last night's leftovers

answer to a maiden's prayers

2012-01-20T12:16:00.002-08:00

this blog has seen several iterations, from travel journal to home reno blog to a small business-centered space, but at its inception, it was all about the meals i was making as a newly married person. i don't blog much about food anymore, though as a full-time parent, i cook more now than ever. as 2012 dawned, bringing with it a new addition to our family (Virginia Frances, born on January 6), i realized i had to get more organized about the way i plan, shop for, and make our meals. my biggest challenge: dealing with all the recipes i've clipped from magazines over the years. i'm a nearly lifelong magazine junkie (seriously, i can remember hoarding my Highlights magazines as a child) and have always struggled with what to do with issues i've already read but with which i'm not quite ready to part. enter technology: pinterest has now helped replace the shelter and design mags that used to fill boxes and boxes in my basement (okay, they still do, but i have big plans to divest myself of those this spring). but i was still holding on to years and years of Martha Stewart Living, among others, just for the recipes. a couple of years ago i started tearing out recipes and putting them in paper folders, but that was getting terribly unwieldy in my tiny kitchen. i thought pinterest might be my salvation again, but my "recipes to try" board there was starting to look like a Better Homes and Gardens recipe archive, and while i'm not embarrassed to admit to subscribing to the same magazines my grandmother reads, i didn't really need to recreate bhg.com elsewhere.

then this week i just stumbled upon a site i have to share, since it's already revolutionized the way i think of and file my recipe clippings. project foodie shares (and lets you save and share) recipes from the most recent issues of Bon Appétit, Cooking Light, Cook's Illustrated, Martha Stewart Living, Everyday Food, Fine Cooking, Food & Wine, Gourmet, Saveur, Southern Living, Sunset, and of course, Better Homes and Gardens. and it's FREE. i feel like a huge organizational burden has been lifted from me. all this new digitizing is so divine, i fear it can't last - will project foodie go the way of my dearly departed-then-reconfigured bloglines, and will pinterest end up as the next myspace? let's hope not, since i'm off to save scores of recipes and images to both. first, i'll share a recent fave here, for old time's sake, from Sunset via myrecipes.com:

Wild Mushroom and Butternut Squash Bread Pudding

3 cups cubedbutternut squash, cut into ¾” chunks

1 tablespoonextra-virgin olive oil

1 1/2 teaspoonskosher salt, divided

1 teaspoon pepper,divided

About 4 tbsp.unsalted butter, divided

3 leeks, white andlight green parts only, thinly sliced and rinsed well

2 garlic cloves,minced

3/4 pound mixed wildmushrooms, sliced

1 tablespoon freshthyme leaves

6 cups cubed rusticwhite bread, cut into 1-in. cubes, lightly toasted

3 cups half-and-half

4 large eggs

1 tablespoon flour

1/4 cup shreddedparmesan cheese

1 cup shreddedgruyère cheese

Preparation

1.Preheat oven to 375°. Heap squash on a rimmed baking sheet, drizzle with oiland 1/2 tsp. each salt and pepper, and toss to coat. Bake, stirringoccasionally, until tender and golden brown, about 35 minutes. Transfer to a bowl.

2. Melt 2tbsp. butter in a large frying pan over medium heat. Add leeks with 1/4 tsp.salt; cook until softened. Add garlic, cook 2 minutes, and add mixture tosquash.

3. Meltremaining 2 tbsp. butter in same pan over medium heat. Add mushrooms and 1/4tsp. each salt and pepper. Increase heat to medium-high and cook, stirring,until mushrooms have released their liquid and are beginning to brown, about 6minutes. Remove from heat and stir in thyme.

4. Addmushrooms to squash-leek mixture. Stir in bread; scoop into a buttered 9- by13-in. baking dish.

5. Whisktogether half-and-half, eggs, remaining 1/2 tsp. salt and 1/4 tsp. pepper, theflour, and parmesan in a medium bowl. Pour custard over bread mixture and letstand 10 minutes. Top with gruyère, then bake, uncovered, until cheese ismelted and beginning to brown and custard is just set (poke with a knife tocheck), 30 to 35 minutes.

Makeahead: Through step 4, 1 day ahead, covered and chilled; or finish breadpudding 1 day ahead, chill, and reheat at 375° for 30 minutes.

Serves8-10

Guest posting on baltimore etsy street team: My three things: Gifts for Boys to Inspire Craftin...

2011-12-23T07:34:00.000-08:00

baltimore etsy street team: My three things: Gifts for Boys to Inspire Craftin...: I was reading one of two-year-old son’s favorite winter books, the truly lovely Shall I Knit You a Hat , by Kate Klise and M. Sarah Klise, t...

don't quit your day job(s)

2011-10-31T09:59:00.003-07:00

one of the things about being a crafter is that you're often so busy making your stuff that you can't take time to learn new techniques. because i'm not doing any major holiday craft shows this year, thanks in part to the impending arrival of a new little one in january, i've been taking some time to hone my craft. i've started gretchen hirsch's craftsy course as a dressmaking refresher. i'm working with fabrics i haven't used since high school, to get reacquainted with sewing on satin and taffeta. and i made a pleated satchel at the request of my dear friend marigan, who has been so generous with her insane photography skills for my family.

making a bag tested all sorts of sewing limits for me, especially since i (a) didn't want to use a pattern, and (b) wanted it to be both functional and attractive. i based the look and functionality on tannei casey's pleated hobos, using the same IKEA fabric that she used in one i bought from her last year. marigan wanted slightly different detailing - a long strap and two shorter ones, instead of one long adjustable strap - so i tweaked my design to include those. the bag is faced and lined and includes a gusseted bottom, interior pockets, interior key hook, and a snap closure. my sewing machine wasn't quite up to sewing through many layers of heavy fabric, so the straps involve some serging that i wouldn't have otherwise chosen, but all in all i'm very happy and thrilled to have learned how to do things like gusseting. that said, i'm not going to be providing competition for tannei casey or my lovely beeps' peeps anytime soon - i'm happy sticking with non-handbag accessories and apparel in my little shop.

last minute excitement and a guest post

2011-09-23T16:41:00.004-07:00

this just in: brita of beeps' peeps and i will be showing our stuff at the sublime, and astoundingly huge, Crafty Bastards show in dc next week. if you're anywhere near the district on october 1, stop by to see some of the nation's most talented craftspeople, and us, of course. we'll be at booth 101.

in other news, i had a guest post on the baltimore etsy street team's blog last week that i missed because we were in chattanooga celebrating my little one's second birthday. it's all about the podcasts i listen to while sewing, though since i wrote it, i've stumbled on so many more that i need to do a companion piece over here. anyway, check it out at http://baltimore-etsy.blogspot.com/2011/09/in-studio-with-beatrice-bird.html. (something is going on with BEST's blog coding, so it looks a little wonky, with apologies.)

BEST for Breasts

2011-09-02T13:38:00.006-07:00

i recently joined the baltimore etsy street team, aka BEST, and am already learning a lot about the business of crafting, both on etsy and locally. this month, BEST launched a new shop to benefit breast cancer patients. BEST for Breasts: A Titillating Fundraiser features pasties made by BEST members from a host of interesting materials, including ceramics, metals, and of course fabric.

err, what's a pasty, you say? nope, we're not talking edible treats here - some of the photos in the shop are NSFW. i had way too much fun making my contribution, even without trying them on. i used some of my favorite remnant fabric, stiff fusible interfacing, and tassels i made from embroidery floss:

all proceeds collected from the sale will be donated to the Red Devils, a maryland organization that funds services to improve the quality of life for breast cancer patients and their families. the BEST for Breasts shop is still being stocked, so check back often!

new stuff in the shop!

2011-09-01T18:52:00.003-07:00

the post title basically says it all. with the cancellation of fenton street market this past weekend, thanks to miss irene, i have quite a bit of new inventory and more to come as soon as i can photograph it. check it out at beatriceandthebird.etsy.com

at least i made brunch

2011-08-07T12:13:00.003-07:00

we don't entertain nearly as much as we once did or would like to. our little house, two crazy dogs, and no backyard space to speak of don't really lend themselves to big parties, especially with kids. but once in a while we have a few friends to dinner or, as was the case this morning, brunch. i always look at these occasions as a chance to try out new recipes, a practice that d has rightly pointed out has a high probability of back-firing. fortunately, today's tester recipe was a big hit with our guests, my godmother and her husband. i adapted it from this recipe from Simply Recipes, using 8 eggs, crusty french bread, farmer's market tomatoes (two colors!), zucchini, fresh basil, and Dubliner Irish cheddar, and baking it in an oval dish rather than a 9x13 casserole. INSANELY good and highly recommended. (image from Simply Recipes, because it didn't occur to me to photograph mine until after we'd eaten half of it.)

what's the opposite of type a?

2011-08-06T11:15:00.000-07:00

type z? whatever it's called, i'm it. of the very many personal flaws i have, my disorganization and procrastination are the most discouraging - and of course, counter-productive. i never met a deadline i didn't want to shirk, a schedule i didn't want to get behind on, a drawer i didn't want to stuff ephemera in before going back to read, surf the web, watch craptastic cable, eat peanut butter straight from the jar.

i'm feeling like i need to publicly acknowledge this because it's held me back most of my life, and i'm so ready to move on, but i don't really know how. anything i've accomplished has certainly been in spite of my work ethic, not because of it. it's a marvel that i have a master's degree. as it is, i graduated with less-than-highest honors from my undergraduate writing program simply because i couldn't get my act together enough to show up to workshops with any material to workshop. i'm certain i'll never be an etsy super-seller or a blogging star for the same reason - i can't motivate myself to put in the very hard work needed to accomplish these things (talent and product are other matters entirely). the next fenton street market date for {beatrice + the bird} is twenty days away and i have almost no inventory, per usual. i'll have a lot for the show, but not without the undue anxiety that waiting so long to get started necessitates. i HAVE been dabbling with a kicky, tiered half-apron out of my old standbys, thrift-store sheeting and alexander henry's farmdale fabrics. here's the first pass:

lately i've been listening to the simple mom podcasts, and i've been struck by a recurring theme among the moms interviewed on these smart and thought-provoking podcasts: all say "getting it all done" takes a huge amount of work, that they are passionate about the work, and they make compromises in order to get it done. i think a lot of my procrastination results from a perverse perfectionism: i'd rather not do something than do it and have it not meet my standards - or, heaven forbid, anyone else's. if it had been up to me, i certainly wouldn't have started making and selling stuff on etsy; a partner had to convince me the work was good enough to sell. there are many, many days when i'm still not sure about that. one of the things i struggle with when blogging about my work and my life is my lack of blithe confidence in the material - other bloggers maintain such an overwhelmingly positive outlook about what their posting: "i made this! it's great! i found this on the internet! it's fabulous!" i'm not saying that's misplaced hubris; it just shows an assertive spirit that i don't inherently have. and the sense that i really do have to do it all, without compromise, is absolutely paralyzing.

i am trying to take small steps. for lent, i gave up what i called "mean-spirited reality tv," which i can only define along the same lines as the supreme court's definition of obscenity - you know it when you see it. first to be axed: anything 'real housewives.' i've kept up with it since easter, and the effect has been revelatory. not only do i feel like a more decent, less imbecilic person without those programs in my life, it means that sometimes i turn on the tv and there's literally nothing i'm "allowed" to watch, which means i HAVE TO TURN OFF THE TELEVISION AND DO SOMETHING BETTER WITH MY TIME. like read with my little one. or floss. i also cancelled most of my magazine subscriptions so i wouldn't be tempted to sit down and read martha stewart living when i should be doing my own living. i definitely have less recycling to deal with as a result, and fewer "someday" projects and recipes in my mental and physical files. i need more of these techniques, though - easy, relatively painless ways to channel my time in a more positive and productive way. anyone have any ideas?

r + d

2011-07-08T08:41:00.014-07:00

my crafting friends and i spend a lot of time discussing the joys of the research and development phase of things, versus the enervation caused by being in pure production mode. in other words, it's loads more fun to experiment with new designs than it is to make a bunch of things from a pattern you've already perfected.

before last month's date with the fenton street market, i noodled around with a design for a sash-waist wrap skirt. my noodling around yielded interesting results, but not much in the way of sellable items. the first, at top left, featured two asymmetrical pockets and would only fit the tiniest of women. for the second, top right and on etsy, i abandoned the pockets (i'll return to them when i have more time - nothing beats a hidden pocket, does it?). it was also size tiny but getting closer to what i wanted in terms of fit and function. the last one, below, hit all the style points i was looking for - and i decided to trade it with my sister in law for one of her lovely mei tai baby carriers.

so the good folks at fenton street didn't have much in the way of skirts to consider from me this time around, but i've just loaded up on gorgeous skirt fabrics and come august 27th, look out, silver spring! total skirtapalooza.

sharing the love: eat your p's and q's on shoes glorious shoes

2011-06-27T14:13:00.011-07:00

it's once again radio silence around these parts, with the onset of the summer craft and travel seasons.

my partner in Fenton Street Market crime this weekend nonetheless found time to post about a wonderful etsy seller who, get this, sells patterns allowing you to sew your own shoes. beyond cool. to wit: "There is a certain type of sublime retail experience where you stumble upon something you didn't know you needed until the moment you behold it..."

that's certainly the case with Shoeology. check out brita's blog post, and then hie yourself to etsy to check out these sweet kicks and other Shoeology patterns:

mama's day

2011-05-07T12:32:00.005-07:00

having the best kind of mother's day weekend: a date-night dinner at dogwood (though we've previously had mixed results on ordering there, last night's was peerless); farmer's market, cooking, and gardening today; another dinner out tonight (this one en famille); and the delicious expectation of breakfast in bed tomorrow. hope everyone else is enjoying a similarly perfect-for-them weekend.

i don't expect much in the way of mother's day gifts, but i do like to give them. for my darling mama, i made a quick sash out of vintage madras and silver silk. it turned out so beautifully that i decided to offer it in the shop. thinking it will be terrific over a plain white t-shirt, or a simple cocktail shift.

for my mother-in-law, who is a true gift to all of us in her family, i made a funky little apron that was inspired by one she'd seen and loved of my sister-in-law's. this was a combined easter and mother's day present, hence the spring theme. now that i have a serger, i might actually think about making this again - hemming all those ruffles, while fun, was a bit on the time-intensive side.

happy mama's day!

taking this act on the road

2011-05-04T07:42:00.006-07:00

Beeps Peeps, a little party, and i will all be heading to silver spring, md, this summer for fenton street market, an increasingly exciting artisan market held every saturday into november. look for us there on june 25 and august 27, and be sure to check out the other vendors each week by clicking on the "vendors" link at www.fentonstreetmarket.com.

had i but world enough, and time

2011-04-08T12:03:00.006-07:00

i fear i jumped the gun. i launched {beatrice + the bird} this week with a respectable, if not voluminous, six items. three dresses; three aprons. obviously, i needed more inventory, but i was just so excited. and i have so many plans. and so much fabric (see left for some of the yummy stuff i'm looking forward to using). my shop would be to full capacity in no time.

right. apparently i forgot about how often life interferes with sewing. and about sales. those tend to deplete one's inventory, happily. so the shop is looking a bit sparse, but i'm frantically sewing to catch up. a sewing date with a little party yielded the little number below, which is almost complete. the photo doesn't do it justice - that fabric, Robert Kauffman's Carolina Evening chambray, is the most spectacular marine blue. it's so pretty, i'm thinking i might have to offer this dress with a bonus removable fabric corsage, and it will be the perfect dress to wear to a summer evening wedding.

next on the list: a long-overdue order for my dear godmother, and then i'm going to play around with a couple of accessory ideas and see what sticks. yep, the shop is gonna be full in no time. i just need to stop sleeping.

introducing...

2011-03-31T06:17:00.005-07:00

if there's been radio silence around last night's leftovers lately, it's because i've been sewing my fingers off to launch a new collection on etsy, {beatrice + the bird}. i'm excited and daunted to be going off on my own after coralilie folded. the collection focuses on a wraps-style tea dress in midweight cotton and upcycled jersey (read: ebay t-shirts), plus funky aprons with an obi-inspired sash. i might also make simple sashes for sale at craft shows - if i ever get my act together and apply for some of the juried shows around town. here's a sneak peak...

happiness is a finished bathroom

2011-03-03T10:32:00.000-08:00

well, it's one step closer to happiness. february may have been a bear of a month, with everyone in our entire, extended family getting fantastically sick, but at least one major thing was accomplished - the end of our bathroom renovation. as with the vast majority of "quick" renovations, this one was much longer and more costly than we'd ever imagined, especially since we didn't do it ourselves this time around. because it's our only bathroom, we decamped to d's parents' house for several weeks (but not before spending three fun-filled days and exciting nights camping out in a house with no bathroom right before Thanksgiving) while our contractor hurried to get the room in some kind of working order before Christmas and the arrival of houseguests.

when i look at the before and after, i sometimes wonder what all the fuss was about, as they aren't dramatically different - if you exclude the peeling plaster, bulging moisture-ridden walls, cracked tile, exposed lathing, and jury-rigged garden-spigot-as-shower of the original 1925 bathroom:

but oh, i loved that deep wonderful cast iron tub

after living with this arrangement on and off for 30 years, it was time for a change. we basically kept the period style (read: subway tile and mosaic floors) with a few marine-inspired touches, like shiplap-style wainscotting and a salvaged overhead light. we also incorporated storage where ever we could, which sadly meant doing away with the pedestal sink. we have very few, very small closets, so anywhere we can add storage, we do.

the vanity pendants hang at the same height,

even if that doesn't appear to be the case

our contractor, d's cousin, custom built

and finished the shelving

trim tile from ebay

home depot marble 12X12 tile

cut down to 6X12 subways

light fixture salvaged from second chance

while the budget for this bathroom was necessarily higher than that for our portland bathrooms because we had to hire a contractor, we tried to keep costs in check by bargain shopping. yes, this meant lots of made-in-china, big box purchases. sigh. home depot and ikea have me in their pockets.

rainshower head not shown, because nobody
needs to see our heinous shampoo caddy

home depot mosaic and subway tile.
stock - who knew?

h checking out the craftmanship

now, on to a DIY update of our 1960s kitchen, on a $1500 budget. this should be interesting...

under construction

2011-01-30T11:56:00.001-08:00

work continues on our bathroom, as well as this blog - thanks again to beeps peeps for my lovely new banner. our hope is that our lovely new medicine cabinet will be installed this week, finally finishing off the bathroom.* meantime, here's a preview, taken with my increasingly troubled, and therefore blurry, camera.

*nope. not gonna happen. we still don't have the hardware to install the cabinet. meanwhile, drew's beard continues to flourish without benefit of a mirror by which to shave. he might need to take up the mandolin and start a neo-folk band at this rate.

small things that make me absurdly happy (a tutorial)

2011-01-25T12:44:00.004-08:00

i guess i should be pleased that little things can bring me such unabashed pleasure. like our faucet-mounted water filter. every time i don't have to reach into the fridge for the (usually empty) brita pitcher, i am happy all over again that i bit that bullet. the cushion covers that i made for our kitchen stools are another source of absurd delight. once again, cheap ikea cushions, recycled target curtains, and leftover sewing supplies provided the source materials. this was easily a fifteen-minute project.

Materials for one cushion cover

cushions or pillow inserts (mine were a dollar find at ikea)
four 18-24" lengths of ribbon, depending on stool
four buttons
two squares of fabric, each measuring 2" wider and longer than your cushion
scissors, thread, etc.

Step 1
measure your cushion, adding 2" into the width and length. cut your fabric accordingly.

Step 1 - measure and cut

Step 2
pin right sides together and sew along three sides. in this case, i used the existing hem on my recycled curtains for the fourth side. if your fabric is not already hemmed, you'll want to press the fourth side over by about a quarter inch.

Step 3

Step 3 - sew fourth seam

turn right side out, insert cushion into cover, and machine sew as close to the finished edge as possible.

Steps 4 and 5

Step 4 - add ties

Step 5 - add buttons

fold each length of ribbon in half, and attach to each corner with a machine stitch, as shown. add buttons, being careful to center and space them appropriately.

Step 6

a little more country, a lot more comfortable

tie cushions to your bracingly uncomfortable, industrial-chic kitchen stools. resume normal use.

cool but crazy uncomfortable

a love that dare not speak its name. or, the look for less.

2011-01-23T11:25:00.003-08:00

i shouldn't be allowed to have throw pillows in my house. i clearly don't have what it takes to keep them looking presentable. see the picture at left for exhibit A. shortly after h was born, i pieced that pillow together from a bit of thomas paul fabric i had on hand, recycling some old roman shades from target for the welting and the back panel. it's been little more than a year, and it already looks like its been put through the wringer, including Unidentifiable Yellow Stains, courtesy of our dogs. i shudder to think.

anthro's briefly available reindeer pillow

the problem is, pillows are sort of great. they're like little art pieces for your furniture, and i can't stop myself from wanting to acquire more of them. when i saw anthropologie's blooming reindeer pillow in their winter catalog, i started salivating. so great, right? and both seasonally appropriate and non-holiday-specific. then, as is so often the case with anthro, i looked at the price tag and my mouth went dry. actually, $88 is pretty reasonable for them, but no doubt this piece was made by small children in malaysia, or some other reindeer-unfriendly locale. and i'm not really allowed to have throw pillows.

but i know a couple of lovelies who are, and i decided to make them my own version of the pillow as christmas gifts. using jason yenter's floragraphix iv fabric, left over from one of our love and rockets dresses, a $3.99 granat cushion from ikea, and a reindeer silhouette adapted from a google image search, i went to town.

this was my first experiment with hand appliqué; it's a little rustic, which was intentional, and i'm pretty happy with the results. looking forward to visiting my blooming reindeer in their new cribs next holiday season.

bring it

2011-01-19T13:13:00.001-08:00

all right, i'll just go ahead and point out the obvious: my last post here was almost a year ago. yesterday, in between a couple of the fourteen (14) loads of laundry i've figured out i do weekly (or need to do), i idly sent a text to brita: "i wish i could give up wanting to have a blog."

anxiety bouquet

there's a lot i wish i could give up wanting. last week, trying to ward off a full-blown panic attack, i made a list of things that are causing me such angst these days. (i've been such a basketcase that d was compelled to bring me flowers one night last week - highly recommended supportive-spouse behavior, by the way.) i stopped adding to the list when it got to 29 items, mostly because i ran out of room on the piece of scrap paper, but also because so many were things i wanted to be different, but had almost no ability to change. for instance, i wanted my nose to stop running. and our dogs to be less excitable at the end of the day. and not to have to do fourteen loads of laundry a week. i wanted not to have bought a white couch. or to worry about trace pharmaceuticals in our drinking water, pesticides in our fruit, lead in our dust, composting, recycling, Haiti, Sudan, Baltimore, peak oil, my inability to cancel our cable tv service.

"actually," brita said, "i'd like to read about you canceling your cable."

"i wanted to cancel our cable," i responded, "but it turns out it's more expensive just to have internet service than to have both. file under 'best intentions.'"

"so write about that," she said.

at that point, i was reminded of the "but i mean well" in last night's leftovers' web address. i guess in a way i always intended this to be a space to air my wants, my mistaken intentions, with the hope of making them...less. just less. that's probably not all that interesting to anyone else, but it's cathartic to me. so i'm declaring 2011 my year of less wanting. we'll see how it goes. in the meantime, i've got a few house and craft projects ~~i want~~ to share here. stay tuned.

where we spend our days

2010-02-02T19:15:00.004-08:00

just a few scenes from the place where hal and i spend most of our time these days, contemplating the future of this blog and other heady topics.

a blog in search of a niche

2010-02-02T12:11:00.005-08:00

when i first started this blog, i was interested mainly in blogging as a creative outlet, and so my posts were all over the place, with only the slightest whiff of a theme (cooking and crafting) to keep them together. when we moved to portland and began the mother of all craft projects, our house renovation, it made sense to blog about that, especially since so many of our friends and family were 3000 miles away and not able to keep up on the day to day (or even month to month or year to year) changes to our little bungalow. so butimeanwell.blogspot.com became a house blog. and happily so.

now i find myself once again in search of a creative outlet. craft projects have necessarily taken a back seat to this little project. (and frankly, i'm realizing that i'm much less talented at executing projects than i am at conceiving a need and then googling instructions for them. which isn't to say i'll stop making things, but the world probably does not need to see the set of onesie extenders i made last week.

so i'm ruminating about what to do with the space. link to various stories about humanitarian outrages and wonder, rather anemically, what i can do about them? post my favorite etsy shops? crafts i'd make if i had but world enough and time (and talent)? cool projects others are undertaking? the latest in zoo baby preciousness? marvel over hal's every milestone? or our discovery that this is hilariously, riotously true? maybe a little bit of all of the above....last night's leftovers*, indeed.

*last night's leftovers were, in fact, really tasty. i adapted this recipe, replacing the chorizo and fish with trader joe's seafood sausage, and adding corn and tomatoes with diced chiles for an extra kick. it's nice to cook again...

as promised...

2009-09-09T08:07:00.006-07:00

... the fairly complete before and after in photos. these span the period of march 2007, when we first put a contract on the house, to june 2009, when we left to return to baltimore. we did all of the design (with wonderful insight from designer friends), and drew did the majority of the work himself, with occasional assists from me, and terrific help from our parents, neighbors, and friends. where we sought out professional support: on the major structural stuff - the dormer additions to the second floor, reversal of the staircase, reconstruction of the front and back porches, and roof installation; window and furnace installation; and hardwood floor and wall refinishing on the first floor (the latter was mostly because we ran out of time). itemizing all that we did to the house would no doubt bore everyone to tears, but here's a laundry list of the most significant projects and their timing, as best as i can remember it and in no particular chronological order:

exterior front

installed new roof (fall 2008), new cedar shingled dormers (fall 2007), new front door (spring 2009), new porch floor, rails and stairs (spring 2009). removed vinyl siding and painted original wood siding (2007-2009). dug new front garden beds and planted trees and shrubs (summer 2007).

before:

after:

first floor

reversed direction and entry point of staircase so that it rose from the dining room to the second story rather than from the kitchen (fall 2007); installed new windows (summer 2007); installed new lighting and electrical (2007-2009); repaired, skim-coated and painted all walls, ceilings and trim (spring 2009); refinished floors (spring 2009); gutted bathroom, installing new marble hex flooring, subway tile shower surround, sink, medicine cabinet, lighting, hardware and fixtures (early 2009); gutted kitchen, sealing up one door, installing french doors to the back porch, and replacing all appliances, cabinets, countertops, flooring, sink, lighting, hardware and fixtures (spring 2009).

living room before:

living room after:

dining room before:

dining room after:

dining room ceiling before:

dining room ceiling after:

kitchen before (previous owner):

kitchen after:

first floor bath before (previous owner):

first floor bath after:

second floor

120 SF dormer addition, including new windows and skylight (fall 2007); built new bathroom with all new insulation, plumbing and electrical service, new lighting, hardware and fixtures, marble floors, salvaged clawfoot tub and stained glass windows (June 2008); added combination walk-in closet and laundry room (fall 2008); finished staircase with oak treads and stained banisters (fall 2008); sanded and painted softwood floors (winter 2008).

before (previous owner):

second floor after:

exterior rear

removed porch enclosure and added wide porch stairs (summer 2007); built new fence (summer 2007); planted trees (summer 2007) and added professionally tended vegetable garden (summer 2008); refinished porch floor and rebuilt porch rails and columns (spring 2009)

backyard before (previous owner):

backyard after:

i'm no doubt forgetting something major here, but you get the gist - big project, big fun. now we're off to an even bigger project, building a person rather than a house, but it seems unlikely that this our last major renovation, even if we'll be on hiatus for some time. after all, we have a gaping hole in our bathroom ceiling right now - we just can't seem to buy a "turnkey" house...

i could list all my excuses for not blogging SINCE APRIL...

2009-09-02T18:08:00.008-07:00

but i think everyone can pretty much knows them. needless to say, it's been a while. but here's the good news: i've lots to share - much too much for one post - so you can count on at least a few in the next few days, with an accompanying two million photos. i'll start by answering the question on every dance fan's lips: how did the Portland house turn out?

well, click here for a slideshow of shots taken our last few days in the house, and then by our realtor once it was, yes, professionally staged. (oh! and it sold - today was closing, though drew was in washington state and i was in maryland when it happened, so it was a bit anticlimactic.)

a few highlights:

the exterior finally painted, with help from drew's parents, our neighbors the palmer-moyers, and eileen and paul andersen. apparently, it takes a village.

the kitchen, all dolled up

our lovely refinished floors, and repainted walls, courtesy of an amazing crew of friends/volunteer painters (and perhaps more importantly, tapers)

basically, it turned out pretty well, thanks to a ton of help before AND after we left for our big cross-country trip - where else but Portland would you find neighbors willing to do hard labor (literally cleaning the house, clearing trash, and painting the porch steps) in exchange for a few Adirondack chairs and a hearty thanks? speaking of before and after, stay tuned for one of the house. remember this?

curb appeal

2009-04-26T17:08:00.002-07:00

so, we've got a few changes to report around here:

we have no kitchen:
Drew and his dad pretty much gutted it, drew ran new plumbing, electric and lighting (recessed!), and then he and our wonderful friend stephany installed drywall. this week d finished painting the walls that won't be covered by cabinets (not a lot of square footage there). The paint is my favorite new dove gray, which is essentially the color of unpainted drywall, so it doesn't look like much of a change in the photos:

drew turned up the original 1915 linoleum when he pulled out the lower cabinets. unsalvageable, but a cool artifact nonetheless, to be revealed the next time the cabinets are pulled out:

the kitchen isn't the only thing missing these days: for a while, we didn't have a front porch. our contractor Majo and his team are replacing the front porch and stairs, and cleaning up the back porch, to enhance the all-important curb appeal:
Since this photo was taken, they've replaced the porch floor, roughed in steps, and started rebuilding the columns. i know, i know - i should take pictures. i figure i guarantee another post, and soon, if I don't, however.

My own personal front porch is looking a bit different now, as well:

time for my quarterly post, apparently

2009-03-10T21:28:00.004-07:00

i'm trying to think of really good excuses why i haven't blogged in THREE WHOLE MONTHS, but they just aren't coming. well, maybe we've been a little bit busy?

first, there was christmas, new year's, epiphany, etc. then, my mom came for a fantastic, too-brief visit, and we were too busy skiing, eating, and watching the inauguration.

then, there was hawaii - four days on kauai, including a stay in a treehouse-like cabin up in the hills, and an incredible hike on the na pali coast, where we encountered i guy who'd been hunting overpopulated goats all day with his bow and arrow:

after that, we had a visit from dear san francisco friends - again with the skiing and eating.

and there was this, our gorgeous new downstairs bath, courtesy of one drew derrick (i was no help at all on this project, or any other of late, thanks to a frozen shoulder and other, ahem, developments:

for a moment, i ask you to recall the "before" photos of this space (before we even moved in), and shudder:

and then drew's parents came. you guessed it; more skiing and eating, especially since betsy cooked up a storm the whole time they were here. they left this morning, and we're pretty sure we no longer know how to shop for our groceries, cook our own meals, or do our own laundry. and the house is totally transformed, thanks to their industry - new french doors in the kitchen, lots of installed woodwork and trim, and even a bit of exterior painting. while they were here, we spent a couple of days at a forest service cabin in the shadow of mt. adams, in washington state. it's a 2.5 mile ski in to this rustic little place with propane lights and no running water. lots of fun topography to explore, including a series of collapsed lava tubes and ice caves. a highlight was discovering just how much huck enjoys woodstoves. he'd literally stand with his head nearly IN the stove, until his eyes must have felt like raisins and he was too hot to touch. heaven for a skinny guy like him, i guess.

now we've got no more (planned) visitors, and we're on to one of our biggest and most exciting projects, the complete overhaul of the kitchen. no big whup.

2008-12-17T17:45:00.002-08:00

we've had quite a bit of this this week:

now going on day four of being at home, inside, staying warm and catching up on things i can't believe i thought i'd get done WITHOUT three snow days off from work. like actually wrapping presents.

i've also been living it up in our fantastic, loft-like master bedroom, where we're finally sleeping. Pictures can't really do it justice.

We'd been in there three nights before I decided the sitting room needed more accessorizing - enter a new rug and lamps, and a new layout. Still a work in progress, but what a lovely change from dingy downstairs.

just when we thought we hadn't really come very far

2008-11-24T21:13:00.008-08:00

i uploaded some photos tonight of our newly installed stair railings, tagging them "stairs" in our photo gallery. turns out we had a few other photos tagged "stairs." to wit:

whoa. what a trip down memory lane. we've come a long way, baby.
now, thanks to this:

and this:

and a lot of this:

plus a lot of staining (steep learning curve there), we have THESE (please supply your own drumroll):

not too shabby, right? just wait until my next trip-down-memory-lane post, featuring scenes from before we moved in. wow.

blogging on demand

2008-11-09T21:44:00.014-08:00

our *ahem* readership has become rather vocal of late about the lack of progress on the blog. rest assured, we here at Casa Chaos have become similarly vocal about the lack of progress on the master suite. actually, there's been plenty of progress, but also enough setbacks to be disheartening. to wit:

drew finished installing the shower, only to be told by the plumbing inspector that he needed to add a tempering valve. this valve leaks. of course.

we painted the floors white, only to have them destroyed by the ongoing construction process - and my inability to understand the utility of dropcloths when i'm...

...busy painting several coats of the wrong color paint on three separate doors and three windows.

all of this sounds more dreary than it really is, and so i bring you the latest in master bedroom chic:

the stairs, complete with treads (yet to be stained). drew and his coworker peter, who is an incredible woodworker, spent the last two days building the bottom two steps, which are rounded at one end. a really involved process involving, apparently, every tool ever invented.

the stained glass drew's mom gave me for christmas last year. how gorgeous are these? and how did i think i would want to leave those panels behind when we sell the house?

another view, from inside the bathroom.

the aforementioned "white" floors. with a couple more coats, they should look grand.

drew's closet (right) and the future built-in bookshelf (left) in the bedroom proper.

my closet (right) and the linen clost (left), now featuring doors painted the correct color.

the sitting room, seen from the bedroom.

yes, floors are exciting

2008-10-07T20:02:00.003-07:00

some progress here: we've finished all the painting upstairs and drew has relaid all of the softwood flooring that was originally in the space. because of the new space created by the dormers, we had to go to the salvage center to get about 200 linear feet of additional flooring, and we'll lay carpet tiles in the [gloriously large] master closet.

view from the master bedroom into the sitting room

view from the stairs through the sitting room to the master BR. the stairwell and sitting room are a pale gray-green; the bedroom is a deeper pale gray-blue.

another view from the stairs through the sitting room to the master BR

the wood floor itself will eventually be painted glossy white, so it looks somewhat less rustic (read: beaten up). then, we trim out the space and the stairs and it's on to THE KITCHEN!

should be painting, not blogging about painting

2008-09-09T20:48:00.002-07:00

we're leaving in three days for spain and this is what the "master suite" looks like:

note lack of viable flooring and other amenities, like doors. we were supposed to be done with this phase pre-spain, but my back and time were not interested in collaborating. also, i'm not so sure about the color(s), but we're not going back now. the floors will be painted a glossy white....

in other news, it will be three years tomorrow since this:

it's totally hackneyed, but three years really do fly when you get to spend every day with your best friend. here's to us, love.

the latest in showering technology

2008-08-26T20:34:00.004-07:00

that would be the latest in our family's showering technology. tis helped drew install the shower riser, head and ring, and i, um, "installed" the curtain, a very demanding job.

i need to hem the bottom of the curtain so that you can see our precious espresso clawtub feet.

we're almost finished with the upstairs drywalling after what feels like 6000 years, and we didn't even do as many coats as planned. i conveniently threw out my back post-st. helens and was half hoping that would mean drew and tis would finish my portion of the drywalling, the large closet and linen closet, but no dice. something about having to see a project all the way through from start to finish to know what i'm really doing. so i'm going to have to conquer my hideous dread of sanding, not to mention my back issues, and do this thing. unless anyone wants to come over and sand for me? please?

mt. st. helens is okay, i guess

2008-08-26T20:26:00.005-07:00

actually, mt. st. helens is insanely cool. drew, tis and i headed up there for the day this past weekend. as a friend mentioned, it's like being on the moon. you get the sense that any one of the hundreds of COMPLETELY CRAZY cyclists attempting to ride up highway 504 with its 3000+ foot gain in altitude could vanish instantly, without a trace, if the right wind came along.

our hike out to the site of this video wasn't really a persuasive argument to the contrary; i couldn't get a photo showing just how narrow the path was at points, and just how steep the cliff was immediately to the side of the path. then again, drew and i are notorious acrophobes.

please do not turn the sound up on your computer. whatever i am saying probably SHOULD be drowned out by the high winds. plus, i sound like i'm 10. but what's new?

drew demonstrating where the top 1500 ft of the mountain would be had it not slid down into the valley below in 1980, followed by a 500 mph rush of boulder-filled gas. not scary or anything.

i was apparently hoping to rope me some steers up on that there mountain.

climbers on top of mt. adams 35 miles away watched the eruption as it filled in silver lake (bottom right hand corner of this shot), instantly and permanently doubling it in size. (and yes, we did sit through three separate presentations on the eruption, so i remember a few facts, okay?)

just.so.ready.to.be.DONE

2008-07-03T11:32:00.002-07:00

it's a sign of the times, i guess, that i started this post long before i took these pictures, long before we'd gotten as close as we are now to being done, and i STILL feel this way. but looky here, things are definitely coming along:

all the major fixtures are installed, except for the shower riser and ring, and they WORK. like, we've been using them and everything. drew gets all the credit for this acheivement.

this was our first tiling job ever. it's a little, ahem, uneven in spots, but mostly where it doesn't count, like under the tub. good thing drew talked me out of cutting each of these puppies down to subway-tile size, or I would have had exponentially more opportunities to bungle things.

the shower riser will be installed post-inspection. don't tell the inspector.

and that shower curtain is a placeholder until our 'custom' blind arrives.

next up: install the pocket door and trim it out, install the stained glass transoms, and finish installing towel bars, etc. then onward and upward with finishing the rest of upstairs, hopefully before we leave for spain in September.

in other (better) news, both drew's parents and my mom and her hub were here this week. so much fun to have them here when portland was at its summery finest. of course it's that much harder to be apart from them when they leave.

bathroom with all (okay, a lot of) the trimmings

2008-06-23T20:08:00.003-07:00

check out Drew's super trim work. Note the window he did here
as compared to the original trim work in the downstairs bathroom (with brand-new frosted glass window).
pretty money, huh?

way down the line, this is what our kitchen might look like

2008-06-22T18:04:00.001-07:00

experimenting with polyvore, an instant collage tool that is so, so cool

upstairs bath concept board

2008-06-09T20:02:00.010-07:00

a bit of inspiration, and then the real stuff we're using. http://www.brooklynlimestone.blogspot.com/http://www.thisoldhouse.com/

bathroom month summer 2008: weekend 1

2008-06-08T21:45:00.007-07:00

a couple things of note happened this weekend: first, we began a monthlong surge to finish the upstairs bathroom before both drew's parents and my mom and paul arrive at the beginning of july. and second, the sun came out in oregon. seriously, we are getting slammed this spring with cold, wet weather, and there's no real end in sight, so we're grateful for even a couple of hours of direct sunlight a week. i'm sure our tomatoes and strawberries are grateful as well (the latter have been rotting in place).

so, we're already a day behind, because drywall hanging took two days instead of one. probably because i am craptastic at all things drywall, including but not limited to carrying, measuring and cutting, so drew has to do ALL the work. here he is in action, installing the first of many ceiling panels:

that yellow thing at the front of the frame is the drywall lift. read: best machine EVER.
sun! in portland!
note pawprints on ceiling. huck was extremely helpful, especially when drew was trying to cut the drywall.
despite worrying that the salvage gods would rain down hatred upon me for doing so, i decided to paint the original, unlaquered brass feet of the tub a rich, glossy espresso brown, mostly so the brass wouldn't conflict with the nickel and chrome finishes in the rest of the bathroom. turned out really well, salvage gods be damned.

how things looked as of 6 pm tonight, facing the linen closet and future sites of the tub (left side) and toilet (right). the entire room now has walls! very advanced. next up, mudding.

for more pics, click on the flickr badge at left and then on the "bathroom month, june 2008" set. stay tuned.

spontaneity, or how we ended up with a fridge on the back porch

2008-05-27T20:47:00.004-07:00

You know you've turned a corner in your life when you start spontaneously buying major appliances. This fridge is not the first spontaneous appliance (witness the dishwasher and range currently kicking it in the b-ment). It's just the most inconvenient. For starters, we already had a fridge. In use. And there was no way we were putting the new one in the basement. But at $400 off regular price, we HAD to get it, right? Even if it meant tearing up the brick patio I'd just started getting the hang of. And renting a truck. And pressing our slipper-clad neighbor and her omnipresent handyman into duty to get it out of the truck and into the house. But it's oh so pretty. And now the kitchen around it looks really bad. AND we have a fridge on the back porch, which must make the house shudder with memories of previous owners.
The patio in question. I'd actually already laid a lot of the walk to the basement since I took this picture, but now it's all gone to hell in a refrigerator.
In other news, the farm is thriving. I took this pic 9 days ago and already the lettuce is twice as thick. We might even have a harvest this week. (Tiny inner voice saying "thank goodness." More often than I'd like, I have my doubts about this as an investment.)

more scenes from this spring

2008-05-06T14:58:00.005-07:00

We have a farm now. Have you heard? We're not actually responsible for the farm, of course; the good folks at Your Backyard Farmer can take that credit. Yes, we're paying people to grow vegetables in our backyard. What can I say? We've got a lot of other things going on, AND we get fresh organic produce delivered to our back door. Literally. They don't just grow, they harvest for us. This shot is the day the farm was planted.

What the farm looks like today, at the beginning of week 3. Every vegetable imaginable is in there, waiting for the right time to emerge.

One of the things that's been keeping Drew busy: taking all of the vinyl siding off the house so that he can reuse the sheet insulation underneath in the attic. And so that we can paint. And so that we don't have ghastly pale blue vinyl siding on our house. And yes, I forgot to notice that the lens on my camera was completely gross, because the f-ing lens cap won't stay on. Hence the "atmosphere" in the picture.

Thanks to Betsy Derrick we had a riot of tulips pop up this spring (check out Flickr for more). Yeah, that peony-looking beauty is a TULIP. Insane.

I love the contrast here, in our front border. I wish I could claim I really thought it out, but I'm not that smart at all when it comes to landscaping. I can't remember what the blue ground cover is. Anconite? Aconite? Euphorbia (the chartreuse rocket to the left) totally rocks. I'll miss it when we head back east.

And this is where I plan to spend as much of my time as possible this summer. It was 75 degrees on Sunday, and with my big alumni weekend thing finally over and *mostly* successful, I spent the majority of the afternoon there. Heaven. Okay, sticky heaven. A word of advice: If you're ever tempted to put oilcloth on a daybed, don't. That stuff is worse than the grey vinyl seats in my mom's 1984 white Chevy Cavalier station wagon. I have no idea what I was thinking on that one.

spring progress report

2008-04-10T09:46:00.003-07:00

the upstairs is coming along, slowly, slowly. drew has framed out the bathroom and the closet, finished the plumbing, and almost finished all the electrical. in the meantime, i've been shopping up a storm for the right fixtures - or the NOT right, as the case more often tends to be. i recommend you don't mention to drew the sink that cost a c-note to return, or the 15% we lost on it for not returning it in a timely manner. whose fault was that, you might ask? definitely not his.

here's the carpenter now, demonstrating his prowess in the future master closet/laundry room

vanities, enduring the long wait until installation

the bathroom framed out, with the pocket door structure

view into the closet from the future sitting area/master bedroom hall

for more pics, click on the Flickr badge at left

at last, the stairs

2008-01-06T15:10:00.000-08:00

drew's upstairs working on something productive, housewise, and i'm here wrestling with all my various (non) systems of photo and information storage. nothing is working well - not flickr, not blogger, not windows photo gallery - and i've completely lost patience. but i've promised to post photos of the stairs as they now look, going upstairs from the dining room and down to the basement from the kitchen. quite a transformation. and check out the bazillion photos from Thanksgiving through Christmas, which I've finally posted on Flickr.

at left: view to basement

below: Drew on the stairs as seen from the future master BR

left: view to upstairs from dining room
below: view to dining room from second floor

bad, bad blogger

2007-12-31T15:43:00.000-08:00

i don't exactly think of myself as a paragon of stick-with-itness, so i'm not terribly surprised that i've let this little space languish so much this fall. but others (i have readers! who knew?) have noticed that i haven't been all that communicative. thank goodness for the Flickr badge that constantly updates photos here, or my readership would be up in arms, no doubt. well, maybe a little doubt.

anyway, i'll end the year with a rambling post for old times' sake, and because i haven't come up with any other viable new year's resolutions, i'll resolve to write more in 2008, especially as it looks like we'll have some real house momentum again. we've got new stairs to the second floor from the dining room now, so drew can begin construction on the master suite (ooh la la) upstairs, starting with the basics, like a floor that isn't composed primarily of ancient wool insulation and almost-as-ancient mouse skeletons.

we're just back from ten days experiencing christmas southeast-style in chattanooga and atlanta (to which we brought good, portland rain and helped them not break a drought record. you're welcome, atlanta). after too many sweets and too much bourbon, i'm looking forward to a relatively low-key new year's eve tonight with friends and x-country skiing tomorrow at trillium lake http://www.trilliumlake.com/, near where we spent a weekend snowshoeing in early december. they've got something like 20,000 feet of new snow, so it will be a gorgeous way to ring in the new year. and a good way to forget, however briefly, about the dustbowl we call home ;-)

much love to everyone we've seen and not seen, talked to and not yet talked to, this holiday season. here's to seeing each other again in the new year!

cheers,
lil

mondo photo post

2007-09-26T20:59:00.000-07:00

scenes from a home reno project

plein air maison

2007-09-06T21:06:00.000-07:00

we are topless.

one day on the job and majo, our contractor, and his team have already taken out the majority of the roof, framed out the west dormer, installed major floor joists (to the detriment of our first floor ceilings), and generally caused a fine layer of silt and dust to settle on every surface in the house. woo hoo! and scott and steph are coming to stay with us next week! won't they have fun pretending they're camping instead of staying in a house?

i know this is when the renovation starts getting hard and irritating, but the progress after just one day is a thrill. click here for more photos with descriptions.

in other news, huck had quite the adventure yesterday: he got to spend it in the hospital. he woke up a little before 6 am, threw up and then had a massive seizure that left him first growling and disoriented, then manic. the 24-hour animal hospital affiliated with our vet was terrific with him. they ran a battery of tests and watched him all day, but no real insight. he came home last night looking and acting totally himself, with the addition of a sporty red armband where his IV had been. now we just wait and see if he has another one. grr.

ashes to ashes we all fall down

2007-09-05T09:03:00.000-07:00

an accelerated schedule with our contractor, majo, means that we had to do some serious late-night demo last night - by headlamp and flashlight in the unlit second story. We're taking out the chimney, which is no longer in use, to open up the area for the installation of two dormers where the new master bath and a sitting room will go.

drew started the demo and i was supposed to be in charge of brick removal, but after 5 or so trips with a bucket of bricks down two flights of stairs and out into the backyard, the ol' noodley arms gave up, so drew handed me the mallet and chisel and took over as bucket-boy.

weekend in something like paradise

2007-08-21T22:12:00.000-07:00

drew's mohawk came and went but the stairs are here to stay

2007-08-20T22:21:00.000-07:00

anthropologie house?

2007-07-01T17:33:00.000-07:00

i often feel like i'm living in an anthropologie set, but with all of the squalor (cracked plaster, grimy walls, grubby floors) and none of the glamor. so it was a nice surprise when we had a little cookout this weekend, and a few people said, "your house is like an anthropologie house," and meant it as a compliment. i think. i took a few photos of what it looks like today, the morning after the party (hence the kitchen horror). they're interspersed with details from anthropologie catalogs. i'm pretty sure you can figure out which is which.

Drew's new fence

2007-06-24T11:27:00.000-07:00

drew built this pretty much singlehandedly, with the occasional leveling assistance from me. it increases the size of our yard by at least 1/4, and the dogs are loving lying in the mulch and the dirt as much as possible:

oh, huck!

2007-06-10T18:26:00.000-07:00

we have a new family member. beatrice is not so sure about him.

before and after: bathroom, drew

2007-04-29T22:08:00.000-07:00

so we've already been working on a few changes around the new house. first things first, we had to deal with the hellhole that was the bathroom. in order to "sanitize" it, we painted everything we could, including the vinyl floor. (the walls were covered with some kind of plastic sheeting, so we just had to scrub them down and then cover them with a shower curtain. for now.) check it out.

before

after

then, it was on to drew, who hadn't had a haircut in maybe five months. yesterday, we broke out the beard trimmer and i went to town:

before

after (blogger's faking you out; the after shot is this one.)

not exactly professional, but not bad for free.

a wee plug

2007-04-02T11:11:00.000-07:00

an article that makes me proud to be part of this school: http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/portland_news/1174355703251970.xml&coll=7

jumping the shark

2007-02-25T21:54:00.000-08:00

drew asked a trenchant question yesterday as we were passing a horde of punk kids milling around outside a house, instruments and attitude in tow: "we've moved on to the next phase in our lives, haven't we?"

we were on our way home from the portland yard, garden and patio show, having spent a good five and a half hours, not including the hour walk each way, exploring such scintillating topics as "gardening with succulents" and "hardscaping for landscape success." and we were looking forward to a quiet evening of magazine perusal, following an early-bird dinner at the original taco house. so, yeah, i'm going to say we've moved on to the next phase in our lives. so far, it's pretty fun, until i find myself staring wistfully at the live music listings in the paper and wondering if i'll ever go to a club show again. eh, club show, garden show - what's the diff?

tonight we had a little oscar party in our shared house, so i actually do have some leftovers to report. n made vietnamese salad rolls with shrimp and a spicy peanut sauce, so to continue with the hand-food theme, we made tilapia tacos with a yummy, spicy mango salsa. i say "we" because now that we actually have access to a kitchen big enough for two to use, drew has been prepping up a storm in addition to fulfilling his long-standing role as "the person in the house who handles meat-cooking." another phase in our lives together, and very rewarding, might i add.

we have a house!*

2007-02-18T19:37:00.000-08:00

it's a 1915 portland bungalow in s.e. portland, much farther from work for me than we'd hoped, but perfect in almost every other way: original leaded glass, craftsman built-ins with original hardware, a wonderful front porch, and in need of much, much work (see the photos below for a glimpse).

we found it on saturday, wrote an offer almost on the spot, because our realtor said we wouldn't find anything similar to it again, and found out that night that our offer had been accepted. totally daunting and exciting at the same time. we celebrated that night with pear and kiwi cocktails at masu, then a $3 movie at the laurelhurst, and started asking ourselves how we could bear to leave the hawthorne district, where insanely good sushi and wonderful theater-pubs are abundant and in walking distance. we're staying here with the lovely nancy until we close on the house in april, and we couldn't begin to afford the neighborhood, but man is it fabulous.

so yesterday we spent the day exploring the willamette valley pinot noir country - which is under an hour from our new place - and discovering all the great things about our new neighborhood. it may not have the laurelhurst or masu, but it does have an extinct volcano-slash-nature preserve; a bike path to the river; a park with a pool, skating rink, and off-leash dog area; AND several girly bars within walking distance. perfect.

and then today, we spent the afternoon at the home and garden outpost of powell's books researching historic home renovation, craftsman architecture and green building techniques until our eyes felt like they might fall ought of our heads. we've got a lot to learn, and a lot to sort through (like how i don't really need arts and crafts wallpaper in a house we're just going to sell, no matter how gorgeous it is); but we're on our way.

*drew says i can't say we "have" the house, yet. we haven't settled, and the home inspection later this week could turn up stuff we're not ready to handle. stay tuned.

a few more photos, including the original glass and box beams, and the oh-so-horrifying kitchen, because that's my specialty:

i live in portland now

2007-02-07T17:15:00.000-08:00

and as of thursday, drew will, too. it's been a whirlwind year, and we're only barely into february. to recap, in images and a few scant words:

we celebrated christmas

and new year's eve.

we drove across the country via chattanooga, st, louis (that's the arch!), kansas city, and the wilds of kansas, colorado, wyoming, idaho and oregon.

at times it was unbelievably cold and windy, like being on the moon. but we made it. and then drew had to fly back to baltimore, and now he, bea and rick are somewhere back in idaho, driving across the country again.

recapping october

2006-11-06T09:17:00.000-08:00

wowzer it's been a long time since i've written. of course lots has happened in the past month or so, including two weddings. in early october we flew to san diego for d's cousin tiff's wedding. we were there for five days or so, and able to visit the insanely wonderful san diego zoo, home of the free-range peacock and other anomalies. we also took a behind-the-scenes tour of sea world, where tiff works, and met some fairly awe-inspiring beluga whales.

lastly, but not chronologically, we went to san diego mission, which is pretty much ground zero of western american catholicism. it's a gorgeous place. i probably shouldn't mention the cigars we got in old town san diego for tiff's wedding party; they ended in ignominy for some of us who shall remain nameless. suffice to say, anise-flavored tobacco and an open bar are an unhappy combination for the novice cigar-smoker.

ok, then my mom got married. for those of you keeping score at home, that's three weddings in 13 months for the women of my family - me, my grandmother and my mother. it was a spectacular, moving weekend full of good people, good food, good fun. and e and p were blissfully happy and gorgeous throughout. and i'm happy to report that she is recovering nicely from her baltimore separation anxiety. i go next week to visit them in chattanooga, after another stop in portland.

and that's about it. as for last night's leftovers, they are a sagey turkey meatloaf that i adapted from "joy of cooking" (the edition before this 75th anniversary edition that's just come out), sauteed red cabbage with golden raisins, and pan-fried confetti potatoes with rosemary and lemon juice. not bad for a tuesday night comfort food meal.

portland views

2006-09-27T20:42:00.000-07:00

a few images from our time last week in portland, which was unreal - gorgeous weather, wonderful company and much promise for the future. the rest of the photos are here .

commemoration/memory

2006-09-12T07:06:00.000-07:00

a year ago today, drew and i were just beginning our exploration of greece, and of married life. we'd left baltimore on the 11th, flown to athens via london, and missed the last ferry of the evening to the island of hydra, where we were spending the first week of our honeymoon. so instead we were happily, wearily enjoying our first greek meal, in a tavern in the port town of piraeus. like any grand adventure, that trips seems like it happened both terribly long ago and just yesterday.

five years ago today, i woke up with an urgent need to pretend that the day before had never happened - and, of course, it was almost unbelievable, to think that the world trade center was just...gone. on top of the irredeemable sadness that came with thinking about the as-yet untold thousands who were dead and the sudden vulnerability we all felt, i had a boyfriend who had declared it "no big deal." he didn't know anyone in new york, somerset county or the pentagon, and those who had died in the wtc were all rich investment bankers anyway. i doubt he's since changed his mind, even though we now know what a toll that day took on first responders.

it took me more than a year after that to figure out just how much of a misanthropic jerk he was, and almost as soon as i did, i met drew, who is one of the warmest, most genuine men i know, and not at all a misanthrope. thank goodness for him. and for us. and september 11, 2005 as one of the happiest of our days together.

and is it too much to hope that some of those who were much more deeply afflicted by september 11, 2001 then i have managed to make something else, something happier, of 9/11, as well?

more time spent in the nest

2006-09-06T13:52:00.000-07:00

yesterday the sterling silver wire i'd ordered arrived, so made a silver ring for my mother, along with a nest necklace framed by yellow jade, white and multicolored pearls, amazonite and garnet, which is her birthstone. i'm working on earrings. these nests are a lot less messy than the first i did, and therefore less accurately bird-like.

i'm not sure about the ring, but i like the necklace, and hope she does, too. (and hope she doesn't look at this before i give them to her).

productive procrastination

2006-08-31T09:23:00.000-07:00

after seeing this on etsy yesterday, i thought, "hey, i've got some amazonite beads and some wire. maybe i can make that." so instead of working on the paper i have due tonight, this morning i made this. it needs work, but i think i'll give it to my mom as an engagement gift. yeah, i may be the world's worst procrastinator, but at least i get other things done, here at the Short Attention Span Theater (to use a marigan phrase).

shady side spread

2006-08-23T18:57:00.000-07:00

Drew Birthday 2006 004
Originally uploaded by na_praha.

so we've been busy

2006-08-17T07:26:00.000-07:00

here's our new and largely improved kitchen!
in a week, with about $200, we:

patched, primed and laid a new vinyl tile floor
sanded, repaired and painted all our cabinets, including the interiors of four of them
painted the bronze metal hardware a hammered steel color
removed three cabinet doors to create open storage
i'm still working on painting the laminate counters with aluminum paint to create a brushed steel finish, and we're replacing the faucet with a chrome pull-out model

the after pictures don't really do it justice...

bea stayed busy while we worked

the before and during:

scenes from our mass and vt trip - ok, mostly vt.

2006-08-04T06:00:00.000-07:00

the digital camera was out of commision for the first half of our trip, and we've yet to develop the film from d's camera, so here's just a smattering of annotated images from our sojourn to new marlborough, great barrington and environs, and then on to the bethel, vt area for the dooley's pig roast. yeah, it was a while ago. haven't been blogging much.

inside the war memorial on top of mt. greylock, north adams, ma.

drew looking towards new marlborough and new york from the top of the war memorial tower

lily, age 5, on top of mt. greylock

mike and smitty, reckoning with the pig

the day after the roast, when it was too hot and we were too hot to do anything but be in a river

drew, right after he lost his wedding ring while bodily shooting the rapids

what a pig looks like the morning after it has been picked clean by a horde of people. note that the eye is missing. that is because someone ate it at 3 am.

drew holding a miniscule frog we found walking through the fields by mike and corinna's house

ode to aldi

2006-07-12T11:03:00.000-07:00

lately i've been telling anyone within earshot about aldi.

the cheap-as-sin german supermarket has an outlet in lovely glen burnie, and i recently made my first pilgrimage there. it's the kind of place that has a bag of 3 romaine hearts for $1.49, two huge boneless, seasoned pork chops for $3.21, chicken broth for 37 cents a can, and - be still my beating heart - ten different varieties of german chocolate. also, you have to bring and/or buy your own bags, bag your groceries, and put a 25 cent deposit down on a grocery cart. they know what they're doing over there.

my trip yielded such goodies as private label nutella (which we've been applying directly to homemade ice cream) and an ungodly number of frozen tilapia fillets for something like $3.

last night, flat out of recipe ideas, i defrosted a couple of fillets, then threw some panko breadcrumbs into a skillet with fresh basil from the garden, crushed red pepper, sea salt, black pepper and a healthy dose of olive oil, ladled the mixture over the fish, and broiled it for 7 minutes in the toaster oven. with a green salad and amstel light, it was the perfect low labor, low heat, low cost summer meal. rock on, aldi, rock on.

stained glass at last

2006-07-08T11:23:00.000-07:00

Stained Glass 004
Originally uploaded by na_praha.

this is the final product of my eight-week stained glass class. (i know d will be glad to have me stop saying that mellifluous phrase "stained glass class" over and over again. what can i say? i love a cheap rhyme.)

you can't tell very well in this image, but the frame is mostly a cloudy blue opaque glass, mixed with the deep blue and variegated blue green of the fan shape.

ok. i'm proud.

meet maybelle. and roy.

2006-07-07T18:34:00.000-07:00

maybelle is a sock monkey i made this week for my friend macy. she has a little friend named roy, who is really more of a sock calf than a sock monkey, seeing as how he was made out of a square-toed little baby sock, so he has a funny little square head. also, he doesn't have a tail. not that that makes him any more bovine. his tail was, let us say, "problematic" and leave it at that.

maybelle and roy are the best of friends, perhaps because they both have no lips. maybelle does, however, have a dress with monkeys on it (made from the fabric leftover from my bridesmaid's dress for brita's wedding). her dress accomodates her rather long tail. d insisted on this when he saw her in her initial, tale-confined state.
tomorrow, maybelle and roy will go to macy's to celebrate her first birthday.

recycling

2006-06-22T08:17:00.000-07:00

i've always been a magazine junkie. always. there was that notorious car & driver subscription at 10, archaeology at 11, and let us not neglect teen, to which i subsribed long before i actually became one and wised up to the fact that bubblegum pink was not the most sophisticated of lipstick hues.

this periodical obsession has continued into adulthood, reaching its apogee (or perhaps its nadir) a couple of years ago, when i held subsriptions to two weeklies and something like five monthlies. ludicrous. the amount of trees consumed to feed my addiction was no doubt obscene. so i've scaled back. just the essentials. new yorker. domino. martha stewart (yes, she IS essential). and now, a mystery subscription to house beautiful that i myself did not place and will soon be canceling.

of course this doesn't mean my obsession has waned, just my personal investment therein (and that of the world's lumber supply). fortunately, i have hit upon something of a solution, one which exploits my packrat tendencies - i've started rereading all of the magazines i've saved over the past five or so years. and wouldn't you know it, it's like i've never cracked them open before.

i've been methodically working through the back issues of martha in particular, combing them for recipes to try, a list of which i now keep in my recipe notebook (which sounds more anal than it is). on saturday, abbs came over for lunch in the garden before we went to see "candida" at everyman.

i sprung no fewer than three new recipes on her: a warm spring salad with poached egg, bacon and peas; a potato and tomato galette (for which i inaugurated my mandoline) with fresh sage from the garden; and watermelon, blueberries and strawberries with feta and cracked black pepper. i served d the same when he got home from germany on sunday (yay), and added a peach and raspberry crumble that wasn't the biggest success (the topping was more crumb than crumble).

oh well. at least the garden is thriving, especially with all the rain we're having. the coleus in particular have probably doubled in size since i took this shot a couple of weeks ago. those things are off the hook.

in more exciting news, my friend melissa recently hosted a radio program in l.a., interviewing a prominent gay priest and one of my favorite essayists, anne lamott. you can listen to it here:
http://www.publicradio.org/tools/media/player/kpcc/news/shows/zocalo/2006/06/20060611_zocalo

appreciation

2006-06-14T14:47:00.000-07:00

sometimes i have to remind myself that we live a very good life. like when i'm caught in the throes of kitchen envy at someone else's house, or we're confronted with evidence of yet another rodent invasion. drew would be the first to point out that i tend to lose perspective quickly in such situations, and make as if life were a pure, relentless hell of my own making.

but a lot of the time, i'm too busy living our good life to need to be reminded of it. such has been the case over the last couple of weeks. to wit:

celebrated my birthday in unexpectedly high style - when drew surprised me with a birthday overnight in st. michaels, md - and comically low style - at medieval times, with 16 friends and family members
had a gorgeous dinner with my center stage friends at indebleu in dc - indian fusion yum
had a lovely visit with my mama, godmother and other friends at my mom's the sunday after my birthday
discovered a new band, tapes n' tapes, thanks to sarah and jeff, who came over for steamed dumplings and tofu (better than it sounds) eaten al fresco before we went to see tapes n' tapes at fletcher's last thursday
had a dinner and movie date with my st. john's friend shannon and her husband david as a send-off before they move to philly. before we went to see "cars" (completely charming), they came over for dinner - i made a "cauliflower puff" from a recipe found in the baltimore sun and it was so divine, like a creamy frittata, served with roasted asparagus, peppers and new potatoes and a green salad. shannon and david brought an insane tiramisu from whole foods for dessert, and a lovely bottle of pinot grigio. we again ate outside - the garden continues apace, though still smelly, thanks to our neighbors, but that may change, as they've recently come under the scrutiny of child services. we've also recently had a hose incident, as in someone amputated the end of ours and stole the spray attachment. very curious.
i had six days off of work, because macy's 'rents were in germany and she was staying with her grandparents. i missed her, but loved puttering around the house, getting projects done, or at least started.

and that just skims the surface. to be sure, there are things that are, to varying degrees, not grand. loved ones sick, ongoing war, drew leaving for a week to go to germany (grand for him, of course!) but once in a while, it's good to remember that life is, in the main, swell. at least for now.

look what i done made

2006-06-14T14:36:00.000-07:00

Painted Pottery 013
Originally uploaded by na_praha.

i'm unduly proud of this platter and four bowls i handpainted (using a technique cribbed from martha stewart, on ikea 365+ dishware) for our friends katy and brad, who got married in hawaii on new year's day. they're having a baby in october, so i figured it was time to get on the ball with a wedding gift. very fun. i have almost no faculty for painting and drawing, but little dots turned out not to be that difficult. now i want to paint everything that's not nailed down.

the big three-oh

2006-06-01T06:19:00.000-07:00

in honor of my birthday, i guess i might as well blog a bit. it's been a while since i've felt writerly, which is of course the case because now i actually have time to write. and it's not as if there hasn't been much grist for the mill, including sailing around the chesapeake for a couple of days with drew's parents and a wonderful surprise birthday dinner cooked up by becca, featuring crabcakes, corn pudding and chocolate fondue - really lovely. and this morning, another wonderful surprise - kim had made a nectarine breakfast cake with three candles for each decade i've been around, and she, joel and i enjoyed it with homemade lattes before she decamped for work. i am so lucky to have such delicious family and friends.

i share a birthday with someone who was perhaps a little less lucky. marilyn monroe would have been EIGHTY today. can you believe it? i knew we had the same birthday but didn't know we were exactly a half-century apart. not that that's really relevant to anything; it's more intriguing to think of what she might be like now if she had lived, whether she might have ever come to be happy with herself.

on a less pop-psychy note, my mom's old friend jon katz has an article in slate today about "grunt and grumble," the patois of rural america. his work is always wonderfully funny - he often writes about dogs and life on his upstate new york farm. my favorite story about jon is that he met his wife, paula span - also a writer - at a vietnam protest. he was playing a war victim on a gurney and she was playing a medic. classic.

2006-05-20T08:46:00.000-07:00

this image pretty much sums up the bahamas excursion, in spite of the drama surrounding my getting there. more to come.

debacle

2006-05-11T05:27:00.000-07:00

i've been feeling even more star-crossed this week than usual. the other night, for example, as i was heating up leftover turkey sloppy joes for dinner (heavy into the american comfort foods right now - last weekend it was glorified baked beans, this week the joes - both straight out of my grandmother's old crock-pot cookbook) i managed to spill absolutely everything before I could get it to the plate. sloppy joes on the counter. salad dressing in the crevice between the stove and the counter (yuck). grape tomatoes skidding across the floor. a real boon for bea. not so much for me.

so should i have been surprised when, upon leaving stained glass class last night, i got a message from my cousin t, with whom i'm supposed to meet up in the bahamas this weekend, saying that, while i was flying to freeport, the other three were flying to nassau? and the two were nowhere near each other? and i might have to fly between them? and that would cost loads and get me there very late at night? guess not.

needless to say, a breakdown ensued. spent almost two hours on the phone with orbitz and american airlines when i got home - during which time BOTH of our home phones went on the fritz in the middle of a transaction with the elusive customer service reps. and the upshot is $154 and i don't get to nassau until 10 pm (vs. mid-afternoon for everyone else - but to do that would have cost $400). so much for a quick, cheap getaway with the cousines.

and what's really weird is that i KNEW we were going to freeport. nassau was NEVER in my mind as our destination. and i was completely, expensively WRONG.

now, about that stained glass class. this was the first of 8, and as i told d, i'm definitely not a glass prodigy. last night we learned the basics of cutting the glass with a little tool that has a steel wheel at its tip and is completely awkward to hold and to use. we practiced cutting out basic-seeming shapes - leaves, fish, moons - with this implement, and the result, at least in my case, only vaguely resembled the original design. i'm told we'll get better. i'm told there are ways to smooth out all those jaggedy edges. most of all, i'm told i'll learn to respect the glass, without being afraid of being cut by it. because "the glass knows when you fear it." and all this time, i thought fear of flying glass shards was a smart instinct.

in which we "participate" in the volvo ocean race

2006-05-08T07:34:00.000-07:00

May 2006 030
Originally uploaded by na_praha.

yesterday, after drew, scott songer and i ran a 10k across the Chesapeake Bay Bridge (and survived, joints intact), we went out on the derricks' big fishing boat with a bunch of folks to chase down the seven yachts competing in the 2006 volvo ocean race, as they left annapolis to sail to new york. unbelievably cool. there were a zillion other boats of all descriptions on the bay and yet we were able to get very close to the racing yachts as they flew by us, the u.s. ship "pirates of the caribbean" firmly in the lead.

stay of execution

2006-05-05T06:17:00.000-07:00

i finally finished my paper on lincoln's temperance and cooper union addresses. it was, in a word, shitty. here's another word: scant. i actually had to do that thing with the margins, where you make them as wide as possible and kick the font size up a notch, just to get to the minimum page requirement. very tenth grade.

then, in class, i realized there was a factual error in the paper. and i had two or three moments of clarity as to what i SHOULD have written about. my whole academic life flashed before my eyes.

and then, when someone attempted to hand in his paper, the professor was mystified. "isn't this a week early?" it wasn't. but he let us pretend it was, and those of us who wanted to could keep working on our papers. i was one of only two who opted to. and i actually had to think about it, because it sure was nice, in those few hours between finishing the paper and contemplating turning it in, to feel like it was done, even crappily so. but i decided it would be nicer to turn in a decent paper.

so if you don't hear from me next week, you know where i'll be: holed up in front of the computer, trying to say something that's not yet been said about one of the most well-documented public figures in history. yeah. good luck with that one.

*image from constitutioncenter.org

skyline drive

2006-05-02T06:32:00.000-07:00

last weekend, rick, betsy, drew, bea and i met in virginia's shenandoah national park to camp for a couple of nights and hike Old Rag (seen in the distance behind us in this photograph taken sat. morning on Skyline Drive).

r & b got out there on thursday in "bonnie," their trusty little camper. we followed on friday night, getting there around 10:30 because of an ill-advised stop at baha fresh (we couldn't pass up "enchilado-styling" our burritos, which is the baha fresh equivalent of super-sizing, only instead of extra fries you get extra melted cheese and sauce and require knife, fork and a lot of napkins - not driving friendly).

but the happy news was that because we got there so late, we never had to pay the $15 park entry fee. nota bene, anyone planning a trip there. and because it was late and cold and bonnie was warm and already set up, we ditched our tent and crowded into the camper to sleep. we realized the error of our ways the next morning, when, at sunrise, bea decided that jumping on everyone's heads was a brilliant idea. this, after a night spent in a bed slightly wider and shorter than a twin, with two adults and an excited pup. somehow we forgot this lesson and repeated the whole thing the next night. but by then we had spent 7 hours "hiking" Old Rag (at the summit, it's more like bouldering), and slept like, well, old rags.

on saturday we got up and dined on fried bagels (highly recommended) before driving a meandering hour along Skyline Drive and through historic Sperryville (where an ambitious little shop announced, "Antique Tables Made Daily!") to the base of the mountain.

since dogs aren't *really* allowed on the mountain, and we were determined to bring bea, we decided to use the longer but less well-tread fire road to get up the mountain, figuring that once we got up there, it wouldn't matter what way we came down, even if we were caught with the dog. this way proved to be heavy on the wildflowers, and so we got in touch with our innter botanists using the new magnifying loupes the derricks had brought. yes, we are earnest. thank you for asking.

we didn't make it to the summit before we stopped for lunch, which felt like cheating, but turned out to be smart - we needed fuel for an ascent and then descent that required every muscle in our bodies as we pulled ourselves up over towering boulders, leaped over deep canyons, and dropped into narrow channels. bea is basically a mountain goat in disguise and only had to be handed across a gap 3 or so times. this was not one of them (you can see her head in the center):
for our dedicated fans, there are more images here: http://flickr.com/photos/10516738@N00/tags/shenandoah/

farewell dinner

2006-04-28T07:07:00.000-07:00

April 2006 012
Originally uploaded by na_praha.

this week sounded really bad on paper: left job, had oral exam on thucydides and herodotus, responsible for initiating class discussion on marx, etc.

but it turned out to be rather a lovely week - the weather was spectacular, not having to work meant i could really prepare for my oral, and on tuesday i was able to get together with my mom for pizza in her back garden, followed by dinner wed. at our house with justin, coralie, spenser, and amy.

our excuse for gathering was the end of my contract, and by that night i was largely over my monday malaise (though no more prepared to deal with four free days a week). with the exception of a fairly unappealing fava (a santorinian split pea appetizer), the meal was yummy: d grilled feta with peppers and onions, coralie brought a wonderfully grassy small-batch cheddar and spicy crackers, and i improvised a vegan-friendly risotto with baby portabellas, canellini, edamame and scallions which drew did a mean job of tending (the only downside of risotto - all that broth-adding and stirring). served the risotto with an avocado and orange salad on spring greens, and finished the whole thing off with a homemade cantaloupe, strawberry and basil sorbet and grilled pineapple. simple and good.

oh, and they brought us a bottle of evan williams single barrel bourbon. oh.my.god.so.good. so good that it's going camping with us and drew's parents this weekend. but i might not share.

garden, for now

2006-04-27T07:37:00.000-07:00

April 2006 004
Originally uploaded by na_praha.

here's what our back garden looked like a week ago, just after i'd planted all the containers. we then had tons of good rain, so it may actually have a shot at survival. the hostas alone have doubled in size in the last 7 days.

living in a post-employment world

2006-04-25T07:48:00.000-07:00

today is, as they say, the first day of the rest of my life. on thursday, i found out that my contract at the nonprofit where i'd worked part-time since november 2004 was not going to be renewed, and so i wrapped up my projects and left after the weekly noon staff meeting yesterday.

i'm feeling pretty weird about it. as of two weeks from now, the school semester will be over as well, and i'm facing a summer of three days a week nannying (which is so lovely but doesn't really pad the old resume), and nothing else. so i've been trying to come up with ideas to keep myself busy the other two days of the working week.

so far, the viable ones include taking the stained glass-making class that d gave me for my birthday last year, painting the stairwell in our house, hemming some pants, and finally catching up on pleasure-reading. woo hoo. ideas i've ruled out: writing a book. having a baby. finally, once and for all, organizing the basement. that last one is just totally out there.

lest i delude myself into thinking that blogging will get me anywhere

2006-04-25T07:40:00.000-07:00

http://www.slate.com/id/2140095/

news roundup: bucking tradition edition

2006-04-24T06:30:00.000-07:00

a couple of local news items of interest, in terms of folks going SERIOUSLY against the grain, in education and in commerce:

the sister of one of d's best childhood friends runs an alternative school in Price George's County - no curriculum, no tests, no grades. the Washington Post profiles it today:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/04/23/AR2006042300926.html

in even more local news, one of the current open society institute fellows is part of the collective that runs the Baltimore Free Store - no fixed location, no paid staff, no cost to customers. the Baltimore Sun profiles it today:
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/bal-md.freestore24apr24,0,6393946.story?coll=bal-local-headlines

oh, marx would be so proud (just finished reading the first chapter of the german ideology).

o, those bunny ears

2006-04-21T07:29:00.000-07:00

today is the first not-so-gorgeous day we've had in a week. last weekend was supposed to be rainy and dreary, and instead easter was as it ought to be: gloriously sunny and warmish. my mom and godmother came over to for brunch: a salmon and new potato frittata (don't tell them the salmon was left over from tea sandwiches the week before), spinach and pear salad with an orange-champagne dressing, hot cross buns courtesy of my mom, and tsimmes, because i haven't been to a seder in too long and i missed that traditional passover dish of carrots and dried fruit. (i also miss charoset, but didn't have the time to make it.)

the real kicker was a divine ambrosia cake - layers of yellow cake, orange curd, and coconut frosting - that my mom brought in honor of the uber-kmotra's birthday. wowzer. that combined with an unending procession of marshmallow peeps, chocolate-peanut butter eggs, jelly beans and m&m's just about did us all in.

tonight d's parents are coming over for dinner - i'm thinking i'll make sake-wasabe pork chops and grilled asparagus. but no cake, alas. and no bunny ears.

2006-04-20T18:51:00.000-07:00

so this is extremely cool: the gmap pedometer allows you to map you running, walking or biking route using google's so-awesome mapping software and then tracks your miles for you. for instance, here's the regular short route that d, b and i often do: http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=137001.

i learned about this from the blog of the lovely and talented coralie, who is in training for a half-marathon. i am only in training for the bay bridge 10k and a just-announced trip to the bahamas, with my cousins.

i'm ok, you're biased

2006-04-17T07:49:00.000-07:00

hmmm...http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/16/opinion/16gilbert.html?th&emc=th

sausage tacos (ewww)

2006-04-14T13:38:00.000-07:00

so, remember how this was supposed to be a blog about DINNER? i clearly started it before i ran into my current state of profound, soul-sucking burnout. cooking? who cooks anymore? (making tea sandwiches and pumpkin bread from a mix for last weekend's book club meeting really did not count.)

this week, i made dinner once, but that was only because i felt sorry for d, who has been responding to my queries of "what did you have for dinner?" with really tragic replies like, "a banana. and a salad." i've literally not been home an entire evening this week.

well, i threw together some chicken sausage tacos that were tasty despite being almost entirely canned (and having a vaguely unsavory name - see www.urbandictionary.com for more information than you really needed to know).

but this weekend i'll get back into the kitchen as we're hosting easter brunch at our humble little abode.

san francisco, not at all briefly

2006-04-10T12:00:00.000-07:00

so it has been nearly a week since we got back from sf and i’ve been quite remiss in writing about it, as was pointed out to me this weekend by d’s dad. a and i had a tremendous time, as of course we would, because sf is a tremendous city – even in the rain. and there was much rain, as in, more rain than they’ve had since 1904.

but we did get a brief respite from it on saturday, long enough to bomb across the golden gate to the marin headlands, take a few windblown photos, and bomb back for crepes in cow hollow followed by some hardcore shopping (the san francisco economy did well by us; our bank accounts, not so much).

we also braved the crowds at ghiradelli square for what was, in fact, a phenomenal hot fudge sundae, even if i did order the wrong kind of ice cream (butter pecan?! what was I thinking?). and we saw the gift shop at the hyde st. pier (home of the lumber schooner c.a. thayer), if not the pier itself, because it was closed for the day.
on monday, even though it was pouring and we were in a borrowed mini cooper with a manual transmission (o, the humanity), abbs managed to pilot us skillfully up and down those murderous hills and through the “crookedest street in America” (not so, according to our guidebook).

and we went to chinatown. for the culture. more flagrant spending ensued.

other highlights of the weekend included a trip to the magic theatre to see a’s friend jonathan leveck in a new play about infidelity and infant death (woo hoo); a wonderful birthday party for her, hosted by friends in the mission district; dancing for, like, ever at a club in the “emerging SOMISSPO district”; a hardcore sushi throwdown; and a persian lunch feast for which we somehow got away without paying.

finally, i can’t not mention the meal we had at mayor gavin newsome’s old restaurant, plumpjack, our first night in the city. it was so insanely good. like, three different types (and hues) of sea salt good. i ordered the pan-seared halibut with gnocchi, spring peas and mushrooms. and it was divine. but nothing compared to ben’s yellowfin seared in a sesame crust with mashed potatoes. sounds so basic, but we all agreed, it was one of the best bites we’d ever had.

san francisco, very briefly

2006-04-04T22:08:00.000-07:00

Abby and Ben with Matt's arm
Originally uploaded by na_praha.

i love how this image of abby and ben captures their friendship as well as the tenor of our trip to SF, about which i will write more later.

tulipomania

2006-03-30T08:22:00.000-08:00

Slate has an article this week about the "heartbreak of tulips" - you plant them, they get eaten, they grow, they get stolen, they don't come back the next year, they come back the next year with no blooms, yadda yadda. last summer i learned all about the heartbreak of gardening - apparently, plants need a little more than a blazing hot backyard and absolutely no water to thrive. who knew?

i've been assuming i'll get planting again this spring, but our backyard has turned into a rat-o-rama, thanks to our next-door neighbor's charming method of trash disposal ("fling it out the back door and hope for the best!"). maybe i'll just read about gardening this year.

yum

2006-03-29T07:17:00.000-08:00

thanks to this recipe and our nascent plans for a trip to andalucia, i have a new object of cooking desire - a tagine. no WAY do i need one of these, nor do we have room for one. but so gorgeous.

so, speaking of yum: say you have a thousand-gram block of feta, plus two avocados, a bagful of parsley and a bunch of roma tomatoes your mom gave you because she was going to arizona for five days and they wouldn't let her bring alien produce into the state, and you're in charge of the appetizer at your next potluck. the obvious next step is to make avocado feta salsa, as adapted from allrecipes.com:

in a bowl, gently stir together 3-4 chopped plum tomatoes, 2 peeled, pitted and chopped avocados, 1/4-1/2 c. finely chopped red onion, and 2 cloves minced garlic.

mix in 2 tbsp. snipped fresh parsley and 1 tbsp. dried oregano.

gently stir in 1-2 tbsp. red wine vinegar.

stir in 4 oz. crumbled feta. add sea salt and fresh cracked pepper to taste.

cover, and chill for 2 to 6 hours.

serve with pita, sliced and baked at 350 degrees until toasty.

as a relation of mine once wrote, "wala!"

water closet visionary

2006-03-28T07:04:00.000-08:00

for a really, really long time, my mother has dreamed of creating a comprehensive guide to the best (i.e. cleanest) public restrooms in america. and probably, eventually, the world. she figures it would be an indispensable tool for every road warrior. (and she should know, having spent 2+ months driving around the continental U.S. with my grandmother a couple of years ago.)

now, technology is coming to her aid. according to this article in this week's new yorker (don't know how long that link will last), an adjunct professor at Rutgers has embarked on the creation of a comprehensive map of public restrooms in manhattan, using Google Maps. looks like it will also be annotated, which is key, because you just don't want any bathroom; you want one with toilet paper AND soap.

oh - i finally finished my paper. i thought it was pretty good until i got to class last night. now i'm pretty sure it's dreadful. oh well. i will console myself with the following website, specifically the "pups" category: http://www.cuteoverload.com/ yes, i am hopeless. in thirty years i will no doubt be wearing kitten sweatshirts.

if only speed were legal. and/or safe

2006-03-27T08:32:00.000-08:00

ok, so i know i ought to be writing my paper. but last night i went on a blog-reading binge. specifically, i read
every crafty blog i could find.*
and, man, are people doing some cool things out there. i notice that most of them are stay-at-home-mothers. which means i need either to bag all of my gigs post haste, or cease and desist sleeping if i'm ever going to get around to making the bunny who is earnest or cunning onesies for my wee friends. of course, i haven't even had a chance to take the stained glass-making class that d gave me for my birthday last june. argh.

*because i am only a recently reformed luddite, i will just point out that you can click on any colored text throughout this site to visit other sites i mention. recent experience has suggested that this might be a useful tip.

also, i think i've found b's soulmate.

in other news, here is what she is doing today while i write:

she also sent an s.o.s email to d, because i didn't get around to taking her for a walk 'till noon:

he sent one back and said that if she was a really good girl and rather patient, there would be some major stick-fetching in it for her.

pause

2006-03-26T19:56:00.000-08:00

well, i'm in the process of writing - verrrryyy sloooowwwwly - a paper on *i think* hegel and kant, so i'm not s'posed to be writing anything else. instead i will share this pic of bea, surveying her domain, somewhere in the wilds of southern virginia. carry on.

and now for something completely different

2006-03-23T10:47:00.000-08:00

a new study reveals that those "drug-free school zones" don't protect kids from drugs and boost the already disproportionate rate of incarceration of certain ethnic populations (sentences for crimes committed within the zones are more rigorous). every time i drive by one of those green and white signs i think how emblematic they are of the hopeless naiveté of the "war on drugs." and now to learn that they are both naive AND destructive of the communities they are meant to serve? wow.

destructive? yep. jailing an addict - which the majority of those involved with the drug trade are - instead of offering him treatment is a sure-fire way to ensure that as soon as he’s back on the streets, he’ll be buying and selling, and getting arrested, again. kids who grow up in communities where the adults are constantly in and out of prison obviously lack the supervision, role models and support they need to thrive later on. in this scenario, every child gets left behind.

yeah, it's naive to think that treatment alone is enough to solve urban drug problems and break the cycle of incarceration. but we've got to start somewhere. stepping off the old soapbox now...

and lastly

2006-03-21T07:01:00.000-08:00

just one more thing about fish: this morning npr had a story on sustainable fish farming - international waters are sorely over-fished and if we're to get all our omega 3 fatty acids, we had better figure out a better way to farm-raise fish.

one option is to raise them in deep-water net enclosures, although environmental experts worry that fish can escape these (or any) nets and mingle with the wild population, to the detriment of both. don't know how what the fish are actually FED might change, however.

conscientiousness is such a drag. you do the right thing from one perspective (say, health or environmental purity) and the wrong from another (species conservation). grr.

just wild

2006-03-20T08:05:00.000-08:00

well, friday night's meal went very well. the company was wonderful and i actually made it to midnight despite having had almost no sleep the night before - but, oh my, the house looked good, as long as you avoided the basement and back bedroom.

i'd adapted a bon appetit recipe from epicurious.com for the main course. our guests, a quartet of die-hard foodies, seemed to really enjoy it and i think it's worth sharing (see below). also think, after a bit of research, that the "wild" aspect of "wild salmon in saffron sauce" is key. thanks to what they are fed, farm-raised salmon harbor dramatically more toxins than wild, which may also be lower in fat. i don't know when i started to get concerned about stuff like this, but thanks to trader joe's frozen wild salmon, i can afford to be.

can also now recommend roasting asparagus, because unlike steamed asparagus, roast asparagus kind of takes care of itself. just cut off the woody ends, load them in a single layer on a rimmed cookie sheet, drizzle with a bit of olive oil (i had some orange champagne muscat vinegar on hand that i added as well), add salt and pepper and a handful of sliced almonds, and roast at 450 degrees until tender, about 20-30 minutes. yum.

Wild Salmon in Saffron Sauce

1/2 cup dry white wine
1/2 teaspoon saffron threads, crushed
3/4 cup (about) half and half
1/2 - 1 cup canned crushed tomatoes with added puree
1 garlic clove, minced
1 bay leaf
salt, black pepper and cayenne pepper to taste
4 4- to 6-ounce skinless wild salmon fillets
1/2 teaspoon fresh lemon juice

In microwave or on stovetop, heat wine to boiling. Pour liquid into 2-cup measuring cup. Stir in saffron. Let stand 15 minutes.
Add enough half and half to cooking liquid to measure 1 1/3 cups. Transfer to large saucepan. Stir in tomatoes, garlic, bay leaf, and cayenne. Simmer over medium heat until sauce thickens slightly, about 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. (Half and half may initially separate but will recombine as it simmers.)
Heat oil in large nonstick skillet over high heat. Add salmon, rounded side down. Cook until bottom is golden, about 3 minutes. Turn salmon over. Reduce heat to low; cover and cook until salmon is opaque in center, about 4 minutes longer. Remove from heat. Leave covered to keep warm.
Stir lemon juice into sauce.
Place 1 salmon fillet on each of 4 plates and spoon sauce over salmon.

Makes 4 servings.

let them eat salmon

2006-03-16T06:55:00.000-08:00

last night my mother and i went to a lecture on herbal remedies and allergy prevention. i learned that everything i eat is wrong for me. oh, really?

as a seasonal allergy sufferer, i would be wise to build my immunity by eating omega 3 fatty acids and avoiding sugar. instead, i eat sugar like it's my job and i have fish four times a month if i'm lucky. this week in particular has really taken the cake (literally).

so tomorrow night a few friends are coming over and the meal is going to be like an omega 3 and antioxidant blowout, in a probably misguided attempt to remedy the situation in just one evening. salmon* in a saffron sauce, beet and feta salad, asparagus, and homemade strawberry sorbet.

in the meantime, i'm resisting the urge to perform a wholesale renovation on our place before tomorrow. i'm the kind of person who would stay up all night painting one insignificant wall a different color in anticipation of company coming, and then forget to clean the bathroom for them.

* the fish in this image is obviously not salmon. it is tuna that d and i bought off of a fisherman and grilled with fresh rosemary from "our" garden on the greek island of hydra last fall.

i am mine

2006-03-14T18:53:00.000-08:00

last night i had class so d was left to his own devices while my classmates and i considered hegel's notion of freedom. he concludes that freedom is "self-contained existence" (Bei-sich-selbst-seyn). in other words, for one to be free, one must recognize one's own existence as completely independent from that of others. this seems to mean that rather than saying, "i am somebody's wife/daughter/mother/son/teacher/boss/pupil/employee, etc." the free person must say, first and foremost, "i am mine."

what a conundrum. for what are we if not in total relation to others? i am a woman because there are others who aren't; i am a writer because somebody reads my writing; i am smart because there are others who are less so; i am stupid because there are others who are brilliant; and so on.

i know of a woman who was killed in a plane crash, together with her children and mother-in-law. i have since occasionally thought of her husband, a man who lost all of his familial identifiers in one moment: no longer a husband, no longer a father, no longer a son. in his case, being able to say "i am mine" is no accomplishment.

a friend asked me why i started this blog - she wasn't the only one - and i had a hard time coming up with an answer that wasn't totally pathetic ("because if i'm going to lead a pointless life i might as well write about it"). i think hegel would find it slavish to muse on one's private life in the public domain - talk about lack of self-containment! but i find myself looking forward to writing for an audience, no matter how infinitesimal or even imaginary.

even if i cannot say truthfully that i am mine - and i can't - i have something that is mine to share.

chicken with lemon and caper sauce

2006-03-13T09:44:00.000-08:00

this morning i said a quiet but heartfelt "f*** you" to a hairbrush that rolled off the sink and onto my toe. i took that as a sign that i was not thrilled to be back to my chaotic daily existence after nine glorious days on the road.

we had quite an adventure, including camping in 20 degree weather and hiking in 80 degree weather, a trip to the pet ER and a wonderful octogenarian wedding. one of the highlights was going to your dekalb farmers market in atlanta with d's sister and her husband, where we found dried rosemary and sage for a steal and a thousand-gram hunk of greek feta for $2.69.

another was having a meal cooked by my lovely and talented almost-sixteen-year-old sister, m. she gently pan-fried chicken breasts and then layered them with a gorgeous, rich and brightly flavored sauce of lemon, butter and capers. no recipe - she cooks from the hip. very, very cool, and fun to hang out with her and our younger sister, l, who sets a mean table and is a connoisseur of fine cheese (we'd brought a hunk of sage derby from atlanta, and she pronounced it very good).

more sausage, and a visit del sud

2006-03-03T07:15:00.000-08:00

last night's dinner literally was leftovers - d was being wined and dined by a vendor at the capital grille, the city's new old boys club, so i just reheated the pasta with an extra sprinkle of parmesan in the toaster oven. was marginally better about dessert - no peanut butter or frosting, but instead a handful of the new peanut-butter-filled hershey's kisses, which are ok but no peanut butter cups, and a finger of sheridan's "layered coffee liquer" which we got in a duty-free shop on our way back from the british virgin islands or somewhere and has been languishing in the fridge ever since.

tonight we leave for a week-long road tour of the south: atlanta to see d's sister and a college friend of his; savannah to see my dad; and then charlotte, where my 84-year-old grandmother is getting married (to a man, she's dismayed to report, of the advanced age of 85). we'll be camping much of the time, and i'm in charge of provisioning our camp foods. bring on the smoked sausage!

isn't there something uniquely repugnant about sausage? even the lower-fat turkey variety? how profoundly horrifying is it that we grind up the least attractive parts of animals and then stuff them into a casing made of their own viscera - or, perhaps even worse, that of some other species? i try not to think about this too much, because i am unfortunately an adamant, jane-come-lately member of the sausage fan club. as my most hilarious friend once said, "how can anyone be anorexic where there's sausage in this world?" and she's right; sausage is - while not an absolute good - a very tasty, fat- cholesterol- and preservative-riddled good. and to think i grew up in a vegetarian home.

besides, the dog really likes it when i give her morsels of sausage when i'm using it in a recipe. i'm one of those pet owners who's constantly concerned that my dog hates me, or at least couldn't give a flying %&*@ whether i'm around or not, so i gotta remind her occasionally that i can be the source of all that is good and meaty. and that "mom" can be just as fun as "dad". like this morning, when we went running together? wasn't THAT fun? huh? huh? huh?

that was my first run since, i think, thanksgiving day. i'm expecting my knees to lodge a formal protest any minute now.

back in a week...

baked pasta with turkey kielbasa and a side of pb and vanilla frosting, straight up

2006-03-02T07:14:00.000-08:00

last night we were supposed to go out for wings and beer with some of d's teammates before their 9 pm volleyball game - he plays a LOT of recreational sports - and at the last minute they decided not to get together. i always feel like i've gotten a stay of execution when social plans fall through. not because i don't know that it will be much more entertaining to go out and spend time with others - even folks i don't really know, with whom i have not much in common (i do NOT play a lot, or even a little, of sports) - but because (apparently) i'd rather sit at home and watch crap television while eating an array of inappropriate foods straight from the container. hence the title of this post.

my assumption on these nights is that i will (a) finish reading one or two books, or (b) clean the house, or (c) begin some vaguely creative endeavor with my new-found free time. and then, inevitably, it is 11 pm and i've done nothing but watch three successive episodes of "project runway" or something. ugh. not a complaint unique to me, but a complaint nonetheless.

well, anyway, with the prospect of a wing-free night stretching in front of us (i'm really not that big on wings, frankly), i figured i ought to rustle up some grub for the fam - that would be me, d and our little dog, too.

a recipe for baked pasta with sausage had conveniently found its way into my inbox in the morning - convenient, because all i had in the house was a length of turkey kielbasa and some rotini. i had to improvise a bit, per usual. the recipe called for making a quite delectable-sounding sauce of tomatoes, vodka and cream, but i used jarred tomato sauce because it was already open and would go off before i'd have another chance to use it. newman's own sockarooni, if you want to get specific about it. and i only had fresh parmesan and pecorino romano, not fontina, and frozen whole-leaf spinach not fresh. and the recipe called for rigatoni, not rotini.

but, all in all, it was yum. boiled the pasta and the spinach, tossed it with the sauce and the cheese, divided it between two baking dishes - one to freeze and one (gorgeous, white, curvy porcelain, wedding present) to throw into the oven for 30 min. at 400 degrees. i served it with a fresh romaine salad with apples.

then d went to his game. and i sat down to finish reading julie powell's "julie and julia" and polish off an extremely icky tub of dollar store vanilla frosting ("artificially flavored!") washed down with natural peanut butter - i understand the inherent conflict there - straight from the jar. and then i watched "project runway" with a chaser of some abominable Lifetime movie starring jenna elfman. what a wretch i am.