Late Winter Dinner

I tried out two new recipes for dinner tonight. The first is cinnamon and cayenne roasted sweet potatoes. The second is the "Crackling Cauliflower" they have at the Whole Foods deli. It is cauliflower roasted with Indian spices, reminiscent of aloo gobi.

The sweet potatoes were OK. I miss my huge rosemary plant... My favorite preparation for sweet potatoes is to roast them with rosemary and kosher salt. It is always so good. The cinnamon and cayenne was just so-so. To do list for the summer: get a rosemary plant and find some sun to grow it in!

The Crackling Cauliflower was fantastic! I've never actually had it at Whole Foods before, but I've seen it in the deli. Last week I bought a purple cauliflower at Kroger with another recipe in mind, but tonight I decided I needed something quick and easy, and this cauliflower dish fit the bill.



It kinda looks like broccoli in this photo, but I assure you, it's much better than roasted broccoli.

Crackling Cauliflower recipe: http://www.themeasuringcup.com/recipeDetail.asp?id=24

And here's a better photo, courtesy of peasandthankyou.com.

Live-in Room

In the daylight. I promised photos of the living room, and here they are! I have very little to do before this room is done. 1) The rug I purchased from Horchow is on its way and 2) at some point I want a lamp for the buffet.

Views from the front entry:

  

And from the dining room.

Vintage wine bottle is from Interior Spaces in Jackson.

Bowl is a Keith Stewart original.

Table is from the outlet in Jackson.

Curtains by Restoration Hardware.

Mirrored occasional table is from Wisteria.

And of course the chair is Mallory by DwellStudio from SummerHouse in Ridgeland.

Vase and goblets by Ron Dale of Oxford.

Original art by Sarah Robertson of Germantown.

Coffee table and TV table are both from the outlet in Jackson.

Japanese paper mache tray from the Antique Mall of the South in Ridgeland.

Sea Urchin lamp is from Horchow.

Shell planter is from Sugar Magnolia in Oxford.

Buffet is from The Antique Shops of Jackson. 

And out of all of this, the only furniture that is new are the chairs. My in-laws gave us the sofa. Other new items I added are the sea urchin lamp, pillow covers and fireplace screen from Pottery Barn Outlet, and the curtains. Everything else was pulled from what we already had. I'm so happy about how it has all come together.

Beans and Rice?

Beans and rice... Can you believe that it is one of our favorite meals? But not just any beans and rice. The Black Beans with Yellow Rice from Deborah Madison's Vegetarian Suppers cookbook will make you change your mind about this health food.

It starts with basmati rice cooked with coconut milk, turmeric, and saffron, then builds on flavor with black beans seasoned with chipole chiles and cumin. Pickled red onions are almost the best part of the whole dish, especially for someone like me who craves an acidic counterpoint.


Please try this dish. You won't be disappointed.

Adapted from Deborah Madison's Vegetarian Suppers

Black Beans with yellow rice

Pickled Onions

•  1/2 large red onion, thinly sliced
• kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• apple cider vinegar

Toss the sliced onion with a pinch of salt and the sugar. Cover with the vinegar. They'll soften and turn bright pink in about 20 minutes, and will keep for about 5 days in the refrigerator.

Coconut Rice

• 1 1/2 cups  basmati rice
• 1 cup coconut milk
• 2 pinches of saffron threads
• 1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
• 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt

Bring 2 cups water and the coconut milk to a boil with the saffron and turmeric.  Add the rice and salt, cover the pan, and cook over low heat until the rice is done, about 20 minutes.

Black Beans

• 2 teaspoons peanut oil
• 1 green pepper, finely diced
• 1 small onion, finely diced
• 1 bay leaf
• 1/3 cup chopped cilantro, plus leaves for garnish
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/4 teaspoon or ground chipotle chile
• 2 15-ounce cans organic black beans plus their juice (about 3 cups)
• 1 scant cup coconut milk (or all the coconut milk remaining from the rice)
• 2 limes, 1 juiced, 1 cup into 4 wedges

1. Heat the oil in a saucepan.  Add the pepper, onion, bay leaf, and cilantro, and cook, stirring frequently, for about 5 minutes.  Add the garlic, cumin, and chipotle, then the beans and coconut milk.  Bring to a boil and simmer until hot.  Season with salt and add fresh lime juice to taste.

2.  To serve, scoop the hot rice into a bowl, spoon beans on top of the rice, and garnish with the cilantro leaves, pickled onions, and lime wedges.

Meet Mallory

Why does unpacking always take so much longer than you think it will? On Saturday afternoon I tackled unpacking the heaps of stuff that we'd shoved into the office. I started sorting through it all around 3 pm, and I didn't finish until almost 11 pm. Then, this morning, I found two more heaps of mail and documents that needed sorting through. I can now say that I have a home office that is clean and organized, and I only have one bin of stuff left that needs to be put away. I feel so accomplished! 

Anyway, that's not the point of this post! I started this post to show a little peek into my living room. The living room is the room we started decorating first. Before we even moved in Chip's parents promised to give us a great sectional sofa, and I started placing furniture in my mind around that. That's about the time I decided I needed a pair of chairs for this spot in my living room, and I fell in love with the Mallory Chair at DwellStudio.

On Christmas Eve Eve, Chip and I were hitting up the Everyday Gourmet in the Township in Ridgeland to buy provisions for a family wine and cheese happy hour. That's when I spotted the chairs -- MY chairs, the Mallory chairs that I had been drooling over online -- inside SummerHouse. Of course, I went in so I could sit in them and drool over them some more, this time in real life. Then the unheard of happened. They were on SALE. For about $250 less EACH from the online price. Chip took one look at me and knew that I would be buying them. 

I can't tell you how happy I am with these chairs. They fit the room perfectly. I'm currently sitting in the one on the right, blogging while we watch the NY Giants game. 

We only have a couple things left before this room is done - a rug, a lamp for the side table, and a lamp shade for the buffet lamp. All were purchased online last night and are on their way! I can't wait to show everyone the finished product! In daylight!

My New House

I feel like I've been in a constant state of flux over the past few months, but I can finally say... I am settled. Almost as soon as we moved back to Oxford we began thinking about expanding our house or moving to a larger house. Specifically, one with a garage and a little more storage. We met with an architect to look at plans for an expansion, and also started looking at houses with a realtor. Then, we fell in love. With a modern-looking house built in 1975. In a neighborhood with big trees and a one acre lot. And a pool. :) For those of you who know me and know my style, I'm a solid Anglophile. I love everything English and England, like cottages and cottage gardens and David Austin roses. For me to fall I love with a house in the modern style (with a pool, no doubt, if you've heard my rants about the last pool) is a little unlike me. But, the house is fantastic.



This photo is from the house listing from the summer. I really love the landscaping in the front. I have two (or three?) Japanese maples. I've always wanted a Japanese maple, but I never wanted to spend the money to put one in. I'm so excited that I have them! I have azaleas that bloom in the spring and fall (I saw them in bloom this fall). I have camellias by the front door, and sweet olives on the front walk. I can dig that. My absolute favorite space, though, is the kitchen. I love, love, love cooking in here.















The kitchen and the living room are really the only two spaces that we have "finished" decorating. I say "finished" with quotes, because really, decorating is never DONE. I'm excited about sharing the rest of the house, but we still have work to do. I'm really excited about sharing the living room! More to come...

Old House Depot in Jackson, Miss.

On Friday, we wanted to do some shopping for the new house, but we wanted to avoid the Black Friday hoopla. What better way to join in on the fun than to hit up a few local stores. First we went to the Old House Depot where they were celebrating five years in business and the house cat's first birthday. Old House Depot is an architectural salvage warehouse, meaning they have reclaimed building materials from windows and doors to bath tubs and mantels. I love this place. They really know how to make their favorite cat feel special.

If you are familiar with Koscuisko, Mississippi, you might recognize this "Building Materials" sign. It decorated the front of Scarborough Building Supply on Highway 12 for many, many years. Now I didn't confirm with the owners that this, in fact, was the Scarborough sign. But as many times as I've seen it, I'm pretty sure it is.

An antique hand-painted sign, bread peel, and screen doors.

Doors and shuttered windows with patina.

I was in awe of this old wooden door that once graced the entry of a church. I really wanted to take it home.

The lighting in this photo is bad, but you can barely make out another dark wood door nestled in the back there that is even more fantastic than the previous one. Look at that arched transom window above the swinging doors with iron lining the panes. I imagined it came from an old train depot.

As we browsed we were tapping our feet to the tunes of the Jamie Weems Trio featuring Tim Avalon and Tyler Kemp.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. I know I did. I relaxed a BUNCH and ate way too much.