Aubergine

Since the Tuscan eggplant debacle, I sort of have this soft spot for these soft purple veggies. So much so, that I'm growing some to plant in our new vegitable garden. I'm excited to actually use them in recipes. Here is one I found in Food & Wine that I might have to try:

Sardinian Stuffed Eggplant
ACTIVE: 1 HR
TOTAL TIME: 2 HRS
SERVINGS:

Ingredients
Five 1-pound Italian eggplants, 3 halved lengthwise
Kosher salt
Extra-virgin olive oil
1 medium white onion, finely chopped
2 small bay leaves, crushed to a powder
1/2 cup dry white wine
1/2 pound ground veal
1 cup freshly grated fresh pecorino cheese, preferably Fiore Sardo (4 ounces)
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 cup plain, dried bread crumbs
Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
1 tablespoon chopped basil
1 tablespoon chopped mint
Freshly ground pepper
3 garlic cloves, thickly sliced
One 35-ounce can Italian peeled tomatoes, drained and coarsely chopped

Directions
Peel the whole eggplants; coarsely chop the flesh and transfer to a large colander. Using a spoon, scoop the flesh from the eggplant halves, leaving a 1/4-inch-thick shell. Chop the scooped out eggplant flesh and add it to the colander. Toss the chopped eggplant with 2 tablespoons of kosher salt and let drain for 30 minutes, then rinse well. Working in handfuls, squeeze out as much of the water as possible. You should have about 4 cups of chopped eggplant.

Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Set a wire rack on a baking sheet. Add the 6 eggplant shells to the pot and cook, gently poking them under to keep them submerged, until just tender, about 3 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the eggplant shells to the wire rack to drain and cool. Lightly oil a 9-by-13-inch baking dish and arrange the eggplant shells in it, cut sides up.

In a large, deep skillet, heat 3 tablespoons of olive oil until shimmering. Add the onion and bay leaves and cook over moderate heat until the onion is softened, about 5 minutes. Add the chopped eggplant and wine and cook over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until tender and just beginning to brown, 15 minutes. Add the veal and cook over moderately high heat, stirring and breaking up the meat, until cooked through and lightly browned, about 5 minutes longer. Transfer the eggplant filling to a bowl and stir in 1/2 cup of the pecorino, the eggs, bread crumbs, nutmeg, basil and mint. Season the filling with salt and pepper. Spoon the filling into the eggplant shells.

Preheat the oven to 350°. In a medium saucepan, heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Add the garlic and cook over moderate heat until golden, about 1 minute. Add the chopped tomatoes and cook over moderate heat, stirring, until thickened, about 10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Spoon half of the sauce over the eggplants and sprinkle with the remaining 1/2 cup of grated pecorino. Bake the eggplant until browned and bubbling, about 35 minutes. Let cool slightly, then serve, passing the remaining tomato sauce on the side.
Make Ahead

The baked stuffed eggplant can be refrigerated overnight. Bring to room temperature then reheat in a 325° oven.

This Old House

Sean and I plan to buy an antique houses someday and we love to look at the ones in our area that are for sale. We're focusing our search on Marblehead, Manchester and Essex, but have looked at some in Beverly and Ipswich as well. Some people have really taken care of their houses and some have not, but it's fun thinking of what renovations and restoration we'd do with homes that have that much character. Some of the highlights have been a house in Ipswich that was renovated beautifully, and had a brand new master suite on the third floor:

This one in Marblehead was a complete gut job and had a really complicated layout and no parking. Interesting though. The green house is slightly further down the street and has a good size backyard, parking and a nice layout. I'm just waiting for an open house to see the inside condition, but I can envision painting it grey with black shutters and a red door, then hanging a giant American flag above the front door.

There are lots more we're keeping our eyes out, we're just waiting for prices to fall even more!

Like a Fine Wine...

I have to pick up some wine for a weekend getaway and I'm lucky that we have some many great wine shops on the North Shore. With so many varietals and vintages, you need a knowledgeable wine professional to lead you in the right direction.

Some of my favorites places to shop include:

Salem Wine Imports
The owner is a very knowledgeable guy and they have at least six bottles to try each day, plus specialized tastings during the week.

Shubie's
A Marblehead classic that also offers prepared food and catering.

Vinnin Liquors
While not a specialty wine shop, they have a fantastic selection that is thoughtfully chosen.

Alexander's aka Bogie's Beer and Wine
Very small wine and beer shop on Rt 62 in Beverly. Bogie is the name of the owner's gigantic bulldog who just sits like a big rock by the door. Great selection and lots of wine and beer tastings.

Beverly Wine and Beer
Soon to move next to Henry's in North Beverly, so you can pick up your specialty foods and wine in one spot!

Heirloom Kitchen Linens

My aunt passed on to me some antique kitchen linens that were owned older relatives. I love collecting these treasures as they're made so much better than anything you can buy today, plus they have sentimental meaning. One had an embroidered "C" for me maiden name and others say "Buon Giorno" - "good day" in Italian.

Joined Beverly Main Streets

After getting a jasmine tea at Atomic this morning, I went to my first meeting for Beverly Main Streets. They are a local non-profit in my city that helps promote the downtown businesses. Since new developments and residential housing have started popping up (like my building), the focus is changing to accommodate new residents as well.
I'm on the promotions committee and I'm thrilled to help market the downtown area as a great place to live, shop and dine. One of the reasons we bought in Beverly and specifically where we did, is because of the planned development of downtown.
The MBTA has planned a new parking garage next to our building with residential and retail space and will break ground next year. There are plans to put a Black Cow restaurant down the street in addition to building around the train station. I'm looking forward to this area expanding and growing.
I really think people are moving toward supporting local businesses and away from big box stores and chains. That's one of the reasons I started this blog. I hope to write about and show you some of the great businesses, services and people of the North Shore in future posts!

Ocean Pebble Path

It really brightens the space, I think. We got some strawberries for the back corner as well.

Veggie Garden Stage 1

Yesterday we started planting the vegetable garden, well cleaning it up. That's step one. When my parents bought their house over 10 years ago, the previous owners had a great fruit and vegetable garden going. Alas, the only thing left was an overwhelming amount of blackberry bushes. The first thing we did was consolidate them into one bed and put some in a pot so we can take them to the Island and plant them on volunteer day. I figured if they grew so well with no attention in my parent's yard, they may do ok in those harsh, salty conditions.

By the end of the day we were looking pretty clean and organized. My mom and I are going to the garden shop today to get some pebbles for the path and maybe some strawberries to plant in the final bed.

I came home to discover my seeds were already sprouting, which was encouraging. The arugula has taken off, and the beans are right behind it.

Saturday Strolls

One of the benefits of having a dog is the amount of walking you do. Sean and I like to take Baxter (and sometimes Tucker) for early Saturday morning walks with a cup of coffee. I enjoy admiring the historic homes of our area and I intended to buy and renovate an old house when we sell the condo. We've looked at some in Marblehead, Ipswich and Essex and keep Manchester on the list. These houses all have fabulous architecture and character that you jut can' build into new homes. I pick up inspiration each week.
I did my final project in my college photography class on historic doors in Beacon Hill, Marblehead and Salem. While I thought my photos were lovely, my teacher didn't seem to be impressed. Apparently another students photos of Boston's graffiti and trash covered back alleys was more her style.

This house has been completely gutted and put back together over the last few months. They are restoring all the historic charm to it. When we passed yesterday I little boy in the driveway said we had cute dogs. I was jealous of him and his fancy house. These porches overlook Marblehead Harbor.

There are benches you can buy in some of the parks and my grandparents bought one a couple years ago to remember their parents. Now we like to make it our destination on our Saturday strolls.

They picked a spot at the end of Fort Sewall that overlooks Children's Island, where Sean and I went to summer camp and worked as counselors... and met. I work for the YMCA that owns the camp and we're starting and alumni association to support the camp.

Two dogs...one small condo

I cleaned up the deck last night to get it ready for potential grilling in the warm weather. I had a few more seeds I wanted to plant in my herb box. Things have really started to come back and it's very exciting.

Chives are the only herb that came back. I planted some more stuff so we'll see.

All my plants have to stay in one section unless we're entertaining because it's the only place that gets sun!Our dog, Baxter, has run into the screen door so many times that the screen has come out of the frame. He now takes the liberty to go through the broken screen whenever he pleases as if it's a doggy door. He has also aquired a taste for Potting Soil.

My sister's dog, Tucker, is also spending the weekend. They took up the ENTIRE bed last night.

Seed-lets!

Last night I planted some vegetable seeds that we will transplant at my parents house. I have never done this before, so I'm really hoping for the best!











I planted:

• 3 types of tomatos (I love tomatos!)


• Eggplant (melanzane as the Italians call it, or aubergine as the French call it. We found that out in Tuscany when they put something that looked like cat food in front of us and the Brits said, "Oh it must be aubergine." Huh?)


• Green beans
• Cucumber
• Peppers
• Arugala
• Mesculn Greens
• Cilantro
• Oregano
• Sage
• Basil

My parents have some blackberries growing right now. I my add strawberries to the list. Anyone have any experience with growing vegitables or fruits?

White Kitchens

So to elaborate on my obsession, here are some examples. My new subscription to House Beautiful is just feeding my addiction:

These use subway tiles as a backsplash:

I love the prep sink:
And the farmer's sink:

And dark floors with white wood and white counters. We have dark walnut floors and I love the look with the white:

The Back Splash

The next project after the deck was the back splash. My dad had some extra tiles left over from a kitchen construction job he did.

They were gorgeous Italian porcelain subway tiles. They reminded me of the bathroom in the villa we stayed at in Tuscany.

The project was pretty simple. Sean and I measured and mapped out where to place them, put the mud on the wall and balanced them all out. My dad cut the intricate ones on the tile saw. Before long we had a back splash! We waited a week and sealed it.

I love the look of all white kitchens. It's a new obsession that I don't think I would have been into if I didn't have a white kitchen now. The more I look at it, the more I love it and I don't think I'll ever go back. In my next house, my kitchen will be all white, with marble counters, and a white farmers sink.... and a Wolf stove!

The Deck

The deck was a huge project right from the start. When we decided on the unit, 106 was the only one left with a potential deck area. Problem was- because of the garage door under it, there was some equiptment that had to go in the wall to the outside.


Since the floor going out there wouldn't be flat like the rest of the units, the builder just put windows in and didn't finish off the space. We were assured we could build on it and do it ourselves, we'd just have to build a step up to the door.

After jumping through lots of hoops to get the approvals from the builder before the condo association took over, we finally got the projects approved and a builder to do it for the price we wanted to pay. Sean's high school classmate, Brian Giovannucci, did the project.

There were still a few battles, like plastic risers that weren't shipped on time, but within three weeks the whole project was complete and we were planting flowers!

Our patio furnture is the Arbor Collection from Crate and Barrel, in Gingko. We have kept it covered when we're not using it, so it will retain the wood color finish. Otherwise it will turn silver.

We went to Kane's in Danvers and picked out plants for the deck. We planted three arborvitates to block out the neighbor, two Endless Summer Blushing Bride hydrangeas (which are super hardy and grow like crazy) one pot of peonies and some herbs. The herbs didn't make it last year, because of all the rain we got, but I'm trying again this year!

We're still in winter mode:

Condo Projects

Since moving to our condo in March 2007 we've done quite a few projects! The week we passed papers was quite hectic. My grandfather passed away that Sunday and the funeral was on Thursday. After a long and sad week, it was bitter sweet to wake up in our Fenway apartment on Friday morning and know we'd be homeowners in a couple hours. My grandfather always owned, never rented, every property his family lived in or his business occupied.

We got up early and ate breakfast with the "early birds" at Taste of Thyme in Salem. Then we made a stop at Waters & Brown for paint. I had been planning the colors for over 2 months since we put an offer in. Since it was new construction, our plan was to sign papers and get painting all weekend, then move on Monday.

Pre-Paint:
Counters are "Kashmir White" granite.

All the colors are Benjamin Moore: (with a little local flavor)

• Living/Dining/Kitchen: Shaker Beige (I'm sure there were Shakers here... or is that Quakers?)


• Office: Louisburg Green (like the Square!)
  


• Bathroom: Beacon Grey (like the Hill!) The sink is White Carrara Marble and the towel rack and toilet paper holder are from the Restoration Hardware Chatham collection.
  


• Bedroom: Broken Arrow (this was a last minute pick, no real significance)
  

Then at 10am we met our realtor, Tim, and lawyer at the Essex Country Registry and signed a GAZILLION papers. But it was so exciting and worth it. Not as scary as some people say it was. When they passed over the keys, it was the best feeling! We went back to Boston to pack up some stuff and then back to Beverly (in a snowstorm) to paint all night long.

I think we lived on Domino's pizza delivery the first few nights. We were so busy painting we didn't have time to go out and eat. Lots of family came over to see the place and help us paint. They were a big help and it was fun to have everyone there.

We added some lights above the bar and a new dimmer but that was it... until the deck!