carrie kim

Breakfast Equations

 
 

sautéed grape tomatoes + bacon + asparagus = delicious breakfast

delicious breakfast + big sister + little sister = happy mommy

Enjoy your breakfast!

House update

I thought a little update on our never ending home renovation was in order. I just spent a while looking back at pictures of the house over the last year, that's right I said year. A year! Completely renovating a hundred year old home is not a small task. I remember telling someone that we were going to get everything done in three months. That was right after we bought the house. Ha, I was so stupid back then.  I had no idea of how much needed done. Or how much time and money is required to get anything done. But that's the fun with a house this old, every project, no matter how small or simple it may seem, is a can of worms eagerly waiting to be opened.
Well we've come along way. I think that we may be able to actually move into all of the house in the next 6 months, or at least in 2009. We're in the home stretch. There's not much left to do. Mostly carpentry work.  If everything fell into place and went along perfectly, the house could probably be done in a month or two. But that's not very realistic, because things just happen. They always do, that's just the way it is. Here are some before and after pictures. Except the after pictures are more like in the middle or towards the end pictures. Posting real before and after pics will be fun. I'd like to read that post right now:)

Here are a couple of pictures that were taken last summer-

 And here are some more recent photos, notice the pretty walls :) And you can't see it but there's fancy new electric wiring, shiny duct work and lots of insulation behind those pretty walls. I'll never look at a wall the same again.

The entire house has it's walls back on now. That and fresh coats of paint make it seem almost ready to move into. We still need door and window jams and the trim work and the staircase rebuilt.  Fortunately we've found a great carpenter and we're just waiting to save up enough so he can come in and do it all at once. We're all getting pretty excited about moving in :) Little E loves her future room. I'm really looking forward to getting it all set up. There's some fun times coming up soon:)

Have a wonderful weekend everyone! Happy Labor Day! Big E has Labor day off. We were shocked! I think it may be the first holiday he hasn't had to work on in a couple of years. Hooray!!!

the in between times

 

Not too shabby and a wish for a friend:)

 
This is the most delicious soup ever. ever.  well that's certainly not true.  but it was super tasty and big E and I didn't waste a drop of this broth, which was the best part. That might have had something to do with the fact that I overcooked most of the seafood. I lost one of my ingredients and while I wandered around my kitchen wondering where in the world I set the peppers, the shrimp and fish were turning into rubber. I think I have a good excuse because it was after midnight.  big E and I have been eating dinner together after he gets off work late at night or I should say early in the morning. So for a midnight snack this wasn't bad and it has to be healthier than donuts. That certainly is true:)

Happy Monday!!!!
and
Happy Anniversary Friend and Friend's hubby:)  I hope you have a wonderful date:)

We saw this made on the Food Network years ago.  They don't have it listed anymore on their website. So here it is from my copy.

Yucatan Stew

3 littleneck clams

4 prince edward island mussels

1 tablespoon chopped garlic

1/4 cup sliced white onions

2 tablespoons diced roma tomatoes

1/2 cup fish stock or bottled clam juice

3 medium sized shrimp

4 ounces fresh whitefish fillet (grouper, snapper, flounder)

1 tablespoon dry chili puree (ancho, pasilla, guijilb)

3 ounces fresh calamari cut into rings

1/2 cup coconut milik

1 tablespoon chopped cilantro

Begin with a hot skillet.  Saute the clams and mussels for 2 minutes. Then add chopped garlic. Cook for a minute(be careful not to burn the garlic). Then, add onions and tomatoes and cook for 2 minutes.  Next, add fish stock as mussels and clams begin to open.  Add shrimp, whitefish and chile puree.  Cook for three minutes. At this point add calamari, coconut milk, cilantro. Cook for a minute more and serve in halved coconuts.

We've never followed the directions exactly.  I don't think we've ever had all the seafood called for or the dried chili puree.  I use fresh peppers and we don't normally measure the other ingredients.  You should make it, the seafood, tomatoes, peppers, coconut milk and cilantro taste great together. 

Perseverance

Why do some thrive while others fall away and dwindle?

"Patience and perseverance have a magical effect before which difficulties disappear and obstacles vanish." -John Quincy Adams

I'm really looking forward to seeing a bit of John Quincy Adams' magic at work in my garden. I only wish I knew if I'm playing the role of the magician or the obstacle.  Hopefully the magician:)