lookee what I got

My mom came in from Michigan, and all I got was this color wheel. And it ROCKS! I now have the power of Sherwin-Williams at my fingertips. We're going to work on the menacing kitchen walls. I'm pretty excited about it all.

fortification fridays - simple secret steak

It's so simple, you'll be amazed. The night before you plan to grill your steaks, smear them liberally with dijon mustard, then salt and pepper them well. The vinegar in the mustard tenderizes the meat, and the flavor enhances the richness of the steak.

We served the simple secret steaks with the following at our BBQ last night:

Monchego, homemade dilly bean pickles, nicoise olives, and ajvar (roasted red pepper dip)
Couscous with root vegetables and zucchini
Spinach and romaine salad with avocado dressing and spring peas
Roasted oyster mushrooms and peppers
Strawberries macerated in blueberry liqueur with clove whipped cream
Homemade brownies
Oregon pinot noirs

irises, noxious weed, and windows

Still working on the iris beds along the south and east sides of the house. Wow, they were weedy. It took forever. Now I'm ready to lay some landscape fabric and bark at the border.

I discovered I'm vehemently allergic to one weed whose name I don't know. Realized that my eyes were watering and my nose got stuffed up immediately when I stuck my head in the irises, then, when I emerged, the symptoms abated. Being a scientist (ok, let's pretend), I organized test trials posthaste, and crushed and then snorted fumes from several individual weed species. I found the culprit, pictured below. Anyone know its name? It grows about a foot upward and in several shoots, and its viney stem is prickly yet soft, and breaks off at segments very easily.

We've also started working on fixing the storms/screens for the windows, as pictured above. We've already been approached several times by contractors looking for a quick buck on installing vinyl windows. Our idea is that if these aluminum storm windows have lasted 50 years, we ain't gonna easily replace 'em with crap that will last for 5. More research is clearly necessary.

bepurpled, bothered, and bewildered

...am I. Having bought the house in October, I knew that the colors of the flowering periennials would be a mystery until spring. One always hopes for good taste. Alas, it was not to be.

I knew the vinca vine under the incense cedar would be purple and the dreaded wisteria tree would be purple. I was willing to accept the lilacs as purple (because I love them anyway), but I really didn't expect EVERYTHING to be purple, and purple over the yard all at once. The irises that border the east and south sides of the house are all deep purple (with fascinating yellow middles, which is cool). Even the rhodedendrons are a lavender shade of pink. We have purple grapes and purple plums and purple lavender. The columbine rhizomes I transplanted from our last place turned out to be purple, too. Looks like we're in for purple weather. Just please, long-ago previous owners, please don't let the roses be purple.

food fortification fridays - roasted new potatoes with radicchio

We bought some glorious new potatoes at the local farmer's market in Eugene last weekend. Every Saturday, from April through November (then again for the holidays), we have the incredible good fortune to have a great farmer's market that features not only vegetables, but baked goods, cheese, plants, honey and jams, arts and crafts, and live music. For some reason, I was drawn to the combination of bitter radicchio and these sweet, waxy potatoes, married with salt, bacon fat, and some fresh snipped chives. The pinks and whites were pretty together, although the radicchio did darken with roasting (and was also much less bitter). We served the dish with roasted asparagus and grilled pork.

Roasted New Potatoes with Radicchio

Serves: 4, as a side dish
Kitchen Needs: Oven

3 T. bacon fat, melted
1 T. sugar
enough new potatoes to fill one layer of an 8x12 Pyrex baking dish
one medium head radicchio, cut in 2-inch-square pieces
kosher salt, to taste
snipped fresh chives for garnish


Preheat oven to 425. In one baking dish, toss the radicchio with 1 T. melted bacon fat, 1/3 t. sugar, and salt, and in the other, toss the new potatoes with 2T. melted bacon fat, the rest of the sugar, and salt. After 10 minutes, flip over the radicchio pieces, then cook 10 minutes longer. They should be lightly browned but still dark pink. Don't overcook.

The potatoes will cook longer. Remove the radicchio and place in serving bowl. After 40 minutes or so, the potatoes should be done -- soft and crisp on the outside. If they are getting soggy, turn up the heat to 450 and watch them until they crisp up.

To serve, place potatoes on bed of radicchio, sprinkle chives and ground pepper on top, and enjoy.

nailed!

If anyone could explain why ANYONE would need to nail a three-inch nail into molding over a kitchen door, I'd be most appreciative. The door picture shows the nail hole, near the upper right corner. The patching above the door was for three holes in a triangular formation that may have been a very oddly placed venetian blind, if that helps.

built-in replacements

Mr. Reluctant has been busy repairing more holes in doors left by the previous owners and rehanging doors on the built-in cupboards with new hinges. I've been busy being impressed. Actually, I've done a bit more weeding and cleaning, but was stopped in the latter by the rain, and by a meltdown of my hard drive this week, but we're up and running now. I'll be posting a plant list soon.

The two photos are of the built-ins in the laundry room that Mr. Reluctant is working to repair. I've already done the painting of the cupboards, inside and out, but I still need to do the walls. The first picture is of my pantry. Cute, non? The second is of the chemical shelves and the big hole is where an ugly built-in wooden smelly laundry bin used to be. We're turning it into a wine rack. And that, my friends, is gentrification in action.