It's Fall in NY

We moved to Skaneateles last December, which means we started our life here in the worst of weather, and have now been able to enjoy a beautiful summer... but this past week marked the first day of fall and New York seems obligated to act the part. The trees are starting to show some color, which makes me both excited and nervous (snow is now in sight).

I'm determined to enjoy fall in New York though. We've never lived anywhere that promised such beautiful scenery, and I like the smell of wood fireplaces burning somewhere nearby. Note: we tried a "test fire" last week when it was down to about 50 degrees at night and seriously regretted it as our house heated up to about 80 degrees inside, so all future fires need to wait for consistently colder temperatures. We tried to partake in the maple syrup festivals of the spring, but got detoured viewing waterfalls in Ithaca, and we tried to go strawberry picking in the summer, but the local farm was picked out far too quickly. So I put my foot down about going apple picking in the fall. I scouted out the best apple farm, Beak & Skiff, which happened to have a distillery and cider mill too... so the promise of apple vodka and hard cider tasting + apple picking got Tom on board for the adventure.

The parking lot should have been our first clue, it was overrun with children hyped up on carmel apples. The lines themselves were longer than the "hay ride" behind a tractor to the rows of ripe Gala and Macintosh apples, but in the end it was worth it. Obviously it made sense to join in on the carmel apple eating while we waited for our tractor to arrive.

We couldn't find one of the coveted ladders to climb up to the best apples, so the first 30 minutes of our picking experience consisted of trying to come up with creative ways to get to the good apples, which included "toss an apple at another apple", "shake the tree and see what falls", and the good old basic "jump". None of which were at all successful by the way.

Have you read the recent news story about the moose in Sweden who got drunk off of fermenting apples and got caught up in a tree? We may not have been eating fermenting apples, but somehow after about an hour of apple picking we got a bit goofy and had enough fun laughing at ourselves that people nearby may have that we'd been sampling the hard cider. Tom left one hanging apple with a bite out of it, I tried to hide in the branches that started 4 feet above the ground, and trying to run around rows of apples without stepping on rotting ones results in a crazy dance like movement.

Eventually we did locate a ladder, and took home around 16 pounds of fruit. Ironically, Tom doesn't really like apples, but I've enjoyed at least one a day for breakfast, as well as finding new recipes to bake and cook them in. I'd love to hear about more recipes if anyone has some.... I think I've only got about a week left before I need to start worrying about them rotting!

Time Management

Hm... clearly my ambitions at maintaining a blog while beginning a new job may have been a bit high. But I'm not giving up yet, just vowing to improve my time management skills. I started my job with a 3 day work week (due to my employer's vacation), followed by a 4 day work week (due to the holiday), and this week completed my first 5 day week - phew. I'm still technically orienting so I don't yet share on call duties or newborn nursery duties at the hospital, so eventually there will be some weeks that are 7 day weeks, but for now I feel like I've gotten into a good routine. I won't lie though, after the first week I was a bit exhausted...

Molly was sympathetically tired too...

But I soon learned how to move a little faster in the morning, buying me a precious extra 15 minutes in the morning for sleep. Amazing what that few minutes can do to my morning attitude (I'm seriously not a morning person). Sadly I haven't yet figured out how to make time at the end of the day for projects around the house and my to-do list keeps growing in the meantime. Hopefully by the end of the month I figure out how to enjoy my evenings while still being productive and get back on track.

I did cook a nice homemade meal for Tom on his birthday last week. We celebrated with a few friends at a happy hour, then stayed in the next night for an at home date night. Tom loves veal, so I checked out the new Fennell Market just down the street specializing in gourmet meats, cheeses, fish, and some pre-made sides. I actually got really excited about some asian marinaded ahi on skewers to sear and eat like kabobs, but was able to stay on track and pick out a few veal chops for us. I've never cooked veal, but found an easy enough recipe for searing it on the stove then finishing in the oven, and paired it with a creamy garlic sauce, asparagus wrapped in prosciutto, and mini-gnocchi with a butternut squash sauce (store bought, but would love to attempt making this from scratch). I probably overcooked the veal by one minute, but it was still delicious and we finished the meal with Tom's annual "birthday cake" of pumpkin pie.

Sorry for the quality of the photos, these were all snapped with my cell phone camera.

Working Woman

I started my new career as a Pediatric Nurse Practitioner this week, and man does it feel good to be back at work and earning a paycheck after focusing on grad school for the past 3 years. Now it's going to be a challenge to stay committed to this little blog project I started, but I already knew that was coming. It was a great first 3-day week and my energy right now is focused on getting comfortable in my new role, so no big projects this week.

We did however make a great new enchilada recipe I'll share. I don't tend to be exact with my measurements when it comes to recipes like this, so go ahead and experiment too.

Chicken and Black Bean Enchiladas

Makes 4 enchiladas (4 servings)

2 teaspoons olive oil

1/2 cup chopped onion

2-3 cloves minced garlic

1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1 inch(ish) cubes

15 ounce can of black beans, rinsed and drained

4 ounce can of diced green chilies

1/3 cup salsa (choose your spice level, we chose habenero hot and loved it)

2 tablespoons fresh chopped cilantro (I probably used more, just grabbed a big handful)

4 flour tortillas (8 inch works best)

1 can enchilada sauce

1 & 1/3 cups shredded cheese (we combined cheddar and pepper jack)

Large dollop of sour cream

Sides (think spanish rice, guacamole, etc.)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Heat oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add onion and garlic and saute 2 minutes.

Add chicken and saute 5-8 minutes, until golden brown and cooked through.

Stir in the black beans, green chilies, and salsa. Simmer about 5 minutes until the sauce reduces and thickens.

Remove from the heat and stir in the cilantro and a large dollop of sour cream.

Arrange the tortillas on a flat surface, topping each with 1/4 of the filling.

Roll into enchiladas and place in a non-stick (or sprayed) baking dish, seam side down.

Top with enchilada sauce (enough to cover the enchiladas lightly), and sprinkle with cheese.

Bake for 15 minutes.

Serve with whatever sides you choose.

Ok, I forgot to take pictures of this one (again). They were really good and we ate them two days in a row, although leftovers looked a bit messy. This was a very easy weeknight meal and we've tried multiple enchilada recipes before, but this is the first one we've thought worth saving. Totally hit the spot for that Mexican food I'm always craving but can never find so far from Southern California.

I just called to say I love you.

I'm still new to the idea of "going antiquing". I grew up in California, and somehow the idea of antiques wasn't one that got people excited. Our homes were all new(ish), modern, edgy, or beach casual, and while we may have admired things that looked like antiques, they were in all likelihood Pottery Barn quality antique. I'm sure I saw antique stores here and there growing up, but to be honest I can't recall any memories of them.

In contrast, living in a 161 year old house, antiques are now screaming out for us to find them and use them as decor. So a few weekends ago we went on an antique-driven road trip across the finger lakes. Our final destination was the "Bloomfield Antique Mile" just southeast of Rochester. We figured we'd hit a few stores on the way and enjoy the scenic drive along the top of the finger lake chain. We got to take a 5 minute detour to drive by the NY Wine and Culinary Center, which got me all sorts of excited about going back to take cooking classes and celebrate special occasions.

We started at the Auburn Flea Market/Antique Co-op. We did our best to pick through the piles of junk on the flea market side, but it was so overwhelming and felt like a hoarders house of broken, useless items that we both felt a little sick after walking around for 20 minutes. There were a few possibly promising items, but it wasn't worth standing in a pile of trash to make decisions about them. The Co-op however was organized and full of fantastic finds. In particular, an old water heater in great shape caught our eye. It was industrial yet funky looking and would certainly be an interesting piece of "art". It was even affordable at $30, but neither of us could think of exactly where it would belong in the house, so we moved on.

By the time we got to Bloomfield I had visions of finally finding my dream antique. I've been in search for an old Singer sewing table for awhile now (I plan to have a granite top cut to place over it and make it into a console table of sorts), and with the antique mile promising thousands of antiques I felt sure I'd finally find my table in good condition. Sadly, while we debated about two different sewing tables, neither had the exact right price, or was in good enough condition to bring home... so my search continues.

What we did take home were a few small items totaling $11. My find.... these old key hole plates with a pretty patina-like look to them. The pair was $5 and while we already have these on some of the interior doors in the house, my plan for this set will be as wall art. I plan to place large hooks in the door knob holes that will hold coats, purses, umbrellas, or whatever else hangs on a hook, so that they are functional but also pretty. I've always been confused by how to create wall art, so our homes have always been full of (ok, overloaded with) personal pictures, but touches like this help me get closer to my vision of mixing the two together.

Tom's find.... a 9 inch tall wooden telephone booth. Maybe not terribly "antique", but we've oddly been looking for a small telephone booth for our shelves for awhile so I was pretty excited that we scored this for $6. Upon checking out we noticed a crank on the bottom of the booth - surprise music box! We cranked it up.... and nothing. Not until we got home and opened the little door on the front did it start playing music. The best part, it plays "I just called to say I love you"... so sweet and unexpected.

Tasty Thai Chicken

At the request of a friend, today's post will be short and sweet, but feature a very popular recipe of Tom's - smoked Thai chicken. Well, actually I'm leaving out the smoked chicken part, because the whole world hasn't jumped on the smoker bandwagon with us yet (but really, you should).... so if there are any requests for the brine recipe or smoking techniques leave a comment and I'll update this post. We of course do brine a whole chicken overnight then smoke it for about 4 hours the next day and pull it before mixing in this amazing Thai sauce from Tom's favorite cookbook.

Thai Sweet and Spicy Garlic Sauce

Makes about 1 cup (we always double it!)

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup white vinegar

1/2 cup water

6 garlic cloves, peeled and grated

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1 tablespoon dried crushed red-pepper flakes

Combine the sugar, vinegar, water, garlic, and salt in a saucepan over medium-high heat.

Bring the mixture to a boil, whisking continuously.

Reduce heat to low and simmer the sauce until it has thickened to the consistency of runny syrup (20-25 minutes).

Remove from heat.

Stir in the dried crushed red pepper flakes.

Let the sauce stand at room temperature for 1 hour before serving to allow the flavors to meld.

Store, refrigerated, for up to two days.

Yes, you have to prepare this ahead of time to get the best flavor, so it's not a throw together last minute kind of recipe. But, the beauty of the sauce is that you could really use this for a variety of foods. Would probably be all sorts of fantastic over stir fry, drizzled over a rice side dish, with both chicken and shrimp, and I'd even venture to say I'd happily eat an asian salad using a touch of this as dressing.

Sadly, no picture today... we tend to finish this one off quickly every time we make it.

Entry Makeover

Our sad old entry area had this beauty (ha!) centered on the wall that we picked up for $5 from a consignment shop in the village.

When we bought it we planned to paint and distress it to give it some interest, but for only $5 we ultimately saw a practical place to keep our keys, sunglasses, and sometimes mail or shopping lists. Unfortunately, we hung it to see what we thought of it, immediately disliked it, but left it in place for about 5 months because that wall needed something (anything).... and it really was practical.

Eventually I'd had enough of the goofy shelving unit that had no business in our home, much less providing the first impression to the house, and took it down, spackled, and repainted the scratched up surface it was hiding, and looked for some inspiration for my blank canvas. And here's what I came up with.

These silhouette photos of our pups (sorry for the quality, they're phone pics) combined with a project I saw on one of my favorite DIY blogs gave me hope I could create some free art for the wall and combine it with a few other items I already had around the house.

To create this look I searched google images for silhouette's of bulldogs and great danes. I found small (like 3''x2'') images I could print as reference guides, and then spent about an hour to create the same look freehand with a marker on a sheet of printer paper. Once I had the look I liked, I scanned it to even out the variation of black lines and reprinted. These were literally created with a Sharpie and a printer. Repurposing some cute wrought iron hooks that Tom's parents bought us back in January, and a discount shopping trip later, I'd brought the functionality back to the space.

The entry space is a corner though, so the opposite wall needed a pop of art too. We had a framed cut out of our wedding date that was supposed to hold photos, but every time I tried to put pictures into it I found it came out college collage-like and just didn't scream mature. So that poor frame has sat in a closet for the past 3 years until now, at which point I decided to go simple and find patterned paper to place in the negative space instead. The green print still isn't quite right (it's too blue of a green for our room), but I love the idea and it's perfect for the space.

And here's the finished product. I love that this space now has function and design, and it cost a grand total of $20 ($3 clearance shelf from Target, $2 ceramic bird from Home Goods, and frames on sale for 2 for $15).

Getting Corny

Last week Tom traveled to Las Vegas for work, and came home raving about Bobby Flay's restaurant Mesa Grill. Not that I'm complaining... of all things for him to focus on in Vegas I'm very supportive of finding new delicious recipes. One of the highlight dishes was a corn salad side that made it's way around the table and was a favorite of everyone there. So we set out to recreate the dish, and identified two Bobby Flay recipes on the Food Network's website that had components of the dish Tom fell in love with. With some creative trial and error Tom put his own twist on the recipe and came up with something similar, that I think is delicious! We made it for a BBQ this past weekend and it went over really well, so time to share it.

Grilled Corn Salad with Lime, Chipotle Aioli, and Cotija

Serves 6-8 people

8 ears of fresh corn, silks removed, husk on; soaked in cold water for 30 minutes

Canola oil (to rub down the grill)

Salt and fresh ground pepper

3 tablespoons fat free sour cream

2 limes juiced, and 1 zested

1/4 cup fresh chopped cilantro leaves

1/3 cup finely crumbled cotija cheese

1/4 cup chipotle aioli (recipe below)

Heat grill to high & grill corn until charred on all sides, 10 or so minutes.

Take off the grill and remove the kernels with a sharp knife.

Place the corn and remaining ingredients in a large skillet over high heat.

Cook, stirring occasionally, until creamy and heated through.

Chipotle Aioli

Creates 1/3 cup

1/3 cup light mayonnaise

1 teaspoon chipotle chili powder

Whisk ingredients together.

In my opinion, one of the best parts of this side dish is the way it smells. Lots of lime and fresh cilantro, mixed with the grilled flavors of the corn. We've served this dish hot and cold, and it works well both ways. So there it is, another way of serving fresh summer corn that's a bit more creative then straight off the cob - although that's a favorite of ours too!

Officially Blogging

I registered "our" blog (lets be honest, I'll be lucky if Tom reads, much less posts anything on the blog) at least a year ago... and then came to realize I had no idea what I wanted to blog about. I admittedly read other blogs, most of which are about my friends growing family's, creative recipes, or decorating ideas and I've been inspired by all of those ideas. So... with some motivation from friends and family (but not Tom yet, he really doesn't get the blogging thing), I'm officially starting this blog. I'm not even quite sure what I'll be writing about, probably some of all the above topics (although our growing family only consists of 4 legged children for now). Bear with me while I get the hang of this, and I'll certainly appreciate feedback. For now I'm declaring this post purposeful by setting some goals for myself:

1. Learn more about my camera. It's nothing fancy, but I default to the "smart camera" function so that the camera chooses the settings for me, which gives me the feeling my pictures don't always reach their potential. I don't document enough of our lives, so I'm hoping this blog keeps me feeling obligated to do so. Maybe I'll even learn a thing or two about photoshop along the way.

2. Stay motivated to keep updating and improving this old house. Our home was built in 1850 and has wonderful character, but our last house was brand spanking new and very modern so our furniture and style didn't mesh with this old charmer. This means refinishing, scavenging antique stores, salvage yards, and home decor stores, and a lot of DIY experiences. This is all new to me, I've always considered myself creative, but not successfully crafty.

3. Keep on cooking. When we moved to Skaneateles we quickly learned that there's a lack of variety in restaurants in our tiny village of only two stoplights. We've always liked to cook, but used to favor eating out or getting take out at least a few nights a week, not really possible anymore (which in all honestly is a good thing for our wallets and waist lines). For awhile I made a goal of cooking at least one new dish a week, but even that started to fail as we identified some favorite recipes and kept coming back to those meals. So I'm going to make it a goal to try at least 3 new recipes a month and post them here to share.

I'll attempt to be fair and always give credit where it's due, but admittedly that may be difficult with recipes as I often lose track of where I find them, and almost always change them along the way. Hopefully sharing the roots of my inspirations helps you to discover new ideas too.