A Jeanne in the Kitchen

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.

 

 

 

We are so blessed to be living in such a beautiful state.  There is so much beauty everywhere we go, from the beautiful mountains, to the fabulous lakes and rivers, to the flowers, and everything in between.  I believe it was John Denver who coined the phrase that “Colorado was God’s Country”.  I have no doubt in my mind that Colorado really is “God’s Country either.

We started our Guanella Pass trip just outside of Golden, where we went off the main highway and started our mountain adventure.

The Mountains.

 

 

Waterfalls, rivers and lakes.

We even caught a fisherman fishing.

The mountain flowers.

Whenever we go on our driving tours, I always end up with so many great pictures.  But hold on to your hats.  The best is still yet to come.  🙂

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

 

 

As you all know, we love to just get in the car and drive.  Larry usually plans the trip out as much as he can, but there is still a certain amount of spontaneity as well.  This time our “tour” took up us over the Guanella Pass.  It was a beautiful day and we saw so much wildlife.  It was also considerably cooler up in he mountains than it was at the base of the mountains where we live.  We always find fabulous little restaurants on these fun and beautiful day trips, and this day drip was no different.

This time we discovered the Riverbend Eatery for “food and fun on river”.

I just love the canoe on the roof.

Riverbend Eatery boasts of an “awesome river view” and they are not exaggerating either.  It was an awesome river view.  We were lucky enough to get a table right next to the river, which was flowing rapidly.

If dining al fresco by the river is not your thing, Riverbend Eatery also offers spacious indoor dining as well.  Although I will ALWAYS choose to dine outside, especially on this beautiful river, whenever possible.

Riverbend Eatery is cutely decorated with fun and quirky aspects of life up in the Colorado Rocky Mountains.

As soon as we walked in to Riverbend Eatery we were well taken care of by the friendly staff.  They were all so helpful and were just full of smiles, even beneath their masks.

We must have worked up quite an appetite, even though we were just driving through the mountains.  The Riverbend Eatery menu offers a variety of pizza, calzones, pasta dishes, burgers and salads. We decided to order a pizza.  We ordered a large pizza, fully expecting there to be leftovers to take home with us.  What we did not expect, however, was the HUGE size of the pizza and just how much there would be to bring home.  We ordered the “Meaty Italiano”.  As you can see, it was loaded.  It was also very, very tasty too, which is a good thing considering how much we brought home with us.   We will be enjoying this delicious pizza for at least a couple more meals yet to come.

Next time you are driving around through the mountains in the Bailey area, stop in and enjoy your meal right on the river.  Riverbend Eatery is is located at 60006 US Highway 285 in Bailey, Colorado.  They offer 14 different beers on tap and have a full bar as well.  You can reach them at (303) 838-0264 or online at Riverbendeatery.com  

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

 

It is that time of year again when our fabulous Palisade peaches are once again in season.  Palisade is an agricultural mecca on our western slopes of Colorado, and that is where our Palisade peaches come from.  To me, they are some of the best peaches I have ever eaten.  My friend Janet and I usually split a case every year.  They just arrived.

These peaches are so sweet and juicy.   I just absolutely love them.  I used half of my batch for some delicious peach salsa.  I have something specific in mind that I am going to use it for later.  You will just have a to wait a bit longer to see what that will be.  🙂

My peach salsa only requires a few simple and basic ingredients.

To make 2 large jars and 1 small-medium jar of salsa I used

10 peaches, peeled and diced

2 jalapenos, diced fine

1 red onion, diced fine

1/2 cup green onions, sliced thin

3 roasted Anaheim peppers, peeled and seeded, diced fine

1/3 cup cilantro, chopped fine

 

Mix everything together well and refrigerate until ready to use.  You can use it to top bruschetta, for chicken or pork or shrimp, or in a salad, or maybe even something a bit more exotic.

I peeled the peaches just like I peeled my apples when I showed you how to peel them on my latest video YouTube Video #4 – Brussels Sprout, Apple and Bacon Salad.  Then slice them by putting the knife right into the peach to the pit and give a slight turn.  Repeat until the peach is completely sliced.

And the results …… are just peachy.

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

 

I made video #4, hopefully for your viewing pleasure.  🙂  All the videos I have made so far have been from recipes that I have made and featured on the blog already.  This latest video is showing you how to make one of our favorite summer time salads, a Brussels sprout, apple and bacon salad.  It is cool, crispy, sweet and tart all at the same time.  It’s just perfect for the summer.  Brussels Sprouts Salad with Chicken.  I did not add the chicken for this one, but it is the same salad recipe.  Sometimes I use red onions, like I did for the video, and sometimes I use shallots.  Red onions are a bit more zesty than shallots, but both are fine.  You can also make it vegetarian or vegan by not adding the bacon too if you prefer.

I am still a work in progress, and am learning new things all the time.  This time I have figured out how to get comments on the video.  So if you like it, please, please add your comments if you like and please subscribe to my YouTube page and pass my videos on to as many people as you would like.  The more the merrier, I say.  🙂  I am also open to suggestions on what you would like to see me make.

I meant to mention it in my video, but I forgot to, but I am anxiously awaiting to see all of your apron designs and concepts.  Once the aprons are made, the winner will win a “A Jeanne in the Kitchen” apron.  Please send your ideas to my email address at ljbjej@q.com

Stay safe and stay well.  ‘Til next time.

Sheree, from https://viewfromtheback.com/, Amanda from https://forestwoodfolkart.wordpress.com/ and Sandy from https://thesandychronicles.blog/ are always coming up with some very fun and very cool photo challenges.  This is one of those.  It’s all about living life and sharing it with good friends and family.  After all, the world is a much better place with friends.  I am blessed to have a plethora of great friends, both old and new.

Some of my beautiful Mermaids.

Me with my “little sister”, Kathy, back in our much younger days.

Larry and I at Julia’s Mardi Gras party.

We’re all flyin’ high.

Just laughing it up in the kitchen.

Friends through the ages.

American Proud.

The Caramel making tradition continues.

Testing the soup.

Painting with Perri.

A toast to friendship.

Celebrating with family.

Make the most of all that life has to offer.  Friends and family make the good times better and the sad times easier.  Stay safe and stay well Everyone.  ‘Til next time.