Party Post the First: Thanksgiving 2010

Now that I've gotten some old business out of the way, I can move on to the much newer: yesterday's Thanksgiving Feast.

Here it is pre-oven

Husband likes to do a turkey, as he's the only omnivore in the nuclear unit and doesn't necessarily eat all that much meat most of the year. The Girls and I are happy to look the other way and encourage his culinary expressions. He has perfected the Garlic Turkey over the past few years, and the Great Turkey of 2010 may well be his best yet. He stuffs a turkey with about 3 pounds of peeled garlic cloves and sprinkles more garlic around in the roasting pan, and then just bakes it.

Sadly, tragically, I never got a photo of my fabulous vegetarian option. Let's just piece it together. First, I took "Tender Bits", the the Superior, perhaps because Salty, vegetarian product from the Loma Linda foods line. Sounds odd, comes in a can, and is absolutely fabulous and I LOVE THEM. I then wrapped these lil nuggets in veggie bacon strips from Morningstar Farms. So fake, so salty, so delicious. Then I breaded and fried the suckers. I must say, a lot of guests ate these and had a wide variety of positive responses (ranging from I-had-no-idea-it-wasn't-meat to yeah-it-was-ok). Good thing is, those who found themselves not so much loving these left More for Me. This was fine.

• Sweet potatoes
• bread stuffing made with whole wheat bagels and Italian bread, miso stock, sage, caramelized onions & garlic, and about 4 sticks of butter
• cranberries
• green bean casserole
• brown & red rice pilaf
• a ham
• deviled eggs
• peanut butter cookies
• pumpkin pie
• pecan pie
• cherry pie
• hot apple cider, spiced rum, zinfandel

...you get the idea. Very traditional, very yummy. But the best part of course was the company. So many lovely people! I'm truly grateful. Truly.

Noteworthy food, part 3: homemade pizza and birthday cakes

Continuing the documentation of deliciousness: this one's not so unusual, but it sure is yummy.

Step 1: make the crust. Not too hard. We like to use a combination of all purpose, whole wheat, and semolina flours.

Top with sauce, slices of tomato and rings of onion.

Step 2: add a bunch of chopped fresh basil.

Step 3: lots of mozzarella and feta cheeses.

Enjoy.

And for dessert: birthday cake. Sometimes it's a gloopy gloppy chocolate cake, like when Little One turned 4.





Sometimes it's a platter of ice cream sandwiches topped with frozen whipped cream and peanut M&Ms with a Simpsons-like portrait of the birthday boy. With decorative mauled dolls' heads.





Either way, it's delicious.

 

 

 

We Eat, part 2

More deliciousness from the past few months, for your viewing pleasure (and I hope culinary inspiration).

Exhibit C: Multinational Vegetarian Sushi

These were Italian rolls:

• sushi rice inside
• a bit of mozzarella in the middle
• a topping of sundried tomatoes and capers. 

In a traditional nori roll of course.

And these ones are the same vinegared sushi rice with veggies inside a rice paper wrapper. Fillings included

• pan fried and salted strips of tempeh
• red bell peppers
• pickled ginger
• spinach leaves
• tofu
• cream cheese
• zucchini

We did some research, largely because 4 out of 5 of us are vegetarian and wanted to come up with as many filling options as possible. First info: "sushi" means vinegared rice (no mention of raw fish in there at all). Second info: nori wraps taste good, but rice paper is flavor neutral and therefore lens itself nicely to a huge variety of ingredients. We tried Mexican, Italian, more traditional Japanese, and sort of Pacific Rim Fusion.
Yum.

Randomly Timed Update: There Are A Lot Of Us, And We Eat.

Well, I began this blog with the idea of documenting how the work on our big  weird building progressed. And it has progressed, just not in the sense I was anticipating. We haven't been able to do much to the infrastructure beyond last winter's attic insulation, though we will continue over time to nibble away at the huge project that is "greening" this 90+ year old brick building.

So, environmental pioneers we may not yet be. However, we've managed to be pretty busy nonetheless. Our household has expanded from the five of us (me, husband, three daughters) to a homey eleven with the addition last February of the niece of an old friend (age 20), then two of her buddies (19 & 22) by the end of last Spring, and over the summer the return of our Prodigal Extended Family of Choice (parental denizens of Black Rock City and their 15 year old Boy). Plus a naughty cat and three small and enthusiastic dogs. Sounds a lot more hectic than it actually is, largely because we have a lot of elbow room and a lot of wildly divergent schedules and so don't have to run into each other very much unless we feel like it (see following post re. Thanksgiving).

Now that I've managed to sum up the household, let's take a look at some of the things we like to do.  Basically we eat. OK, there's a lot of school involved in day to day life (one in preschool, one in elementary, one in middle school, one in high school, two in college, and a teacher live under this roof). But we eat. And when food turns out especially nice looking and/or momentous, we like to document it. Behold, the beauty that is Food With Heart:

Exhibit A: ShishKebobs, courtesy of The 9 Year Old

These included golden-fried nigari tofu, bell peppers, cherry tomatoes, mushrooms, and a delicious sauce of dijon mustard, mayonnaise,  horseradish, Italian dressing, and plain yogurt. She stuck them on bamboo skewers and broiled them, though grilling would work too.






Exhibit B: The Great Tomato Fest. It was summer, 'maters were in season, and we went all out.

This feast consisted of

• slices of heirloom tomatoes with salt & pepper
• cherry tomatoes stuffed with fresh basil leaves, perlini mozzarella balls, and a  few drops of  balsamic vinegar (Husband calls 'em Italian Salad Shooters)
• baked stuffed tomatoes, filled with bread crumbs, sauteed onions, & cheese
• sandwiches of  hollowed out hoagie rolls with beefsteak slices and cheese
• bloody marys
• and a fine film: Attack of the Killer Tomatoes (completely dada and inexplicable)

Additional food related exhibits to follow. Stay tuned.

"New" furniture and thoughts about gardening

I started this blog thinking I'd be documenting all sorts of renovation events that would take place in my big old weird building as we turned int into a groovy loft and workshop. Well, resources (and the recession) being what they are, we haven't done much at all other than that lovely attic insulation last winter and some furniture rearranging. But since this is all about making a living space out of a commercial building, I will digress.

Step one is furnishing the living space. So we have this cottage that we rent out. It's purple on the outside and cute, about 90 or so years old, and it's a few blocks away from our home. Last  month, some rather unsavory tenants (as in, left approximately 3,500 pounds worth of items for the dump, the carpets had to be steam cleaned three times and could have probably used three more, and of course they still owe rent) moved out. Most of what they left was useless and gross, but I did salvage a rather crappy looking (and smelling) couch with the idea of reupholstering it. Since we'd borrowed my mother's steam cleaner for carpets and upholstery anyway, I cleaned it three times until the water ran clear, and then threw my old slipcover over it. The ugly loveseat that used to have the slipcover will get the steam treatment before Mom needs her cleaner back. Then we hit Freecycle and found a groovy chair to go with the "new" couch and a lovely white wingback I picked up at our Goodwill as-is shop (where the stuff too banged up or weird for their main thrift store is sold) for $5. We rolled out a carpet remnant we'd been storing for six or more years, dragged over some plants from the other side of the room, and voila! A new living room. The loveseat got relocated to the tv area off to the side and my wingback doesn't get pulled over there when kids want to play video games any more.

How do I know it's working as a room? People actually sit there! Usually everyone hangs out at the dining table or in the kitchen. It makes me wonder if I'm just conforming to some outmoded form dependency: "We have to have a living room. My mother always had one!" But no, it's nice to have a sit around and sip cocktails or read a good book area, and when you've finally got it arranged right it shows. I like my "room" (of course it has no walls and is just an arrangement in the middle of the roller rink that is my loft). The part I'm most pleased with, though, is the price tag. By being patient, not needing to change anything until the right options present themselves (right meaning free, of course), and basically playing what my husband calls The Watching Game, I got a new room basically for free. We also picked  up some desks for the kids on freecycle, and some bookcases for my husband's office/work room. His National Geographics will finally have a home! So the inside is shaping up, for pennies.


Next up, the kitchen. It will be tweaked a bit in the next few weeks, as we repair and haul up a big old base cabinet from the basement and reorganize the shelves we have in there. I'll do some before and after pics of that process. We're thinking about keeping the walls as empty as possible, with no upper cabinets, and just doing nice base cabinets and counters.

As for the gardening part of the post, fall is almost here and I still haven't done anything with the parking strips out there between the sidewalk and the street. This article gave me some inspiration, though. The dirt is compacted, the plants are all weeds, it's full of cigarette butts, litter, and the occasional grocery cart from the downtown supermarket three blocks away, and folks walk on it all the time. And I think there's a gopher. I'd like some fruit trees, and even other edibles, but I doubt berries or tomatoes would survive. Fruit trees could be good though. It might be time to look at fall plantings. I'd also like to see the space covered in mulch, so it would look tidy, but somehow I don't see the budget supporting any of this this year. Maybe in the spring we can get to work on it.

Still here...no real news

In the two or three minutes I have before I have to get back to work, I can update re. the status of the building. A lot of shuffling around has been going, as we have about 2.5 houseguests, bringing the head count up to 9 or 10 depending. Me, Husband, 3 daughters, Houseguest #1, her two or three hangers-on (she's 20, cute, and social, so naturally there are a lot of 20 year old boys around), Guest #2 and her 3 year old daughter in the newly renamed Guest Suite (formerly an office and art studio). Fortunately we have a lot of toilets. One bathtub (no shower), but 4 or 5 toilets. Relocating the art studio is a good thing; just like when I brought my office to the loft, having the easels and supplies up there as well means I'll be a lot more likely to dive into a painting project than when I had to either hide out downstairs to get anything done, or invite my kids in with me and deal with tripping all over each other while trying to think about a painting. Now I can get up early and work while they sleep without all the logistical issues young children present.

So our use of the building is being refined, even as our renovation of it is in stall mode. We may still do the wall insulation this summer (I hope) but it will be more expensive than we first thought (commodity prices are rising). So, who knows. At least I don't have to run the heat any  more. We're sure enjoying entertaining though! Some friends who run a local arts nonprofit are coming over for dinner tonight. Burritos and wine. MMMMM!

The parties get bigger when there's more elbow room!

New year's eve showed us that we haven't been getting together with friends as much as we'd all like. What with the cold weather, all of us having school age kids, and general frantic busy-ness, we knew it was time for another gathering. So our loft was the scene of a thoroughly pleasant potluck last night with about 25 guests. Half of the guests were kids, so it was noisy. One group came equipped with rollerblades and a lot of fun ensued. Plus, we had the added bonus of motivation to tackle dust bunnies and toss laundry toward the basement, so even after a whole lot of merry making my house looks nicer today than it did all month! Plus someone left behind a pitcher of margaritas in the fridge.

Time for some pictures!

It's been a month since I posted anything here. We've had spotty wi-fi at home, so when I do get online it's usually brief and just to pay bills or some such. We haven't done much to the place since the last post, though we did have a lovely new year's eve party. That meant the place got whipped into shape, which was nice. My work schedule got really hectic right after that, so I'm not sure how much sweeping or putting away of laundry has been done this month.

I did start on my first light fixture. I'm using a bike tire rim and a bunch of clear/white reflectors. My next step will be to construct a hanging mechanism and wire it. I haven't decided how the lights themselves should be oriented. But at least I have a work area set up and I've organized most of the reflectors we salvaged from the neighborhood bike shop. It's nice, too, because the work area is next to my 8 year old's desk where she keeps all her screwdrivers and disassembles things like adding machines! We can keep each other company while we work.

The kids haven't been working much on things like those adding machines lately. They've been learning to use Google SketchUp and building and programming robots with the Lego Mindstorm system. Very very cool. Soon we'll graduate them to some of the salvaged CNC machinery we have in the basement. They'll be building who-knows-what by the end of the year.

I finally took some pictures of the building.

Here's the rear alley view (see my little Tibetan Prayer Flags flapping around under the upstairs windows:). The door at the far left of the picture is  the side entrance and it's the one we generally use for coming and going. The stairs go from that door and wind up behind those glass block windows. The second story windows you can see at the back are the rear mezzanine that the former owners (the Fraternal Order of Eagles) built to be a men's room. We took out a urinal and spare toilet and installed a claw foot bathtub and electric tankless water heater, which also supplies the kitchen sink. The top floor is our main living area, and the windows you see over the alley are the stairwell and our kitchen.

And this is the front of the building. Gosh it's big. Some of the windows need to be replaced, but the place is STRONG! The internal framing is huge steel I-beams. The main floor has about a 16 foot ceiling! The arched window you see above the front door is  actually a mezzanine level that the previous owners installed as a ladies' room. It's a nice space with that window going floor to ceiling; I covet it for my painting studio, but I think it'll be a guest room. It has toilets and sinks, obviously, and we could put in a hot plate and fridge and longer stays could be comfortable. We have a nice claw foot tub we can install in place of an extra toilet, but we don't have hot water plumbed to that end of the building yet so it'll be a while. You can see the sign for the Eagles still sticking off the corner of the building. My husband has permission from the city to replace the lettering with his own messages, as long as they're not for commercial purposes. He has great ideas and has even gotten his hands on some of the plastic materials he'll need to make his own signs! And it lights up!

Finishing off today's tour is the side of the building. You already know the door from the alley view picture. A close-up shot would reveal decades' worth of graffiti on the reachable bricks. We find it endearing and don't plan to clean it up. I think that now that the locals have noticed someone living there there's not likely to be much new graffiti, and cleaning it off tends to encourage new works of art, which are then undoing hard work instead of just already being there. Plus, we don't look at the outside much. This photo makes it look like the bricks are wavy, but that's just an optical illusion. You can see the original windows that have been bricked in, leaving about 1/3 of each on the main floor (and about 1/3 of every other one on the top floor) as glass block. So we get natural light but no view. Granted, the view's not much, and some of us (my husband) think it's better to have the block. I wouldn't mind being able to gaze out a window at the neighborhood, but I don't mind the block. We have plenty of privacy, replacing the windows would be outrageously expensive, and I can always set up a chair near the front or back windows. Because that mezzanine will be so good as a guest room, I've been thinking of making the front landing upstairs into an art space. Then I can gaze all I want and I'll have nice morning light. That may develop this spring or summer.

As you can see, we have our work cut out for us. The inside is decent (OK paint, functional kitchen & bath, etc.) but we'll be puttering around here for years. At the risk of repeating a previous post (I'm too lazy to go back and look it up right now) Our big plan for the next couple of years is to insulate the walls and then build side walls in the living area that divide the space into sort of dollhouse rooms. The floor plan up there now is basically one big room. It would look approximately like this once we do the side walls:

Instead of walling these side rooms off completely (which would require operable replacement windows in order to meet code) we could have curtains for decoration and privacy. With the curtains all open, the rooms would be like a dollhouse when viewed from the living room/ dining room side of the place. If we're interested and able to switch out windows and build fourth walls later, we can without undoing much work.

So that's the place so far. Now we just need to start our indoor vegetable garden. I want fresh herbs and veggies! I'll definitely grow lettuces and tomatoes. I'm also thinking about edamame. I think it would fit in a reasonable sized container. Time for some research!