A Jeanne in the Kitchen

It is video time again.  I am trying to put out a video once a week, but as with anything, sometimes life happens.  It was a little challenging this time, however, because of my kitchen being closed for a week, but a new one is now out and ready for everyone’s viewing pleasure.  My new video shows how to make an Argentine style chimichurri sauce.  Here is a link with the actual recipe if you need that too.  You all  by now see how I cook, and I don’t really measure anything.  Steak Chimichurri   I save the measuring for when I am baking.  🙂  Yes, I know, I put in a lot more than 1/2 cup of olive oil.  Larry, aka my camera man, made sure to let me know that.  I actually put in a little over a cup of olive oil.

If you like what you are seeing, please, subscribe to my YouTube page.  And if you really like it, I would love it if you would share it with as many people as you can.

Stay safe and stay well everyone.  ‘Til next time.

 

 

 

We wanted to give our new floors one more day before we started living life on them once again.  So as the floors continued to dry unheeded, we took a drive up to Estes Park.  Usually Estes is one of our favorite quick go-to spots, but this time it was rather uninspiring, to say the least.  The air was smoky and hazy from all the current fires, the colors were not as vibrant as they usually are, and we did not see any critters at all, with the exception of a dead raccoon on the side of the road.  However, there was one delicious bright spot that made our day a success.

Larry originally wanted to go to another restaurant in the heart of Estes, but because it was a very warm day, the streets were crowded and we decided to find something else instead.  We chose well indeed.  We chose a very cozy, comfortable little independently owned and operated adobe style Mexican restaurant called La Cocina de Mama.

La Cocina de Mama is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner and they also have a food truck as well.

At first, we were seated inside the restaurant because there was nothing available outside, but we jumped at the chance to dine al fresco as soon as something opened up.   The inside of the restaurant was decorated with brightly colored authentic Mexican decor.  It was very cozy and inviting.

Despite the smoke, the skies were blue and it was a perfect day to enjoy the sunshine out on their patio.

Some mountain flowers to help brighten the day.

This sign just seems to sum it up perfectly, no matter what life throws at you.

The food was muy delicioso and fresh.  Larry ordered a trio consisting of a beef chimichanga, a chicken burrito and crispy chili relleno.

I ordered a pork or al pastor dish with peppers and onions and flour tortillas.

Both plates were huge and there was no way we could finish them.  But that’s OK.  We ate what we could and took the rest home for another tasty meal to come.  Our food was cooked to perfection and the staff were very friendly and helpful and everything was served con una  sonrisa grande or with a big smile.  We definitely chose very well and we thoroughly enjoyed our meal, which totally made our day.

 

La Cocina de Mama is owned by Miguel Santana Gonzalez.  It is located at 361 South Saint Vrain Avenue in Estes Park, CO.  You can contact them online at http://www.lacocinadmama.com or by phone at (970) 586-9001.   When visiting Estes Park, it is definitely worth while venturing off the main street to enjoy a little taste of Mountain Mexican food.

Stay safe and stay well Everyone.  ‘Til next time.

 

 

 

The day we’ve all been waiting for has FINALLY arrived!!  The Kitchen will be OPEN AGAIN starting tomorrow. WHOOOOO HOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!  It seems like an eternity, but it was really only 5 days.  The floors and the railings are all done and they look beautiful.  We are just being cautious and giving them one more day before walking on the floors and using the railings.  Before any cooking starts though, we have to put everything away, back into the closets, because those floors were done too.

Since the railings needed it too, and Eric already had everything out for the floors, we had him do the railings as well.

And the finished floors, as best as I could get them without walking on them.

And now, what we’ve all been waiting for …… THE KITCHEN.

Thank you all for your patience.  We have all gone through this together.  And tomorrow, the kitchen reopens and once again, many good things will be coming out of my kitchen to share with all of you.

Stay safe and stay well Everyone.  ‘Til next time.

 

WE ARE SAFE.  Colorado is still on fire, but I am safe.  The fires are in the mountains and are on the Western Slope.  The North Denver Metro area, where we live is fine.  However, the latest on the Pine Gulch fire is NOT good news.  It has grown and has now burned over 73,381 acres, making it now the 5th largest fire in Colorado’s recorded history.  And it is still only 7% contained.

I wish there was a way we could have this blood red sky without the devastation though.

The kitchen is still closed, but not for much longer.  Eric is putting down the last coating of sealant and taking down the plastic bubbles today.  WHOOOOO HOOOOOOO!!!!!!  Soon, life will be back to normal, whatever normal is.  🙂

Eric is putting the stain on.

The floor is stained.  Now for the first coat of sealant.

Drying out.

An unexpected supervisor.  Eric did not know he was being watched from above.

As I have been writing this, the bubbles have been coming down.  WHOOOOO HOOOOOOOO!!!!!  Once the floors are dried, it will be time to move everything back into the closets again.

For those of you who live in the Denver Metro area, Eric is available.  For those of you who live outside of the Denver Metro area, Eric said he is willing to travel if you pay for his travel expenses.  Here is his contact information.  Eric is a one man show.  It is his business and he does all the work by himself.  You can see for yourself, he does a fantastic job.

Supremer’s Hardwood Floors

Eric Premer

(303) 809-1777

supremeshardwroodfloors@gmail.com

Stay safe and stay well Everyone.  ‘Til next time.

It is fire season here in Colorado.  With our dry, hot temperatures, everything is drying up quickly which makes perfect tinder.  Currently, there are a few fires raging through the state.  One of them is the Pine Gulch fire, which has already burned 50,000+ acres and is only 7% contained.  It is currently the 7th largest fire in Colorado’s recorded history.  Last night when we out for dinner, we saw 5 separate slurry bombers fly directly over us.

The air definitely has that hazy, smoky quality about it, and smells heavily of smoke.  The only good thing was this gorgeous view of the sun as it was setting.

Stay safe and stay well Everyone!.  ‘Til next time.

 

 

The kitchen is still closed and we are still living inside a plastic bubble.  Eric says he will be removing the plastic bubble later today, which is good.  I am getting very tired of living life solely upstairs and in a bubble, although is it a relatively minor inconvenience and the end result will be brand new, beautiful floors.

The first part of the day was scraping all the excess filler off the floors, followed by a clean-up sweep and vacuum.  No detail is left unattended.  Eric is even getting under the refrigerator and the stove.

Then a final round of sanding.

Once everything was sanded and smooth, and there were no more stray wood shavings floating around, it was time to apply the first coat of stain.   Eric had only applied the stain to a small part of the kitchen by the time he had to leave yesterday, but today, he is finishing the first coating of the stain for the whole floor.  We choose a light golden stain so it would not contrast too much with all the cabinets.

So far, so good.  I really like the color we chose.  It matches well with all the cabinets and it really highlights the natural characteristics of the wood.

It won’t be too much longer and I will have brand new floors AND I will have my kitchen back.  🙂

Stay safe and stay well Everyone.  ‘Til next time.

 

 

The Kitchen is still closed and will be for a few more days to come.  Phase 1 was to get everything prepped for the sanding.  Phase two begins.  Yesterday, the sanding, repair work and the filling were done, which is still taking place again today.

The big sanders are out and running.  Let the sanding begin.

The results are coming in and they are looking good.

Time for a little repair work.  We only had one real bad spot that needed some actual repair work done.  Everything else was taken care of with the sanding and the filler.

 

 

Once the repairs were done, it was time to add the filler, then sand it all down again.

The floors are not done yet, but they are already looking so much better.  Eric is doing a great job.

Still more to come.  Stay safe and stay well Everyone.  ‘Til next time.

 

We have lived in our house for 13 1/2 years and the house is 20 years old.  It seems like every year we have another project to do to fix the house up and to keep her looking good.  Last year we painted the whole inside of the house.  Closed for Remodeling  This year, we are getting all the hardwood floors redone.  They definitely need it.  We had to get everything out of the closets, and it is all piled up in the living room.  Our kitchen nook table and chairs are in the family room.  Everything is wrapped up in plastic and we are confined to the upstairs portion of the house only right now.  We will be confined for most of the week.  Our house, once again looks like a disaster zone.  All of the “kids” are locked in the basement.  The dogs don’t mind too much because it is cooler for them, but the cats are not liking it one bit.  They want to be out and in the middle of everything.

The before pictures.  The floors are in pretty bad shape.  They are definitely well worn.

Larry’s friend is the one who is redoing the floors.  He started yesterday.  Phase 1 was to get all the plastic wrap put in place.  We literally have a small little area of the whole downstairs that is plastic free.  The rest of the downstairs is buried behind a big wall of plastic wrap.  I feel like we are living in a bubble.

Larry had asked me to make something for dinner and didn’t quite understand why I said that was not going to happen.  Nothing can be cooked right now.  The kitchen is closed at the moment and now you can see why.

For now, we are eating take-out foods.  I will keep you posted on he progress.  Stay safe and stay well Everyone.  ‘Til next time.

 

 

Whenever we go on our driving adventures, I am always on the look out for critters.  Sometimes we get lucky and are happy if we see just one deer or just one elk.  This time, however, we hit the jackpot.  We saw SO MANY critters, all over the place.  It totally made our day.

The first critters we saw were some juvenile bighorn sheep just feeding on the side of the road. The full grown ram is the logo for CSU, up in Fort Collins.

He is either sticking his tongue out at me or giving me the raspberry.

I was SO excited to see the bighorns.  We rarely see them.  I would have been very happy if this was all we saw.  But the day just kept getting better and better.  After leaving our bighorns, we came across some playful and curious chipmunks.

Still not done.   Did you know Colorado has one of the highest numbers of horse populations in the United States?  Seeing the horses here is just part of the Wild West and the whole Coloradan experience.

Still not done though.  We saw quite a few deer as too.  This just made out day very full and very complete.  They took over the streets of Downtown Evergreen and even the parking lot of the Sheriff’s Department.

I think she is actually a juvenile elk.

This little guy was having so much fun just playing in the water.

I just need to get to the other side.

It’s been a busy day.  I think I’m just going to rest now.

And so ends our very adventurous and beautiful day.  Stay safe and stay well Everyone.  ‘Til next time.