those silly vegans and their guacamole!

It has been said that vegans exist off of hummus and guacamole.  Maybe a little soy too.  I can vouch that the avocado is a staple for a vegan...kind of like bananas to a monkey or peanuts to an elephant.

Adrienne once again wowed us with her fantastic cooking this past weekend - we had a little Christmas shindig where she made an excellent home made pot pie, creamy brussel sprouts, and a fresh citrus and fennel salad.  But dessert took the "cake" so to speak.

AJ did this - cut an avocado in half, gently removing the pit.  The pit was then replaced with chocolate mousse, the avocado then rubber-banded back together and placed in the fridge.  Once cooled, the avocado was gingerly peeled to keep its shape, then rolled in chocolate nibs and pistachios.  Accompanying this little gem was home made grape sorbet, which AJ made in her ice cream maker and flavored with the juice from hand-pressed grapes.  Unbelievable.

It was, as always, a great nite with excellent food, wine, and after-dinner sweets.  Spoiled, I am.

the kitchen....is done

I thought our kitchen would take about 5-6 weeks to remodel, start to finish, and that everything would be nice and tidy by the time our friends came to visit over Memorial Day weekend...2010.

Wrong.  We just finished yesterday.  5-6 weeks turned into 5-6 months.

But, oh - what a kitchen!  Adrienne and I had no real vision for this space when we started.  It was an organic process and the end result is beautiful, functional, and about 10 orders of magnitude better than what we had.  Everything you see was our design, the work done by us with lots of help from contractors and uncles along the way.

The biggest change you will see is that the fridge and stove were bunched up against the soon-to-be unearthed brick chimney, while the sink and counter were back in the main kitchen space.  So we pushed everything back into that main space and transformed the area near the chimney into a bar.  The other major change was taking the washer and dryer out of the main kitchen space, replacing them with the fridge, and concealing the w and d behind the white folding doors.

One more thing...all of this was done in a way that Mother Nature would approve.  Countertops - recycled paper.  Sink - recycled copper.  Paint - no VOC.  Cabinets - reclaimed 100 year old fir.  Slate tiles - quarried and then re-landscaped with native plants.  Hardwood floors - refurbished as opposed to new.  Butcher Block island - reclaimed African hardwoods.  Hardware for cabinets - reclaimed from a  house demolition.  Window and doorway trim - compressed sawdust collected as a byproduct of sawmills.  Corkboard decoration - from our gallons and gallons of wine we've consumed, framed by unrepairable floorboards.  Pantry and shelves - FSC certified lumber.  And all of this was done with just a little thought and research and not a huge pocketbook.  I'm just sayin...

Important lessons learned:
- some of this was fun!
- most of this was frustrating!
- don't plan a wedding while remodeling your kitchen!
- timelines are mere suggestions!
- budgets are no more than a poor hypothesis of cost!
- create a bar in your house if you can!
- go the extra mile - its worth the effort!

We are totally stoked on how this turned out - way better than we could have imagined. Below is a photo-journey of this kitchen metamorphosis.

You can click on each of these pics for a larger view...

One of the first things we did was open up the wall between the dining area and the kitchen (now bar)

You can see the fridge and stove and small counter space occupying the space where we now have a bar

The Bar

Moving from the Bar into the Kitchen (note the old post in the middle of the kitchen that we replaced with a wooden beam - opened it all up!)

Old kitchen with washer and dryer acting as continued counter top space, now replaced with fridge and new island (washer and dryer are now behind the white folding doors seen in the above picture)

Back of the kitchen going into our room and out to our deck

Guest bedroom and bathroom doors off the kitchen

Long view of kitchen, bar, and out to dining area

Exposing the brick in our bar area

Progression of the floor in our bar area - there were about 7 layers of tar, marmoleum, linoleum, tiles, wood paneling (?), etc over the 100 year old wood floors

Flooring progression in the main kitchen and bar - more of the same from above, but we transitioned to laying down slate tiles

Installation of counters and cabinets

meet e.t., the christmas tree

Adrienne and I have lacked the enthusiasm to decorate our house for Christmas this year - we'll be out of town for the big day and we've been focusing all our time on finishing our kitchen.  But the holiday bug bit us this weekend, so we picked up this 4-footer and busted out the ornaments and lights.  I'm glad we did - it seems criminal to forego the smell of living-room-pine-tree for the month of December...

I think this tree looks like E.T. - Adrienne disagrees.  All I see is a long neck, big head, and spindly arms and fingers.  E.T. indeed.

i've gone crackers...

Ha ha.  But its kind of true.  In our fancy breadmaking book, there is a recipe for fancy crackers.  I took my first stab at making these for Thanksgiving dinner appetizers - not bad for a first attempt, but they were a bit chewy rather than crunchy.  Since then, I have made TWO more batches of crackers - each getting much better!  I can't believe you can just make fancy crackers at home - who knew!

My first attempt

2nd batch

3rd batch

thanksgiving 2010

Adrienne pulled out all the stops as expected for Thanksgiving Day.  It was just us for the day - I don't even think we went outside - as Mark was snowed in at his house and couldn't make it down.  We missed family and friends, but sure enjoyed the day just the two of us.  Below you'll find in pictures our gastronomical delights from the holiday.

note: Almost all of this was either grown in our garden or made from scratch.  Truly remarkable!

Breakfast - Buckwheat waffles with blackberry maple syrup and tempeh bacon

Mid-morning snack - Spicy Bloody Marys

AJ creating food-magic in the kitchen

Mid-Afternoon Snack - Spinach Dip with Crackers

Wine for 1st Course - 2009 Demetria Beton Blanc

1st Course - Chipotle-Butternut Squash Soup and Wild Mushroom Ciabatta

2nd Course Wine - 2000 Citation (Firesteed) Pinot Noir

2nd Course - Seitan Roulade with Chestnut Stuffing, Sauteed Brussel Sprouts in Apple Cider Vinegar, Honey, and Tarragon-infused Carmelized Onions, Green Bean Casserole with Homemade Fried Onions, Garlic Purple Potatoes, Wild Mushroom Ciabatta

Cheers!

Dessert: Swirled Pumpkin Cheesecake with Graham Cracker Crust

The Aftermath: Full, on the couch, watching When Harry Met Sally

diggin out

A day after a huge winter snowstorm, there's nothin but sun and a predicted high of 25...

Seattle has come to a standstill - snow everywhere with ice underneath.  In a hilly city like this one, that spells trouble.  Folks leaving work last night to go home found themselves still on the road at midnight.  Today, abandoned cars are littered throughout the metro area as people gave up and walked the rest of the way home!  Most of the city is shut down, most state and federal agencies are shuttered, and everyone is staying put.  The kids in our neighborhood are taking advantage of the empty streets and sledding down the snowed-over pavement.  Others are choosing to use x-country skis to get from here to there rather than the typical cars and bikes.

Tonight's low is 12 degrees.  Wiesty, cold even under all that furry fur, has grown quite fond of my down jacket over the past two days...

AJ taking care of the sidewalk - what a model citizen!

Wiesty nestled inside my black down jacket

snowy in seattle

AJ and I woke up to a thin veneer of snow in the Ravenna neighborhood, which quickly turned to about 3 inches on the ground!  Last year there was not a lick of snow the entire season - this year it is predicted to be a snowy and cold winter scene here in the PacNorWest.  We cruised through the neighborhood and to the park after work - below are some scenes of white.

AJ on the 20th St bridge

Ravenna Park

JJ in the park

AJ showing off the park

3rd Place Books lookin chilly

AJ and Olive

20th Ave NE

6847