I love the island, mon!

I have Bob Marley’s Three Little Birds as my phone ring tone. It is probably the only reggae song I know.

I think it is reggae.

I love it. It makes me happy to hear it even though I don’t particularly like talking on the phone.

My “boss” teases me about it when he hears the ringtone in the background. He is actually from Jamaica and he’s black. And I am from Ohio and am the palest white. It’s funny.

Anyway.

The island, man (said mon in island speak).

I love it.

This morning I worked on it.

I made Blood Orange Almond Cinnamon Rolls…from no knead Brioche. I also made a Brioche loaf.

The rolls. The Blood Orange juice turned the frosting pink instead of orange.

I was inspired to make these rolls by Homesick Texan’s Orange Pecan Cinnamon Rolls recipe. But I had only a Blood Orange and of the nuts I have, almonds sounded best.

Lisa of Homesick Texan was inspired to make her Orange Pecan Cinnamon Rolls based on those orange pecan rolls in a can. She loved them as a child. I loved them as a child. They would probably make me gag now.

But inspiration is a good thing and although I trust Lisa’s recipes absolutely, I do love my no knead brioche dough and also wanted to make a brioche loaf hence my adapted version of orange pecan cinnamon rolls.

The island as a work spot: it worked wonderfully.

It gives me a better kitchen triangle.

So far, I have not felt like it was “in the way”. Yes, I am adjusting how I move in the kitchen but I’m not bumping into it or thinking it is too big or in the wrong place…

I love the island, mon!

Island Paradise

Island Paradise??? (Friday morning…snowing)

Well at least there is sun, now. (Friday, late afternoon)

And FedEx brought 3 boxes, total weight a bit over 200 pounds.

I bought a Kitchen Island.

On Amazon.

Amazon Prime!

It came FedEx 2day … free. I have absolutely no problem with Amazon increasing the Prime membership to $99.00!!

The unpacking.

Each box had a list with the contents of the box.

Every single piece had a little sticker with an alpha character that corresponded to the content list.

Hoo…I say HOO-RAH!

There was no mystery about which piece was which.

The directions were explicit.

The top was all in one piece!

The good news is that I didn’t have to assemble drawers or drawer rails, etc.

The bad news is the top weighed a bit over 60 pounds.

Bear stayed out of the fray in the sunroom.

Auggie, naturally, was my supervisor-helper!

Working alone (no other human) required a bit of creative thinking in how to balance things so that all of the pegs and holes lined up as I went along. So, it took longer than if there were 2, but still manageable.

It helped greatly that everything fit perfectly!

I put Auggie in the sunroom with Bear so I didn’t have to worry about something heavy falling on him. He took it well and I heard no complaints.

This is about the 1 hour, 15 minute point. I decided to clean up some of the wrapping and regroup before the last push.

I was worrying a bit about getting that heavy top on and needed a little time to think.

Ironically, the part that I least suspected would have alignment problems…did. The holes for the hinge screws for the eating leaf were completely out of alignment for 1 hinge.

Power tool to the rescue. I drilled new holes and all was well.

Getting the top on top of the base actually was no problem. I set it against the length of the base, tipped it up and moved it into position.

Done.

My first glass of wine and a bowl of salad, feta and kalmata olives.

I’ve looked at islands since buying this house but everything I liked was VERY expensive.

I’ve tended to often eat my meals at my desk instead of the table…partly as I am looking at food blogs or the news and partly because the table is not that comfortable…low and a bit dark.

A couple of weeks ago, I thought…boy, I’d really like to sit higher and be looking out the window…

On a whim, I searched Kitchen Islands on Amazon….

I absolutely LOVE the island.

There is plenty of room around it.

I have some new storage area and new work space near the stove.

I have a bright spot to have my meals.

I might need another chair…

Island Paradise.

A ride in the Jeep

Bear LOVES to go in the Jeep. I don’t think he cares where we go or even if he gets to get out…he just wants to go with me.

Auggie does NOT love to go in the Jeep…yet. We’re working on it with short rides. We have progressed to him staying in the back with Bear. This is great progress from some initial trips (just down the road) where he was on the dash, near my feet, here there and everywhere = not safe for any of us.

Putting him in carrier to go to the vet is pretty awful. Caterwauling to the max. Bear and I are highly motivated to get him comfortable in the Jeep. I think the motorhome will be a different story and THAT might help him in the Jeep. It did for Bob.

Right now we are taking short rides down the road and back. On this day I parked where I take photos and just sat for awhile to let Bear look and Auggie get comfortable…hopefully.

“Ok, Mama, I’m ready to go home now.”

“NOW!!!”

At home, I parked outside the garage to sit for a bit and all was well.

We progress.

A little.

Onward.

The orange and the green, but mostly the white!

A St. Patrick’s Day orange and green snack: roasted red pepper hummus with cold blanched asparagus.

Outside, the weather was a bit frightful…

Such a sad Auggie face.

I think because he knows he can mostly come and go as he pleases, he has become a bit pickier, i.e. more cat-like about the weather he will go out in.

Our St. Patrick’s Day: mostly white!

The wearin’ of the orange…

So… this is my own, somewhat infamous (in my family) St. Patrick’s Day story.

Many, many years ago – 1967 or ’68, I was in charge of decorating a St. Patrick’s Day bulletin board in the Science classroom of my Junior High (7th & 8th grade). I was a straight A student, never in trouble and the Science teacher was the football coach. I was left to my own devices to do the board with no supervision whatsoever.

There was no green construction paper.

I remembered my Grandmother Ruthie telling me that some ancestors were Orangemen and she was probably just yacking, not really thinking I’d be taking all of this in… In the Irish religious wars, the Protestants were the Orangemen and the Catholics were the Green. We were Protestant, i.e. Orangemen.

There WAS orange construction paper.

So, I decorated the bulletin board with orange shamrocks.

Remember, it was the late ‘60’s.

My mother was called.

Thankfully, my family thought it was funny – I have no recollection of any ramifications other than the joking.

We all wear orange on St. Patrick’s Day ! …well, I would if I had any orange clothes. I don’t have any green either, though.

A good weekend, good food, good drink, good times to you and your families no matter what color you wear on the day! (Comments are open … :) )

Meanwhile…on the food front…Here in the U.S.A., whether it is truly Irish or not…corned beef and cabbage is the food of the day on March 17. I love both corned beef and cabbage and both are always on sale for March 17.

Last year, I departed from the package instructions and cooked my corned beef like I cook a pot roast and it was good.

This year, based on a recipe for pastrami from Tori Avey (recipe here) and a bit of perusing around the internet, I put my briskets in a roasting pan, with water, tightly covered and roasted them at 290F for 6 hours. Oh my!!! Fork tender, moist and delicious corned beef.

At the moment, I’m stuck on corned beef with cabbage/carrot/green pepper slaw and melty mozz on my own black bread**.

I will make the rounds of corned beef hash, etc. before it’s done. I have 2/3 of 2 briskets in the freezer and 1/2 of the 1/3 still in my frig. It will be a good eating week!

**Black bread: I really call this pumpernickel even though it is not a traditional pumpernickel recipe. I haven’t had a good deli pumpernickel in many years and might be remembering wrong, but this tastes like pumpernickel to me :) !!

1 3/4 cups white flour ( I’m using Wheat Montana White )
1 1/4 cup King Arthur Perfect Rye
1/2 cup buckwheat flour (I’m using Bob’s Red Mill buckwheat flour)
1 T molasses
1 3/4 (almost 2) cups warm water
1 T salt
1 tsp caraway seeds
1 tsp fennel
1 pkt yeast (I’m using SAF Instant)

**Edit 3/17 morning…forgot the caraway and fennel – I crush them together with a mortar and pestle and add with the flour.

Mix all well. Cover with plastic wrap. Let sit in a warm spot for 4-12 hours. Refrigerate for up to 10 days.

Wet hands. I bake 1/3 at a time and use a foil medium bread pan lined with parchment. Gluten cloak per Artisan Bread in 5 minutes per day.

Cover and let sit/rise for 30-60 minutes.

Preheat oven and baking stone at 460 for 30 minutes. Brush top with a bit of cornstarch wash and sprinkle with more caraway seeds.

Bake at 460 in pan for 20 minutes and then 10 on the stone for an additional 10 minutes.

Email me if you want to make this and are unclear. Above is a “summary” of the method. If you are used to the no knead method, it makes sense :) !!