A DIY Backyard Retreat

From House and Home

Stack shipping crates, painted pale blue, to form the base of a daybed. (Unpainted crates, or skids, are free at many lumberyards or hardware stores.) A twin mattress or foam slab covered with a white sheet or a canvas cloth and piled with pillows creates a comfy surface for lounging. A makeshift awning, made with a dropcloth or sheet, is supported by two sturdy branches.

Grilled Pizza with Steak and Blue Cheese Recipe

Ingredients

• 8 (4‐ounce) top sirloin steaks
• 1 (13.8‐ounce) tube pizza dough
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 cup prepared tomato basil sauce
• 8 ounces crumbled blue cheese
• 16 ounces shredded mozzarella cheese
• Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

1. Preheat grill on high and reduce to medium when hot. Season steaks with salt and
   pepper; grill to desired doneness. Move steaks to cutting board and rest for 5 minutes.
2. Unroll and cut pizza dough into four equal pieces. Roll each piece to 1 1/2 times the original size and cut each piece in half. Brush with olive oil and grill about 2 minutes per side. Turn off flame to half the grill. (If using a charcoal grill, push coals to one side.)
3. Place grilled dough on the cooler side.
4. Thinly slice steaks. Top each dough piece with tomato sauce, steak, blue cheese and mozzarella cheese. Shut grill lid 3 to 4 minutes for cheese to melt; serve.

How to turn a $5 Steak into a $50 Steak

Well the Steamy Kitchen says, use a lot of salt and let it sit for an hour before you are ready to grill.

Buy a cheap cut of "choice" meat, then salt, salt, salt the heck out of that thing—for only one hour before grilling, and then rinse and pat it dry.

• Use kosher or sea salt, not table salt <– that is important. It will not work well with tiny tiny grains of table salt.
• Use steaks 1″ or thicker.
• Check out her chart below on how much salt you use for each side.
• After you are done, rinse off the salt and pat to dry.

Meat	Salt Per Side	Time
Less than 1″	1/2 tsp each side	15 min
1″ thick cut – about 4″ across	1/2 tsp each side	30 min
1.25″ -1.5″ (NY Strip, Ribeye) standard thicker steaks can sit longer to let the salt do its work throughout meat	3/4 – 1 tsp each side	45 min
1.25″ – 1.5″ manly-man T-Bone, Porterhouse – more surface area means you use more salt	1-2 tsp each side	45 min
>1.5″ Massive ginormous “Barney Rubble” porterhouse	1-2 tsp each side	1 hr or more

via

How to Grill Chicken

This comes from eHow and comes out great.

Side Panels for the Gazebo

A couple of weeks ago I blogged about these side panels for a gazebo from Jysk.  They are only $15 a piece and I thought they must be too good to be true.  We wandered over and checked them out and I was amazed at the quality so we bought three of them for the cabin.  We are on a corner lot which means a lot of traffic goes by without the benefit of much privacy.  While we really like our neighbours, it is nice to have some space to ourselves as well.

Review of Scott’s Turf Builder EZ Seed

An online review of Scott’s Turf Builder EZ Seed shows that a cheap seed in some potting soil grew quite a bit faster and thicker than Scott’s Turf Builder EZ Seed.

After just a few days of warmer weather with a mix of sun and rain, the Scotts EZ Seed has really taken off and is now just about as high as my own grass seed and soil mixture. The Scotts took a little longer to actually germinate, but it is a pretty fast growing grass, all things considered. The Scotts is definitely not as “thick” as my own mixture, but that’s actually an interesting drawback to the Scotts: you can’t control how much seed you really want to spread out. With my own mixture I can put more or less grass seed into the soil and change my ratio as I see fit (I sort of over did it with this experiment) but with the EZ Seed your ratio is pre-set by Scotts so you just “get what you get and don’t get upset” when it doesn’t come in as thick as you want it.

The one thing that this experiment shows is that no matter what sort of grass seed or starter mix you use, you really do need to give it lots of water. A brick sitting in a pan is actually a pretty good way to grow grass because the brick acts as a sort of sponge and will hold onto moisture and dampness that can then be used by the grass seed mixtures sitting on top of them.

Grilled Steak and Blue Cheese Sandwich Recipe

Ingredients

• 6 to 8 cloves Grilled Garlic, mashed
• 4 boneless lean, tender beef steaks, such as beef tenderloin or top loin steaks (4 to 6 ounces each), 1 inch thick.
• Fresh ground or cracked black pepper
• 2 medium yellow onions
• Olive Oil
• 4 French rolls
• 1/2 cup crumbled blue cheese
• 2 small tomatoes, sliced.
• Mixed greens

Directions

1. Prepare Grilled Garlic
2. Spread garlic onto both sides of steaks; season generously with pepper. 
3. Slice onions into 1/2 inch slices, brush lightly with oil.
4. Insert wooden picks into onion slices from edges to prevent separating into rings (soak wooden picks in hot water for 15 minutes to prevent burning)
5. Lightly oil hot grid to prevent sticking
6. Place steaks in centre of medium hot covered grill.  Place onions around steaks.
7. Grill steaks and onions until medium rare (or desired doneness) turning once.
8. Remove steaks from grill; keep warm.
9. Move onions to centre of grill until tender and golden done.
10. Grill rolls, cut sides down, until toasted. 
11. Slice steaks into thin strips. 
12. Arrange strips over grilled rolls; top with blue cheese, onions, tomatoes and greens.

4 servings
Source: Great Barbecues with Kingsford

25 Tips for Living in Small Spaces

Some wonderful ideas from Re-Nest.  Here are my favorite suggestions but make sure you check out the entire list.

1. If you don't love it or need it, get rid of it.
2. Use the "One In, One Out" strategy.
3. Buy infrequently and with great care. Focus on high-quality and long-lasting pieces, even if you have to save up for them. Make sure they fit your space perfectly.
4. Use a pot rack.
5. Get rid of your microwave. Use the oven or stove top instead. 
6. Bring in natural light as much as possible.
7. Get small appliances and small pots and pans.
8. Buy multi-functional furniture, like an ottoman with storage inside the base.
9. Rip your CDs to a secure and reliable hard-drive and sell off your albums.
10. Put anything you don't use daily in a storage container. 
11. If you're a collector, rotate your collections in order to keep visual clutter to a minimum.

Barbecue Beef Tenderloin Recipe

Ingredients

• 2 (2 inch thick) steaks beef tenderloin
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 cloves crushed garlic
• 1 teaspoon meat tenderizer

Directions

1. Rub meat with olive oil and crushed garlic. Sprinkle with tenderizer. Cover, and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
2. Preheat grill for medium high heat.
3. Brush grate with oil, and place steaks on the grill. Cook for 5 to 7 minutes per side, or until done.

Painted Cottage Storage Bench from L.L. Bean

This is from L.L. Bean and I am quite fond of it.

Bring order and cottage style to your home with our painted storage bench. This versatile piece works well as a handy entryway or hallway organizer, a comfortable window seat or a storage piece at the foot of a bed. Roomy top provides comfortable seating for changing shoes. Open cubby is a perfect home for books and gear. Closed cubby offers concealed storage. Pair with our Bench Cushion, sold separately. Made of solid and manufactured wood, with a durable four-step painted finish.

Free Paper Birch Trees on May 5 & 6

SaskPower is again giving away free Green Ash trees on May 5 & 6 to anyone who wants them.

Help protect the environment by planting a free tree - courtesy of SaskPower Shand Greenhouse.

On May 5 and 6, Saskatchewan residents can visit any one of our 29 customer service offices to receive a free Green Ash seedling. Free seedlings will also be available at non-SaskPower locations in Creighton, Esterhazy and Ile-a-la Crosse.

Every tree that the Greenhouse grows – and that you take home and transplant into our natural landscape - helps ensure the ongoing health of our province’s environment.

Each year, the Greenhouse distributes about 500,000 tree seedlings.

We got a SaskPower seedling a couple of years ago while up in Waskesiu that is growing rapidly in our backyard.  Hopefully we can get a couple of Green Ashes for the cabin.

Sidepanels for the Gazebo

After spending all last year looking for one of these, Jysk finally has them for $14.99.  These polyester side panels are available in natural or burgundy rust.  We went to Jysk today and bought three rust panels for the gazebo which will provide some much needed shade, privacy, and a wind break for us while out at the lake.

Our gazebo awning is taupe and the rust should be a nice contrast to it.

Small Garden Ideas

I really love that pathway.

Storage ideas for small spaces

Since we have under 400 square feet at the cabin, I am always on the lookout for good storage ideas.  Re-Nest has some excellent ideas listed on their site.  They also have some wonderful ideas for green storage ideas.  You will also want to check out the 15 repurposed, upcycled, and DIY storage ideas.

Mother’s Day Gift Guide

In case you are wondering what to get your mother this Mother’s Day, I published a Mother’s Day gift guide made of stuff from Jordon Cooper Outfitters and our cabin weblog.  Take a look around and let me know in the comments here what you think.