Paint it up

With the days getting shorter the dark wallpaper in the dining room makes the days seem even darker so we decided it was time to do some more painting. 

good bye wallpaper

I was torn between painting one accent wall or using the chair rail as the divide for painting so I started by priming above the chair rail to get a sense of a light dark contrast in the space and ultimately decided that's what I was going to do

to add a little interest I taped off rectangles under the windows in the room and painted right over the tape with the red paint

Since I had paint left over I decided I'd paint the kitchen too! In the kitchen I painted one red wall and the other walls the 'lighthouse' color from the dining room. 

three pots one plate

With the season change I notice that my body wants different foods. I've also been hearing that it's a good time of year to eat root vegetables to stay grounded and to eat cooked foods. 

I've been craving brussels sprouts too so I started with some garlic in oil then added sweet potato that I cut up small so it would cook quickly, then I quartered and threw in the brussels sprouts  and added a little salt, cinnamon and turmeric. I also threw in a few walnuts. 

In another pot I heated up some beans

And since I'd heard I should by eating more cooked and less raw during the seasonal transition I lightly sauteed some kale with garlic in a little oil and then squeezed a little lemon on top. 

gnome for the holidays

Hello, November! You crept in quietly.
That means the holidays will be sneaking up next. My little gnome friend reminded me that he already looks festive for the holidays so keep an eye out for some more gnomes showing up in my etsy shop soon!

a quick ghost

It's the first time in years I haven't carved a pumpkin for Halloween. Somehow it just snuck up on me this year. I wanted our house to look inviting to trick or treaters so I thought about elementary school crafts and remembered how to make a quick ghost...

What you need:
White plastic bag
Paper towels or newspaper
String or fishing line
Needle
Black sharpie

If you're using a large bag cut it in to squares, make a small ball from paper towels or newspaper, put the ball in the center of the bag to be the head, pull the bag down around the head and tie a string under the 'head' to hold the shape, use a sharpie to draw a face on the ghost, thread a needle and go through the top of the head to be able to hang the ghost

maybe snow

October has disappeared. Apparently I had more going on this month than I thought and in these last few days am traveling back for another weekend in NYC - for a birthday this time.

The weathermen (and women) have been suggesting that it will snow today. So I decided their prediction combined with 40 degree weather and me leaving for the weekend meant it was time to harvest what was left growing in my garden before the cold kills it. I had a pretty good haul!

Two pardon pepper plants have just started to grow strong so I took them out of the ground and into the house in the hope that I can care for them and get some peppers.

10 of 10

This has been the year of the wedding for me. It all wraps up this weekend when I attend the final wedding I've been invited to this year. And I will have made it to 7 of the 10 I was invited to attend. It's been an expensive adventure but I've gotten to go to some pretty cool places - Half Moon Bay CA, Oxford England, Seattle, a summer camp in CT, the Oregon coast and now NYC.

So I'm going to sit back on my bus ride down to New York and enjoy the fall colors, maybe pretend I'm on a leaf peeping tour and cross my fingers that this really is the last wedding this year. I love getting to celebrate with everyone but it adds up and I don't think I can afford another one this year!

Pumpkin Dinner - Afghan Inspired

There's an Afghan restaurant near me that makes a delicious pumpkin dish. Since I have some ripe sugar pumpkins in the yard now I thought I'd try to make this dish myself.


Pumpkin:
1 medium pumpkin
oil
6 cloves of garlic
2 cups of water
1 tablespoon salt
1/2 cup of brown sugar (could use less)
6 oz can tomato paste
1 teaspoon freshly grated ginger
2 tablespoons freshly ground coriander seeds
1 teaspoon black pepper


peel the pumpkin and cut it into 1" cubes, put oil and garlic in a large deep frying pan and add pumpkin, let it cook until it starts to get soft, then add in all the other ingredients and mix together, cover and let simmer and cook together until pumpkin is fully cooked


Rice:
2 cups basmati
oil
1 chopped onion
5 cups of liquid (chicken stock and water)
carrots
rasins
cashews
masala
cumin
saffron


put some oil in a pot and cook the onion until they start to turn translucent, add the rice and liquid and all other ingredients to the pot and let it simmer until water is absorbed 


Yogurt Sauce:
1 small container plain yogurt
1-2 cloves fresh pressed garlic
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp dry mint leaves


mix all ingredients together
The fresh raw garlic will make a nice compliment to the sweetness of the pumpkin


I also sauteed some greens in garlic and had those with the pumpkin and rice.