Category Archives: posts by j

artwork

back on april 18, 2013, about a week before we moved into the house, we had all of the electrical brought up to code. this meant installing an arc fault panel (no, not arc reactor) in the hallway which, in such a small house, turned out to be quite the eyesore. we promised ourselves that we would get a piece of art that covered the panel.

electrical panel

on september 29, we ordered christopher marley’s variegated urchins from his pheromone series.

the urchins arrived on october 15, and despite our promise to ourselves that we would hang them right away, we hung them today which is still pretty good for us.

voila! (see below)

christopher marley urchins

pasta dough

trying to make serious eats’ classic fresh egg pasta:

winter

  
if it wasn’t 80 degrees outside, i would say this sums up what winter feels like: that bright, piercing sun and something warm on the stove like hot chocolate or soup.

banana cream pie a la christina tosi

after seeing her on mind of a chef and for baby x’s love of bananas, i’m attempting banana pudding today.

(((why are my comments not working? ok, here’s the recipe in the post body…)))

“pudding” is made and cooling in the fridge. i don’t think we had “real” powdered sugar but i created medium-soft peaks regardless. and i only had 7/8 of a cup. bottom line: pudding is crazy sweet and needs the crumb and crust for balance.

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Salatet Malfoof (Lebanese Cabbage Salad)

We went to Sunnin with LCR last week and all of us devoured the cabbage salad. We agreed that we could probably make it at home. Our Lebanese cookbook didn’t have the recipe, so I pieced one together from around the web.

We Are Not Foodies
Harmony a la Carte
Spark Recipes

  • 1 small-med small green cabbage head
  • 2.5 tsp of garlic (little bit too much or just not mellow enough)
  • 1/4 cup olive oil
  • between 1/3 and 1/2 cup of lemon juice
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 2 Tbsp dried mint (could use more next time)

n.b., i shredded the cabbage with the coarse shredder KA attachment and it truly shredded it instead of cutting it into thin strips. it doesn’t look like sunnin’s salad, but shredded means it’s easier to eat with a spoon.

i should also try to emulsify the dressing instead of placing all of the ingredients on the salad individually. sunnin’s version was definitely oilier. mine could stand to be a bit oilier with just a bit more salt.

defying the heat

i biked today despite the heat that just won’t relent. i forgot my cyclocomputer but i tracked my progress in runtastic:

  • 8.29 miles
  • 49:40 m:s
  • 10.0 mph average speed
  • 5:59 min/mile average pace
  • 19.0 mph max speed
  • 157 feet elevation gain
  • 157 feet elevation loss
  • 91 feet max elevation
  • 188 calories burned
  • 14oz dehydration
  • (n.b., i drank about 18 oz throughout the trip)

parkway

the strip of ground between the sidewalk and the street is sprouting with greenery. to stay on top of the weeds, i overturned the soil today in the setting sun. turns out, not 2 inches below the surface, the soil is moist and dark brown. how is that even possible?!? we are in a drought!!!

$3800 for $50

technically, this is the best deal we may ever get in our lifetime. i’ve been waiting for the right moment to write about our new hutch and today is perfect because i took a broken tambour door to a furniture guy in the valley and he is only charging me $50. but first, some backstory…

this is the danish hutch m saw many years ago and it is her ideal. note the curvy hutch supports and rounded teak. and all that teak – so beautiful.

we gave mama bear our current hutch on jun 21, thinking we would replace it immediately with a hutch located in downtown, but turned out the hutch was too shallow for our ittala dinner plates. we spent 2 months with mugs and bowls in the guest bedroom dresser and serving bowls on the bed and silverware in a snapware with pot lids. but on august 23, 2015, we won a hutch at an auction in connecticut for $1500. after shipping, the total cost of the piece is approximately $2000.

to help us gauge the cost, we referred to 1stdibs which had a similar hutch for $5800. turns out, the hutch said “Sold” right after we won the auction. yup, it was the same hutch just marketed differently in a seemingly complex auction process. the auction house is listed as Fairfield County Antique and Design Center even though i contacted westport auction to arrange transport and payment and i registered through live auctioneers to actually bid. here are the 1stdibs photos:

1stdibs advertised a fixed tambour door but that was the only difference between the 1stdibs description and the auction description. see that white paint on the bottom of the hutch frame? ours had the same paint and i managed to buff it out when i cleaned the wood.

i’ve spent the last 2 weeks investigating which oil to use to feed the thirsty wood and who can fix the tambour door. i eventually found old friends antiques in canoga park. when i first contacted them about the door, they were very responsive and helpful. they estimated the fix to be about $150-$200 but when i showed them the door today, he quoted me $50. let me say that again: $50. so essentially, we got $3800 for $50. and he wanted to give me $6 orange oil for free but i couldn’t accept it and i insisted on paying $5. they delivered great customer service and quality craftsmanship and, in light of recent events, i know that combo is becoming very rare.

limoncello magic

sadly, my notes from last time aren’t as comprehensive as i would like. i put a paper filter in the gold filter and am performing a first pass filtration. i’ve already made the simple syrup (4 cups of sugar to 6 cups water – double batch, just like the vodka).

on to my second filtration, still using gold filter + paper filter. (also, it turns out i can’t read very well because i filtered it 3 times last time: once with gold filter only and twice with gold filter + paper filter.) will add photos but keep in mind that the white balance of the LED lights above the kitchen table always throw the color off. i’ve been using 3500K on the sony and 3400K on the nikon. one step to one side, the photo is too blue; one step to the other side, the photo is too pink. i like 5400K so much better. lesson learned: getting the exposure right helps achieve proper white balance.

i filtered a total of three times, all with paper + gold filter. it’s sitting in the fridge (infusion and sugar separately) until i can clean the kimchi jar in the dishwasher to reuse for the final mixture.