Minneapolis Hunter

DIY Front Porch Style

Minneapolis Hunter — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 15:28:53 +0000

When it comes to a project, I estimate the amount of time it takes to complete it in its entirety so I can finish in a day, or over two days, because I simply do not like half-done projects. The porch, while we spend a significant amount in it, has been a half-done project for nearly a year. There are no excuses for it, except laziness of having to get out the painting supplies and upset Luda’s front porch time (because he’s an indoor kitty, this is his version of going outside). Here’s a picture of the Green Bay colors when I moved it:

Hobbled together, partly done, which is good representation of what we’ve looked at for a year:

And finally, our finished project…clean lines and matching colors:

(Chairs and chair pad from Ikea, outdoor collection)

Roundup: Hat Stand, Customizable Recipe Cards, Tesla Dress, Peach Blueberry Cobbler, Menu Planner

Minneapolis Hunter — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 18:59:34 +0000

Roost Bird in Tree Hat Stand (Pergolina via sfgirlbybay)

Recipe Card Download (Tie that Binds via How About Orange)

Abigail Glaum-Lathbury Tesla Dress (Sunday Brunch Dress Shop)

Peach Blueberry Cobbler (Smitten Kitchen)

Menu Planner (Ollibird via How About Orange)

Which I tried for myself – printed out and framed in Ikea Ribba frame:

DIY Art & Coasters

Minneapolis Hunter — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 01:20:33 +0000

I wrote a while back that I was in the market for some coasters. Well…I took a lunch break and popped over to Patina in NE Mpls and came across this Charley Harper Memory Game that consisted of small 2″x2″ tiles of different Harper prints and paintings. I thought to myself, “Putting the tiles together in a large frame would be kinda cool!” So, I purchased and this Monday started putting it together:

I ended up with a few leftover tiles, so thought putting four tiles together and making coasters out of them was pretty clever. So that’s what I did. It’s a little on the cheap, somewhat creative but really, really practical.

Pretty simple: take the four tiles, scotch tape the back to secure the lock up, then wrap them in packing tape.

Ode to Jamie Oliver and his Gorgonzola Gnocchi

Minneapolis Hunter — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 16:05:00 +0000

On the prowl recently for a new cookbook/cook to read and follow, I picked up Jamie Oliver’s latest cookbook, Cook with Jamie: My Guide to Making You a Better Cook. While I hesitated over the years that I’ve cooked (yes, all two of them) to pick up Jamie Oliver (also known as “The Naked Chef”) I did watch a few episodes of Food Revolution and found myself intrigued. A fan of Alice Waters and the Slow Food Movement, I became rather enchanted by Jamie after doing a little more poking around in his history: Jamie’s School Dinners where he attempts to radically change British dinners for kids in school; Fifteen, the charity restaurant where he trains disadvantaged youth to give them a chance to enter in the restaurant business; and his tv show Jamie at Home, where he elevates the kitchen garden, cooking from scratch and all so effortlessly. These were the reasons that prompted me to buy this fantastic cookbook, emphasizing flavor and fresh ingredients in pared down recipes that one feels could be easily dished up in no time. If you’re looking for more Jamie Oliver, watch an episode or two of his cooking show, Jamie at Home, or pick up this cookbook the next time you’re at the bookstore. His cooking technique, recipes and teaching style are so accessible. Peruse his website, or see for yourself.

Jamie Oliver’s Gorgonzola Gnocchi
2 tablespoons butter
6 tablespoons heavy cream
6 tablespoons Dolce Gorgonzola
1 lb/package Gnocchi (or make from scratch)
(And, if you want, fry or grill chicken breasts or tenders)
Melt the butter in large saucepan over medium-low heat, add in heavy cream and when warm, add in Dolce Gorgonzola and melt (break up bits with the back of a wooden spoon). Meanwhile, bring salted water to a boil and add in gnocchi. Once cooked, remove from water and add into the gorgonzola sauce. If you have a little marjoram, add on top of servings.
*The second time I made this, I used egg tagliatelle instead of gnocchi and added chicken.

Vegetable Garden: First Pepper Harvest

Minneapolis Hunter — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 16:23:32 +0000

Frank and I had our first pepper harvest of the season. The bananas are coming in fast, jalapenos right behind them and then the slowly growing habanero and green bell peppers. One of the more interesting aspects of the pepper patch is that Frank’s nephew (3 years old) helped plot and plant the peppers, which means all the pepper plants are randomly mixed. This is troubling because we can’t tell the difference between the bell pepper and the habanero (or, at least I thought I knew the difference, but Frank disagrees with my conclusion). We decided to let them sit on the counter and ripen, with hopes the habanero would show its true colors and would not force us to do a taste test. The rest of the garden is coming in nicely with few surprises (yes, we knew there would be a bunny eating the lettuce, but the entire bean patch? Hungry little guy…). The peppers, lettuce and basil are all we’ve been able to take at this point, but the tomatoes are looking great and the cucumbers should be coming in the next few weeks (once they do, you’ll know because I’ll post about making Tzatziki).

The tomatoes coming in:

A month ago, early June:

As of early July:

Crab Cakes, Lobster, Bruschetta

Minneapolis Hunter — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 16:44:20 +0000

Digging for lobster meat

My BFF Betsy is in town on respite from finishing medical boards, and in the celebratory way, we made a delicious summer feast. As a Midwesterner, lobster = celebration. And, if you’ve seen Julie & Julia, there is the memorable Lobster Killer scene in which Julie buys live lobster to make, but is racked with guilt and then horrified when the lobster once in the boiling pot of water knocks the lid off. This scene is after Julia kills a lobster without hesitation and declares herself “fearless.” While I don’t think I would be horrified to make live lobster, there is something to just doing it. To my disappointment, the lobster at Coastal Seafood was already cooked, so perhaps another time. And, they only had one lobster (one lobster does not equal three hungry adults), so purchased their pre-made crab cakes. A quick run to the co-op inspired a tomato something on grilled bread that Frank later pointed out, could make great bruschetta. Bruschetta it is!

Making Bruschetta

This was by far one of the easiest meals I have ever made:
Crab Cakes – sear in pan of melted butter, medium-high heat, 6 minutes per side.
Lobster – already cooked, so put him in the oven at 400 degrees to warm up
Bruschetta – cut Ciabatta bread in slices, coated with oil and placed in low broiler for ten minutes; meanwhile, cut up heirloom tomatoes with some scallion and basil, drizzled a little bit of olive oil and a tablespoon of balsamic vinaigrette.

Dulce de Leche Cheesecake

Minneapolis Hunter — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 17:55:31 +0000

Late last week, as Father’s Day was approaching, I tried to figure out what great grilling tool the Dads in my life would want, but opted for a different strategy when I came across a recipe for Dulce de Leche Cheesecake. Yes, they would far prefer that. And I would far prefer making them something, as opposed to shopping for another grilling tool they may or may not already have. And I have to admit, making something centering around a can of dulce de leche that sits open and ready for some small bites, was heaven.

These bars are really, really good.
Dulce de Leche Cheesecake Bars
Bon Appetit, June
Ingredients
Crust
* Nonstick vegetable oil spray
* 2 1/4 cups finely ground graham crackers (from about 17 whole graham crackers)
* 2 tablespoons sugar
* 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
* 10 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) unsalted butter, melted

Filling
* 3 8-ounce packages Philadelphia-brand cream cheese, room temperature
* 1 cup sugar
* 3 large eggs
* 1/2 cup purchased dulce de leche*
* 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Glaze
* 2/3 cup purchased dulce de leche
* 3 tablespoons (or more) heavy whipping cream
* Fleur de sel

Preparation
Crust
Preheat oven to 350°F. Coat 13x9x2-inch metal baking pan with nonstick spray. Mix graham cracker crumbs, sugar, and cinnamon in medium bowl. Add melted butter; stir until coated. Transfer crumb mixture to pan. Press evenly onto bottom of pan. Bake until crust is light golden, about 10 minutes. Cool completely on rack.

Filling
Blend cream cheese and sugar in processor until smooth and creamy, about 1 minute, stopping occasionally to scrape down sides of bowl. Add eggs 1 at a time, processing 3 to 5 seconds to blend between additions. Add dulce de leche and vanilla; process until blended, about 10 seconds. Spread batter evenly over cooled crust. Bake until just set in center and edges are puffed and slightly cracked, about 38 minutes. Transfer to rack; cool completely.

Glaze
Heat dulce de leche and 3 tablespoons cream in microwave-safe bowl in 10-second intervals until melted. Stir to blend, adding more cream by teaspoonfuls if too thick to pour (amount of cream needed will depend on brand of dulce de leche). Pour glaze over cooled cheesecake; spread evenly. Refrigerate until chilled, about 1 hour (glaze will not be firm). DO AHEAD Can be made 2 days ahead. Cover; chill.

Cut cheesecake lengthwise into 4 strips, then crosswise into 6 strips, forming 24 bars. Sprinkle bars with fleur de sel.

Update: Thanks for the shout out Bon Appetit!

In the Details: Coasters

Minneapolis Hunter — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 19:21:32 +0000

We are nearing the end of our two year Major Project List, with only a few DIY home renovations left (like sanding the front porch floor…more to come on that later). I am (finally) getting the point where little things are on my radar. And by little things, I mean really, really little things. Like coasters. For whatever reason, when I think of coasters, I conjure up vintage imagery. Naturally, something to find at an antique store. Well, a run-in with too crowded and overfilled trinket-haven on Sunday sent me back to the internet where an organized search can let me look in peace. While there is color in the house, there aren’t patterns. I try to keep the big things a solid color (so I don’t hate it in two years), and use pattern in the details. So here’s what I’m thinking would work well:
Sea Grass Coasters from Anthropologie:

Olive Wood Coasters from Ten Thousand Villages:

Green Ceramic Coasters from GinaDeSantis on Etsy:

Type Coasters from Veer:

Coasters from The Broken Plate, which I think is the winner because they make me think vintage, but I didn’t have to antique shop for them!

Homemade Granola

Minneapolis Hunter — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 16:49:58 +0000

Inspired by Molly Wizenberg’s piece “Breakfast Outside the Box” in this month’s Bon Appetit, I made granola last night while listening to the new The New Pornographers album (it is so fun, so good, so lovely). I grew up eating my aunt’s homemade granola (with ice cold milk, not yogurt…I have the same preference to this day), which she would drop off in a mason jar every couple of months. So I snapped up the chance not only to make granola, but Molly’s granola (see here, here and here for more on my adoration for all things M.W. from Orangette). Anyway, while I may have burnt my granola just a bit, I added a little pinch of sugar and craisins which sweetened the whole thing up again. Here’s the recipe:

Everyday Granola
Serve this with yogurt or milk—or eat it plain as a snack.
Makes about 5 cups

Recipe by Molly Wizenberg

Ingredients
* 3 cups old-fashioned oats
* 1 cup coarsely chopped pecans
* 1/2 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
* 3 tablespoons (packed) brown sugar
* 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
* 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
* 1/4 teaspoon (generous) salt
* 1/3 cup honey
* 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
* 1 cup assorted dried fruit

Preparation
Preheat oven to 300°F. Line rimmed baking sheet with parchment. Mix first 7 ingredients in large bowl. Stir honey and oil in saucepan over medium-low heat until smooth. Pour honey mixture over oat mixture; toss. Spread on prepared sheet. Bake until golden, stirring every 10 minutes, about 40 minutes. Place sheet on rack. Stir granola; cool. Mix in fruit. DO AHEAD Can be made 1 week ahead. Store airtight.

Before oven

Baked

Backyard Project

Minneapolis Hunter — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 16:08:13 +0000

Two years in the making, I finally have a visual story of the progress (slow, but steady) in the backyard.

THE BACK, OF THE BACKYARD:

When I first moved in...

While the yard was cleaned up a bit, there was still that wire fence...

So we took out the fence, but it was accompanied by taking out a brick hearth. Messy.

New fence. Much better. Time to tackle the brick and planting some good stuff in the dirt.

Some well distanced planted perennials, that will explode next year (fingers crossed)

A little mulch helps in the back bed, and planted cornflowers and irises along the walkway

Some pretty blooming things

More pretty blooming things

VEGETABLE GARDEN:

The 5'x5' french vegetable garden

Vegetable garden expansion to 6'x20'

First veggie plantings, mid-May. I like the square pavers a lot for some reason.

Early June progress...it's coming in!

The grapevine really coming in, on the fence

Lovely little porch pots

And some potted herbs