Doing a home and cooking show can have its
perks. Not only do we get to see the latest
and greatest in home improvement and décor
items, on some days we eat pretty well too.
Chef David is always looking for great
recipes to share with the viewers and this
week we have a tasty treat when he tackled a
simple Strata. Boy, what flavor! As I
mentioned before, we also learn a lot too.
From energy efficient windows to indoor
plants, sit back and let us educate you too!
Curtain and
Blind Cleaning
When buying a window covering you should
also take into account the amount of
cleaning you may need to do too. Amy Troute
from ‘design for home’ joined us at
Premiere Window Coverings (503-533-0922)
to talk to us about cleaning your blinds and
drapes. The type of cleaning depends on the
type of material that they are made of.
First of all, you should give them a light
cleaning with your vacuum cleaner about once
a month. Remember to use the upholstery
attachment so you don’t damage your window
coverings. If you have a wood blind do not
use water! The water will warp the wood and
your blinds will not operate correctly. If
you have a faux wood blind you can use
water, but make sure you know your material.
The same is true for any fabrics. Make sure
you know what type of material you are
working with so your spot cleaning doesn’t
leave a ‘spot’ that is worse! For more
answers to your questions check your owners
manual or with the experts at Premiere
Window Coverings.
Al’s Indoor
Plants
One of the most overlooked design elements
in the home is the indoor plant. Plants can
add a lot to your décor and they are also
good for your health. They clean the air,
removing toxins and adding oxygen. We
stopped by
Al’s Garden Center
(503-726-1162)
in Sherwood to learn a little more from Josh
about some of the different choices you can
get for your living space. Plants need a few
things to thrive. Light is one and water is
another. With all the choices out there you
can find the right plant for any light
condition. We saw some that really need a
lot of light, like the ‘Snake plant’ to some
that don’t need much light at all like the
Zee Zee plant, which can grow even in a low
light area like a closet! A loose rule of
thumb is that the smaller the leaf the more
light the plant will need. Also the thicker
the leaf the better it can handle low water
conditions. Speaking of water, we tend to
kill our indoor plants with kindness. Josh
follows a ‘rule of thumb’ or actually a
‘rule of forefinger’ for figuring out the
water needs of his plants. Just put your
finger in the soil of the plant up to the
first knuckle. If it is dry give it some
water, but don’t let it sit in water. Let
the excess drain out. This will avoid root
rot problems and your plant will stay
healthier. If you are worried that your
plant will die of thirst you can pick up a
water meter that will tell you when you
plant needs a drink. As far as fertilizer,
you can do that between April and August. In
the winter they don’t need as much plant
food since most varieties slow down in their
growth. To learn more about indoor plants,
stop by the Al’s Garden Centers in Woodburn
and Sherwood and they can answer all your
questions.
Simple
Strata
Chef David decided a few weeks ago that he
wanted to share a simple recipe that you can
put together in an hour one evening so you
can simply put it in the oven for a quick
and easy breakfast the next morning. The
recipe he came up with was this wonderful
strata. We met at the NW Natural Appliance
Center in SE Portland to use their wonderful
demo kitchen. For those that don’t know,
strata means ‘layers’ and so you can
probably guess that we will be layering in
ingredients. It is mainly egg and cream and
bread. You can add other stuff to it to make
it to your taste. First you layer in the
pieces of bread in a glass pan. The glass
pan works well for a couple of reasons; the
best one is so you can keep an eye on the
strata through the sides to see when it is
done! After the bread you put in you add the
cooked and dried sausage and some cheese.
More bread for a second layer, then the
cooked peppers and more cheese. Finally you
ladle in the cream and egg mixture. Let it
sit overnight and bake it the next day. It
is an incredibly tasty breakfast or brunch
treat for those lazy mornings.
For the
complete recipe click here.
Inexpensive Counter Tops
If you were looking to replace your
countertop and save a little money, you
don’t have to get stuck with one or 2 colors
of Formica. We stopped by the
Parr Cabinet Outlet (503-614-2655) and
talked with Fabio about all the choices you
have for your new countertop that won’t
break the bank! Formica is a brand name;
they are really called laminate countertops
and are made from pressed paper covered with
plastic but they are very durable. Plus, you
can now order countertops with pre-made
curves and edges. There are also hundreds of
colors and patterns to choose from. In fact
you can even get custom patterns if you want
to spend a little money. The most important
part of the custom work is getting the right
measurements. You want to make sure that a
representative from the countertop company
comes out and gets the correct measurements.
The latest design feature involves your
sink. Now you can get the sink placed in the
laminate seamlessly. That requires precise
measurements as well. For more information
on countertops and for help in choosing
which one is right for you, stop by the Parr
Cabinet Outlet in your area. There are 7
locations around the Northwest.
Garage Reorganizing
Spring and early summer is a good time to
organize your garage. Dan Lerma from
The Container Store (503-620-5700)
walked Robin through the steps for getting
your garage in shape. The first step, sort
through the stuff in your garage. Get rid of
the things you don’t use and give it away to
charity. This will help get you started and
also help people who may need your stuff
more than you do. Then tackle one wall. If
you just start with one wall the job doesn’t
become too big. Organize similar stuff
together and then mount it on your wall
using a system like the Elfa system from the
Container Store. Sports items, garden tools,
home repair tools can all be organized and
labeled. It may take you a bunch of
weekends, but you will be happy when it is
done.
Energy
Efficient Windows
With all the
incentives for home improvement from the
government and the state a lot of people are
looking to replace their windows with ones
that are more energy efficient. But what
does that mean? To find out we stopped by
the
Champion Window Store (503-624-2678) in
NE Portland to visit with Jon Holman and get
the low-down on the terms that are floating
around out there. The government actually
has ratings for windows that help people
know how efficient their windows are. There
are ‘U’ ratings and Solar Heat Gain Co-efficients.
All you need to know is that the U factor
blocks cold and the Solar factor blocks
heat. If those numbers are low you have a
good window. Also, don’t think that you are
getting a better window just because it is a
double pane window. All windows now have a
coating on the inside of the glass that
helps with the efficiency of the window.
Champion actually has 12 coatings on their
glass which makes it the best in the
business. We were able to test this when
they showed us a room where the windows were
blocking heat lamps. There was a big
difference between different companies and
different types of glass. You should also
look at the frames for the windows since
they can also conduct heat and cold.
Champions are foam filled for better
efficiency. If it is confusing, stop by the
Champion showroom and let them make it easy
to understand. This weekend you can also
stop by for their open house for some great
specials. They will also help you with all
the information you need to take advantage
of all the incentive programs that are
available out there.
Quick Tip –
Replacing Cabinet Knobs
Looking to make a quick style change in your
kitchen? It can be easily done by simply
changing the knobs and hardware on your
cabinets. A couple of minutes, and a
screwdriver and you can brighten your mood
and your kitchen!
