The kids are asleep--down for their afternoon naps. Should I nap? Or should I work on stripping wallpaper? That's been the question of late. Yesterday I napped. Today I would like to work on the wallpaper, but the room in question is the "office", so with the computer and a hot cup of coffee calling my name, here I sit, playing catch-up. Last night I was up past 11:00 stripping wallpaper. This has become my life. Before I move on to our latest meals and capture 6 days in one post, let me talk about this haunting room of wallpaper for a moment.
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| The wall where the paper has been mostly removed. |
Everyone has their own tricks to taking down wallpaper. I've heard them all. I've tried them all. Nothing is working the way people have described. I'm not looking for more advice or suggestions, I've resigned myself to the idea that I'll be taking down wallpaper for the rest of my life. (Just kidding--the goal is to have it done this weekend, which I actually do believe is achievable.) It's not a huge room. It's not a tiny room. It's a normal-sized room, with normal wallpaper. It's just old. And stuck on there good. When I took down the wallpaper borders in other parts of the house, I used the chemical removers you can buy at the paint store. I scored the paper, sprayed the stuff, waited, then scraped. It wasn't terribly hard, but it was still
work. This whole-room business is
hard work. I started with one wall. I scored the whole thing. I sprayed the stuff. I waited. Then, I "scraped." Little tiny bits of paper came off. That's it. How discouraging! At first I thought my problem was that I wasn't waiting long enough. But then if I waited too long, the paper would dry and it was as if I never sprayed it in the first place. The glue wasn't loosened at all! So the project went on hold. With 2 little kids to entertain and a million other things to do, when was I going to find the perfect amount of time to do this? Not too long, but not too short!?
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| Wall in-progress |
Then it was suggested that I try hot water and fabric softener. I even double checked this method on HGTV--they recommend it. So that's what I'm doing. I must say, it works better than the chemical stuff, but it's not as easy as HGTV makes it sound. It's still coming off in small amounts. Then my MIL came to visit and thought I probably wasn't scoring enough. She's taken down lots of wallpaper before, and she loves the fabric softener method, so I know I'm doing something right with that. When she said I probably needed to score the paper more, I got excited. This meant there was hope that the process wasn't actually doomed to take forever! So she tried herself, scoring the way she thought best. And guess what? Her results were the same as mine. She concluded that the paper was stuck on there better than she'd ever seen it stuck to a wall before. Great. All hope lost. So for those of you who are keeping track of how long it's taken me to pull down this wallpaper, then--tell me, please. I've lost count. I just know it's been a long time! And I'm still at it. Thank you for letting me vent. Hopefully I'll have more progress to report soon!
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| Still left to go... |
So let's chat about meals, shall we? I think I only have one new recipe to share on this post, and no picture to show for it! All of the other recipes are "repeaters" but I do have pictures! Wait, scratch that. I have 2 new recipes! Forgot about the homemade salsa. Let's start with that...
Wednesday, Day 276: Chicken Quesadillas, Homemade Salsa, and Classic Margaritas
To find my quesadilla recipe, click here. I'm sure by now, most of you know where to find my recipe for classic margaritas. Here's my homemade salsa recipe:
Restaurant-Style Salsa
28 oz canned, whole, peel tomatoes
20 oz canned tomatoes with green chiles
1/4 of a red onion, chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
chopped cilantro (
to taste)
chopped jalapeno (
seeds removed)
1/4 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cumin
half of a lime, juiced
Throw the ingredients into a large food processor and pulse until fully combined. Refrigerate. (
The flavors will strengthen and combine the longer it sits in the fridge.) Serve with tortilla chips!
Thursday, Day 277:
Bleu Burgers with potato wedges
Friday, Day 278:
Spinach & Goat Cheese Stuffed Chicken, Green Beans,
Butternut Squash Risotto
So, Randy's mom was in town to celebrate her birthday as well as Randy's brother's birthday. They're within a couple days of each other! Randy asked that I make the
lemon-blueberry cake with lavender frosting since he thought his mom would love it. I made a 3-layer version which I knew everyone would love because you get more frosting per bite and, well, this frosting rocks!
Saturday, Day 279: Movie Night! Diane (mother-in-law) and I got into our pajamas, ordered a pizza, watched a chick-flick, and drank some champagne. ha! The boys went out for the night.
Sunday, Day 280: Our church had a cook-out after the second service so I brought an autumn side dish. I forgot to take a picture of it in the morning and it was about all gone by the time I got to it in the food line, so I never got a photo. :/ It's a great dish, though, and easy to make-ahead if you need to!
Sweet Potato Side Dish
6 sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped into large chunks
3-4 granny smith apples, cored and sliced
1/2 cup of fresh cranberries
1/2 stick of butter, melted
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
In a large pot of boiling water, cook the sweet potatoes just until fork tender. Drain them and add them to a 13x9 baking pan. Add the sliced apples. Combine the melted butter, brown sugar, cinnamon and salt and mix together well. Pour the mixture over the potatoes and apples and bake at 350* for about 15 minutes. Pull out of the oven, add the cranberries, and bake for another 10-15 minutes. Serve warm.
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