Author Archives: Deborah

The Entry Hall

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The Original Vinyl Tile

The Original Vinyl Tile

The vinyl tile floor in our entry way was serviceable enough when we moved in to this house, but who really wants the look of a kitchen in the front hall? So I set my annual project to bring the cherry flooring that was in the back of the house to the front.

We already had a supply of cherry flooring from a few years ago when we had the kitchen/family room redone. We used contractors for that. A whoooooole ‘nuther story. And I had put down the floor in M—’s room so I would have practice when a bigger job came along.

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The Sun Porch

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The year – 2012.
The week – Memorial Day week. (That’s the one where we celebrate the soldiers, not the one where we celebrate the unions and why we all now have weekends off and so forth. But I digress.)

Every year on this week, I take off my regular 9-5 and do something major around the house. This particular year was set aside for the sun porch. Most of the time, these projects are just Debby. Not this one. This one was a joint effort of D— and step-daughter M—, who was home from college for a few weeks. Keep reading…

Yellow & Gray Quilt – part 3

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I’ve been plugging along on the quilt for our guest bedroom. Life has intervened somewhat – big surprise – and my quilting space, as wonderful as it is, is a little small to lay out all the squares, even on the floor. I tried moving over to D—’s side of the basement, but he has guitars, drums, mic stands, you name it over there. And I could still only find room to lay out about half of it.

IMG_5908 IMG_5907 Continure reading…

Blueberry Lemon Muffins

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IMG_5866This has become one of my go-to recipes in blueberry season. You can’t add enough lemon in my opinion.

“When blueberries are in season, these muffins make a glorious start to the day. But, even when berries are out of season, they’re still pretty sensational. For fresh berries, substitute the kind that are individually quick-frozen and let them thaw slightly before folding them into the batter. (Never use frozen berries packed in syrup.) These muffins are just as delicious when made with wild black raspberries. Adding cornmeal to the batter gives a slight coarseness to the texture, which I particularly like.” — Sheila Lukins Continue reading…

Twice-Cooked Pork

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This one has been a favorite for many years. It takes a little bit of planning since the pork butt needs cooking a day ahead, but it’s well worth the time. I added these cute little yellow squash I got at a farmers market. You could cut them into chunks, but I julienned them.IMG_5584

Preparation time: About 5 minutes
Cooking time: About 45 minutes to simmer; about 6 minutes to stir-fry.
The pork in this spicy Szechwan dish really is cooked twice. First simmered, then stir-fried (if you like, you can even do the cooking on different days). Sweet and hot bean sauces add a distinctive flavor-but if you can’t find them, you may use hoisin sauce and chilies with equally tasty results. Continue reading…

Baby Quilts

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I love making baby quilts. They’re small so they are quick projects. And they can be wildly colorful. At least as far as I’m concerned, they can be. There’s nothing that I dislike more in a baby quilt than something cute or pastel-y.

Here are some of what I’ve made for the friends and family in my life.

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Tiled Coffee Table

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This project was done in 2009. It was the beginning of the Sun Porch fix up. The motivation for it – besides the fact that we really needed a coffee table on this big sun porch – was that the side table my grandfather had built howevermany long years ago, had a center tile that I really liked.Fish Tile

But it didn’t go with the table very well, and that table needed repairing. It has a mahogany top and store bought legs. All the seams in the top were splitting, because, as it turned out, he’d glued the top together with no other reinforcement. That’s right folks. No nails or braces of any kind. So in the non-temperature controlled environment of the sun porch, it was coming apart. Continue reading…

Roasted Cauliflower Quiche

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IMG_5537This recipe comes with a caveat. My husband (hereinafter referred to as D—) and I both think this needs some pepping up. I’ll share it the way we made it though. I’d love to hear what ideas you have for additions.

1 small head cauliflower, cut into 1/2 inch thick slices (about 2 cups)
4 1/2 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
salt & pepper
5 cloves garlic, 3 thinly sliced and 2 finely chopped
1/2 cup fresh coarse breadcrumbs
8 eggs (or equivalent egg substitute)
3/4 cup cottage cheese
1/2 cup plus 1 tbsp. grated parmesan cheese
3 tbsp. chopped parsley Continue reading…