Kristin, a birthday and a meatball

Hooray for Kristin and her Birthday! I have zero photos of her or her birthday cake but here is what I do have...The best greek meatballs with feta, mint, parsley, lemon rind, ground veal and ground turkey ( I can type up the recipe if anyone wants me to)

cooked in olive oilfinished cooking in a lemon- chicken broth
mirepoix
Nathan made homemade pasta
and Manhattans
lots of raw oysters
finished pasta with crispy kale and pecorino

something old, something new

We start here with this old dresser I bought for $15 at the goodwill store. Four of the drawers are already removed and being prepped by NathanNathan turning the drawers in doors
Spray painted!
Painted inside in Martha Stewart "maine lobster"
Nathan installed shelves, glass doors and a little light. Mushroom knobs from anthropologie
And our final product -our blue buffet :)

New blawgs to come....

I have been a bad blogger. So I will apologize and catch up with photos to wrap things up and start fresh for the new year....

Happy New Year!
Nathan got lots of haircuts! Thanks Bailey!
Mussels....
Phish Shows....



Brian and his dad from the future
Lots of drinking around the world at Epcot




Reuben and his pool
Bangs that came and went....
A little Savannah with the fam

Aki Lunch boxes
AMY AMY AMY!!!

Rounds of golf...
Thanksgiving

Our new house!

Mobiles for the classroom

I decided I was going to make some mobiles for my classroom this year.

Inspired by Matisse, Van Gogh and Calder....

happy 30

I made an awesome dinner for Nathan in celebration of his 30th Birthday

Seared sea scallops on lemon risotto with crispy truffle potatoes

For the Risotto:

saute a chopped onion over med heat for 2-3 minutes

add a chopped shallot

garlic clove minced

add Arborio Rice and cook for a minute

add 1/2 cup white wine

at this point cook the risotto like a traditional recipe

adding a cup of chicken stock

at a time until the rice is creamy and cooked

add 1/2 cup parm cheese

juice of a lemon

cooked asparagus

S&P to taste

For the scallops:

Cut up 2-3 pieces of bacon

cook until the fat begins to render

Season scallops with S&P

Add a little bit of butter to the bacon

make sure the pan is very hot

cook scallops about 2-3 minutes so that they are nice and bro

wn on the outside

but still rare in the middle

Top the risotto and scallops with the fried potatoes covered in truffle salt

and chopped chives or parsley. Drizzle a little of the brown bacon butter around the risotto.

A midsummer night's pig-out....

A lovely braised chicken


Farmers salads, crab& shrimp cakes, sourdough bread and pesto

The base of a peach mead ice cream. ....
My only proof that Amy was here this weekend....
Mini Yorkshire Puddings, lemon and rosemary roasted chicken, sweet onion gravy .....

Angel Food Cake with Maple Glaze

Melt 1 stick butter with

1/2 cup brown sugar

2 tablespoons maple syrup

over med-high heat

bring to boil for 2-3 minutes

take off heat

whisk in

vanilla

Spicy cinnamon

half and half (whole milk or cream will also work here)

Fleur de sel (to taste)

whisk in

2-3 cups powdered sugar and pour onto cooled cake

This was a fabulous salmon that sat in a soy/ginger/ brown sugar/sriracha marinade for a few hours prior to grilling. It was served on wasabi mashed potatoes with maple sriracha spinach

Maple Sriracha Spinach

Saute shallots and garlic

over medium heat. Add in spinach

until wilted. Take off heat add

Squeeze of lemon, salt and pepper.

Let cool for a few moments transfer to glass bowl

add in a few tablespoons maple syrup, soy sauce, water (just enough to cover the spinach)

sriracha, grated ginger and sesame seeds.

serve cold.

Arugula and cornichons with parmesan tossed with caesar dressing (recipe in previous post)
We bought some delicious slab bacon up in NC and I used it in this Pasta Carbonara dish.
Leek and Scallion Toast:

Slice leeks and scallions (Throw away dark green parts)and soak in water to clean.

Melt butter and olive oil and add cleaned leeks and scallions.

turn heat down to low and let cook 20 minutes or so

until it looks like this...

Add salt ,pepper and lemon juice.

Spread onto toasted bread and melt blue cheese on top.