New Stove!

*Disclaimer: I know it's been a while so let's all pretend like nothing happened and I just have a lot to share now.  :)

Some of you may recall our kitchen when we bought the place. 

Pretty drab and boring, but also kind of like a blank canvas.  We have since done a lot of work in the kitchen.  We painted the walls (twice) and ceiling and even replaced the lights.  However, we still had our old stove. 

Our old stove was no looker, but more than that, it was terrible to use.  It's really a double oven stove (the big black part up top is the second oven, not a microwave like I first thought) which sounds like it could be a great thing.  I tried to love it, but it burned everything I made in the top oven (aside from tater tots).  Not to mention the door swung out and would burn you if you touched anything other than the itty bitty handle on the bottom.  The stove top was not level and you couldn't really maneuver pots in the back very well because of the second oven.  So with much giddiness I said good bye to the old stove.

 The old sitting next to the new.  What a huge difference.

And finally we have our new stove sitting where the old one used to be.  I don't miss the old one at all.  The wall behind this one definitely needs some paint, but I couldn't very well tell the installers to wait while I busted our brushes and paint. :P  This one cooks way better and made the best cookies I have baked in a long time.  Let's hear it for new working appliances!!

Preserving Summers Bounty

While I was home, my dad hooked me up with a bunch of vegetables from the garden.  Since we are only two people and can only eat so much, we decided to freeze the peas and beans while we enjoy the other vegetables.

 

First you have to get the peas out of the shell.  This is a bit of a lengthy process and yields so little.  Many many shells later there was roughly 4 cups of  peas.  I tossed them in boiling water for about 2-3 minutes, then pulled them and let them cool before bagging.

 Green beans were next and far easier with just trimming off the ends and then boiling for 2-3 minutes.

All told, we have two bags of peas and four bags of green beans to stash in the freezer until we want to use them.