Video Didn't Kill the Fireplace Star

Even on a Flatscreen, Video Fireplaces Don't Compare

They've got to be kidding . . .

That was my first thought when a friend forwarded me this story from NPR about the new fireplace video, Living Fireplace: Volume 2. As a longtime fireplace enthusiast I know all about the fireplace video genre -- people have been filming hearth fires and selling them to the less fortunate since the arrival of Betamax, way back in 1975 -- but I've never known the celluloid crackler to get much in the way of respect, never mind critical attention. In fact, I always assumed half the sales of these babies could be tracked back to people in the fireplace industry, who like to give the videos and DVDs to each other as holiday gag gifts.

Of course, upon reading the NPR piece I realized, yes, they are kidding. The review of Living Fireplace: Volume 2 is meant as a joke, and a pretty doggone funny one at that. Here's my favorite paragraph:

The film begins -- languidly, serenely -- with an extreme close-up of a popping and crackling fire. Almost Lynchian in its dreamlike ambiance, the scene slowly unfolds. Blue flames lick the underside of the foreground birch log. Smoke swirls in soft focus at the edges of the flue. It's a devastating mise en scene, evoking the aching nostalgia of hearth and home, but with malevolent, stygian menace.

Kind of makes me want to buy one of these as a stocking stuffer for my hipster nephew, who's spending Christmas with us this year during his college break. He recently told me he how much he looks forward to his visits because I always have a good fire going, so I think he'd get a kick out of unwrapping a video imitation Christmas morning in front of the real deal. And just to make sure he doesn't feel cheated, maybe I could also put a some new fireplace tools from Brick-Anew under the tree. Eventually, the boy's going to have a real fireplace of his own, and there's no reason not to encourage him.

Dinner By The Fire #4 - Cajun "Fire" Chicken Salad

Photo by Dinner with the Shivers

I found and tried this amazing recipe from: Dinner with the Shivers

Cajun "Fire" Chicken Salad

1 lb boneless chicken breast
2 Tbsp olive oil
2 hearts romaine lettuce
1/3 cup shaved Parmesan cheese
1 Tbsp chili powder
2 Tbsp cayenne pepper
1 Tbsp parsley (dried)
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp onion
1 Tbsp garlic
1Tbsp pepper
1 Tbsp salt


Cut chicken into tenderloins (or you can buy it pre-cut if your grocer carries it). In a small bowl, combine chili powder, cayenne, parsley, nutmeg, onion, garlic, pepper, and salt. Stir to mix, and sprinkle over chicken. Heat oil in a saute pan on medium high. Cook chicken 8-10 minutes until cooked through and crisped. Set aside to cool.

Roughly chop the romaine. Top with shaved Parmesan. Slice the chicken on the diagonal. Lay chicken on the salad. Add any other toppings you prefer, and serve. Simple but good. Enjoy!

Rustic Fireplace Mantels for Modern Homes

Reflecting an era of log cabin simplicity, rustic fireplace mantels are making a strong return into the mainstream of modern living. With hand-hewn textures, hardy wood and affordability in equal measure, handsome rustic mantels are cozying up fireplaces everywhere—quicker than you can say Abe Lincoln.


Going Back to the Past

Georgia mantel manufacturer Park Pigott says homeowners are specific about styling when it comes to rustic fireplace mantels. Top sellers for Pigott include reproductions of an 1850s Kentucky farmhouse mantel along with Craftsman-style mantels. He also says hand-hewn, crude-looking fireplace mantels from earlier eras are becoming a hit with today’s homeowners.

Popular styles in rustic fireplace mantels include raw, hand-hewn pine planks that can be sanded and stained as a weekend project or bought prefinished ready to install. There are even simpler fixtures consisting of pine logs sawed in half and set into special brackets.

“A lot of people are buying timber frame and log homes today,” Pigott says of the trend to get rustic. “Twenty years ago, most people wouldn’t dream of living in a log house, even if it was brand new. A hundred years ago, you either lived in a log cabin or, if you were wealthy, you lived in a nice house with a nice mantel. If you lived in a log cabin, the mantel was a lot more primitive.”

Creating the Rustic Fireplace Mantel

Even more primitive than the style of rustic fireplace mantels is the tool used to create the look. Called an adz, this is a tool that has been used for centuries in woodworking. It has a blade perpendicular to the handle unlike an ax whose blade is parallel.

“Hand-hewn means shaped with an adz,” Pigott explains. “There are two kinds of adzes: one cuts flat and the other cuts curved.” Pigott says his crew uses the curved variety, which he likens to a hoe with a curved blade. “We start off with a beam that’s been planed down and then do the hewing.”

The process, which creates a dappled look in the rustic fireplace mantel—as if someone repeatedly dipped at it with an especially sharp ice cream scoop—is an arduous one. Centuries ago, a woodsman would stand astride the plank of wood, take a downward swipe with the blade, and then walk backwards, repeating the motion. Today’s process isn’t much different. “It’s a lot of work,” Pigott says.


The Right Wood for the Job

The work doesn’t stop there; once the wood is shaped, it has to be dried in giant kilns, a process that can take up to a month. To help cut down on the drying time, Pigott uses white pine because of its porous quality.

“White pine is softer and dries faster than green wood,” Pigott says, adding oak and cherry woods aren’t suitable for rustic fireplace mantels because they take so long to dry out. “Anything you build out of wood will buckle, warp, split or shrink if it’s not dried properly. Even construction-grade lumber is dried to some degree.”

Pigott says many people who want a rustic beam mantel make the mistake of just cutting down a tree, sawing it up and hanging it. “But once they burn a fire or two, it will buckle and warp.”

Another attractive feature of kiln-dried white pine is the price. “People who buy rustic fireplace shelves typically want something inexpensive,” Pigott says. “A full fireplace mantel can cost from $2,000 to $2,500, but a rustic fireplace mantel beam sells for as little as $250 upwards to $1,000.”

Wordless Wednesday #3 - Caption My Photo

Please leave a comment below. Caption my photo and be featured on my blog.

Are You A Do-It-Yourselfer? A Weekend Warrior? Check This Out

Is there a Mr. Fix-It in your house? A Do-It-Yourselfer? A Weekend Warrior?

A lot of guys take pride in being able to maintain their own home. They wouldn’t dream of hiring someone to replace a couple roof tiles or fix that loose step on the basement stairs. But even seasoned Home Improvers know that some tasks are biting off more than they can chew—especially after a 40+ hour week.

Take that ugly fireplace in the living room. With new paint on the walls and new carpet, that fireplace is going to stick out like a sore thumb.

Mr. Fix-It knows that hiring a contractor to tear out a brick fireplace is going to hurt. Oh yeah. He’s going to feel that pain in his pride and his wallet. But breaking out the cold chisel and the sledgehammer, covering the floors, shoring up the walls...no, even Mr. Fix-It knows better than to open that can of worms.

Maybe the subject of painting the bricks has come up. But isn’t that against some kind of rule? Isn’t a brick fireplace supposed to look like...brick?


Here’s how an all-in-one fireplace paint kit can get you out of this jam:

• Paint kits with multiple colors give your painted fireplace the look of real brick.
• $200 gets you all the tools and supplies you need. 
• Heat-resistant paint is safe to use in a working fireplace. 
• Best of all, you can remodel that fireplace yourself in a single day. If you start on Saturday morning, you might just be done before the game comes on.
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Whether the Mr. Fix-It in your house has already transformed the garage into a dream workshop or still has to dig through an old toolbox to find a Phillips screwdriver, there is a do-it-yourself option for remodeling an ugly fireplace. At a fraction of the cost of hiring a contractor, what have you got to lose?