Beer Can Chicken

As a Christmas present one year, I received a piece of pottery designed to make a beer can chicken. I had never made, or even had one, before, so I wasn't sure exactly what I was getting into. It turned out great! (A little freaky looking, but great!). Turned out very moist and flavorful.

Recipe

2 cans of beer (I used Yuengling Lager)
2-3lb whole chicken
8oz bottle of Italian Dressing
6 Tablespoons of Cajun seasoning

Combine 1 can of beer with the Italian dressing and the seasoning in a large bag/container. Marinate the chicken in the marinade overnight. When ready to bake, empty (or drink :)) half of the second beer. Place the half can of beer in the center of the dish, sit the chicken upright over the can of beer, fitting into the bottom of the chicken's cavity. Bake at 425 for 1 hour and 20 minutes.

**Note when using pottery, don't preheat oven. Place the pottery dish in a cool oven and allow the oven to preheat with the dish inside the oven.

***Pottery dish in the picture is Follette pottery, made in North Louisiana.

HERE WE GO to Giant's Stadium!

Since the NFL schedule was posted past summer, Brian and I were determined to attend the Steelers/Giants game in NJ with our friends. However, the ticket prices were insane! The week of the game we lucked out and were able to get tickets for a great price! Unfortunately, for our friends in Virginia, Sandy ruined their plans to attend the Giants vs Steelers game, so they sold their tickets to us! We had a great time. Drove up Sunday morning, tailgated by ourselves, and enjoyed a great matchup!!

Steelers WIN 24-20!!!

Hurricane #2 for Philly

So who would have thought....we lived in Florida for 3 years and never experienced a hurricane. Move to PA and we have 2 in back to back years. They say "fear the east" of the storm and that showed to prove true this round. Sandy's eye passed over Philly, but spared us any damage. We only lost power for an hour.  We were very lucky with both of the hurricanes that hit here. Hopefully, we won't see any more!!

Last veggie harvest

In outdoor preparation for "Sandy", I quickly harvested the last of the vegetables still growing in the garden. How yummy?!?! Can't wait to grow more next year!

Taste of fall

Leaves are beginning to come down in town. Beautiful day outside with the pup. She's loving the weather!

Garden take 1

My attempt at gardening this year was fair at best. My biggest challenge this summer was defending myself from West Nile Virus. I had a horrible time keeping up with the vegetation this year because every second I stayed outdoors with skin exposed, I was preyed upon by mosquitos! In the spring time, I planned my garden. I bought a few plants from the store: tomatoes, peppers, zucchini and cantaloupe.  I decided to plant 2 items by seed: lettuce and broccoli. The lettuce grew quickly through the spring and provided us with several salads. It was very exciting. The broccoli began to grow quickly as well but showed itself just as leaves. I really had no idea what to expect from it, since I was a first time grower. As late summer came, the plants continued to grow big and plentiful. Finally, the fruit became visible. I will harvest it in the next few days and give it a try. It's a very rewarding feeling to grow your own food. I'm excited to take my little bit of knowledge into next year's season and grow more produce in a improved quality and quantity.

The non-functional room becomes FUNCTIONAL!

After many evenings of standing in the "foyer" and "breakfast" room of our house, staring at the walls, waiting for them to speak to us of what to make of them, we finally reached a solution of how to update the space and make it more functional. Something about wood paneling and green slate tiling does not scream 2012. Am I wrong?







So, the demo began. We destroyed the entire room and built a closet in a weekend. The overall plan, was to open up the two rooms more and build a coat closet, since there is not a single closet on the first floor. The demo and the construction went smoothly!

Nikki trying to "help"

French closet doors are probably the hardest thing we had to install. But they are very pretty!

Behind all the new drywall, we installed insulation. Many of the walls in our home are not insulated due to the age of the house. We painted both rooms the same color, allowing them to flow into each other.  We used Woodlawn Sterling Blue Valspar paint from Lowe's. I love it! The color is just perfect. We painted all the trim and doors Ultra White Behr from Home Depot. We had engineered hardwood installed throughout the rooms. The dark floor with the bright white trim and light colored walls looks very fresh and bright...significantly better than the wood paneled walls!  The light fixtures we installed were all from Lowe's as well. I think the dark brass color pulls it all together!

Now we are moving on to decorating! I finished Nikki's spot yesterday. What do you think? I'm on the search for a raised bowl that has storage. Can't seem to find anything I like yet. Maybe that'll be the next "project"!

We ordered furniture from crate and barrel and should be here in a few weeks. Stay tuned for final pictures!!