Country Winter Living 101

Woke up at 5.44 am to no power. It was a restless night and when we looked out the window we realized why. It was like a war zone out there and snow had performed a hostile take-over.

Poor Cali-Ebba, her first New York winter. She don't know what hit her.

Question #1: What happens if we don't get our power back and our pipes freeze? The answer of course is: turn on the generator that every self sufficient country dweller keeps in the barn for such emergencies. Plug in the space heater and heat em up. Right.

Question #2 immediately followed by Question #3: How the hell are we going to get our car out so we can go and buy a generator before they are all sold out?

We made some feeble attempts at clearing the drive way but it was pretty useless. Also a giant branch was blocking it. Around the bend comes George who is the foreman at the Minard apple cold storage next door with his little tractor-plow. Without saying a word he just mangled King Snow along with branches and all. Very neighborly of him! In the 20 seconds that I saw James talk to him he managed to get out of George that he really enjoys banana nut bread so apparently I have to bake that now. Recipes anyone?

So that solved the first issue, the car was loose. Off to Lowes. Of course not a genny in the house. A friendly young man named Joe called every Lowes in the Hudson Valley and finally found us one in Chester 45 mins away. Whatayagawnado? Get in the car and drive to Chester, that's what. Montana boy likes to put the Nissan in 4 wheel drive and drive in the snow anyway so here we go.

We got a generator, flashlights and water. 

And since we spent so much money on emergency gear the power was naturally up by the time we got back home. Oh well, the snow is still bucketing down and who knows when we will need this stuff. At least now James is a little more even with our neighbor Tommy Toys. He's got every gadget in the catalogue and is prepared for a meteor strike. Now they can talk about BTU's, horsepower and chainsaw brands. 

Anyway, with power on in the house we could relax and just try to tackle a little bit of shoveling.

And it's still coming down!!!

The Swede in her correct element.

Also Clintondale has seldom looked more beautiful!

When I cooked broth the other day I drained the vegetables and unfortunately I couldn't find a good use for them. So the best way to not feel wasteful is to give it to these guys. They trudged right through the waste high snow for funky turnips and mashed up carrots. 

It also gave us the opportunity to say hi to the lammies again. We saved some veggies to give to mom.

And this time I just happened to have my camera....

And this guy about knocked me over in the snow cause James was ahead of me with the bag.

That's all folks.

Snowed in!

This is awesome! And no signs of stopping!

19 Maple Ave.

Snow capped ice cream parlor chairs on the patio.

Maple Avenue

South Street

This is some Narnia sh-t.

This house on South Street just came up for sale. Gorgeous trees and a great view... on a not so snowy day...

Fast Times at Maple Ave

Be it to test my will power. 

Or wanting to get a kick start on feeling healthy. 

Or wanting to cook up a hearty veggie broth. 

Or kicking caffeine. 

Or saving a penny or two on food.

Any and all reasons are good for doing a 3-5 day fast. 

Two years ago James and I did the master cleanse. We drank nothing but lemon water with cayenne paper and maple syrup in it for 2 weeks for me and 3 weeks for James. After 2 weeks I had amazing energy and felt (yeah, and looked...) like a million bucks. We were redoing our apartment and weren't working so the timing was perfect. We had also been doing a lot of traveling to places that involved lots of beer, sausages and fried food.

Almost done with New years pork fandango Tallinn country style. 

Big beers in Tallinn

Puerto Rico: Those coconuts are filled with rum and also just TRY to order something in Puerto Rico that ISN'T fried. 

So needless to say we needed a healthy break.

As long as we stayed inside and kept busy it was great. The food smells of the outside world were taunting as all get out, especially Gray's Papaya hot dogs on the corner. Every once in a while we would open an old jar of cashew butter and smell it. 

Anyway, that whole experience was a little too hardcore (we would start every day by drinking a liter of salt water which is known as an oral enema...) and we won't be going through that again but I have been looking for something I can do 3 days every 6 months or whenever I feel sluggish.

So I'm following a regiment my sister sent me. My winding down day consisted of raw veggies and soups and teas. Day 1 started with chamomille tea.

After that something to help the digestive system... (Bleech for prune juice but surely better than salt water!) For lunch I had miso soup that I'm making with paste and water and in the afternoon more tea. 

In between lots and lots of lemony and orangey water.

I had  planned on this fast while being in the city and picked up an array of veggies from our market on 9th Ave btw 42/41. We got big fat carrots, celery, onions and turnips (rova) and a red pepper. Mostly to make the picture nicer. I also put some garlic in there and salt and a handful of peppercorns. I fit about a gallon and a half of water in the pot and it cooked for about 2 hours.

And it all boils down to this. Very good actually. Dinner is served.

Today is Day 3 and I'm hungrier than I've been. May start to wind back up tomorrow with some veggies. The only craving I have is for tomatoes. Big fat juicy tomatoes by the slice with salt and pepper on them. Gawd I'm making myself crazy.

(Clever Title)

We picked out shades for the living room. (Yikes the place is called Country Curtains! Who are you and what have you done with Linda?!?!) We are getting them for all 3 windows in the living room and the smaller window in the dining room.

Kitchen is full steam ahead. The Yuck Yellow is slowly becoming just a bad memory ... but there's pictures to remind us. 

And here is the beginning of a white kitchen. We haven't decided if we are living with yellow back splashes and counter tops yet but we are pretty sure the walls will be Canyon Blue by Ralph Lauren.

The pastryshop has become a sweatshop where the cabinet doors are getting done.

It was a bird filled morning and I finally snapped a shot of a Starling basking in the spring like sun. Gorgeous morning. 

And a black capped Chickadee in the bush.

And the same guy having breakfast. How do you do.

White breasted nuthatch, ladies and gentlemen.

The mourning doves don't come to the feeder but the minute I put some seed and the left overs of the Toft Sisters bread on the ground they flew right in.

Mr. Finch. Mr. House Finch.

Slate colored Junco

This house just came up for sale. We love the chippy chimney. Looks like a lovely property as well. 

Tasty Tuesday

There's been a Porterhouse steak taunting us in the freezer for way too long and after a 24 hour stint in the city shooting your average New York City B roll (i.e. water towers, Empire State Building, birds in sky...) I felt like cooking in my country kitchen. I bought some tarragon at our local farmers market on 9th Ave between 41/42. And that can only mean one thing...

...Bearnaise

In a sauce pan combine 1/4 cup Tarragon vinegar, 1/4 cup dry white wine, 2 table spoons of finely chopped onion and 1 table spoon chopped fresh tarragon. Bring it to a boil and let it simmer till the liquid has been reduced to 1/4 cup. 

Strain the mixture into a a bowl over hot water and beat in 3 egg yolks. Whisk till it thickens. Beat in butter (a total of 1 stick) one table spoon at a time.

Finally stir in the remaining tarragon. 

Mine totally separated this time and was not worthy of a picture but it tasted delish. At home on a tuesday night it's all that matters. 

We thought we were cooking the steak on the grill but the Weber was not cooperating. Probably cause of the temperature outside... So we cooked it in a pan inside, 3 minutes on each side in a hot pan, with just a little bit of olive oil, salt and pepper rubbed on it, then stuck it in the oven at 400 degrees for 20 minutes, 10 minutes on each side. 

With it thyme potato wedges in the oven. 

Enjoy with a fine box wine. Cheers!

And that's how we do tuesday night.

Baking Bread!

My mom and my sister are both new devotees of the following bread recipe. It's called the Toft Sisters Loaf. The Swedish version of the recipe is on my sister's blog.

(Ser den ut som den ska?)

1.5 dl (.6 cups) rye flour

1.5 dl flax seed

1 dl (.4 cups) sunflower seeds

1 dl wheat bran

2 table spoons olive oil

2 table spoons salt

Mix these ingredients and pour 4 dl (1.6 cups) boiling hot water over to blanche. Let it sit for 1 hour.

Mix 50 grams (1.7 oz) of yeast with 3.5 dl (1.4 cups) of finger warm water. Mix in the blanched ingredients. Add 1 liter (4.2 cups) of flour and make a dough. Let the dough rise for at least 3 hours or over night. 

Knead the dough with 2 dl (.8 cups) of flour and flatten it into a square and roll up like a roll cake. You guys don't know what that is but you can imagine - it's a cake. That you roll.

Let the roll rise for 30 minutes and then bake for 40 minutes at 437 degrees. That is a direct conversion of 225 degrees celsius. 

Let it cool off without a cloth over it. 

My sister says you shouldn't keep the bread in a bag but keep it out because the thick crust keeps it moist inside. 

I don't think we'll ever know over here because the loaf is almost gone already. Yummy!

Big Green in Big Pink

The long awaited couch is here! Thank you Rosemary! First some befores just to remind myself how far we've come!!!

The couch arrived last night and it's been test driven already to 3 episodes of Damages, season 1. Our only complaint is that it's too comfy. It's hard to get up once you're in it. 

It's a Rowe couch with a custom made slip cover. Rosemary picked up all the fabric samples in Boston and we decided on this one. And now a big green velour monster has taken hold of our living room. Coze factor is in the red zone.

And cause we are so excited about it and it's such a perfect fit for the room and for us all we want now is a good rug, drapes, big crazy art for the walls, lamps, plants, aquariums, stuffed fish for over the fireplace (we would settle for a susaphone or a wagonwheel if anybody's got one)....!!! And the perfect accessory for any comfy piece of furniture. A cat. Named Todd.

Here's the start of the white bathroom. Go away pink -you are not wanted here.

We love Clintondale and feel so lucky to have found this place. Now we want more people to find it! We looked at both these houses before we found Big Pink and they are still for sale, you young house hunters you...

I call this one Cute Guy. It's about 100 years old and completely finished inside. It has a cool barn, about an acre of land and a great view of the mountains. It was a little too small for us and we also wanted a little bit of a fixer upper.

This is the crazy house across the street from us. The one with the domed ceiling in the dining room and the LED water fall art on the wall. She's a gutter for sure but a gutter in foreclosure and someone could make it a terrific house. It has about 4 acres of land and giant barn.

This is the back of the crazy house and the red barn that belongs to the house.

And this of course is the Gunk Haus and this is the first of many reminders - they open for business March 21st and it's gonna be great! Hope to see you there!

And finally an herbal update. It's still illegal in the United States of America. Oh - right my window sill herbs...

My thumb may be green but it's a little confused. I thought I planted 4 different kinds of herbs but 2 came up as Parsley and one as Cilantro. And one not at all. But parsley is good to keep around, grandma Anna Lisa thinks it cures just about everything.