Part of the key to making the annual turkey a delight instead of a drudgery is to involve any available children in its preparation — and what could be better guaranteed to interest the kids than cooking your turkey in the dishwasher?
Allow one 50-minute cycle for every 2lb of weight. Hermetically seal your seasoned bird inside several turkey-size oven bags (available at supermarkets at this time of year) and then simply place it in the dishwasher where it will effectively steam-cook.
As a trial run, I cooked a 5lb supermarket chicken in the dishwasher last week and was impressed with the results: firm, tender, moist breast meat, without even a hint of the distinctive eau de dishwasher I had feared.
I gave it only two cycles, and finished the bird off in the oven to brown and crisp the skin. I used a meat thermometer (they cost less than £5) to check my chicken was cooked all the way through.
A meat thermometer is the single most useful bit of kit in the chef’s arsenal on Christmas Day — but, unfortunately, many come with the recommendation (by the U.S. government) that you cook your turkey until the meat reaches 165f.
However, a turkey cooked to 165f will be overcooked. Don’t let the temperature of the meat rise much above 145f before you take the bird out of the oven.

Question:
Our new home is wonderful, but the 70’s paint on the inside has got to go! We have selected the colors but which type of paint should we use and where?

Answer:
Since you have selected colors, you need to pick the correct sheen of paint to use for each part of your interior. Paint sheen is based on the texture created by the paint and also a measurement of how much light is reflected from the painted surface. While to some extent the sheen type is up to you here are some guidelines to make the choice a little easier.

 Flat – Provides a smooth low sheen look and helps hide imperfections. A good choice for living rooms, dens, dining rooms and home offices.

 Satin – Slightly shiny, satin provides a more washable surface. Good for high traffic areas, such as kid’s rooms and hallways.

 Eggshell – Also a washable sheen, eggshell has a soft look that looks and works great in dining rooms, home offices, living rooms, dens and loft areas.

 Semi-Gloss – More shiny than satin but not as shiny as gloss. Use in kitchens, bathrooms and on trim and windows.

 Gloss – Great for use on doors, trim, cabinets and other areas that are washed often. Gloss has the highest sheen level.

Ideally, you should prime your walls prior to painting, although it is not 100% necessary if your walls are in good condition, if you are using the same type of paint, or if you aren’t drastically changing the color. If the existing paint is latex or oil based and you plan on not using the same type of paint, you will need to apply a coat of water based primer to ensure your paint will bond to the wall. If you apply latex paint over an oil based paint(or vice versa), your paint will not properly bond and will deteriorate. You will also want to apply a coat of primer if your walls have no paint yet, if the existing paint is dark or if you plan on using a lot of tape on edging. Primers seal porous areas and provide a better surface for paint to adhere. They also keep old unwanted paint colors from showing through.

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A traditional wood-burning fireplace adds warmth and romantic ambience to a home’s interior. But most are energy hogs, converting only 15% of wood’s energy into useful heat. Fortunately, new energy-efficient fireplace designs are helping wood-burning fireplaces achieve efficiency ratings of 75% or more. Fireplace inserts and gas fireplaces are even more efficient.

Energy-efficient wood-burning fireplaces

If you’re adding a wood-burning fireplace, avoid the standard design, which sends too much of your home’s heated air up the chimney. Consider these energy-efficient wood-burning fireplaces:
Rumford fireplaces feature a shallow box design that reflects more heat into the room.
EPA-rated fireplaces have good performance and high energy-efficiency ratings. They are designed to pull in outdoor air for combustion, and circulate room air around the firebox to extract as much useable heat as possible. In addition, EPA-approved wood-burning fireplaces produce much less air pollution than standard fireplaces.
Fireplace inserts are sealed metal boxes designed to fit inside masonry fireplace openings. They use outside air for combustion, and are designed to circulate and warm inside air. Inserts burn a variety of biomass fuels, including wood and pellets. Some units are rated at 80% efficiency.

If you already own a standard wood-burning fireplace, make it more energy efficient by installing glass doors. Glass doors limit the amount of room air that is sucked into the fireplace during combustion.

Glass doors work particularly well when a fire is burning down for the night and you must leave the damper open. Otherwise, glass doors block radiant heat; keep them open when your fire is blazing. Expect to pay $300 to $500 for glass doors, installed.

In California, glass or solid metal doors are required on all fireplace openings.

Energy-efficient gas fireplaces

If you want the convenience and low maintenance of a energy-efficient gas fireplace, you have two good options:

Direct-vent gas fireplaces, which use two-way vents that supply outside air for combustion, have energy-efficiency ratings as high as 77%. That’s better than the top gas fireplaces connected to a chimney.
Vent-free gas fireplaces are even more energy-efficient because they don’t send exhaust outside. But they release a lot of moisture into inside indoor air.

Tax credits for fireplaces

Some types of fireplaces qualify for a federal tax credit of up to $300 until the end of 2011. In addition, certain states may provide tax credits for various types of energy-efficiency improvements, including fireplaces.

Read more: http://www.houselogic.com/home-advice/fireplaces-chimneys/energy-efficient-fireplaces-wood-burning-gas-burning/#ixzz1diNjS5eO

You probably think of your ceilings as solid surfaces, but the truth is that ceilings leak air into unfinished attic spaces through gaps and openings, such as around pipes and lighting fixtures. Air leaking into your attic could be costing you money—up to 30% of a home’s heating and cooling energy is lost due to air leaks. That’s an annual $300 bite out of your wallet that you can prevent.

Find air leaks

From below your attic, check the ceilings and note the locations of all light fixtures, ceiling fans, and electrical outlets. From the attic-side of your ceiling, find the fixtures you noted. You’ll have to pull back existing insulation to find them.

Electrical connections for fixtures, fans, and outlets require a hole cutout in your ceiling drywall. Each of these cutouts is a likely air leak. You can stop air leaks by sealing the cutouts from above with acrylic latex or silicone caulk, or with low-expansion polyurethane foam, depending on the size of the gap.

Also check for anything that penetrates the ceiling:
pipes
vent stacks
flues and chimneys
electrical wiring
heating and air conditioning ducts
access hatch

Gaps around these locations should also be sealed from above.

Plug large gaps

Low-expansion polyurethane foam in a can is great for plugging openings 1/4-inch to 3 inches wide, such as those around plumbing pipes and vents. A standard 12-ounce can ($5) is good for 250 feet of bead about half an inch thick.

The plastic straw applicator seals shut within two hours of the first use, so to get the most mileage out of a can, squirt a lubricant such as WD-40 onto a pipe cleaner and stuff that into the applicator tube between uses.

Plug small gaps

Caulk makes the best gap-filler for openings less than 1/4-inch wide, such as those cut around electrical boxes. Silicone costs the most ($8 a tube) but works better next to nonporous materials, such as metal flashing, or where there are temperature extremes, as in attics. Acrylic latex caulk ($2 per tube) is less messy to work with and cleans up with water.

Seal air leaks around flues and chimneys

Building codes require that wood framing be kept at least one inch from metal flues and two inches from brick chimneys. But that creates gaps where air can flow through. Cover the gaps with aluminum flashing ($12) cut to fit and sealed into place with high-temperature silicone caulk ($20).

To keep insulation away from a hot flue pipe, form a barrier by wrapping a cylinder of flashing around the flue, leaving a one-inch space in between. To maintain the spacing, cut and bend a series of inch-deep tabs in the cylinder’s top and bottom edges.

Weatherstrip the attic access hatch

A quarter-inch gap around pull-down attic stairs or an attic hatch leaks the same amount of air as a bedroom heating duct. Seal it by caulking between the hatch frame and the rough opening, or by installing foam weatherstripping around the perimeter of the hatch opening. Or, you can buy a pre-insulated hatch cover kit for about $150.

Tips for working in attics
Work on a cool day.
Wear protective gear: disposable clothes, gloves, and a double-elastic mask or half-face respirator to protect you from the insulation.
Bring along a droplight with a fluorescent bulb, plus at least two pieces of plywood big enough to span two or three joists to support you as you work.
To save trips up and down a ladder, try to move up all of the materials you need before you get started.

One warning: If you find vermiculite insulation, hold off until you’ve had it checked for asbestos; your health department or air-quality agency can recommend a lab.

Read more: http://www.houselogic.com/home-advice/insulation/fixing-attics-air-leaks/#ixzz1cMk6pQzO

Wondering when to have that candy out and ready by the door? Below is a list of the Milwaukee and surrounding area Trick or Treat times:

Saturday, October 29
Bayview – 5pm – 8pm

Sunday, October 30
Bayside: 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at Ellsworth Park
Brown Deer: 1 to 4 p.m.
Cudahy: 2 to 4 p.m.
Fox Point: 1 to 4 p.m.
Franklin: 4 to 7 p.m.
Glendale: 1 to 4 p.m.
Greendale: 4 to 7 p.m.
Greenfield: 1 to 4 p.m.
Hales Corners: 4 to 7 p.m.
Milwaukee: 1 to 4 p.m.
Oak Creek: 4 to 6 p.m.
River Hills: 2 to 4 p.m.
Shorewood: 2 to 4 p.m.
South Milwaukee: 2 to 4 p.m.
St. Francis: 2 to 4 p.m.
Wauwatosa: 1 to 4 p.m.
West Allis: 1 to 3 p.m.
West Milwaukee: 1 to 3 p.m.
Whitefish Bay: 4 to 6 p.m

Monday, October 31
Brookfield – 5 to 7:30pm

A small home packs plenty of perks, and generally means a lower asking price. But entry price is only one factor—they’re easier on the pocketbook in a host of ways.

1. Lower property taxes. Your small home will be charged at a lower tax rate than its larger neighbors because the assessed value generally is lower.

2. Lower property insurance. The smaller the house, generally the lower the insurance cost, although it also matters where you live and how your small house is constructed. A brick house in wildfire-prone southern California is likely to cost less to insure than a similar-size house with wood siding.

3. You’ll save on heating and cooling. That’s regardless of how energy efficient the house is. In fact, one study indicates that a poorly insulated, 1,500 sq. ft. house is at least $200 cheaper per year to heat and cool than a well-insulated house twice that size. The U.S. Energy Information Administration says homes of 2,000 sq. ft. to 2,500 sq. ft. use an average 102.3 million BTUs of fuel yearly—13% less than homes that are 1,000 square feet larger.

4. Save on major replacements. When you need to replace a major house component or system, you’ll be glad you’re living in a smaller home. For example: According to the Cost vs. Value Report from Remodeling Magazine, the national average for vinyl replacement siding is about $9 per sq. ft.

For a modest-size house (1,500 sq. ft. of living space) with 1,740 sq. ft. of exterior wall space, that’s $15,660. For a 2,500-sq.-ft. house, you’ll pay up to $10,000 more!

5. Easier maintenance. You’ll spend less time cutting those smaller lawns, cleaning gutters, washing windows, and the umpteen other chores that home ownership involves. Figure 16 windows and sliding glass doors on a home of 2,000 square feet or less would take about 10 hours to clean, inside and out, twice a year. Double the house size, and that’s roughly 20 hours spent with a squeegee and rag.

Read more: http://www.houselogic.com/home-advice/maintenance-repair/your-small-home-5-big-reasons-love-it/#ixzz1b8Xglfgn

October is the month to head out to the farm and pick a pumpkin. Here are some of the best pumpkin patches in the surrounding Milwaukee Area:

Apple Holler
Sturtevant, WI -(262) 884-7100
Apple Holler is a full apple orchard, restaurant, gift shop, bakery, live musical theatre plays for children and adults, barnyard animals to visit, and hayrides, to name a few.
www.appleholler.com

Elegant Farmer
Mukwonago, WI – 262-363-6771
The Elegant Farmer is where you will find all the goodness of homemade, fresh picked and delicious offerings in our Farm Kitchen Bakery, Deli & Market, and many family fun events.
www.elegantfarmer.com

Swans Pumpkin Farm
Franksville, WI – 262-835-4885
During October, the celebration of Harvest Time spreads over a large area at Swan’s Pumpkin Farm. Visitors of all ages are welcome, with something for everyone. The entire yard is filled with thousands of pumpkins of all sizes for carving and cooking.
www.thepumpkinfarm.com

Bear Den Zoo
Waterford, WI – 262-895-6430
Petting Zoo, Hayrides, educational animal tour, haunted woods, pumpkin patch, and pony rides.
www.beardenzoo.com

Trienen Farm
Lodi, WI – 608-592-3481
Explore 200acre farm, WI largest Corn Maze 15acres, 13 acre pumpkin patch, and much more family fun.
www.treinenfarm.com

Although spring lawn care gets all the attention, fall lawn care is the make-it or break-it season for grass.

“I’m already thinking about next year,” says John Dillon, who takes care of New York City’s Central Park, which features 200 acres of lawn in the middle of Manhattan. “The grass I grow this fall is what will be there next spring.”

Fall lawn care is no walk in the park. It’s hard work, and Dillon guides you through the four basic steps.

1. Aeration

Aeration gives your lawn a breather in autumn and provides room for new grass to spread without competition from spring weeds. Aeration tools pull up plugs of grass and soil, breaking up compacted turf. That allows water, oxygen, and nutrients to reach roots, and gives seeds room to sprout.

If kids frequently play on your lawn, plan to aerate twice a year — fall and spring. If your lawn is just for show, then aerate once a year — and maybe even once every other year.

A hand-aerating tool ($20), which looks like a pitchfork with hollow tines, is labor-intensive and meant for unplugging small sections of grass. Gas-powered aerating machines (rental, $20/hour) are about the size of a big lawn mower, and are good for working entire lawns. Bring some muscle when you pick up your rental: Aerating machines are heavy and can be hard to lift into your truck or SUV.

Depending on the size of your property, professional aeration costs about $150.

2. Seeding

Fall, when the soil temperature is about 55 degrees, is the best time to seed your lawn because turf roots grow vigorously in fall and winter. If you want a lush lawn, don’t cheap out on the seed.

Bags of inexpensive seed ($35 for 15 pounds) often contain hollow husks, weed seed, and annual rye grass seed, which grows until the first frost then drops dead. Splurge on the good stuff ($55 for 15 pounds of Kentucky Bluegrass seed), which resists drought, disease, and insects.

Water your new seed every day for 10 to 20 days until it germinates.

3. Fertilizing

A late fall fertilization — before the first frost — helps your grass survive a harsh winter and encourages it to grow green and lush in spring. Make your last fertilization of the year count by choosing a product high (10% to 15%) in phosphorous, which is critical for root growth, Dillon says.

Note: Some states are banning phosphorous-rich fertilizers, which are harmful to the watershed. In those places, look for nitrogen-rich fertilizers, which promote shoot and root growth. Check with your local extension service to see what regulations apply in your area.

4. Mulching

Instead of raking leaves, run over them a couple of times with your mower to grind them into mulch. The shredded leaves protect grass from winter wind and desiccation. An added bonus — shredded leaves decompose into yummy organic matter to feed grass roots.

A mulching blade ($10) that attaches to your mower will grind the leaves even finer.

Lisa Kaplan Gordon is a HouseLogic managing editor and builder.

Read more: http://www.houselogic.com/articles/fall-lawn-care-tips/#ixzz1Z4SFnR4L

Installing whole-house sound hath the same charms of music — soothing savage beasts, and all that — and is a luxury feature that charms buyers, too. These sound systems, which can pipe music to every room or to just a few, cost as high as $3,000 per room for behind-the-walls wiring (including speakers), to as low as $400 per room for wireless units. But whatever price point you choose, music will make your house sound like a million bucks. Here’s a look at your options.

High end: Get wired

The highest-quality whole-house sound travels through structured wires embedded in your walls. Wires run from your sound system, neatly tucked into a storage room or closet, through the ceiling into speakers mounted in rooms you select. This is the gold standard option for the music purist and should be installed by a sound specialist.

Structured wiring most easily is installed in new construction, and nearly half of all new homes built in and after 2008 have it. Retrofitting a house with structured wiring will cost $700 to $2,700 per room, depending on the control units you select. A pair of speakers for each room can cost from $100 to $2,000.

Mid-priced: Leverage existing wires

Leveraging existing wires is a less intrusive way to achieve whole-house sound because you aren’t cutting through walls to run new wire. Expect to sacrifice audio fidelity, but it’s minimal.

A source hub—a central device that iPods, CD players, and other source equipment plugs into—sends audio signals in a digital format over existing electrical wires. A receiver plugged into a wall outlet in each room converts digital back into analog music.

Costs run $500 to $1,000 per room including speakers; it takes a day or less to install.

Budget luxury: Go wireless

Installing a wireless system is the easiest, most affordable way to get whole-house sound—and the only one you can do yourself.

Music is distributed from your computer, through a router, and into a small player box (about the size of toaster) placed in each room you choose. If you want sound in five rooms, you’ll need five player boxes and five sets of speakers.

Wireless systems cost about $400 per room and can be set up in a couple hours.

Read more: http://www.houselogic.com/articles/whole-house-sound-hath-charms-soothe-savage-you/#ixzz1Xq7VwAbN

We’ve all done it… spent money on something we just absolutely had to have, then ended up completely wasting our investment by hardly ever/never using it. Its called “Impulse buying” and its what makes you buy that candy bar as you’re waiting in line at the grocery store. You didn’t have “candy bar” on your shopping list when you went into the store, but sure enough, there is a candy bar in your hand when you leave.

The folks at financiallyfit.yahoo.com came up with a list of 5 things you spend big money on… then never seem to use afterwards.

1) Exercise Equipment

Of course you get it with the best intentions! The thinking is probably something along the lines of, “I know I’m not working out right now, but if I buy a (insert desired exercise equipment here) and have it in the house, THEN I’ll definitely start working out.”

Unfortunately the reality is… you end up with a very expensive clothes hanger/dirty clothes hamper/place to stack piles of things.

For many people, their fantasies about starting to exercise come around the beginning of the year with their New Year’s Resolutions. But according to a study in the Journal of Clinical Psychology, 25% of New Year’s resolutions don’t make it past the first week. And 54% fail within the first six months.

That totals to $1.2 billion wasted on exercise equipment each year. Wow.

2) Swimming pools

Having a swimming pool is GREAT… if you actually use it. Unfortunately, many people either get too caught up in the daily routine to take the time for a swim or they just eventually lose the desire to get in the pool when they DO have the time.

Let’s say you do decide to get a pool. Are you going to get more enjoyment from an in-ground pool rather than going with the much less expensive above-ground version? Its something to seriously consider before signing on the dotted line.

3) Wine Cellars

So you love your wine, eh? So do millions of other Americans. In fact, the U.S. surpassed France last year as the world’s largest wine-consuming nation, growing 2% to a total of nearly 330 million cases.

A “passive” wine cellar is no big deal, just find a suitable closet in your home and place your bottles on the shelf. But if an “active” wine cellar is what you desire, that may take remodeling and electronics to maintain the proper temperature and humidity levels that your fancy wine requires.

Even electric “wine cellars” that you plug into the wall (that hold around a dozen bottles) can run anywhere between $200 and $600 (not to mention the extra strain on your electric bill).

This one is kinda like a swimming pool. If you actually use it, its great.

4) Outdoor Kitchens

Most folks love to grill out, especially on the weekends or holidays. But if your desire to be a grill master gets out of control, you could wind up “investing” in elaborate outdoor kitchens. A simple grill on wheels won’t do – you’ve gotta have the jumbo grill with eight burners. Eventually there’s marble counter-tops, built-in coolers/refrigerators, full ovens, custom stonework and more surrounding your outdoor kitchen.

Are you certain a nice portable grill won’t do?

5) Espresso Makers

Espresso, you either love it or hate it. Those that love it and are dedicated to their love of coffee might benefit from buying an espresso maker for the home. But if you go top-of-the-line, you could be spending up to $2,000 on some of the fancier models.

True, in the long run it is much cheaper to invest some cash into an espresso maker that will keep you from having to spend $5-$10 a day at the local coffee shop.

But unfortunately in most people’s kitchens – the espresso maker sits collecting dust “after the honeymoon ends”. You can also lump ice cream makers, fondue sets, chocolate fountains and counter-top rotisseries into this category.

Hey, its your money. Just try not to fall into the trap that so many before you have or you’ll look back and think, “Why did I convince myself that I needed this (insert waste-of-money here)?”

Source: Financiallyfit.yahoo.com

Read more: 5 Things You Spend Money On, Then Never Use http://sunny1043.radio.com/2011/08/31/5-things-you-spend-money-on-then-never-use/#ixzz1XH0Rd9ZU