Happy Spring

Every spring is the only spring — a perpetual astonishment.
~Ellis Peters

When a new season rolls around, it instantly becomes my favorite. In the Pacific Northwest, even though the calendar officially announces the arrival of spring today, we have been in it's grasp for weeks already.  It's been a very mild winter, with not a single snowfall of any measurable accumulation. Rather disappointing, as I love the crispness and cold of the snow. The mountains, as well, are low on their usual reserve, which will make for good early summer hiking, but poor water supply.

Since this is my first spring in the new rental, it is such a joy to see what plants and flowers are coming up in the beds. I have a little hydrangea bush, peonies, a whole boatload of lilies which will need to be culled this fall, and an assortment of other small plants for which I need to find names and care instructions.

This weekend my goal is to pull together some sort of springy/summery décor. Pictures to follow. There, that obligates me.

My Valentines 2015

 

Joe was so proud of himself that he picked out the roses and the baby's breath (and vase!) and arranged them on his own. They really are beautiful. I had a few of these sparkly hearts hanging randomly around the house and the little paper hearts tucked into unexpected places.  

Seafood Potato Chowder

And now in the not-on-my-diet-and-I-don't-like-clams-anyway menu, I made chowder for Joe's dinner tonight. We also have enough to stick a few jars in the freezer for cool fall evenings. Here's the general instructions for the chowder. I measured nothing, so these are my best guesses.

Saute one chopped onion and a couple of stalks of celery in a little butter until softened.
Add about 4 cups of low-sodium chicken broth (or water)
Add chopped clams. I used about 8 oz we had frozen this summer, but a can or two would work.
Add shredded crab. I had about 6 oz.
Add about 1 cup of canned smoked salmon.

Smoked salmon can be salty, so I added no salt to the pot at this time. I used about a tablespoon of basil, a tablespoon of thyme, and about 1/2 teaspoon of pepper.

Bring to a boil and simmer 10 minutes to allow the flavors to develop.

Add a couple of large potatoes, cut into chunks. Continue simmering.

Create a roux with 1/4 cup of flour and butter. When the roux is ready, add some of the liquid from the soup and stir it in (so that when you add it to the soup, it doesn't get lumpy). Mix it in to the soup.

Add 1 1/2 cups of warmed whole milk or cream.

When the potatoes are ready, season to taste and enjoy.

The "Fruits" of our Labors

Here is the final product from our day on the river. Good start for the freezer and pantry stock up....

 

...except for the fish in the bowl. Joe is going to eat that now. I haven't tried the canned, but we brined the fish for the smoker for about 18 hours in salt and brown sugar. Oh. My. Goodness. It's delicious. I learned a few things along the way, like that because pink salmon is pretty oily, after you brine, you should drain the fish on a towel for a couple of hours. If I had done this I wouldn't have been up at 0100 pulling this off the smoker and processing it in the bags.

 

I'm really looking forward to canning a few more things this fall. Apples are next! I haven't done this in years and needed the encouragement to get my hands back in it. So thanks to Joe's cousin Craig for canning the salmon with me.

 

 

Apartment Therapy Style Cure: Day One

I am participating in Apartment Therapy's month of Style Cure. Essentially, this means I am gutting a room and making it not just full of hand-me-downs and a catch-all, but re-making it to represent me. The room I am tackling (an appropriate word since I will need a linebacker's muscles to do this) is what is supposed to be my guest/reading room. What it is currently is a repository for all the stuff that doesn't have a home elsewhere. I will post a picture this weekend, much to my shame, just to keep me honest.

The first task of the "cure" was a self-interview. Sort-of an introspective what-kind-of-crazy-nut-are-you? style-wise quiz. Because what I discovered is that I like a bit of everything. How I answered this was listing the first things or persons that came into my mind. Hardly scientific, but odd.

1. List your favorites in each category

Actor: Sean Connery. Loved him in Darby O'Gill (when he had amazing hair) and in Hunt for Red October (in which he didn't). Oh, that voice.
Actress: Melissa McCarthy. Chubby and hilarious? You're my girl.
Artist: Dale Chihuly. Just saw more of his work in Seattle. Inspiring. And Fredrick Childe Hassam. I've enjoyed him since seeing his work at the Joslyn in Omaha. The grays and greens are just lovely.
Writers: Harper Lee, JK Rowling, CS Lewis
Music: No preference. It changes daily.
Restaurant: I love good food and good service. Honestly, I don't have a favorite.
Automobile: 1972 Jeep CJ5 or a 1970s Jaguar
Movies/TV: Princess Bride, Law and Order, Dr Who, or anything by Joss Whedon
Clothing: pencil skirts, tank tops, big earrings
Furniture pieces: mid-century dressers, IKEA, vintage dinnerware

2. Choose three words to describe your personal style
Vintage, outdoorsy, eclectic

3. Think back over the homes you've lived in, both as a child and as an adult. Which rooms would you choose as your favorites and how would you describe them.

Childhood: The livingroom I had in high school. High ceilings, wood paneled walls, rock fireplace, cozy and inviting.
Adulthood: My last kitchen. Modern appliances and vintage dinnerware and bright colors.

4. Who do you consider a role model?

My friend Erin. You know who you are. 
What three adjectives describe the qualities that you most admire in this person?
Loving, generous, godly

5. Every home has areas that are "just right". Which three spots or things in your home do you feel are beautiful and feel proud of, right now, as is:

This stinks, as the only spot I love right now is my black and white photo wall.

6. A month from now, at the end of the Style Cure, how would you like your friends to describe your home?

Welcoming, a good mix of masculine and feminine, tidy, and personal

What has this taught me? I think I am bi-polar. Or perhaps this mix of likes is normal. Probably. Either way, my goal is to transform my reading room into a place that I want to spend time, to curl up with a book, and a place that when friends come to spend the night, they recognize my influence and taste.

Word of the Year for 2013

This year I do not want to make resolutions at which I inevitibly fail, or at the very least, fall short.

 

This year I want to make changes in my lifestyle.

 

My word for the year is: CREATE

 

Things I want to CREATE:

• deeper friendships with a select group of ladies.
• a peaceful refuge for my man.
• an organized and useful space for my artistic endeavors and projects.
• all of my Christmas gifts.
• a repetoire of recipes for both of our dietary needs.

The world is but a canvas to the imagination.
~Henry David Thoreau

Winner, Winner....

When it comes to decorating, I have definitely been gifted (if I do say so myself) with my mom's eye for eclectic styles, furnishings and colors. If asked what color my decor is....I have no idea what to say. There is a bit of everything. Nothing appeals to me less than the 7 piece matched set of livingroom furniture.

Last fall, mom and I were wandering around an antique store in Mount Vernon. My eyes found a striking mid-century chair.

"Come look at this chair, mom!"

She replied from the other end of the loft, "I found a chair I like, too."

And she had. The mate to mine.

But guess what! I live here and she doesn't...so they are living with me!

I love the simplicity of the danish modern styling and the fun cutout on the back. Joe picked out the new fabric for the cushions, and I added fresh foam.

As I write this, I am thinking that too much gloating might be a bad idea. Since the great chair arm-wrestling tournament, mom has found a simply gorgeous sideboard that just would not fit in tne overhead bin on my flight back home.

Oh well. You can't win them all.

Decluttering...ad infinitum

I seem to have a never-ending supply of stuff. I'm pretty sure that when I leave the area, it reproduces (asexually, I hope).  I have figured out the biggest problem: Whenever I move, I declutter rather ruthlessly.  But as the day of the move approaches, the last 10 boxes or so get filled up with all the small random stuff that is somehow, possibly, useful. And those boxes are in my garage. Ick. I hate the thought of going through them. Terrible laziness has set in and my ambition has atrophied. And that is the danger of out-of-sight-out-of-mind.

I did finish cleaning out the master closet, for now. I have organized and sorted my clothes until they only take up one side, including my seasonal items which are boxed up.

What I really need to do is watch Hoarders, then set the timer for 20 minutes, and see how much stuff I can get through every night in the garage.

A Fitting Project

I have mentioned before how artistic my mom and her siblings are. She made these little clay hearts years ago, and we pulled them out earlier this week as part of a test to see how her focus and creativity had come back. This was not our intended project, but I ended up putting these necklaces together. It seems like a fitting tribute to her recovery.

Thai Curry Chicken with Peanut Sauce

Here is the trick to this delicious dinner: I cheat.

Marinate (for the day) a couple of sliced chicken breasts in most of a can of coconut milk and liberally sprinkle with some good curry. Saute. Preferably in peanut oil.

For the peanut sauce, I use a bottle of House of Tsang's Bangkok Padang Peanut Sauce, heated and mixed with about 3/4 cup peanut butter and 1/2 cup coconut milk. This keeps a bit of the kick without knocking you on your tush.

Serve with rice noodles.

Tonight we added a romaine salad with mandarin oranges and apples, topped with mom's homemade poppyseed dressing. It was the perfect combination of spicy and sweet.

Couldn't be easier, or yummier!

Enter Here

Since I moved in a year ago, I have been slowly tweaking a few of the details in my little apartment. It's an interesting dilemma to try to balance putting my own stamp on my place, while also keeping in mind that in the next couple of years I will most likely be sharing that space with someone else. (And no, that's not an announcement...and I don't think anyone will be surprised when it happens.)  Thank goodness Joe loves color. Because I am on a color kick.

So here is the view at my front door: a mix of brightness with my white ironstone as the appropriate offset. The wall was already my favorite shade of green. The first time I saw the place, the landlord offered to paint it another color. I think I told him he might lose a hand if he touched it. It's perfect.

The turquoise shelf was found at a local shop, Poppyseeds, which has the most wonderful variety of painted furniture.  My mom and I discovered it in a corner, grabbed a fabric swatch from my throw pillows, and when I found that it was the exact color...well, what else could I do?  Right after a move is a terrible time (budget-wise) to buy an additional piece of furniture...but it was worth it!

The b/w photos are mine...local shots and scenes taken over the last couple of years. And the lettering on the walls? Those were fun. I thought, when I bought them, that they peeled off in three separate pieces. Nope. Individual letters. It took about an hour to get them just right, but they are a great finishing touch.

Kitchen Projects...part 2

I love the way these cabinets look all painted. I might just go crazy and do the interiors of the upper cabinets.

Kitchen Projects...

...not involving food.

Finally, after a year, got around to painting the interiors of the open cabinets in my kitchen. They match the wall (visible in the background) and I love the way they look. Tonight I am going to work on the ones on the opposite side, where I store my cookbooks. They will be red. I still need a little bit of touch up on the white paint, but I'll do that last, all at once. When the cats are locked in the bedroom.  My little helpers are really a pain when the project is on their level!

The Artist in the Family

I have quite an artistic heritage to live up to. My mom, Julie, has always been creative and talented. She sews, quilts, refurbishes absolutely useless pieces of furniture into something fun and usable, scrapbooks, and has a great eye for decor and design. Last winter, while wintering in Arizona, she learned to take a simple gourd and make it into something lovely.

This one is mine. She won't let me have it yet, though...she wants to show it to her siblings first. But it's mine. And they can't have it.

It's the smallest of the three, but I chose it because I love the turquoise, and that she used pine needles from her own yard to create the trim.

Mom was pleased to find the shell adorning the front of this one during her last trip to Washington. It was conveniently pre-drilled by nature.

The one  below is a gift for my aunt. This gourd is the largest. It has leather trim and sweetgrass around the top. And elk teeth. Aunt Jo will love it.

Gorgeous!



Hoarders as Housekeeping Motivation

There is a "Hoarders" marathon on A&E today, so of course, because of the already-admitted obsession that I have, its on in the background while I am having a nice "at home" day. It actually inspired me to do something that I had read about in one of my Alexandra Stoddard lifestyle books.

From the front door, I took a photo of the first impression as I walk into my home. Then came the kitchen and the dining room. Honestly, I was a bit surprised at how it looked on film. Unnoticed in everyday life, but laid bare on "film" are a few items that I have been putting off dealing with. And then just began ignoring. So now I have a list. And am working my way through it.

Try it! You might be surprised at how others see your home. And at least for me, its very important that it be welcoming anytime.

A Note to My Stepdad

Dear Bruce:
I love this coffee table and would love to make it but I have:
a) no tools
b) no skills

Love,
Karen

Wishing I Could Feel Guilty...

I am sitting here in the new apartment, listening to Mom as she is working on reupholstering my two dining room chairs. It's 1120 pm, and we had a nice dinner and coffee with my prodigal son and his girlfriend. But here is mom, back at the place, plugging along on the sewing machine.

I bought the two chairs a year ago at IKEA, because they were on clearance (for $20 a piece), and are a nice shape, and, after all, how hard can it be to get slipcovers or reupholster them? Oops. No slipcovers available...so "hey Mom, can you do my chairs while you are here?". She should have said "no". I think she's put in about 12 hours on them. They look great, and they aren't even done. But they will be wonderful. I have great faith in her.

She probably wishes she'd put her foot down...but oh, I can't even feel a bit guilty!

Pictures to follow (if she ever finishes them!).

Quote of the Day

He is the happiest
Be he king or peasant
Who finds peace in his home.
~Goethe

I Love Craigslist

I love selling stuff on Craigslist. Of course, I am only selling so that I have $ to pay for my loveseat that I want to get for my new apartment (whenever that happens!). Here's the loveseat I want. It's from IKEA. I love them too. When mom comes later this month, we will make one of our legendary treks down there, where I will proceed to drool over everything in the store, and end up leaving having spent fewer than $40. Until I have my new apartment.

Then. I. Am. Buying. A. White. Loveseat.

Which I never would do unless I were single!

While I am not looking forward to the added expenses of an apartment, I am looking forward to taking all of my decor out of the boxes and actually having some "me" in the place. It will be like Christmas!

Now, If only I could find this loveseat on Craigslist...

They're Back!

The Food Fairies have been on haitus for a while. I have missed them. But I do understand, as we have three single, male Air Force officers that live in our building, and they probably need the fairies more than I do.

But, twice in the last month, they have left treats! Last night, it was salmon patties, which I am going to have for lunch tomorrow.

What a blessing!