Flower Power.
Jul/091
One of the things I (Kristi) was most looking forward to when we found a place to call our own was having a yard space. Sure, having a yard is invaluable as pet owners, becoming a place our dog can freely romp and play (not to mention, not need us to leash him every time he wants to go outside!) But my personal ambition was larger; I wanted a garden. I can attribute my love of gardening to my high school biology teacher, Karen H, who has since become a dear friend. But back in my high school days, she hired me to come to her home and garden. I did everything from weeding and planting to pruning and mulching and then some. Years later, as I moved back to Kentucky after college, being her gardener became my first post-college job while I looked for something more permanent. So off and on for about 11 or 12 years, I’ve spent ample time and sweat in the toil of her garden.
But let’s be honest. There is nothing all that glamorous and fun about weeding. So what gave me the gardening bug? It might not have been the weeding itself, but Karen H’s garden is a beautiful and inspiring space, a place you could relax in and soak in for hours, and find new discoveries every day. Her garden was always vibrant, and always changing. Something new was flowering or growing every week it seemed. While nestled in your normal neighborhood with houses on all sides, you wouldn’t know it while in the seclusion of her backyard. Her garden literally transformed the space into a peaceful sanctuary filled with nature’s beautiful bounty to delight the senses – sight, smell, sound, touch, even taste!
We may not have the space now to make a garden getaway, but we’re doing our best with what we’ve got! So first on the yard makeover agenda was a flower bed.
Here’s Trevor hard at work clearing the grass for the bed. Don’t underestimate the difficulty of digging up grass with a shovel… we’ve learned and grown wiser, and hope to rent or borrow a tiller next time for such a job. I’d encourage you to do the same if you have the ability.
We used half of the existing dirt and then half of the soil was potting soil to help the flowers acclimate to their new environment.
I got down in the bed to plant some perennials we already purchased – brown eyed susan, stella d’oro, asiatic lily, along with some transplanted irises and a double knock out rose bush that we got as a gift.
Our garden is still a work in progress, but for now, we are off to a good start!
Grill Master, Part Two.
Jul/090
When last we met, you were being fascinated by the tale of choosing a grill. But, alas, our time was cut short (mostly because the coffee house we were at while I was writing closes a little early on weekdays).
Today I will dazzle you with a tale unlike no other: my first experience using a gas grill.
Thankfully, I have a really cool brother-in-law who not only is himself a grill master, but is also very helpful and a fun teacher. When Kristi and I decided to throw a little “house-warming” cookout to have friends over and break-in the grill, Chad offered to run me through everything I needed to know about dry rubs, marinating, using wood chips for flavor, and proper grilling technique. Like I said, I was a total novice. (He and his wife even bought us all the grilling tools we’d need as a special gift — double-score!)
With the gas attached (and neurotically checked twice) and the burners turned on I pushed the button on the front and heard the sweet click and whoosh of flame. Success!
The grill we bought uses infrared technology (read: it has a bunch of micro-perforations on a stainless-steel sheet under the cooking surface) to supposedly cook food hotter, more evenly, and with less flare-ups. Another thing infrared grills also do is turn wood chips into charcoal.
We used a lot of wood chips, so we also got a lot of smoke. But, it turned out OK because that smoke added to the wonderful flavor of all the meat we were grilling. Needless to say, I was excited about the combination of fire and burger.
The expression above marks how happy I’ve been using our grill every time I fire it up. We’ve already gone through almost two tanks of gas in the 2 months we’ve lived here, so needless to say a lot of burgers, dogs, brats, steaks, as well as corn, onions, and miscellaneous veggies have met their end on a flame and in our bellies.
To date, I have earned my Grill Master badge by hosting cookouts on sunny days, overcast days, and rainy days. I’ve earned my Idiocy badge by grilling during a thunder (i.e., lightning) storm. I hope, this fall/winter, to earn my Toughness badge by grilling in frigid temperatures and under snow.
And so ends the tale of our second favorite stainless-steel part of our house (the first love, of course, being the kitchen appliances we hug every night).
Grill Master, Part One.
Jul/090
One of the things I, Trevor, was very excited about when it comes to home-ownership (especially during the summer months) was the opportunity to cook meat over fire. Thankfully, my wonderful wife shared this sentiment and it was agreed upon that a grill should be purchased for our back deck.
But, what type of grill do we buy? I’d only had experience with the $20 WalMart last-you-less-than-a-year grills and was completely out of sport when it came to what features and accessories I’d need. Going into grill-shopping mode I was pretty much focused on deciding whether to get a gas grill or a charcoal grill. I imagined the details would sort themselves out.
And so the adventure began. Kristi and I spent a good month going to every store we knew of that sold grills to look at all of our options. We picked up brochures, asked for advice from family and friends, and had really long, late-night conversations about the beauty of white-hot charcoal and the ease of one-button-pressing gas-grill-activating magic. You would think we were making a life-altering decision. But, c’mon, this is a big deal!
Our shopping was made easier when we procured another item I had been pining over to complete our outdoor experience: a fire pit. This bad boy could burn both wood and charcoal. So, we now knew we could have the best of both worlds — we just had to find a gas grill we liked to serve as our main cooker.
On one of our many trips to our second home (Lowe’s) we happened to glance at a small Char-Broil grill sitting lonely to the side. It’s form and function matched almost all our criteria: gas-powered, folding (but durable) shelves on each side, compact form (but still big enough to cook meat for us and friends). Plus, it was one of the least expensive options we’d seen. Add to that the fact that my parents wanted to buy our grill as a combined birthday gift for us and the deal was sealed.
To see pictures and read the story of the grill’s first flame, check back later for Grill Master, Part Two!
Ragamuffins… Who Cook.
Jul/090
Many many years ago… I don’t even know when really… my sister and brother-in-law decided to start a cooking club. It started with just a handful of people, a mixture of couples and singles, and since that first fledgling meeting we have met faithfully once a month ever since. Each month challenges and delights our palates with themes ranging from appetizers and breakfast foods to Italian and Mediterranean. There was even the occasional food outing to a local eatery and summer “iron chef” competitions. It has been a sort of fixture of my social life here in Kentucky, and has certainly whetted my appetite, in more ways than one, for cooking.
Last week was, in some respects, a turning point for our cooking club. Two of our original members, and some of the longest lasting, attended their last cooking club gathering. It was none other than our friends Phil and Rose, from whom we purchased our house! The Ragamuffin Cooking Club having been such a big part of life, I needed to take a moment on our blog about “our life together” to talk about “life together” with this wonderful group of people, both at cooking club and fellowship gatherings. Here was a shot of our crew last Saturday:
The theme was French, in honor of Phil, a Dutchman who loves French cooking. He is undoubtedly Martha Stewart’s male counterpart. (It boggles my mind why he isn’t pursuing culinary school instead of seminary… ;) Ok, only in part…)
We had french cheeses and wines, chicken with 40 cloves of garlic, frisee aux lardons, provencal stuffed tomatoes, ratatouille, and tarte tatin. Talk about yum!
Stay tuned for more posts in the near future about cooking adventures, both inside and outside of the club. And in the meantime, enjoy some old photos from our first years of the RCC (no, not the Roman Catholic Church…).
The Living Space, part 2
Jul/092
Now that you witnessed my bookshelf organizing magic, we turn 180 degrees to look at the other side of the room.
The attention grabber is, of course, the wall decoration. No, not my beautifully painted papyrus paper from Egypt. Nor my commemorative Over the Rhine poster from their May 24, 2008 show of their whole album ‘Ohio’ start to finish. Not even the two nicely framed black and white prints of my own (taken, developed, AND printed!) Naturally, the large wooden boating instrument bears down upon your view and steals the show. (Naturally, it should!)
The oar was purchased this past April from my alma mater, St. John’s College. Somewhere about a year ago, I had the crazy notion that I wanted a rowing oar to decorate my home. Maybe it was my untraditional decorating style combined with my love (and nostalgia) of rowing, but whatever it was, I was hooked to the idea. All the more stunning, I sold my then fiance on the idea as well! I made some inquiries to the infamous Mr. P back at SJC. But what I wasn’t expecting was the response. As it turned out, that very fall the college was advertising the sale of two heirloom wooden rowing oars, if you will, that had taken residence in Mr. P’s abode at Temple Iglehart. They decided to sell them in order to raise some money for the crew program, and perhaps even jump start their Mind-Body Challenge campaign to preserve the invaluable Temple itself. So I had a choice – find a perhaps broken fiberglass modern oar at the boathouse for pennies, or shell out some bigger bucks as a sizeable donation to the crew program and receive an “ancient” wooden beauty. It didn’t take long to make my choice!
While I know little about its history (beyond the fact that it was, ironically, a gift from the Naval Academy), I feel privileged to be its new owner. And now, it holds a place of special honor in my home. While some would balk at such an ungainly piece of “art” for the wall, I celebrate the uniqueness of our decorations, hodge-podge and untraditional though they may be. Throw in the history behind the oar, its sentimental value to myself as a former oarswoman, and the opportunity to support St. John’s and its intramural program… well, I don’t think I’d trade it for even a Monet in its place! Check out those authentic rowing blade labels…
It did take some ingenious magic on Trevor’s part for devising a way to hang it on the wall without actually damaging the oar in any way. Let’s just say, it was a contraption involving plumbing pipe clamps, metal key rings, chain link, and the amazing gorilla hooks (cousin of the monkey hooks). Needless to say, we still breathed a sigh of relief when the oar stayed in place!
As for the rest of the living room, our furniture is nothing super special. But did you notice those cozy hunter green pillows on the couch? Yep, fabric bought and sewed by yours truly. Thus began my adventures into sewing (with a newly acquired and jointly owned sewing machine with my sis). I even put zippers on the bottom for easy washing or switching of fabrics. Shizaz!
10K Training
Kristi's Training Mileage:
Trevor's Training Mileage:
Good Reads
Kristi's read shelf:
Trevor's read shelf: