Chez Larsson

Cleaning the Fridge

Yes, Mini, it really WAS time to clean the fridge!

 

On Sunday after Wille left I decided I’d tackle a project that I’ve been putting off for a while. Cleaning the fridge. I took the opportunity when I didn’t have it fully stocked for Wille like I usually do.

 

 
So I emptied everything out, removed and cleaned all the compartments and shelves and dried them.

 

Then I took care of some yucky business inside the actual fridge. God knows what that yellow stuff was?!

 

I’ve learned that to prevent fires you should be sure to dust and clean vents, coils etc on appliances on a regular basis so I pulled the fridge out with Mini supervising as usual. There was dust on the floor including some recently spilled out dried cat food.

 

After vacuuming the floor I also did the vents at the back (after unplugging and shutting the fridge off). It felt so good because it was ages since I had done it.

 

And here’s the clean finished result. Mine’s done, maybe I’ve inspired you to do yours?

Elbow Grease

So, I didn’t just bring home an orange ash tray from my mom’s last week. Mom and I were talking about how I’m now cooking more than ever and how I’ve come to the conclusion that while cooking’s still not my favorite thing when I do cook I prefer casseroles, stews and soups. Those are dishes where I can throw stuff in a big pot and it can simmer away on its own while I do other things.

I haven’t had a good solid pot though so I’ve been contemplating getting one of these which will do the job AND look great at the same time. Then mom reminded me that she used to have something like that but smaller but we couldn’t find it in the kitchen so she figured she’d gotten rid of it.  When I cleaned out a cabinet in the sun room a day later I found it!

 

It’s by Husqvarna and hasn't seen any use for a looooong time but I do I remember it being in use back in the 70’s and early 80’s. It looked a bit grubby when I found it, you know the greasy grub from when it’s been in a cabinet for “a while” and probably wasn’t squeaky clean when it was put there in the first place (sorry mom).

So I armed myself with a blunt knife, a Scotch Brite, some Vim (Jif to some of you) and a good deal of elbow grease. First I prepared a smoking hot bubble bath with an OD of detergent and dunked the pot and lid in there for at least an hour while I ticked off my list of other things to do. After a good soaking I used the blunt knife to scrape off the worst of the burning on the outside and then gave the inside and outside a good scrubbing with the Scotch Brite and some Vim/Jif until all the burning and grease was gone.

 

I couldn’t resist putting it through the dish washer too when I got back home and the result is pretty awesome. There are a few chips in the enamel of the lid but I’m ok with that. I lightly greased the cast iron inside with canola oil after it was dry and I can’t wait to use it. It is on the small side so I might still get a larger white Le Creuset for those big batches (I like to cook less often and freeze) and for when we have company but I like the idea of using this one for dinners for Wille and I.

Do you have any favorite one-pot-cooking, or slow-cooking recipes that can be done in cast iron pots like these? I'd love to hear and add them to my repertoir! 

Washing Windows

Two weekends ago I washed our windows. Yes, you read that right. Those of you who have read this blog for a while and those of you who actually know me IRL know that I don’t do windows. It’s not laziness, it’s inability. I’ve tried all methods but I kept getting them streaky or otherwise unsatisfactory. So these past years I’ve hired a window washer guy to come over and do them for me.

Then I saw the Kärcher window cleaner at my favorite store and my dreams were answered! And lo and behold it works! All you do is spray your window pane with the sprayer, loosen the dirt with the microfiber attchment on the sprayer and then use the squeegee thing (which is chargeable) to suck the dirt and water off.

 

I’ve never cleaned my windows this efficiently and as happily. It’s still not my most favorite of chores but I don’t dread doing them again. Imagine that!

This is NOT a sponsored post, I bought and paid for this baby myself and I love it!

Happy weekend!

New Broom

I needed a new broom. The reason? I used the old one to hack away at a large chunk of snow and ice that hung perilously over the entrance door as it thawed. It broke.

 

One of the reasons it broke was probably the fact that I hadn’t done a good enough job the last time around to attach the broom stick to the head. This time I made sure to get a good fit by sharpening the end of the stick further up…

 

… and pre drilling all the way through the head and stick and then driving a 5 cm/2” screw right through the whole thing. Now it’s solid. Trust me.

 

This time I wanted to do something different so instead of staining it I varnished. I used what I had around which might not be perfect for outdoor conditions but better than nothing.

 

Just varnishing was a bit boring though so I used masking tape to add some random stripes along the stick and painted them white.

 

Here’s my new broom all ready for some sweeping action at the front of the house.

 

Kinda croquet-esque don’t you think?

Spring Cleaning the Deck

So, the Saturday after we got back from New York the sun was out and at the back of the house it was quite warm so I decided to clean the deck. Remember how we got the deck built last year around this time? We’ll it’s lived through a year of wear and tear and a very long and cold winter and although larch is supposed to weather and turn grey I figured this grey wasn’t all weather but rather a lot of dirt and pollution too.

 

As you can see the part that’s covered by the balcony and where the pots stood in the first photo are much lighter than the uncovered part and my mission was to try to get a less dramatic difference.

 

So I moved everything off the deck. The furniture went on the lawn but I placed the pots in the flower bed because the lawn is still so soggy and I didn’t want to make matters worse by placing heavy objects on it.

 

My initial thought was to bring out the power washer but then decided to Google first and see what the proper way is to care for a larch wood deck that you’re not going to treat. Turns out scrubbing the dirt away is the best. Let me tell you right away that my arms are now toned again after a winter of not seeing much activity. Hello biceps! I used a brush on a long handle and “såpa” which is a natural soap made from pine oil. It’s got great cleaning abilities, smells awesome and actually brings some oil back into the wood as you’re cleaning. Don’t know if it’s available in other countries, I’ve only ever come across it in Sweden. Look at the gunk going!

 

I’m not going to pretend it was a soft and easy job. It took several hours and A LOT of scrubbing but it did get clean (and I got red hot and sweaty). I also gave the furniture a once over with the same soap before putting it on the deck to dry.

 

And here it is in its clean state. It IS greying slightly already after a year but it IS larch and is supposed to do that and that’s why I chose it so that’s totally fine by me. But now it’s clean and see, there’s a difference between dirt grey and clean grey.

Oh, and that’s Bonus’ buddy Diesel coming over for a little peck on the cheek. Those two, I’m telling you, it’s the sweetest thing to see Bonus, our scaredy cat, have a friend. Mini on the other hand isn’t as amused.