Hilton Head, SC

We’re on our final full day at HHI. This is our first time here, and can’t believe how nice this place is! There are so many Ohioans here that when you drive through a parking lot, you’d swear you were still back in Ohio. We’ve had a great time, and would suggest anyone that comes here eats at (1) Marleys – No reservations required, and they have a 1 man band that entertains you as you wait. (2) Signe’s – open at 8 and the deep dish blueberry french toast is awesome! (3) Try Red Fish – Reservations recommended – this was by far, the best meal I’ve had in a long, long time! I had the filet mignon and my wife had the seared scallops. Wow! Oh, and by the way, make sure you have someone besides yourself put the sunscreen on! I thought I had done a pretty good job yesterday. I soon found out that the only thing that I did a good job on was my feet and legs. The back and stomach, not so good! Ouch. I’ll be wearing a t-shirt in the pool today.

High Gas Prices

Please, please, please go to www.americansolutions.com and sign the “Drill Here, Drill Now” petition if you have not already done so! From my understanding, this petition was started by Past Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich and is supported by many well informed members of Congress and Washington Insiders. Their belief is simple in that if we start drilling here in the US and our territories, the OPEC nations will see this as somewhat of a significant threat in years to come. What we pay at the pump may not be impacted immediately, but really, they should be impacted as the oil starts coming in.

Another item to think about is the amount of good jobs that can be created. Especially if we start to build a few refineries in areas that have been hit hard by the economy. Can you imagine a refinery in Louisiana or Michigan? What about here in the Cleveland/Akron area? These areas certainly have the infrastructure, the natural resources, and the quality of people to make something like this work. Maybe we would be able to start supplying ourselves while making serious money from countries like China and India from the production of oil. Just something to think about as we contiue to pay over $4.00 a gallon…..

Kids and Phones

So…,My son and I went to Chippewa Lake the other night, and when I got home, my daughter asks if I have her phone!?! “Why would I have your phone, I ask?”. She says, “oh wait, I think, oh no, I left it on the back of the Jeep when I was outside playing before you left”…I ask,“why would you put your phone on the back of my Jeep, when you know, I’m getting ready to leave?!? I ask increduously. She says, “I don’t know“. The phone is some where between our house and the Chippewa Lake. So, that is phone #2 that she has lost!! She will not be getting another one anytime soon guaranteed! The first phone she lost was her brother’s which we had to replace for him, because we couldn’t punish him. Now this phone that is gone, is her phone and since we still have it under contract for 10 or 11 months, we will have to pay at least $9.99 per month just to ride it out. She will be paying us back for it this time, no doubt about it.  

Recipes Part Deux

I tried the Beer & Brown Sugar recipe this weekend, and thought it turned out really good. I doubled the recipe because we had 5 strip steaks, and I cooked them on High heat for about 4-5 minutes per side. Steaks were about 1 inch thick and they finished out at medium. The recipe calls for a brown beer and I am not a real fan of dark beer. Luckily, I had some “porter” from Christmas that worked just fine. I think the next one will be the ginger recipe.

O’ Canada

Friend of mine has an island in beautiful Canada that he invites me and some other friends up to every year. Sometimes, the fishing isn’t very good, but the friendship, the pranks, the laugh until you cry, is always awesome! This year was no different, except that we all probably laughed and cried more than usual. There were some pretty good pranks this year, such as the pine needles and cones in the bottom of the sleeping bag. Or my favorite, pointy rocks strategically placed under an unsuspecting friends sleeping bag along with a nice flat cookie sheet slipped into the pillow case! I still laugh out loud when I think about it. Oh, and Jimmy, I know all about last year’s little prank too. Now I’ve got a whole year to plan accordingly! Sleep with one eye open!

One of the highlights was my friends son had the best catch I’ve seen. He caught a beautiful blue walleye that ran upwards of 8 lbs. Needless to say, that one was not eaten or released. It will someday hang on his wall and hopefully when he looks up at it, he will remember his dad and his dad’s crazy friends and the good times we all had together.

Recipes

I always see recipes that I want to try, but I either forget about them or misplace them before I get a chance. I have a few for grillin’ that I want to try and this time I’m not going to let them get away from me! Here they are for you too, and if you try one before me, let me know how they are.

(1) Dad’s Steak Rub (not my dad, maybe Catherine’s)
Submitted by: CATHERINEFLORENCE
“The secret ingredient to Dad’s super-delicious steaks is maple syrup.”

PREP TIME  15 Min 
COOK TIME  15 Min 
READY IN  30 Min
YIELD  4 servings 
 
INGREDIENTS

• 4 beef steaks
• 1/4 cup real maple syrup
• 1 tablespoon crushed garlic
• 1 tablespoon seasoned salt
• 1 tablespoon ground black pepper

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat the grill for high heat.
2. Place the steaks in a bowl, and drizzle on both sides with maple syrup. Rub with garlic, seasoned salt, and pepper.
3. Lightly oil the grill grate. Place steaks on the grill, and cook 7 minutes per side, or to desired doneness.  

(2)
Beer and Brown Sugar Steak Marinade
Submitted by: Craig Jones      
“I concocted this marinade on a lark and it turned out great. The flavors complement and do not overwhelm the natural taste of beef.”

PREP TIME  30 Min 
COOK TIME  15 Min 
READY IN  1 Hr 10 Min 
YIELD 4 Servings
 
INGREDIENTS

• 2 (16 ounce) beef sirloin steaks
• 1/4 cup dark beer
• 2 tablespoons teriyaki sauce
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon seasoned salt
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat grill for high heat.
2. Use a fork to poke holes all over the surface of the steaks, and place steaks in a large baking dish. In a bowl, mix together beer, teriyaki sauce, and brown sugar. Pour sauce over steaks, and let sit about 5 minutes. Sprinkle with 1/2 the seasoned salt, pepper, and garlic powder; set aside for 10 minutes. Turn steaks over, sprinkle with remaining seasoned salt, pepper, and garlic powder, and continue marinating for 10 more minutes.
3. Remove steaks from marinade. Pour marinade into a small saucepan, bring to a boil, and cook for several minutes.
4. Lightly oil the grill grate. Grill steaks for 7 minutes per side, or to desired doneness. During the last few minutes of grilling, baste steaks with boiled marinade to enhance the flavor and ensure juiciness.

(3)Ginger Steak
Submitted by: GORDONSTONE     
“This simple recipe is one of my personal favorites. After lots of experimentation, it’ perfect!”

PREP TIME  10 Min 
COOK TIME  10 Min 
READY IN  20 Min 
YIELD 4 servings

INGREDIENTS

• 4 (8 ounce) beef sirloin steaks, at least 3/4 inch thick
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• 1 tablespoon prepared yellow mustard
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat the oven’s broiler.
2. In a small bowl, mix together the soy sauce, ginger, salt, pepper, basil, mustard and lemon juice until smooth. Place the steaks on a broiling pan, and pour 1/4 of the mixture over each one. Massage into the meat.
3. Broil the steaks for 5 minutes, then turn over and cook to your desired degree of doneness.  

These recipes come from my June issue of Home Savvy Magazine. If you would like a subscription, just let me know and I’ll get you hooked up.

Investment Property

Well, we have finally rounded the corner on the house that we bought a couple of months ago. The last few things to complete are fixing the dropped ceiling in the basement, some minor work on the outside, figuring out why the spa tub isn’t working when plugged into one outlet but is okay with another, and carpeting. The place looks really good if I say so myself, and it has generated a lot of interest among all of the neighbors. We’ve already given a few tours and have received great comments from all. The hope is that we will be able to put it on the market at least in the next couple of weeks before I am in Canada for a few days.

Stay tuned!

Landmark Winner

Congratulations to Matt Peter for correctly identifying the April/May photo displayed at www.integrityhomeevaluation.homesavvymagazine.com as Niagra Falls. Oh, and if you happen to see Matt, ask him to buy you a cup of coffee!

How close is too close?

So just how close is too close when it comes to where your siding ends and where your soil/landscaping begins? The answer is at least 4-6 inches. We recently purchased an investment property and my concentration was in the basement along a back wall that had two problems that I could see. There was some water damage to the drywall, ceiling tiles, carpet, insulation, etc. due to a copper pipe that split and was leaking water when the water supply was turned on. As I was removing all of the above mentioned materials, I found what appears to be chipmunk? droppings. At least I am hoping it is something so benign! This peaked my curiosity. There really appears to be only one way into the basement in this area and that is through a window directly above the affected area. So outside I went. I knew with my training that the soil and siding were way too close, and I planned to address this later when we started to work on the outside. The soil actually was overlapping the vinyl siding in some areas especially under the window. The problem is that there is sheathing directly underneath the siding and it is in contact with the soil as well. We all know that untreated wood, which sheathing is, absorbs moisture when in contact with dirt. Especially dirt that gets wet. I found that the wood sheathing was rotten. Now my job will be more involved than I thought it would be. Although I’ve never removed siding, how hard can it be?

Let this be a lesson to you! Take a walk around your house and look at the bottom edge and make sure you have at least 4-6 inches of clearance, and that the ground slopes AWAY from your foundation. Even if you have aluminum or vinyl siding, what do you have underneath it? Another concern that you should have when soil and wood come into contact is Wood Destroying Insects such as termites. Having wood touching soil, and wet wood is like having an OPEN ALL NIGHT, ALL YOU CAN EAT BUFFET, FOR JUST $1.99 AND 50 GALLONS OF GAS FREE WITH DINNER RECEIPT!

Flat tire!

What the heck is goin’ on? I wake up this morning and the wife needs to go to Youngstown. Problem is she has ANOTHER flat tire! The 1st one was on March 29th and I was driving, so I know where it happened. Believe it or not this flat is on the right rear same as the last one. (last tire was ruined!) Hopefully this one can be saved. Some people go years and years without a flat, I’d like to just make it a couple of months!