Oct 29
Just an FYI. When I’m asked where I was during the hurricane of ’12 or sandy or Frankenstorm ill be able to say I drove straight through it. Lord willing I can fly home on Wednesday if the airports are open and I’ll give you all details when I’m back! Just think–wind, rain, sleet, snow, mountains, hurricane, two girls and a Mini Cooper. Hope the thought is entertaining. For now I’m enjoying the respite and thinking of all my family and friends in the path of the storm. God Bless
First off if you’ve made it this far then hopefully you’ve noticed the changes in design on the blog! It’s not perfect yet, but I think it’s much more eye-catching! You will have to read the “Meet the Artist” page to find out more about it….I’m not stealing that thunder here.
Back to being on topic…lately in life I’ve been noticing the things I set out figuring I want turn out to be nothing like what I actually end up with. And I’m much happier with what I have than what I thought I wanted. For example, in July of 2011 I was shopping for my wedding dress. I had done some research (mostly watching Say Yes to the Dress, and trolling pictures on Pinterest) and had decided I wanted something vintage-y, lace, sleek, and definitely not sleeve-less.
I can’t find the original source, I found it on Pinterest though!
I only went to 1 shop, I was in and out in under an hour(with a dress on my arm!) and even though I tried on those ‘dream’ dresses I left with a strapless dress, with some body in the skirt, a bit of lace around the bust, and along the fluttering hem, and some sparkle. It had a hint of vintage. But really it was an updated silhouette, inspired by vintage qualities.
Isn’t the back of that lace dress so gorgeous? But in reality, the dress I wore was perfect. And the picture of my dad and me is one of my favorites.
If I’d had sleeves on that 85 degree May day I probably would have passed out during the ceremony. All the lace dresses I tried on were ridiculously heavy and I felt like I was wearing a tablecloth. Even though they were gorgeous in pictures and online, they just didn’t cut it on me. The dress I bought was the best shape for my frame. It took the essence of what I wanted and made it possible without dating it, or getting too fussy.
Of course this isn’t the only thing where what I thought I wanted has become entirely different from what I ended up with. My degree/job prospects (I’m not utilizing my teaching degree!) And most recently houses!
Photo from Zillow.com
As we started daydreaming we really gravitated towards Victorians. The sweeping front porch, pretty curb appeal, the character and space inside, one even had a secret passage…I could go on and on…we’d found a dream house with a gorgeous kitchen but it needed tons of work elsewhere. We didn’t know about the insulation, and as we took a thorough look discovered too many problems that we wouldn’t feel like paying for. Here was the ‘ideal house’. Of course the color yellow helped, the big area for my art studio, lots of off street parking, and a two car garage, not to mention water views were a major plus. Alas the problems were a reality check, and the fact that the house had been empty for more than a year meant the paint was peeling a lot. I had no desire to spend weeks on my back working on a ceiling so we moved on to more realistic but still traditional designed homes. I fervently did not want a contemporary styled home.
But then we found a house that ticked almost every list on our wish list. Updated kitchen, open floor plan, master suite, attached garage (2 car!), new enough house we didn’t have to worry about insulation, space for an art studio, room to grow/entertain guests.
Not a flattering picture of the poor house. Don’t judge it too hard!
Of course being a contemporary home the curb appeal is questionable, due to it lacking any semblance of a front porch it’s hard to have curb appeal (I’m biased towards porches obviously) but we’ve found contemporary homes that had porches added and really improved the exterior. The last thing it’s missing is a fireplace. Where are we going to hang stockings? It’s quite a conundrum, but I’m sure we can make due.
The really amazing thing is the house has things we didn’t even dream to hope for in this budget. It has beach rights, which means we would be part of a small group of people who’d have access to a private beach on Long Island Sound. Views of 4 different lighthouses would be afforded from a chair on the beach, and I’d take beach rights over water views any day. Who knows what will happen with this house, but we are going to pursue it contemporary facade and all.
Just looking has been an exercise on patience and prayer. We don’t know what the future holds, but are excitedly looking forward to see what’s next.
The one thing the houses we are looking at can guarantee are a short commute, and life will be lived in Connecticut. Even considering buying a house is hard. It definitely is a harder decision than getting married was. Marriage was all “to death do us part, in richer or poorer, etc” House buying is more like getting married knowing divorce in the future is a possibility. You may move, grow out of the house, decide to upgrade or downsize. There isn’t the same sort of commitment. It’s a finny comparison but it works, at least in my head!
So glad I was blessed enough to marry someone who has the same beliefs, and commitments in life so the confidence in God and our marriage can stand!
What choices have you made that were different from what you expected you take?
I know I’ve been talking about how much we’ve loved being a part of our fish co-op. But really we have. And, to make things even cooler, the chick who runs it, read the nice things I’d written about Gabe the Fish Babe, and mailed me a cute t-shirt. I’m thrilled. When I opened the rest of the package I was not so thrilled. You see, there were oysters waiting to be eaten in there. The last time we had oysters we ate two raw, just shucked and knocked back with their liquor. They were way to salty for my taste, so I looked up a cooked oyster recipe on-line. I found one with chili, lime, and butter and thought that would be good. No dice.
Last night, the recipe included in the package for the raw oysters sounded like it had potential. It had enough other things going on to add some crunch, some other flavors, and cut the saltiness. Add to that, and the bizarre fact that I actually had all of the ingredients on hand and we were in luck! Like always, I did tweak the recipe a bit, I’ll post the original with my adjustments as well.
Raw Oysters with Cucumber Mignonette
1 cup of rice wine vinegar (I used a half cup)
1 shallot minced
1 inch of fresh ginger, peeled and minced (I had this on hand but didn’t feel like peeling it so instead I used 1/2 tsp. of ground ginger from Penzy’s my favorite spice company ever that I was introduced to by Bryan’s uncle/aunt.)
1/2 cucumber, peeled and diced (I had exactly that)
1 handful of freshly chopped cilantro
ground black pepper to taste (instead of mixing it into the mignonette I simply cracked the pepper over the oysters before eating)
Mix ingredients and let stand for an hour. While you are waiting shuck the oysters, preserving as much of their liquor as possible. Shucking is actually quite easy, easier that shucking clams, though both are easy. I don’t even have the proper knife for either, I just use the same old old paring knife, I’m sure it would be much easier if I actually purchased the proper tool! Once the oysters are shucked, and enough time has passed for the flavors to meld in the mignonette, (or you just can’t wait anymore!) spoon the cucumber mignonette over the oysters. It really was delicious and the next time raw oysters come in our package from Gabe the Fish Babe, I’ll be more than prepared!
In sum, tonight we had oysters on the half-shell. Raw oysters. And they were great! Would you eat raw oysters? Would you eat them if you prepared them yourself? Are you glad I finally got a picture on here with minimal hassle to myself?
mysticcountryct.com
Three hours + Seven friends + 40 places to eat = Stuffed Bellies & Satisfied people
If you are local and you didn’t make it out last night you really missed out. What a great opportunity to check out new restaurants, and bits of their menu without a financial commitment, in this economy, let’s face it meals out are rare! Some places I will most definitely go back to, and others I may not. The food stroll is put on twice a year, and I was told I’d never make it to all of the tasty locations, and that I’d run out of room in my belly to put it all. I really like to try new things, but boy were we all full and definitely didn’t make it everywhere (even the guys!) Hence why even though I’m reviewing the food stroll on a whole, I will in no way talk about all 40 places we could have eaten at. I’m only mentioning places I will return, even if I wasn’t that impressed with the sample dish.
To start, I thought it was great that New London Main Street offered a discount to a group of six or more. They also had a military price (same as the group rate). Luckily my friends like to eat so we took advantage of the group rate at $20 dollars a button (Instead of $30, day of). The button got us entry to all of the places participating and was well worth the 20 bucks! Not only were the streets bustling with the food strollers, there were musicians scattered around to add some fun ambiance. Nothing like a food festival to get people out and about. We may have even been seen dancing around as we went from place to place.
I’ll start off by saying the food stops are listed in the order we tried them, not the order of favorite dishes!
We started with Jasmine Thai Restaurant and Sushi Bar. We had no idea what to expect and were amazed to walk into a veritable buffet with mini egg rolls, (veggie) sushi, Pad Thai, green chicken curry, rice, and salad. (To save room I skipped salad & fruit.) Thoughts across the board? Amazing. This will definitely be a place to come back to. There wasn’t a thing I tried I didn’t like. The mini egg rolls were crispy, the Pad Thai yummy, and the green curry had a good amount of spice! Definitely where we will have to take Bryan’s brother (who studied in Thailand) when he comes to visit.
Bean & Leaf as far as I knew was a coffee shop that recently changed locations. They must do food as well because we had the choice of a Ham and Lentil or Spicy Veggie Soup. Both were good, but nothing spectacular. Definitely a great vibe to hang out with some coffee and friends. I’m sure we will be back to try some fancy coffees and teas.
Gaspar’s New American Cuisine offered an amazing ravioli. I believe it was homemade, like most of the things they offer. Most definitely will be back. It has an old world feel to it, reworked in a funky new way. Definitely new American and we loved it though. How can you not like pasta that is technically well done? The dough wasn’t heavy, the filling was balanced. Good eats are most certainly found there, just like they claim on the website. This is also on our must return list!
Dev’s on Bank Street served Happy Panda Noodles and won first place! The presentation was great for a food stroll, they had the cup of fine noodles, bean sprouts, scallions, and small bits of beef in a cup and that was ladled over with a light beef broth ‘to order’. It was warm and light and deliciously spiced. We were greeted by Bunny, one of the two owners. Dev’s serves a Mediterrasian tapas menu. Yes. That’s correct. mediterr- and -asian. The very idea is intriguing and we loved it. I can’t wait to go back and look forward to ordering dishes from two very different ends of the earth. Review? Great. We even came back to Dev’s to end the night. Great atmosphere and yummy food means we will be coming back all the more.
Sweeties Bakery & Café serves breakfast and lunch. I’m regularly here grabbing lunch for my boss or a sweet treat, since I work half a block a way, so I knew they had great food and desserts. They came up with a brilliant menu, visitors could choose a mini apple or pumpkin pie, and either butternut squash or tomato soup. The pies were delicious, and while I chose the spicy tomato soup, it was a bit to salty for my taste. The butternut squash was nice and creamy though. Off menu for last night, but I know that somethings they make well are quiche, and mac and cheese. They also make homemade ice cream, pickles, dressings and more.
Mambo Bar & Restaurant definitely has a bar vibe from the exterior. Probably why I’ve just never gone in. I was surprised though when we went in that there were kids eating with their parents. They had Jamaican Rice and Shrimp. It definitely had island flavors and with the shrimp was mostly rice in a small amount of a clear broth. It was good though, a pleasant surprise on Bank street. The view off of their deck of the river at night was fabulous. The menu may be just enough to tempt me in and eat on the back deck.
Chaplin’s Restaurant is the one restaurant Bryan and I have actually tried. Rumor has it the chef has auditioned for, or was asked to be on the Food Network show Chopped. Whether this is true or not, I can’t say. One thing I do know is their food is great. I ordered the bouillabaisse when we went there for dinner a couple months ago and Bryan got the special. Both loved it. Last night the choices were Shepherd’s Pie or Seafood Bisque. If you’ve ever read this blog before you can probably guess I went for the seafood. The soup was great, the large pieces of seafood were plentiful even in the tiny serving.
Of course we had to stop by Studio 33 Art and Frame Gallery, the place I work part time. Funny story: Studio 33 was supposed to be hosting Mariah’s Chow Chow Relish. For reasons unknown to us at work, they backed out the day of the stroll three hours before they were to be setting up. For whatever reason Yummy Hummy came to mind and we called them to see if they would be available or interested in being a part of the Food Stroll with us. They were glad to, and we got to sample the roasted garlic, and pretty beet hummus. Both were delicious and Sara’s Mojito Green Tea Punch (non-alcoholic) was nice and refreshing after all those hot soups!
Out next stop was Hot Rod Café . The boys were glad to be getting something other than soup, however I was disappointed not to eat wings, what they are most known for, and for good reason! Instead we tried their new appetizer, a skewered chicken with some garlic seasoning, maybe with a hint of lemon. I didn’t particularly care for it, though there wasn’t anything wrong with it.
We started our dessert’s for the evening with a stop by Daniel’s Dairy Downtown. Here we started with a miniature cone of soft serve vanilla ice cream, a sample of whatever flavor fudge we wanted, and a mini scoop of whatever flavor of old fashioned scoop-able ice cream we desired! Daniel’s Dairy makes all of it in house. Definitely a place to try to get some delicious fudge, or get the after dinner bite!
Captain’s Pizza is way down Bank street, almost to State Street. Their set-up was way up on their roof-top deck that overlooked the whale-tail. They had a great Irish band, and the food was good too. I was impressed at the quality of New England Clam Chowder we were getting from a pizza joint, and the pizza was great as well. The best part was the surprising view, and great music! Captain’s is a great place to go for a slice of pizza with some friends.
Just around the corner down on State St. is the Stone Fleet Tavern. The tavern is the closest restaurant to both the train station that services NYC, and the Ferries that take patrons to Block and Fisher’s island, so they tend to cater to a fancier clientele. That being said we had east coast quahog stuffies there. The stuffing with herbs had a good bit of clams chopped back up and mounded in. Not like some stuffed clams that seem to be all filler. The stuffing had a great crispy outside, but was moist inside.
We hit Pinc! hosting You Take The Cake next. The cinnamon apple cupcakes were good, the flavor was yummy. It really did seem as though apples were really incorporated into the batter, thankfully without chunks though! I thought they were perhaps a tad on the sweet side, but not overly, who doesn’t like a sweet dessert?
I’m glad I now know that there is good Indian food in New London. Northern Indian Restaurant served a Chicken Curry with Peanuts. While peanuts are not something I typically choose in foods I thought the crunch added a nice texture, and the essence of peanut was only just there, hinted at, without being too peanuty. I’ll definitely go back for some of my tried and true Indian favorites. It was a real reminder of my time in London UK!
A private, member’s only place, the Thames Club was offering a grilled cheese crouton, and tomato soup. This was by far the best soup of the night, and the grilled cheese, was fantastic. To bad it’s a private club, I’d like some more of that!
Pumpkin Whoopie Pies. Can you even imagine how great that would taste? Little Sister’s Bake Shop made these amazingly spiced pumkin whoopie cakes, and the cream in the middle was delectable. Best dessert of the night. A few of the guys who worked at EB were wondering if their food truck would ever swing by the office. Who knows, maybe they will. Their food is fabulous.
Eventually we got to 2 Wives Brick Oven Pizza, by this point we were going to pop anyways, but we tried a slice of their Thanksgiving pizza. It had turkey, stuffing, and cranberry sauce. It sure didn’t work for me. Without the tomato sauce and cheese, maybe with gravy it would have worked, but those flavor profiles just didn’t match. It was a great try though and it really was creative. Unfortunately, nobody in our group really cared for it. They have a great little restaurant and make lots of other yummy pizza so I’m sure we will be back, just not for the thanksgiving pizza!
The last place that was truly memorable was the Garde Arts Center hosting The Cake Lady. They must have had over 25 flavors of cupcakes. It was like a smorgasbord. (Except we only ate one a piece) I chose a cinnamon iced chocolate cupcake (stellar) and Bry had an oreo with mint frosting. Truly a great way to finish off the night.
In one food stroll, and three hours our palates were paraded around the world. There was definitely a theme in soups, as almost every other place offered a soup (if they weren’t offering dessert). It was well worth the 20 bucks in terms of food consumption, and it was a great way to scope out the area’s restaurants and see what the various establishments are like! Would I do it again? In a heart beat. Where am I going to eat first? Dev’s, or Gaspar’s, or Chaplin’s for dinner. Little Sister’s or Sweetie’s from some treats.
Will you sign up in the spring? Which dish sounded best to you? Did you actually survive my nearly photo-less 2000+ word blog entry? I hope so.
Oct 15
In my affinity for all things foodie-culture I am a bit obsessed with cookbooks. I read cookbooks. As if they are novels. I devour from from cover to cover trying to eek out everything I can from them in my challenge of preparing simply delicious amazing foods. 99% of the time I change the recipe with my own blends of spices, different cooking techniques, crazy ingredients for the heck of it. I can’t actually think of a recipe I have not changed in one way or another. All this to say that this is just a way of life, one of many creative expressions, not intended for the blog. However, after a scraped pot, third-party opinions, and a second batch made in less than 24 hours, this recipe must be shared. After all, as a good friend stated ‘Good potato soup is like mashed potatoes on steroids’.
I found it in my battered, worn, thrift store copy of Mastering the Art of French Cooking, by Simone Beck, Louisette Bertholle, and Julia Child.
Pottage Parmentier [Leek or Onion and Potato Soup]
2 quarts (serves 6-8 people) or in the case of me and my friends 5 people who didn’t have enough, simply because I wanted leftovers!
You will need two quarts of water in a large pot. To the water add 1lb. of peeled and sliced potatoes, and 1 lb. of diced onions(the recipe calls for peeks, or yellow onions, I obviously chose yellow onions but added an additional shallot on top of the pound of onions. Add 1 tb. salt (I eyeballed it and probably only put about 1 1/2 teaspoons in, and didn’t miss it). Let simmer for 45 minutes partially covered. It smells like onions for the first 20 minutes but it quickly dissipates once the onions breakdown in the soup, and it fooled even an onion-hater into eating 3 bowls full! (Hence why we needed more.)
Mash the potatoes and onions, or blend if an even consistency is preferred (I blended). Check the seasoning. (I didn’t do anything here and after I finished scraping the soup back into the pot I was actually tempted to lick the spatula clean like one does used to do with the cake batter. I guess you could have added salt or pepper or really anything else here but I thought it was practically heavenly)
Before serving bring back to a simmer. Add 4-6 tablespoons of cream (I used half-and-half since I had that on hand you can also use 3 tbs. of butter). Garnish with minced parsley or chives.
To fully portray the mashed potatoes in a cup idea I had bacon crumbles, cheddar cheese, and chives ready for my friends to add to their soups. Personally, I didn’t have to add anything.
This meal was a bargain. Water, onions, potatoes, and a little half and half. 4 tablespoons of fat in 2 quarts means this is one healthy and filling soup! Like I mentioned earlier once our friends decimated it we made a second batch that we are currently hoarding using for lunches this week.
It’s cheap, easy, and absolutely amazing. You will never want canned potato soup again. Gather some family or friends and enjoy!
Let me know if you give it a try!
Oct 12
Oh, how I love sweater season!!! Maybe it’s just because I knit, or maybe it’s because my birthday is in the fall. Or it’s because I love picking and carving pumpkins, fresh cider, cider donuts, pretty leaves, cooler temps, and the promise of the holiday season to come! What is your favorite thing about fall?
I’ve been getting backed up with any number of things, and haven’t managed to get myself into WordPress lately (it’s dusty!) I have however been painting, and that’s what I set out to do, so I don’t count it all a loss! (still need to photograph those paintings though!)
In fact every day I haven’t been working in the shop I’ve been painting. Honestly, I can’t believe I’ve been sticking with it this far! I have several applications out there to get my work into shows (maybe one or two will pan out!) and I have several pieces in the works right now. I’ve also been busy designing marketing for the shop ( and i don’t even really enjoy graphic design). Booklets of works on sale, trying to amp up our social media outreach, and designing post cards. Not to mention all the framing I’m doing! All of my college classes with Don Forsythe and Daniel Finch have well paid off….I feel like I can do most of it in my sleep!
Life hasn’t been all work and painting though. Bry and I managed to get to a Colgate football game and cheer on my brother with a large amount of family. Bry’s parents came up for his dad’s birthday and we spent a gorgeous day at Mystic Seaport, my mom’s sister and her family swung by on their way through New England, and we are just about ready to make our first trip back to PA since the wedding. It will be great to be home for my birthday, and to see everyone! I just can’t wait. We also got to get together with a contingent from Messiah. As part of their Into the City networking event they stopped off in New Haven and we were invited to dinner. It was great to connect to other alum of Messiah, and meet and encourage some seniors who are interested in the area.
We still get fish each week from Gabe the Fish Babe, and we are going to continue! It’s seriously the best! And we get it in the mail now, so I don’t even need to go to the store on Thursdays anymore. You really should consider signing up! They ship all over the US now, and it comes very well chilled. We haven’t gotten a single thing we didn’t like.
We’ve caved and turned the heat on, but really just to take the edge off. Mom would be proud, I’m actually wearing socks or slippers around the house (she doesn’t like bare feet when it’s cold outside). I finally got my fall clothes out too.
Still on my to-do list is figure out how to make a gallery of works here on wordpress. Anyone wordpress savvy?
Bottled Sunshine 