Rethinking the Garage Door

The look on Stephanie's face told us to rethink the way we were building out the cabin.  The loft idea wasn't going to work.  So instead, we had Joe finish the small garage room with bead board.  It is now the girls' bedroom.  The only trouble is that we can no longer imagine pulling the UTV in over the fuzzy purple rug Stephanie uses at night when she likes to lie down with her book in front of the heater.

Steph likes to drive it, but she doesn't want it in her room.

Even worse than the lack of practicality, heavy rains from the south leak in and run across the floor if we aren't prepared with towels ahead of time.

Joe Terpstra said he could install French Doors back there, but it was going to be several weeks until he could get to it.  I'm crossing my fingers for good January weather when he shows up to do the project.

In the meantime, Joe said to hang plastic sheeting from the door to prevent water from coming in.  While this has been more effective, it still hasn't prevented all of the leaking.

Thanksgiving at The Ranch with The Big Green Egg

The back deck is not finished, and the wind is strong from the south.  We've decided to set up our Thanksgiving dinner on the front porch to get us out of the wind.  Maechelle won't be joining us this year, but Christy and Dilish along with Amanda and Clark will join Alan, Jack, Stephanie, Marissa, and me for dinner around 1:00.

The Big Green Egg is an important part of our dinner plan.  Even though I'm cooking a meal for this many people without a traditional stove, I think my plan will work.

The Big Green Egg will cook the turkey, baked potatoes (while the turkey is cooking) and two pies.  I'll cook the pies ahead.

The Camp Chef will cook the green bean casserole in the dutch oven.

The Microwave will cook the pumpkin cake and the stuffing.

The multicooker will cook the gravy.

The Turkey:
We cooked the turkey like you cook "beer chicken."  We bought a 24 oz can of beer.  Alan had to work to get it into the holder, but he did.   Working together, we coated the outside of the turkey with beer can chicken seasonings (you can buy this pre-mixed or make your own).

We put a lot of charcoal with soaked apple smoking chips in the BGE and preheated it to 375.  I wanted to cook the turkey low and slow.  Once the charcoal was started and the fire was going,  we set the plate setter in the egg with the legs up, and set the grill rack on top.  When the BGE was at 375, we set the turkey on the rack.  I planned to cook the 14lb bird for 3 1/2 to 4 hours.  After two hours, I put the baked potatoes on in a circle around the turkey.  The turkey was done at 3 1/2 hours.   I checked by piercing the thigh the way the chef on the BGE DVD demonstrates.

The Apple Pie:
We actually baked the pie on the BGE the night before Thanksgiving.  I used an oil pastry the way I would do it if I was baking in a regular oven.  Steph and Marissa helped.  I use Granny Smith apples in my pies and add Turbinado sugar (about 1/8 to 1/4 c), a little flour (2 T), and a little cinnamon to the sliced apples.

This is not a "true" lattice because we use oil pastry.  We just  placed stripes of dough on each other without weaving.

I set the plate setter with legs down and put the pizza stone on top.  I also used a baking rack to prevent the pan from touching the hot stone.  I cooked the pie at 400 as suggested on the livefire blog.  Just as the blog suggests, I watched the pie and at about 45 mins it looked done (bubbling center, brown crust).

Broccoli salad and jellied cranberries (I cooked ahead on the Camp Chef)

 This was a wonderful tasting pumpkin cake I cooked in the Microwave.  With whipped cream on top it looks better.

Here's the link to the pumpkin cake recipe.

You Had Me at Cornbread

Last night was tough with wind gusting from the south at 35+ mph, rattling the garage door in the cabin room that is now the girl's bedroom.
When we ordered the 14x 32 building we thought we could build loft sleeping space for the girls.  The 10x14 apace that is now their bedroom was intended to house the UTV.  Once we saw the building (and our 16 year old's reaction to climbing into the loft) the plans began to change.
Now we wish the French doors that we are planning to replace the overhead door with were here already.  The noise of the rattling kept us up all night.
So I was cooking breakfast little later this morning than I had planned.
We had a busy day of deck building planned so I wanted breakfast to be quick.  I am very happy with my new camp chef stove and the griddle plate I bought to go with it.  So eggs and Bacon this morning were a snap.
Now I don't eat carbs, but I always serve them to my family.  Yesterday I made cornbread for breakfast and saves the leftover for today. 
Marissa appeared an the front porch while I was frying Bacon and inquired about the menu.  I mentioned that I had saved yesterday's leftover cornbread and how it could be warmed...
"You had me at cornbread" she interrupted.  I laughed then wondered if she had even seen Jerry McGuire.
It was a good day, but that moment with her clever comment on the front porch may have been the highlight.
Or perhaps it was driving the UTV with loads of dirt to repair the road to the dam with Steph at the wheel.
Or maybe it is sitting inside right now with all of us devouring the ribs that Alan cooked on the big green egg while waiting for the football game to start.  What a good and simple life.

We bought the Camp Chef to complete our outdoor kitchen

The Floating Deck and Sidewalk

A tiny house with a large covered front porch and an even larger back deck.  The back deck will have an outdoor kitchen since the kitchenette in the cabin doesn't have a stove.

We hope to celebrate Thanksgiving out here with the family, which means we need to start on the deck immediately.

The ground is rock solid from the drought this summer.  Digging is nearly impossible, but the floating deck system we saw at Lowes looks like it will work.

Here's a link to the website where you can get plans and calculate the supplies you need.  We ordered composite from Perkins Building Supply to match the composite that Joe Terpstra used on the front porch.

Stephanie using the front loader to bring composite over during the sidewalk construction

Alan constructing the sidewalk

The front porch that Joe built.

We believe the "weekend project" touted by the website to be somewhat misleading, though.  IF you build a small deck, and IF you have 2 men with some basic carpentry skills it might be a weekend project.  We bit off a much larger project since we wanted to get up out of the mud.

It's amazing.  No rain all summer, then right when we move in, we're walking in mud.  The sidewalk which is now finished is wonderful.  It connects the two buildings.  I often go out in my slippers since it stays nice and clean.