Backyard beauties

We know that when you open a business it's all about location location location. We took over the very successful bird feeder franchise in front of the dining room window from the precious owner. We really had no idea what a gold mine we were sitting on. The clientele is very versatile and loyal and comes from all over. We easily go through a feeder a week. We thought we would capitalize on the success and branch out to a lesser known area, over by the kitchen window. If you want to make it in this business you gotta have cojones, right. So we bought a new feeder, filled her up and waited. Not a bird in sight. But I know that the most gentrified areas of Brooklyn were once industrial wastelands and they will come. Sooner or later, they will come. It starts with the starving artists and the hipsters follow. As a marketing ploy I spread some seed on the ground. And check it out:

When we showed up on saturday morning the new feeder was empty. I wonder what the first bird who discovered it thought. Probably the same thing I thought when I first moved to the Williamsburg area in the mid 90's - OMG how do I keep this secret to myself. 

A lot happened in the yard while we were away this week. (Lots happened in the city too -  it was doc week for Linda. I worked on a documentary about FDR right across the river at his home on tuesday and wed-thurs was a documentary about Fran Lebowits directed by Martin Scorsese. He hung out with us on a balcony for an hour or so while shooting Fran peeking her head out at 6 o'clock on the Grand Central Station clock.

Marty was very dapper and jovial but there's unfortunately no real story here. My story of the day was when Lisa the DP and I were in the back of Fran's old checker cab with a camera driving through Times Square at night. She is an old school driver alright and was laying on the horn cursing everyone else on the road. It was a little scary but mostly just hilarious.

So back to what happened on Maple Ave...

This is the flower bed outside the dining room that we uncovered a week ago. Just in time!

This is the kitty cat bud tree in full bloom. Aaaahhhhhh.... 

It smells amazing! I would love some ID help with it!

This is the next tree to go.

And the chestnut.

This tree has unfortunately split down the middle, probably happened in the big storm, and most of the buds have died, but I'm following this one closely. If we can at least get one flower.

We needed to try our home brew to make sure we are on the right track. It should still age for another 2 weeks but we wanted a sneak peak.

The author enjoys a 2 week old Fat Robin Pilsner.

And you know what - we got beer. It's already pretty tasty. 

Today was yard work and fish tacos. I totally cheated and used fish stick for filling, just fried them up in a lot of oil in the pan. We love fish sticks over here so that was hardly a negative. For fixins I marinated cabbage in vinegar and lime juice and some salt and pepper. And cut up some tomatoes and red onion. And then this sauce:

1/2 cup plain non fat yougurt

1/2 cup mayo

juice from 1 lime

1/2 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp  ground coriander

1/2 tsp dill weed

1/2 tsp oregano

1 tsp chipotle chili powder

1/2 tsp minced capers (kapris)

1 tbs chopped fresh cilantro

Mix it all together and let it sit in the fridge for a few hours. Darn good. We sat outside on the patio and drank Micheladas with the meal. !Muy Bueno¡

Adios!

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.

Got lemons?

Make Hollandaise.


It's so much easier than I thought and it turns sunday breakfast into brunch!


First, I don't have a double boiler so I just put a bowl over a pot of simmering water. So put 3 egg yolks in the bowl and whisk till they get thick. Add 4 tablespoons of boiling water, 1 tablespoon at a time and whisk in between.


Add 2 table spoons of warmed lemon juice. Whisk again.


Take the pot off the heat and slowly whisk in 1 stick of melted butter.


Finally add 1/2 teaspoon salt and a 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper.


Done.


And if you have Hollandaise. Make Eggs Benedict!

Finally got my poached egg right. 
- I'm using very fresh eggs. 
- The water should be simmering, not boiling.
-  Add about 2 tablespoons of vinegar to the water. 


It's a beautiful thing when it just stays together in the pot.

Julbord i Clintondale or Honey is there a zebra in the closet?

We try to mix the best of both worlds (Swedish and American) around Christmas. We open presents on Christmas day morning according to American traditions (in Sweden we do it Christmas eve) but the food is Swedish ALL THE WAY. Julbord means Christmas buffet and here are a few highlights. Missing are things like 7 different kinds of herring and julmust (christmas soda) but you take what you have. 

Gravlax - Cured Salmon

My dad is the gravlax master, it's consistently the consistency of BUTTER, so following that tradition I decided to go ahead and cure my own this christmas. Just mix 2 table spoons of salt with a little less sugar and 1 table spoon crushed white pepper. Rub it all over the meat side of the salmon, leaving the skin on. Cover with fresh cut dill. Cut the filet in half and place the meat sides together. Wrap in a foil packet and stick it in the fridge for about 30 hours, longer is better. My sister says people are doing it with pine tree branches these days and I 'm ready to experiment. We serve the salmon with Hovmästarsås:

9 tablespoons of light olive oil

3 tablespoons of white vinegar

2-3 tablespoons of sharp mustard

3/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon fresh ground pepper

1/4 sugar

fresh cut dill

Serve with lemon

Jansson's Frestelse - Jansson's Temptation

Slice potatoes in sticks and layer in a pan with chopped onions, sliced butter, minced anchovy filets (I ended up using about 5 small filets) and salt and pepper. Put in the oven at 450 degress for about 45 minutes. Cover if needed.

There have to be meatballs and prince sausages on the julbord, doesn't matter if they are dad's old trusties or from a bag from IKEA.

James' deviled eggs. 

And yes - food has EVERYTHING to do with it. Christmas that is. And then cartoons - lots of cartoons.

Our water issue turned out to be of a slightly different nature than we thought. In our state of denial we didn't see the big area by the cottage that was completely without snow. And also the fact that there was a small river flowing next to the cottage. All collecting in the puddle behind the house which we thought was directly from the leak. Scott figured it out and brought his digger. James and Scott then dug up the water line that feeds the cottage from the main house.

The pipe had not busted due to freezing, the pipes are buried well below the freezing line. Instead someone had done a crappy job of connecting 2 pipes a long time ago and it was that joint that finally gave out. A quick patch job and the cottage had water again. Scott says everything underneath the cottage should be well protected from the cold. Some insulation on a few pipes and good as new. He also pointed out a few ways for us to save a buck this winter... We are now hard at work weather proofing doors and windows. Foam edges on doors and plastic wrap over the basement windows for instance. And of course the little oxygen tent for Furnace Von Frankenstein. We want to turn into energy and money saving fools!!! 

And here is the next step:

En ny kaminman är född. A wood junkie is born. This is a 5th of a cord and should last us a good while but James already wants more... We are very interested in putting an insert into our fireplace to actually make it generate heat. Right now it's just for that special romantic atmosphere but if you want to use it for warmth you pretty much have to sit inside of it.


Other house plans during this vacation is to finish painting the living room to get ready for a floor sand and a couch. I made myself a little desk in the bay window and I think that's where I will spend most of my days finishing 3 screenplays and watching Hulu... James is hard at work in the upstairs bedroom which has become his temporary studio, figuring out new software and playing music. And then we take breaks and watch lots and lots of awesome movies. It's all very very very good.


James gave me little planters for christmas, and me - normally such a patient person, just ask my mom and dad... CAN'T WAIT for my herbs to grow. I have no idea what shade of green my thumb is so here we go, we'll soon find out.

And yes honey, there is a zebra in the closet.

So one last time - until next year - Merry Fishmas and a guppy new year.

Pumpkins and princesses

Our first Halloween in Clintondale

I got some prime pumpkins at the farmers market down the street.

Halloween was a bit rainy and drab and inspired us to cook soup. James has been raving about this Moosewood Hungarian mushroom soup he ate in Montana once 10 years ago and later cooked with Rosemary. Now there is the internet and we found the recipe. It came out great and is completely vegetarian if you use vegetable stock. Testa Kajsa, använd trattisar kanske.

12 ounces (0.3 kg) of mushrooms. I used half champingons and half baby bellas but I'd rather be creative and use what I just picked in the woods.

2 cups (5dl) of grated onions. I like them fine and not chunky in my soup, they become part of the stock almost.

2 tablespoons of butter

3 tablespoons of flour

1 cup (2.5dl)milk

2 teaspoons dill

1 tablespoon Hungarian paprika

1 table spoon tamari soy sauce

1 teaspoon salt

2 cups (5dl) stock

2 teaspoons lemon juice

salt and pepper (don't be shy)

1/2 cup (1dl) sour cream

Sauté onions in 2 table spoons of stock. A few minutes later add mushrooms, 1 tsp dill, 1/2 cup stock, soy sauce and paprika.

In another pot melt butter and add flour, (redning, there it is again). Add the milk and cook for about 10 minutes until it's thick. Stir in the mushroom mix and the remaining stock. Cover and simmer for 15 minutes. Just before serving add the lemon juice and the sour cream and some more fresh dill.

I made corn bread to go with it. Turned out to be a good combination.

Our weekends are short now that we are both working and the work around the house consists of little easy projects. Hanging light fixtures and rearranging what little furniture we have. And of course making food, eating the food and watching Mad Men. And this weekend - carving pumpkins.

It is best done with a funny hat and a PBR in hand. James got one of them right.

The Da Vinci of pumpkin carving over here.

There was going to be a scary competition but we both ended up with jolly, drunk and pretty dumb looking pumpkins.

James redneck muppet pumpkin. DUH-HUH-HUH.

Mine slightly more evil but equally intoxicated.

We bought tons of candy in preparation for the little trick or treaters. Pumpkins were lit and we were ready. We waited. And waited. And waited. The rest of Maple Ave was unusually dark. Around 7 there was a weak knock at the door. I ran over and tore it open to find 2 little scared princesses outside. I greeted them a little too enthusiastically "OUR FIRST TRICK OR TREATERS HELLOOOOO WHAT ARE YOU SUPPOSED TO BE!!!!! HERE HAVE SOME CANDY!!!!" Shoving over the untouched bowl. "HAVE AS MUCH AS YOU WANT!!!!" They reached their little hands cautiously into the bowl, couldn't wait to get off this crazy woman's porch. "NO DON'T GO, HOW DO YOU LIKE OUR PUMPKINS" Big bear steps from inside the house. "JAMES WE HAVE TRICK OR TREATERS!!!" James equally impressed, princesses backing slowly off the porch. Starting on a light jog back to mom's car parked in the street as soon as they were off the stairs.

And Halloween was over.

A sea of leaves in the front yard? A cancelled insurance policy due to a damaged furnace, peeling paint and missing shingles? An empty cottage that's costing money? Dead tree branches that will fall on wires and knock out the electricity to the barn? The garbage bag that is covering the window in the living room? The knot weed field and the garbage dump that the previous owner turned it into? And why is everybody asking about the crazy mad professor water softener system in the basement? Oh, we don't need it?

Denial denial...

Who wants another Swedish schnaps? Helan går everyone. And here's more pictures of treeeeees.

No - get your act together homo (wner) this is your responsability now. After making our terrific boiler expert write a letter stating that the furnace is in perfect working condition, the insurance company reinstated our policy. James and Linda: 1 - the Man: 0.

Odd perks of working in the film business. James worked at a meat packing plant on Friday and got a bonus in the shape of two FAT porterhouse steaks. I guess they're fine enough to cook up with salt and pepper but I am working on perfecting my chimichurri and I take every opportunity to make it.

Right in the blender: parsley, garlic cloves, red vinegar, olive oil and a little bit of worcester sauce.

I let the steaks marinade for the day. We tried to find the perfect cook time on the web but ended up winging it and seared them for about 5 mins on each side and then let them rest on the low heat for about 8 mins.

I made potato wedges with fresh thyme and olive oil in the oven and whipped up a quick Bearnaise... from a bag. The day they have fresh tarragon at Stop & Shop is the day I make Bearnaise at home. Not a day later.

We have some premade crab cakes in the freezer and neither one of us is a huge fan of straight up tartar sauce but crave some Cajun wonder sauce. I'm using the sauce in a Bennie situation. English muffins, crab cakes, poached eggs and the sauce! This is he recipe I settled on to start experimenting with (and I finally got to make mayo!):

2/3 cup olive oil

3-4 garlic cloves

Mix in blender.

3 egg yolks

1 table spoon hot mustard or dijon

whisk together

Combine the 2 slowly to make mayo!

In a blender chop up:

1 red pepper

1 onion

2 tablespoons of capers (kapris)

1 jalapeno

Add to the mayo along with 2 table spoons lemon juice, 1/2 tsp of Worcester, horseradish, salt, pepper to taste. We like the heat and we're not chicken about the heat but sometimes (mostly) I don't think the heat adds flavor so I went with one jalapeno and a decent amount of horseradish, and no pepper sauce. I added a little chipotle chili powder but being a culinary segregationist I didn't want to mix my ethnicities and sticking to cajun I would need Gator-Crater-hot-sauce or Bayou Bob's ring-of-fire-topping. Next time...

Here's a little more dining room, since there has been very little progress in the last few weeks. Well, we DID hang 2 (TWO!) light fixtures this weekend... Scott is starting the windows in the next week or so, and that's almost a little too much progress.