Videos around the house

So, I finally got an iphone! One of the most exciting things about this new phone is that I can now take videos with sound. I thought I'd share some of the ones I've taken recently.


First, a tour of our backyard garden:

And the first trees we've purchased for the front yard:

We built a floor-to-ceiling scratching post for our cats (mostly Triana) our of carpet scraps:

Exploding Fireplace

We've waited months and months after moving into our house to use the fireplace. It was full of ashes, nails, pizza boxes and other mysteries, and we didn't know if it was safe. Plus, there's a gas line that goes into the fireplace, and we had no idea how it should work.

We recently had a chimney sweep inspect it, and he told us it was perfectly safe to burn wood in. In fact, the insert is called a "heatilator" and should provide a nice source or warmth for the house, especially when running the built in fans set in the fireplace stones.

Since our backyard came complete with a liftetime supply of wood scraps, we've been itching to start burning them. We lit one fire about a week ago, and it went well except that we didn't have any fireplace tools. I scored a set of tools and a matching log holder at the Goodwill yesterday, so I proudly lit my first fire last night.

It was all going so well. The room was warming up, the fans were going and the gross smell of heating dust was in the air. I stoked the fire to get it going from a soft crackle, and it quickly built up to "roaring".

Then, the door on the right shattered.

Seconds later, the door fell of its hinges and hot, broken glass was all over the hearth and our new carpet. We stayed back until we felt it was safe to pull the glass of the carpet.

We kept the ever-curious cats out of the way, and let the fire die down before cleaning up the giant mess.

Now, we're using this piece of scrap plywood to cover it up so the cats won't get inside, until our new fire screen arrives. Ugh. We thought the Heatilator was ugly anyway (and they installed it crooked), so we were hoping to remove it eventually. I guess we don't have much of a choice now, but to deal with it a lot sooner than I would have liked. Maybe we should get an outdoor fireplace instead...

Catching up

Woah, it's been a long time since I posted something over here! I've been so busy updating the business blog, that I haven't even thought to post anything here in ages. So much has changed, that I'll just give a quick recap for the sake of any future readers who want to know the story between "then" and "now".

Pretty much right after I last posted, Sean and I started looking for a house. Sean's parents offered to help us by paying our down payment (which was massively helpful!), and the market was finally right. Being self-employed (and Sean being employed by my little company) was a challenge to explain to the underwriters for our loan, but it all worked out somehow.

We spent the whole summer looking at houses all around the east side of Portland. Each house had it's own issues, and we were starting to get discouraged. They were too small, too run-down, too expensive, half-way remodeled and halfway gutted, too close to bad streets, or bank owned. We put a few offers on "short sale" houses (google it), but nothing was working out. Because of the economy, there were a lot of houses going into foreclosure, but the banks were happier to hold onto the property than to sell to us for some reason.

Also, Portland has a lot of tiny bungalows that aren't much bigger than our (rather nice) apartment, and we were having a hard time justifying yet another stressful move into a place that wouldn't really be any nicer than we were at. We needed considerably more space to house our growing business, especially since we'd have to move out of our artist studio in order to afford the mortgage. We kept searching further and further from the areas of town that we found desirable.

Then, one day, we found a huge 50's ranch that had been added onto multiple times, and remodeled in the 70's to be completely yellow. It was further from downtown than was ideal, but much closer in than most places we'd seen. It was in the process of being remodelled again, and the house was full of trash, tools, and bizarre debris. The backyard hadn't been mowed in what looked like years, and there was an abandoned truck trailer just barely visible under a bramble hedge.

We quickly moved on, but found ourselves thinking about this house a day later. Okay, long story slightly shorter, after many torturous ordeals with the buying process (and doorknobs that wouldn't unlock, and agents that couldn't be located), the house became ours on September 11th, 2009! We've been busy every single day since then, getting the place back into shape and up to our standards. Our new neighbors are fantastically nice and willing to lend us tools and ladders, so it's completely a dream come true. We still have navy blue and beige carpet glued down to the kitchen floor, but the improvements we have done are vast, and we're able to work completely from home.

In other news, we adopted a new kitten last winter, and named her Triana (after the Venture Bros. character). She and Rupert are best friends, and keep each other entertained. Sean became me business partner, so we no longer have to pay extra insurance for him being an employee, and he can sign his own checks now. Business slow because it's springtime, so we're getting tons of gardening and outdoor projects done before the summer craft fair season starts.

I've taken tons and tons of photos of our house renovation, and the cats on Flickr.

Cat Fight, Observed

First thing this morning, we heard some cat grumbling coming from outside, and Rupert was on the scene in a heartbeat! Two cats were on the fence behind our apartment, neither one wanting to back down. Rupert watched on with great interest.

I think the cat on the left was one of the kittens that had been living in our yard last summer. She has a collar now, and she looks really healthy, so that's great news! The cat on the right is Topaz, who's the unofficial ruler of our property.

I had to go out back to get my bike shortly after this photo was taken (we were out of coffee!), and the younger cat hopped right down from the fence to rub on my legs. She ran off after I'd pet her for a few moments, but it made my day.

In completely unrelated news, we had a barbeque in the yard a few nights ago with all our apartment neighbors. It was completely spur-of-the-moment, but I just really wanted to meet some of them, and the weather was so nice. A few of us went down to New Seasons (like Whole Foods, only locally run) and picked up some fancy meat skewers, which we cooked on our little grill. They were fantastic! It was so nice to get to know all these folks a little better, and now we're all looking forward to the next barbeque!

Gardening Day 1

Sean's been reading up on the gardening, and decided we should have a little 4x4 raised bed in our yard for veggies. He put this together on the one non-rainy day this week! I helped a tiny bit with the frame construction, but he did all the shoveling and laying the dirt and mulch. Plus, he's doing all the research, so this is really his big project.

We also dug up the plot that I'd been using for basil last year, to get it ready for another season. It's not a very big spot, but it's the only area behind our apartment (it's really behind our neighbors apartment) that gets any sun.

We'll try to keep you up to date on the garden's progress, since there's sure to be some excitement. I'll let Sean talk more about the details, since I'm just the helper.

Oh--I found a big stand of blooming daffodils behind the hedges in the backyard! Since no one can see them, I picked a bunch that I could reach and brought them inside. They've made our kitchen very sunny!

Inquiring Minds Want to Know

The turkey was fantastic! It was the juiciest turkey I've ever had. When I removed the thermometer from measuring the breast, a stream of juice shot out of the hole about a foot in the air! Kinda gross-sounding, but it proves how moist it was.

I only had to flip the bird 3 times, and it only cooked for 2 hours. It was tricky to get it to stay thigh-side-up both times, but I leaned it against the side of the rack inside the pan. I learned that I absolutely hate my roasting pan though, since the handles are on hinges, and they lay completely flat against the pan so it's impossible to grab them with potholders. If the handles were easier to grab, this would have been a really low-stress recipe.

Another thing to note is the giblet gravy I made (also a recipe from the 1,000 Best Recipes cookbook). You're supposed to start it the night before, while the turkey is brining, but I forgot and did it all at once. It took all day to make! I started it as soon as I got up in the morning (which, admittedly was around 11), and finished it just as the turkey came out. I threw away the turkey's tale the night before, since it was hanging by some loose skin to the bird, but apparently that was supposed to go in the gravy. Whoops! I'll know for next time. The gravy was good anyway, though pretty thin until it was leftover.

Here's the recipe I used, so ya'll can brine your turkeys next time. You should really just buy the Best Recipes cookbooks though (at least some of them). :) Then you can have the gravy recipe too.

Classic Roast Turkey

2 cups table salt

1 turkey (12-14 lbs. - larger birds don't cook as evenly), rinsed thoroughly; giblets, neck and tailpiece removed and reserved for gravy

3 medium onions, chopped coarse

1 1/2 medium carrots, chopped coarse

1 1/2 celery ribs, chopped coarse

6 sprigs fresh thyme

3 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted

1. Dissolve the salt in 2 gallons cold water in a large stockpot or clean bucket. [I used a 7 gallon stock pot and needed more water and salt to cover the turkey. Adjust accordingly, and make sure in advance that you have a large enough pot.] Add the turkey and refrigerate for 4 hours.

2. Remove turkey, rinse thoroughly, and pat dry inside and out with paper towels. Put on a flat rack over a rimmed baking sheet, uncovered, in the fridge for at least 8 hours to air-dry.

3. Adjust oven rack to lowest position and heat to 400 degrees. Toss 1/3 of the veggies and thyme with 1 Tbsp of the melted butter and place inside the body cavity. Bring the legs together and perform a simple truss (wrapping twine around the legs to close them, and bringing it around to the front, under the wings, and tying over the flap of skin covering the neck hole).

4. Scatter the remaining veggies and thyme over a shallow roasting pan. Pour 1 Cup water over the veggies. Set V-rack in the pan. Brush the entire breast side of the turkey with half the remaining butter, then place in breast-side down on the V-rack. Brush the entire back-side with the remaining butter.

5. Roast for 45 minutes. Remove pan from the oven (close the oven door); baste; with a wad of paper towels in each hand, turn the turkey leg/thigh side up (not wing up). If the liquid in the pan has totally evaporated, add another 1/2 cup water. Return to the oven and roast 15 minutes. Remove again, baste, and rotate the other thigh side up. Roast for another 15 minutes. Remove one last time, baste, and turn it breast side up; roast until the breast registers about 165 and the thigh registers 170 to 175 on an instant-read thermometer, 30-45 minutes. Remove turkey from the pan to a carving board and let rest until ready to carve, at least 20 minutes.

Thankful

I'm thankful for all my amazing friends and family who have encouraged me to take risks and stick to it when things were tough.

I'm thankful for Tea Time with the PDX Etsy crew, since nothing is better than getting out of the house once in a while to chat and snack with friends. Tea Time has helped keep me sane when life was really stressful!

I'm thankful for my cat, Rupert, who is such an awesome guy to have around. Even when he's knocking things on the floor or head-butting me at 3am because he felt like snuggling. I love spending time with him, and letting him distract me from work once in a while.

I'm thankful to anyone who's ever shared food with us, whether it was dinner at our house or theirs. What is life without good people to eat with?

I'm thankful for my husband, Sean, who not only puts up with my crazy ideas and lofty goals, but he also helps me achieve them.

I'm thankful for our great home and friendly neighbors.

I'm thankful for all the opportunities we've had in the past year, business-wise and personally.

I'm thankful for Cooks Illustrated for putting out amazing cookbooks that have taught me how to cook better food. And for our 7-gallon stock pot that we use for brewing beer and brining turkeys.

Oregon Coast

I forgot to post something about my parents visit here at the end of last month! We had a great time wandering around the city, eating great food and seeing the sites at the coast and the gorge.

I posted my pics on Flickr, if you want to check them out. I have one of the foggy beach photos as my desktop image right now, and I love it!

We were all lucky that the weather was really nice while Mom and Dad visited, even though it was a little hazy for viewing the mountains. I think there was only one day where it rained, and it was gentle. It's rained pretty heavily (for Oregon) almost every day since they left, and the temperature dropped dramatically. The first frost is coming tonight, so I'm cutting all the basil in our garden to make pesto and curry with.

The next good visiting time will probably be late spring, so if anyone would like to drop by, make your plans now! :)

Buffalo Roast

This weekend, Pat (one of Sean's friends from high school in Germany) came to visit! Pat flies planes for the Navy, and he was lucky enough to schedule a day off in Portland between flights.

We took him to the Farmer's Market where we picked up a buffalo roast and some veggies to grill, plus some venison pate and a baguette. Unfortunately, no one told us that a roast shouldn't be cooked on a grill (even though we asked the meat guy what he'd recommend for grilling). We spent the afternoon hanging in the backyard, drinking beer and eating fancy snacks. The buffalo was a bit tough, but tasty overall. The grilled potatoes and zucchini were awesome, and the pate was excellent. I could get used to all this amazing food...

Our yard has a stray cat and her three kittens as frequent visitors, and the smell of our cooking enticed them over. All the cats seem to be very frightened of us, but that didn't keep them from licking our olive oil-covered plate and meaty tongs.
* * *
I got to hear my first Emergency Broadcast Signal today while in the car! There was a severe weather advisory for the county south of us. While it was hot and sticky for me, they were having a dangerous lightning storm with damaging hail and 60 mph winds! The announcement warned that "lightning is still one of the top killers in the U.S." and "if you can hear thunder, then you're close enough to get struck by lightning". Luckily, it seems to be breaking the hot spell we've had, so I might actually be able to cook some dinner indoors tonight!

Not my Friends

We have ants. It appears that these tiny sugar monsters are pretty common around here, but
I am quite sick of them. Luckily, our landlady is awesome and sent the exterminator over the day after I called her (to say that his exterminating from a week before had only made things worse). They seem to be migrating from room to room, through the outside windows.

If I can get my hands on some Borax, I'm going to mix up some of this "Uncle Albert's Ant Bait" myself. The post-it notes were total genius on the exterminator's part. I've been shuffling them around the house to put in the paths of the little suckers, and it seems to be working.