Getting ready for winter

We are seriously working our petuties off over here. It's non stop but unfortunately there's not too much to show for it. I finally put finish paint on the whole porch and James has one coat on all windows and trim. We know it but nobody else really sees it. Once we start to green EVERYONE will see but that's looking more and more like a spring project.

Rosemary came and visited last weekend and brought lots of goodies. Our dining and living rooms are up to detailing level and little lamps and cute tables make a world of difference. There was also lots of kitchen planning. Which gets us too excited and we want it to happen now!!! But alas, it's still a 2 year plan. Unless we win the powerball lottery. Which could totally happen. 

Jake and Brian, our new contractors have been working in the pastry shop getting it ready for the sheet rocker (who may start next week...). 

Today they put the final touches on the new staircase and the door to the basement. Rosemary got involved in the planning of the pastry shop also. We know that we are doing the white wood wall and we know that the rest of the room will be dark blue. We are now convinced that we are doing window and door trim blue as well, just like the dining room. 

So the week started out sunnysunnysunny and we got much done. I raked the last of the leaves and even mowed the lawn. I'm calling it - the yard is ready for winter.

Our furry neighbors helped out as well. 

It was time to harvest the basil plant and what else to make but PESTO. Just good old classic pesto.


2 cups of basil leaves
1/3 cup of pine nuts
1/2 cup grated parmesan
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 garlic cloves


Put it right in the blender go.


Right before I served it I heated it up a little with some half and half. James says I would make a good Italian.

My mother's "oups people are coming over and I have nothing to serve for fika*" solution is always rhubarb crisp. We have no rhubarb (YET) but are surrounded by apple orchards so when Rosemary and I went down the road to get pumpkins for Halloween we also grabbed a bag of local Empires. I think I broke every desert record last night when the thing was in the oven before James was even back from the minimart with ice cream. So quick. So tasty.

Making the crisp is a feeeeel thing. I just start with a stick of butter and add flour and sugar until the consistency is right. Crumbly and falling apart. We cut and peel the apples and sprinkle some cinnamon and brown sugar on them between the layers. Then pour the crumbles on top. Bake in the oven for about 40 minutes at 350 degrees. If you have marsan (martian) (vanilla) sauce that's how it should be eaten but if you are without, ice cream will definitely suffice.

*A coffee break with a little something sweet to go along with it. 


I get worried sometimes that I've seen all the good movies in the world. But then a little gem pops up and I find there is hope. We caught a yummy old thriller with Barbara Stanwyck and Burt Lancaster when Rosemary visited. (hm, some of us caught only half...). Anyway, it's called Sorry, Wrong Number and it's a thriller all right.


Also want to recommend (highly infact!) a Danish movie called Terribly Happy. A little Coen a little Lynch and a lotta original. (Copenhagen cop gets reassigned to a small town where things go from bad to worse.)


And of course, Infernal Affairs (Thanks E! for the tip!). The original version of Scorsese's The Departed which is WAY cooler. Tony Leung - you are my hero.


Heading out of town for the week, Charlotte then Detroit. And I got one more weekend in Clintondale before this blog goes Mexican. Please stop by for the cracking of the first bottle of Glögg for the season this coming sunday! 

Happy Fall from Linda and James!

For sale on 44/55!

This guy just came up for sale around the corner from us. Great house with a beautiful piece of property. View of apple orchards and mountains. It also has a very cool barn. Maybe even 2? Not sure if the 2nd one belongs to this house or the neighbor.

Bonus Sunday

Didn't think I would make it up this weekend but when I awoke all by myself in the apartment (worked late last night, riding around the city with a phantom. Not as scary as it sounds. It is a camera that shoots veryveryvery fast. See, life moves at 24 frames per seconds according to film, 25 if you live in the PAL part of the world. Now, the Phantom can shoot things at 1000 frames per seconds, so imagine that played back at 24 FPS and you have slooooooooo-mooooooooo) there was really nothing to keep me there. I want to be at my house. And why couldn't I ? 

I got in the car and drove up. A little lazy, a little slow brained I watched James' progress on painting, cleaned up some and decided to cook us something special for dinner. 

Hmmmmm, let's see now.

BLACK BEAN SOUP WITH BACON

Once again a winner recipe from the Williams Sonoma soup book. I made a few alterations this time.

Heat oil in a soup pot and once it's warm add 2 chopped yellow onions and 1 packet of bacon. I scissored the bacon in to small pieces.

Add 1 chopped red pepper.

2 minced garlic cloves

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1 teaspoon ground coriander

a pinch (or 2) of Chipotle chili powder

Let it all become an aromatic dream come true.

Then add 8 cups of water and 2 cups of black beans.

I used dried beans but didn't have time to do an overnight soak so I put the beans in a pot and covered them with water + 2 additional inches. Bring to a boil and boil for 2 minutes. Take the pot off the heat and let it sit for 1 hour. After that rinse the beans and they are ready to use.

My soup simmered for about an hour and then I placed all solid stuff in a blender.

Finally I added chopped fresh cilantro and juice from 1 or 2 limes. 

Serve with home fried corn tortilla strips and fresh cut cilantro.

My veggie thoughts on the matter are very uninspired. The bacon adds such a smoky, tasty flavor that it's hard for me to think of substitutions. More chipotle perhaps?

We ate it with sour cream and crunched up tortilla chips. And these little fritters on the side...

FRIED FLAT BREAD WITH SCALLIONS

Put 1 1/4 cup of flour and 1 teaspoon salt in a food processor. Slowly add 1 cup of boiling water and mix till it becomes a dough. Take it out and put into plastic wrap for 1/2 hour.

Cut up one bunch of scallions and sauté them in oil.

Roll out the bough into a rectangle on a floured surface. 

Spread the leeks on top. 

Roll it up from the short end.

Cut up about 12 slices and put them between wax paper. Flatten the slices with your palm.

I stuck them in the fridge after this and about 2 hours later I fried them in oil in a pan until golden brown on both sides.

A superb weekend!

I can't really write right now because I have no fingertips. They have been stolen by the sandpaper demon and every key stroke hurts like bloody fire. F - oooooooo, I - fk #$%^@%** grrrr, R - aooooooo, E - omg I really should just stop writing.

But someone has to post pictures of our amazing Maple trees ablaze and the spectacular colors of the valley. 

And I have to brag about my homemade Alfredo that was just to die for for. 

So $^#%%@^~#**# here I go.

Maple Avenue

Yup. Those are our maple trees. We did goooood. And noooooo, for the 1000th time Mr. Scrap Metal collector man (they certainly are a special breed of people...), YOU CAN NOT have that radiator. Although I think we just decided to part with it and go more stream line (it's been waiting on going back in the pastry shop once it's done). So now - we are accepting offers. I really just want to see someone wrestle with the thing. It's like the weight of an elephant baby. Maybe someone could replace it with an elephant baby. I would love one of those. 

Our view is meh. Mediocre at best.

Great thing about Alfredo is that it's completely guilt free! 

Melt half a stick of butter in a saucepan. 

Add 1 cup of cream and simmer for 5 minutes.

Add 1 1/2 cup of grated gruyere cheese and stir until melted. 

Add 1 crushed garlic clove and lots of parsley.

I tossed the fettucine and the sauce with lots of fresh spinach and served.

No guilt - non whatsoever. And don't forget the Parmesan on top!

James put finish paint on the trim on the front yesterday and today it was the bay window. I sacrificed the skin on my fingers to the porch. Today I am painting it!

I took a little break in porch restoration and went up to our neighborhood look out point on Palazzo Lane.

Things we love about Clintondale. Our Gunk view. Apples! The fall colors. And even some birds.

Oh heck! Just one more. The ridge at dawn.

It's been quiet about the birds lately. Mostly sparrows hanging out getting fat on our seed. But all of a sudden they came back. 

I saw this little guy this morning. We haven't seen Juncos since last winter!

And this guy must have missed the train to Florida. The Blue Jays are back too doing crazy flybys and hootin and making a racket in the trees. 

We only really watched one movie this weekend and the angry critic says it was good. Not great. Could have been great but took a silly turn at 1 hour. It's a French movie called Un Prophete. A young Arab ends up in prison for what we know not. He commits a crime in there in exchange for protection. On one hand he is smart and starts to study but on the other hand he realizes he can make it big  in the crime world with the connections he's making inside. And it goes from Shawshank to a mobster pic. The title suggests an inspirational story of finding your roots . That would have been preferred. But its subtleties still make it very worthwhile.

Last weekend we did a double feature. Sam Mendes' Away we go (self proclaimed loser couple get pregnant and take  a roadtrip to find the perfect place to raise their child) and Ang Lee's Taking Woodstock (chronicling the events that led up to the Woodstock festival, and it should have ended when they got there. Instead we have to watch the protagonist doing acid and opening his mind and our interest dwindled FAST). It was a mediocre night I guess. Away we go was better than expected and Taking Woodstock was just as silly as expected. 

Best in awhile was Howl. In the theatre. Allen Ginsberg's (played by James Franco) poem comes to life by cool animation, recreated docu footage and courtroom drama. Verrrry good.

I've made no secret of the fact that I've been unhappy with my bizniz lately. Quoting in my head "hell is Hollywood and satan is a studio exec". But maybe the disappointments, straight up blow offs and cancellations all led up to this. I will be on the road until Christmas on cool, interesting gigs. Firstly, a travel job in the States - North Carolina, Yellowstone National Park and Detroit. And with no room to breath, off I go to Mexico City to prep a camera package and then I continue to the Chiapas region to work on an offbeat, creepy little indie in the vein of Nick Roeg's Don't Look Now. I'm excited. And I'm taking the Gazette on the road with me. James will get much done at the house and I will come home just in time to decorate the tree and throw the ham in the oven. 

Winter proofing

Foamco came and insulated in the pastry shop and upstairs bedroom last week. It looks like the rooms are covered in blue ice cream. Yum!

We got a quote from the sheetrock guy and he will spackle and prime as well. Good deal. Then we pick a floor and paint colors!

We have a slightly different plan for this wall. My sister and Gizmo are in the process of building a garage that also holds a workshop and a small boutique. They used this paneling in the boutique. 

They are unfinished painted boards.

This is their bedrom and these boards are stained. We want the same look for the one wall in the pastry shop and I think we want to stain it blue.

Also thinking about doing it to the 2 short walls in the NOW laundry room THEN super cosy kitchen nook. Whenever we get to that...

We got new contractors and the porch molding is finally done. 

I drove all the way to Pleasant Valley in the rain to pick up these bricks. I acted like an absolute craigslist crazy showing up with no money thinking this guy was the one with the free bricks. He took me on a drive that was just a little too long for comfort up behind his house and there was definitely a moment when I was getting ready to tuck and roll. But then the tables turned and I started asking about the nearest ATM. In the middle of the woods. I googled my way to a bank and came back and loaded up the car.

I am going to line the flower bed over on the other corner of the house as well but as long as the weather is good all energy goes into getting this house painted.

Fall is coming on like gangbusters and this is lovely Maple Ave in color!

Tomorrow I go to the Doorjamb to buy a new basement door. And since it is raining I am sanding the front door and all the trim around it. It's the only task that is under a roof. If I am lucky I will also have time for a dump run! This weekend is supposed to be nice so maybe I will get to finish sanding the porch and to mow the last bit of grass. Just in time to start raking leaves. James is coming in tomorrow night and will get to work first thing on saturday with caulking and priming. And sanding and painting.

It is so relaxing to have a house in the country.

Outsmarted by a groundhog

I just stepped in one of his damn holes in the garage and almost twisted my ankle. I don't think it was his intention but I really wish he could just dig elsewhere. There's so much dirt around. C'MON!


It was a rainy weekend and our painting was put on hold. Instead we took on some yard work and watched movies.

This morning we got up and were quickly on the go up to Shokan where we buy our paint. We took the scenic route through the mountains which are already turning beautiful colors. Through sweet, sweet Stone Ridge and gorgeous Hurley.

Our first destination was Woodstock and food. We ended up at Oriole 9 where I had a tasty omelette and James had lentil soup and a Cuban sandwich. With happy bellies we continued down Route 28. We stopped in at Woodstock Landscaping to see if we could buy some Rhododendrons that we are planting where the half bay window was. They were very helpful and we left with 4 bushes.

We were looking for a hardy, flowering evergreen and our research brought us to PJM Rhododendrons, the best ones to grow in the area. This is the north east corner of the house and it gets little sun, but these guys are supposed to like it. Early fall is a good time to plant them and next spring they will hopefully go CRAZY with purple flowers.

I also stuffed 2 Hydrangea (haha! very silly homepage but oh so informative! I link a lot of these things so my Swedes know what I am talking about) bushes in the ground by the pastry shop entrance. This is NOT the best time to plant these so I'm going to have to pay extra special attention to them during the winter but I just HAD to do it. Ask any Kallerusian - patient I am not.

I've always had this useless skill at being GOOD at puzzles. We can't have them in the house - I get too obsessed, but today it came in handy. We keep digging out stones in the yard. They are everywhere! A lot of them a really pretty and today I used some of them to make an edge for the Hydrangeas. 

Big things are happening next week. We are insulating the pastry shop and the upstairs bedroom and bathroom. The dudes are coming from Foamco and will spray the walls to the outside. Then we will take a deep breath and start planning for sheetrock. In preparation for the spraying we had to cover up the opening to the crawl space that is above the kitchen and dining room. Could be our least favorite part of this house, but a little cool too cause the beams still have bark on them. James braved the nastiness and we stapled up some paper.

When I made tomato soup I bought plantable basil at Hannies and finally got to use my sister's herb sticks. 

IIIIIII know I could probably remember that this here is Basil but the sticks make the pot so much prettier. The mugs are also by her. And go here to see more of Kajsa's stuff!

And the weekend movie review by the angry critic... 

We tried to watch Boondock Saints and it's so bad it's not even funny, like funny-bad, so we turned it off and I packed it up in it's nifty little red envelope and James had to hold me back so I didn't run off to the post office in the middle of the night to mail it back to the slimepit from wherest it came. I suggest you just watch the documentary Overnight instead, which is about the dope who made the movie. Now THAT is funny. 

So instead we gave Taken a try. And that was at least FUNNY-BAD. One guffaw moment after another and the best inspiration we could ever get for writing screenplays. This sh*t gets made? Whu? Oh boy. Alright, so Liam Neeson's daughter gets kidnapped by the first guy she meets off the plane in Paris. But thank god, Liam is an EX CIA agent and he won't stop until he finds her. Yawn. 

Today we were slightly redeemed by That Evening Sun, mega slow Southern drama that some bad marketeerers would mislabel a thriller. When it's really just an emotional, simple story about forgiveness, redemption and letting go. Yeah to Hal Holbrook and Ray McKinnon!!!

We also plowed through Das Boot. In 2 sittings. Boy that is a long movie. But boy is that a good movie.

Finally, an early fall portrait of 19 Maple Ave. 

Soup Season!

Even though it's still about 100 degrees out there in the sun I just couldn't wait for soup anymore and found this in the Williams Sonoma soup book. The leaves are changing and as far as I am concerned it's fall. 


Tuscan tomato soup


3 lbs of ripe tomatoes. It was 5 big ones for me.


1 yellow onion


3 garlic cloves


3 1/2 cups of stock


1/2 cup of sherry


fresh chopped basil


Slit the tomatoes on the bottom and dunk them in boiling water for about 15 seconds to be able to easily peel off the skin. Take the seeds out and the skin off.


Heat 2 table spoons of olive oil in a big pot and add the chopped onion. Saute for about 5 minutes. Then add the minced garlic.


Pour in the stock and the sherry and the tomatoes. Let this boil for 30 minutes.


Put it in the blender and don't do what I did but keep the lid on tight. There's so much less clean up that way. I realized today that I am a damn messy cook.


After the blender it goes back in the pot with the chopped basil and salt and pepper to taste. Simmer until serving.


To serve - toast slices of Italian bread. Like this fine loaf from Hannafords:

Put in the soup bowl and spread grated parmesan on top. Ladle the soup over it.