Kitchen Minimalism

Finally, the ugly upper kitchen cabinets are gone! I wanted to yank out those hideous abominations masquerading as cabinets and replace them with just a single shelf for a long time. I just had to work up enough disgust to find the energy to start yet another home improvement project. The urge to purge had been building for a while and I couldn't stand it any longer after being home for three days straight. Chris has learned that when I get that itch, it is difficult to stop me or change my mind. He has also learned that little by little all my crazy ideas add up to living quality improvement. Well, almost all ideas. Some ideas come with a lot of work and expense to him.

This time after only minor grumbling he good-naturedly agreed to demolish the cabinets Sunday night. I spackled all cracks and holes before I went to bed. The next morning I got up early and sanded and painted the walls and ceiling white, two coats. While the paint was drying, we went off to buy the shelves and brackets. We had to borrow a skilsaw from the neighbor in order to cut the shelves down to size. Our own tool arsenal is very modest. By the Monday afternoon, it was all done. I am very pleased with the result. I have always loved open shelves and clean uncluttered looks. Ideally, I would gut the kitchen completely and construct my dream kitchen with light recycled wood, slate, a gas range, sky lights, and vaulted ceilings. Since that option is not in the budget at this time, smaller-scale changes will have to do for a while. So for now the home improvement monster who resides inside me is satiated and will slumber for an undetermined period of time...

First Backyard Fire

5/30/11

Rain. Rain. Rain. Even moisture tolerant Oregonians are getting sick and tired of the rain this year. Apparently, we have had a record year of rain. Again. The weather gods’ displeasure is evident. The Columbia River is flooding low-lying areas in Portland, farmers are weeks behind planting schedule, and the lawn in the back is soggy in spots like a marsh. Along with all the rain comes the cold. In other words, it has not been a particularly warm and sunny spring, and it is really nearly summer. What gives?

Due to the prolonged rains, whenever there is the slightest break in the weather, people fling doors and windows open and stampede outside. They pour out of their homes like rats scatter off a sinking ship. Cows, busting down barn doors to get to the succulent spring grass, come to mind. Yesterday which was Memorial Day, when the afternoon sun peeked out, the neighborhood was abuzz with lawn mowers and shrieking restless kids. The hoop in the cul-de-sac kept many kids occupied for hours adding another sound effect, the continuous thud of bouncing basketballs, to the suburban neighborhood cacophony. After a long, dark, cooped up, and non-existent spring the human joy was almost palpable.

We enjoyed ourselves and the little sliver of spring-like weather granted us by having a fire in the backyard pit. Lisa and Kare came over for an impromptu BBQ dinner consisting of chicken, steak, pesto rice, pea vine shoots and arugula braised in garlic butter, asparagus, and scrumptious strawberries drizzled in dark chocolate and dipped in whipped cream. Sorry to stray from the main topic, but food porn is simply unavoidable for me. After dinner, wine glass in hand (an interesting and sparkling pinot noir from Argyle supplied by Lisa and Kare) and comfortably settled in a chair, I took great pleasure in the first fire of the year in the company of friends and family. The evening was mild, only requiring a sweatshirt by the roaring flames, and carried a promise of summer evenings yet to come. The smell of burning wood and the movement of dancing flames are timelessly seductive, hard to resist. Oblivious to the chiming of workday alarm clocks drawing closer and closer, we ended up lingering fireside into the night.

Food Porn

5/29/11

Strawberry season is getting close. Close enough that we sometimes can get decent strawberries from California until the better local varieties are in. I love strawberries in any form and decided to include some in my salad at lunch today. Usually I include any titillating veggies and leftover food I find in the refrigerator. Today’s creation turned out to be glorious. I made a salad with mixed greens, roasted beets and radishes, leftover steak, and sliced strawberries. For dressing I simply used balsamic vinegar and olive oil. So simple. So splendid.

Bloody Steak

5/28/11

After years of vegetarianism, I have been eating meat for the last year or so. It has been a good experience particularly since I found out after having a blood test last week that my B-12 levels are superb as well as my iron. This was not always the case. About a year and a half ago I started feeling tired and depressed in the midst of winter and I couldn’t shake it. I went to the doctor and found out my B-12 and iron levels were very low. In addition, vitamin D levels were below any guidelines. The doctor prescribed B-12, iron and mega doses of vitamin D. After a few weeks, I started feeling better. I vowed to not get myself into that bottomless pit and carnival of despair, i.e. nutrient deficiency, again.

I started thinking that it didn’t seem right that eating a vegetarian diet of mostly organic foods would lead to deficiencies. My thinking and reading lead to a couple of books (“Good calories, Bad Calories,” and “The Perfect Health Diet”) and I realized I probably should be eating some meat as well as increasing my fatty fish intake. At the same time I switched out all light or non-fat dairy products for the real deal full fat versions. I also cut down on grains and sugar.

In addition to being able to maintain healthy levels of B-12 and iron without supplements, I have also experienced some other health benefits. My hands and feet used to be cold all the time. My body temperature seemed to be at the low end of the normal range at all times. I think the extra fat in the diet helped alleviate this problem. These days I rarely feel cold. One of the best parts of this diet is better sleep. For years I have suffered from insomnia. Anymore I sleep like a baby. It is incredible.

Adding fat to the diet has other benefits as well, gastronomical benefits. Everything tastes fantastic when cooked in butter and cream! I have always believed I didn’t care much for the taste of beef, but I have discovered that I really like steak, rare to medium cooked steak. It is strange after all these years to be yearning for steak. Bizarre really. I still can’t stand the thought of the horrendous conditions and procedures of big factory feedlot farming, so I buy all meat from organic grassfed sources, meat from happy cows I strongly believe. Part of last night’s BBQ dinner was an amazing piece of flank steak (also called London Broil for whatever reason) cooked on the grill for 6 minutes per side and sliced up against the grain. Yum.

Words with Friends

5/27/11

Generally, I am a hater when it comes to electronic games. Recently I have had to make an exception. The new favorite pastime in our house is the iphone app Words With Friends (WWF). I started out playing a game with my friend Karli who is hooked on playing WWF with her husband. My husband became interested. Today we played several games sitting in the dark in the living room with only our iphones lighting up the intense word finding race. Earlier in the day, Katinka and I played a couple of times. The fun part is that you can have ongoing games with several people for days on end. You just pick up and play wherever you left off the last time. Karli and I are moving along at snail's pace with about one move daily per person, but it is still entertaining. Electronic scrabble like WWF is better than real scrabble because when you are down to just a few tiles, you can test out all the combinations you can possibly think of. The app will accept real words and reject others without penalty, which comes in handy. I guess electronic games do not all signal the complete freefall of modern civilization after all…