F'Ing Hvac and Chicken Pot Pie




Food Mood: winters’ coming kinda panicking, need some comfort food

Reno Ridiculouso: electrical inspection passed.  Plumbing inspection conditionally passed (more work to be done, more on that later), hvac hell

So, it’s December.  In Canada.  Cold, yes?  Well, ok fortunately (thank you global warming, umm.  Well.  Whatever) it’s quite warm.  It veers wildly between 18 degrees Celsius and 2 degrees, but mostly on the side of 18 degrees.

Alright so it turns out that the hvac (heating, ventilation and air conditioning ya newbies) company never submitted for a permit, they just went at it like a bunch of cowboys.  Because, really, that’s how we roll now in this city. We madly build shit, not doing the work that should be done, take the money and move onto the next project.

Anyways, so Hubby calls the city inspector to come and do an hvac inspection but he won’t come because there’s no permit.  Ok, so he applies for the permit online.  And he’s rejected because he doesn’t submit drawings.  Which he doesn’t have, because the hvac company kept them when they didn’t apply for the permit.  TICK TOCK, TICK TOCK, SEVEN DAYS OF CALLING THEM PASS.  Then, yeah DRAWINGS! In they go.  Rejected.  They are computerized (cad) drawings and the city can’t see the layer that they want.  Back to the hvac company.  TICK TOCK TICK TOCK. Drawings come, in they go.  Yeah, passed by city engineers.  WAIT.  NOPE. SORRY BUDDY, WE WERE WRONG.  The drawings say that you have a new furnace, you can’t put in the ducts that way with a new furnace.  FOR HEAVENS SAKE WE DON’T HAVE A NEW FURNACE!!!!   Gotta get new drawings buddy, it has to be as it actually is.  Back he goes, new drawings again and this time we pass for reals.

And I’m like on the sidelines yelling “Quick, for all that you hold dear, run and get the inspector in before they change their mind!!!!!”. 
So, anyways, all of this requires cream based food and lots if it.  Here ya go.

Chicken Pot Pie to Soothe What Ails
A bunch of chicken left from another meal or from the grocery store, about two cups
As much heavy cream (18%) as is left in your fridge, about two cups
Whatever vegetables and potatoes are kicking around, (carrots, zucchini, peas, corn) or 2 cups frozen veg
Half a cup sautéed button mushrooms, sautee in 1 tbsp butter if you have a hot plate, if not, just throw them in not sautéed. 
Puff Pastry, one square, thawed and rolled out

Sauté the button mushrooms in a frying pan on your hot plate.  If you don’t have a hot plate (sorry man, doesn’t this suck?) then throw them in the bottom of the crockpot with some butter.  It’ll work don’t’ worry. 
Throw in the chicken, cream, vegetables and whatever else. 
Add two heaping tablespoons of Dijon mustard (not yellow mustard people, we are not heathens)
Stir it up and cook it 6 hours
At the end add on the rolled out puff pastry on top and cook another two hours
Fresh Hell Ahead: so that non finish on the plumbing is because of a small thing, a missing p trap.  No biggie.  Oh, wait and we’ve just realized that the kitchen wall that we have open has the original cast iron stack for our upstairs bathroom behind it.  Original.  With a lot of y joints and dodgy looking silicone connectors.  Which perhaps explains a) the smell that comes out of our sinks upstairs sometimes and
b) the strange water marks that were sometimes in the ceiling and walls in that area.
Holy Hannah.  How much will this cost.  Oh, just another 1k.  Right 1k.  Or?  Or we leave it and potentially have to remove the cabinets and drywall and everything at a later date to replace that.  Right. 1k?  Sure, do it.  I never wanted to eat again anyways.  Damn you November.
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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