Renovate Fox Ridge: Revisiting a project from my past!

You know the saying, "Why you gotta bring up old s%#t?" Well-- maybe you're not familiar, but I'm definitely bringing up something from my past! Here's the backstory...

Almost eight-years-ago to the day, I was just putting the finishing touches on my final project in college, the gut-renovation of a vintage trailer gone-to-seed. The trailer originally belonged to John's parents, but after many years of love and travel, it had been retired to a rarely visited corner of their property in upstate New York. When I first visited their house there, John and I had only been dating for a year or so, but I fell in love with the trailer and somehow convinced John's mom and my school advisors that renovating this trailer would be the perfect "hands-on" addition to my architectural studies. (Evidently, if architecture and interior design didn't pan out, I would also have made an excellent con-man.)

So I chipped away at that project, finished in record time with the help of numerous friends and family members, graduated from Hampshire College, managed to get it featured in The Boston Globe (again with the con-man?) and then parked the trailer back on John's parents' property, with the idea that it could now be used as a guest house.

Fast-forward EIGHT YEARS, and the trailer was lookin' a little woe-begone again. John's parents were not to be blamed... No reasonable person (including me) could be convinced to sleep in the little metal space-ship, however charming, sans toilet/avec mice, when there was a perfectly nice HOUSE to sleep in right next door. Then, when things couldn't get much worse (the mice had re-established a firm strong-hold), a vengeful branch cracked a hole in the roof and things were looking BLEAK for the little-trailer-that-could. Oy.

Fast-forward FURTHER-- to last weekend... John and I are having a ludicrous number of people up to Fox Ridge next weekend, to celebrate a friend's birthday (Yay Mary!) and were trying to figure out how exactly we were going to accommodate all of those people. Suddenly I thought, "What about the trailer?!" Granted, it was a little mouse-infested, the vinyl floor I laid eight years ago was peeling up in every direction, and the hole in the roof had been rather unceremoniously patched with spray-foam-sealant, but all in all, it was totally salvageable. John looked at me like I was crazy. John's mom looked at me like I was crazy.

And then, like a crazy person, I lured a local farmer into towing it onto our lawn, and got cracking! : )

The whole experience was a blast actually (except for vermin and bugs, which obviously weren't...), revisiting a project I had originally completed when I was just a bright-eyed youth (21!). As we were working away at making everything tidy and habitable again, I was truly astounded by the amount of work I had done initially.

I laid a ply-wood sub floor! I replaced wood wall panelling! Mummy made cushion covers and curtains! I stained and sealed the wood wall panelling! John's mom and I ousted the mice! I installed vinyl flooring and removed the old kitchenette! I melted plexi-glass to replace a missing light-fixture cover! Who was that person??? I am so impressed with myself, eight years late. I was so much cooler than I am now. : ) 


Reminiscing aside... We ended up replacing the vinyl flooring with fabulous black-and-white checkerboard flooring ($45.00 @ Lowe's for an 8' X 12' roll!), washing all of the cushion covers and curtains, dragging an abandoned dresser down from the barn and giving that a once over ($34.00 for 2 cans of spray paint and six- jazzy brass knobs!), adding my abundant collection of throw pillows, and lickity-split, in exchange for $79.00 and a day of work, we had ourselves a guest house!

Yee-Hah! Let the festivities begin! 

A couple of additional notes: 

1.) I will try to take some day-photos this weekend, so you can get a better view of things in our new guest house... Sorry the photos above are a little dim. It is a trailer after all, so give us a little lee-way. 

2.) Rumor has it there is going to be a ginger-bread-house-building competition at Fox Ridge this weekend, so check back to see our creative minds at work. Or trying... 

3.) There are lots of other little projects we've completed in Brooklyn, so hopefully I'll have the wherewithal to get those additions posted this week too. Whew! We are beee-zzzeeee! 

Little Projects in Brooklyn! Kitchen Stools riddled with guilt...

If you remember rightly, the last time Mummy visited New York, she and I went on the hunt for the perfect counter stools to add to my newly constructed kitchen island... (If this doesn't ring a bell, click here to revisit that posting before continuing...)

So... we found the perfect counter stools-- 4 excellent condition Heywood-Wakefield mid-century stools made of walnut with orange vinyl seat cushions. Perfect. And I mean PURRR-FECT. Except for the metal foot rests, which I confidently reassured Mummy could be easily polished back to near perfection. And for a mere $100.00 ($25.00 a stool! CAH-razy!) I brought them home and there they have sat ever since. Unpolished.

: ( 
Guilty face. 

With Mummy's return on the horizon, I knew I had to leap into action and get those babies polished up, or she was bound to notice that I had not made good on my promise. I busted out a drop cloth and a hefty wad of fine steel wool, enthusiastically polished away, and in no time at all, my counter stools were gleaming like the day they were born (or maybe shortly after...)!

This is a super-easy trick for cleaning up vintage metal work... All you need is a little patience and a handful of steel wool, and you can usually brighten up most chrome and steel. Just go gently and start sanding in a hard-to-see location, just in case the metal doesn't take well to polishing. And have realistic expectations-- if something is RIDICULOUSLY rusted and pitted, odds are good you won't get it back to perfect, but you can definitely get it back to better. 

These little details can really make a difference when you're dealing with vintage/used furniture, and it was totally worth the effort to make my counter stools shine again.

Look left for my finished product! 

Check that off the "making-me-feel-guilty" list. Hazahh!
Now to tackle the rest of that list... : )

I hope everyone had a festive and filling Thanksgiving! Did anyone try our recipes for Cornbread-and-Sausage Stuffing or Roasted Brussel Sprouts with Lemon? If I may toot my own horn, I'd say both dishes were off-the-hook, and well worth a try if you haven't already.

Though maybe I could go another week or two without anymore stuffing! 

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

We've been busy as can be in Brooklyn. Mummy is in town, and John's grandmother is coming for a visit tomorrow, so we've been sprucing up our apartment and tackling lots of little left-over projects before she arrives. After all of the commotion has died down, I will post pictures of what we've been up to, but for now-- let's focus on the task at hand-- EATING! 


John's parents are in charge of the "main event" dishes-- turkey, sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce, and numerous pies, but John and I have secured the rights to the stuffing and one of the veggie dishes. Here's what we're cooking... and both dishes are super simple. Try them this year or next...!

Cornbread & Sausage Stuffing

Ingredients:

• 1 pound fresh lamb or pork sausage, casings removed, crumbled (plus giblets, diced; optional)
• 1 large onion, (about 2 cups), finely chopped
• 3 celery, finely chopped (1 1/2 cups)
• Coarse salt and ground pepper
• 2 pounds store-bought cornbread, cut into 3/4-inch cubes (12 cups)
• 3 tablespoons finely chopped fresh sage
• 3 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 to 2 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large nonstick skillet, cook sausage (and giblets, if using) over medium-high heat, stirring often, until browned and cooked through, 5 to 8 minutes. With a slotted spoon, transfer to a large bowl.
2. To pan, add onion, celery, and 1/4 cup water. Reduce heat to medium; cook, scraping up browned bits with a wooden spoon, until vegetables soften, about 10 minutes. Season generously with salt and pepper. Add to sausage.
3. Add cornbread, sage, and eggs to sausage and vegetables. Bring broth to a simmer in a small saucepan; pour 1/2 cup over stuffing, and toss gently (cornbread will break down into smaller pieces). If needed, add up to 1/2 cup more broth, until stuffing feels moist, but not wet. Stuff into turkey, using about 4 cups. Spoon remaining stuffing into a baking pan; it should reach the top. Refrigerate stuffing in pan and remaining broth separately, covered, until ready to bake.

Cook's Note:

If you aren't planning on cooking the stuffing inside the turkey, pour all the chicken broth over the entire amount of stuffing, and transfer to a large baking dish. 

My Note:  I have made this recipe with store-bought and homemade corn bread, and for reasons I can't explain, the store-bought version is significantly better. So give yourself a break-- go out and buy it! 

Caramelized Brussel Sprouts With Lemon

Ingredients:

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil 

4 cups Brussels sprouts, rinsed, trimmed, and halved lengthwise 

Salt & Pepper to taste

2 tablespoons WATER

1/2 LEMON, JUICED (ABOUT 1 TBSP.) 

Directions:

1.In a 12-inch nonstick skillet heat 3 Tbsp. of oil over medium heat. Arrange sprouts in 

a single layer, cut sides down. Drizzle with remaining olive oil and sprinkle generously with salt and a grind of two or black pepper. Cover and cook for 3 minutes. Remove lid and sprinkle sprouts with water. Cover and cook for 2 minutes more. Sprouts should just be beginning to caramelize and, when pierced with a fork, slightly tender.

2.Remove cover and increase heat slightly. 

When cut sides are well-caramelized, toss Brussels sprouts in pan, drizzle with lemon juice, and sprinkle with more salt and pepper to taste.

So! Give these recipes a shot, and then let's all reconvene next week to review what we've been working on around the house. For now, let's eat! : ) 

                   Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!            

                                Best Wishes! 

Dinner in Brooklyn: Steppin' It Up A Notch!

I made this totally rad paella last night. If I may say so, I normally make a pretty darn good paella, but last night I had a stroke of inspiration, and really stepped the recipe up a notch. I was in the grocery store, hemming and hawing about what to cook, when I spied a package of D'Artagnan's Chorizo Sausages.  (If you're not familiar with the D'Artagnan products, I highly recommend you explore their website. All of their sausages and exotic meats are awe-some, so go take a look...) 


The recipe I used is the one below... which can also be found here, minus my snazzy new additions.

Ingredients:

• 3/4 pound medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 3 D'Artagnan Chorizo Sausages, sliced in 1/2-inch rounds
• 1 medium onion, finely chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 1/2 cups long-grain rice
• 1/4 teaspoon paprika
• 1/4 teaspoon ground turmeric
• 1 can (14.5 ounces) diced tomatoes
• 2 cans (14.5 ounces each) reduced-sodium chicken broth
• Coarse salt and ground pepper
• 1 cup frozen green peas, thawed

Directions:

1. In a heavy 12-inch saute pan, heat 1 tablespoon oil over medium-high heat. Cook shrimp until just pink on both sides, 4 to 5 minutes (do not overcook). Transfer to a plate.
2. Add remaining tablespoon oil and sausage to pan; cook over medium-high heat until beginning to brown, about 2 minutes. Add onion, and cook, stirring frequently, until translucent, 3 to 4 minutes. Add garlic and rice; cook, stirring to coat, until rice is translucent, 1 to 2 minutes.
3. Stir in paprika, turmeric, tomatoes, and broth, scraping up browned bits from bottom of pan with a wooden spoon. Season with salt and pepper.
4. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer. Cover, and cook until rice is tender and has absorbed almost all liquid, 20 to 25 minutes. Stir in peas; cook 1 minute. Stir in cooked shrimp; serve immediately.

Never to be outdone, I also bought six scallops, and seared them before adding them to the paella. Cooking them was a cinch-- basically a little salt, pepper, and olive oil thrown into a bowl, the scallops tossed into that-- and then seared over high heat for 2-3 minutes on each side. 
This dish was really easy, reasonably quick, EX-TREMELY delicious, and would be perfect for a dinner party. I served it with manchego cheese and quince paste to start, and then a simple green salad with a lemony-olive oil dressing for our mandatory green... Everything so simple and yummy.  

Give it a shot! 

Another little side note...

John and I saw this ceiling fan at Lowe's last weekend, and both of us were like "Whoooooaaaaaa." 

It is called a "Fanaway". At first, it looks like an ordinary ceiling fan, but when you turn it off, the blades retract and it looks like a cool school-house style fixture. Pretty rad. At $349.00, it's also pretty expensive, so we're adding it to our "When We Are Millionaires" list. (That is a long list.)

Check out a video of how the blades extend and retract here. Pretty space aged. Pre-tty cool.

Yow! One more NYC vs. Paris Print!

Renovate Brooklyn: Lucky Ducks Are We!

I just received my birthday present from John's parents! 

Well-- to be clear-- I was actually "gifted" this gift in September, but the turn-around time took a little while, hence the delay... I don't want anyone thinking this is a super-duper belated gift on their part... : ) 

They bought me (us) a pair of those awesome prints I pined for in an earlier blog entry... the Paris Vs. New York prints! I am now the proud owner of "Bagel Vs. Baguette" and "Metro Vs. Subway". They're even better in person, and look fantastic in our dining room. We couldn't be more thrilled!

Mega-thanks guys! They're awesome!

It also gave me a chance to "shake up" the art work in our apartment, which is always a pleasure. I really like the idea of not being married to one specific configuration or piece of art, and letting the art work change and evolve like the seasons... (Added bonus: This philosophy requires an ever growing collection of art work! Also great!)

This is particularly good news, because upon visiting the Paris Versus New York website again, I see that they've come out with even more great comparisons since my last look.

It appears that they are only blog-postings for now, but hopefully they'll evolve into more fabulous frame-ables soon, which I can incorporate into my collection as well! Check out the latest hits below...

Make sure to check back on the Paris Vs. NYC blog regularly... It's great for a smile! 

Sneak-Peek #1: The Restoration Hardware-Inspired Salvaged Desk and Clamp Lamp

The big work table in the photo at left is from Restoration Hardware, but is super-duper similar to the desk we've just acquired. It was truly a great find-- we bought it for $100.00 right out of the barn of a local farmer. Now that's salvaged!  Initially, I wasn't sure what exactly I was going to do with it, I just knew that for 100 buck-a-roos, it was a deal not to miss. Once we moved the salvaged work bench/desk into the living room, it was clear something was missing. I couldn't quite figure it out, and then-- like a lightning bolt-- a clamp lamp! Something arching over the end of the desk to anchor it in the corner of the room, that's what I needed!

I searched Craig's List... nothing great... I looked at the usual suspects online (Pottery Barn, Restoration Hardware) ... everything was way beyond our budget, and truth be told, looked too new and shiny to be at home in our house... I looked at antique shops online... way beyond our budget too. Then I found a lamp! In my budget! On Craig's List! In Brooklyn! (Only, it was the wrong color...) After a brief consultation with John to make sure it would work,  I picked up a can of Rust-O-Leum Metallic finish in Brass, and presto-chango, our lamp became just the lamp I was looking for!

And voila, this is what the new desk and clamp-lamp are looking like today...

Renovate Fox Ridge: Busy Bees!

Sorry for the delayed posting... John and I have been up at Fox Ridge since Thursday working on a top-secret project (aka. unfinished) and we've had our hands full.

When we first bought the house at Fox Ridge, John and I dreamed of installing a wood burning stove or fireplace in the living room, not just for heat, but for the wonderfully pleasant experience of having a fire burning in the hearth. Now that's country-livin'! 

We ambitiously bought a Benjamin Franklin Stove on Craig's List (literally identical to the one here, but we paid $250.00 for ours and it was less gleamingly flawless... Also, we had to drive it back from the place in Connecticut where we bought it, and in the process, nearly killed the shocks in our station wagon, it was so friggin' heavy. That would have made it way more expensive...) ANYWAY, back on topic: so we bought this Benjamin Franklin Stove, and then someone told us it was going to be a gillion dollars to install a chimney liner in our chimney, and a new chimney pipe would also be mega-expensive, and tall and ugly, and on and on they went about how nothing about this dream was going to work, and so the dream died, the stove was put up in the barn, and boo-hoo, the end.

Until! This fall, when it started getting cold again, and again, we pined for a fireplace a-cracklin' in our living room. So we went and asked someone else, who told us that basically anything modern was so efficient that it would make our little tiny house uninhabitabl-y hot and would make the living room feel like H-E-L-L itself, but that the Benjamin Moore Stove would be just the ticket. He also said that installing a new liner in the chimney was in fact, not a gillion dollars, so we could totally do that, and so the dream was jump-started once more, and now we are actually kind of close to having a fireplace in our living room. (That said, this involves the labor of numerous people other than just us, so in the interest of not being disappointed, I am trying not to get too excited until the whole thing is in and finished.)

However, I was more than happy to get way ahead of myself, and rearrange the entire room based on the location of the new wood burning stove, and then I happened to buy this incredible antique salvaged wood work bench/desk, which needed to be incorporated into the room too, and that required the purchase of a new goose-neck-style-clamp-lamp which needed to be spray painted to look just right.... so now I have A LOT of photos to take to show you... But I thought maybe I'd start with Before-And-After floor plans, so you can orient yourself in the room, as-was and as-is, and then we'll work our way through the other highlights over the next couple of days. 

If you don't remember what the living room in Fox Ridge looks like, you can also check out that Nate Berkus feature I did last Fall, where we walk all through the little house, ON TV! (Feel free to click the "Like" button while you're there... : ) 

Just a quick mention...

I just came upon this website and was blown away by the beauty of the product and the super-duper-awesomeness of the website itself. If you've got a couple of free minutes and a love of all things interior-design, swing by Granada Tile's website and do a little fantasizing with their lovely products.

I'd like to imagine that at some point in my life, these tiles will be installed in my kitchen in the city, and maybe out at Fox Ridge too. However, if necessary, I would also be willing to install these in my bathroom or on the patio in the country. I'm flexible. Also deserving a mention: these tiles are 100% recycled, eco-friendly, and can be used indoors or out. I mean seriously-- is there nothing these people cannot do? 

Yow-zah. 

Trade Secrets, Folks!

I just spent a good portion of yesterday cleaning the be-jesus out of our apartment, because we have a french friend coming to stay next week. While I was vacuuming, it occurred to me that maybe I should clue my audience in on a couple of great cleaning "trade secrets" that I have picked up over the years.


*Disclaimer: These are not "green solutions" so if you're looking for something eco-friendly, you've come to the wrong place today. 

#1: The first is a product called "Capture". Feel free to say it like you're from Maine-- that's what John and I do... "Cap-cha!" I learned about this product from one of the carpet salesmen I worked with a few years ago. He said that rather than steam-clean carpets, they use this product to get the best results out of dirtied carpeting. The secret: You can buy it at Home Depot. (Don't tell. He asked me not to.)

You can also buy it here... 

When I use this product to clean our carpets, I start with the "Capture" spray solution and then use a coarse bristled brush to gently brush in/spread on the "Capt-cha!" cleaning powder. Then I go do something else (15 minutes of Law & Order yesterday...) and then vacuum up the powder 15 minutes later... Wonders I tell you. Wonders!

The whole affair adds up to about $35.00 for the giant bucket of cleaning powder and the spray bottle of cleaning solution. Not bad, considering there are about 50 carpets worth of powder in that giant bucket.

Hats off to the carpet guy who clued me into this trick! 


#2: A contractor I work with just told me the best way to clean your bathroom, and keep it clean... Fill a spray bottle with 2 cups of bleach diluted with 1 cup of warm water. Spray down all of the tiles, grout, sink, toilet, tub, etc. in your bathroom, and then close the door and let it do its magic for about 5 minutes. Then go back in, open a window, and let it air out for another 10 minutes. Don't get me wrong, it is going to smell in there! Once it has aired out enough that you can go in there without losing too many brain cells or your sense of smell,  rinse everything down with warm water, and voila! Bright white will prevail! According to the contractor, this cleaning solution will also discourage future mold and mildew from forming. Sweet. 

#3: The last time Restoration Hardware was having a bathroom sale, I sprang for one of these washable, reusable cloth shower curtains. It is great-- has held up fantastically for the last 2 years, washes wonderfully, and doesn't stick to you the way vinyl shower curtains sometimes do (gross.) I used to just throw it into the washing machine with a little ordinary laundry detergent and then hang it back up to dry, but I recently read that White Vinegar is the way to go, so in anticipation of the french-friend's arrival, I decided to give it a spin. (Ha! Pun.)  Out it came, gleaming as ever, but according to the person who recommended the White Vinegar, this will also discourage future unwanted growth on my shower curtain. Excellent news all around.

I will try and think of more great tricks-of-the-trade to fill you in on... so check back soon! 

Take a look at that Parisian Staircase!

The Mother Figure pointed out that I haven't posted photographs of my beautiful Parisian staircase, purchased a month ago while I was in the throws of a blissful vacation in France. Take a look... dreamy! Mummy and I are already fantasizing about another visit to that Parisian bookstore to pick up a staircase for her home... and maybe another one for me? : )

Back-to-Back Delicious Sounding Morning...

Mmmmm.... After reading this article in this morning's New York Times, I was feeling in a whir of francophilia. Imagine my delight when I spied the photograph at left, and eagerly clicked over to see what went into the recipe for "Friseé Salad with Bloomed Mustard Seed & Mustard Oil".

I definitely do not have mustard seeds (bloomed or otherwise) in my pantry, nor do I have mustard oil, but the prospect of a salad that was an acceptable side dish to a hearty slice of paté has sufficiently convinced me that I am going to pick up ALL THREE of those ingredients on my next trip to the grocery store... Mmmmm.... Good morning! 

As a culinary side note, John and I finally had the pleasure of eating our very-slow-cooked pulled pork last night. As promised, it was paired up with the red-cabbage-slaw, the roasted cuban style sweet potatoes, and a light dose of guacamole, all heaped into a warmed tortilla, rolled up, and devoured. I'm going to be honest-- we were FLOORED by this meal. I'm saying FLOORED. Literally, neither of us had eaten anything like this before, so interesting or so GOOD. Like-- not in a restaurant or at home.

I'M SAYIN' FLOORED. 

Make this meal... it alone is worth buying a slow-cooker to make it. Since I have to give this slow-cooker back to Mary, I'm going to have to buy my own slow cooker now. Or pretend I don't know Mary and stop answering her calls... : )

Do you own a slow-cooker? Yow-Zah!

So, John and I don't actually own a slow-cooker, but we've got one on temporary loan from Jon and Mary (following the brandy-spiked cider event on Halloween). Everybody is coming up to Fox Ridge next weekend, so Mary figured (unwisely?) that I could be trusted with their slow-cooker between now and then, and then we will bring it up to the country to make some hearty, slow-cooked dream, TBA.

In the meantime, because John and I are fundamentally impatient children, we couldn't resist experimenting with this new-fangled culinary contraption, and thought we'd share our adventures on the blog. Tonight, fingers crossed, we're going to reap the benefits of all that slow-cooked-patience...

For the last two-and-a-half days, we've been setting a slow-cooking record, brewing a mexican-inspired pulled pork that initially cooked for almost 12 hours in the slow cooker, then sat in the fridge for 6 hours, had the fat skimmed off, and was then brought back to temperature... And then, when we were JUST ABOUT TO EAT OUR PORK, John had to stay late at work, and it just didn't seem right for me to eat our master piece alone.

So last night, even though our house smelled like a texan barbecue shack, I ate a block of cheese and almost a whole baguette (my favorite meal ever, dieters beware) and dreamt sweet dreams of pulled-pork tacos with roasted cuban sweet potatoes, guacamole, and this new red-cabbage-lime-cole-slaw I invented... Hopefully, tonight will be a dream come true!

If you're interested in making the whole meal, just like ours, check out John's link to the pulled pork recipe here, my recipe for Cuban-Style Sweet Potatoes here, and then you can see my recipe for the Red-Cabbage-Lime-Cole-Slaw down below...

I've got a good feeling about this dinner. I'm pretty sure you should give it a shot. Maybe we're going to have to buy a slow-cooker all our own?

Red-Cabbage-Cole-Slaw

by christina salway

Serves 4-6, as a side dish. 

Ingredients: 

1-   Small Red Cabbage, chopped kind of big.

1-   Bunch Cilantro, chopped pretty normal.

1/2 Red Onion, chopped pretty small.

1-   Fresh chili or jalapeno if desired.

2-   Fresh Limes or 2- Tablespoons bottled lime juice.

2-   Tablespoons Red Wine Vinegar

Salt/Pepper to taste.

Now, hold onto your hats because this gets pretty complicated. Basically, chop everything up, as instructed above. Put all of the ingredients into a bowl. Toss the vegetable ingredients in the liquid ingredients. Let this mixture sit in the fridge for 15-20 minutes. EAT! 

Off the hook delicious. Also, good for you. Also, easy. Did someone say "Miracle Food"? I think so.