We've MOVED! This is where we live now...

Jon and I have spent the past week "moving" from the big house to the carriage house that we have spent the past 6 years renovating. Here are pictures of the living room/music studio/kitchen downstairs. You may remember that the other half of downstairs is taken up with the office/shipping headquarters of our business.... upstairs, we have a large "master suite" consisting of a craft room, a library, a walk-in closet, and a sleeping area. Quite lovely actually :)

And our friends, David So and Silver Leung, from China were here last week and helped celebrate by making dinner with us. David and Silver love to descend after shopping with bags of produce and tons of good company. Jon made pork & shrimp won-tons (using the "pick it up and throw it in the bowl 100-times" method to lighten up the filling!) to go in the noodle soup - his home made stock as well. We also had steamed spinich and baby bok choy, crispy baked chicken thighs, and watermelon, raspberries, apples, & oranges for dessert. Pippin impressed David by eating every kind of fruit, politely, from his hand, and Zuzu remembered Silver immediately and wanted a special belly-rub.

We are planning to live here for the first "transition" year of Jon's retirement, and you would not believe how much kitchen stuff I was able to "keep" in this tiny kitchen (I was determined -ha!). The walk-in closet upstairs is such a step-up from the one in the big house... let's see, the trade-off seems to be smaller kitchen for bigger closet..... this is a hard choice!

Jon is leaving tomorrow for Pennsylvania with mom, Cindy, and sister, Louise to re-track the family's history........ I'll see if I can get him to post something about that when he gets back.

Comments

Patacones!!

PATACONES -made with green plantains - if they have gotten yellow & spotty, they will not stand up to this treatment! Heat about an inch depth grapeseed or peanut oil in a deep skillet. Slice 4-5 green plantains into about 1 1/2" chunks, and then remove the peel. Fry the plantain chunks until lightly golden, drain on paper towels. When a bit cooler, take a heavy pot and squash the plantains flat (they look like "large paws" - patacones -) and dip them (do not soak them!) into a bowl of salted water (about 2c. water and a tbs. or so of sea salt) then carefully place them in the hot oil and fry again until crispy brown! Top patacones with guacamole and fresh salsa, or a garlic/mayonaise combination- they are a great alternative to chips and crackers. Best when eaten hot!!

Medicare for All should be our goal

" Under the greatest adversity there exists the greatest potential for doing good, both for oneself and others ." ~Dalai Lama And one of Montana's Methodist Ministers, Joan Uda, wrote an editorial for the Great Falls Tribune this week, asking essentially, What would God think of this? Here's a small excerpt: I'm startled by the frenzied opposition to health care reform. Are these good people Christians? Do they recall that Jesus will judge us not by how well we've kept our earnings for ourselves but by how we have cared for "the least of these"? Matthew 25:31-46. This is a matter of salvation. I don't believe God supports any particular solution for health care. But I do believe God wants everyone, even the least, included. And I believe Jesus Christ calls us to display our best Christian virtues in the debate on these issues. Here's George Lakoff's perspective on how language influences the discussion on Health Care policies this seas

My Precious Pikle-It

Now that we have finished running about between Missoula and Portland like bees buzzing between flowers, I can tell you all about my favorite kitchen "gadget" this year..... the Pickl-It from the wonderful People at Pickl-It . I got a set for myself and my sister-in-law, - since we both are fermenting fiends. A few years ago, I had gotten a Harsch Gairtopf crock (see earlier posts regarding sauerkraut making) because I was tired of skimming my 'kraut. Essentially, I love kitchen science, but I'm even more enamored of accomplishing kitchen crafts with less oversight! The Harsch crock has a wonderful "burping lid" water lock system that allows you to leave your crock unattended for several days at a time while the fermentation beasties work in a safe environment. My Harsch crock is in almost constant use, and I would never give it up. But there were still times when I wanted something smaller....for those tiny baby carrots, or the 3 small heads of gard

Knitting, Singing, the Universe and all....

Search This Blog