Under a Blue Moon

That darn job…

Every now and then my job – that thing that helps pay for groceries and embroidery floss - just takes over my life. At the beginning of the year I had a bit of a lull but now it is demanding all of my time and attention.

Which means I tend to only blog (or do anything blog worthy) on the weekends. That's why it's been kind of ~~dull~~ quiet around here.

Compounding the issue is that I left my camera at my Dad's house. I'm trying to dig up my old one and see if the batteries still work. So who knows – maybe you'll get a picture or two this week but I can't promise anything. I am of a notion that blogs need pictures (which also explains the totally random picture above. Home Doctor AND cookbook??).

Rick and I are going to sneak out this afternoon and go to the movies. We hardly ever go to the movies. The last movie I saw in the theatre was the 2nd Pirate of the Carribean movie. That's how long it has been. We are going to see Prince Caspian this afternoon.

I loved the Chronicles of Narnia growing up (as did many of you, I bet) and RIck is indulging me by letting me pick out the movie. Actually now that I think of it I think I got to pick out the last movie we went to. And probably the one before that.

Best of all the theater will be nice and cool. And not work.

Tagged!

Sara – considered yourself tagge!

(And yay! The Wine Maker's Wife is back!!)

Whoops – I mean tagg-UHD. And get to it Missy!

Bench revisited

Have you all caught on to my trick of talking about doing a project, then months down the road when I finally get tired of looking at it and actually finish it I blog about it again? It's kind of like the practice of recycling term papers. Not that I would ever do that or anything…

Anyway. The bench. I decided on the green using a faux robin's egg in a faux nest as my inspiration. The eggs aren't robin's egg BLUE – they are more of a green with just a hint of turquoise to it. Ever so subtle. I wanted the color to pop out a bit when you drive up to our house.

At first I had every intention of painting the entire thing – the cast iron sides, as well as the wooden slats. Then I got a look at how crusty the cast iron was and decided, quite sensibly, that I like the peely, rusty black just fine.

I'm not a great painter. I'm not even a good painter. I think we all know that by now but paint is pretty forgiving especially in this particular application. I try hard, I really do, but my efforts pretty much suck.

FIrst I did my prep work. I put on my painting yoga pants and an old radio promo t-shirt. I pulled my hair back into a pony tail and tied a scarf around my head. You know how some people look really fetching with a scarf tied in their hair? I don't. I look like I'm off to scrub toilets in a sanitorium or something.

As I started primering the slats of the bench I managed to slop primer all over the cast iron part so I went back to my original plan to paint the entire thing. And honestly after seeing just the slats primered I didn't like the high contrast.

Painting the whole thing makes it a little more whimsical looking. The cast iron wasn't as hard to paint as I thought. I just used a really nappy little paint roller and it got most of the crevices. What it skipped over I just touched up with a sponge paint brush.

Please visit next week when I actually get out and weed the flower beds….

Edited to add: I meant to add this funny little story. After I finished painting it and Rick helped me move it back into its spot, we stood back about 20 feet to admire it. Belle, the wonder cat, strolled on over to us and started rubbing up against Rick's legs. I looked down at her and said "Now Belle, don't go hopping up on the bench just yet – I just painted it and it's not completely dry." She just looked at me and then marched right up to it and hopped up on the seat! Wicked cat. I know she was just being defiant.

2nd edited to add: I forgot I was tagged by Elizabeth of Gossamer Wings. I'll play along but I never tag people – of course if you WANT to be tagged by all means, knock yourself out.

1. What I was doing 10 years ago: Hmmm – I was living in a cute little cottage of a house in Los Altos, California. Interestingly enough that little house was almost exactly the color of the bench above. We kept meaning to paint it a more conventional color but only got around to it when we were about to move. I think the color grew on me.

2. What are five things on your to do list for today? I'm going to list tomorrow's to do list since today is almost over. 1. Buy my nephew a birthday present. 2. Wrap Father's day and said birthday gifts. 3. Come up with either an appetizer or a salad for dinner. 4. Drive down to my Dad's house. 5. Drink lots of wine (what rule says a to do list has to be productive??)

3. Snacks I enjoy: Edamame, raw almonds, hummus, cheetos and hot tamales (whoops – the truth kind of came out there towards the end, didn't it?)

4. Places I've lived: Oh this is a good one. I've lived in some interesting places. Ankara, Turkey. Bariloche, Argentina. Chevy Chase, MD (people always look at me like I just made the name up when I tell them that). And the best of all – California.

5. Things I would do if I were a billionaire. I would buy Carmel, CA.

Chipotle caramels

I got the happiest little surprise last weekend. In the mail was a Penzey's Spices catalog with a giftcard enclosed. It came from my sister Mary and her husband Doug who live a stone's throw from the Penzey's headquarters (if you could throw really hard and far) and closer yet to a retail location. Wisconsin has six locations and California has one! And it's not even close to me. It's just not right, I tell you.

But there is mail order and after receiving my catalog and giftcard I spent a happy hour or two pouring over it and then going online to place an order. Which I revised about eight hundred times before I finally hit confirm to send it off.

I'm fairly certain I could have just randomly filled up my shopping cart and I would have been wildly happy with my selections. I was a little more judicious than that and the above is what I selected. I bought vanilla beans because I want to make vanilla sugar. The vanilla beans come in a test tube which gives the whole order a lovely alchemy vibe. There is just no telling what I can create.

I decided on chipotle caramels. There is gourmet grocery store near me that has a cannister of caramels at the register. One of the flavors is chipotle. It is just the best combination of soft, sweet caramel with a kick of heat at the end.

A friend shared this caramel recipe with me. I made some adjustments to the recipe based on her experience. I decreased the amount of cream because I wasn't infusing lavender. I also decreased the butter to make the caramels a little firmer. And, in a fit of Penzey's induced madness I made mine spicy by adding ground chipotle. Just a little kick.

Here is my/her adaptation of the recipe (I've halved it as well because as much as I love caramels – oh how I do – I didn't think I needed six dozen of them). Per the recipe's website I think I may dip some of them in chocolate. I think that would really go nicely with the spiciness.

Chipotle Caramels

1/2 cup whole milk
1/2 cup cream
1/2 stick butter (4 Tbsp.)
3/8 cup of honey
7/8 cup of white sugar
1/8 tsp. ground chipotle
1 tsp. vanilla
1/4 tsp. salt

Candy thermometer

Prepare loaf pan (I found this size to be good for this amount of caramels) by buttering the bottom and sides. Place a sheet of parchment or wax paper in the bottom of the pan.

In a medium, heavy sauce pan combine the milk, cream, butter, honey, sugar and ground chipotle. Over medium heat bring to a rolling boil, stirring to combine ingredients. If the sugar starts to creep up the side brush it back down with a pastry brush (the website says to do this and who am I to argue?). When it reaches 240 degrees F. start stirring constantly until it reach 248 degrees F. Immediately remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla and salt. Pour into the prepared pan and chill in refrigerator for at least two hours. Turn out onto a cutting board, remove parchment or wax paper and with the shiny side up, cut into squares. Store between sheets of parchment in the refrigerator for up to a week.

Note: I used my bento box wrappers which have a slick coating that keeps the caramels from sticking. I don't think regular mini cupcake holders would work here.

Try not to burn your tongue testing the caramel as it is cooking. It hurts.

Silliest post ever

Isn't that the prettiest beverage bottle you've ever seen? I swear I bought it for the bottle and not the contents. Although I will say, now that I've cracked it open, it is very good for a zero calorie drink.

Looking at it reminded me of a Heather Bailey project I saw in the April Home Companion magazine. She had an outdoor table all set for a party and she had made place holders using soda/beverage cans and I remember she used an Arizona Tea can for one of them. I wonder if this type of tea comes in a can as well as a bottle. She just cut out shapes (bird shapes) and used them collage-like for her place holders. If you go to her website you can download the pattern for free (look on the right sidebar).

It's making the wheels turn in my crafty little brain. I'm going to have to come up with some project…..

There is local artist named Nancy Gano that gives workshops on making garden shrines. Using all kinds of found objects…wheels turning…

Book report

I've decided to add a new category called Book Report. I've been going to our little town library on every Thursday. It really is small – but they happily will send books from other libraries in the county if you want them.

I've also discovered used books via Amazon. It's especially nice for decorating and craft books because they are the kind of book that gets read or flipped through once and then stuck on a shelf, never to be looked at again, so they are almost always in pristine shape.

One book I just received was Angèle Parlange's Creole Thrift. My niece has this book and I flipped through it (see?) on a road trip and it looked interesting. I found it used at a very reasonable price so I decided to buy it for myself.

The book actually has me a little conflicted. First of all Ms. Parlange manages to place herself in almost every single shot, looking very posed and wearing skirts that may just be a little shy of appropriate. Then I think "well, she has pretty legs so you go girl."

The other issue I have is her premise is recreating Creole-ish things on the cheap and she does have some fabulous ideas (like her trompe l'oeil barroque mirror frame and circus tent in her dining room) but she invariably has her "people" do them – she has a seamtress, a painter, and iron worker seemingly at her beck and call to do the work for her. Kind of taking the thrift right out of it.

She does have a love for her family history and incorporating it into to decorating and her writing is entertaining. I would recommend this book if you can find it a discounted price or at your library.

I am finally getting around to reading Bill Buford's Heat. His account of being an apprentice in Mario Batali's kitchen. I love reading behind the scenes accounts of restaurant life. Like Anthony Bourdain's books. Or another really good one is Michael Ruhlman's The Making of a Chef. His account of a year at the Culinary Institute of America where he went as a journalist and left a chef. Not as ribald as Anthony's or Bill's accounts but fascinating, nonetheless.

I'm only a few chapters in Bill Buford's Heat but it's a perfect blend of his experience as a bumbling apprentice and a biography of Mario Batali. Mario really is larger than life.

One effect reading restaurant centric books (besides making me hungry) is that each and every one makes me want to take a knife skills class. It seems to me if you mastered chopping and slicing you can just about do anything in the kitchen.

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