Flowers & Monet, yes please

We went to the Bronx Botanical Garden a few weekends ago to check out the Monet Water Lilly exhibit. The garden has a few Monet's on loan and recreated his gardens in their conservatory as a living version of his art. I found it interesting but not nearly as interesting as the architecture.

I just love the quality of Art Deco style work, its so beautiful.

Now I am plotting a way to jimmy rig a water lily garden in my apartment, perhaps a good idea?

Things of Beauty

Isn't this just divine? The color is so lovely. It reminds me of an abstract ikat print or beautiful tye die. This is another amazing little gift from my CSA, Cream of the Crop.  I recommend joining a CSA if you live in an Urban area, its a great way to support and take advantage of local produce during the peak season. Unfortunately, I destroyed this little guy in my cooking adventure to make baba ganoush but it will always be remember as one of the prettiest eggplants to grace my table.

Old Good Things

I worked for years in a furniture store that specialized in antiques from the late Nineteenth century to the World War II Americana. I guess it totally influenced my design sense as I tend to shop at vintage collectible stores like White Trash in the East Village, Brooklyn Flea and this spot called Olde Good Things. 

They currently have a banging selection of coiffured ceiling tiles, repainted or original in very reasonable sizes and prices. 

Coiffured ceiling tiles are basically pressed tin into pretty relief patterns. They were used as ceiling tiles to help with insulation.

They range in size from 12"x12" up to 4 feet x 4 feet and prices start at about $35.00 a pop depending on the size. The cool thing about them is the way the paint wears and creates a beautiful distressed look. Olde Good Things put a framing system on them, so basically they are ready to pop on the wall. I could see using one above a bed as a make shift Moroccan style head board. It has the feel of a tapestry but a little more sophistication and structure. 

Inspirational Photo

Inventory

I posted yesterday about revamping this small chest of drawers, painting and changing out the nob to create a new look. If you read it, you probably remember that I referenced my dad and his tendency to keep things as "inventory". Don't get me wrong, this could be construed as hoarding but there is a fine line between keeping interesting things for future specific use and just having a bunch of crap.

There are tons of sales going on right now and so I wandered into Anthropologie as one does. I love their concept but find most of it way too painfully expensive to consider. So when there is a sale, I beeline for it. I really love their housewares department and was poking around in their cabinet pull section. I found something amazing!

I didn't know what I was going to do with it, but I knew I had to have it. It's sweet and porcelain and blue.And it was $1.95, as opposed to $10.00. Duh. 

I came home and tried it on the new rehab'ed set of drawers but Dan felt it was too girly, which he wasn't wrong. I sighed and thought well I guess I could tuck it away and see what comes up. I went into our bathroom to tame my hair, reached into our little cabinet and Voila! I found a new spot.

I found this wondrous cabinet item at HomeGoods a few months ago and it fit in our tiny teeny bathroom, in a sort of non-descript way. Sometimes you just need a useful piece of furniture that blends in.

I popped out the old nob and leapt for joy as the new one fit beautifully. 

Now my non-descript bathroom cabinet has it's very own little personality. And all for $1.95.

Paint to the Rescue!

As is typical of New York City apartments, the distance between the bed and the closet is small. Like ubber small. We have a tiny dresser there, that is about as old as Dan but never fit with our style. I have looked and looked for an inexpensive replacement but of course because that area is so tiny, I would have to custom build in order to get something new. I am pretty ok at making a book shelf but not quite handy enough to put together a dresser just yet. Hence, the paint.

Here is the original, it's cute and made of pine but we have mostly white furniture and it just needed a little love.

I sanded it down with super fine sand paper, one hundred grade just to open up the wood so it would really suck up all the primer.

Then I primed with Valspar oil based primer. It was my first time using Valspar, usually a Benjamin Moore kind of girl but this worked beautifully. I also found the foam brush is a better choice for all the nooks and crannies. I started with a standard bristle brush but switched shortly after.

After I let that dry, I moved on to the top coat which was also Valspar standard flat white. I painted the nob but was never a big fan of it. After talking with my pops, he suggested he look in "inventory" as he likes to call it. My parents own a very old home in the country which has random parts from the late Nineteenth century.  He is constantly on the hunt for orginial replacements or good enough fakes to have on hand just in case the door hinge breaks. He came up with a small white porcelian nob which fits perfectly.

 I added the canvas bins from Bed, Bath & Beyond, so the small stuff can be stored out of the way. All worked out and well worth the time.

Texaline BBQ and a sprinkle of salt

Mighty Quinn is an art form. It is precious, it is amazing, it is beyond what words can describe. Surprisinlgy, it is barbeque. I went to visit this particular stand at Smorgasburg a few weekends ago upon suggestion of many friends. The entire menu consists of two items, in sizes either small or large, a choice of pulled pork or brisket sandwich on a brioche roll.

We sample both as one does, when one has a small obsession with charred meat. The owner, smoker extradonaire, Hugh Mangum practices his own kind of bbq, something he refers to as "Texaline" a beautiful hyrid of Texas orginal and Eastern North Carolina, harkening his father's heritage and collaborating with his wife's home base. Word has it, Hugh will forgo sleep for 20 hours a day, three days in a row to smoke his meats.  He uses a sort of maschoistic twenty minute schedule for his sleep cycle to perfected his meat, maintaining a close watch on his fire to ensure the temperature stays at the right degree. 

Well, Hugh, it's worth it. The meat is everything you could imagine after someone tends to a fire for over seventy-two hours, forgoing personal comfort and perhaps a little sanity.  It falls apart, melts away in your mouth, with the most wonderful combination of fat and muscle. It leaves a taste of smoke, grilling, summer and sun.  The sandwich is nestled perfectly in a vintage paper french frie basket layering brioche first, bbq either pork or brisket, healthy dose of his secret bbq sauce and then covered with whatever fixings you choose. I asked for his recommendation on toppings which consisted of lightly pickled cucumbers, onions and red hot peppers. The most ingenious move is he uses a generous pinch of large sea salt over the toppings. One would think the bbq is salty by nature and perhaps this is overkill but it adds level of crisp, one that you may have not noticed without, but are so glad is there.

I am still dreaming of the brisket but my boyfriend was all about the pork. Both were equally delicious and well worth the twenty minute sleep cycle of pain.  Hugh Mangum, you are my hero.

Kale Chips

Oh my goodness, I am loving my CSA. Usually, I don't give kale much attention, it's a hearty green that can be tossed in with whatever else is in the ole fridge when dinner is a scramble. I tend to use it in egg dishes like a ninja style quiche or saute with some garlic as a side dish.

But, I had a moment in my life so I thought I would try my hand at Kale Chips. I made them once years ago which sort of led to a teeny tiny fire situation in my kitchen, perhaps too much heat, too close to the broiler? Anyway, I did a little research and found some ingenius solution to ensure no fires and delicious chips.

1) Lower the heat the better

2) Evenly sized pieces of Kale

3) Close Beady eye on process

First thing to do is wash and dry your stalks of kale. While drying, I wrap my baking sheet with tin foil and preheat the oven to two hundred fifty degrees. I then rip the leaves off the stem, the stem is very woody and tends to be bitter.

I pour a generous amount of good quality olive oil on the baking sheet, throw the kale on and slowly roll over and over until each piece is comfortably covered in oil.

  Then sprinkle whatever seasoning sounds good to you. Salt and pepper is a great combo, or salt and paprika, or salt and chili powder. I used a little old bay spice this time with a little chili powder and it was amazing.

Once they are in the oven, set a timer for eight minutes but check them after four to see how they are crisping. They should change to a lovely golden brown on the edges and become slightly more green. You can give them a little shake and pop them back in to complete the time. The timing can be tricky, it does depend on how hot your oven is, so I would just watch the first batch to check your timing.

 Enjoy!