Tag Archives: Friends and Family

Catching Up and Homemade Pasta

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It’s back to the kitchen and catching up on chores this week. The weather has been so nice that I’ve neglected the decluttering and  mini-mountains of clothes that need folding, and instead have been riding my bike with Ollie and hanging out at various parks. The kids have also had a little education in local and federal government as the whole family applied for passports. Abby laughed as we posed for our pictures, “Mom, it’s like we’re in jail?!” Yes, but would we by smiling?

I like Ollie’s first attempt:

Last weekend we hosted a House Party sponsored by Calphalon and Williams-Sonoma and while we weren’t selected as the hosts to have Chef Michael Symon visit, we had a fantastic time with our guests. The easiest part about this dinner party: the menu, along with recipes and a grocery list, was supplied by Calphalon and Williams-Sonoma. We were so busy cooking up dinner, I had my brother-in-law and cousin take some pictures and I hope to post some soon.

Friends came over a few months ago and taught us how to make homemade pasta. We tried homemade potstickers so I thought, homemade noodles shouldn’t be too difficult.

Basic recipe

  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 2 cups semolina flour
  • 6 large eggs (at room temperature)
  • pinch of salt

We combined the dry ingredients in a large bowl, made a well in the middle then cracked the eggs into the flour. Using a fork, begin beating the eggs lightly as if scrambling them, and the flour will start “falling” into the egg mixture. Continue beating the eggs to incorporate the flour slowly. The mixture will begin forming into dough, and then once the dough begins to stiffen and all the flour is incorporated, you can take it out of the bowl to knead. It wasn’t very pretty, pulling and pushing the dough, squishing it around. Our friend made it look all nice and rectangular. Mine sort of looked amoeba-shaped until I folded it over again to knead some more. I think we did this for a few minutes before running it through the pasta machine. And when we did, it took a few passes to get to the thickness we wanted. We hung the noodles up as we finished the rest of the dough and got a big pot of water and salt to a rolling boil. The noodles cooked quickly in less than 5 minutes.

Communion Reception: Menu and Black Bean Salsa Recipe

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What time do most people eat dinner? Do most people call it “dinner” or “supper”? I suppose there’s a difference, and maybe a subtle one. I never bothered to look up a definition until now. So, what would you do for a reception if a religious service was at 1:30 pm and lasted for 1-1/2 hours? It’s not really a late lunch, but it’s not totally time for dinner either. Essentially, it was supper and it was good.

Here’s what we figured for 25 adults and 11 children (some of whom are light eaters – count 2 kids as 1 adult)

  • To munch on: Banana-chocolate chip bread, Cran-apple-orange bread, Orange-rosemary mini cornbread muffins (breads baked at home), salami and cheese, smoked salmon and crackers, roasted garlic hummus and olive crostinis (store bought).
  • 48 piece tray – Italian subs and Club subs  (approx. 4″, bought at local Italian deli) One tray had 24 pieces, and that wouldn’t have been enough.
  • Tortilla chips and roasted corn-black bean salsa (brought over by family)
  • Shrimp salad (store bought)
  • Cake – split yellow and chocolate cake with custard and strawberries
  • Coffee, tea, assorted soda, and juice boxes for the kids

Notes:

  1. Quick breads can easily be done a few days before and frozen if you want.
  2. The cornbread muffin recipe is from Martha Stewart which was recently reprinted in the Living magazine with the addition of orange peel. True to the recipe, it keeps for 2 days in an airtight container. TWO days. I made it one day too soon. They dried out.
  3. It’s nice to have a good bakery so close to home!

Here’s a favorite recipe for black bean salsa that I’ve made over the years adapted from The Lady & Sons Savannah Country Cookbook by Paula Deen. I visited her restaurant before she was a Food Network celebrity and bought my cookbook there. This salsa is similar to the one we had last Saturday; the difference being roasted corn. It does add a lovely smokiness. Just by frozen roasted corn for ease! Enjoy!

Julie’s Black Bean Salsa

  • 2 (15 oz.) cans black beans, rinsed and drained
  • 1 (17 oz.) pkg. frozen whole kernel corn, thawed
  • 2 lg. tomatoes, seeded and chopped
  • 1 small onion, chopped
  • 1/4 cup. chopped fresh cilantro
  • 4 tbsp. lime juice
  • 1 tbsp. red wine vinegar
  • 1 lg. avocado, peeled and chopped (optional)
  • 1/8 tsp. cumin (optional)
  • 1/8 tsp. garlic powder (optional)
  • salt and pepper to taste

In large bowl, mix all ingredients well. Cover and chill overnight. Before serving, add salt and pepper to taste if necessary. Great with tortilla chips or just as a side to your meal.

Happy Spring with a gift

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Signs of Spring! Last fall, we planted garlic bulbs. They started coming up with the little warmup we’ve had in the weather. So exciting! Have to get the chicken wire on the fence soon. The three shrubs in the back seem to have survived the winter, too. I’m a little concerned about one of them, but time will tell.

It was in the low to mid 60s around here, then the bottom fell out and we had snow (again) over the weekend. Saturday morning I woke up to, “Mom, it’s snowing! You have to shovel!” (I actually didn’t. No snow on the driveway or walks.) Yesterday, we had to get out of the house for a little and ended up having noodles and sushi at one of our favorite Japanese spots.

Elsewhere in the STiJ world:

  • Last week, I interviewed for a volunteer position at our city hall. They’re forming a historic preservation commission. We’ll see how this goes.
  • This week is Spring Break for Abby and next week will be Eastman’s. I might not be on top of my blogging game.
  • To further my gardening skills, I’ll be attending a “Make Your Own Composter” class later this week at a local nature center.
  • I have my first Craft Critique article coming out soon, too, and I’m finishing my second article this week. Let’s say I hope it “sticks”!
  • Been making more cards lately. Will post tutorials soon.
  • Lastly, I’m hoping some readers can help. I’ve made a very casual survey about handcrafted gifts. Hopefully it will help me organize some thoughts on opening an online shop. The survey can be forwarded to other people – so please feel free to do so. Go to the link below, answer the questions and participants can win one of two free subscriptions to Midwest Living. Survey is open until this Wednesday, 3-24-10.

Click here to take survey

Cheers,

Julie

Busy February

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Picture by G. Feiereisel

Wow, it’s been a while… let’s update.

Holiday/birthday season is over for me (husband’s, father’s, daughter’s and numerous friends), and tomorrow our party-hosting blackout month starts. We may be taking a hosting hiatus, but that doesn’t mean we’re not thinking about it. Amidst the celebrating, we started looking for Holy Communion dresses for Abby and planning a lunch reception. We have a little less than two months, which really translates to, I have a little less than two months to reorganize and pull my house back together again.

In the next month, I’ll begin reporting for Craft Critique where I will rediscover and review some of my own crafting supplies and equipment, and be introduced to new and exciting products in the crafting world. I can’t wait! You might imagine I have quite the array of products, but my craft shed is fairly minimal. You’ll see. To jump start my creative juices and “research” current products, I’ve been visiting the local Archiver’s over the last few weekends to see the “make-and-take” projects and see product demos.

Another love of mine is Chicago history and architecture, so to celebrate that my husband and I attended “Chicago in History and Mystery” at our local library. Fabulous guest speakers, wine and hors d’ouevres, too. (Can I tell you how weird it was eating and walking around the library with a glass of chardonnay? God forbid I spill anything!) Back to the speakers: Authors JA Konrath, Gillian Flynn and Henry Perez; Rick Kogan and Charles Osgood from the Chicago Tribune and WTTW personality, Geoffrey Baer.

I’ve never been to an author panel discussion before; it was eye-opening and fun! These authors write mysteries, and being able to hear them speak about their inspirations, how they got started, how they approach their character development was so fascinating. We came home with Afraid by Konrath, who also writes under Jack Kilborn, but I’m definitely looking forward to reading the others. Have to get through my stack of books by my bed first.

It’s amazing enough to watch Geoffrey Baer’s tours of Chicago on tv, read Rick Kogan’s articles and see Charles’s photography, but listening to them when they’re a few feet away from you… incredibly captivating and entertaining personal stories. Sorry to say I didn’t bring my camera, but then again, not many people did. I might be able to link to the library website if they update their event photos. I wanted to tuck every anecdote away in my head to share with friends, but by the time we left (about 4 hours) I was so overwhelmed with factoids and fun stories. I’ll end with a few Chicago tidbits that stuck.

  • Louis “Studs” Terkel (Chicagoan author, broadcaster, historian) was one of the oldest people to undergo open-heart surgery at the age of 93. In his own words through Rick Kogan, “I’m a medical miracle!”
  • Caldwell Avenue is named for “Billy” Caldwell whose American Indian name was Sauganash which is also the name of the neighborhood that the avenue runs through. I had no idea…
  • Park Ridge is not the highest point in Cook County which many Park Ridgians believe. High point is somewhere around Barrington.
  • Park Ridge was home to many artisans and craftspeople, and included a workshop called Kalo Arts Crafts Community House where many silversmiths and jewelers started their trade.

Such a rich history in the arts… is it a wonder I feel at home here? We’ll see what happens in the next month since I also applied for a seat on the newly formed “Historic Preservation Commission” in town.

What I’ve Learned Having Houseguests

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Now that the holidays are over and I’ve recovered somewhat, I tend to review our hosting strategies, successes and misses. Every year we have at least 1-3 guests stay with us for any given length of time. It could be an overnight stay or a couple of weeks. Don’t know about other people, but I get worked up. I just want to make sure that our guests feel welcome and comfortable, that they enjoy their stay and would want to come back.

We have a slight challenge of not having a dedicated guest room, but here’s how we get around that: the basement. It becomes a semi-private suite. In the case of my awesome brother-in-law, he’ll room in my kid’s room, or with my kids. No problem. However, I can’t necessarily assume that everyone will be as accommodating.

My must haves: No matter what the state my house is in, I will prep good pillows, a good air mattress (we have two), towels, sheets, clock, storage cubes doubled as nightstand, hangers, and coat rack. Don’t have yet but would like: luggage rack.

Entertaining: Here, I luck out again with pretty easy going relatives. My in-laws did most of the shuttling around last Fall with our guests. But, it’s helpful to have schedules and sight-tour brochures handy. Seriously, I even picked up at our library a few copies of “family-friendly” publications that have local things-to-do and set that on the bedside table for our guests.

Meal times: I’ll ask about favorite snacks and more importantly, kids favorites, if I’m not exactly sure what my guests are into. Putting together a dinner/meal schedule was also a super timesaver. It was more like a guideline, if anything, but sure helped with grocery lists. We had plenty of drinks on hand too.

Here’s my favorite way of setting up my towels on the bed for a cute “welcome”. One of my best friends taught me this a long time ago when I stayed at her home for a few days. Sorry, you might only get this the first time you come over, after that, you’re like family and I don’t sweat it out so much.

Abby took video footage of me putting it together (our first video tutorial), but the file was too big to upload! This will have to do.

**Update** I figured out how to add video:

1) Take the bath towel and fold into thirds along the long direction.

2) Fold into thirds the other way (short direction).

3) Take the hand towel and fold into thirds along the long direction.

4) Now wrap the hand towel around the bath towel.

5) Take the wash cloth, fold into thirds, then wrap around the hand towel to hide the ends and create a “bow” appearance.

Voila! Hotel-ish towels for your guests… enjoy!

Ode to My Other Life: Construction Management and Estimating

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This is a departure from the crafting, the cooking, the child-rearing, the housekeeping… and maybe I’ve mentioned it only a few times. My background is in civil engineering (some may not believe this) and after college, I worked for only one company for eleven years (rarity nowadays) but was fortunate to wear many hats. I’ve been a field/project  engineer, assistant project manager, and at the time I opted out, I was an estimator. Actually, my business card read: Senior Cost Analyst.

Reviewing blueprints, meeting with developers, trying to figure out how to get their projects within a reasonable budget, meeting with manufacturer representatives, architects and contractors to orchestrate a project – I loved it, loved the people I worked with (most of them, hehe) and for. What I loved most was walking through a building as it was being built and seeing the 3-D version of what I’d been studying and budgeting. Sounds idealistic, doesn’t it? The stress, I could leave behind, and I did – just traded it for other stress. Seems like many years ago, but it’s only been a little over 3 years. My notes from a project meeting looks so foreign to me right now…

Every once in a blue moon, I make a night out by attending a dinner meeting with a professional organization I used to belong to, National Assocation of Women in Construction, NAWIC (pronounced NAY-WICK). There are chapters all over the nation – two in the Chicago area and two in the far north and northwest regions of llinois. I coordinate meetings for one of the chapters and seemingly, it’s working out well. I’m a bit removed from the construction industry but have been pretty successful with keeping in touch with colleagues from my other life and some of them have become good friends.

The beauty of dining with these women and sitting in on the meetings is inspiration for me. Most evenings there is a guest speaker, someone from the industry, who might talk about a current project, hot topic in construction, or sometimes new construction materials. Recently, the dinner topic was to showcase your company, your role in the company and how it relates to NAWIC. These women meet every month and people know what firms they work for, but sometimes, you forget what people do on a daily basis.

It was completely refreshing to hear stories from the trenches. There were fun ones: I met a woman who managed projects at O’Hare Airport and whose voice is used in a few public announcements (think: Thank you for not smoking)! And, some stories not so fun… in 2010, there is still a sense of “the old boys club”. I recall going to a few meetings myself where there might have been 50-75 people and 2 women. Personally, I almost always used those circumstances as my opportunity to be memorable, but you have to be able to roll with the punches and maintain a sense of decorum amidst alcoholic-influenced people.

In NAWIC you see the encouragement and support for those struggling with difficult personalities or just the rough economy, and yes, people are trying to get work anywhere. People are losing jobs or getting hours cut and there’s little building to go around right now. Interestingly enough, there’s been some buzz in the insurance world regarding project inquiry in Chicago and apparently the same thing happened in Texas when George W. took office back in early 00’s. Perhaps there’s hope for the 10’s.

Sure, listening to these women showcasing their employers or their own companies made me miss the “ol’ days”, but really, I appreciate my former employers and the opportunities I had even more and I have a great deal of admiration for my talented, goal-oriented, multi-tasking, feisty, business-savvy “construction sisters”.

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