we got our Japanese snowbells

 

Our street trees have been planted!  They are styrax japonicus which I’ve had my eye on for a few years.   Now we just have to keep them alive for these next few fragile post-transplant years.  I can’t wait to smell them in a few months!

winter picnic 2017

 

This year’s winter picnic was for the few and the proud… and the ones who weren’t out of town or separated from Lincoln Park by an icy drive.  My great aunt, the last of the OG (original generation) opted out this year, along with several of her devoted picnickers.  As I alluded to, my parents and sister were travelling and my cousin and her family and my aunt and uncle had to cancel last minute because of the wintery weather on their long drives.

Above: 14 people, one dog, missing Chuck who slipped out before the picture

Nevertheless, we had high spirits and a good time.  Jack won at bingo again.  We were short enough on people that we had to get D and my cousin’s new dog to sign, but of course, Jack’s win was all skill.  D’s eight year old cousin was a first timer.

Speaking of skill, Jack and I won the egg toss.  There were five teams and we even had a couple more successful throws after we locked down our win.  I need to practice throwing farther.

four floors

Choosing the flooring for the house was one of the hardest decisions in the whole process.  There are so many aesthetic and practical concerns.  Is it nice looking, durable, slippery, hard on the feet?  Is it affordable and environmentally responsible?   Does it match the cat?   With a bit of a splurge, we managed to find the perfect floor for us!

Above left: Emo with our engineered DuChâteau terra nile, which is certified 100% pure by the Forest Stewardship Council.  Its finish is non-toxic and CARB-2 compliant (California Air Resources Board) and if would qualify for LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) as a rapidly renewable and low-emitting material.  So far it hides scratches well and we like how it looks with the fairly modern design of the house.

Above right:  Jasper, Becky and me in March 1986 celebrating Jasper’s second birthday on our shag carpet.  I remember being pretty amused by the cat carpet match, even as a small child.

We have the DuChâteau floor on the second and third floor, less exciting wood in the first floor bedrooms, tile in the bathrooms and entry and glulam wood stained black for the stairs.  The only downside is that the stairs can be slippery for people wearing socks, so we have to be careful to make D remove his socks and warn guests.  Other than wearing shoes or using institutional rubber or concrete flooring there doesn’t seem to be a good solution for stairs. Not having carpet also keeps us more honest about cleaning, especially with our furry friend.

We made cookies.

Tonight D and I made cookies.  It might sound like a small achievement but what it actually represents is that our oven is finally fixed!

We bought the range used last spring, from a store in Auburn for a very good price.  It’s a beautiful, dual-fuel Viking with what turned out to be a defunct convection oven. 

In the store they hooked it up and demonstrated that it worked to me, but all I could really do was confirm that there was heat coming out.   Flash forward to September when we moved in.  We didn’t do much cooking during the busy time where we were unpacking, cleaning up construction messes and finding lost things in the house.  Then when we did try it, it took a while for us to realize that it wasn’t working right.  In mid-October we cooked a beautiful salmon for my dad’s birthday for over an hour instead of the 10 minutes called for by the recipe.  We managed to eat it but it was a red flag for the oven.   We finally bought a thermometer to properly test it.  It heated up fine but couldn’t maintain the temperature at all.

We contacted the store about the warranty in early November.  A technician came out and saw that the problem was some kind of melted connection that failed when it got hot.  He did a small fix on the spot but said that if that didn’t work, we’d need to have the store order a new control board.  That fix did not work, so we got in touch again.  The store ordered the part, but it was back ordered.  Thanksgiving came and went.  Many texts were sent.  Then in late December, the part finally arrived in a surprisingly big box.  The technician came over that same day.  Lo and behold the box contained a control panel with the stove burner dials on it, not a control board.  The new part was ordered and finally came at the end of January.  Now it is installed and everything works.  The $600 control panel it still sitting in our house awaiting shipping instructions.  If we don’t hear back in a few weeks, perhaps we’ll sell it on eBay.

In conclusion, we managed without an oven for five months, but eventually got it fixed without extra expenditure so it probably worked out for the best in the long run.  Now we are excited to bake, roast, broil and toast!

my favorite fish stew

 

Here’s a recipe we’ve made and enjoyed several times.

• 2 leeks
• 6 oz. chorizo (I prefer other, non-spicy sausage) cut in to small half moon pieces
• 4-5 medium red potatoes cut in to bite size cubes (in the picture above I used purple potatoes)
• salt and fresh ground black pepper
• 1 Tbs. olive oil
• 3 cloves minced garlic
• 28 oz. can diced tomatoes with their juice
• 1/2 c dry white wine
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
• 1 lb. cod fillet, cut into four even portions

1. Put the potatoes in a saucepan (not the dutch oven yet), covered with 1-2 inches of cold water.  Salt the water, partially cover and bring to a boil.  Reduce the heat a bit, continue boiling until tender (10-15 min).  Drain.
2. Heat oil in dutch oven (medium for 1 minute), add chorizo and leeks  until the leeks are soft and sausage is browned (6 min)
3. Add the garlic and cook for 1 min.
4. Stir in the tomatoes with juice, the wine, 1 1/2 c water and 1/2 tsp salt.  Bring to a oil, partially cover, reduce to medium and simmer for 15 minutes.
5. Add potatoes, salt and pepper, and half of the parsley.
6. Season the cod (S&P) and place on top of the stew, cover and simmer until just cooked through (6-8 minutes)
7. Serve stew on top of cod, with more parsley as garnish.