Page 12 – EATS- pl. noun, Slang: Food, especially snacks.

“Before” House Pics!- Part Two

Before I get to the house, I must wish a very

Happy Birthday to my wonderful husband, Nate!!

We’re having some friends over tonight and I’m going to cook him up quite the birthday dinner feast, complete with a butterscotch cake. So, I will have recipes for you soon, assuming I don’t forget to take pics :)

Alright, so I left off last time after giving you a tour of the first floor of our house. Today, I’m moving onto the second floor!

Again, here’s a friendly floorplan to help you ground yourself while I’m giving my tour:

Right now the second floor has 4 bdrooms (one is miniscule- the top left) and one bathroom. We’re going to turn it into three bedrooms and 2 full baths, and then put another bed/bath on the third floor (currently a walk-up unfinished attic). One of the bed/baths will be a master suite with a walk-in closet!

Ok, so remember those stairs that you could go up and down to the kitchen? Well if you were to turn right on the landing, you’d head up to the second floor. Here we go.

Gotta love that carpet. Again, hardwood floors are underneath it throughout the house!

Here you are at the top of the stairs. Directly ahead of you is the bedroom that’s in the top right of the floorplan. Unfortunately, I completely forgot to take a pic of that room…and in my opinion it’s the nicest room. Oh well.

If you turn to the right, you’re facing the bedroom in the bottom left of the floorplan. Here it is:

It’s a decent sized room but I just couldn’t capture it well. It’s going to be combined with the room next to it to turn into a giant master suite.

If you come back out of that room and look across the hall you can see the bathroom and the corner of the bedroom I didn’t get a pic of:

If you come out of the room and turn right, you see what was being used as the master bedroom. It will become the hall bath combined with the master suite:

Ironically, the master bedroom is the only bedroom that has carpet over the hardwood, but after we renovate it will be the only bedroom with hardwood…I think. I feel like kids’ rooms are better with carpet but look prettier with hardwood.

If you come out of the master bedroom and look across the hall, this is your view. It’s the best view to kind of get a feel for the size of the hallway upstairs:

Come walk across the hall and check out the existing bathroom. Please try not to be jealous of the wallpaper ;) The sink is actually in really good shape so I’m thinking maybe I can reuse it in the guest bath upstairs:

The two bedrooms that border the bathroom are actually going to expand into where the bathroom is, and the bathroom will no longer be there. The two new bathrooms will be on the bottom right part of the house.

I’ll share the new floorplan when it’s final.

And finally, let’s head up to the attic:

You walk up some stairs to a landing, turn right and continue going up the stairs. Here’s your view at the top:

AtticStair2

As I said, we’re going to finish part of it and put a bed and bath up there. There’s going to be a huge dormer put into the back (left of the pic) with several windows.

If you go to the other side of the attic where the fan is and turn around, this is your view…and Nate’s favorite pic of all the photos I took of the house:

That concludes my house tour. I hope you enjoyed it!

I’ll update you with the floorplans when the architect is done…and I’ll show you a pic of the backyard when I take it, because it’s super cute :)

“Before” House Pics!- Part One

20. August 2013 · 39 comments · Categories: house, life · Tags: before pictures, house

I interrupt this week’s food post for some house photos :) I’ll try to get back to food posting soon, I’ve just been so busy!

Since so many of you requested “before” house pics, your wish has been granted. Honestly there’s not much to see here and the changes will be so huge that it will be hard to compare after. But I’ll give you a little tour…

Welcome to our house, come on in!

For those of you that are really interested, here’s the first floor plan. You’ll be able to understand my tour a little better this way:

Here’s what you see when you walk in the front door:

First of all, there’s hardwood floors under all that gross carpet, which we will obviously remove. Second, how gorgous is that woodwork? It’s going to look amazing stained a dark color to go along with the floors. Or Maybe painted white? I dunno yet!

To the your left is a coat closet and to the right is the living room:

Pardon they photo quality. I’m not sure how to take photos when the windows are all blown out.

Ok back to the stairs. There’s a weird thing where you go up a couple stairs to a landing and then you can either go upstairs to the second floor or back down two more stairs to the kitchen. If you go to the kitchen that way, this is what you’ll see:

The door through there goes to the back door and a powder room.

If you walk down the steps and into the kitchen and turn to the right, this is the view through the kitchen, with the dining room behind it:

That door that’s open on the right goes to the basement.

If you walk through the kitchen, this is the dining room:

If you turn to the left, you see the den, which was an addition to the house:

And if you had turned to the right you get back to the living room, facing the front of the house:

If you then walk into the living room and turn right, you face back towards the front door and staircase:

Ok, well my computer’s about to die…so I’ll share the second floor with you soon.

I hope you enjoyed the tour :) I can’t wait to show you the “after” photos. And I especially can’t wait for construction to begin!!!

Chicken and Chorizo “Paella” with Mushrooms

12. August 2013 · 98 comments · Categories: cooking, Dinner, food, life · Tags: chicken, chorizo, paella, spanish

We headed down to my Nate’s mom’s house this past weekend. We had a relaxing couple days, and I started a new craft project.

I’m going to make my mother-in-law a cushioned ottoman/coffee table. I bought a coffee table at a thrift store and we went out and got some fabric that will cover the foam I’m putting on top. I’m so excited to finish making it. I’ll show you guys when it’s done :) We picked out a beautiful purple tweed that matches her couches and I’m going to sew piping onto it- it will be the first time I’ve attempted that, so fingers crossed.

Oh, I also fixed a drawer while I was down there that she was going to have a handyman come fix. I was pretty impressed with myself. I went to Lowes and got what I needed and fixed it! Girl power!!

It’s so rewarding to make or repurpose/create/fix something! I think that’s why I like cooking so much. It’s like creating one thing out of something entirely different- putting all these pieces together to make a new whole. And on top of it, you really get to enjoy the fruits of your labor :)

I’ve been so busy lately with house stuff, so I was on the lookout for a quick, simple dinner. It’s not completely authentic paella but it’s very similar. This dish hit the spot and was really really delicious and filling

Chicken and Chorizo "Paella" ~ www.ElephantEats.com

Chicken and Chorizo "Paella" with Mushrooms

2013-08-12 20:00:52

Serves 6

A quick, simple and veggie-packed take on the traditional Paella

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Ingredients

1.5 lbs boneless, skinless chicken thighs , cubed
4 ounces Mexican chorizo (i used a veggie version)
1 large white onion, chopped
1 red bell pepper, chopped
16 oz mushrooms, sliced
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
1-1/2 cups long grain white rice
3 cups water
1 14oz can diced or stewed tomatoes

Instructions

Heat the olive oil in a large Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the chorizo and onion, stir to combine and let it sit and caramelize/soften for about 5-7 minutes.
Add the cubed chicken, and stir to combine, letting it cook for about a couple minutes.
Add the chopped red bell pepper, mushrooms, and cook several minutes. Add paprika, oregano, turmeric, salt, black pepper, red pepper flakes and rice. Stir everything to combine, and then add the water and tomatoes.
Bring to a boil and then reduce the heat, cover, and allow to cook for about 30 minutes until the rice is tender.
Serve hot!

Adapted from Heather's Dish

https://elephanteats.com/

We’re Officially Homeowners!!!- and a recipe for Fresh Corn Polenta with Eggplant Sauce

05. August 2013 · 124 comments · Categories: cooking, Dinner, food, life, recipes, Savory, vegetarian · Tags: corn, eggplant, house, polenta

Before I get to the recipe, I just wanted to share some news. As of today, we are officially homeowners! I know I mentioned the house in a past post, but our closing was today. Also, this weekend we did the walk-through and Nate FINALLY saw the house for the first time. Ridiculous, I know. He says he just really doesn’t care what our house looks like. I’d like to think it’s that, plus that fact that he trusts my judgement.

Anyway, I’m happy to report that he really liked the house, especially the front porch. We’re going to be doing major renovations and I’ll try to share some pics along the way. I don’t want to show you guys the “before” pics til we have “after” pics because it really doesn’t look like much. Also, the layout is going to completely change.

Also, I don’t share many pictures of my adorable kitty L.C. on the blog (there was her hatred of halloween costumes, and her attempt to photobomb my food pic, and her wearing her christmas best), mainly because I feel like once I get started it would be hard not to share a ton- she is by far the most photographed subject in our apartment. Anyway, I thought this picture was just too funny not to show you.

So a while back, I took this picture of L.C. while Nate was squishing her head with his chin, and when I showed it to him he said she looked like Teddy Roosevelt. I could not imagine what on earth he was talking about until I searched pics of Roosevelt and found this one. There is an uncanny resemblance! Right?!

Ok, so moving along. I wanted to share this recipe with you guys before summer, and the season’s yummy corn, is no longer around. I pinned this last summer because I thought the idea of making a polenta out of fresh corn instead of cornmeal just sounded really intriguing. I would never have thought of it.

Anyway I finally got around to making it. I invited my friend Erica over and she seemed to really like it, although she did put a lot of hot sauce on it. I think I just undersalted it a bit. Anyway, it was delicious and rich, but not exactly what I was imagining. I totally think you should give it a try though. The combo of the creamy polenta and chunky eggplant topping was really good.

I slightly altered the amounts in the recipe. My main adjustment was to cut back on the water added before cooking it down. As you can see from my pics, I couldn’t get it to thicken up to the consistency it should have been because I didn’t have the patience to sit and stir it for another hour. In my directions below I say not to add any liquid back, in order to fix this problem. Definitely give it a try before summer’s over!

Sweet Corn Polenta with Eggplant Sauce

2013-08-04 15:19:40

Serves 4

A creamy polenta made from fresh corn instead of dried goods!

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Eggplant Sauce

1/3 cups vegetable oil
1 medium eggplant, cut into 3/4-inch dice
2 teaspoons tomato paste
1/4 cup dry white wine
1 cup chopped peeled tomatoes (fresh or canned) (I used canned)
6 1/2 tablespoons water
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon sugar
1 tablespoon chopped oregano

Polenta

6 ears of corn
Water
3 tablespoons butter, diced
7 ounces feta, crumbled
1/4 teaspoon salt
Black pepper

Eggplant Sauce

Heat up the oil in a large saucepan and fry the eggplant on medium heat for about 15 minutes, or until nicely brown. Drain off as much oil as you can and discard it -- the safest way to do this is to scoop out the eggplant to a plate using a slotted spoon, then pour off the oil into a bowl before added the eggplant back in. You can save the oil for another use.
Add the tomato paste to the pan and stir with the eggplant. Cook for 2 minutes, then add the wine and cook for 1 minute. Add the chopped tomatoes, water, salt, sugar and oregano and cook for a further 5 minutes to get a deep-flavored sauce. Set aside; warm it up when needed.

Polenta

Remove the leaves and "silk" from each ear of corn, then chop off the pointed top and stalk. Use a sharp knife or corn stripping tool to shave off the kernels -- either stand each ear upright on its base and shave downward, or lay each ear on its side on a cutting board to slice off the kernels. You want to have 1 1/4 pounds kernels.
Place the kernels in a medium saucepan and barely cover them with the water. Cook for 12 minutes on a low simmer. Use a slotted spoon to lift the kernels from the water and into a food processor; reserve the cooking liquid. Process them for quite a few minutes, to break as much of the kernel case as possible. Add some of the cooking liquid if the mixture becomes too dry to process. Now return the corn paste to the pan and cook, while stirring, on low heat for 10 to 15 minutes, or until the mixture thickens to mashed potato consistency, adding more cooking liquid if you like a thinner polenta. (If you have a lot of liquid left in the pan, it can take a while to cook down the polenta, and it will sputter.
Fold in the butter, the feta, salt and some pepper and optionally cook for a further 2 minutes. Taste and add more salt if needed.

Adapted from (slightly) Yotam Ottolenghi @ Food 52

https://elephanteats.com/

Chocolate Apricot Torte Ice Cream

29. July 2013 · 92 comments · Categories: Dessert, food, Ice cream, recipes · Tags: apricot, Chocolate, ice cream

I think I mentioned this when I posted the Butterscotch Ice Cream recipe, but we got an ice cream machine as a wedding gift.

It has been both a blessing and a curse. On the one hand, it’s been awesome to make homemade ice cream in all kinds of flavors. But then we have to eat all of this ice cream, and I imagine it’s contributed to my gaining some weight. I think every bite of ice cream I’ve taken has been worth it though.

The best part of having the ice cream machine has been coming up with different flavors ideas. Up until this point I haven’t experimented much because I figured I needed to just get the hang of making ice cream first. I wanted to understand the proportions of milk/cream/sugar, etc. I think I’ve got it down pat now, though!

I’ve had this idea swirling around in my head to make an ice cream version of one of the most delicious desserts ever- Apricot Chocolate Torte. If you haven’t made this recipe before, you absolutely must. It’s my family’s go-to recipe for Passover because the original recipe contains so little flour that it easily converts with a flour substitute (for those who don’t know, wheat flour is forbidden during Passover).

Anyway, I happen to love chocolate and fruit. Chocolate covered apricots are one of my favorite things- I even had them on our wedding dessert buffet! So for this ice cream, I imagined a rich chocolate ice cream base, with a fruity apricot swirl and chunks of the amazing crust from the torte.

The ice cream ended up being everything I imagined. Nate said it was really good but he’d rather not have chunks of fruit in his ice cream. Oh well, more for me ;)

On another note, what do you guys think of this new recipe format? Better? Worse? I’d love the feedback.

Apricot Chocolate Torte Ice Cream

2013-07-28 17:53:14

Rich chocolate ice cream with a chunky apricot swirl and bits of walnut chocolate crust.

Yields: about 1 quart

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Chocolate Base

2 cups whole milk
1 cup sugar
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
pinch salt
3 Tbsp corn starch
1 cup heavy cream
3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Apricot Swirl

6 oz. dried apricots, chopped
1/2 cup sugar
2/3 cup water
1.5 Tbsp flour
Juice of 1/2 lemon

"Crust"

3/4 oz. chocolate chips
1/2 cup whole walnuts
2 Tbsp old fashioned oats
pinch salt
1 Tbsp cold butter (i actually used oil in mine because I was afraid butter would be too hard when frozen, but the oil crust was too soft, so I think butter like the original crust it's based on would be better)
1 Tbsp cold water
2 Tbsp brown sugar

Chocolate Base

In a sauce pan over medium heat, stir together 1.5 cups whole milk, sugar, cocoa powder and salt. Heat until the milk start to steam, but before it starts to boil.
In a small bowl, stir together the remaining 1/2 cup of whole milk and the cornstarch. Stir until no lumps remain.
Add the cornstarch mixture to the heated milk and chocolate mixture and bring to a low boil. Boil until thickened. The mixture will look the consistency of chocolate pudding. Remove from flame.
In a small sauce pan, heat 1 cup of heavy cream. Once boiling, remove from heat and pour over the chocolate chips. Let sit for 1 minute, then stir the cream and chocolate mixture until incorporated.
Stir the cream and chocolate mixture into the cooling chocolate ice cream base. Place in a bowl, covered with plastic wrap or a lid, and put in the fridge until cool.

Apricot Swirl

Combine all ingredients in heavy saucepan. Bring slowly to a boil over medium heat. Reduce heat and simmer, stirring frequently and mashing any large pieces of apricot until mixture resembles thin jam, about 10-15 minutes. Cool to room temperature.

Chocolate "Crust"

Place chocolate in bowl of food processor and chop roughly. Add nut and chop coarsely. Add oats, sugar and salt then blend. Add butter and process to blend. Add water and pulse until mixture is crumbly. Keep in fridge til ready to use.

Assembly

Once base is cool, follow the manufacturers instructions on the ice cream maker to churn ice cream. Once the mixture has chilled and thickened in the ice cream maker, add the apricot swirl and crust in your favorite way- Some people prefer to layer ice cream and mix-ins in their freezer-safe container and swirl with a knife. Otherwise blend half of apricot into ice cream, then transfer the ice cream into a freezer safe container and fold in the remaining apricot and the crust crumbles.
Cover and freeze until solid.

https://elephanteats.com/

“Before” House Pics!- Part Two

Happy Birthday to my wonderful husband, Nate!!

“Before” House Pics!- Part One

Chicken and Chorizo “Paella” with Mushrooms

We’re Officially Homeowners!!!- and a recipe for Fresh Corn Polenta with Eggplant Sauce

Chocolate Apricot Torte Ice Cream

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“Before” House Pics!- Part Two

Happy Birthday to my wonderful husband, Nate!!

“Before” House Pics!- Part One

Chicken and Chorizo “Paella” with Mushrooms

We’re Officially Homeowners!!!- and a recipe for Fresh Corn Polenta with Eggplant Sauce

Chocolate Apricot Torte Ice Cream

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