Random Reading

I FINALLY got my hideous, energy wasting, inside wooden door masquerading as an exterior basement entry door replaced!  It wasn’t easy, but after months of measuring, remeasuring, hiring someone else to measure, ordering, waiting for it to come in, and a full day of professional installation, my brand new 90-minute steel fire door is in place.  Hooray!

It has to be fire-rated because it is the door to the garage and the car could blow up or something.  I don’t really understand it since the living room and then my bedroom are above the garage and would be blown away anyway, but it is required by the town building code, so it is fire-rated.  Of course, this makes the door more expensive.

It took the contractor from 10:30 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. to install.  He took a lunch break, but still, that’s a long time.  It was worth it though.  Here are some before and after pictures. 

Inside view of old door:

Garage view of old door (Note the attractive rusting metal sheets nailed to the wood door to make it fire-rated):

Inside view of new door:

Garage view of new door:
 

Replacing the door also gave me a chance to change the lock.  I have been meaning to change the locks since I moved in.  I figure it is a good idea since you never know who the previous owner might have left keys with.  I am also on a campaign to slowly change everything I possibly can from shiny brass to brushed nickel.  I have now done the accents in the half bath (towel holder, etc.) and this lock.  I have the new lock/deadbolt for the front door as well and just need to install them.    Maybe I will tackle that this weekend.

I went over to Tricia’s one night in May for dinner, cross-stitching, and Red Sox.  She and C made me a wonderful dinner of burgers on the grill and a very flavorful Orzo Salad with Chickpeas, Dill, and Lemon from Cooking Light. 

Chickpeas are new for me.  I had a leftover opinion form my extremely picky eater days that I did not like chickpeas or anything made from them.  Too mushy.  However, recently discovering that some forms of hummus are okay, I decided to give chickpeas themselves a try.  It turns out I don’t hate them.  They will never be my favorite food, but they are okay and can be a good source of protein and are high in dietary fiber.  So they are now off the list of foods I won’t eat. 

So with my new found respect for chickpeas, I really enjoyed the orzo salad.  The fresh dill and lemon juice really make a difference and gave intense flavor to the dish.  I liked it so much, that I looked up the recipe and made it myself.  I used whole wheat orzo because I find that orzo is one of the few items where I really don’t taste the difference, so I might as well go healthy. 

I also used fresh garlic rather than bottled minced because I don’t have bottled garlic, only fresh.  Maybe that’s a sign of my foodie evolution.   :)  I probably used too much garlic (1 medium clove would have been good), but the salad was still fantastic.  Leftovers make a great cold lunch, especially on really hot days like we have been having hear in Boston.

This is another Heidi Swanson recipe from 101 Cookbooks.  You know I love quinoa, and blackberries are one of my favorite berries, so I had to try this breakfast version of Warm Nutty Cinnamon Quinoa.  It was very easy and quite delicious.

You basically cook the quinoa in a mix of milk and water, stir in cinnamon and blackberries, then top with toasted pecans (or walnuts or any nut) and agave nectar.  If you don’t have agave nectar you can just use honey.  Agave nectar is very similar to honey, but a bit sweeter and thinner.  Vegan’s often use it as a honey substitute as it is produced from a plant extract, not by bees.  It is also a good sweetener for cold beverages because it dissolves easily in cold liquid, unlike honey or sugar.

I used a mix of red and white quinoa, just to make it more fun.  I really enjoyed this recipe, particularly the warm cinnamon flavor and sweetness of the nectar/honey.  I will absolutely make it again.

Joy and Erin posted their summer goals last month.  So, I’m a little behind, but here are my goals.

1. Replace the basement entry door. (the door has been ordered, I am just waiting for it to arrive and be installed)
2. Finish my current cross-stitch project.  You know, my mystery project that started in January 2007!
3. Plan a vacation for 2009.
4. Unpack the rest of the moving boxes.
5. Lose three pounds.
6. Set up the photo printer and digital photo frame I got for Christmas so I will have more pictures to put around the house.
7. Read more.
8. Make at least one recipe from each cookbook I own that I have not yet used. (this probably won’t help #5)
9. Get new sneakers.
10. Decide what to do for my holiday craft gifts.

What are your goals?

I LOVE muffin batter.  Muffins themselves are great too, but I really love the batter.  I am always the one to clean out the bowl and lick the spatula. 

This basic muffin recipe comes from the Maine Sesquecentennial Cookbook, but to me it’s just the family muffin recipe.  It was originally written for blueberries, but is great with any type of berry and on this particular day, I chose strawberries.  Blueberries aren’t really my favorite.

Strawberry Muffins
2 cups Flour
3 tsp. baking powder
1/3 cup sugar
3/4 tsp. salt
1 egg, beaten
3/4 cup milk
1/4 cup melted shortening/butter/margarine
1.5 - 2 cups berries

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Mix dry ingredient together.  Add egg, milk, and melted shortening.  Stir only enough to mix.  Add berries.  Fill greased muffin tins 2/3 full.  Bake for 20 minutes.  Makes 12 muffins.

I had a great, relaxed, long weekend.  I did a lot of cooking and a lot of lounging around.  I will have many posts from the cooking once I upload the pictures.

This post is really about Merlin though.  I know all cats are strange, but he really exasperates me/cracks me up sometimes with his snubbing of things that are specifically designed for cats.  He has a nice soft warm cat bed. 

Does he use it?  No.  Why do I move it from house to house and keep it in the living room if her NEVER uses it?  He used to like it two houses ago when it was in front of a radiator.  I keep putting it next to heating vents in the hope he will regain his affection for it, but so far, no luck.

So what does he prefer?  My computer bag.

Sitting three feet from his cat bed!

Maybe he prefers black.  I have no idea.  Sometimes I just have to shake my head and laugh at him.

Tabbouleh is a Middle Eastern grain-based salad that is typically flavored with parsley, mint and tomatoes.  You may remember that I made a sweet breakfast variation a couple months ago.  Yes, it was spelled differently.  There are many accepted spellings and I just go with whatever the recipe title says.

This version of Spring Tabbouleh is a Heidi Swanson recipe from her 101 Cookbooks blog.  I loved the idea of green spring vegetables and lemony olive oil dressing topped with walnuts.  I made it for Mother’s Day/my birthday when my family came down and they all liked it, even Rachel, who was not really sold on the idea until she tried it.  I thought it was delicious and made great leftovers for lunch the next day.

I was low on peas, so I used up what I had and added some pea pods to make up the difference.  Next time, I might also add some corn.  The recipe calls for a garnish of chopped hard-boiled egg, but it is not really my favorite, so I left it off.

Raspberry-Balsamic Glazed Chicken is an ‘old’ favorite of mine from Cooking Light.  It only requires a few ingredients, that I usually have on hand, and about 15 minutes to make.  The rice I usually serve with it takes longer, so I start the rice and then make the chicken.  It’s great for a quick, flavorful weeknight meal, and the sauce for the chicken is also great on the rice.

This is not the prettiest presentation, but all the pictures of my attempts at a more artistic plating were fuzzy and out of focus.

Erica has an adorable new puppy named Java.  She is a miniature golden doodle poodle.  Try saying that three times fast.  I guess this means she does not shed and is hypo-allergenic.  I went to visit her a couple of weeks ago and she is very fun and playful, although she does not always mind very well.  She is just a puppy though and now that she is enrolled in obedience school, I am sure she will soon be as well behaved as she is cute.  Here are a few pictures.

Crab is one of my favorite types of seafood.  One of these days when I’m at Legal Seafood, I’m going to have to try the king crab legs so I will know exactly what they are fishing for when I watch Deadliest Catch.  Great show.  I could NEVER be a crab fisherman.  Besides the fact that I’m not strong enough, I don’t chain smoke, work heavy equipment, or enjoying working 36 hour shifts with freezing cold water splashing over me.  Fascinating to watch though.

Anyway, I love crab and I like curry powder, so I had to try this Ina Garten recipe for Crab Strudel.  It looks fancy, but was actually pretty easy.  The filling is lump crab meat with scallions, garlic, curry powder, parsley, lime juice, salt, and pepper.  You mix it together, roll it up  in phyllo dough, bake it, and slice it.  I made it once for my family as directed by the recipe and the LOVED it.

This was a test run for using it at my open house party and it tasted great, but was a little hard to eat, so we batted around the idea of making it into little cups that you can just pop in your mouth.  Rachel tried it first and gave me her tips on the adjustments, and then I tried it for the party.  Well, actually, Erica tried it since she did most of the cooking, but I helped with directions.  :)  It was a hit in this form too.

Also note the pretty china the crab bites are sitting on.  My friend Irene from work had an extra set of china she didn’t need and just gave it to me!  It’s a gorgeous white on white patter with a gold rim and I love it.  Thanks Irene!