homemaking | kimberly ah

Aug 02 2013

gardening, home is a 1970s apartment, homemaking, summer manifesto

The Summer Balcony

The balcony is in full summer mode right now. Everything is blooming like crazy, even my old geraniums! (They started blooming in mid-June and have been going strong ever since!) And, I’m happy to report that it’s August 2nd and ALL of my plants are not just alive, they are thriving! I think this is only partly due to the fact that I’ve been diligent about watering, but mostly due to the mild weather and the fact that I picked pretty easy going plants this year.

In the spring, Naoto and I relocated the bird feeder to the north end of the balcony. We also decided to stop filling it during the summer. The birds can find plenty of food in nature right now, and the birdseed makes such a mess on the balcony and blows into my flower pots, starting weeds in my flowers. We’re happy to fill it up again in the winter to feed the birds when they need it most and (more importantly) to give Presley back her birdwatching pastime. Once we created more room, I made a little conversation area on the south end of the balcony. It’s hard to work with the space, since it’s only five feet wide. There’s not much room for walking (as you can tell by the fact that the chairs are soooo close together!) It’s not perfect, but it’s fine for small gatherings. We’ve had our neighbor friends over quite often lately and it’s been wonderful to take advantage of the mild summer nights out there. On the north side, we have our little bistro table and the “potting area” (the pile of pots in the corner). In the morning, this area is nicely shaded for early morning letter writing, reading and crafting. (You know…the things I should be doing instead of watching the TODAY show!)

I’m a little nervous that August is going to be sweltering since we’ve had such a perfectly mild summer so far, but for now, I’m just going to try to soak up as many hours as I can outside.

Tagged decorating, garden, gardening, home, home improvement, homemaking, summer

Aug 01 2013

4 Comments

gardening, homemaking, Simple Summer Suppers, summer manifesto

Simple Summer Suppers: Homegrown Panzanella

Tuesday I was watching the TODAY Show (Don’t judge…it’s a sickness, I know.) and Giada was whipping up a dish with bread and tomatoes and artichokes and vinegar and basil–panzanella! I could not stop thinking about it. So I decided, eying the fresh harvest of tomatoes and basil sitting on the counter, that we would have to have panzanella for dinner.

Panzanella is the perfect summer meal. It’s the ideal recipe for fresh garden (or farmers market) tomatoes. I can’t imagine this dish could ever be enjoyed in the winter with the mealy, barely pink, imported grocery store tomatoes. Nope…better enjoy it now while we are harvesting the rich red tomatoes of summer.

Homegrown Panzanella
(slightly adapted from Giada’s Artichoke & Tomato Panzanella)

3 cups bread, cubed into 1-2 inch pieces (I used ciabatta)

3 large tomatoes, cut into 1-2 inch pieces, or sliced (I used a mix of tiny Juliets and two big Brandywines, all freshly picked from our garden!)

1 can artichoke hearts, sliced in half

handful of chopped basil

2/3 cup good olive oil (For salads, we love Trader Joe’s California Estate Olive Oil.)

1/4 cup white wine vinegar

drizzle of olive oil for cooking

salt & pepper

Preheat a grill pan on medium heat. Toss your bread and artichokes with a little bit of olive oil. Sprinkle with a little salt and pepper and add the bread and the artichokes to the preheated grill. Turn every couple of minutes until each side is golden brown. Remove from the grill and add to a serving bowl with your tomatoes and basil. Toss to combine.

Whisk the good olive oil and vinegar together and add salt and pepper to taste. Pour over the salad. Toss and serve.

You could add olives, red onion or parmesan cheese.

As it was, the panzanella was amazing. We ate it as our main course, with a side of fresh green beans from the farmers market and a couple of glasses of red wine. We took advantage of another mild summer night and ate outside…it just might have been the perfect summer meal.

Tagged food, forest park, garden, gardening, homemaking, summer

Jun 24 2013

1 Comment

homemaking, Jell-O, Those Were the Days, what's for dinner

Knox On-Camera Recipes

Knowing my love for all things vintage & gelatin, my friend Karen snagged this book from her grandmother’s collection (don’t worry–we gave it back!) It is the Knox On-Camera Recipes Gel-Cookery Guide. Printed in 1960, the guide is a print-version of TV demonstrations and (according to the introduction) “gives you a new look at the many rewarding uses of Unflavored Gelatin(e).”

Basically, the recipe book takes delicious dishes–like gazpacho, spinach salad, Waldorf salad, deviled eggs…and gelatin-izes them…which creates beautiful and yes, slightly weird, molded presentations (as seen below).

While I am super-interested in trying to make a savory gelatin dish just for the nostalgia of it all, the thought of molded avocado and tuna kind of makes my stomach turn. Part of me thinks that there’s a reason Jello survived in its sweet form…and maybe we should just leave savory gelatin in the past.

How about you? Have you ever had a savory gelatin dish? Would you ever try one?

Tagged food, homemaking, memories, vintage

Jun 18 2013

4 Comments

homemaking, Simple Summer Suppers, what's for dinner

Simple Summer Suppers: Lemon Chicken Pasta

It’s hard to pick a favorite summer supper…but this one might be it. Naoto and I have been making this for years and it’s become our go-to recipe for guests because it’s no stress and it’s always a crowd pleaser.

Just like the Greek Orzo Salad, Lemon Chicken Pasta is a Giada de Laurentis recipe that we modified and made better (well, better for us, anyway.)

Lemon Chicken Pasta

1 pound angel hair pasta

2-3 chicken breasts (roasted)

2/3 cup olive oil

2/3 cup grated parmesan

1/2 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice

1 tablespoon lemon zest

1/3 cup chopped flat leaf parsley

extra parmesan for serving

Roast your chicken breasts. (As I said here, the only no-fail way I know how to cook chicken breasts is to season them with salt and pepper, fold them up in little foil pouches and pop them in a 400 degree oven for about 30 minutes or until my meat thermometer says 165 degrees.)

Boil a pot of water for the pasta.

While the chicken is roasting and the water is coming to a boil, make the sauce: whisk the olive oil, lemon juice and grated parmesan in a large serving bowl. Set aside.

When the chicken is done, slice it into bite sized pieces and add it to the serving bowl.

Boil the angel hair until it’s al dente. Drain the pasta, but reserve a cup of the pasta water for later (just in case).

Toss the pasta and the chicken in the lemon sauce. If the mixture seems dry, add a little bit of the cooking liquid to loosen things up. Once everything is mixed in well, add the chopped parsley and lemon zest for garnish.

Serve with extra parmesan.

If you don’t want to turn the oven on during the hot summer, you can pick up a whole roasted chicken from the deli section of the grocery store and use that instead of the chicken breasts. And, of course, you could leave out the chicken and just make the lemon pasta (as Giada originally intended in her recipe.)

Tagged food, homemaking, summer

Jun 10 2013

2 Comments

homemaking, Loving Day, Simple Summer Suppers, what's for dinner

Simple Summer Suppers | Somen

During the summer, Naoto & I like to eat simple cold dishes that we can enjoy on the balcony. Last summer I shared two dishes, but hopefully this summer, I will be able to share more. We are looking forward to eating our own community garden grown vegetables.

This somen dish is an old favorite. I had it for the first time at Naoto’s host parents’ home in Hawaii. Auntie Judy, Naoto’s host mom, made it for lunch and I found it so refreshing and tasty. There are many variations of somen dishes, but this one is probably a slightly Americanized Hawaiian version of the Japanese dish. Oh, and I shared this recipe back in 2011 on my old blog, so Mom, it might look familiar.

Simple Summer Somen

For the broth:

1 cup low sodium chicken broth

1/3 cup soy sauce

1/3 cup mirin

2 teaspoons sesame oil

Bring all ingredients to a boil, then allow to cool completely.

For the noodles:

Bring 4 cups of water to a boil and drop in one bunch of somen noodles per person. (Somen typically comes in little paper-bundled bunches.) Boil for 2-3 minutes, or until noodles are soft. They cook very quickly! Drain, and rinse with cold water.

For the toppings:

Slice any or all of the following into thin strips, or “matchsticks”:

turkey (or ham) lunch meat

cucumber

cabbage

carrots

naruto (fishcake)

thinly sliced scallions

wasabi (I like the wasabi that comes in a tube.)

To assemble:

Place a serving of noodles in a bowl. Add some broth (not too much, this isn’t a soup!) and the toppings of your choice. Squeeze on some wasabi and mix well. (Mix well enough that you don’t get accidentally eat a hunk of wasabi…although I kind of like the suspense of knowing my sinuses might be cleared out at least once in a bowl of somen!)

We almost always just use turkey, cucumber, scallions and wasabi because those things are always on hand and readily available for somen cravings. I like mine with extra wasabi and I always eat mine out of my Hello Kitty bowl with Cinamaroll chopsticks…because it’s tradition.

This week, I will be sharing some little aspects of our multi-cultural marriage in celebration of Loving Day on Wednesday. Somen is one of the first Japanese dishes that made it into our regular dinner routine back when we were dating.

Tagged food, homemaking, Loving Day, memories, summer

Jun 07 2013

3 Comments

crafty adventures, gardening, homemaking

Plant Markers for the Balcony

We still have a few herbs growing on the balcony this year. It’s easier to use the herbs in our “daily” cooking when we can just pop outside to harvest them, plus we wanted to save all of our space in the garden plot for vegetables.

I wanted to make some plant markers for the herbs, similar to those I made for the garden. For the balcony herb makers, I gave the craft sticks a simple watercolor wash (using my cheap set of watercolors from Michaels), let them dry, and then stamped them with my letter stamps in StazOn ink. I love how they look so “official” poking out in the pots!

Tagged crafts, decorating, diy, garden, gardening, homemaking

Jun 04 2013

4 Comments

celebrations, crafty adventures, handmade=happiness

7th Anniversary Gifts: Copper & Desk Sets

When Naoto & I exchange anniversary gifts, we use the traditional and modern gift ideas as guidelines. I buy or make something for Naoto from the traditional list, and he buys me something from the modern list. (I wish I could tell you what we’ve gotten for each other in year’s past, but I don’t remember all of the gifts…we should have written them down.)

So since it was our 7th anniversary I got to work with wool or copper (ah, if I only knew how to knit!) and Naoto had desk sets for me…seriously…could he have HAD an easier gift for me?! (I even have a Pinterest Board dedicated to desk stuff!)

I really like to make things for Naoto. He never has a wishlist (I married the least materialistic person on the planet.) and I like to try out new things. My first embroidery project was an anniversary gift (year two is cotton). I’ve been wanting some more art for our home and have been looking online for different mobile type ideas. Through my search, I found this tutorial from Smile and Wave for a copper pipe himmeli. I was a little bit intimidated by the project at first. I don’t make a habit of poking around the plumbing section and I’ve never cut a pipe before. And parts of the tutorial didn’t make sense to me until I actually started working with the materials. But I have to say, Rachel’s tutorial ended up being perfect. Locating the materials was the hardest part (mostly because they didn’t have the right pipe size at Menards and then Lowes put my paid order back on the shelves) but once I got started, I really enjoyed this project–so much so that I plan to make a few more. I’d love to have a little cluster of them with a plant or two in the corner of the bedroom. I’m going to make that happen. (Because one looks lonely and ridiculous.)

I used a slightly different pipe than Rachel used. Because Lowe’s put my original order back on the shelves (I guess that was a happy accident), I had a chance to poke around the copper pipe section and I found a skinnier pipe–1/4″ Type OD. I have no idea what that means, but it’s skinnier than the 1/4″ Type L (even though they are both 1/4″…don’t ask me, I’m not a plumber). It worked like a charm. Also, it was very satisfying to cut the pipes with the little pipe cutter. It took some practice and some patience. (First I smooshed the end of the pipe because I was too impatient and tightened things too quickly. Then, I didn’t feel like I was getting anywhere as I turned the pipe cutter round and round, but then one last little twist and the pipe was cut–like magic.) I think the whole project took around an hour and the hardest part was threading the twine through and then getting it all lined up at the end. Mine is quite imperfect, but I hope to get better as I make a couple more. I think Naoto liked it. (Or is that his what-the-heck-is-this-well-she-made-it-so-I’d-better-smile face?)

And I know Presley finds it quite intriguing…

(Maybe hanging it at the side of the bed was a bad idea??)

For my gift, Naoto got this sweet wooden cat pencil holder and this planner from Paper & Type. I think I’m going to use the planner for scheduling blog posts because I don’t want to wait until 2014 to put it to use! My Letter Ledger is from Paper & Type and I just think her products are so unique and useful. Thanks for the lovely choices, Naoto!

Tagged celebrations, crafts, decorating, diy, homemaking, wedding

May 22 2013

3 Comments

gardening, homemaking

Geranium Troubles

Do you remember this geranium from last year? Well, it’s back outside again this spring–it’s the tall, skinny, flowerless one right by the gnome above. Last year, it lived with a couple of annuals and an ivy geranium (which, sadly, did not make it through the winter). This year, I planted a couple of fresh new geraniums with it. It looks nice and colorful in the hanging pot. The trouble is, I have another hanging pot filled completely with last year’s geraniums. It looks sad. See?

It’s just hanging out…not producing any flowers…last year, my old geranium didn’t bloom until August…I don’t want this pot to languish without blooms until then. Is there anything I can do to hurry it along?

It’s too late for this year, but it looks like I should take a different approach to overwintering my growing geranium collection. (I just leave them all in their pots in a north facing window…not much overwintering there!) This article from the Iowa State University Extension Program was informational on the proper way to overwinter geraniums…I’m hoping next year, my plants will be ready for blooming in the spring!

Tagged decorating, garden, gardening, home, home improvement, homemaking

May 15 2013

3 Comments

gardening, homemaking

The Garden Awaits

It has been such a weird spring around here. There have been days where temperatures were creeping towards 90, and then the next day, I’m pulling out my winter coat again. Typically in the Midwest, you can put your tomato plants in the ground by Mother’s Day (Sunday). We had plans to plant our garden on Saturday after the Community Garden meeting, but there was a frost warning on Sunday night, so we put planting on hold. Sure, we could have put our seeds in the ground and then waited to put the tomato and pepper plants in, but we kind of want to do it all at once. Naoto is off from Trader Joe’s the rest of the week, so hopefully we can squeeze in a little garden time one of the evenings this week.

Last weekend with my parents, I chose three tomato plants, one pepper plant and a bunch of seeds for the garden (pictured above along with some from my pen pal Danielle). Everything is pretty straightforward except the vining plants, which will need a little trellis to grow up into. The trellis will need to be a weekend project in the coming weeks. Ahhh…projects like this make me realize how little we know about gardening…but that’s the fun of this project, right? (Right?!) Naoto is very excited for the daikon radishes and I’m most looking forward to our tomato varieties, the golden beets and the lima beans…I love limas!

Today I am working on repotting some flowers I bought yesterday. Now that we are spending more time out there, I want to make sure it’s not a giant mess of outdoor furniture and empty pots (which it is now). Off to work!

Tagged decorating, diy, garden, gardening, home, home improvement, homemaking

May 10 2013

1 Comment

gardening, homemaking, in my library

Reading, Rain and Rally

Yesterday I had grand plans to get the house all cleaned up for the weekend, and it only sort of happened. I tidied a bit and fretted about but didn’t get all of my projects accomplished. It threatened to rain all day, making it the perfect day to stay indoors and get stuff done. It turns out it didn’t rain until the late, late afternoon. And when it started, it was a light mist, so I went out side and sat on the wicker couch and read my book for a bit. I’m reading The Good Earth for book group. We picked it because it’s spring–time for gardening and working with the earth–and it’s a really intriguing look at Chinese farm life in the turn of the century. We read a lot of books about rich white people in our book group , so this is a nice departure from the usual reads. (I should explain this more in a post dedicated to book group…)

Today, I am sweeping and mopping and sorting mail (or maybe just sorting mail). Our next Honor Flight is Tuesday, so there is a lot to do today and tonight to get everything ready. Naoto has been in Connecticut since yesterday and he comes home tonight, too. As much as Presley and I enjoyed having the bed to ourselves last night (SNORE-FREE SLEEP!) we are both looking forward to having him home and getting to hang out tomorrow. We’re going to a Food Truck Rally, then to our community garden orientation and after that, we are planting our garden! I can’t wait!

Tagged food, forest park, garden, gardening, homemaking