recipe: peach sangria

This sangria recipe, which I made most recently for brunch after the marathon, is phenomenal. The recipe is simple: wine, peach schnapps, frozen lemonade concentrate and fruit. The frozen lemonade makes the drink sweet, and the schnapps gives it good fruit flavor. Your early-morning alcohol shouldn't be overwhelmingly booze-tasting, right?

I got this recipe from Camille a couple of years ago, and it's never failed to impress. It's the best sangria I've ever had, for sure.

Peach Sangria

• 1 bottle dry white wine
• 3/4 cup peach schnapps
• 6 tablespoons frozen lemonade concentrate
• peaches, apples, grapes, strawberries or other fruit of your choice

In a large pitcher, combine wine, schnapps and lemonade concentrate. Add fruit. Refrigerate 2 hours or overnight to blend flavors.

decor: ikea cabinet has been found

Good news, guys! Remember that discontinued Ikea cabinet that I couldn't find at the store last month? I was able to track down one on Craigslist, and Tony and I brought it to its new home yesterday.

These Ikea PS cabinets are few and far between on Craigslist, believe me - I've been checking a couple of times a week. But as luck would have it, a woman who lives in my neighborhood was getting rid of this one, so Tony and I didn't have to travel very far to pick it up.

The cabinet is the perfect size for my entryway, between the front door and the couch, and it solves all kinds of storage problems. We're keeping the shoes that we wear most often underneath of the cabinet, and the inside shelves already are filled with things I just never found the right place for. Like the paper shredder. (The cabinet came with holes for cords to come out of the back.) The paper shredder had just been sitting beside the TV all this time. Much better now that it's hidden inside of the cabinet.

I threw my orange Ikea lamp on top of the cabinet. And on the other side I have a little wooden box with a couple of bear jars that I found in my room at my parents' house when I was in Ohio over Christmas.

Aren't they cute? I'm not sure exactly what they held originally (syrup? honey?), but the empty jars were supposed to double as banks.

I don't think I've ever posted photos on this blog of the bookshelves by the front door, so here's another shot.

My dad built them for me, and they're where Tony and I keep all of our non-fiction. (The fiction books are on shelves in our bedroom and upstairs hallway.)

And a few months ago I was experimenting with hanging different-sized frames along the edge of the bookshelf, and it didn't look right, but as I was taking the frames down, I liked the way it looked to keep just one frame. It's off-center, but it's unexpected, and I really dig it.

So, the Ikea cabinet story has a happy ending. And I no longer have to see the paper shredder out of the corner of my eye when I watch TV.

the backyard: shed update

When I look at our backyard, I see ... potential. When other people look at it, they probably see an eyesore.

The backyard has always been ugly. Part of the patio is brick -- but the bricks were installed right on top of the dirt, and it's sunken and broken in places. The other part of the patio is concrete that is cracked and missing some pieces. There was an ill-placed garden bed with overgrown plants.

Plus, this is the shed that came with the house (in a photo from last fall):

Finally, Tony and I are starting to tackle the backyard. I've come up with a plan to fix things up, and we're going to make progress in pieces as our schedules and patience permit.

First up: the metal shed.

The color is awful. And it just looks ... old. And it's all rusty.

So I went to Home Depot and started pricing new sheds. I really liked those fancy big cedar ones. But they're surprisingly expensive, and it was hard to justify spending so much money, especially because we need a fairly large shed to accommodate all of our garden stuff.

So that brought me to the paint aisle. And in the end, Tony and I decided to try to salvage the shed with some Rust-Oleum paint.

We started by using a wire brush to remove as much of the rust as we could. We gave the whole shed a coat of primer, making sure the rusty spots were covered especially well.

As for colors, I decided to paint the shed white with a big pop of color for the door. Voila!

I had considered a lot of other colors ... black, brown, gray ... but I decided against dark colors that would absorb heat since summers here tend to be, you know, hellish.

And check out that roof: no rust! Tony and I actually did the painting last fall, and we let it sit in the elements all winter before declaring the project a success.

And this project gives me a good framework as I plan the rest of the patio project. I'm now thinking about how to incorporate bright white and candy-apple red into the rest of the backyard decor to tie it all together.

The next backyard project is going to be putting in a raised garden bed. I'll post an update soon!

recipe: potato & rosemary strata

So many great things happened Saturday. For example: A dog came to hang out in my house.

That's Lily - isn't she sweet? She came to visit after the Rock 'n' Roll Marathon. Avery ran the race (yay, Avery!), and afterwards she came over to my house for brunch, along with Nathan, Lily and a few other friends.

Here's another shot of Lily, transfixed on a piece of food, no doubt.

The star of the brunch menu was a potato and rosemary strata. Because of the heaping amounts of various dairy products in this strata, I can't give you a first person review of this recipe, but, based on the reaction of everyone else, I'll put this in the "major success" category.

This is an America's Test Kitchen recipe. A couple of Decembers ago, right after Tony and I moved into our house, we hosted a Christmas brunch, and I made an ATK spinach strata, which also was a big success. So I had a lot of confidence going in that the potato and rosemary version would turn out well.

Potato & Rosemary Strata

Adapted from America's Test Kitchen

• 8-10, 1/2-inch slices of French or Italian bread
• 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened and divided
• 12 ounces medium red potatoes, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
• salt and pepper
• 2 shallots, minced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 teaspoons fresh rosemary, minced
• 1/2 cup dry white wine
• 6 ounces (or 1 1/2 cups shredded) cheese - recipe called for fontina, but I used a combo of mozzarella and provolone
• 6 eggs
• 1 3/4 cups half and half

Dry out the bread in the oven. Arrange slices on a baking sheet and bake at 225 degrees for about 40 minutes, turning over halfway through. 

When cool, butter one side of each piece, using 2 tablespoons butter.

Bring water to a boil in a medium saucepan. Add potatoes and 1 teaspoon salt. Boil potatoes until just tender when pierced with a paring knife, about 4 minutes. Drain.

Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a large skillet. Add potatoes and cook until beginning to brown, about 10 minutes.

Add shallots and cook about 1 minute. Add garlic and rosemary and cook 30 seconds. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Transfer potato mixture to medium bowl.

Add wine to skillet and simmer about 3 minutes until wine is reduced to 1/4 cup. Set aside.

Grease 8-inch square baking dish with 1 tablespoon butter. 

Arrange half of bread, buttered side up, in a single layer. Sprinkle half of the potato mixture and 1/2 cup cheese.

Top with remaining bread, remaining potato and another 1/2 cup cheese.

In a bowl, whisk eggs, reduced wine, half and half, 1 teaspoon salt and pepper to taste.

Pour eggs over bread.

Cover strata with plastic wrap, and weigh down with canned goods.

(As you can see, there are many cans of black eyed peas in my house at any given time.)

Place casserole dish on a baking sheet to mitigate any spillage. (Lesson learned from that Christmas brunch.)

Refrigerate overnight. (Original recipe says to refrigerate anywhere from 1 to 24 hours.

In the morning, remove strata from the fridge and sit at room temperature for 20 minutes. Remove plastic wrap and top with remaining 1/2 cup cheese.

Bake at 325 degrees for 50 to 55 minutes until edges and center are puffed and the edges pull slightly away from the dish. Cool for 5 minutes before serving.

Serves 6 to 9.

By the way, I made this strata to be gluten free, which was very easy. The only gluten-containing ingredient in the recipe is the bread, so I used a loaf of Against the Grain bread gluten-free bread instead, which was a seamless substitute. (Avery picked up the loaf and said she finds it at a specialty grocery store.) No one could tell the difference.

And since I included photos of a dog in this blog post, I'd feel bad if I also didn't include a photo of Victor. (Victor spent the party shut in the second bedroom to avoid any drama. Victor has met exactly two dogs in his life. The dogs see Victor as a new friend and are eager to come up and smell him. Victor sees the dogs as loud, large enemies that want to eat him. Things don't end so well.) So here he is, post-brunch, once the dog has left, sitting on the steps, still looking a tad bit terrified from the commotion.

decor: flower pot rehab

My father-in-law goes to a lot of auctions, so last year I asked him to keep an eye out for large terra cotta pots that I could use in my garden. Sure enough, he bought me a huge box of pots that I used for tomatoes, peppers and other veggies. And the box included a couple of extra ceramic pots that I stored the shed and forgot about until recently.

I bought some new houseplants at Lowe's, and Tony and I went out to the shed to find some pots for them. I already had a can of white paint out for another project, so when I came across this weirdly spotted pot in the shed, I got thinkin.

You probably already guessed what I did, didn't you? I painted it white.

Even I was surprised at how good it turned out. I kept the inside black and the bottom black, and the contrast is beautiful.

For the saucer, I took an extra terra cotta saucer and painted it black. Easy as pie.

I took something that didn't go with my house at all and turned it into a nice decor element with just a few strokes of paint.

dining out: batter bowl bakery

How about that weekend weather! Our neighbor told me that Sunday's gorgeous weather was only about 5 degrees above average, but it's been so unseasonably cold lately that it felt like a much larger reprieve.

Saturday, Tony and I took advantage of the nice weather to clean up the yard. And on Sunday, we met up with Ben for lunch at Batter Bowl Bakery on H Street. We followed that up with a game of bocce at Valerie's apartment with Ben. (Guys won.) And then Tony and I took advantage of the extra daylight to do some more yard work at home. (We're getting the backyard ready to put in a raised vegetable garden! We ... er, Tony, has started on the demo.)

Batter Bowl Bakery is at 4th Street and H Street Northeast. It's right next to Ethiopic, the Ethiopian restaurant, and in fact, the two restaurants are sister companies. Batter Bowl Bakery is a relatively new restaurant, and it's been on my list of places to try.

The bakery is beautiful inside, albeit a little crowded when the rush comes. And the food is great, which is really the most important part.

I originally had my heart set on a parfait with granola, fruit and SOY YOGURT. I feel like if a restaurant puts soy yogurt on its menu, I should order it regardless of the time of day, just to reward the restaurant for offering a dairy-free option. But alas, the bakery ran out of soy yogurt. So I opted for an open-faced sandwich of hummus, garbonzos, avocado and tomatoes. The flavors were wonderful. My only suggestion is that the bakery, being a bakery and all, serve the sandwiches on thicker, sturdier bread.

Tony also ordered an open-faced sandwich. His was tuna, and he loved it.

I ordered the fresh-squeezed orange juice, which was lovely. I'm not a coffee drinker, and Tony only drinks coffee occasionally at work. He really liked his iced coffee at the restaurant, though. "I forgot what good coffee tastes like."

Batter Bowl Bakery is a great neighborhood spot and a great addition to the area. We'll be back.

recipe: camille's mango lassi

Tony and I spent last Saturday evening at Camille and Matt's house, chowing down on some amazing homemade Indian food and playing Cards Against Humanity.

Let me first talk about Cards Against Humanity. Then I'll get to the Indian food.

Camille and Matt ordered the game for Tony and me for Christmas, but it's been on backorder, so we've been anxiously awaiting the day it would arrive. That day came. The box says it's "a party game for horrible people." Couldn't have said it better myself. The premise is simple. Every round, a black card is turned over. The black card has a phrase on it with one word blank. Then everyone has to fill in the blank with one of the white cards from their hand. Funniest card wins. It's inappropriate and dirty and simply awesome. I hate to say it, but I think I like it even more than I like Clue. And I love love love Clue. Check it out if you want to treat yourself or if you're in the market for a gift for a friend who happens to be a horrible person.

Anyway, back to Indian food. This was quite a feast we had. Matt made a spicy tomato-garbonzo bean dish and a tofu-spinach dish. There was basmati rice, naan and samosas. AND mango lassis. As you can see, I did not go home hungry:

Camille was the brains behind these lassis. They're simple and healthy, and I highly recommend them, either for an Indian food dinner party or even for an evening snack.

Camille's Mango Lassi

• 1 cup plain yogurt
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 cup frozen mango
• 1/2 cup ice

Combine all ingredients in blender and process until smooth.

And because Camille is awesome, she made a dairy-free version for me, substituting soy yogurt and almond milk. YUM.

decor: dresser rehab

Last year, I found a nice little dresser on Freecycle, but it looks kind of sad in this picture (which was from the original owner's online posting):

But I loved those deco-looking wooden knobs and the deco-ish flair at the bottom. So Tony picked the dresser up for me, and it eventually found its way to the corner of our dining room, where it's going to provide some much-needed storage. The dresser needed a little TLC, and a couple of weeks ago, Tony and I finally got around to it.

First of all, structurally, the dresser needed some screws and wood glue to make it more sturdy.

Next we had to address the musty smell, which you find in old furniture. I gave it a good cleaning, then wiped down the whole thing with diluted white vinegar. The dresser sat in the sun for a few days to air it out, and then I absorbed some of the lingering mustiness with bowls of baking soda, bowls of coffee grounds, containers of kitty litter, and bars of soap -- basically everything the Internet said to do. I threw the kitchen sink at it. And finally last weekend, Tony put two coats of primer in the drawers to seal in whatever was left. And then I lined the drawers with contact paper. So at this point, I have a dresser that definitely does not smell musty, but there's a faint odor of primer. I'll have to let it sit for a few more days, maybe put the drawers back in the sun this weekend if the weather's nice, before I make a final verdict on whether I was successful in achieving a 100-percent odorless dresser.

And finally, the dresser got some cosmetic makeovers. it originally was a dull cream color. So I freshened it up with bright white paint. When the whole dresser was monotone, the cool knobs blended in, so I painted them gold to make them pop.

Here it is!

A close-up of a handle:

You can see the fourth drawer has got some issues. As I was fixing the dresser up, I came to the realization that I'm never going to make it into an heirloom-quality piece of furniture. The dresser looks cool, but it wasn't constructed to last. So I'm thinking of this dresser like I think of Ikea furniture ... enjoy it now because it may not survive the next move.

As soon as I get the primer smell out of the dresser, I have piles of stuff waiting to fill those drawers. (Ahem, Halloween costumes.)

And it's also where I've been keeping my old typewriter.

Here's a wide shot to see how the dresser fits into the corner of the dining room:

reading list: breakfast of champions

Well, I've been a bad blogger this week. This is the only post I've put up -- sorry about that! So let me blog about something I haven't written about in a while ... books! I've told you before about how I'm trying to read more literature. The latest book on my list: Breakfast of Champions by Kurt Vonnegut.

It's the story of Dwayne Hoover, a used car dealer in the Midwest, who crosses paths with Kilgore Trout, an eccentric science fiction writer. Vonnegut's writing style is breezy. He put his own little drawings throughout the book. The story itself was a page turner. I loved it. It reminded me of the town where I grew up, but years before I was born.

Here's what kept running through my mind as I was reading the book: Write what you know.

This is how Vonnegut describes Kilgore Trout:

I gave him the same legs the Creator of the Universe gave to my father when my father was a pitiful old man. They were pale white broomsticks. They were hairless. They were embossed fantastically with varicose veins.

Isn't that a powerful description? That paragraph made me stop reading, and I just sat there for a few minutes to take in that picture. He wrote what he knew. Kilgore Trout got the real-life legs of Vonnegut's father.

Vonnegut wrote the novel in 1973, and he hammered home themes about racism and environmental destruction and consumerism and other social issues of the 1970s that he clearly had strong feelings about. He wrote what he knew. And that made me think about the two John Steinbeck novels I've read: Grapes of Wrath and In Dubious Battle, both from the 1930s. Both novels are sympathetic to the plight of farm laborers, which Steinbeck clearly had strong opinions about. He wrote what he knew, too.

So that's the cue I'm taking from Breakfast of Champions. I think there's a novel in my head ... maybe. I just haven't been able to get it out yet. And if I'm ever going to write a piece of fiction, I've got to do some thinking about what I know. I've got to start thinking about those life moments that can be translated into something bigger, and I've got to start thinking about what early 21st Century causes, ideas, issues that I could hang a novel of my own on.

As for actually ever being disciplined enough to actually sit down and write a novel - that's another story. I've started writing fiction before. I'll write a chapter here, and a piece of dialogue there -- but I don't have any finished stories to show for it. But this blog has been good for me because I've gotten into the habit of writing something (most) every day. (Except this week. Oops.)

<3

From the archives:

reading list: the sun also rises