I ♥ White Oak

By Jove, I think I've got it!

Our Ibiza, Chapter 11 (and a half): A Little Less Anxiety

So, I'm thinking a little clearer today. Just a little though. I am still sprouting stress acne on my forehead and feeling a on edge (but that may have something to do with the large amounts of diet coke I've consumed), but I think I've come up with a plan that just might work for the kitchen.

I was doing a little online research yesterday and came accross this photo:

I liked the way the cabinets had a lot of grain in them, which will look good with our bamboo floors, and is also in the same color family, which is a warm, honey color. They are made of white oak, and both my architect and my cabinet guy thought they were a good idea. We also plan on using some of the glass fronts with alunimum trim (like in the photo) to break up all the wood. I think it's going to look great, especailly with the glass backsplash tile I love:

I think the glass fronts will mimic the look of the glass tile and the stainless steel countertops and appliances will tie in with the frames on the glass fronts and then gray quartz on our kitchen island that looks great with the tile we chose for the floors. Here's a photo with the floor tile and bamboo floors together:

I love the warmth of the wood with the coolness of the gray, white, and stainless.

What do you think?

(And if you hate it, please don't tell me; Like Lara, I need to get some sleep tonight).

Our Ibiza, Chapter 11: High Anxiety

We have been totally overwhelmed with house issues this week, and many of them are mistakes our builder has made. Most of them are minor and merely cosmetic, but we're so frustrated by it all. We paid our architect so we could design the house down to the tiniest details, but apparently our builder only takes these as suggestions. This morning Steve said that he likes about 99% of what the builder has done, and I would agree, but that 1% can really bite you in the butt.
I'm also having major anxiety over our kitchen and what kind of cabinets to use. Luckily, I found a really cool cabinet maker who is willing to do something without all the corbels and gaudiness that most people do in their kitchens around here. But now it comes down to wood type. Here's a 3-D image of the kitchen:

We won't be doing the green back splash tile, but clear glass tile that looks white and shimmery; I really love it. But trying to coordinate the wood with the tile floor with the hardwood floors in the next room and the counter tops and AARGH! Here's a picture of another kitchen done by our architect where the same hardwoods were used:

But I can't do black cabinets. I want something much lighter. HELP!

I told Steve this morning that the house is just going to have to remain in limbo until I feel clear minded enough to make a decision, so we may just have to sign another year lease on our condo. I have a feeling that plan isn't going to work, so you need to tell me what you think we should do, PLEASE!

Art + Kids = Fun

I've always been afraid to take my kids to an art museum. I've always wanted to, but my fear stopped me. The aversion to kids at museums came from a very uncomfortable experience I had with my friend Amy and her 18 month old Alison at the National Gallery in London. Amy and I wanted to see an exhibit, but she could only take the baby. Of course, the baby had absolutely no problem making tons of noise and crying, and the people at the museum also had no problem showing their disgust. I was kid free at the time, so I felt more embarassed than I would be now, but the whole thing kind of scarred me for life.
To be completely honest, I did take Max to an art exhibit with me when he was still a very small baby, and I was totally dreading it, but the exhibit was of Edward Hopper, one of my favorite painters, and I wasn't going to miss it. I put him in the stroller, and, miracle of miracles, he slept through the whole thing.
Luckily, the local art museum is pretty kid friendly and free so it's not a huge loss if you have to make a run for it. I saw that they were doing an exhibit by Walter Wick, the creator of the I Spy books, which my kids love, so I decided to give it a try. The museum also had a great exhibit by artist Dan Steinhilber, which the kids loved too. It turned out great, and they were really great boys and seemed to be truly interested in a lot of it. Here's some photos:

Next to a balloon sculpture by artist Dan Stienhilber. I love this guy's art because it is temporary and always in flux. You can see how the balloons have already started deflating and falling down. The boys loved the colors.

This is my favorite by Dan Steinhilber, titled Duck Sauce. It's a huge canvas with what seems like a million packets of duck sauce attached to it. They're put on backwards so until you're right up next to it, you can't tell what they are. The packets glow like jewels and I love the waves they make. I wish I could have this one for the new house.

A close up of the packets, with a picture of a panda peeking through.
Max found this one and pointed it out to me.

A PVC pipe sculpture with a recurrculating sink. Max was fasinated with it
and took quite a few minutes to sort out where the water was coming from.

Actually, the only one who got in trouble was me, for taking pictures. The guard stopped me before we went into the Walter Wick exhibit, but the kids loved seeing pictures and sets from the I Spy books. Aftewards we went to the lobby of the museum and played I Spy with this sculpture. We found a hand, an alphabet, a cup, a man, and a bunch of other interesting things.

Then it was outside and sit in the 6o+ degree weather to wait for Daddy to be done at work. All in all it was a great outing.

So, I think I overcame my phobia of kids and museums. Of course, this was in the late afternoon on a Tuesday, so there was practically no one there, and we weren't in London. But it was a good baby step for all of us.

Daily Snapshots

I have been thinking about one of my all-time favorite movies lately when I find myself tiring of writing this blog everyday. The movie is Smoke, written and co-directed by novelist Paul Auster, which came out way back in 1995.

The thing I have been recalling from the movie is how the main character, Augie, takes a snapshot from the same spot in front of his smoke shop in Brooklyn at the same time, everyday. He puts all the photos into an album and at first glance, they all look the same. But as another character, Paul, examines them more closely, he sees that there's a lot of things that he wouldn't normally see taken from that same vantage point every day. As he flips through the pages of the album he sees that the camera caught a fleeting photo of his wife, who was killed a couple of years earlier, in it's frame. You can imagine the effect that seemingly insignificant photo had on him. The whole movie is structured the same way, as snapshots of people's lives, and what happens to them in those day to day moments. If you haven't seen it, you should. And if you have seen it, you should see it again. I plan to.

I guess that's the way I view this blog. I've been looking back on all the entries (178, to be exact) since I started in September, and at first glance they seem like just a long list of the random things I do everyday. And then, on closer examination, I realized that what I do from day to day, not only in my special moments, are my life. I even feel like Augie at times because now I always carry a camera with me to capture something to put on the blog. Before this I never had pictures of my kids eating lunch at Wendy's, drinking Slurpees in the back of the car, or walking along a curb. Of course there are a lot of remarkable moments that happen along the way, but through writing all this down, I'm finding that those day to day moments become just as important as the uncommon ones once they've past. This, of course, became painfully clear when I lost over two years of family photos in my recent computer crash (by the way, the hard drive is completely lost, we just heard back from the people trying to restore the data the other day). One consolation through that painful experience was that at least I had written the blog, and saved some of the photos in the process. Documenting the daily activities of my life may seem silly, or self-indulgent, or just downright boring, but this little exercise of writing at least one thing down every day is teaching me to value my personal snapshots, and through this I'm learning to appreciate and honor my life more and more.

So I plan to carry on, even when I'm bored, and even if no one bothers to read it. But if someone does, and feels at all inspired to do so, may I suggest you do the same, whether it be on a blog or a more low-tech, personal way, and see how it changes the way you view your life, from your own tiny corner of the world.

Mustard

Said by Jack, who is going through a serious picky eater stage, while eating a cheeseburger at Wendy's:

"Mommy, I like mustard now, but only with hamburgers on it."

So I guess we'll have to stop putting mustard on his breakfast cereal and giving him glasses of it to drink at lunch.

Brown Sugar Bacon and Ebelskivers: Something Old and Something New

As promised, here are the recipes for the Ebelskivers and Brown Sugar Bacon I made for the Sleepover breakfast this weekend. The Ebelskivers are a new addition to our repertoire, and I got all inspired to make them once I saw the Ebelskiver Filled Pancake Pan in the Williams-Sonoma catalog. We make homemade pancakes and crepes every weekend, and there is often Nutella involved, so I thought this would be a great way to combine the two.

I called our local Williams-Sonoma store and asked if they had the Ebelskiver pan about a week ago and the sales clerk told me that, amazingly, they did. Then she went on to tell me how they hardly ever have it in stock because it is one of their top selling items. Who knew Ebelskivers were so popular? I got the pan last Monday and Tuesday morning the boys were begging to try it, so, even though it was a school morning and Steve was out of town I attempted my first batch of Ebelskivers. It wasn't too hard to do, but it did take a little practice, and I'm still perfecting my technique. Check out the Williams Sonoma website where they even have an instructional video of how to make them (just scroll down on the page). The boys loved them with Nutella (Max ate four), and they were really excited to try them when Liam stayed over on the weekend. Here's the basic recipe I used (with tweaks, of course, I can never stay on book with any recipe):

Danish Ebelskivers

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
2 Tbs. brown sugar
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/8 tsp. freshly ground nutmeg
4 eggs, separated
2 cups milk
4 Tbs. butter, melted
Fillings such as jam, peanut butter, chocolate chips, fruit, and of course, Nutella

In a bowl, whisk together dry ingredients. In a small bowl, whisk together the egg yolks, milk, and melted butter. Whisk the yolk mixture into dry ingredients until well combined; batter will be lumpy.
In another bowl, using a electric mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, beat the egg whites on high speed until stiff but not dry peaks form, 2 to 3 minutes. Using a rubber spatula, gently stir in the whites into the batter in two additions.
Put 1/4 tsp. butter into each well of the Ebelskiever pan. Set over medium heat and heat until butter begins to bubble. Pour 1 Tbs. batter into each well. Put 1 tsp. filling in the center of each pancake and top with 1 Tbs. batter. Cook until the bottom is golden brown and crispy, 3 to 5 minutes. Using two wooden skewers, flip the pancakes over and cook until golden and crispy, about 3 minutes more. Transfer to a plate. Repeat with the remaining batter and filling. Dust with confectioner's sugar and serve immediately with syrup or whipped cream. Makes about 40.

I liked this recipe, but I am really looking forward to trying some of the variations on the Williams Sonoma website, especially when summer comes and we have fresh berries to put in the middle. The favorites we have tried so far are: Nutella, strawberry jam, cream cheese and raspberry jam, cream cheese and blueberry preserves, and Steve's favorite, peanut butter and chocolate chips. I'm sure we will come up with a million other great combinations, and once we move into the new house we will have a cherry tree, so I am sure we will be using those in Ebelskivers all summer long.

The Brown Sugar Bacon is an older recipe that I got off the Everyday Food television show on PBS and it is the only way I make bacon anymore. To be honest, we only eat bacon a few times a year, usually just at Christmas and a few other select days (like sleepovers and birthdays). There really isn't much to it, but the results are amazing.

Brown Sugar Bacon

Be sure to use center cut bacon with this recipe. I've tried it a couple of times with a less lean product and the fat burns during cooking and it's not pretty.

1 pound center cut bacon
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 tsp. freshly ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 350. Lay bacon out flat on wire racks over a baking sheet lined with parchment paper (for easy clean up). Distribute brown sugar evenly across bacon and sprinkle with black pepper. Bake for 30 minutes, or until bacon is brown and sugar is caramelized. Remove from baking pan and drain on paper towel, and serve hot.

Both these recipes are amazing and totally worth all the artery clogging cholesterol. But don't worry, according to the book from my last book group, it's actually good for you, so enjoy!