Just another guy with a photoblog. Feel free to follow along as I work on various hobbies and projects around the house.
Recent posts
Like I’ve said before, I think the internet is one of the most useful tools mankind has ever invented, along with fire-on-demand and Scotch whiskey. I was talking with a coworker the other day about how the internet has changed the way people think and interact. We can literally conjure the solution to any problem in a matter of seconds. Does everyone realize how amazing that is? When I was growing up, if you needed a solution to a problem, you pretty much had to—gasp!—ask someone. It didn’t matter how detailed, trivial, or awkward the question was. You had to involve another party...
read more at Chad Chandler's Blog Posted 5 days 3 hours ago.
I roll my eyes whenever a news article states that inflation has remained mostly stable. The consumer price index that’s usually referenced doesn’t account for the cost of food and fuel. What kind of an indicator is that? Fuel and food costs, especially the price of beef, have more then doubled over the past few years. As a result, many people have had to make hard decisions. The cost of prized beef like tenderloin/filet, ribeye/prime rib, and top loin/strip has always been high. As peasants found ways to make the cheaper cuts taste deliciously tender, increased demand inflated the cost of those cuts as well. I’ve been trying to find the sweet spot between price and popularity...
read more at Chad Chandler's Blog Posted 1 week 3 days ago.
Not too long ago, the wife and I visited a Brazilian café that left an indelible impression on us. It was a welcome departure from the overpriced, all-you-can-eat meat feasts that have come to typify churrascarias across the USA. I’ve spent a lot of time and energy lately trying to master the art (and science) of turning relatively inexpensive cuts of meat into high-end meals, and I was impressed with the taste and texture of picanha, the sirloin steak that is the star of Brazilian cuisine. I wanted to prepare a traditional Brazilian meal that would rival the experience we had in the Brazilian restaurant...
read more at Chad Chandler's Blog Posted 2 weeks 4 days ago.
The HTPC console I recently built replaced an armoir that had been in the corner of the den. Now that the TV is on another wall, the wife and I decided we should hang some pictures on the wall that divides the den from the dining room. We’ve decided to replace the old prints we have hanging around the house with original pieces from local artists and/or ourselves. The wife bought me a set of brushes and paint, so I’m going to get back into art this spring and summer. I haven’t painted since my watercolor class a couple of years ago. To begin, I thought we’d make some picture frames and just fill them with photos we’ve taken around town. I put an ad on Craigslist asking if anyone had any old barn wood laying around...
read more at Chad Chandler's Blog Posted 6 weeks 6 days ago.
I’ve been craving veal lately, so I decided to make some wiener schnitzel. It’s basically just breaded, pan-fried veal scallopini. Both of the wife’s grandmothers spent time in Germany, so this dish isn’t exotic to her at all. Her Croatian grandmother always pairs schnitzel with spaetzle. It makes sense. What better complements fried meat than fried carbs? The more butter, the better. To balance out the meal, I made some sweet and sour red cabbage. I’ve blogged these recipes before, but I thought I’d put them together in one place since they go together so well. Wiener Schnitzel With Spaetzle Sweet & Sour Red Cabbage This batch resulted in the best schnitzel I’ve ever eaten anywhere...
read more at Chad Chandler's Blog Posted 8 weeks 5 days ago.
Like I said in my previous posts (part 1, part 2) I’ve been waiting for several years to pull the trigger on a Home Theater Personal Computer (HTPC) set-up. I wanted to fit everything ‘multimedia’ into a custom console in my den that kept my entire system streamlined, organized, and hidden from sight. This is how it all turned out. I’m very pleased with how clean the design looks in the room. These pictures aren’t great. I think I got some dust on the camera lens when I was out in the workshop. Click on the first image to enlarge...
read more at Chad Chandler's Blog Posted 9 weeks 5 days ago.
Like I said before, I used the dimensions of my new Home Theater Personal Computer (HTPC) components to sketch out a plan for a multimedia console that would allow cool air into the storage space, block most of the light from bleeding into the rest of the room, and neatly store everything without showing any wires. This was my plan. My measurements had to be cut down by a couple of inches during the build, but I stayed pretty true to the original design. Here’s all of the lumber. Since I was planning to paint the console, I got away with using select pine and plywood for the base and birch for the top. The whole thing cost around $325 to make, including the paint and the hardware. Look at this lumber pile...
read more at Chad Chandler's Blog Posted 10 weeks 10 hours ago.
All musicians whose careers span decades go through some kind of evolution. But few have changed as much over the years as Tom Waits. It amazes me how many people know of his work through other singers’ covers, and recognize him only from his roles in film. Waits emerged in the ’70s with a unique, hybrid folk/jazz sound that was very different from the acid-rock music that was filling the airwaves. His music was seen by some as a revival of the beat movement, almost like an amalgam of the styles of Louis Armstrong, Hoagie Carmichael, and Leonard Cohen. In the early ’80s, Waits began to shrug off the musical style that had made him famous. He became more experimental with his sound, releasing the album Swordfishtrombones in 1983 to a surprised audience...
read more at Chad Chandler's Blog Posted 10 weeks 15 hours ago.
I’ve been waiting for a couple of years to pull the trigger on a Home Theater Personal Computer (HTPC) set-up. I wanted to fit everything ‘multimedia’ into a custom console in my den that kept my entire system streamlined, organized, and hidden from sight. When you live in a house as small as mine, you have to consider the aesthetics or else you look like a hoarder. I was pretty late to organize my media on my computer. The wife and I didn’t get our first iPod until Christmas of 2009 and we quickly filled our old desktop PC with burned CDs. We needed a new computer, but I wanted to get one that was somewhat future-proof. These days, future-proof means it’ll last 5 years. I’ve been wanting to move to Blu-Ray for a couple of years, but it didn’t make sense without a HDTV...
read more at Chad Chandler's Blog Posted 10 weeks 3 days ago.
There’s nothing complex about poppy seed chicken. If you’ve made it once, you’ve probably memorized the recipe. The only reason I’m blogging it is because a lot of people think it’s labor-intensive. It doesn’t have to be. As long as you have a stand mixer and a little time, it’s one of the easiest meals you can make, even if it’s not one of the healthiest. This version is based on my mother-in-law’s recipe. Stand Mixer Poppy Seed Chicken 3-4 chicken breasts (depending on the size) 1 can chicken stock 1 can cream of chicken soup 1 stick (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, divided 1 sleeve Ritz crackers, crushed 8 oz sour cream 1 tablespoon poppy seeds 1/2 teaspoon pepper 1/4 teaspoon salt This is one of the wife’s favorite casseroles...
read more at Chad Chandler's Blog Posted 10 weeks 4 days ago.