Cover to Cover Challenge 2013

You might remember, last year I made Shrimp Scampi Meatballs for something called the Cover to Cover Challenge from The Bitten Word. Well, they're at it again and I had to participate. This year they simplified to only one magazine, Bon Appetit with multiple people making each recipe.

My assignment: Creamy White Onion Soup
I thought I got off with a fairly easy recipe, until I realized there are actually four parts to this soup: pickled scallions, an onion jam, the soup, and a Fontina toast. Certainly not something I would be dumping in a pot and letting simmer for a few hours. But then again that wouldn't be a challenge would it?!
The soup itself was absolutely delicious. The combination of ginger and Serrano peppers with the onion created a really complex flavor, and when combined with the Fontina toast it was delicious. Personally I wasn't a fan of the onion jam, too sweet for me, though my other taste-testers enjoyed it.
I would certainly make this soup again for a special occasion or guests, but with all the details it is not a 'throw everything in a pot and forget about it' kind of soup, so not likely something that will be on regular rotation. 

Baby Room - Update 1

Work continues in the room for Mini Moore. After getting all of the major grunt work done (with alot of help from Joey - thanks Joey!) we moved on to the next fun step: sanding. And more sanding. What we can salvage of the original details we're trying our best to. The windows are original to the house with sash weights for moving them up and down. With the help of Travis' parents we sanded every nook and cranny of those windows. Afterwards a coating of tung oil* made the wood look absolutely gorgeous and worth all of the effort. We also discovered a nook in the wall when taking down the old wood. As a future shelving unit it will give us a little added storage - something we'll never turn down.

Travis managed to save the molding when taking it down, so we sanded it for painting later. And that is sanding by hand with strips of sandpaper, no palm sander allowed for those delicate pieces.

Then the front door. This door leads from the baby's room to the front porch. We knew the stain wasn't going to match once we sanded down the windows and other details, so we took it off the hinge and got sanding. I don't think any of us expected how pretty the wood would be underneath the years of weathering. It instantly brightens up our front porch, and now has us wanting to sand the other front door. (One project at a time here...) We'll add a coating of tung oil to the inside and and exterior finish to the outside so we can keep those gorgeous colors.

*While neighbors told us about the tung oil for the windows I was of course picturing tounge oil. Not so. It's from the seed of the tung tree and it hardens/dries when exposed to air to create a satin finish on wood. The oil is even considered one of the few environmentally friendly wood finishes available. The best part is that it resists water better than most other finishes - perfect for old windows. Definitely something we'll be using again throughout the house.

A New Project

It's been a while. Quite a while.
Projects have been at a lull at 765 for some time. We got busy with travel and work and, well, life. Then we decided to make up for lost time and take on a substantial project. Certainly our biggest interior project yet, that would provide plenty of blog content for the months to come.

Our front bedroom/office is being gutted. The walls are coming down and we're starting fresh. The thin plywood paneling that warped and peeled around the windows didn't fit in with the beautiful old cypress and pine wood throughout the house.  

 The paneling snapped off with some ease, giving way to old wallpaper underneath. The wallpaper was the only thing covering the tounge-and-groove wood wall structure. Likely cold in the winter, it's certainly why they added a layer of paneling.

 In a home as old as ours there's bound to be history we uncover. Right next to the existing switch was a square from the old one, with a single hole for the knob & tube wiring.And below it, a section of crayon scribbles from a little one.

 The wall paper is cleared out, interior workings of the walls exposed, and plenty of wiring and insulation projects are in the works. All this work just to get rid of some old warping paneling?
Yes and no.
See there is a little something else to the story. Something very little, that would need a fresh room with bright, colorful walls and a consistent temperature. That's right, 765 is absolutely a nest in progress...

WE'RE EXPECTING!
Whether the room is ready or not Baby Moore is coming March 5th!
So join us here as we chronicle our nest in the months to come!

The Chicken And A Tomato

Watching the chickens find a bug or morsel that excites them can be pure entertainment. We had a tomato that was a little over-ripe and Annie got a hold of it. Running around the yard, flinging it side to side, and rolling it in the dirt; the other chicken dare not mess with her when she has a prize like this.

Welcome Home

We came home from a week vacation to a garden ready to be picked. The eggplants are the survivor of the garden, seemingly un-phased by lack of water or too much heat. Some of our tomato plants aren't happy with the soil so we're hoping transferring to pots will help. I picked our rainbow carrots and pulled up the 'running man'. There's a few jokes in there...
The first okra of the season was ready and the final strawberry was bright red. I think that means summer is officially here.