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.

Mouse in the House!!!

I just screamed bloody murder after I scooped up a mouse along with Lucy's kibble for dinner!!! Wayne is now trying to capture it with an empty yogurt container (a large one, of course)... because I want to set it free in the fields. ... But I am in the living room, blogging, because I do not want to go near it. Strange how I am fine with PET mice, but wild mice... eeek! I know it's a learned response, because, really, he's quite cute.

Okay, Wayne has captured the food thief, and is taking him away. I hope he doesn't come back (the mouse, that is...not Wayne!) Yay, Wayne! He's my hero!

Lucy, the pest.

Lucy, as sweet as she is, can be a real brat with her (dog) friends... like how she likes to nip at their butts or paw at them to get their attentions or to chase her to play.

This weekend, MoMo came over (along with Jessie, Debbie, and Vicky) and Jessie got some great photos of them sitting pretty...


still sitting pretty...


...until Lucy got bored and wanted to play. Here's MoMo, flinching at Lucy's striking paw on the left!

Lucy is One!

Lucy had her first birthday November 7, and we had a big barbecue for her! Well, okay, the barbecue was more of an informal housewarming of sorts with Wayne's friends from high school, and it just happened to fall on Lucy's birthday... just don't tell her that.

Lucy's friends, Sasha and Cody, came over to celebrate!



Donning her new scarf (thanks, Auntie Emily!), Lucy is about to enjoy her special birthday breakfast--Eukanuba topped with hard-boiled egg.



And then I made her a bone-shaped cake... too bad Lucy couldn't have any, though, since it was chocolate! (see? she looks kind of annoyed in the bottom picture.)





Happy birthday, Lucy! I love you, even though you make everything dirty... don't think I didn't notice the paw prints on the couch!!

Pie Mr. To!

Last week, Mr. To got pied as part of a fundraiser at school! How could I not share these pictures?

Before:


During (love the protective gear):


After:


Wayne said he had whipped cream smell up his nose the rest of the day. Haha, what a good sport!