Strive for continuous improvement, instead of perfection. Kim Collins and Middle Eastern Kibbeh Kebabs with Sour Cream Sauce

The next few months are going to get busy for me. There are some milestone birthday parties coming up, family is visiting, and we are visiting family. Summers seem to be the time to plan all the fun events leaving Christmas and Thanksgiving to keep winter moving along briskly when we’re stuck inside.

This past week we’ve been dealing with getting our deck refinished. As usual things didn’t choose to move along without a wrinkle at our house. I suppose I might get bored if a project went off without a hitch, and what would I write about?

The job itself was to be done in two increments. Truth is we really debated about doing it at all because in order to refinish the wood a power wash had to be done and pre-treatment laid down. With water such a precious commodity in our state at the moment, it was up for debate for a while. However, if we didn’t do something our deck was likely to deteriorate beyond the point of no return during the winter the months so the decision was made to go ahead. Damn the torpedoes, and all. This house has a deck on each floor. Along with resurfacing the decks themselves, the paint has worn off the railings. We added this to the job description.

When we first looked at the house all of this seemed to be pristine. That was two years ago. My assumption, since it’s headed down the slope so quickly, is the previous owners did a band-aid paint job to help the house’s outward appearance prior to putting it on the market. I get it. I don’t particularly applaud it, but on some level I understand the theory.

The two men who power washed the wood were very helpful. The procedure ate up most of a day with two of them working concurrently, and racked up a nice piece of change on their behalf when the bill came in. Because our son was going to do the actual staining, before leaving the owner of the business brought us up to speed on how to correctly apply the stain once purchased. It was a long explanation. There was against the grain this, and back wash that, and seamless over here. I just nodded my head like a bobble head doll hoping he’d come to an end before I got a headache. Now, if you combined Rick and my knowledge of such things, multiplied the combined information by 10,000 you would still only gain enough facts to confidently pick out a decent paint brush. Reviewing the extensive notes left me I gathered we needed water based paint, brushes, a roller, sponge brushes, paint trays, drop cloths, and good luck. Some of these we were able to pick up at the local Dollar Store, which was a bonus. They were out of luck, unfortunately, but asked us to check back on Tuesday when their trucks come in it might come in then. After measuring the square footage it was determined we needed two gallons of stain at about $47.00 a gallon. At the paint store the employee behind the counter confirmed this amount of stain should do the trick nicely. I handed him my notes with our color choice as indicated and he went off to mix the stain. Life was good.

Saturday the painting began upstairs. We decided to leave the walkway directly outside the door for last as the stain has to cure for three hours. If it was applied at night there would be no issues coming in and out while it dried. Easy peasey. The color we chose was a silver tone, semi transparent. This, at least was the color on the paper I handed the store employee. The color we came home with was a semi-solid platinum gray which was like comparing orange to red, close but no cigar. Please take notes, there will be a test on this later. Nonetheless, the color sort of grew on us as it dried, and we came to like it. That being said all but one long walkway outside the door got done and two-thirds of the lower deck when we ran out of paint. Everybody but me was decorated with it, perhaps that’s where the extra half can went, so I was elected to go back to the paint store and get an extra gallon. Okie.

Back again at the counter in the paint store I requested the additional can of stain. I explained the original color had been off but we were staying with it so please make sure this one matched the other two. Off he went to mix the paint returning shortly with no can. “Sorry”, he said”, we’re out of the base for that paint. It is special order so will be in next week.” Hello? This was not news I wanted to pass on to Rick who was already well over this project and not going to happy that we were going to look like a zebra upstairs and down. Not only that but you only have a certain grace period after the pre-treatment is done to get the sealant on. Sigh. I was good until he said perhaps I should have gotten three gallons to begin with. Now, they were the ones who said two would be more than enough if you remember, and if secondly if they didn’t have the base now, they probably didn’t have the base three hours ago when I bought the first two cans.

So our flower pots remain in the driveway waiting for the deer to stop by for lunch and our deck remains half in and half out. Hopefully by next week it will be gorgeous and all frustration tossed away with the gooey tarp.

These are flavorful and yummy. Be sure to wrap them well around the skewers.

Middle Eastern Kibbeh Kebabs

1/2 lb. ground beef
3/4 lb. ground lamb
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 onions, grated and dried
3 Tbsp. chopped fresh parsley
1 1/2 tsp. ground coriander
1 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. Kosher salt
1 tsp. ground cumin
1/2 tsp. onion powder
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. hot paprika
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1/4 tsp. ground tumeric
1/4 tsp. ground ginger

Olive oil for basting

Bamboo skewers soaked in water for 1/2 hour
Pita bread

Grate onions. Place in collander for 2 hrs. to drain liquid. Squeeze and put in large mixing bowl. Add meats.

Mix ground meats well with spices. Place in refrigerator for 1 hr. Soak bamboo skewers for 1/2 hr.

Wrap small amounts of meat in flat log shaped configurations around center of skewers, molding to fit tightly.

Preheat grill for medium heat being sure to oil grates.

Brush kebabs with olive oil. Cook over medium heat, turning occasionally until cooked to desired taste (about 6 mins.).

Serve with pita bread and sour cream sauce

Sour Cream Sauce

1 1/2 cups sour cream
1 Tbsp. lemon juice
2 Tbsp. Sriracha sauce (more or less depending on taste)
2 Tbsp. hot salsa chunky
Salt and pepper to taste

Mix together and allow to sit in refrigerator 1/2 hr. before serving