Gettin' It Done

We had very a productive weekend. I fixed the extending leaf on our coffee table.


And I finally reupholstered the dining room chairs with my Thomas O'Brien for Target sheets! I think they came out nicely, but I'm still looking for the perfect red fabric.

We went to see Witchcraft on Saturday night, and I made Guinness and Dr. Pepper cupcakes (recipes on my food blog) with friends. We bought a chest freezer for the garage, to hold all the produce I put up this summer. We started getting the kitchen organized (as much as possible until it gets painted).


And then we went to see "Wristcutters," which was really cute. I definitely recommend it. Hurray for crossing things off lists!

Bluebirds of Happiness

Look at this beautiful tablecloth I found on Ebay! I so don't need it, but I had to share.


*The auction's almost over, but there are no bids, so it might be relisted!

Lipstick Traces

Here are some flowers I picked out today. I love the strawberry-pink "Lipstick Pods" and the bright red chilis!

Olive Love

This summer we made our annual trip to The Olive Pit in Corning, on our way up to Oregon, and discovered that they had fresh olives for sale. At the time I felt silly buying a five pound bag of inedible fruit with absolutely no knowledge of how to process it, but as time went by I started to regret not making the purchase. Lucky for me, our local market had a small box of olives last week, and I snatched them up! As it turned out, our kitchen remodel (specifically the lack of a sink) held up my experiment for a few days, but this afternoon I was finally able to begin the brining process.


Having done a bit of research, it's really quite easy to pickle your own olives. All you need to do is let them ferment in a salt solution for three to six months. The recipe I am following requires me to change the brine every day for 20 days, and then once a month for 3 months before the olives are ready to eat. According to the friendly farmers at Milkwood, who have a fantastic instructional video available here, the more often the brine is changed, the faster the olives will ferment, so I like that this recipe calls for so much changing. The Milkwood recipe only asks you to change the brine once a month, but it also allows up to 9 months for fermentation, and I am just not that patient! At the rate I am going, my olives will be ready to eat in March, and I can't wait!

Juiced

A while back, I bought this Fiestaware juicer on Ebay. Now Martha has one in her Macy's collection that is nearly identical!

Hibernation

I love this cozy print from Pottery Barn.

Kitchen Remodel: Day Seventeen or So

I've lost track of the days... But here is the floor that was installed this morning!

More Pictures from the Coast

By request, here are some more pics of Seymour at the beach with his friend Chip. I wish I had captured the moment he got pulled under by his first big wave! He was very brave and very cute.

This is Where We Live

This weekend we took a quick trip up the coast to Sea Ranch. Driving up Highway 1 always makes me feel like the luckiest person in the world to be able to live here. From the shady pockets of lush redwood forest and the sandy coves and beaches along the ocean, to the rolling farms and fields peppered with happily grazing dairy cows (yes, the commercials are true!) and the rustic towns full of weathered cabins and dusty antique shops... And considering that we are also only a short drive away from colorful, arid deserts, craggy mountains with snowy peaks, clear glacial lakes, hilly vineyards, plunging waterfalls, and generally any other bit of nature you might crave... I hate to agree with Governor Schwartzenegger, but I am proud to be a Californian.










*PS: the green stones are Serpentine, a type of jade that is California's state stone.

Cranberry Sauce!

Yesterday the mailman delivered 10 pounds of beautiful, organic cranberries, which I had ordered directly from Cranberry Hill, one of the few organic cranberry farms in the country. Naturally, some sauce making was in order. My friend Kara and I used about 5 pounds for this purpose, and canned it in pint-sized jars to give as holiday gifts. I plan on freezing about half the remaining berries for use in Martha Stewart's delicious Cranberry Meringue Pie, which was very popular at last year's family Thanksgiving, and I might use what's left for just a little more sauce...

*For my cranberry sauce recipe, click here!

Kitchen Color

We're trying to pick a paint color for the kitchen. Here are some of the turquoise items we use in the room, notably one of the drawer pulls, which will be on every drawer and cabinet. We're using Dunn Edwards paint, recommended by our painter, and these are the colors that seem to be the closest to what we want.

Kitchen Remodel: Day Fourteen

Alright, imagine all this with the cabinets painted white, and the walls painted blue! The flooring goes in on Tuesday, and then we'll be all done until Thanksgiving, when Eric's brother-in-law is coming down to help us paint. Then I'll finally have some "after" pictures! I can't wait.


I think the lamp is gorgeous! It totally makes the room. And here's one of our milk glass pulls (again, imagine it against white).

I'm Ready for my Close-Up

So, after one failed Pottery Barn attempt, we've chosen this lamp from Restoration Hardware. I'm not the biggest fan of fluoresecents, but hey, they're energy efficient, and there is really NOTHING else out there that would work over our medicine cabinet. Still, I think this fixture is nice and subtle, and it has some pretty chrome detailing on the ends, which will go with the rest of our fixtures. It's on backorder until December, but once we get it up, I'll take pictures.

Pillow Fight

Pam over at Housemartin just posted about the furniture available at Maine Cottage, where I discovered these beautiful throw pillows. I don't know about you, but I love throw pillows, and I think they cozy up a room when used in moderation. Unfortunately, I am also very picky about them, and so even though I would be happy to have four or six scattered about my living room, I only have two. Right now I am imagining these lovelies accompanying them, and I'm very tempted....

Topiaries Revisited

You may recall my fixation with topiaries a few months back. My many posts on the topic seemed to satisfy me, but when I drove by this garden today, I couldn't resist taking a pic. It was impossible to fit all the shrubs into one frame, but let me tell you that they continue to the left, and wrap around the side of the house as well.

Kitchen Remodel: Days 11, 12, and 13

Say Cheese!

This is my favorite quote from the book I just finished, "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle," by Barbara Kingsolver.

"A lot of human hobbies, from knitting sweaters to building model airplanes, are probably rooted in the same human desire to control an entire process of manufacture. Karl Marx called it the antidote to alienation. Modern business pyschologists generally agree, noting that workers will build a better car when they participate in the whole assembly rather than just slapping on one bolt, over and over, all the tedious livelong day. In the case of modern food, our single-bolt job has become the boring act of poking things in our mouths, with no feeling for any other stage in the process. It's a pretty obvious consequence that one should care little about the product. When I ponder the question of why Americans eat so much bad food on purpose, this is my best guess: alimentary alienation. We can't feel how or why it hurts. We're dying for an antidote."

So THAT'S why I don't feel like doing anything but canning and cooking these days! Actually this part of the book is all about making your own cheeses, and I got SO excited reading it. I had been talking to Eric about wanting to make my own yogurt, but now I am keen to try both. It's kind of funny that we feel less alienated when we are completely in control of something that we do alone.

Anyways, with the holidays (and my birthday) approaching, I thought I would add this book to my wish list. For anyone else who's interested in making their own cheeses, it's considered the ultimate reference!

*All pictures are from the New England Cheesmaking Supply website.

The Pumpkin Karver

... is a horrible, horrible movie you should not rent this Halloween. You should, however, be sure to carve some pumpkins, and hang some faux-spiderwebs. We did both this weekend, and had a few friends over to partake. You can find the recipes for all the snacks I served on my recipe blog, and here are some pictures of our decorations.

It was really hard to get a good shot of the buffet; we had replaced all the light bulbs in the room with red ones, so I had to use a flash. We served an assortment of hor d'oeuvres: cheese buttons, caprese skewers, cheese crisps, caramelized onion tarts, olives, almonds, gingersnaps, and of course candy. I also took Blueprint's suggestion and served prosecco with a choice of mixers (homemade ginger syrup, blood orange bitters, apricot nectar, and sour cherry juice).


In case you couldn't tell, the "Ghostrider" pumpkin with the stars is mine, and the Chargers helmet "Howdy" is Eric's.

Almost Turkey Time

Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays because it's all about spending time with your family and friends, and eating good food. I love making the traditional meal, and usually end up doing so at some point in the spring or summer as well as fall. This year, I am very excited to be cooking a heritage turkey, which I just ordered from our local butcher. I am hoping to make this year's dinner as local-food-centric as possible, with as few pre-made ingredients as possible. I'll be making the stuffing from cornmeal I bought at the Butte Creek Mill in Oregon last month, and the corn pudding from local corn I froze this summer, and the pumpkin pie will come from local pumpkins (take that, Libby's!). The only thing I think I will have to import are the cranberries, which just don't grow in California. But if I can get them from an environmentally responsible producer, I'll be ok with that. I plan on giving thanks to my community this year. If you are interested in finding a heritage turkey for your Thanksgiving table, go to http://www.localharvest.org to find a producer near you.

Harvest

I just got home from the florist's, where I put together this bouquet. I love the red-orange of the dahlias!