I added a horizontal board along the top of the old baseboards and then placed the new base over that. I explained the process more in this post with pictures, but here it is after:
I finished up the family room space, just have to do the kitchen area. They look a little wonky now but it will make more sense when the vertical boards go up. :)
I finished up some smaller projects too, like adding a decorative trim to the built ins. Here’s the unfinished before:
And after with some trim:
The sides will get some trim that will cover all those seams. One step at a time. :)
And all is right with the world now that the island is back in the kitchen. Even though it does look like an art project gone wrong:
Isn’t it PRETTY? This poor island has been through so many makeovers. To get it out they had to tear off the decorative beadboard. At least I will be spurred on to get the island extension done sooner than later now. ;)
I wasn’t able to move it too much from it’s original position, but we now have quite a bit more space between the cabinets and the island – I wanted to move it out since I plan to extend it. I didn’t want the oven area to be cramped when we opened it.
So far…SO GOOD!! I hope you’ll be patient with me as I begin my portion of this work now…I want it done fast but it takes me a while.
By the way, we’re definitely moving the kitchen table – you can see this post for more on that. I think the open space by the bay window is going to be AWESOME now that I’ve had some time to get used to it.
Have a great weekend everybody! I’ll be painting!!
