The Big Bathroom Reveal

 

We have been enjoying our mostly completed bathroom for a month or so now, but there are still a few odds and ends that need wrapping up (paint touch ups, mostly), so I wasn't willing to call it "done" yet.  Nevertheless, its time to show you how it turned out.  The project was initiated in January, making its gestation period officially longer than that of our soon-to-arrive offspring.  But we think it is beautiful, and was worth the wait!

 

It's been a while, so let me remind you about what we started with:

 

The bathroom was less than four feet wide, had no storage, and was home to a fiberglass shower stall that still makes me shudder.  There was no tile, no paint on the walls, and very little light.  In my mind, it wasn't a bathroom as much as a small space where someone installed (blue) bathroom fixtures to make it function as one. 

 

The first thing we did (and, when I say "we," I mean Matt and his dad) was tear down the wall and take space out of the bedroom (future nursery) next door.  We built the new wall nearly four feet over, allowing space for a closet on both the bedroom and the bathroom side, and close to two feet of elbow room in the bathroom.

 

And, then, in a bold effort to make things even more spacious, we went up.  The ceiling was bumped out, and we added a skylight. 

 

Drywall was added, beadboard was nailed to the ceiling and walls, a tile shower was installed, and radiant heat was laid underneath a new tile-looks-like-wood floor.  (The bathroom floor tile is Serenissima Woodland in Rovere.)

 

The walls were painted Benjamin Moore's Par Four. The trim color is Benjamin Moore's Decorator's White.  

 

And, here it is:

 

 

My father-in-law built the vanity out of cedar, which was then coated with polyurethane to protect it.  He says it took him about 6 hours to make it, and the materials cost around $100.  Having a father-in-law who knows what he is doing = priceless.  He also built the medicine cabinet to match.

 

 

The marble slab came from a local supplier.  The faucet is by Cifial.  The sconces and towel bars are the Sussex line from Pottery Barn.  I bought the baskets at Home Goods.

 

 

The glass tile on the shower walls is from Glazzio (formerly Mirage).  The color is matte ice mist.  We put carrara hexagons on the floor of the shower.  The niche and bench were custom built.

 

The linen closet is also custom built, and provides plenty of storage, so far.

 

 

One of my favorite touches is the shelf below the skylight, where we've assembled a few plants (African violets and peace lily, because they do well in moist environments), and some other decorations. There's a jar with stones from the beach on the left and a piece of driftwood on the right. The mermaid was a Brimfield find. 

I also picked up the fish prints, by Denton, in Brimfield last fall.  The one across from the toilet is a cod.  The one above the toilet is a crappie, because we are immature. The frames were a great Target find. 

 

A couple of things didn't go exactly as anticipated:

1. The sconces have cedar circles behind them (once again, crafted by my father-in-law) to conceal the electric boxes that were slightly bigger than the base of the light fixtures. 

2. The intention was for the beadboard on the ceiling to be more whitewashed, but the white didn't sink in as well as we hoped.  We decided to leave it as is for a while.  If we want to change it at a later date, we can try again. 

 

All in all, we are thrilled, and still gushing over our new bathroom.  I could continue to overwhelm you with pictures, but maybe enough is enough.  What do you think??



Banana Coconut Muffins

This is one of my go-to recipes when I have overly ripe bananas.  I also thought of these muffins when friends were stopping by for coffee the other day, and I wanted to bake something quick.  I love that I don't have to bother pulling out the mixer.  The problem was, the bananas looked pretty...yellow.

 

I did a little Googling and learned a trick.  I preheated the oven, and while I was preparing the batter, I roasted the bananas, and they turned brown.

The inside was roasted, bringing out the sweetness, and just the right "overripe" consistency.

Without further ado, here's a quick and easy recipe that I hope you'll enjoy as much as I do.

Banana Coconut Muffins
from Gourmet, May 2004

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

2 very ripe bananas, mashed (3/4 cup)

1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted

2/3 cup sugar

1 large egg

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

3/4 cup sweetened flaked coconut

 

Preheat oven to 375.

 

Whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt in one bowl. In another bowl, whisk together melted butter, sugar, egg, and vanilla.  Stir in mashed bananas, and 1/2 cup of the coconut.

 

Line a muffin tin with 8 liners and distribute the batter evenly among them.  Top with remaining coconut.  Bake for 25 minutes.

 

Yum!

So thankful

It's been a while since I've posted, but I decided that today is the day to stop and take a minute to say hello, provide a little update, and share a few of the reasons we have to be thankful in this house.

Check out the carrot haul. It won't feed our 19 guests, but these babies will provide some good snacking over the next few days.  Who knows why they're stunted? I don't.

Our bathroom is finally done.  Well, mostly, with the exception of a few nagging touch-ups and final details that we can't seem to finish,

because we jumped right into another project, repairing the kitchen ceiling before Thanksgiving, which led to...We might as well get recessed lighting if we're going to be patching the ceiling...and, then we might as well add moulding to the top of the cabinets if we're going to be painting the ceiling...and we might as well remove the cabinet above the microwave and raise it up (its former low position wasn't up to code) if we're doing the moulding...

That's just a preview.  More on both projects, coming soon.

With those two projects behind us, we're clear to focus on the next matter at hand, the bedroom next to the upstairs bathroom.  And, we have a tight deadline, because that room is going to have a new occupant as of the end of January.  That's right.  There's more than a turkey in the Good Better Nest oven.  We're expecting an addition to the family, and for that, we are most thankful.

Wishing you and your families a wonderful holiday- 
Happy Thanksgiving!
Karen

Pesto!

I don't know what it is about pesto that makes me feel like it should always be followed by an exclamation point.  Maybe it's the power of the garlic (!), or the similarity of the condiment to the word presto!, which is also naturally followed by such punctuation.  Basil, garlic, parmesan, pine nuts, olive oil, blend and- presto!, you've got pesto.

With the threat of frost on Friday night (I don't think we actually hit the mark on the coast), we decided to pull the remaining basil plants.  We started with eight in total, but four had succumb to late blight with the tomatoes.  The remaining four didn't appear to be doing very well for most of the year, but had begun to look healthier in the last month or so.  We had two green plants, and two purple, so I made two batches.

 

I use a basic Joy of Cooking recipe, not measuring too precisely.

Pesto!

2 cups loosely packed basil
1/3 cup pine nuts
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
2 medium cloves garlic
1/2 cup olive oil

Blend the first four ingredients in the food processor.  Add the olive oil in a slow stream until mixed.

 

 

The purple really was a prettier color than I was able to capture above.  You'll just have to take my word for it.  It also had a more mellow flavor, too, in a good way. 

We're getting used to eating purple things around here, after the Purple Cherokee tomatoes, purple carrots, and the lavender-tinted fried rice.  I'm going to have to look into what other purple vegetables we can grow next year. 

The pesto went into the freezer, right next to the shrimp and raviolis, as the three together make one of my favorite go-to dinners when I haven't had a chance to get to the grocery store.  I'm hoping the pesto will get us through the winter. 

What's your favorite way to use pesto?

Fried Rice

I read those two simple words somewhere on my internet travels recently and they wouldn't leave my brain.  I became obsessed with making some for dinner.  My grandmother used to make it with celery, onions, chicken broth, and whatever else was in the fridge. There are infinite combinations, as this is a meal one typically makes when trying to create something new and inspired out of leftovers.  It just so happened that I had an eggplant to use (they continue to show up in the garden despite my saying they were winding down a half dozen eggplants ago) and a few of our smaller, just-harvested purple carrots.

So, I made fried rice, and I must say, it was FANTASTIC, though there was one little snafu. 

I tried to keep the recipe simple, taking a large part of it from a Mark Bittman adaptation (the video is worth watching) of a Jean-Georges Vongerichten recipe found via Smitten Kitchen, and little from a more traditional Food & Wine recipe, and a smidge from this Food Network recipe.  But it's simple.  Really.

The most important thing I learned from my internet research is that you must use leftover rice.  If you make it fresh, it'll be too mushy.  You can prepare fresh rice several hours ahead and then refrigerate it until dinner if you are not in possession of true leftover rice.  Also, it should be noted that Jean-Georges' version has a fried egg on top, which is a unique option that may really appeal to most people, but I have a thing about egg yolks, and prefer mine scrambled, so that is how I've done it here.  And, I've added shrimp, because, why not?

Shrimp Fried Rice
serves 4*

1/2 cup peanut oil
4 eggs, lightly beaten
4 cups leftover rice (I used Basmati)
2 Tablespoon minced garlic
2 Tablespoon minced ginger
2 cups sliced leeks, white and light green parts only (from 2 medium leeks)
2 teaspoons sesame oil
4 teaspoons soy sauce
1 Japanese eggplant, diced small (about 2 cups)
1 carrot, diced small (about 1 cup)
16 shrimp, peeled and deveined
kosher salt
freshly ground pepper

 

Saute the garlic and ginger in 1/4 cup peanut oil over medium heat until brown, but don't burn it.  It should be crispy.  Remove the garlic and ginger with a slotted spoon and let cool on a paper towel.  Season with kosher salt.

Cook the shrimp in the remaining oil quickly until pink. Season with salt and pepper, and set aside.

Add the rest of the oil and the leeks to the pan, cooking on medium low for about 10 minutes, until tender but not brown.  Season with kosher salt. 

Add carrots and eggplant, cooking for few more minutes.

Add the eggs and scramble until cooked. 

(This is where the snafu begins to reveal itself.  I panicked as soon as I added the egg, because it seemed to coat the vegetables, rather than breaking up into little bits.  You may wish to scramble the egg separately, but in the end, we had little egg bits, and it was fine.  It was just that... the egg bits were a lavender color.  The purple carrots stained the egg, and went on to stain the rice.  Can you see the little egg bits here?)

Raise heat to medium and add the rice, cooking until heated through and a little browned.  (I let it sit for a while without stirring to obtain the browning effect.)  Stir in the soy sauce, sesame oil, and reserved shrimp, garlic and ginger.  Serve and enjoy.

*This recipe does technically make enough for four people to have a decent-sized dinner, but we found it so irresistable that we couldn't help ourselves in consuming more than the allotted amount, despite its unusual color.

 

A very unique dish!  I strongly recommend making the fried rice, even if you just follow the Jean-Georges recipe. Or, add whatever vegetables you have in place of the eggplant and carrots. Or, use chicken or pork instead of shrimp. Or, if you have some purple carrots and want to eat something a little weird, feel free to follow my recipe to the letter!

Purple Carrots

 

Well, whaddya know?  I planted a few carrots back in June, and I've been waiting for the tell-tale sign that a carrot is ready to harvest: you can see the top of the carrot emerging from the soil.  I brushed off the soil around the base of each plant and didn't see anything.  I waited and waited and waited some more, then finally decided not to wait any longer, as the giant greens were spilling over onto the younger fall seedlings trying to make a go of it on either side.  We've yet to have much success in the carrot department, so I wasn't too hopeful, but I thought we might have a couple worth eating.  I dug in my spade and was amazed to find legitimate carrots!  Big, purple ones! 

It was so long ago that I had forgotten what variety of carrots I planted.  I never think that's going to happen when I plant something, but it inevitably does.

Aren't they pretty?

This is what they look like all cut up. 

They should be purple, through and through. Some of them were whiter in the middle, which I'm guessing is a sign of age?

We have lots more carrots growing, in a variety of colors, that I planted at the end of July.  They should be ready in another month or so. If the weather cooperates, maybe we can hang on and harvest them close to Thanksgiving.

We've trimmed the greens off the top (leaving only an inch) and plan to use these few carrots in the next week or so. 

If we had enough to store, they could keep for months in a barrel filled with damp sand or sawdust in the basement.  Maybe someday we'll get to try that, but I'm happy to have these for now!

I will note that my fingers were slightly purple after peeling and cutting these, not quite like handling beets, but noticeably stained.  You can see how they bled a little onto the cutting board.  That leads to a funny story, which I'll share in my next post.

Happy weekend!!

Eggplant with Ground Beef

It appears that the Japanese eggplant may be winding down, though we've had a really good run.  There were some bugs that ate a few holes in the leaves, but they didn't affect production at all.  Once again, eggplant was a winning crop for us this year.

We had a couple of eggplant to use for dinner last night, but this recipe isn't really about the eggplant, as much as an excuse to share the way I prepared the ground beef that goes with it.  I grew up eating, and my mom still often makes Moussaka a la Greque, originally from the New York Times Cookbook, which is a delicious, but heavy meal, and a labor-intensive casserole to prepare.  I think I might have made it once.  But I use part of the recipe- the seasoning and the ground beef (traditionally, it's ground lamb)- all the time, with eggplant over rice, or sometimes as the stuffing in red peppers, topped with tomato sauce.  It starts with onions and butter, which is just the beginning of good smells wafting through the house, and then you add the ground beef, red wine, tomato paste, parsley, and cinnamon.  Yes, cinnamon.  It works so nicely.  I highly recommend it.

Eggplant with Ground Beef

2 thin or 1 large eggplant, chopped
2 T olive oil
1 pound ground beef (Note: I go for 85% lean with this recipe; too lean, means less flavor)
2 T butter
1 large onion, diced
1/4 cup chopped parsley
1/4 cup red wine
1 1/2 T tomato paste
1/8 t cinnamon

Sprinkle the eggplant with salt.  Heat the oil in a skillet on medium-high and saute the eggplant until cooked through, and a little browned.  Set aside.

Melt the butter in the pan and saute the onions on medium, until they are slightly browned and softened.  Add the ground beef and stir until cooked through.  Then add the tomato paste, red wine, parsley and cinnamon, and let it simmer for about 10 minutes.  Add the eggplant back in, and season generously with salt and freshly ground pepper.

Serve over rice, and with spinach, or haricot verts (my favorite), or no green vegetable at all if you're able to rationalize for yourself that the (few) vegetables you had at lunch are good enough for one day. 

It's not much to look at (I'm sure someone else could photograph it better), but the smell is irresistible.

One of these days, I do plan to return to posts about more than what we grow (or fail to grown) and what we eat.  My sister and I went to the Brimfield Antiques Show last Friday, and I picked up a few items that will be used to decorate our new bathroom.  Matt has been caulking and priming and we're very close to running out of little details to wrap up.  I've also been painting a few small things in the basement, including this cute but sad little table I picked up for free early this summer.

 

It feels good to get back into project mode, and I look forward to sharing a few things with you soon.