Now You Don't See It, Now You Do

A couple of weeks ago, people in my area awoke to a thick dense fog.  Not the usual morning.  Driving was slow and the air was so thick.  Makes me glad it isn't like this every day. 

To give you an idea on how bad it was, this was the view from one of my office's conference rooms.

It is pretty thick out there.  But just how thick doesn't become apparent until you check out the photo below. 

This is the view out that same window that I took later in the afternoon.  Much better!

I call that a definite "Now you don't see it, now you do!"

Just one more example of the crazy crazy weather we have had this spring.

Willow Wednesday

Mom was laughing too hard to take a good picture.

I had to kill the toy, it didn't have a squeeker in it!

Tout It Tuesday - #1

Welcome to the first Tout It Tuesday!  I can't wait to see what people will be share and know that I will be inspired by everyone's projects and recipes.

Just a few rules/guidelines.

1. Follow me through GFC or Bloglovin'. You can also follow me on Twitter as I will be sharing my favorites.

2. Please do not link parties or shops. Everything else is accepted.

3. I would appreciate it if you would grab my button and either display it with the post you are linking up or under your list of parties.

<a href="http://www.claimingourspace.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://i248.photobucket.com/albums/gg186/gooch100/COSButton-ToutItTuesdays.jpg" /></a>

4. It would be great if you would visit at least two posts for each link you submit and leave a comment. Comments make everyone happy!

Let the fun begin!

Bacon Apple Cashew Salad

Not too long ago D surprised me with having dinner ready when I got home from work. While that was wonderful all in its own, it was the salad that made it absolutely memorable.

Who knew that apples, bacon, romaine and smokey seasoned ranch could combine for such tastiness? I mean, I am a firm believer that bacon makes everything better, but in this case, it is definitely true.

The secret to this salad is a quick saute of the apples in the bacon fat.  Something magical seems to happen when the apple and bacon-y goodness combine in a hot pan.  (I swear I can smell the bacon as I am typing this.)

The combination of the sweetness of the apples, the saltiness of the bacon, the cool romaine, the slight smokey heat of the dressing and the nuttiness of the cashews ensure that this a salad you will want to make again and again.

Mmmm, bacon...

Ingredients

• 3 pieces of bacon
• 1 head romaine lettuce, chopped, washed and dried
• 1/4 cup ranch dressing
• 1 teaspoon Northwood Fire seasoning
• 1 apple cored and sliced into 4 slices lengthwise
• 1/4 cup cashews, chopped

Directions

• Combine ranch and Northwoods fire in a small bowl, set aside.
• Cook bacon in a skillet until crisp. Set aside to cool.
• Place apple slices in skillet with bacon fat, cooking for about 1 minute on each side. Set aside to cool.
• Wipe out skillet and place cashews, toasting lightly. Set aside to cool.
• Chop bacon and apples into small pieces.
• In a large bowl, combine romaine, apples, bacon and dressing, tossing lightly.
• Once tossed, add cashews.
• Serve.

I hope you enjoy this salad as much as we do!

Weekend To Dos 4/7-8 & The Week's Menu Plan

If you have been following our Weekend To Do lists, you will notice one thing that is NOT on the list this week. That item that never ever seemed to get crossed off the list. Yes, the powder room trim is done!! It only took me time each evening this week to get finished but it is DONE! The trim is caulked and painted. Where is my big red marker to cross that baby off? Let me give a big wahoo for not having to put this on the list again for another week!

The best part is I don't need to answer yet again, "Dad, I am going to get to it," when he comes over for Easter dinner tomorrow.  That is worth a double wahoo!!

Having the powder room done frees me up to continue working on the living room mess, I mean madness. Did I say that? I really meant project. I am hoping to get finish the woodwork painting Saturday afternoon so it doesn't smell like paint during dinner on Sunday. Wish me luck!

With that hope, here is the rest of our To Do List.

1. Willow to dog park
2. Work on living room cabinets
3. Grocery, Laundry, Cleaning (the weekend triumvirate)
4. Deliver wood file cabinet to Dad
5. Move green cabinet to the basement
6. Finish organizing crafty corner or rather switch stuff around. Turns out the desk and the shelved need to swap places.
7. Write up blog post for Easter egg holder
8. Take photos of Easter egg holder
9. Plant indoor seeds
10. Easter Dinner
11. Move seeds started inside to shady protected spot outside

Additions:

1. Fix the sun tunnel in the attic
2. Mow the lawn

A Forage in the Fridge heavy week since I know we are making make waaaay too much food for the Easter dinner. 

Sunday: Easter dinner: Ham, rolls, green bean casserole, cheesy potatoes, sweet potatoes, dilled carrots,homemade applesauce, blueberry cake, and more 

Monday: FITF*
Tuesday: FITF
Wednesday: FITF
Thursday: Stir-Fried Honey-Ginger Chicken with Peppers

Friday: BBQ Salmon

Saturday: Pork Milanese with side salad though this one may change to sandwiches or pizza if we are totally sick of pork after all that ham.

 *Forage In The Fridge

Some Kitchen Progress - Sort Of

We are in the process of stacking up the items we need for the update.

Paint has been purchased. Valspar Key Lime Pie color-matched to Behr paint.

Lights have been picked up from Lowe's.  Though the light I loved and planned to place over the sink is out of stock and they have no idea when it will be back in, so I got this baby instead.

Oooh, shiny!

These will make the kitchen so much brighter

Granite paint has arrived.  We needed to get 2 kits.  Though we may have enough leftover to do one of the bathroom counters as well.

The faucet was delivered, too.

In addition to the sink light hiccup, we ran into another snag on the tile as well.  We need to get a different tile now.  The ones with the beveled edge don't come in 3x3.  That size was needed if we wanted to do the running bond so all the tiles, even the halves, would be beveled. So we will be using a basic, white 3x6 subway tile. Still debating the merits of some accent tile so nothing for the backsplash has been purchased yet.  Hopefully we will get it figured out in the next week or so.

I am think that I may need to take a Friday or Monday off to get a jump on the update so I am pretty sure  there will be an uninterrupted day of painting in my future.

Cost to date:
$   20.00 - Paint
   173.00 - Lighting
  139.00 - Giani Granite Paint
  130.00 - Faucet
$462.00 Current total

Yeah, I think we are going to go over our planned $500 budget. Keeping fingers crossed it stays under $600.

Willow Wednesday

Sometimes it is just so tiring being so cute!