Leafy Dresser Decoupage

We've undertaken a number of projects around here, making our new house more comfortable and more "us".  Mac Mini inherited this dresser from her grandma.  It wasn't bad, but the brightly-colored knobs and matching contact paper were a little clownish for my tastes.  Since her new bedroom has a green rug and dark green curtains, I thought some leaves might make it a little more interesting.  This was my first experience with decoupage, an art I usually associate with little old ladies and Martha Stewart...but looking around the internet, I found a lot of pretty cool DIY projects and makeovers involving Mod Podge, so I decided to buy some and try it out.  Here's what the dresser looked like before:

Bonus picture of Mac Mini with bedhead looking extra cute.  As you can see, it's actually a nice big solid dresser (much better than the 25-year-old particle board menace I've been using in my bedroom for the past, oh, 25 years or so...but that's another project).

First I removed the knobs and the contact paper inside the drawers.  I painted each set of knobs a different shade of green using Folk Art acrylics.  

Then I applied the decoupage thingies.  I used a set of parchment leaf decorations that my mother-in-law gave me...I can't remember what they were originally for, but they worked out well for this project.  I wiped 'em down with Mod Podge, stuck 'em on the dresser, and painted two coats of Mod Podge over the top of each leaf.  Most of them stuck pretty well, but there were some places I had to re-glue, especially where I cut the leaves so the drawers would open.  

It's not exactly the masterpiece I had envisioned, but it does liven up the room a bit and once I get some decorations on the walls and reupholster the cat-ravaged  La-Z-Boy rocker, it should look pretty good.  

Many, many more projects are underway here!  The transformation of the utility/unfinished basement room to artsy-fartsy studio/workshop is almost complete!

Bridesmaid Dress: It Turned Out OK.

Here's a short sewing interlude before I start catching up on all the new-house-related projects Mr. Mac and I have been working on.  My best friend B of Reviving the Hondamatic got married last Saturday at a farm on beautiful Whidbey Island, and I was lucky enough to be a bridesmaid!  I shopped downtown Seattle for an appropriate dress, but sage green is not this summer's hit color, it turns out.  So I decided to buy fabric and make my own.  I went to Pacific Fabrics Outlet and chose a couple of yards of green cotton and this pattern.  Unfortunately, I neglected to check the size chart and bought the wrong pattern size.  Whoops.  I consulted the Internet and foolishly decided to try it without a pattern.  I calculated, measured, and cut panels for a simple skirt and bodice.

And then I sewed the panels together.  The result was a saggy, baggy, shapeless mess.  I don't have the words to describe it properly, because hideous and disappointing don't do it justice.  That's when I decided to alter my store-bought pattern and Make It Work.  I went back to the fabric store, where they had run out of my original fabric, and bought a patterned green fabric, which I hoped would look good with the original.  I used the patterned fabric to make a pleated waistband, then cut it to fit my altered pattern.  

Since I had run out of my solid green fabric, I decided to make a paneled skirt using the patterned green fabric.

Then I followed the pattern and constructed the lined bodice.  My first ever lined garment...it went ok!  The armholes were slightly wrinkly, but I wasn't about to tear them out and do it again.  I applied interfacing to the waistband and attached it to the bodice.  The pleats in the center of the bodice were my own addition...when I altered the pattern I made the pieces slightly too big (better than too small, but still a problem).  I had to do a bit of messing with it to make it fit.  

Next I attached the skirt to the waistband.  Again, more pleating and ootching to make it fit.  My pleats were not ideally placed, as I found out when I tried it on, but a little too much emphasis on my belly pooch was the least of my problems.

It took me THREE tries to insert the zipper.  Damn and blast, that was annoying.  The first time my bobbin ran out.  The second time I got part of the skirt stuck in my stitching.  Obviously I am not a professional and need some practice.  

The finished product!  It started life as a Frankenstien's monster of a dress, patched and pleated and brought to life with sweat, tears, and a couple of drops of blood from when I stuck myself with a pin.  But in the end it turned out just fine, the bride was gorgeous, the ceremony was beautiful, we had a great time on the farm, and it was a wonderful day on Whidbey.  

Our new house!

Hooray, hooray, we have a house at last!  We got the keys last night after a whirlwind adventure with the bank, the underwriters, and the escrow company in which our bank sent all of our very personal private information to the listing agent instead of the escrow office...and then put the wrong date on all of the documents.  That escrow agent was a saint.  She hung in there, printing, revising, and reprinting our 95-page bundle until it was all correct.  After an hour of signing and making that big ol' wire transfer, everything closed yesterday and we were able to get into the house to take a look around.  We had arranged to buy the couch and storage fridge from the previous owners, but to our surprise they had also left five storage units in assorted sizes, all their gardening gear including a wheelbarrow and hoses, and a full rack of paint and hand tools in the garage.  Score!  And also, wow, that's a lot of stuff to sort through and decide what to do with.  Oh well.  We have lots of time to figure that out.  Our first order of business is to give everything a good rubdown with some TSP, clean the floors, and paint a few walls.  Luckily, everything is already in good shape and it won't take much to make it ours.  I'm so excited!  This is going to be fun.  Lots of before-and-after pictures to come!

Under Contract Again!

Yes, we are in negotiations for another house!  I have a really good feeling about this one.  We saw it about two hours after it came on the market and offered on it that night, I wrote a letter to the sellers explaining why we loved the house and why we should be the ones to live there, and the sellers accepted our offer the next day even though they had other interested parties!  The sellers are a nice couple in their late 40s who obviously care about the home and have taken very good care of it.  The house is a mid-century modern (1960) in the South Beacon Hill neighborhood on a quiet cul-de-sac.  It's just about 5 miles from downtown, which is a bit farther than we wanted to go, but still bikeable and within walking distance of the Light Rail station, a Safeway, and the elementary school.  The lot is large and level, and the sellers have done a great job with their garden.  All it needs now is a chicken coop and a beehive!  I usually hate split-level houses, but Mr. Mac convinced me that this house had the mid-mod charm to pull it off, and it does!  The upstairs is one large room with living, dining, and kitchen areas...perfect for us because we love to cook and entertain.  There are three bedrooms upstairs as well as one full bath with a jack-and-jill sink.  Downstairs is the family room with a second fireplace, the garage, another bedroom, a quarter bath which we will quickly transform into a half bath, and a large partially finished game room/utility room.  It's just about 2000 square feet, which is over twice the space we have now....looks like we'll need to get some more furniture!

The inspection is Tuesday, so hopefully everything will go smoothly!  The next step is completing our loan application and getting the VA appraisal.  Wish us luck!

Disappointment and a Chicken Dinner

Sigh...our home search continues, sadly.  Our purchase of the Beacon Hill house fell through after the sellers refused to give us a price reduction.  The inspection revealed so many costly repairs that we needed to ask them to replace the roof, fix some plumbing issues, reduce the price, AND give us a closing cost credit so that we could do some remodeling immediately (the leaky shower, which they should have fixed years ago, had seeped through into the joists and flooring, necessitating a full bathroom remodel).  They were willing to do the repairs but not to drop the price, so we had to move on.  After talking to my favorite contractor and brother-in-law Mr. Finch, I'm more and more certain that we made the right decision.  Better to walk away than to get mired in increasingly expensive renovations.

But!  We made a great chicken dinner on Friday night that helped to ease the pain.  The recipe is from America's Test Kitchen, and they don't call it Simple Roast Chicken for nothin'.  Perfectly cooked, moist chicken in less than two hours!  

Here she is in all her glory.  We used a 7 lb. broiler-fryer from Foster Farms, which was far to big a bird for our little family, but we will use the meat for chicken soup and the carcass for stock.  The recipe is as follows:

Preheat oven to 450 F.  Place oven-safe skillet in oven.

Wash chicken, pat dry.

Rub liberally with olive oil and season with 1 tablespoon kosher salt and 1 teaspoon ground black pepper.

Tuck wings into leg folds and tie legs together loosely.  (We used a silicone rubber band...easy peasy.)

Place chicken thighs-down in hot skillet (remember to use a potholder!).  

Roast at 450 F for 30 minutes for a 4 lb. bird (45 min. for a 7 lb. monster).

Check breast temperature.  Thermometer should read 120 F at thickest  part of breast. 

Return chicken to oven, turn oven off.  Leave chicken in warm oven for 30 minutes.

Remove chicken and check breast temperature.  Thermometer should read 160F at thickest part of breast.

Let chicken rest for 20 minutes on cutting board before carving to allow juices to redistribute throughout meat.  

See?  Easy.  Now for the sauce.

I removed the giblets from inside the bird's cavity before I washed it, put them in a small saucepan, and covered them with two cups of cold water.  I added some dried Italian herbs and some No-Salt Seasoning from Costco and let the concoction simmer while the chicken cooked.  Result: a nice flavorful stock.  After moving the chicken from the skillet to the cutting board, I poured most of the fat out of the skillet (trying to keep the solid drippings in wasn't easy...I used a shallow spoon to get the fat off) and set it over medium heat.  I deglazed the pan with the giblet stock and Mr. Mac added one minced shallot, a dash of balsamic vinegar, and a shot of fresh lemon juice.  We let the sauce reduce on low heat while the chicken rested, then whisked in a couple of tablespoons of butter to finish.  As the French say, "monter au beurre."

By the time the chicken was done, Mr. Mac and I were starving and Mac Mini was asleep, so we fell upon the chicken wings like hungry cannibals...best wings I've ever had!  The skin was crisp, the meat was juicy, and they were gone in seconds.  Thus fortified, we were able to control ourselves long enough to finish the accompaniments: steamed broccoli with garlic and mashed Yukon Golds with the skins on.  We sliced the chicken breast (one was big enough for us to share...this bird was HUGE), poured the sauce over it, and sat down to enjoy our chicken dinner.  

Next up:  making stock from the chicken carcass, and our search for Earth...I mean, HOME...continues.

Hello again!

Well, once again it's been far too long and things have been happening!  I am proud to announce that after touring 111 houses and putting offers on 5 of them, we are now under contract at long last!  Offer #5 reached mutual acceptance May 25th and we are knee-deep in the negotiation process.  First, the good:  we LOVE this house.  It's only three short miles from downtown Seattle in the lovely neighborhood of Beacon Hill, right across the street from a large park and a 10-minute bike ride to the light rail station, public library, and grocery store.  It's a safe, diverse, established neighborhood full of well-tended houses.  The house was built in 1927 and much of the original character is intact.  The doors, trim, and moldings are mahogany, the fireplace surround is marble, there is beautiful Art Deco tile in the kitchen and upstairs bathroom, and there's a laundry chute in the hallway.  This house has a butler's pantry, built-in cabinets in the living room, a telephone alcove, and an attic space big enough to remodel into a master suite with vaulted ceilings.  The lot is level and mostly fenced,  there's a garage and a carport, and there are several mature fruit trees and rhododendrons in the yard.

Now the bad and the ugly:  the current owners have neglected almost all routine maintenance for at least the last ten years.  The roof is an eyesore.  Mr. Mac was able to stick his hand through it and wave at us from the attic.  The gutters and downspouts are completely clogged and improperly positioned, directing water right down towards the foundation.  The flashing around the front porch and under the beautiful picture windows is detaching from the house, letting water in by the gallon.  The oil furnace was last serviced in 2003.  The electrical system is a convoluted nest of knob-and-tube wiring, spliced copper, and lamp cord.  There are several active plumbing leaks, including one so bad that the floor joists under the shower may need to be replaced.  The basement ceiling has water spots and must be replaced.  All of these are simple problems that, had they been addressed promptly, would have cost the owners a minimum amount of money and time to fix.  Instead, they chose to ignore them and now they won't be making any money on the sale of the home that they've lived in for 35 years.

Fortunately, most or all of the moisture issues will be solved by fixing the roof and plumbing leaks.  As our fantastic home inspector Reis put it, "...anything can be fixed, it's just a matter of how much and who pays."  Today we're compiling our list of repair requests, price reductions, and buyer credits.  We'll see whether the sellers are willing to comply or whether we walk away and continue our search.  The suspense is killing me!

When it rains, it pours.

Well, we put an offer on a house at long last!  It's a fully remodeled duplex very close to our dream neighborhood (Capitol Hill) and a steal of a deal.  It's huge!  The upper unit (in which we would live) is 1800 square feet, 4 bedrooms, 1.75 baths.  The lower unit (rental income) is 1040 square feet, 2 bedrooms, 1 bath.  The remodel got rid of most of the original 1901 building's charm, but that's something that can be brought back with the skillful application of hardwood flooring, baseboards, and crown moldings. Unfortunately, it's a short sale.  Also unfortunately, there are multiple offers.  Which means we won't know for awhile if our offer was the best, and the bank may not get around to reviewing our offer for months.  Sigh.  So now we wait and see.  But!  Something else completely different in another dream neighborhood (Seward Park) just came on the market last night, and we can't wait to see it.  It's an estate...the original owner/builder just passed away and the family is selling the home.  I've never seen anything like it.  It was built in 1959 and is a great example of the Midcentury Modern style.  Lots of cool details, 3 fireplaces, a wine cellar, and a humongous basement with steel I-beams and high ceilings just waiting for some drywall and a little love.  Did I mention that both of these houses have radiant heat systems?  That's still fairly rare in old Seattle (where gas and oil furnaces and forced air are the preferred heating methods), so finding two houses in two weeks with radiant baseboards is pretty cool.  Will we choose the smell of leatherbound books and rich mahogany, or mod brick fireplaces and geometric tile?  Tune in soon (ish) to find out!

The duvet cover?  Ummmm....I'll start it...soon.  Really.

Well hello there!

It's been awhile...once again because Things are Happening and I've been so busy with the house hunt.  We have had a few near misses, including one heartbreaking instance in which we missed putting an offer on a great house by 20 minutes!  The seller's agent had already sent the offer to the bank that owned the house and it was accepted while we were on the phone with our realtor putting our offer together...grrr.  I think Mr. Mac is still reeling from that one, especially since the house was a lovely 1909 Craftsman with a sunroom and incredible curved kitchen cabinets, a block from Pritchard Island Beach...so disappointing.  I never dreamed that this market would be so cutthroat.  Multiple offers are the norm and the inventory is down 27% from last year at this time...these are certainly some shark-infested waters we're swimming in.  I have now toured a whopping 70 houses!  Anyway, life goes on and so do we.  Mac Mini and I have been enjoying the slightly better weather.  On Tuesday we went to two separate playgrounds in the morning and afternoon and she had a wonderful time running around and playing on the slides.  It was nice to wear sunglasses for a change, and I even got to take off my sweatshirt!  Spring may be here after all.  And after two months I've finally decided on a layout for my duvet cover project...pictures and updates to come!

Episode IV: A New Quilt

It's a duvet cover, really.  A long-awaited gift for my sister AD and her hubby Mr. Finch.  I decided to go for the obvious with bird-and-branch-themed fabric and threw in some gold and blue for flavor.  The pattern (another Amy Butler design called "Lotus Brick Path", a variation on the classic "Yellow Brick Road" pattern), uses 7 1/2" x 4 1/2" rectangles...198 of them.  I used 1/2 yard each of 11 different prints and cut 18 rectangles from each fabric.

After I cut the rectangles and stacked them up, this is what they looked like:

That's a lot of rectangles.  Here's a shot of all the fabrics, cut and ready to sew.

Later that night, after Mac Mini went to bed, I laid out all the pieces to see how I wanted the pattern to flow.  Picture me pushing all the furniture against the walls and trying to lay out almost 200 pieces of fabric in a seven-foot square in our tiny living room.  Now picture me crouching and crabwalking across the floor because Mr. Mac is deep into a Gears Of War III tournament and I am between him and the television.  Now add two large, curious cats and poor overhead lighting and you'll have some idea of what it's like to undertake a large sewing project Chez Mac.  

After finally finishing the layout, I stacked the pieces in rows and labeled them for sewing.  I have yet to begin the sewing part of this project, partly because it seems kind of daunting, but mostly because Mac Mini, work, and househunting have kept me hopping.  

We had another near miss on our search for Mac Manor...a lovely older (1904) home in Beacon Hill with original moldings, fir floors, an atrium, a window seat, and nice high ceilings everywhere...except in the main bathroom and at the top of the stairs.  With Mr. Mac standing 6'5" in his stocking feet, low ceilings anywhere are a dealbreaker for us.  It's been a recurring roadblock for us...attics turned into bedrooms, "finished" basements with six-foot ceilings (hint to seller's agents: if an average-sized human can't stand up in it, it's not "usable space"), bathrooms tucked under stairwells...this sort of thing is the rule, not the exception, among houses in our price range.  Seattle had a housing boom in the early 1940s, and the "Boeing boxes" built by and for the newly relocated wartime employees are prevalent all over the city.  These houses are charming and have held up well through the years, but economy and space-saving was of the essence and ceiling height was definitely not a priority for those fine folks.  That's why we've been falling in love with so many homes built between 1900 and 1925.  Nine-foot ceilings are just about perfect for a fellow of Mr. Mac's stature, and we love the look and feel (not to mention the build quality) of houses from that era.  Looking at an old Craftsman or Victorian, you just know that it has a story to tell.  And since only 1% of Seattle's extant houses were built before 1900, we'd be helping to preserve a little bit of our city's history before these old beauties go completely extinct.  Maybe this week we'll find our dream house...

Big Dreamers

Well, our house hunt continues apace.  We toured seven homes on Saturday, with Mac Mini in tow.  She was a peach and behaved herself very well.  She especially enjoyed the staged homes and found lots of neat decorations to play with (fortunately most of them were neither fragile nor expensive).  A couple of the homes were non-starters...one was in a very bad location and the other had been built in 1998 and already looked like it needed a full remodel.  Pretty depressing stuff.

We visited another big fixer, this one on Beacon Hill, and yet again I fell victim to my heart and imagination.  It was a sad story: the previous owner had purchased the home for $450,000 in 2007, started renovating it, run out of money, couldn't get a loan modification, and lost the house.  It is now on the market through Fannie Mae for $199,000.  Most of the first floor was torn down to the studs and the concrete block foundation needed a serious overhaul to meet code.  (Even though it has been standing for 112 years and survived three major earthquakes, concrete block is now considered unsuitable for construction in the Pacific Northwest...something about volcanoes and seismic events.)   The previous owner had done a good deal of plumbing and electrical work, so Mr. Mac and I considered finishing the remodel and doubling our money on a large house in a great location.

The house on the hill.

We consulted with a friend who owns a construction business, who told us to run for the hills and never look back.  Good advice.  Unfortunately, he also quoted us an amount for fixing the foundation which fell within the scope of our budget.  My interest was piqued and I went back to take another look at the house.  This time I brought The Fantastic Mr. Finch, my brother-in-law, a carpenter and contractor well-versed in renovation.  He went through the house and pointed out the strange electrical rework, the incorrect placement of the brand-new shower box, the fact that the previous owner had walled in the porch and taken out the fireplace.  He found warped vinyl siding, bowed window frames, and evidence of water damage.  In short, I had fallen in love with another pooper.  Mr. F let me down gently, and said something that sums up our home search so far: "You guys are big dreamers."

Another dream home.

It's true.  After many years of urban apartment living, our dreams of a sweet oasis in the city tend to color our view of reality.  It's so easy to say, "All we have to do is finish the drywall, shore up the foundation, put in a new kitchen, and do some landscaping," forgetting that those projects would take tens of thousands of dollars and many months to complete.  Not to mention that we'd be doing it all on a tight budget and with a very active toddler running around.  So here's hoping we can find a home that suits our budget and our plans, and rein in our imaginations just enough to let in a little practicality.

The Creative Juices Are Flowing!

Mr. Mac and I have been busy dreaming about our dream home and touring all kinds of homes.  On Tuesday, he emailed me a new listing and I was able to see it with our realtor that afternoon.  Along with half of the prospective homebuyers in Seattle.  It was an enormous 1901 Victorian-style manor, smack-dab in the middle of First Hill, with seven bedrooms, three bathrooms, a good-sized backyard, and a parking space...for $270,900.  An unheard-of price for that neighborhood, which usually commands home prices of over half a million dollars.  Simply the best deal we've seen on the market so far.  The catch?  It had fallen into disrepair and needed some serious TLC.  I walked into 4,000 square feet of cracked lathe and plaster, peeling linoleum, funky wiring and plumbing, ancient carpet, and dry rot and fell deeply in love.  Our realtor estimated over $150,000 worth of repairs for a full renovation, but I wasn't afraid.  We would do this ourselves, room by room, scraping away the layers of bad wood paneling and uncovering hardwood floors that needed only a buffing and a coat of shellac to gleam like new.  This was a grand old house, three full stories and a basement, winding staircases with bannisters, crown moldings and ten-foot ceilings, just waiting to be refurbished and rehabilitated.  I envisioned a library on the second floor, a finished basement playground for Mac Mini, a formal dining room, and a third-floor suite for the au pair.  We would remodel the home, live there happily for decades, then sell it for three times the price.

 Four other interested parties toured the house with me, and I knew this home would disappear quickly.  So Mr. Mac and I arranged to see it again on Wednesday during his lunch hour.  This time, there were two other groups of people waiting to see the house, but for some reason the doorknob had been removed and replaced, the lockbox was locked inside the house, and the seller's agent could not be reached by phone.  Something was definitely fishy.  Mr. Mac took a good look at the yard and the outside of the house, but no one could get inside.  That's when our little dream began to fade.  We had a heart-to-heart with our realtor, who reminded us that the home would be the center of a cutthroat bidding war by the end of the week, and made the hard decision that we had neither the savvy nor the budget for that kind of fight.  Sigh.  So our dream home is still out there somewhere, waiting for us.  Ah, what might have been.

Mr. Mac and I had intended to buy a fully remodeled or newer home, but this experience has inspired us to go for a diamond in the rough and make it our own.  I have many, many decorating ideas percolating.  We're touring another spate of homes on Saturday, and apparently springtime is when the sellers emerge from hibernation and the market becomes more open to first-time homebuyers in our price range.  So wish us luck...hopefully we'll soon be sanding, painting, papering, and gardening!

Haus Hunting

Well, things are getting busier around here.  My work has picked up considerably and Mac Mini is being her busy little self.  She drew all over one of the walls with the unfortunately unwashable crayons given to her by a well-meaning Grandma Mac, so priming and painting is certainly in my future.  I have all the fabric for my next quilting project, a duvet cover for my sister and brother-in-law.  It will be my largest project yet!  I've only just started cutting the pieces because I've been so preoccupied with my other giant project...finding us a house!

Mr. Mac and I have been renting our two-bedroom apartment in the heart of Belltown for almost four years now.  It's a great spot, and we love being able to walk to work.  We have a view of Elliot Bay and the Olympic Mountains, and I love watching the ferries go back and forth across the water.  We're on the top floor of our large mid-1990s building, and the apartment is fairly large and comfortable.  This is our home, and it's difficult to consider moving out of the downtown area.

However, our rent has gone up 5% a year for the past two years, and we've reached a point in our lives where we really need to start investing in ourselves instead of giving our money to a building management company.  If we buy a house within our budget, we'll be saving hundreds of dollars in monthly expenses.  We're also kind of out of space.  I'm afraid to open the closet in Mac Mini's room, which is also Mr. Mac's office.  Our storage unit is completely packed full of boxes, outdoor equipment, and the enormous air conditioner we use in the summer heat waves.  Mac Mini's toys have taken over the living room, and our dining table also doubles as my office and sewing table.  It's getting very crowded in here.

I've been looking for a house for us since early December, and it's been tough.  This is a great market for first-time homebuyers in our price range.  But the good stuff only stays on the market for a few days before it gets snapped up, so we have to be ready to pounce.  So far we've looked at 50+ houses and toured about 20.  It's so tempting to stretch our budget and try to buy something more expensive...but the idea is to save money, so I'm determined to get a great deal.  Originally we were going to do the whole thing ourselves through Redfin, but it's just too much work and the good stuff disappears too quickly.  We met with a realtor yesterday, and I'm confident that she can help us find the right home.  Ugh.  This whole thing is so stressful!  It kind of makes me sick to my stomach thinking about it.

Mac Mini and I are headed down to Olympia today to celebrate Cousin Leontine's third birthday while Mr. Mac throws a Sportsball party.  I hope the weather is as beautiful today as it was yesterday!  I love Seattle's springy sunshine!

Holy Bacon Cookies!

...And on that day it came to pass that the bacon fat jar runneth over, and did spill its grease upon the kitchen countertop, leaving a nasty puddle, and yea, there was no more room in the jar, and the children of the Lord dispaired, saying, "Our jar runneth over!  O, what shall we do with all this bacon fat?  We have fried our eggs and sauteed our brussels sprouts, yet still we have bacon fat to spare."  Then did the Lord speak unto His children, saying, "Bring forth the Trinity Episcopal Church Recipe Book, and find ye there Nelle Branson's Swedish Ginger Cookie recipe."  And the children of the Lord did as the Lord commanded them, and they did bake Nelle Branson's Swedish Ginger Cookies, and did not falter or sway from the recipe as it had been handed down unto them, for to substitute butter for the bacon fat is a blasphemy and a sin in the eyes of the Lord.  And when they had baked the cookies, and allowed them to cool, the children of the Lord ate of the cookies and rejoiced, saying, "Who is like unto Nelle Branson?  That Swedish Episcopalian really knew her way around a ginger cookie."  And thus did the children of the Lord grow fat and plentiful.

Swedish Ginger Cookies*

Adapted from Nelle Branson in the "Trinity Episcopal Church Recipe Book," 1982 edition.  Bacon fat can be substituted with 1 1/2 sticks of butter; for the authentic cookie, though, bacon fat is the key ingredient.  Makes 40 small cookies.


3/4 cup bacon fat, cooled (from 1 1/2 to 2 pounds bacon)
1 cup sugar, plus 1/4 cup for dusting the cookies
4 tablespoons dark molasses
1 large egg
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Cream sugar and bacon fat.  Add egg and molasses.  Mix well and add the dry ingredients.  Mix.  Chill in the refrigerator for a few hours.  Form into small balls and roll in white sugar.  Flatten with fingers.

Bake in the oven for about 10-12 minutes until dark brown.  Let cool on baking sheet for a few minutes, then transfer to a baking rack to finish cooling.


*This recipe, typed verbatim from a well-worn copy of a copy, was given to me by a pastry chef friend years ago and has become a staple of my cookie repertoire.  It's traditional, but just quirky and homespun enough to impress your bacon-loving foodie friends.

SnOMG

Yes, Seattle got a nice white blanket this week.  We get snow in the lowlands only a few times a year, so anything more than an inch is big news.  Businesses shut down, no one goes to work, and cars and busses all over the city begin their delicate downhill ballet.  Seattle drivers are typically underprepared and overconfident, myself included.  Five years ago I slid my bald-tired Nissan Altima down a snowy hill in Northgate and was barely able to stop myself in a neighbor's driveway.  Two days later Mr. Mac extricated the car using a combination of kitty litter (for traction) and burning clutch.  Thus ended my winter driving career.  Now I stay inside and complain about other drivers like a proper Seattleite.  Mr. Mac enjoys hooning around in the snow, and our current car (a 2005 Subaru Legacy GT Turbo with all-weather tires) is actually the perfect snow driving vehicle.  Still, my fear of sliding is deep-rooted and I choose to stay off the road.  

Work has been very slow (tomorrow will be my second shift this month), so Mac Mini and I have been hanging out around the house.  For many, many days now.  I tried to take her out to play in the snow, but after a full ten minutes of bundling and applying hats and mittens, she refused to stand up in the snow.  I put her down and she crouched into a ball and started crying.  Apparently she feels that snow is very pretty and nice to look at, but best enjoyed from indoors, preferably while holding a warm cup of cocoa.  I do wish I had been able to get out and play.  I love tubing, sledding, and snowshoeing.  I've only been skiing once, and I was horrible at it, but I'd be willing to try again.  

Mac Mini also caught a cold this week, so she's been a little cranky and hasn't slept well.  Cabin fever set in a couple of days ago and I'm trying to find creative things for her to do.  We've read all the books (over and over and over again), we made a pillow fort, and I even put the batteries back in her most annoying musical toy.  She seems to be feeling better today, so I'm going to put her in the backpack and venture out for a walk.  We're heading to the International District Post Office, where in their infinite wisdom the USPS is holding one of my packages.  Lord knows why...I ordered two yoga videos from Amazon and they should have been delivered to my apartment last week.  Oh well.  It's a good excuse for us to get out of the house, and maybe we'll stop by Uwajimaya for some noodles.  I just can't face another day of "Hippos Go Berserk" ad infinitum.

What's For Dinner?

Mr. Mac's Cakebread Pork Chops, that's what.  And my god, do they smell delicious.  Here they are a-grillin' on the Foreman:

He marinated them in tamari soy sauce, a tiny splash of vanilla extract, olive oil, a sprinkle of cinnamon, and cracked black pepper.  Guaranteed to make your kitchen smell like spice cake.  And don't discount the humble Foreman: our chops turned out tender, juicy, and perfectly cooked when the thermometer registered 140 degrees F.  Here they are with their co-stars, lentils and kale:

The kale is simple, hearty, and delicious.  Mr. Mac sauteed it with a splash of apple cider vinegar, a couple of teaspoons of olive oil, and a pinch of salt.  The lentils were cooked in a mixture of chicken stock and water (a two-and-a-half-to-one ratio of liquid to lentils), with mirepoix (one stalk celery, one carrot, and one small onion, diced) that we sweated in a little olive oil until soft.  We also added one bay leaf and a shake of Italian seasoning to the pot and simmered the lentils until tender, about 30 minutes.  I always wait until after my lentils are cooked to salt them; salting the cooking liquid can make the lentils tough.  We seasoned ours to taste and piled on the kale and chops.  Mmmmm.   A delectable dish of greens, lean protein, and fiber.  Good and good for you.  

What's For Dinner?

Chili!  Yep, we had an impromptu chili night with our friends R and J.  They brought over some delicious kale and pasta, and we had a hybrid Italian-Southwest meal that turned out rather well.  I don't have a recipe for my chili...my ingredients depend on what's in the pantry and what I feel like eating.  However, there are a few key ingredients that form the foundation:

onion
ground meat (beef and bison are my favorite)
tomato paste
diced canned tomatoes
canned beans
cumin
cayenne pepper

The rest is variable, but these seven ingredients are what, in my opinion, make chili taste like chili.  There are those (I'm looking at you, Alton), who maintain that beans are not necessary, but I think a can or two of black or red beans add a heartiness and textural variety that chili just can't do without.  No offense, Alton.  Your chili powder recipe is awesome.  So here's how my chili variation turned out on Friday night.

I diced one small yellow onion and two thick slices of bacon and browned them together in my cast iron Dutch oven.  I added two minced cloves of garlic and one pound of ground bison.  I sprinkled the bison with approximately two tablespoons of cumin seeds (which I toasted in a pan and ground in a mortar and pestle), about a teaspoon of smoked paprika, a healthy shake of Mexican green chile powder (chile not chili, contents unknown, brought back from Baja by my brother-in-law some years back), about a teaspoon each chipotle chile powder and cayenne pepper, and two teaspoons of salt.  When the bison was browned, I added one small can of tomato paste and cooked it for a few minutes to caramelize the paste - an important step in stock-making and one that will add an additional layer of flavor to your chili.

I opened up one large and one small can of diced tomatoes (28 oz and 14.5 oz, respectively) and added them to the Dutch oven.  Then I added one 14 oz can each of black beans and red kidney beans.  I let the chili simmer for a few minutes to let the flavors marry before tasting it for seasoning.  I added another tablespoon of cumin seeds (whole this time), another dash of smoked paprika, a pinch of salt, a few grinds of black pepper, and three big splashes of Chipotle Tabasco sauce.  Then I added three tablespoons of cocoa powder.  Try it sometime.  The bitter cocoa mellows and deepens the chili spices and tends to bring out any smokiness you've added, which in this case was quite a lot, what with the bacon and the chipotle and the smoked paprika.  Then I let the whole business simmer on low heat for half an hour.  The result: thick, meaty, hearty, spicy-but-not-too-spicy, dark, flavorful, delicious smoky chili.  We topped it with crema agria (Mexican sour cream) and some chopped cilantro.  And some fresh pasta and kale with shallots, but that's a food hybridization story for another time.   Adios and happy trails!

Quilting postscript:  I'm currently waiting on a shipment from fabrics.com...they were out of stock on one of my items and just informed me yesterday, so my next project is out there somewhere, navigating the nether regions of the US Postal Service.  Ew.

Tradition!

As the new year begins, I turn once again to a time-honored and much-loved tradition.  It is, of course, my annual viewing of Joss Whedon's television masterpiece Buffy the Vampire Slayer, followed by its companion piece Angel.  I know, it's pretty geeky, but Buffy and friends appeared on TV my senior year of high school and occupied my Tuesday evenings through college and culinary school.  Not to get all sentimental or anything, but I still totally remember where I was when Buffy died.  Both times.

Anyway, when I settle in for a comfortable night with Miss Summers and Co., I like to make a batch of fluffy, yummy biscuits to nosh.  My biscuit recipe comes from a copy of The James Beard Cookbook, published in 1961 and passed down from my great-grandmother to my mother to me.  It's a family heirloom that I plan to give to Mac Mini when she gets a place of her own.

The dust jacket has long since disintigrated, but I saved the author's biography and framed it.  St. James now occupies a place of honor above our stove.  Here he is in his jowly, well-fed glory.

Biscuits are a very simple quickbread.  When made properly, they're flaky and light, with a crisp outside and a tender inside.  The key is to use cold butter and milk and not to overmix the dough.

Beard's Buffy-Watchin' Biscuits

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 1/2 teaspoons double-acting baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons sugar
5 tablespoons butter, cold, cut into pea-sized pieces
3/4 cup buttermilk*, cold

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.  Place dry ingredients in mixing bowl and mix well.  Cut in butter with a fork and use the tips of your fingers to pinch and press mixture lightly, working butter and dry ingredients together until mixture is sandy in texture and some small pieces of butter remain intact.  Add buttermilk and mix until dough is sticky and pulls away from sides of bowl.  Turn out onto lightly floured surface, knead lightly once or twice, and press out to 1" thick.  Use a floured biscuit cutter or knife to cut 2"-diameter biscuits.  Alternatively, skip the kneading and drop biscuits by spoonfuls onto a parchment-lined or nonstick baking sheet.  Bake biscuits for 10-12 minutes, until barely browned on top.  Serve immediately with butter, honey, or (my favorite) maple syrup.

*To make buttermilk, add 1 teaspoon of lemon juice to 3/4 cup milk and let sit 5 minutes.  Or do what I do and use 1/4 cup plain yogurt and 1/2 cup milk.

Happy New Year!

Aaaand...we're back!  It's been a busy few weeks here Chez Mac, and I for one am glad to enter into a relatively calm January.  We had the usual double-family holiday celebrations, marred by the fact that my sister and her family were felled by a particularly nasty flu bug.  We still haven't seen them, but as soon as they're out of the quarantine stage we'll have another Christmas party.  I've been busy wrapping up assorted holiday projects and making the most of my three-week-off "dead zone" at work...the huge corporate parties are over, the end-of-year meetings have ended, and the hotel pretty much shuts down its catering operations until mid-January.

My doomed pillow covers actually turned into some nice holiday placemats for my mother-in-law, who loved the gold and red snowflake motif.

I scrapped the appliqued circle idea and just made strippy panels with my fabrics, then attached a gold center panel, back, and batting.  Easy peasy.  

I'm currently finishing up a quilt for my dear friends J and B, two of the loveliest and most talented chefs I have the pleasure to know.  It's based on Amy Butler's Belle quilt pattern, and it's my first time using fusible web applique.  The layout:

Done in the traditional manner, on the living room floor after putting Mac Mini to bed, fending off curious cats and trying not to stab myself with pins.  And here's what it looks like put together, quilted, and bordered:

Overall I'm happy with it, but I did learn a few important lessons.  Lesson the first: machine quilting round shapes is HARD.  Especially when you're dealing with a larger quilt.  Bunching fabric, fighting with my unfortunately chosen metallic thread...it was a bad situation.  Lesson the second:  quilting from the inside out is key when doing decorative stitches.  I made a complete hash out of one of my round pieces because I started from the top and worked to the bottom.  What a mess.  And the damned metallic thread wouldn't pull out of the fabric, so I just had to salvage what I could and move on.  Lesson the third: PRACTICE BEFORE JUMPING IN.  I had such grand ideas, and the minute I started I knew they were impossible, yet in my stubbornness I kept going and ended up with a less-than stellar result.  

I think it looks pretty good from the front, but thank god my backing is patterned so it hides some of the defects.  Oh well.  I learned a lot about machine quilting and have much more respect for the people who can do it well.  This girl's sticking with straight lines from now on.  

Hope this year brings much happiness and good health to all!