Text 4021, 111 rader
Skriven 2006-08-02 20:16:00 av JOAN MACDIARMID (1:123/140)
     Kommentar till en text av JIM WELLER
Ärende: Construction woes
=========================
 Hi, Jim,

 JM> I am getting a minor taste of this myself....
 JM> tearing out the sliding door of my patio
 JM> plus whatever framing, drywall and flooring might
 JM> show signs of rot ....
 JM> Now I am in a room with no windows, plywood-boarded up
 JM> and very dark.

 JW> What? Replacing a frame, track and patio door should take two guys two
 JW> hours not two or more days. Roslind's ex-husband owns a chain of glass
 JW> shops which I use for maintenance on my company's rental properties.
 JW> Both my step-son and my son in law have worked in the Yellowknife
 JW> branch in past years. I've overseen a fair number of these jobs over
 JW> the years and never had one go overnight.

 It's a bigger job than that. It started with removing the balcony
 of my upstairs neighbor, as well as removing my door. Then they
 started deconstructing the side of the building until they saw
 no further signs of rot. I have lost about 18 feet of drywall.
 One supporting beam which had been the anchor for the upstairs
 balcony on one side looked like styrofoam, and was replaced.
 The beam supporting my floor joists was powdery from carpenter ant
 damage, and was replaced. Part of my flooring was sawed out
 and replaced with new plywood. I was glad I decided to take a
 few days off from work so I could see what problems were being
 remedied and how well they are being fixed. After all, I have
 been in this rotten apartment for 23 years and this is the first
 time such deep reconstruction has been done, though balconies and
 outside trims were sometimes fixed. If I was in danger of
 falling through my floor to a spidery basement or crawlspace,
 I am very pleased to have that risk eliminated. I now have
 a lovely new door, though no drywall or insulation on the outer
 wall, and my upstairs neighbor is plywooded in! The carpenters
 are working diligently and efficiently, as far as I can tell,
 though part of the time I was "protected" by a plastic enclosure
 to keep the dust and dirt from getting into the apartment. I
 walked out back to see what they were doing! To do all this,
 I had to move all the furniture 3 or more feet from my outer
 wall effectively taking about 1/4 of my main room. Things
 are tight. I also had to kill some of my electrical
 connections to let them deal with the porch light, but thank
 goodness, that didn't put the computer out. I did do without
 lights in the bedroom for two days until I mentioned that
 and they taped off the wires and let me reactivate the
 circuit breaker. Ah, well, I presume this is all worth it.

MMMMM----- Recipe via Meal-Master (tm) v8.05

      Title: Gingerbread for Christmas Trees or Houses
 Categories: Cookies, Desserts
      Yield: 1 Batch

      6 c  Unsifted flour
  1 1/2 t  Ground cinnamon
      1 t  Ground ginger
    1/2 t  Salt
      1 c  Dark corn syrup
    3/4 c  Firmly packed brown sugar
    3/4 c  Corn oil margarine

MMMMM---------------------------ICING:--------------------------------
      1 lb Confectioners sugar
      4    Egg whites
    1/2 t  Cream of tartar
           Food coloring as appropriate

  Prepare pattern pieces: Draw pattern pieces on light cardboard and cut
  out.

  In large bowl stir together flour, cinnamon. ginger and salt. In
  2-quart saucepan stir together corn syrup, brown sugar and margarine.
  Stirring occasionally, cook over medium heat until margarine is
  melted. Stir into flour mixture until well blended. Knead dough with
  hands until pliable and smooth.

  Line two (15 1/2 x 12-inch) cookie sheets with foil. Divide dough in
  half. Place one half on each cookie sheet. Roll out each piece of
  dough to a 15 1/2 x 12-inch rectangle. Refrigerate 30 minutes.

  Dust pattern pieces well with flour. Remove 1 cookie sheet of dough
  from the refrigerator. Place pattern pieces on dough. With a sharp,
  pointed knife, carefully cut around the pattern. Carefully remove
  pattern piece and all excess dough.

  Bake in 350 degree F oven 15 to 18 minutes or until edges begin to
  brown.While still warm, trim rough edges on slit (for the Christmas
  tree pattern) and bottom edges. cool completely on wire rack before
  removing from cookie sheet. Remove foil from back of cookie. Repeat
  with remaining dough and pattern pieces. On foil-lined cookie sheet,
  re-roll excess dough to 1/8-inch thickness, cut further pattern
  pieces as needed, bake as described, for 10 to 12 minutes for this
  thinner cookie.

  For icing: In large bowl with mixer at low speed beat 1 pound
  confectioners sugar, 4 egg whites and 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
  unti blended. Beat at high speed 7 to 10 minutes or until knife drawn
  through mixture leaves a path. For Christmas trees, divide mixture in
  half and tint half with green food color. Keep icing covered with
  damp cloth. This icing will work well in a pastry bag, and will dry
  to hardness on standing.

  From an article in the Kingsport Times-News (Kingsport, TN),
  12/10/1980. The article mentions the Karo corn syrup kitchens as
  recipe source. Typed for you by Joan MacDiarmid.

MMMMM
 Joan MacDiarmid
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