I had hoped to write a lovely post about polenta and olives tonight, but instead, Evan and I watched fireflies from our front porch for a couple hours. I planned on something fancier but I think it's Trader Joe's pizza and a salad for us tonight.
Are we gonna be okay? Are there fireflies in LA?
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Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Evan's Last Week: Day One
I don't know why folks can't comment on the blog -- you can always do so on Facebook or directly to me at brockwaymetcalf at mac dot com.
My darlin' husband flies out to MF Los Angeles a week from today. Sigh. So I asked him what meals he'd like and they all turn out to be some of my favorites too. I thought I'd share them with you all.
Last night I made Cook's Illustrated's Orecchiette with Broccoli, Sausage and Roasted Peppers. It's a great hearty pasta that reheats really well for lunch a day or two later. Usually, I heat up whatever the adults had last night for the kids to eat at 6pm and I make Evan's and my dinner after they go to bed. We're hoping to have more family meals once we move, and this is a favorite of everyone. My comments to the original recipe are in italic.
1 pound orecchiette (we've also used bow-ties successfully)
4 ounces sweet Italian sausage , casing removed We use 2 or 3 spicy ones instead, the kind you get at Costco.
9 medium cloves garlic , pressed through garlic press or minced (3 tablespoons)
1 cup roasted red peppers (8 ounces), cut into ½-inch squares
½ teaspoon ground black pepper
2 pounds broccoli , florets cut into bite-sized 1-inch pieces, stalks peeled, halved lengthwise, and cut into ¼-inch thick pieces I made this last night with the leftover broccoli from the Costco veggie tray from the party.
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 cup grated Pecorino Romano cheese (2 ounces) If you don't have Romano, you can get away with Parm, but this recipe is reason enough to keep a hunk of Romano around. Use the leftovers in a risotto. I like to halve this recipe, which is really simple and delicious with roasted chicken breasts, tomatoes and brussel sprouts. Just toss a pound of brussel sprouts and a pint or two of grape tomatoes in a drizzle of olive oil and salt and pepper, roast brussels in a pan at 450 degrees for 10 min, add chicken breasts and stir to coat, roast another ten min, then add tomatoes. Roast until everything is crispy and yummy and serve over risotto. You'll be glad you did.
1. Bring 4 quarts water to rolling boil, covered, in stockpot. Add 1 tablespoon salt and pasta, stir to separate, and cook until al dente. Drain and return to stockpot.
Here's me again. Orecchiette is a big old PITA to cook. You really need to use plenty of water, plenty of salt, and stir almost constantly. When it's done, I like to drizzle in a little olive oil and give it a vigorous stir to keep the little ears from nesting inside each other.
2. While pasta is cooking, cook sausage in 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium-high heat, breaking it into small pieces with spoon, until browned, about 5 minutes. Stir in garlic, roasted peppers, ½ teaspoon salt, and pepper; cook, stirring constantly, until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Increase heat to high; add broccoli and ½ cup water, then cover and cook until broccoli begins to turn bright green, 1 to 2 minutes. Uncover and cook, stirring frequently, until water has evaporated and broccoli is tender, 3 to 5 minutes longer. Add broccoli mixture, oil, and cheese to pasta in stockpot; toss to combine. Serve immediately.
My darlin' husband flies out to MF Los Angeles a week from today. Sigh. So I asked him what meals he'd like and they all turn out to be some of my favorites too. I thought I'd share them with you all.
Last night I made Cook's Illustrated's Orecchiette with Broccoli, Sausage and Roasted Peppers. It's a great hearty pasta that reheats really well for lunch a day or two later. Usually, I heat up whatever the adults had last night for the kids to eat at 6pm and I make Evan's and my dinner after they go to bed. We're hoping to have more family meals once we move, and this is a favorite of everyone. My comments to the original recipe are in italic.
1 pound orecchiette (we've also used bow-ties successfully)
4 ounces sweet Italian sausage , casing removed We use 2 or 3 spicy ones instead, the kind you get at Costco.
9 medium cloves garlic , pressed through garlic press or minced (3 tablespoons)
1 cup roasted red peppers (8 ounces), cut into ½-inch squares
½ teaspoon ground black pepper
2 pounds broccoli , florets cut into bite-sized 1-inch pieces, stalks peeled, halved lengthwise, and cut into ¼-inch thick pieces I made this last night with the leftover broccoli from the Costco veggie tray from the party.
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 cup grated Pecorino Romano cheese (2 ounces) If you don't have Romano, you can get away with Parm, but this recipe is reason enough to keep a hunk of Romano around. Use the leftovers in a risotto. I like to halve this recipe, which is really simple and delicious with roasted chicken breasts, tomatoes and brussel sprouts. Just toss a pound of brussel sprouts and a pint or two of grape tomatoes in a drizzle of olive oil and salt and pepper, roast brussels in a pan at 450 degrees for 10 min, add chicken breasts and stir to coat, roast another ten min, then add tomatoes. Roast until everything is crispy and yummy and serve over risotto. You'll be glad you did.
1. Bring 4 quarts water to rolling boil, covered, in stockpot. Add 1 tablespoon salt and pasta, stir to separate, and cook until al dente. Drain and return to stockpot.
Here's me again. Orecchiette is a big old PITA to cook. You really need to use plenty of water, plenty of salt, and stir almost constantly. When it's done, I like to drizzle in a little olive oil and give it a vigorous stir to keep the little ears from nesting inside each other.
2. While pasta is cooking, cook sausage in 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium-high heat, breaking it into small pieces with spoon, until browned, about 5 minutes. Stir in garlic, roasted peppers, ½ teaspoon salt, and pepper; cook, stirring constantly, until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Increase heat to high; add broccoli and ½ cup water, then cover and cook until broccoli begins to turn bright green, 1 to 2 minutes. Uncover and cook, stirring frequently, until water has evaporated and broccoli is tender, 3 to 5 minutes longer. Add broccoli mixture, oil, and cheese to pasta in stockpot; toss to combine. Serve immediately.
Saturday, June 25, 2011
Tonight.
Sitting alone in the living room, watching Buffy's musical episode, thinking about today.
Today, we had 100+ people in our backyard and tearing though the house.
Life's a show, and we all play our parts.
We went through 80 hot dogs, 80 hamburgers, 24 brats. (note for next time: more brats.) My darling parents showed up an hour early, entertained grandchildren, and sliced vegetables. My father spent two+ hours manning the grill so Evan could talk to his friends. We had a really lovely contingent from Princeton, many of whom hadn't met our kids. Jed was lovely, happy, and brought along a yummy girlfriend who was sweet and a great sport. Ned was in the best place I've ever seen him. Dave was riding the wave as always, and was relishing being around his friends and lots of happy kids. John brought along the beautiful Sima and the delicious Baby Daniel, and I managed to play Flying Baby with him and gave him lots of snuggles and yet! I still don't need any more babies.
My big brother, lovely sister-in-law and gorgeous nieces came as well. It was such a treat to show them off to my friends. Some of my friends have been dying to meet my brother and the general reaction was "Holy cats, you guys sure do look and sound like your folks!"
Our Maplewood, South Orange and West Orange friends were the life of the party, as always. They bring awesome food, more liquor than they should, and then let their kids loose on the household, knowing that there will always be a parental-type to scoop up a crying child and comfort them long enough to deliver them to a parent. We had a couple bloody noses due to the hammock, a couple of fights over who was gonna wear a certain ball gown, and a few "uh, Amie? Oscar dropped his cupcake on Evan's pillow but it was totally an ACCIDENT!" I had a couple of my best girlfriends confide in me that they've had crying jags over the past few days. Me too. Although I had my serious grieving period in October or November, every couple days I lose it.
Oscar asked me if I was gonna cry tonight. (He witnessed a full-out bawling session the other day, which in retrospect I regret.) I managed to keep it together tonight, except for two times: when my parents showed u with a gigantic McKinney & Doyle cake that matched our wedding cake (24 inch bottom tier, chocolate mousse) and said "Good-bye New Jersey, Hello California." I almost lost it then. I managed to keep it together for a couple hours, and at 9:30 or so (hours after her parents had left) my beloved mother's helper needed to say good-bye to the kids. Now, my kids have had plenty of babysitters, but this certain 12-year-old girl has cared for them, played with them, and loved them on a weekly basis for almost a year. Tonight, she gave Oscar a birthday present (which was more thought-out and welcomed than anything we got him) and presented each one of our kids with a framed poem that she'd written for each of them. If one good thing comes out of tonight, it's that she will be the most highly-sought-after babysitters in the town, and that my kids will learn how to write postcards, text, and Skype to stay in touch with their beloved Sophie.
Today, we had 100+ people in our backyard and tearing though the house.
Life's a show, and we all play our parts.
We went through 80 hot dogs, 80 hamburgers, 24 brats. (note for next time: more brats.) My darling parents showed up an hour early, entertained grandchildren, and sliced vegetables. My father spent two+ hours manning the grill so Evan could talk to his friends. We had a really lovely contingent from Princeton, many of whom hadn't met our kids. Jed was lovely, happy, and brought along a yummy girlfriend who was sweet and a great sport. Ned was in the best place I've ever seen him. Dave was riding the wave as always, and was relishing being around his friends and lots of happy kids. John brought along the beautiful Sima and the delicious Baby Daniel, and I managed to play Flying Baby with him and gave him lots of snuggles and yet! I still don't need any more babies.
My big brother, lovely sister-in-law and gorgeous nieces came as well. It was such a treat to show them off to my friends. Some of my friends have been dying to meet my brother and the general reaction was "Holy cats, you guys sure do look and sound like your folks!"
Our Maplewood, South Orange and West Orange friends were the life of the party, as always. They bring awesome food, more liquor than they should, and then let their kids loose on the household, knowing that there will always be a parental-type to scoop up a crying child and comfort them long enough to deliver them to a parent. We had a couple bloody noses due to the hammock, a couple of fights over who was gonna wear a certain ball gown, and a few "uh, Amie? Oscar dropped his cupcake on Evan's pillow but it was totally an ACCIDENT!" I had a couple of my best girlfriends confide in me that they've had crying jags over the past few days. Me too. Although I had my serious grieving period in October or November, every couple days I lose it.
Oscar asked me if I was gonna cry tonight. (He witnessed a full-out bawling session the other day, which in retrospect I regret.) I managed to keep it together tonight, except for two times: when my parents showed u with a gigantic McKinney & Doyle cake that matched our wedding cake (24 inch bottom tier, chocolate mousse) and said "Good-bye New Jersey, Hello California." I almost lost it then. I managed to keep it together for a couple hours, and at 9:30 or so (hours after her parents had left) my beloved mother's helper needed to say good-bye to the kids. Now, my kids have had plenty of babysitters, but this certain 12-year-old girl has cared for them, played with them, and loved them on a weekly basis for almost a year. Tonight, she gave Oscar a birthday present (which was more thought-out and welcomed than anything we got him) and presented each one of our kids with a framed poem that she'd written for each of them. If one good thing comes out of tonight, it's that she will be the most highly-sought-after babysitters in the town, and that my kids will learn how to write postcards, text, and Skype to stay in touch with their beloved Sophie.
Saturday, June 18, 2011
Not tonight, sweetheart.
Oh, I know I've been reticent in posting. I'm sorry. I've been too busy fulfilling Bucket Lists (Book of Mormon! In house seats, no less!) celebrating my 41st birthday, and keeping my children from killing each other. I really do have a couple more pictures of the house when we saw it first as a listing, but first I have to celebrate Father's Day (I have been blessed to married and procreate with the best man ever), Arlo, Lucy and Oscar's last day of school in New Jersey, Oscar's 8th birthday (holy bejubus! how did that happen? Oscar B is 8! He was a toddling bald squooshy face when we moved here!) not to mention the house inspection.
Let's all do a knock on the wood and pray to the house gods that my beloved 100-year-old house will pass inspection. I grew up in a 100-year-old house, so I wasn't daunted by it, and after seven years of living here, this house has been my hobby, not to mention my dear old dad's hobby. It's creaky, it's got a scary basement, there's not a right angle to be found, and none of the doors stay closed in the winter and they all stick in the summer.
But.
This house is built better than anything you can find in the past 40 years. Our solid oak pocket doors? All the kids woke up this morning around 5:30, came in for a smootch and a cuddle, and then went to the living room, put on a movie, closed those pocket doors. Evan and I slept on blissfully until the War of the Worlds erupted over who was going to "be" Megamind. The walls have settled into not-quite-square angles but are more solid and well-built that your average ranch. The six-levels of crown molding? The judicious use of beadboard? The amazing staircase that we were sure not to paint the finials of, since we loved the rubbed-off edges from 40 years of people pivoting of the corners of the curved staircase?
Truth be told I have turned into my mom -- I woke up at 4:40am to pee and proceeded to toss and turn for 30 minutes, gave up, and read for the next two hours. "Children of God" by Maria Doria Russel. Great intellectual sci-fi that muddles in religion.
That, and I have a total crush on Eric Ripert. Can you tell that I am writing and watching Treme?
Oh jeez, it's an old house. It's passed the test of time, so far. And as much as I have hoped to be dispassionate about the sale of our home, I can only hope that we will be remembered in the history of this house as good caretakers.
Let's all do a knock on the wood and pray to the house gods that my beloved 100-year-old house will pass inspection. I grew up in a 100-year-old house, so I wasn't daunted by it, and after seven years of living here, this house has been my hobby, not to mention my dear old dad's hobby. It's creaky, it's got a scary basement, there's not a right angle to be found, and none of the doors stay closed in the winter and they all stick in the summer.
But.
This house is built better than anything you can find in the past 40 years. Our solid oak pocket doors? All the kids woke up this morning around 5:30, came in for a smootch and a cuddle, and then went to the living room, put on a movie, closed those pocket doors. Evan and I slept on blissfully until the War of the Worlds erupted over who was going to "be" Megamind. The walls have settled into not-quite-square angles but are more solid and well-built that your average ranch. The six-levels of crown molding? The judicious use of beadboard? The amazing staircase that we were sure not to paint the finials of, since we loved the rubbed-off edges from 40 years of people pivoting of the corners of the curved staircase?
Truth be told I have turned into my mom -- I woke up at 4:40am to pee and proceeded to toss and turn for 30 minutes, gave up, and read for the next two hours. "Children of God" by Maria Doria Russel. Great intellectual sci-fi that muddles in religion.
That, and I have a total crush on Eric Ripert. Can you tell that I am writing and watching Treme?
Oh jeez, it's an old house. It's passed the test of time, so far. And as much as I have hoped to be dispassionate about the sale of our home, I can only hope that we will be remembered in the history of this house as good caretakers.
Friday, June 10, 2011
A trip down memory lane.
So! We have a buyer. TWO buyers. Who are married to each other and like the house and stuff! My knuckles are bloody from knocking on all the wood.
We are currently out of attorney review and gearing up for the inspection. It is a huge, huge relief to not have to be ready for showings all the time. The house has generally reverted back to its normal state of tiny pairs of wadded-up superhero underwear shoved into every possible crevice.
I finally found some photos of the house when we looked at it as fresh-faced innocent buyers. I can't seem to call up the .mac website that I posted them on for friends and family to peruse, but I will try to recreate them with my modern comments in italic for your enjoyment.
Walking up the steps to the front porch.
Hey, there's my realtor that screwed us over acting as both the seller's and the buyer's agent! And look at all those pretty flowerpots! I sure hope they don't rot the porch steps, since they have no plates under them! (They did.)
Nice big front porch!
...that's full of dry rot!
The foyer has a charming upright piano.
...wedged into a tiny dark space.
Stairs from 1st floor to the second floor.
Okay, I can't complain about them. I still love me those stairs. Please note: the original swinging door to the kitchen, and the slightly different coral color on the walls. We ended up repainting the whole house, in sometimes very similar colors. This coral and the sage green in the living room were about two tones off and look a million times better now. But I'll always be grateful to the previous owners for starting me off on the color chart.
Living room.
A super-dark, super-crowded living room. C'mon. It's a 11x14 space. Why put in a 11x11 corner couch? PLUS THE BOTANICAL PRINTS!!!
Dining room. Pocket doors! Squee!
I still love my pocket doors. But I'm glad that the dining room doesn't look like a floral china teacup factory exploded in it.
Renovated kitchen!
It was not a renovated kitchen. The tile countertop was the bane of my existence. The cabinets were new, but we upgraded the appliances to good stainless ones, eventually ripped out that cursed countertop and replaced it with granite, and ripped out the lame-o "breakfast bar" (in truth, an upside-down wall cabinet with more do-it-yourself tiling) and made the opposite wall smooth to fit a custom gateleg table that could sit all five of us).
Butler pantry.
I was very excited by the romantic idea of having a butler pantry. Unfortunately, for a long time it was "that unfinished long closet that we shoved all our crap into." We eventually removed the wall between the butler pantry and the kitchen, repainted the who shebang a lovely robin's egg blue, installed a bunch of matching cabinets, and tucked a half-bath into the end. It extended the kitchen in a useful way and added in an extra commode just in time to potty-train Arlo.
More tomorrow. I am tired. Blargh.
We are currently out of attorney review and gearing up for the inspection. It is a huge, huge relief to not have to be ready for showings all the time. The house has generally reverted back to its normal state of tiny pairs of wadded-up superhero underwear shoved into every possible crevice.
I finally found some photos of the house when we looked at it as fresh-faced innocent buyers. I can't seem to call up the .mac website that I posted them on for friends and family to peruse, but I will try to recreate them with my modern comments in italic for your enjoyment.
Walking up the steps to the front porch.
Hey, there's my realtor that screwed us over acting as both the seller's and the buyer's agent! And look at all those pretty flowerpots! I sure hope they don't rot the porch steps, since they have no plates under them! (They did.)
Nice big front porch!
...that's full of dry rot!
The foyer has a charming upright piano.
...wedged into a tiny dark space.
Stairs from 1st floor to the second floor.
Okay, I can't complain about them. I still love me those stairs. Please note: the original swinging door to the kitchen, and the slightly different coral color on the walls. We ended up repainting the whole house, in sometimes very similar colors. This coral and the sage green in the living room were about two tones off and look a million times better now. But I'll always be grateful to the previous owners for starting me off on the color chart.
Living room.
A super-dark, super-crowded living room. C'mon. It's a 11x14 space. Why put in a 11x11 corner couch? PLUS THE BOTANICAL PRINTS!!!
Dining room. Pocket doors! Squee!
I still love my pocket doors. But I'm glad that the dining room doesn't look like a floral china teacup factory exploded in it.
Renovated kitchen!
It was not a renovated kitchen. The tile countertop was the bane of my existence. The cabinets were new, but we upgraded the appliances to good stainless ones, eventually ripped out that cursed countertop and replaced it with granite, and ripped out the lame-o "breakfast bar" (in truth, an upside-down wall cabinet with more do-it-yourself tiling) and made the opposite wall smooth to fit a custom gateleg table that could sit all five of us).
Butler pantry.
I was very excited by the romantic idea of having a butler pantry. Unfortunately, for a long time it was "that unfinished long closet that we shoved all our crap into." We eventually removed the wall between the butler pantry and the kitchen, repainted the who shebang a lovely robin's egg blue, installed a bunch of matching cabinets, and tucked a half-bath into the end. It extended the kitchen in a useful way and added in an extra commode just in time to potty-train Arlo.
More tomorrow. I am tired. Blargh.
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