The Porch...

What should have taken one weekend took four.... 

Rebuilding our front porch... 

It was hopelessly rotted and could not wait another winter...

  Either we do it ourselves for about seven hundred dollars 

or pay to have it done for $6500.00. 

  The last time we paid someone to work on our house, 

it drained our life savings 

and the lawsuit is still pending....

Well, that was a no brainer, 

except that the project was not easy....

Not one little bit...  

First of all, it didn't help that it poured buckets the first weekend 

and Tom came down with a top five case of the flu 

that lasted two full weeks... 

He gutted it out, literally, hammering and sawing 

while feeling like ten bucks...  

He's lookin' quite manly, though, if I do say so myself...

There are many truths to be learned when embarking upon 

a good old fashioned do-it-yourself project...

.  

Here are a few we learned:

1. Get a professional to tell you what to do...preferably an architect...Thanks Dad!

2. Measure about 10 times before you cut.  It totally stinks when the board is 1/4 too short!

3. Have another sane person work with you to catch your mistakes, especially at the end of the day.  "Dude, we need to to remove 3 inches off this board so let's take 1 1/2 inches from each end."  "Um, Garth, how about we just take three inches off of one end?"  "Dude!  Yer a genius!"

4. Have the right tools.  Norm from "This Old House" gets whole homes built in 30 minutes on his show.  You don't think he does that with a handsaw and chisel, do ya?

5. Lock the kids in the house.  Nothing wrecks a project faster than distractions.  "Jack, NO...you can't use the circular saw and please pick up the spilled box of finishing nails you spilled in the grass!"  I smell tetanus shots for the whole block....

6. Have plenty of beer for the end of the day.  Enough said...

7.  Measure...Oh, did I already say that?

So, it took four weekends and it may not be contractor perfect, 

but we did a darn good job anyway...  

Now I have to paint it....blech.  

That will have to wait a weekend or two...

Today, Tom finished the porch

and didn't need my assistance, 

so I decided it had been about six weeks 

since I last took treats to the school teaching staff... 

I have been conjuring up some tasty ideas

for a few weeks and set about executing my plan...    

First were pumpkin cupcakes with chocolate frosting 

and chocolate leaf garnishes... 

Here is the recipe for the pumpkin cupcakes...  

The frosting was out of a can and I made the leaves... 

It is so easy....  

Melt either chocolate or candy melts from the craft store.  

Add a little shortening to loosen it up a bit...  

Wash and dry lemon leaves...  

You can get them in the florist department of the grocery store...  

"Paint"  the melted chocolate onto the backside of each leaf...

Place them on waxed paper 

and put them in the refrigerator for about ten minutes...  

When they are cold and hardened, peel off the leaf and, Voila!  

You have a pretty chocolate leaf!

Next, I made caramel/chocolate candied apples 

with pistachio and sprinkle garnishes... 

Inspired by this photo below in Country Living Magazine, 

Kate and I made our creations...  

Man, were they tasty!

Last on the treat list were cake pops...  

My mom bought me this nifty cake pop maker a couple of months ago 

and I have been itching to give her a go... 

What a fun gadget!  

You make a cake mix, fill the holes with 1 T of batter 

and then cook 'em up for 4  minutes... 

Once cool, melt some candy melts and dip the candy sticks 

in the melted candy up to about 1/4 inch... 

Plunge the stick into the cooled cake pop 

and then chill in the fridge for about 15 minutes...  

Melt more candy with some shortening to liquify it more... 

Dip the cooled cake pops into the melted candy...  

Twirl it in the bowl to get rid of the excess 

and then garnish as you wish... 

Stick pops in styrofoam to cool and harden...

Given the fact that I am heading to Paris in two days,

it was not particularly the brightest idea 

to take on a day of baking... 

Now I am dog tired 

and have not packed nor done laundry... 

But the porch is built, 

Tom is quite satisfied with his achievement 

and tomorrow some teachers will find fall sweets 

waiting for them in the lounge...  

So if I forget my deodorant or socks, so what...  

Now how do you say, "S'il vous plait....

which way to Walgreens?"