Key Club Convention, here we come!

This weekend is Key Club Convention, and as Key Club Advisor and Mrs. Key Club Advisor, we are chaperoning once again.

This is what we have to look forward to (clip from last year):




And this is the official Key Club cheer. It's really cute.

our new home!

rollers, poles, brushes, and other painting tools = $75
40 mini-cans of tester paint, all varying shades of green = $160
at least 16 gallons of paint, many that were discarded after I changed my mind = $400
money and time wasted = lots

turning a house into a home to call ours = priceless


It's been many moons since we moved in, but finally, here are some pictures of our place. There's more I want/need to add (like curtains, framed artwork, etc.), but I'm a slow gatherer, and I realized I would never get these pictures up if I was waiting for our house to be PERFECT. So, here I am, stretching myself to let go of my perfectionist tendencies AND posting these pictures, which I've been meaning to do for months. I would say this is a good start to my day.

You may remember pictures from before. and all our headache during...

Finally, here is after!

entryway, living room, and dining area

shoe art by emily to.


framed calendar art by Dana Heacock, local artist in Ogunquit, Maine, where we visited last summer.


family room and Lucy



need curtains.


kitchen

my favorite room! we painted all the cabinets and added new handles, which made the hugest difference. notice the striped backsplash! that was meticulously painted on as well.


master bedroom with huge walk-in closet!

i would like splashes of orange in here.


sunny guestroom and craftroom



wayne's office, aka "man-cave"



laundry room with new washer/dryer




thank you for visiting our home; please come visit for real! :)


next project: San Diego-inspired guest bathroom... not sure what that means yet, exactly, but I'll keep you posted!

only in my dreams...

I've been shopping for shoes to wear to Stef's and Sam's weddings. And of course, my favorites would be these beauties:


$900 Jimmy Choo's.

No, I am not even remotely considering them. But aren't they lovely?

Rascal Gone Flatt

Yikes. I just watched the CSI episode with Rascal Flatts... and as much as I love Rascal, it was painful to watch their horrendous acting. WHY, Rascal?? I used to think you guys were so cool...

... Okay, I still think they're the cat's meow. just... maybe no more acting.

orange door, no more

We have ceased being the Orange Door Inn for many months now, since we moved in September of 2009. We now have a black door... yet Black Door Inn sounds like a pub or something from Diagon Alley in Harry Potter's world.

What should our new name be, I wonder...

(this is not our black door, but isn't it cute?)

ice cream news!

It's an exciting month in Ben & Jerry's ice cream:

March 3--Ben & Jerry's is celebrating Hannah Teter's Olympic accomplishments by offering a scoop of Maple Blondie (maple ice cream with a maple caramel swirl and blonde brownie chunks) for $1 at their scoop shops! Just say, "Way to go, Hannah!" at the counter!

March 23--Free Cone Day!!! Noon to 8pm!

Find your local scoop shop here!

Alas, I am working both days, so please eat many scoops for me.

anthropologie complimentary shipping!

Anthropologie is offering free shipping for all anthro members during the month of March! YAY!!!

I am such an anthro fan, I signed Wayne up for his very own anthro card... so that during June, HIS birthday month, he can give his 15% coupon to me. :) Although... if I had been truly clever, I would have listed his birthday in December or January, to allow ample time after my birthday coupon in May! ... I wonder if I can still change that.

better late than never!

Yay!!! Our coffee table and rug are FINALLY here!!! We ordered back in September and something happened to our order and it has taken this long to work it out! But they're here! Now I can finally take pictures of our new house to post! (... eh... maybe after I clean a little a first!)

our wedding album!

Our wedding album arrived today!!!!!! And I'm so happy with how it turned out! It definitely would have been done sooner had I not been so picky about the pictures and layout and required three rounds of edits! But our photographer, Serena Choi of Serena Grace Photo, is SUPER! ... super talented, super sweet, and super patient, and was so gracious with me through the whole process. We definitely recommend her! :)

Our beautiful leather album comes with a fun album sleeve! AND as an added surprise, Serena included a fun apron for me, as a "happy baking" gift. :) sooo thoughtful! I used it tonight (and already got it dirty--darn!)

THANK YOU FOR EVERYTHING, SERENA!!!

(ooh! I just went to Serena's website, and in her gallery, we are "Wedding Three"!!!)

Company Pot Roast

With cross-rib roast on sale for only $1.87/lb, I seized two medium-sized packs and the opportunity to finally try my hand at pot roast. Ina Garten's recipes are always winners, so I decided to make her "Company Pot Roast", featured in her latest cookbook, Back to Basics. (By the way, LOVE her cookbooks!) Red-skinned mashed potatoes, macaroni and cheese with ham, green beans, and pugliese bread rounded out this super hearty meal!



Results and reviews? Because I didn't have enough time to slowly simmer the pot in the oven as I was supposed to, my roast wasn't AS tender as I would have liked, but the flavor was excellent! The sauce is great over rice or egg noodles too. Plus, this marked another personal culinary milestone as my first time cooking with LEEKS!!! Those frighteningly large green onion-looking like veggies used to be the stuff of onion nightmares for me, but over the last few years, I've been growing more comfortable with not just cooking with onions but eating them as well! (As long as I can't really taste them...) This pot roast recipe is definitely going into my rotation to make again and again.

And because I love to share, here's the recipe!

Company Pot Roast
2008, Barefoot Contessa Back to Basics, All Rights Reserved.

• 1 (4 to 5-pound) prime boneless beef chuck roast, tied
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• All-purpose flour
• Good olive oil
• 2 cups chopped carrots (4 carrots)
• 2 cups chopped yellow onions (2 onions)
• 2 cups chopped celery (4 stalks)
• 2 cups chopped leeks, white and light green parts (2 to 4 leeks)
• 5 large garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
• 2 cups good red wine, such as Burgundy
• 2 tablespoons Cognac or brandy
• 1 (28-ounce) can whole plum tomatoes in puree
• 1 cup chicken stock, preferably homemade
• 1 chicken bouillon cube
• 3 branches fresh thyme
• 2 branches fresh rosemary
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, at room temperature

Directions

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.

Pat the beef dry with a paper towel. Season the roast all over with 1 tablespoon salt and 1 1/2 teaspoons pepper. Dredge the whole roast in flour, including the ends. In a large Dutch oven, heat 2 tablespoons olive oil over medium heat. Add the roast and sear for 4 to 5 minutes, until nicely browned. Turn and sear the other side and then turn and sear the ends. This should take 4 to 5 minutes for each side. Remove the roast to a large plate.

Add 2 tablespoons olive oil to the Dutch oven. Add the carrots, onions, celery, leeks, garlic, 1 tablespoon salt, and 1 1/2 teaspoons pepper and cook over medium heat for 10 to 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until tender but not browned. Add the wine and Cognac and bring to a boil. Add the tomatoes, chicken stock, bouillon cube, 2 teaspoons salt, and 1 teaspoon pepper. Tie the thyme and rosemary together with kitchen string and add to the pot. Put the roast back into the pot, bring to a boil, and cover. Place in the oven for 2 1/2 hours, until the meat is fork tender or about 160 degrees F internally. Turn the heat down to 250 degrees F after about an hour to keep the sauce at a simmer.

Remove the roast to a cutting board. Remove the herb bundle and discard. Skim off as much fat as possible from the sauce. Transfer half the sauce and vegetables to a blender or a food processor fitted with the steel blade and puree until smooth. Pour the puree back into the pot, place on the stovetop over low heat, and return the sauce to a simmer. Place 2 tablespoons flour and the butter in a small bowl and mash them together with a fork. Stir into the sauce and simmer for 2 minutes, stirring until thickened. Taste for seasonings. Remove the strings from the roast, and slice the meat. Serve warm with the sauce spooned over it.