Painting Some Furniture - Part 1

When I moved into my grandmother's house almost 4 years ago, I inherited a lot of stuff. She was a pack rat to say the least, which turned out to be a blessing and a curse. Among the thousands of little treasures she left behind were things like birthday cards from the past 30 years, my mother's high school wardrobe, my grandfather's personalized stationary from his various business ventures, a few cases of UNOPENED 7-UP bottles which were so old that the liquid had completely evaporated... you get it, lots of STUFF. Well, I also ended up with all of her furniture.

That's what this project is about. I have a coffee table and matching end table that I'm going to try my hand at refinishing. I'm starting with the end table because it's smaller and well, if I did the coffee table I wouldn't have anything to prop my feet up on as I type this out. The decision to do this was largely inspired by a recent purchase I made. Almost 2 months ago, I purchased a refinished cottage-style, "shabby chic" dresser to replace a mid-century styled buffet that I had in my living room. I bought the dresser from a local chick named Cassie, who is a stay-at-home mother and runs a little furniture restoration business out of her home. She calls her operation Primitive & Proper and she also has a blog that I follow. Here is the dresser in my living room. I think it looks great!



Along with the dresser, I also purchased a second-hand Pottery Barn dining table on craigslist.



The dining table has a very similar antique/distressed white finish. So, as you might have guessed... that is exactly what I plan on doing with the coffee table and end table. While these pieces spent decades in immaculate shape under my grandma's care, they have worn pretty quickly from the traffic and abuse they see from my friends and I. Plus, I think they will look great painted. I've done a little bit of research online about painting furniture, so I'm going to attempt to apply that knowledge.

Step 1 - Prep

Before you can throw on a coat of primer, you need to clean the furniture. You want to remove any dust, grime or in our case... beer residue. A good wipe-down with some soapy water is usually sufficient to clean everything up. I've read that you don't want to use any chemical cleaners, especially those that have oil or some type of polish in them. So no Pledge or anything like that. Also, make sure to let everything dry completely before moving onto paint.

In my case, since the furniture was already finished with a stain and varnish, I decided to give it a good sanding. I hit it off with some 120 grit sand paper, which turned out to be a double-edged sword since it cleaned off any built-up crap in addition to scuffing the surface so it's more receptive to the primer. I also discovered an additional benefit - sanding helped to expose and eliminate all of the imperfections in the varnish. These little bumps and runs are nearly invisible in the current finish, but once they get a coat of white paint, they'll stick out like a sore thumb. After that was done, I wiped all of the dust away with a micro-fiber cloth.


As you can see, a lot of dust and grime had built up on the ledge that holds the glass.


Freshly sanded, prior to wipe-down.


Up next... Primer.

The Tar Heel state can make BBQ, but their basketball teams still suck

College basketball season is among us, and I can now switch back to my alma mater and root for the Terrapins. Any respectable college football fan will tell you the Terrapins suck at football. Their fat ass sorry excuse for a football coach Ralph Friedgen and team sucked it up for another year. The University of Maryland hopes to start the year off right beginning with the mens basketball team. The terps look to expand on a great finish to last season where Gary Williams lead his team to the 2nd round of the NCAA tournament in arguably his best coaching performance of his career (yes even with Dave Neal as their center). Returning for the terrapins is team leader Greivis Vasquez who realized he was not quite ready for the NBA and decided to return for his senior season. Greivis obviously has been watching some of MTV's Jersey Shore, and has followed some of "The Situations" three rules to life, GTL (Gym, Tan, Laundry). Greivis appears to been hitting the gym and bulked up about 20 pounds, got a fresh coat of paint on, and looks like the dry cleaner took care of his yellow jersey. The terps are having a pretty good season, and showed it this weekend when they took down the wolf pack of NC State on Saturday 88-64 at the Comcast center.

Since the state of North Carolina basketball is not looking so great this year, and being that I just spent a week in North Carolina, I thought I would make some North Carolina Style Barbecue (BBQ) in their honor. I spend a lot of time in North Carolina, specifically the fun town of Mockesville and for lunch I usually get BBQ and a cheerwine (cherry flavored soda). I like North Carolina BBQ because it has a distinct vinegar based sauced, which is not too thick, and is very different from your typical BBQ you may have had. Unfortunately, if you have never had North Carolina style BBQ you have missed out, BUT you are in luck because this recipe is pretty close to the the real thing.

I read Cooks Illustrated and watch the MPT television show "America's Test Kitchen." You should check this show out if you are a foodie. I like their show, it takes a very scientific approach to cooking and being that I'm a food scientist you could easily see why a show like this would entertain me. The recent issue had a write up on "indoor style BBQ." The whole premise of the recipe was to make a pulled pork BBQ which had the taste of being cooked in a smoker, but prepared in the comforts of your kitchen. The recipe turned out really well, for a first go. I would probably make a few tweaks with the rub and salt levels when I make this again, otherwise I was really pleased. I served the pulled pork with red slaw and a side of potato salad. The roommates seemed to enjoy the pork, but I had a few cranberries that decided to linger. Perhaps I will make a tart for them next week.....oh wait it's C's birthday next week....... Pineapple upside down cake! NBD

On to the recipe.......

Pork Brine:

1 cup salt

1/2 cup sugar

3 tbsp liquid smoke

1 boneless pork butt (6lbs) cut horizontally

Pork Rub:

3 tsp salt

2 tbsp sugar

2 tsp liquid smoke

1/2 cup mustard

2 tbsp black pepper

2 tbsp smoked paprika

1 tsp cayenne pepper

Vinegar Barbecue Sauce

1/2 cup defatted cooking liquid

1 cup cider vinegar

1/2 cup ketchup

1/2 cup water

1 tbsp sugar

3/4 tsp salt

3/4 tsp red pepper flakes

1/2 tsp ground black pepper

Procedure (see how scientific I am)

1. Dissolve sugar, salt and the liquid smoke from the "pork brine" ingredient list into 4 quarts of water. No need to heat the water, just be patient and stir until dissolved; set pot aside.

1. Trim that fat off of your pork butt, don't be shy. Get a knife and cut off that white shit. It may taste good, but no one wants to bite in to a big piece of fat on their sandwich. Slice the meat horizontally (increasing surface area), and and place into a pot deep enough to hold the meat and 4 quarts of water.

2. The recipe says to marinate the meat for 2 hours. I left the meat marinate in the brine over night. ****Brad's Rant*** Being deep in this chicken game, I know a thing or two about marination. Letting a marinade sit up over night will increase moisture and flavor in your product. So prepare your brine the night before and let that meat marinate overnight.

I had nothing to do that night so I got drunk on some high alcohol belgium beer, and watched the Hurt Locker. I went to bed and dreamed about the pork butt I was about to take down the following morning.

3. After you recover from your hang over, your going to need to start thinking about that meat your going to take down. NBD. Begin by draining the water out of your pot, and drying off the meat with a paper towel. You heard me fucker, dry off the meat, it will get all that water off of the surface and allow for the rub to stick to the meat. I know we are in a "green world" so buy some enviromentally friendly paper towels if you are complaining about this step.

4. Add the mustard and smoke from the "pork rub" ingredient list to the meat, and rub the meat. Sprinkle the meat with the dry ingredients from that list, taking care to rub all the spices into the meat.

4. Transfer the meat to a baking pan with a rimmed edge lined with a cooling rack (see picture below).

5. Cover the meat with parchment paper, and then cover with aluminum foil to prevent moisture from escaping. Place the pan into a preheated 325 degree oven on the rack second most from the bottom.

6. Pork butt if Fucking tough! Unless you give it heat and TIME, time being the key step in this statement you are going to have tough meat. I know we are hungry, and want to eat, but planning (this is where being a boy scout and being prepared comes into play) is important in deciding how long this is going to take you. I know, I know it is long, but you will need to cook the meat for 3 hours. Go watch TV, drink some brew's, or do some laundry.

7. After 3 hours, remove and discard the foil and parchment paper, and drain the liquid from the bottom of the pan into a fat separator or a liquid measuring cup. You are going to be mad at me, but you will need to continue to cook the meat for another hour uncovered. The meat will be done when visually the meat is browned, and the temperature reaches an internal temperature of 200 degrees. Remove the meat from the oven, cover with aluminum foil and let rest for 20 minutes. ****Note*** this step of cooking the meat uncovered is to gain a crust on the meat, and will build some flavor in your meat; don't skimp on this step.

8. While the meat is resting, mix together the vinegar based BBQ sauce ingredients in a small bowl, and whisk a 1/2 cup of the defatted cooking liquid into the bowl. Set the sauce aside.

9. Shred the meat using two forks in order to cut the meat into smaller pieces. Toss the shredded meat with 1 cup of the sauce and serve on a kaiser roll topped with slaw.

Jess (Aaron's beau) has been on a health kick, and found "No Pudge Brownies" at the grocery store. While they appear to be somewhat healthy, using vanilla, yogurt and the mix as the only three ingredients I can not say you should be eating these if you are on a diet. Jess does not like mint, so the rest of us decided to eat her serving.

There are times I simply despair...

On Friday I had one of these questions, and it has taken me days of very hard thought in order to come up with some kind of logical answer. It was the day that I got one of my old cars back, it had been out of my possession for 4 years and I was recently reunited with it.

The question is thus: A car is in all likelihood, going to be the second largest financial commitment you’re going to make, so why don’t people take care of their cars?

The car in question is a 1999 Honda Civic. Nothing special, however when I sold it to a family member, it was for the order of £4,000. Not an insubstantial amount of money, by any persons measure. So why did it come back to me in such a shit state? I used to wash and polish it every weekend. It was immaculate, I would often have people commenting what a pleasant environment it was to be in, and how it looked like a new car.

When it was returned to me…well I don’t know what to say.

Here is the car when I still had it, October 2005:



Here it is now (don't mind the fucking pikey with his caravan in the background):


The paintwork is as flat as a witch's tit. It's going to take many hours of polishing to get it back to that mirror shine.

Here is a shot of the boot (trunk):

No, your eyes are not deceiving you, that is hay.
I shall give you a run-down of what the car needs in order to get it back in the game.

- Clutch
- 3 new tyres
- All new wiper blades
- Alignment
- Battery
- Heater blower motor
- New windscreen
- New stereo

Lastly, but not least, a damn good clean inside and out. If any of you keep pets, and need to visit a pet store in order to get feed or bedding or whatever….that’s what it smells like inside!

I attacked the mats with some extra strong carpet stain cleaner, as they smelled like a bums undercrackers.


When I had finished the first round of cleaning, this is what the water rinse bowl looked like.


How can somebody live with a car that is an utter clusterfuck of filth? I couldn’t see diddly-squat out of the windows from the funk when trying to reverse it off my drive for the first time.

Maybe this is why:


A wiper blade that looks like a tramps G-string. Sigh.

It is pure, unadulterated laziness.

Progress and Struggles...

Since the original post of where I had been at with my race car (see posting of "just a couple of springs, no big deal") I have finished up my engine preparation, Installed my engine, and began fabricating some of the lines for the fire suppression system.

To take a step back for those who may not know, you may be asking your self "Sander, what IS a fire suppression system?" Well, thankfully for you, I have an answer! A fire suppression system is a series of components that are designed to coat you and other critical components (fuel, and engine components) with AFFF (Aqueous Film Foaming Foam) in the event of a in-car vehicle fire. Obviously, I do not want to be on fire, or be in a car that is on fire, so I'm happy about having it in the car.

How this particular system works is that you basically have an activation cable that you would pull in the event of a fire, that opens up a c02 bottle, that reacts with the AFFF concentrate, then pushes the foam out of the nozzles that hopefully put that the fire that would be in your vehicle out. So now that you know that, you're aware of one of the most important safety items in a race car.

I originally had been rather frightened of the fabrication of some of the aluminum fire suppression lines. I am a total perfectionist when it comes to straight lines, and bending a few long pieces of 1/4" tubing parallel to each other is not my idea of a good time *sigh*. Thankfully enough after some slow, patient work, I think it came out quite well.

sander.





I just liked this picture, this is a shot of the front - side of the car before I left the shop last week.

Shadetree Garage....err Apartment

In the Mid Atlantic region we are cursed with an ample off-season from motorsports. From late Oct to mid April, most race machines are locked up in garages around the area, patiently awaiting for the temperatures to rise. The only upside to this down time is the fact that it affords us ample time to freshen up, develop, or modify our machines. This off season, my Ducati 748 will be receiving a bit of all three.

I decided a while ago that the motor should be pulled from the bike during this off-season. This decision was made based on a couple of factors. One being that the maintenance required is much easier to perform with the motor outside the confines of the motorcycle. Removing the motor only adds a small amount of time to the maintenance project, but reduces the amount of headaches. As well, removing the motor allows me to clean up and inspect the chassis for unseen damage following a big crash at Beaverun Racetrack last July. Another upside to removing the motor from the bike is that I can work on it in my apartment. My garage is unconditioned and terribly cold in the winter time. Having the option to work on the motor in my comfortably warm apartment is very attractive

In order to perform maintenance on the motor outside of the chassis, I needed an engine stand to hold the motor stable. While engine stands for the desmoquattro engine do exist, they are not typically available for sale on the open market. Most pros come up with a solution for themselves given their shop condition and work intentions. Since my motor will likely only come out once a year or less, I figured the most simple design would suffice. As well, not having access to a welder nor the skills to weld something out of metal, wood became the most viable option. Wood is easy to cut, assemble, and is inexpensive.

I decided a simple cradle design made of 2x4's would be the most effective. Since the swingarm pivot is the strongest area of the motor, using it as one of the connection points was a no-brainer. The most difficult design element was trying to incorporate a support for the horizontal cylinder. I wanted to have the ability to adjust the angle of the horizontal cylinder to aid in accessing the exhaust cam and valves. After a couple of ideas circled around in my head I decided to use a scissor jack. Since there isn't much space on the horizontal cylinder to attach the jack, a piece of 2x8 was used to bridge the gap.

Construction of the stand went smoothly. After taking some raw measurements from the motor, I came up with dimensions for my plan. As the stand came together I adjusted a few dimensions, but for the most part stuck to the plan. The footprint of the stand measures 36" x 19 1/2" with the pivot supports sitting 12" above the base. These dimensions allow the motor to sit close to the base when all the way down and still have clearance to pivot upwards. I used a 26" piece of 5/8" steel rod to support the motor through the swingarm pivot. This can also be used as a handle when moving the motor without the stand. The rod was cut to 26" so that it could fit through just about any exterior door. Once the structure was built, and the motor put on, I realized some handles to carry it would be helpful. A trip to Lowe's resulted in 4 steamer trunk style handles. I also added a couple of eye bolts so the motor could be strapped into the stand so it would be less likely to shift while being moved.




Overall, I think the stand came out great. It does all I need it to do and only cost me $30 and about 2.5 hours. Now that the motor is in the stand and in my apartment, the next step will be to adjust the valves. Stay tuned...

SEAS - not us, but baller.

Since no one else is doing much blogging, I thought I'd take the opportunity to share some great music with everyone. The band is called SEAS and is the brain child of local musician/songwriter Ben Green. Ben used to play in a VA/DC-based band called Fairweather, who released 2 full-length albums and 1 EP on Equal Vision Records before disbanding in 2003. Fairweather was active during the same period that Chris and I were playing in a band called MacGyver. Actually, I have a scar on my nose from being hit in the face by Ben's guitar during a Fairweather show at The Sidebar in Baltimore. Totally by accident, of course. Anyway, Ben is an extremely decent guy and a very talented musician. Fairweather was one of my favorite bands during that time in my life and I'm glad that Ben is continuing on with new music. Check it out if you want something new to listen to. You won't be disappointed.

I just bought his new album on vinyl from Decoration Day Recordings which is a new, independent label in Richmond, VA.

You can also download a free song from Decoration Day HERE (right click and save).


Enjoy.

DMC - Dick Missile Chili

There are two things any self-respecting man should be able to do:
1. Change his oil.
2. Cook chili.

Luckily, they are both pretty straight-forward and it takes some real "talent" to screw them up... but you might be surprised at what I've seen. The thing about chili is that everyone has their own recipe and methods, which they all swear to be the dickest missile in the shed. There are also so many variations on chili in general. Some people prefer a chunky, hearty chili... some like it fine and thin... some want it really spicy, etc, etc. I'm not here to tell you how to make your chili, I'm here to tell you how I make MY CHILI.

Disclaimer - I am not a culinary professional. And like most people, I watch the Food Network and therefore, through some form of twisted logic, I think I know how to cook. Wrong. That being said, I will probably mislead and misuse... but never misspell.

My chili. I've been dabbling in the alchemy of chili for close to 7 years now. I'll be the first to admit that I've made some pretty horrible batches along the way. Part of the problem was that I liked to experiment with different ingredients and seasonings, instead of just working on consistency. I never really wrote down any recipe either. I'll also admit that I've put some really weird shit in my chili. I used to throw in an array of peppers, the whole gamut of canned tomato products, various types of beans and then some wacky stuff like peanut butter and hot chocolate mix. In fact, I used to kind of pride myself on finding strange things to throw into the bubbling pot. I'll just go ahead and get my own neck for that. Fortunately, some wisdom has come with age and I've cut out the bullshit and stuck with the basics. In the process, I've developed a pretty fail-safe recipe.

Oh, another thing - I typically don't make chili unless it's below 50 degrees outside or unless there is a football game on TV. It just doesn't seem right.

Here are the ingredients:

• 3 lbs ground beef (approx) - 80% lean is preferable


• 2 large white onions (I like a lot of onions and they cook down to practically nothing)


• 1 fresh jalapeno pepper


• 1 can of crushed tomatoes


• 1 can of Rotel with green chilies


• 1 can of black beans (if you really like beans, add more)


• 1 can of beer (I typically use Natty Boh - because it's delicious. Use something you would actually like to drink.)


• 1 bottle of whiskey (See above)
  
  


• Salt


• Pepper


• Cayenne Pepper


• Cumin


• Paprika


• Sugar (preferably brown, doesn't really matter)


• Cinnamon


• Milk Chocolate Chips
  
  


• 1 Big Ass Pot

First, I start by dicing the onions. I pour some vegetable oil in the pot and get the onions cooking on medium/high heat with a little bit of salt and black pepper. I let them cook until they start to brown. Next, throw in the finely chopped jalapeno, minus the peppercorns - unless you want it really spicy. Once the peppers have had a chance to cook down a bit, pour in some whiskey and beer just to de-glaze the pot. If you need to clear your sinuses, just keep your head over the pot.

Now it's time to add the beef. Dump it in and start mashing it around and mixing it with the onions. This is where I start to season everything. Cumin is the main player at this stage in the game. I don't know how much I use, but it's a good amount. Add the cayenne, black pepper, paprika and salt. To top it off, I'll add a shake of cinnamon - a little goes a long way, trust me. I tend to rely on my nose here... if it smells good, it probably tastes good too.

Once the meat has thoroughly cooked, reduce the heat back to medium and let everything simmer. I'm not sure if this is exactly correct from a culinary standpoint, but I feel like you need to allow some time for the fat in the meat to melt down and mingle with everything. So it's very important that you don't cook all of the juices out of the meat. Just get it to the point that it's bubbling up nicely.

The tomatoes and beans are the last to arrive at the party. Dump it all in. Now we need to season again. More cumin... more everything. I also add a fair amount of sugar to help neutralize that acid in the tomatoes. Oh yeah, pour the rest of the beer in. Once everything is bubbling again, I'll throw in a handful of chocolate chips and let those melt their way into the mix. In the past, I have made the chili WAY too salty, so I'm very cautious with that now. You can always add more, but it's really hard to dilute the whole batch if it's too salinous. I don't like to add salt until the chili has had a chance to cook on medium heat for awhile. Ideally, it should cook for at least and hour, stirring the pot every 10 minutes. You'll know it's ready to be stirred when it separates and the chili is all "liquidy" on the top. Give it a good, deep stir and mix everything up. Try to scrape all the stuff off the bottom so it doesn't burn. I like to taste test after each stir. If something is lacking, I'll just add a little more of it. Don't burn your mouth when you're sampling because you'll be FITG for enjoying the finished product.

Once you're done, turn the stove down to low heat and let it sit for 15 minutes or so. You'll find that it really starts to thicken up into a beautiful, sloppy mess. It's up to you how you eat it. Sometimes I'll eat the chili over macaroni, sometimes over rice or sometimes over crushed up tortilla chips. Frito pies are always baller.

So, now you know... and knowing is half the battle.


Photos


Ha Ha - but seriously...


Cliche "ingredients" photo


Onions and Jalapeno


Boh goes in to de-glaze


No big deal.


Cumin, Black Pepper, Cayenne Pepper and Paprika


BIG MEAT!!! /Anne Burrell


Rest of the stuff goes in.


Good to go!

Introducing... Jewel

This is Jewel.

Or as her official adoption papers from Anne Arundel County Animal Control say, "Jewl." To be honest, I really don't think she cares what you call her, because I've never once seen her respond to any type of name. Still, that hasn't stopped us from giving her a list of other nicknames including: "Jewelian", "Julianna Banana" (or just "Banana" for short), "You Bitch" and the ever-classic "Cat." She is some breed of "blue" cat, we're not really sure which. All I know is that she is soft and doesn't make me sneeze.

Jewel enjoys sitting inside various boxes, playing fetch with the plastic rings found on milk jugs, sleeping on the ends of sofas and eating french fries. She has also assumed the role of Supervisor for many of the projects that take place at my house. She runs a tight ship.

Baller Ass Beef

I’ve have been dieting for the past week, trying to obtain some healthy eating habits after binging on bad food over the holidays. I was excited for my “off day” from dieting so I could cook something new and be slightly bad. I did not want to go too crazy on the menu for fear of falling off the wagon after only dieting for 1 week. The dish needed to be something hearty, but something I had never made before. Over my winter break my roommates and I watched “Julie and Julia,” and one of the dishes Julie makes from Julia Childs cookbook is beef bourguignon. I remembered this dish and thought I would give it a try. It fit my two requirements, the recipe looked pretty easy to make, and would serve a household of hungry roommates.

On my way to the grocery store I stopped by the bookstore to pick up a copy of the Julia Childs books “Mastering the Art of French Cooking.” I already had the recipe to beef bourguignon, but I figured you could never have too many cookbooks. The recipe below is adapted from Julia Child and Ina Garten’s recipe for this dish. The recipe turned out a success and will definitely be a keeper. I served my beef over a bed of egg noodles, but potatoes or rice could certainly be substituted.

Ingredients:

1 tbsp olive oil

8 oz thick sliced bacon diced into ½” by ½” pieces

3 lbs chuck roast cut into 1” cubes and patted dry with a paper towel

1 lbs carrots sliced into 1” chunks

2 medium sized yellow onions sliced

2 cloves garlic mashed

1 750 mL bottle red wine (I used Louis Jadot Beaujolais-Villages)

2 cups beef broth (I used Swanson 50% reduced sodium)

1 tbsp tomato paste

1 tsp fresh thyme

2 bay leaves

3 tbsp flour

2 tbsp unsalted butter

1 lbs fresh mushrooms sliced

1 lbs frozen pearl onions, thawed

Salt and Pepper to Taste

Fresh parsley for garnish

Special Equipment:

5.5 quart cast iron pot (or similar)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F

Heat the olive oil in the cast iron pot. Add the bacon and cook for 10 minutes stirring occasionally until the bacon is browned. Remove bacon and set aside in a bowl, leaving the bacon fat in the pan.

Pat the beef cubes with a paper towel, and season with salt and pepper. In batches, sauté the beef in a single layer in the pot, turning until all sides of the beef are browned (approximately 5-7 minutes for each batch). Remove beef from the pot and set aside in the bowl with the bacon.

Add the carrots and onions to the pot and cook the vegetables with the residual fat left from the beef and bacon. Add 2 tsp salt, and 1 tsp pepper, and cook the carrots and onions over medium heat for 10-15 minutes or until the vegetables have browned. Return the beef and bacon to the pan and add the flour to the pot. Stir the mixture until all the flour coats the vegetables and meat. Put the uncovered pot in the middle position of the preheated oven for 4 minutes. After 4 minutes toss the meat and vegetables and put back the pot back in the oven allowing it to cook for an additional 4 minutes. Remove pot from oven and reduce the temperature of the oven to 325 degrees F.

With the pot heating over medium heat, stir in the wine, and enough beef broth so that the meat is barely covered (approximately 2 cups). Add the thyme, bay leaves, tomato paste, and garlic. Bring to a simmer and then cover the pot and place in the preheated oven. Allow the meat to cook for approximately 2.5 to 3 hours or until the meat and vegetables are tender when a fork pierces it easily.

While the meat is cooking in the oven prepare the pearl onions and mushrooms. In a 10” frying pan heat 2 tbsp butter. When the butter has melted add the mushrooms and sauté for 10 minutes. Add the pearl onions to the pan and sauté for an additional 5 minutes.

When the meat and vegetable are done, pour the contents of the pot into a colander, reserving the broth in a medium saucepan. Wipe the pot clean and return the meat and vegetables to the pot. Add the pearl onions and mushrooms to the meat mixture and set the pot aside.

In a medium saucepan simmer the broth, skimming the fat off as it rises to the top. Continue to heat the broth until it coats the back of a spoon. If the broth is too thin, continue to rapidly boil the broth. If the mixture is too thick, add some more beef broth. NOTE: A fat separator would have come in handy if I had one, but was forced to use the conventional method as described above.

Serve meat and sauce over a bed of egg noodles and garnish with fresh parsley.

Mauve Madness - A Painting Story

I have a love/hate relationship with interior painting. I enjoy being able to completely transform the feel of a space with color and also the satisfaction of doing some work that requires a little bit of elbow grease. Tragically, I also have a horrible habit of changing my mind when it comes to colors... most of the time AFTER I've already painted the entire room... I know, "Let me get that neck." Just ask my roommates. If you were to take a cross sectional cut from the drywall in my living room, it would bear some resemblance to the layers of the earth's crust, taking you on a geological journey through the 4 year history of my residence here. This posting, however, has nothing to do with my house.

This year for xmas, Jess (my girlfriend) and I decided that as a gift to her parent's, we would paint their living room and kitchen for them. They are preparing to put their townhouse on the market, but it needs a bit of work before it's ready for show. For 16 years, they have silently suffered under a pinkish/purpleish, comatic haze cast by the MAUVE walls in their living room. Real T. Between the silver carpeting and the pink walls, this living room brings me straight back to the 80's... and for some strange reason, Marley Station. Anyway, we decided to handle this while they were out of town this weekend. Jess' mom didn't specify a color choice, but told use to just pick something "neutral." Typically, this means beige... in our case, it came in the form of "Vanilla Brandy." We took a trip to Lowe's (my second home) and picked up some Olympic Premium Paint. I typically use Valspar because I like their color palettes better, but I wanted to try this ZERO VOC stuff from Olympic. It was pretty cheap at only $15 per gallon, so that was nice too.

Here are some "Before" photos of the living room. Take note of the lovely mauve tone contrasted by the DARKER mauve of the trim... it really sets it off!




So, the first order of business was to hit the trim with a fresh coat of some bright white, semi-gloss paint. Typically, I am a maniac about masking everything before I paint. I end up spending twice as long masking as I do actually painting. We decided to just go ahead and paint the trim and not worry about being neat and tidy with it, since we were going to be doing the walls anyway. Plus, the ceiling has that rough, plastery finish, so you really can't put tape on it. I'm just going to go on record and say that the mauve didn't go without a fight. It took 3-4 coats before there were no traces of pink. After that was done, we started rolling the new paint on the walls. Luckily, our new paint was able to mask the mauve without the help of any primer.

Here are some photos of the work in progress.




Here you can see the original mauve on the door, the new white trim, and the new color, Vanilla Brandy. Yum.


Here is the finished product, unfortunately, the poor lighting really doesn't do it much justice... not to mention the living room is still turned upside down.

We had originally hoped this project would take Friday evening and then the morning/afternoon on Saturday. Nevertheless, Sunday morning we found ourselves back at Lowe's to buy another gallon of paint. Two wasn't quite enough to defeat the great Mauve. Painting the kitchen was an impossibility at this point, so instead, I decided that I'd use some leftover paint from my house to paint the hallway half-bathroom. So after a few more hours of final cut-in and touch ups, we were finished. I'm actually pretty pleased with how it came out, so hopefully Jess' parents will like it. They still have a lot of work left to do with the house, including more paint pretty much everywhere, new flooring, and a handful of other things. No big deal.

The final product.



Oh yeah, and the bathroom. Baller, right?

Just a couple of springs, no big deal.

So generally speaking I love spending my Saturday at the shop where I work and chipping away at the endless list of things that I need to complete on my race car before I go to take my provisional competition license class in February at VIR (Virgina International Raceway).

A part of what I did today involved transferring valve springs from one cylinder head (an old race engine I had previously), to another (the current engine that I will be using in the racing series that I am entering in this year, Honda Challenge). This job is not terribly difficult, although it is sometimes very tedious for a person with compulsion (me). Using a higher spring rate, performance oriented valve spring combination is critical to a race engine. This is to maintain high rpm valve stability (basically, if you're at redline for twenty minutes, you need things in your engine to be overkill / and over engineered)

On to the pictures!

A picture of the donor engine.

A picture of the valve spring compressor on the valve spring.
(This is the more important of the tools needed for this job, this compresses the spring to then release the valve locks, then free the spring).

This is a comparison of the two valve springs, the ones on the left are the old springs that have been removed, and the ones on the right are the ones that are going to be installed.

What a head looks like with all of the valves springs removed.


A happy camper, now that this engine is ready to g0!

Next installment will be about either installing the engine and transmission in to the car, and / or fabricating the mounts for the RaceTech seat.

NBD.

sander.

Hello!

The Mission:

We are just a couple of dudes that enjoy working with our hands. Between the five of us, our collective interests/hobbies span a pretty broad piece of the spectrum. The purpose of this blog is to document various projects that we undertake. Expect to see content that covers a wide range of topics from home improvement to race car construction to child rearing...probably a lot of cooking as well. Enjoy!


The Dudes (in alphabetical order):

Aaron

Aaron works as a web and graphic designer. He enjoys playing with cars, taking pictures, strumming the guitar and he has a cat named Jewel.

Brad

Brad is a food scientist, deep in the chicken game. Brad enjoys cooking (baking specifically), working on cars and photography.

Chris

Chris works for a custom home builder as a project coordinator. Chris races motorcycles, plays the drums and has a lot of tattoos.

Geoff

Geoff is from the UK and works as a civil engineer. Geoff is soon to be a father and he enjoys all forms of motorsport, as well as playing Call of Duty on his Xbox.

Sander

Sander is a diagnostic technician specializing in European Automobiles and also builds and tunes race cars. Sander is a certified High Performance Driving Instructor and he enjoys mountain biking and playing piano.


Definition of Terms:

These are some terms/acronyms that you will see throughout our blog. Most of them require a definition for first-timers.

BTC - This stands for "Big Time Carry." A "carry" is either an action or an event which is adverse in nature, therefore, typically resulting in a negative outcome.

FITG - This stands for "F*$#ed In The Game." We don't think this requires much explanation.

DM - This stands for "Dick Missile." Dick Missile was a phrase that we coined years ago as an adjective to describe anything that is exceptionally awesome.

Real T - This is short for "Real Talk." It is a phrase commonly used to emphasize the validity of something.

NBD - This stands for "No Big Deal." This, too, should require no further explanation.

LLS - We recently received word from a friend of ours, who teaches high school in Baltimore City, that kids aren't saying "LOL" anymore. Instead, they are saying "LLS" which stands for "Laughing Like S%!T." We love it.

Let Me Get That Neck - This is a phrase used to call someone out on something stupid they've done. In person, it is usually followed by a swift reach and pull on the back of the person's neck.