yard sale score!

well there i was looking for a cheap cooler to experiment with and one just dropped right into my path.
the charity i volunteer with does a biannual yard sale and somebody donated this junk cooler. it's intact aside from broken hinges and i can create something that works to replace them.
so i bought that along with some books and a toaster oven to replace the one that spontaneously quit heating last week.
and both my cast iron dutch oven and cast iron deep pan with a lid fit in it at the same time. whee!


so one weekend i'll lay some cork in the bottom and line it all the way around and the lid with the mylar sheet.

solar haybox -more thoughts

i'm liking this style: low bodied, wide marine cooler.

http://tinyurl.com/y7hrayw
the long low body lets more sun in
the marine cooler specs say these coolers resist warping and cracking with extended sun exposure [kind of a must for a solar oven]
there are a variety of sizes and shapes with varying descriptions on amazon. i'm thinking of heading to the boat store some weekend to put my hands and measuring tape on some of them.a couple of them say they have lock in place hinges/lid supports which would be ideal for the solar aspect.the other thought i was mulling over was how to protect the bottom of the cooler from what i hope will become a VERY hot pot of food.

still torn between an inch of cork covered in mylar or silicone mats [or a layer of silicone square potholders since i can often find those on sale]
and don't worry, an inch thick cork rectangle is really easy to find. ikea makes a set of trivets for super cheap.
http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/00078414



there's one on the left side of my glass topped stove right now, acting as a lid/pot rest when i have to remove things from the heat. putting a hot pot on a cold glass stove is just begging to have a nasty incident.

i think this weekend i'll do a small scale test with a mylar emergency blanket that's in my camping gear, a small cooler i have and my littlest all black cast iron pot and some water.

i won't make it permanent though because that's not a large enough cooler for actually using a pot that could hold a whole meal. and it's brand new, only been used to transport gelatin edible hearts and 'blooderfingers' to the set of a zombie movie ... but that's another post for another time

another idea while driving

just driving down the road and BAM, right to the back of the head. gotta tell you, unlimited texting to email myself ideas like this has saved many a useful thought from being lost to my wandering mind

wait, this is another of those ideas i have that i assume would be obvious but actually aren't isn't it? went to look for plans to make a solar oven/"haybox" combo out of a cooler. why aren't there any plans? seems easy - make a solar oven out of a cooler with a 'solar lid' and then when needed swap it for the insulated lid for a 'thermal haybox' that can also be used on sun-free days. one box, fewer used resources.

the basic thought so far:

cheap cooler with a hinged lid
line the lid and inside with mylar
make a frame to fit the top with a sheet of glass in it
black cast iron pot with a lid. the pot needs to be not too much smaller than the cooler itself to function effectively as a haybox.
a rack to set the pot on to keep from melting the plastic of the cooler

my dutch oven is still too new and grey, needs a few years. i will likely have to buy a preseasoned one or search thrift stores

bread by zen

for the first time in years i have a reasonably sized kitchen and bread pans at the same time.
so i got some yeast and made a half loaf.
it's an intentional half loaf so it doesn't go stale before i get to finish it












it's a very wet dough intentionally. i wanted lots of steam for crustiness.
i proofed the yeast in advance in warm water with a little sugar. flour, salt, water, yeast - mix.

let it rise three times on the warmer on my stove, double boiler style.























then i poured it into a greased pan [had just finished a stick of butter so i just used that to wipe the pan, i use unsalted butter]

425 for something under an hourish until the crust was golden brown






super soft inside with lots of medium and small bubbles, crusty outside like a loaf of french bread. it tastes exactly like the most perfect pizza crust i ever ate.



there's only one problem.
i didn't use a recipe and i didn't write it down.
hehe, this should be interesting to try to repeat.

house modding - maximum function, zero aesthetic

what i ended up doing with the area over my kitchen sink. this is the result of the broomstick found in the shed on the last house modding post. the grundtal rack didn't completely fit over the broomstick, but that's what vice grips are for, right?

for details on what each item is, check the original flickr photo and mouse over the pic for pop up notes

http://www.flickr.com/photos/catastrophegirl/4285351995/

this is how i store my ziplocs, foil, etc. i take my own food everywhere so i always need something to put it in. this was it's always right at hand.
that little lazy susan used to go in my fridge but there's no good place for it in the current fridge and it doesn't fit in the cabinets. haven't found a permanent home for it yet. may eventually go in the pantry?



and this is the hallway.

in the middle of this pic is the linen/diabetes closet.
on the right is a magnetic tool bar from harbor freight tools with various things i reach for all the time and want close at hand.
on the left is an ikea bag holder. there are three trash cans and a litterbox in the surrounding rooms. i have a hard time keeping enough bags on hand to use, actually

again, for more details [if you REALLY need to know what's on the tool holder] notes are on the original photo, here

http://www.flickr.com/photos/catastrophegirl/4285363861/in/photostream

fridge features

i don't actually love my fridge. it came with the house.
it's a side by side and i honestly loathe that. i prefer either a top or bottom freezer.
but as long as it's in good working order and i have other things to spend my money on, it stays.
in the meantime, i am thoroughly enjoying the fact that it's a dry erase compatible surface.

gives me LOTS of room to split out my shopping list.

and the side of it is good for a to do list.

my sister has a nice super fancy steel french door fridge. it's lovely. spacious, interior is remarkably usable.
but she had to give up the magnetic properties of the front
and she could never write directly on it.

i guess by the time i am in the market for a new fridge, i'll have a giant list of want and do-not-want features.

house modding

really enjoying finding stuff to make my house more comfortable. a little trip to ikea sort of helped but i had already bought some of the things on my ikea list at a thrift store the week before for $93 less.

was out in the shed this morning digging around in the stuff the previous homeowner left behind and had one of those 'i'm an idiot' moments.
i had wasted countless time trying to figure out how to make a tension rod hold a lot of weight or how to cut down an ikea grundtal rail... when what i really needed was a broomstick that was lying on the floor of the shed under some wood scraps.



now i just need to cut three inches off it, get a couple of large cup hooks to screw into the window frame over my sink and i can hang my dish brushes and the grundtal drainer rack for my soap, nail brush and sponge holder.

duh....