Not to brag...

...but, yes! I do have the cutest baby that's ever eaten homemade cauliflower-sweet-potato-green-pea purée in Brooklyn...

And one more, just in case you still have any doubts... 

I mean, seriously... !

Since last week...

I don't want you to think we haven't been doing anything-- it's just that very little of it has felt "blog worthy"...

Most recently, I bought a fabulous, lightly-used rug on Craig's List for $250.00, which is currently rolled out in our living room in Brooklyn, but is eventually intended for the living room of the house we don't own yet, in upstate New York.

Yes, I am putting the cart before the horse.

Want to make a thing of it?

I actually dated this rug, via Craig's List, for several weekends, trying to find a time when the seller and I were both available to pick it up. According to the seller, it was originally purchased from ABC Carpet & Home (a fancy-shmancy home store in NYC) for $3,000.00, but when they moved into their new apartment, it was just too big for the place, so they've essentially had it rolled up ever since. When I showed up, they had it rolled out in their unbelievable nice apartment overlooking Prospect Park, which gave me additional confidence that I wasn't bringing home some icky, bed-bug-ridden, faux-rug. Not that fancy people can't have bed-bugs, but the odds seem somehow less. Is that terrible of me to say out loud?

Possibly.

It's a gorgeous carpet and I'm positive it's going to look awesome in the new farm house, but right now our living room and dining room look like we're living in a carpet showroom because there is so much oriental carpet in every direction...

That said, I've realized I actually really like having a rug under the dining room table, so now I'm back on the hunt for another carpet to use in Brooklyn.

Home improvement never ends...

Heading out to sea...

Just caught sight of this in Williamsburg.

Man, I love New York.

Check back tomorrow for updates. 

Lots-a-foot! 

Up to my eyeballs...

... in quinoa! 

So-- now I'm on a kick. Or maybe we should call it a bender? I just finished mixing up the next quinoa recipe and it's also stellar. It should be mentioned that I'm not so sure that this second recipe is "company appropriate" in that it's kind of, well, ugly. Or-- let's be nicer. Messy looking. It is lacking in presentation. 

Or at least mine was. : ) 

That said, it's completely delicious and I've already made myself slightly ill eating too much of it too quickly. I'm not sure that COMPLEX GRAINS are intended to be inhaled. Duly noted. 

As a side note-- holy f-ing-kumquat. I'm not sure if I just haven't had one in a while, or I've never taken the time to truly savor the kumquat, but whoa people! That baby is TART and FANTASTIC. Once you've had one, if you're the sort of lady that likes tart stuff (me), you might feel tempted to eat, say, a dozen, in rapid succession. It's possible this could also account for my slightly unwell sensation, or it could be the combined efforts for too many kumquats and too much quinoa in too little time. (Don't you hate it when that happens.) The perils of decadence! Worth every second. 


Here's the recipe, originally found on the Cooking Light website: (Don't ask how I ended up there...) 

Lies! This is far more beautiful than my quinoa salad ended up looking... 

• 
  

  Ingredients

• Dressing:
• 1/4 cup finely chopped green onions
• 2 teaspoons grated blood orange rind
• 1 teaspoon grated lemon rind
• 2 tablespoons blood orange juice
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• 2 teaspoons finely chopped cilantro
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/4 teaspoon paprika
• 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• Salad:
• 1 cup uncooked quinoa
• 1 3/4 cups water
• 1/2 teaspoon salt, divided
• 1 cup blood orange sections, chopped (about 4 medium)
• 1 cup diced peeled avocado
• 6 whole kumquats, seeded and sliced
• 2 medium beets, cooked and cut into wedges

Preparation

1. 1. To prepare dressing, combine first 10 ingredients in a medium bowl, stirring with a whisk. Gradually add oil, stirring constantly with a whisk. Set aside.
2. 2. To prepare salad, place quinoa in a fine sieve, and place sieve in a large bowl. Cover quinoa with water. Using your hands, rub grains together for 30 seconds; rinse and drain. Repeat procedure twice. Drain well.
3. 3. Combine 1 3/4 cups water, quinoa, and 1/4 teaspoon salt in a medium saucepan; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer for 10 minutes or until liquid is absorbed. Remove from heat; fluff with a fork. Combine quinoa, remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt, blood orange sections, avocado, and kumquats in a large bowl, tossing gently to combine. Add dressing; toss gently to coat salad. Spoon 1 cup salad onto each of 4 plates; top each serving with about 1/2 cup beets.

If you're interested in a slight variation on this salad, I found another iteration on "The Vintage Mixer" website. I'm going to confess, I feel oddly indignant that they claim this recipe as their own, as it has clearly been nicked from the Cooking Light people, but I'm trying to keep my cool because I'm not lame, and probably have something better to do than troll the internet in pursuit of recipe plagiarism. In her defense, she also came up with this recipe for Sea Scallops with Fresh Cherries & Tarragon, and it looks completely delicious, so I should probably get off her back. 

Man. I can be a b--tch/loser when I've got the inclination.  

Finally! Quinoa!

Probably the first time "Finally! Quinoa!" has ever been said, but I've been hunting for a good quinoa (pronounced KEEN-WAH!) recipe since my friend Samantha declared that she was going to start eating more complex grains as a New Year's resolution. Oddly, until this past weekend I'd come up with ZIP. I bemoaned my failures to Julia, that "I literally can't find a good quinoa recipe anywhere!" After she pointed out that I'd only looked on Smitten Kitchen (not completely wrong), she started sending me a barrage of potential candidates. The problem I was having with all of the recipes is that quinoa is synonymous with healthy (COMPLEX GRAINS!) and too often, healthy gets mixed up with boring/bland, so that every recipe I found required a lot of vegetable stock and quinoa, and very little flavor otherwise.

UNTIL... I found this recipe for a warm quinoa salad with edamame. Initially, I was skeptical (I'd been burned before), but this ended up being delicious. Simple, bright, citrus-y, and incredibly easy to make. Plus, it has inspired a major enthusiasm for edamame in me! And, John thought it was awesome too, so presumably I wasn't just distracted by the healthy qualities of the quinoa and edamame.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 cup quinoa, (see Note)
• 2 cups vegetable broth
• 2 cups frozen shelled edamame, thawed (10 ounces)
• 1 tablespoon freshly grated lemon zest
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh tarragon or 2 teaspoons dried
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup drained and diced jarred roasted red peppers, (3 ounces)
• 1/4 cup chopped walnuts, preferably toasted (see CookingTip)

PREPARATION

1. Toast quinoa in a dry skillet over medium heat, stirring often, until it becomes aromatic and begins to crackle, about 5 minutes. Transfer to a fine sieve and rinse thoroughly.
2. Meanwhile, bring broth to a boil in a medium saucepan over high heat. Add the quinoa and return to a boil. Cover, reduce heat to a simmer and cook gently for 8 minutes. Remove the lid and, without disturbing the quinoa, add edamame. Cover and continue to cook until the edamame and quinoa are tender, 7 to 8 minutes longer. Drain any remaining water, if necessary.
3. Whisk lemon zest and juice, oil, tarragon and salt in a large bowl. Add peppers and the quinoa mixture. Toss to combine. Divide among 4 plates and top with walnuts.

TIPS & NOTES

• Make Ahead Tip: Prepare through Step 3. Cover and refrigerate for up to 2 days.

• Note: Quinoa is a delicately flavored grain that was a staple in the ancient Incas' diet. It is available in most natural-foods stores and the natural-foods sections of many supermarkets. Toasting the grain before cooking enhances its flavor and rinsing removes any residue of saponin, quinoa's natural, bitter protective covering.
• Cooking Tip: To toast walnuts: Cook in a small dry skillet over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until fragrant, 2 to 4 minutes.

This has definitely opened me back up to quinoa-- and it should be mentioned that the chilled leftovers make a superb lunch! I think this recipe might be my next experiment now that I'm back in the saddle...

Illumination!

Okay. I'm going to let you all in on a secret.

An embarrassing secret.

John and I have literally been reading with flash lights since Jules was born. I would like to say that I'm proud that we're reading at all, given that we have an eight-month old, full-time jobs, two real estate ventures, and a genuine interest in each other; but all of that pride comes to a screeching halt when I mention the flash lights. Well-- to be precise-- they are actually clip-on flash lights that hook onto our books, so that we can read without turning on too bright of a light, for fear of waking up Julian. Because although he sleeps in a separate room, it is essentially a fish bowl, and the window between our room and his leaks A LOT of light, despite my grand planning with black out curtains and roller shades. A good plan, but not an exact science, and after the first 4-month of post-traumatic-sleep-drama (YES, we are suffering from PTSD at our house) we were both left a little overly cautious about the prospect of waking Julian up unnecessarily.

Well, enough is enough. We've graduated from clippy-lights to sconces, and I couldn't be happier. I've actually had these vintage sconces for ages-- purchased from (guess where) Craig's List eons ago, but they've been sitting in our building's basement gathering dust, waiting for the perfect application. And VOILA! I finally figured out what I wanted to do with them, and got to work making it happen.

The sconces were originally intended to be hard-wired, so first I had to re-wire them so I could plug them into an actual outlet, and then John suggested I also add little clickers, so they were easy-on-easy-off. Then I did a little fancy footwork with the cord-brads, so that they look like they are hardwired, and BADA-BING! We're reading books like normal freakin' people. (Granted, I put 25 watt bulbs in them, so it's still pretty dim. Yes, we will eventually go blind, but at least we won't be worried about waking up Jules in the meantime.) Surely sleep is more important than sight, right?

Small victories, people. Small victories.

A little late for Passover, but perfect for everyday!

The Mutha-Fig-Ah (Mummy) is in town this week, and as I type, something glorious that she concocted is baking away in our (wonderful 1950's Chambers) oven upstate. This is a recipe that Mummy first tried for Passover, and it was such a tremendous success, that she whipped up another one this evening. It already smells so good, that I can only imagine what it's going to taste like. Yum, yum, yum. Now that's something to think positively about!

Take this baby for a spin-- I'm positive that you'll enjoy it too.

Passover Linzer Torte

INGREDIENTS

• 1/2 cup cake meal
• 1/2 cup potato starch
• 1 cup parve margarine
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 cup unpeeled grated almonds or filberts
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 2 eggs separated
• Your favorite raspberry jam

---

1. Combine the cake meal and the potato starch in a processor workbowl. With the cutting blade cut in the margarine.
2. Add the sugar, almonds, cinnamon and egg yolks and mix until smooth and well blended·
3. Take 2/3 of the dough and press over the bottom and 1 inch up the sides of an ungreased 9 inch springform pan.
4. Spread with 1/2 cup or more of raspberry jam.
5. Gently squeeze egg sized balls of remaining dough between your fingertips to make ropes for the lattice top. As you squeeze the rope place it on the top of the jam to simulate a weaving. This dough can not easily be handled, but don’t worry because the ropes don’t have to be perfect because they become smooth during baking.
6. Fasten the dough to the rim of dough and smooth it out pressing lightly.
7. Beat egg whites slightly and brush over the top of the lattice.
8. Place the springform pan on a cookie sheet with very low sides and bake at 325F for1 hour and 15 minutes.
9. Partly cool before removing the rim of the pan. Do not attempt to remove the base of the pan. Serve the cake from the base.

Small victories...

Things are NOT GOING WELL with the new house right now (I don't really want to go into the details just yet, but let's leave it at the plumbing trifecta: septic, well, boiler.)

Oh my.

I'm trying not to dwell on the negative, and since I've already got my knickers in a twist about losing the Build-It-Green kitchen cabinets, this latest discovery is a little "icing on my boo-hoo-pity-cake."

BUT I AM TRYING NOT TO DWELL ON THE NEGATIVE, so let's talk about what has been accomplished! I don't know if you remember, but our oven kicked the bucket last week, and after some savvy hunting on Craig's List and Build-It-Green, I just gave up and we bought a reasonably inexpensive oven from Lowe's. Normally I prefer to take a more unconventional approach to purchasing appliances (okay, everything) but we had to negotiate the purchase with our landlord, and he preferred us to buy something standard and equipped with a warranty. BORING! 

So after a little discussion about stainless steel vs. white, we decided to go with a well-reviewed white whirlpool 4-burner standard fare gas stove. Nothing much to write home about, but in all honesty, it actually looks much better and brighter than our old stove, so I guess that's a silver lining. I'm a little underwhelmed by the general quality of the stove-- it's considerably more flimsy feeling than our old stove (which I'm sure was not a marvelous quality to begin with.) The whole stove was literally hot to the touch when we used it on Thursday night. Not exactly a rave debut, but it did do it's job (cooking) without event, so that's a step up from a broken stove, right?

Let's not dwell on the negative. 

New! Wonderful! Lentils!

It's possible that we've found a new lentil recipe that will eclipse David Lebovitz's Lentilles Du Puy recipe... And the best news:

Instead of the green lentils, it asks for black, beluga lentils (cheaper and far more readily available stateside than French Lentilles Du Puy).

Bully! 

Carrots and Lentils in Olive Oil

1 cup black beluga lentils, rinsed

3 cups water

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

1 onion, halved lengthwise, then sliced thin across the grain

1 teaspoon coriander seeds

4 garlic cloves, minced

1 1/2 pounds carrots, peeled and sliced thin (about 4 cups sliced)

1 tablespoon tomato paste dissolved in 1 cup water

1 teaspoon sugar

Salt to taste

1/2 cup chopped fresh mint

1. Combine the lentils with 3 cups water in a saucepan, and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat, cover and simmer for 15 minutes. Set a strainer over a bowl, and drain.

2. Heat the oil over medium heat in a heavy casserole or skillet. Add the onion and coriander seeds. Cook, stirring, until the onion is tender, about five minutes. Add the garlic and carrots and salt to taste. Cook, stirring, for two to three minutes until the carrots begin to soften. Stir in the dissolved tomato paste, sugar and lentils. Add 1 to 1 1/2 cups of the cooking water from the lentils (enough to cover the lentils), salt to taste and half the mint. Bring to a simmer, and simmer uncovered for 15 to 20 minutes until the lentils are tender and much of the liquid has evaporated. Taste and adjust salt. Remove from the heat, sprinkle on the remaining mint and serve, or allow to cool and serve at room temperature with cooked whole grains, like bulgur or quinoa.

Yield: Serves four to six.

Advance preparation: This will keep for three to four days in the refrigerator. The dish is delicious served at room temperature.

We served these lentils along side a delicious lamb sausage that we picked up at the grocery this afternoon. Everything about this dinner was extremely tasty, and according to some optimistic folks at the NY Times, it was also extremely healthy (minus the sausage.) Yum, yum!

Crushing Blow...

John and I took a visit to Build-It-Green this afternoon-- to "date" my gorgeous country-style cabinets and to possibly buy a like-new stove for our apartment in Brooklyn. (Yes-- in the middle of everything else that's been going on, our oven just kicked the bucket too. Great.) I found a terrific looking candidate at Build-It-Green last week when I went for my first visit, so I figured we'd do double duty today and buy a stove for Brooklyn while courting our cabinets for our fingers-crossed-farm-house.

Well-- dreams, crushed. Plans, dashed. Hopes, destroyed.

The stove was gone. Entirely.

The cabinets were sold. What was even worse-- they were still there-- so we could take a moment to bask in how great they would have been. 

I'm not going to lie-- I was seriously, seriously bummed out about all of this. Bummed about the stove. Majorly bummed about the cabinets. My grand plans were totally tabled. : (

I guess I'll have to toughen up and face another day tomorrow, but tonight I'm going to bed, lamenting not making the rash decision to buy cabinets weeks/months before I owned the house they would go in.  And that, people, is what you get when you make responsible decisions. RE-GRET.

I knew being responsible was over-rated! 

Sorry, sorry, sorry...

We've been busy trying to get all of our ducks in a row for this well-coordinated buy-a-house-sell-a-house one-two punch, and it is a MAJOR time commitment. Considering both of us are also supposed to be working full time, we're pretty darn busy. (Not to mention dealing with that BABY, who keeps requiring an enormous amount of time and attention as well. Sheeesshhh. Wish he'd get with the program.)

Yes, he's in a box.

I don't know if anyone reading has ever had the unique opportunity to buy a house, but in my opinion, it is literally the least pleasant thing to do EVER. There is so much bureaucratic bumbling around, everyone still uses a fax machine, or worse, THE POSTAL SERVICE, no one knows who is supposed to do what, but they'll make sure to call someone else who might know, tomorrow, when that person is most likely taking the day off to go fishing. The amount of phone calling, nagging, harassing, and WAITING, WAITING, and WAITING that goes on is literally maddening, and brings out my bitchiest New Yorker in a hurry persona.

If you think I get impatient waiting for a bagel in Ohio, you should see what I'm like trying to buy real estate in rural America. It isn't a pretty sight.

In the meantime, I've been trying to distract myself with cooking and crafting-- I've rewired a pair of sconces for our bedroom in the city (D-I-Y tutorial to follow...), made a million meals (recipes to follow...), and have tracked down all sorts of incredible things I can't wait to save up for to buy/install in our new house, assuming THAT EVER HAPPENS OH MY GOD THIS IS TAKING SO LONG....!!!!!!!

Sorry. 

I'll try to get ahold of myself, and take you on the grand architectural salvage tour of my dream house... All thanks to the wonderful people at Build-It-Green-NYC. In case you haven't heard of Build-It-Green, it is quite literally my own private utopia. It consists of two GIANT showrooms (showrooms is a fancy term for massive freakin' warehouses) that is full  of architectural salvage, both old and new. There are gorgeous antique light fixtures, massive old fireplace mantles, and fabulous modern kitchen cabinetry and appliances that have just been removed from fancy-shmancy apartments and homes in the Triboro area. I'm particularly smitten with a set of white country-esque cabinets that they have in stock right now, and it's taking all of my patience and self-restraint not to buy the set before we own the new house.

(It should be noted, by the time we officially owned our house in Sparrowbush, I had already moved in a beautiful brass bed and mattress, a vintage Chambers stove and Philco fridge, and set up a temporary eat-in kitchen arrangement. In fact, that had all been in for weeks before the house was actually ours. And I'd already spent a couple of nights there too.) : )

Waiting isn't really my thing... 

But it isn't just a kitchen I'm dying to buy. They also have fabulous light fixtures that would be perfect  in the new house. PERFECT! Ahhhhh!!! What if someone else gets to them first?! Eeeeppppp.... How do you patient people do it? I'm truly awed.

I'm thinking this one would look awesome in the kitchen, over the kitchen island:

And this guy would be a perfect match to hang in the living room or dining room, or even the little hallway between the kitchen and the living room:

And then lastly, I'm really digging these sconces-- which have infinite possibilites-- either the living room, kitchen, or maybe even the bathroom...

And don't even get me started on the possibilities for the bathroom...

But if you're interested: this and this are worth a gander. : )

So now, we just have to own this house, and I already have half of the decorating sorted out in my mind. No problem. Except for that one big problem... OWNING THE HOUSE.