Suburban Homestead

Super Bowl Sunday and a Living Room's Before + After

When you don't have cable, but you do have dependents well below the drinking age, you have to get a little creative if you want to watch a big production like The Olympics or say, The Super Bowl. Take a tip from my guy, he just shot a generic email out to a bunch of friends asking "When can we come over? Jeanice has offered to cook". And then waited for the first reply.

 

Ding-dong! We're here!!!

If I was half the woman I pretend to be, I would have remembered to take pictures of the Super Bowl spread that came together tonight: hot nachos, meatball sandwiches, beet salad, and some football shaped cake pops that tasted just like old-school Ding-Dongs. What I did remember to take pictures of is my friend M's house - one that I helped her with several years ago. I've been meaning to take pictures of it for some time but - ding dong - only just got to it tonight. 

One of the reasons I love this space is because the end result is such a huge departure from the original space. (Scroll down to see the before pictures.) The only piece that stayed was the piano. M. loves fashion but was not comfortable taking the same sort of risks in her living room as she might stepping out of her house. She was, however, very open to suggestions and willing to take some leaps outside her comfort zone with a little hand-holding. The end result is a fun and flirty living space that draws from her feminine style and plays up her family's happy energy. 

The BEFORE shots:

Wordless Wednesday

The Evolution of *Cabin Time*

There has been a beautiful evolution to the way we take our time together at the family cabin. While some things will likely remain constant throughout the years - long days, extended family, multiple generations, river time, skiing, rich foods, and holidays, there have been some undeniable leaps in the quality of our time spent as cousins grow older and less dependent on us adults. This past summer was incredible as two complete generations were finally able to hike up-stream together and explore the wilderness without some kids and a parent needing to stay back for napping or safety reasons. I am equally grateful that the small toys have started to dwindle in quantity as we acknowledge their waning attraction and begin sorting and purging to make room for more group-oriented playtime. We graduated to board-game-playing-heaven this Thanksgiving weekend, and the hours spend together on the floor, on the bed, the deck or at the dining table, conversing and playing games amid stacks of plastic chips, pastel paper bills, folding cardboards and transparent red die, was simply priceless.

What’s more, we had incredible weather for all four days of the holiday weekend.  While the river was too cold to dunk a toe in, the mountain air was in the high 60's and so we got to prop lots of windows and doors open, allowing for the sounds of the river below to rise up and wash over our happy souls.

Happy Holidays to you and yours!

Grandma's Turkey and Parmesan Soup

This is not Grandma, nor am I making my Grandma's turkey soup recipe. That is my dad, enjoying the incredible weather we are having up here at the cabin today. I love this picture and made sure to capture his belt-buckle when I snapped it (Paul).

Right now I'm making soup from yesterday's leftovers. My friend Nicole passed this recipe on to me a couple years back and I'm thinking we need to make this our own family recipe. It's still simmering on the stove-top, I'll post a finished picture of it later, but I wanted to get this up right away in hopes that you might be sitting around wondering what to do with your bird's carcass. I hope this reaches you in time.

  

Grandma's Turkey and Parmesan Soup

INGREDIENTS

• Turkey carcass
• 3 - 5 Whole Carrots
• 3 - 4 Whole Celery Stalks
• Medium Yellow Onion, quartered
• 2 Bay Leaves
• 2 tsp Poultry Seasoning
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp white pepper
• 1 or 2 eggs & water (at room temp)
• 1 - 2 C Parmesan Cheese (powder, not shredded)
• Acini di Pepe Soup Noodles

 

DIRECTIONS

1. Place turkey carcass in a large pot with unchopped vegetables and seasonings. Add water, covering about 2-3 inches over carcass - cover and bring to a boil.
2. Once water comes to boil, turn down and simmer 2 - 4 hours. 
3. Strain. (If you wish, you may want to take some of the whole vegetables, chop them into 1/4" pieces and add them back in soup. The original recipe did not call for this, but I added it.)
4. Bring broth to a boil, add some leftover shredded turkey.  Taste broth and adjust seasonings to liking (add more salt, white pepper or poultry seasoning. [You can add 2 - 3 chicken bouillon cubes if needed]).
5. Add 1 - 2 C Acini de Pepe noodles (depending upon amount of broth) when at a boil. Cook about 7 - 9 minutes until tender.  Remove from heat.
6. Beat egg(s) in a bowl with a small amount of water (I usually use 2 as I end up with a lot of stock from a Thanksgiving bird).  Mix 1/2 - 1 C Parmesan cheese with eggs.  GRADUALLY add mixture to soup while stirring so it does not curdle. 
7. Taste and season as needed.

Serve hot with Parmesan sprinkled on top and a side of crusty bread.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Well our 14lb. turkey rubbed in 2 cups of sage butter, wrapped in a pound of bacon and drizzled with maple syrup is finally in the oven and three generations of family is about to sit down and relax before the final push.

May your home be filled with love, laughter, beautiful music and incredible food tonight.

(A Pilgrim cookie creation by the five-year-old, atop one of our favorite desserts - Martha Stewart's Pumpkin Spice Cookie)

The Gift of Gobble-Gobble

One of Daddy's oldest and dearest friends is giving us the most incredible gift -- he's offered to raise a heritage breed turkey, of our choice, for our 2012 Thanksgiving table.

Um, let me think abo--- YETH PWEEZ!!!

We were directed to Murray McMurray Hatchery where, together with the kids, we selected our breed, by way of a highly competitive game of drawing breeds, scribbled on Post-it notes, out of a melamine bowl. We were all sitting on the kitchen floor.

And the winner was - Bourbon Red!

I'm excited for the experience, for having the opportunity to visit our friend's hobby farm, and to see our bird grow to full-size in the best of conditions.

Here are some photos from a recent visit to their farm, right before Halloween. Unfortunately, my lens was faulty this day and these pictures are not that great, but our friend's new home and farm is beautiful so I have to share anyway.

Our Thanksgiving

We hosted Thanksgiving this year!

And like every large party we ever host, I'm always disappointed the day after when I upload my photos with great expectations, only to realize that I didn't properly document all the wonderful food people prepared nor does it look like any adults were in attendance. I seem to only ever photograph the kids.

While this was the second Thanksgiving I hosted at our house, it was only the first where I actually cooked the turkey!  Here is our organic bird, wrapped in organic, nitrate-free bacon, ready for a long bake in the oven.

All the food was prepared ahead by me, or brought over by contributing family members. While the turkey cooked, I ran around the house in my jammies, tiding up spaces that had needed attention for months and pulling out my wedding china that gets used (maybe) once a year.

I wanted to share these adorable owl plates which I picked up for the kids at West Elm this holiday season. One of the smallest members of our family is a huge fan of birds of prey, so they are perfect for our table. Unfortunately, we were short two for the Thanksgiving kid's table.

My brother-in-law always has the job of carving the turkey, and he has not idea why.

We served the kids up first since we only have room for one table. Everyone loved their turkey feast, except for the this lil' pilgrim:

I don't know what was going on with him, but this is how he sat while all his siblings and cousins ate. Then, when all the big kids were done with dinner, his attitude about his meal changed, and he sat at the table, by himself, and ate his whole meal!

This salad was a great addition to our table: Roasted Beets and Carrots with Goat Cheese Dressing

My Thanksgiving plate:

Roasted Butternut Squash Salad with Warm Cider Vinaigrette, Olive oil muffin, Saurkraut, Roasted Beets and Carrots with Goat Cheese Dressing, Roast Turkey Wrapped in Bacon, Lemony Mushroom-and-Pine-Nut Stuffing Muffins, Cranberry Jelly, Mashed Potatoes.

The kids playing in the garage/playroom - the IKEA swing is everyone's favorite!

My sisters, my mother and me!

Wordless Wednesday

Incredible Cookies

I got the most incredible gift yesterday when my dear friend, Kate, made good on a promise to teach me how to frost cookies like a champ.

No, I did not frost that chicken. Kate did!

I was responsible for baking all the cookies, and Kate made the frosting. She came with all sorts of impressive tools and shared all kinds of useful tips and techniques.

Like how to check the consistency of your 'piping' without filling an entire bag.

The set-up was brutal. It must have taken about 2 hours to get all the 'piping' and 'flood' made, then colored. At first go with the pastry bag, I didn't think I could pull it off. My cookies looked like %*#@ and it all seemed to much to bother trying again.

But things picked up rather quickly as Kate watched over me and helped me get it right. I love this picture of her decorating a turkey while my daughter looks on, smiling. (But trust me, you don't want kids around while you tackle decorating at this level!)

Here are some that I did make! My absolute favorite is the turkey leg. I'm already looking forward to making Christmas cookies... I'm thinking chickens in santa caps. ;)

Thank you, KATE!!! xoxo

Chalkboard Decal

I have been wanting a chalkboard in the kitchen area for some time. I'm sad to say that I lose track of food all the time, and have wanted a place where I could make *food notes* to myself and my family. Something like "Tuna salad with celery and olives" would be code for "celery is on it's way out and you better sneak those home-brined olives into some dish if you want anyone to actually eat them".

What I originally envisioned was a rectangular chalkboard with either a distressed frame made of reclaimed barn panels (a girl can dream!) or some totally over-the-top Rococoesque frame to off-set the *agrarian chic* look I strive for around our dining area. But then I discovered Wall Candy Art's chalkboard decals and this beauty seemed to do the job for a lot less hassle and money.

I just set it up and my first post is our Thanksgiving 2011 menu. I will be looking at it all week while working on my om's and breathing exercises. I like that the kids have it as a sweet reminder of our holiday to come.

This day last year: "Persimmon Pops on a HOT November Day!"

Wordless Wednesday