The Walls... Come Tumblin' Down! (in a good way)




Food Mood: Quesadilla Chaos

Reno Ridiculouso: A Little Bit Wrecking Ball, Really...

Ok, so it’s not lost on us that it’s now the second week of September and we have a cement pad and a bunch of badly supported structure behind caution tape.  We know, we know, people! We can hear you bloody yelling at us that it’s September in Canada and winter is coming.  Yep, we know.  Just to settle you all down , I’ll remind you that we’re retelling this story a year after it actually happened and it all turned out in the end.  So, just relax, ok?  Good. I’m glad that you feel better.  Me too. Mostly.

By mid September we manage to find one friend with time to help whom we shall call the Forever Friend.  Do you guys have someone like this?  The forever friend comes and goes from your life over a long period of time.  Sometimes me and my forever friend have not spoken for a good five years at a time.  But it doesn’t matter. I know that he (and now his family) are there when the chips are down.  Conveniently, my Forever Friend lives nearby in Toronto, is strong and technically minded and up for a challenge. We’ve known each other for 26 years.

So FF and his family (two lovely boys, one lovely wife who I believe will also be a forever friend, but it’s only been 15 years so it’s too early to say) come over and survey the land.  And then the kids and we moms head for the pool to stay out of the way.  And my FF and the Hubby and two strong local teenagers we hired, go at it.  They set up pulleys using the trees, tie themselves safely off and start bringing the roof joists down. It’s super challenging what with the whole four screws holding each of them into our siding (sarcasm, another specialty).  Then go the walls. One wall, two walls, three, four and five.  All safely down, knocked into their component pieces and categorized for re use. 

It takes a mere five hours and we’re back to cement pad and dodgy beam at the back of the kitchen.  A bit depressing really, how quickly we can undo a couple weeks of work.  Sigh.  Oh well.  Not dwelling on that.  Forward people, Forward!  Forward with quesadillas.

Hot Plate Quesadillas
So I may have lied to you a bit when I said that we made it through the whole journey with just one crockpot.  Or exaggerated (as I do) at least.  We had a really crappy assed hotplate, a kettle, a microwave, and, eventually but not yet, a toaster oven too.  Let me tell ya when that toaster oven arrived it was freakin’ nirvana but we’re a good four weeks away from that.  So, today, the hotplate

Shred a bunch of cheese of your desired type, probably about a cup for each quesadilla
Open the jar of salsa (feel that satisfying pop)
Lay out some roasted red peppers, blotting off the oils with a paper towel so they don’t make everything soggy
Lay out anything else that you’re going to throw in and chop it fine.  Some options:
Green onion
Red pepper
Leftover chicken or steak (chopped fine though)
Hot peppers

Or, if you’re the Kiddo.  Nothing at all.  Just cheese and salsa please and thank you.
So, grab some corn tortillas, put a little bit of vegetable oil in the bottom of your prehe
Hello! Thanks for stopping by to check out my recipes and commiserate with my (our) misery. Misery loves company! I live in Toronto with my husband and little girl. We have spent a year (yep, that's right, renovating our home) About seven months into this crazy renovation I thought to myself, this has got to be funny or it will be pathetic! And so, I have chosen for funny! This is my collection of mostly crockpot (although sometimes not) recipes paired with the days (weeks, months) that inspired them. Please share your best reno stories and crockpot recipes too.

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