Monday, April 14, 2014

The “Lady Bug” is Home!

We took delivery of our 2014 T@B M@xx S last Thursday.

We drove the 2-1/2 hours to Miller Trailer Sales in Perkasie, PA and went through a bit of "training" as well as having the electronic brake controller installed. We were pleased to find that the rumors were true: we got many upgraded features including a sliding screen door, porthole window covers, LED lighting, etc.

There were two things that we did not expect. There was no small sink in the wet bath and the windows now work differently. However, these are small items that are just different from what we looked at earlier and have no impact on our joy of bringing the T@B home.

Susan (Lynne's sister) suggested the name "Lady Bug" and we like it. So, that is her name!

Here is a photo of our Lady Bug parked in the back yard with the dog fences set up. Oh, and the dogs are there too:

We had a bit of trouble with the brakes when we first started home. The break-away cable was too tight and we tripped the brakes on the trailer and did not discover it for a couple of miles (at which point we could smell them!) We pulled over, figured out the problem, let them cool some and then took off again. We are not sure how much we really need the brakes since we are towing with a Suburban. But, it is nice to know they are there and working in an emergency.

When we got her home we carted the stuff we'd been accumulating outside and staged it on the table. We then packed her and found a place for everything. And, we have storage room left over for clothes and infrequently used items.

Some of our storage bins: This first one has cooking utensils, salt and pepper, placemats, and the stove striker.

And, this one has eating utensils, paper towels, measuring cups and spoons, and it looks like some coffee.

We would be very interested to hear from other Tabbers about what they store where and any tips and tricks for maximizing the storage space. 

I don't have a photo, but under the sink are the pots and pans (stackable), dishes, drinking glasses, coffee maker, etc.

We spent Saturday night in Lady Bug. Rick, Lynne and both dogs! It was crowded and a bit of a challenge to get everyone settled. We had to reverse our normal sleeping positions so Rick's feet could hang off instead of being up against the wet bath. And, Bella had to sleep on the bed instead of the floor since there was not enough room for both her and Hailey on the floor. Luckily, neither of us needed to get up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom, and it will be interesting to see how that goes when the time comes.

The dogs just barely fit:

Bella

Hailey:

While we got decent sleep, the "mattress" formed by the cushions was a bit hard for us. So, we bought a king size 3" memory foam topper at Walmart and have cut it to size. It folds into thirds and slips into the storage under one of the side cushions. 

The refrigerator is not working on AC power. It works on propane and seems to work on battery. But, not on AC. So, we've contacted the Millers (who are fantastic and helpful) to figure out how to resolve the problem. When connected to shore power, we definitely want to use it for the fridge and not burn propane.

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Tags:  t@bbing,  dogs,  photos,  food,  bella,  recipe
Posted under: Our T@B Trailer • T@B Food • Provisioning • by Rick on 04/14/2014 at 10:04 AM
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Sunday, March 09, 2014

Equipping the T@B Kitchen

I thought it might be fun to document what we decided we needed to outfit the kitchen. Here is the list of things we ended up buying (or taking from the house):

Utensils:

  • silverware for four
  • 4 steak knives
  • wooden spoon
  • 5 sharp knives + steel
  • For serving: one large spoon, one slotted spoon, one large fork
  • 2 wisks, one silicone
  • cheese grater + microplane
  • corkscrew (essential!)
  • can opener + bottle opener
  • scissors
  • tongs
  • 2 rubber spatulas
  • silcone spatula

Other:

  • Set of 4 melamine dinner plates, salad plates and bowls
  • 2 nice plastic wine glasses
  • 2 large water glasses that match the wine glasses
  • 2 small water glasses that match the wine glasses
  • one collapsible bowl (super cool!)
  • nested measuring cups
  • measuring spoons
  • 2 hot pads
  • 2 silicone trivets
  • 1 small cutting board
  • temperature probe
  • timer which doubles as a clock
  • small dustpan with whisk broom

The collapsible bowl shown in its space-saving collapsed position and fully extended.

 

Cookware:

  • 7 piece Gourmet Nesting Magma non-stick cookware, plus stainless colander
  • small cast iron fry pan

Here are a few photos of the cookware. It's very sturdy. It comes with two handles which attach to each pan. Here it is nested.

And here it is showing each piece. We also bought the colander which does not come in the set.

The set comes with two lids; one that fits both the stock pot and the sauté pan, and one ingenious lid that actually fits all the other sizes of pan! Here you can see the different ridges for the different sizes. Why don't all lids come this way?

 

We will just take whatever spices we need from the kitchen here at home each time as we need them. So far I think we've done a good job of not going overboard since we have such little space to work with.

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Posted under: Our T@B Trailer • Provisioning • by Lynne on 03/09/2014 at 10:43 AM
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