A Thing of Beauty

This past weekend, I organized my shoes.

Wait, wait! Don't close the browser window! This story has a good ending.
Bear with me. 

I realize devoting a full day to shoe organization is like one step above (below?) storing them in the oven, Sex-and-the-City-style.

But it was necessary.
My shoes had started to multiply like Gremlins in a kiddie pool.

There were shoes behind the closet door.

And behind the bedroom door.

And in an old, broken bookshelf.

And on another old, broken shelf. 

(Thanks again, movers, for breaking all my stuff!)

And in a basket.

Er...two baskets. 

And in the closet.

And the other closet. 

Some might say I have too many pairs of shoes.
This sentence does not compute.

I clearly just needed some better shoe storage.

Here's what I did:

1. Assembled the large, deep Ikea Billy bookcase. (This one.) Despite my non-love of white laminate, I determined that the white shelves and background would provide the best, most neutral canvas for shoe display.

2. Drilled three extra sets of shelf holes at the top, bottom, and right below the middle door hinges. This was a huge pain in the ass and I wish I'd done it before I assembled the cabinet but I didn't realize that it was necessary until after the shelf frame was together.

3. Added the Billy Olsbo glass doors. Drilled holes and added cabinet knobs.

4. Alternated Billy glass and wood shelves in the cabinet to keep the look light & airy.

It only took about 4 hours.

Ikea seems to have gotten smarter about their instructions. They now feature this drawing to start that bible of exasperation, the Ikea instruction booklet:

Do you see that?

Sad guy with pile of parts = alone
Happy guy with pile of parts = with another person

That's right. Ikea is trying to tell you that you should not assemble their products without a second person around.

Screw you, Ikea. I don't have another person.

Despite their singleton discrimination, I have to admit, they've got a point. If you have ever assembled anything from Ikea that involves door or drawer parts, you know why this drawing is here; namely, for moral support and suicide prevention when you realize you're missing a part. I bet their risk management people made them add this to the instructions to avoid lawsuits.

Approximately 60% of the way through the building process, there is inevitably a moment of utter exhaustion as you look around, surrounded by torn boxes, papers, little metal parts, and rebus instructions. And a half-assembled piece of plywood laminate furniture that you have carefully made sure is NOT TOUCHING THE BARE WOOD FLOOR.

Ugh.

That said, I persevered despite a minor breakdown (proudly, there were no tears) that accompanied attaching the doors. In the end, it was worth it. 

I can now see all my flats, sandals, and heels at once. The only thing that would possibly make this better is a wider shelf (and more wall space) so that my boots could be in there as well. But there's no room for boots. It's ok. I'm still pleased with this solution. It feels like I'm shopping every time I get dressed.

It's a little bit awesome.

Joy. I feel joy every time I look at this thing. It's like Christmas morning EVERY morning.

As Mom said: "Nice! You have room for one more pair!"
Yes. And I'm enacting a strict one-in-one-out policy from here forward. Gremlins begone!

Sleep-ful in Seattle

I'm sitting here at Sea-Tac, waiting for my flight and thinking about what a lovely weekend I had with the Roberts clan and their pal Nick.

I learned a lot about myself this weekend, not least that I am totally capable of going to sleep at 9pm and waking up at 7am. Yeah, that's right. I can easily sleep TEN hours a night if you let me sleep in a cool cave surrounded by the BEST pajamas ever (just like these except mine are orange stripes with blue trim and yes, they are a child size, and yes, I am reminded of The Cat in the Hat everytime I wear them) and some very heavy blankets.

I think this is why there's coffee EVERYWHERE here.

Even Nalu was a good sleeper.

Visiting Chrissy and Will is one of my favorite things because they feed me. Also because I love them and their adorable kids, but if we're being honest... the feeding me is no small thing. Chrissy even makes tons of wheat-free treats. Including bread! And focaccia!! And cookies!!!

Focaccia. Tastes just like the wheat kind. Amazing.

Not to be outdone, Will is a true foodie. One after my own heart, really -- he does things like make his own ricotta.

Whole milk, citric acid, cheese salt. That's it.

Draining the curds.

Yeah. Like that.

Chrissy also makes an awesome wheat-free pizza crust.
And then dinner looks like this. Pancetta, spinach, ricotta. Awesome, awesome, awesome.

The kids' pizza was pretty good, too. I may have stolen a bite.

They're also really delightful, really wonderful friends. And they're about to move to Norway. Like I needed that kind of excuse to visit.

Sunday night was everyone's last night at home - Chrissy and the kids are sticking around but Will was off to Norway for a couple of weeks, lucky Nick was off to Utah for some skiing, and I, well, I was back to home and work. Let's be honest, I haven't spent much time in either place lately between focus groups, the holidays, jury duty, and this vacation.

Sigh.

It was time.

It was cold and wintry all weekend in Seattle. It actually snowed, and all four adults elected to abandon the plan to go out "in the city" in exchange for some lazy nights at home. This mostly involved drinking a bunch of wine (and beer, for the boys), eating really well and in far too great a quantity, and falling asleep around nine or nine-thirty after a couple of episodes of Eastbound and Down (which is really hilarious, although Chrissy would disagree).

For serious, though. How can you not love a show with this kind of exchange?


Terrence Cutler: There's something you need to know, Kenny. You're not the only athlete here at Jeff Davis. I happen to be training for a Triathlon right now. Doin' a lot of running, and cycling, swimming. Well, you know all about that. 

Kenny Powers: No. Actually, I don't. I do SPORTS, not try to be the best at exercising. 


To be fair to us adults, the kids get up at like 5:30am. Not like 5:30. Actually 5:30. In the am. That makes 9pm seem like a pretty reasonable bedtime. But still. No one was sleepless in Seattle, that is for sure.

Sunday night was another really cold winter day. We were going to take a ferry ride but all we could manage to do was walk a bit on the beach before considering how soon hypothermia might set in. Nick was super nice and got us all coffees (and the kids chocolate milk) which helped a lot although I was so cold I debated pouring the coffee over my head as a staying-warm maneuver. In the end, this seemed like a very short term solution to the problem so I abandoned that plan.

The cold weather and the wonderful local seafood inspired me to suggest cioppino for dinner. I adapted mine from this recipe.

Do not be daunted by the list of ingredients! This is really very easy to make.

Kate's North Beach Cioppino
Serves 6
 
Ingredients

The Broth
4 large garlic cloves, minced
1 medium onion, finely chopped
2 shallots, finely chopped
1 medium fennel bulb, trimmed, cored, and finely chopped
1 bay leaf
1 teaspoon dried oregano, crumbled
1/4-1/2 teaspoon dried hot red pepper flakes
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 cup olive oil
1 yellow or orange bell pepper, cut into 1/4-inch dice
2 tablespoons tomato paste
about half a bottle dry white wine (I used a relatively cheap Pinot Grigio)
1 (28- to 32-ounces) can diced plum tomatoes including juices
1 cup bottled clam juice
1 cup chicken broth


The Seafood
Use any combination of the following but aim for about 4-5 lbs total and no more than 4 different types. For this rendition, I used clams, mussels, mahi mahi, and shrimp. Without the crab, purists will claim this is technically not a "cioppino" but we had crab as an appetizer so it seemed a bit much to have it in the entree, too.


1 (1-pound) king crab leg, thawed if frozen, and hacked into 2 to 3 inch pieces
1 1/2 lb small (2-inch) hard-shelled clams such as littlenecks, scrubbed
1 lb mussels, scubbed and debearded
1 pound mahi mahi, cut into 1 1/2-inch pieces (you can also use other firm white fish - cod, halibut, etc.)
1 pound large shrimp (16 to 20), shelled (tails and bottom segment of shells left intact) and deveined
3/4 pound sea scallops, tough muscle removed from side of each if necessary


The Finishing Touch
1/4 cup finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
3 tablespoons finely chopped fresh basil


Accompaniment: focaccia or baguettes


Directions

Cook garlic, onions, shallots, fennel, bay leaf, oregano, and red pepper flakes with salt and pepper in oil in an 8-quart heavy pot over moderate heat, stirring, until vegetables are softened, about 5 minutes. 

Stir in bell pepper and tomato paste and cook, stirring, 1 minute. Add wine and boil until reduced by about half, 5 to 6 minutes. Add tomatoes with their juice, clam juice, and broth and simmer, covered, 30 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. 

Add crab pieces and clams to stew and simmer, covered, until clams just open, 5 to 10 minutes, checking every minute after 5 minutes and transferring opened clams to a bowl with tongs or a slotted spoon. (Discard any unopened clams after 10 minutes.) Lightly season fish fillets, shrimp, and scallops with salt and add to stew, then simmer, covered, until just cooked through, about 5 minutes. Discard bay leaf, then return clams to pot and gently stir in parsley and basil. 

Serve cioppino immediately in large soup bowls. (We served ours over rice, too.)

If you can chop vegetables, you can make this. And you'll be glad you did. I wanted to drink the broth.

A few more notes from the weekend:

• The same night I cooked up the cioppino, we made the kids shrimp and rice, (plus some refried beans for Josie, who's a beans and rice kind of girl. Love it.) The shrimp for them was super simple: some Old Bay cooked in a little butter on the stove, then I threw in the shrimp for a couple of minutes and sauteed them until cooked. 

This is a delicious method for cooking shrimp in a flash. Worth a try.

• I saw this light fixture at Molbak's. It's super cute. Just what my dining room needs. And it was affordable. But why buy it when you can make it!? Chicken wire drum over a smaller burlap drum. Oh, how I love a textured, natural fabric. I am going to have to undertake this as a 2012 craft...

A Hook Problem

Almost exactly nine years ago, my dear dad and I drove the long, flat, boring road from Chicago to Austin in my move to Texas. Of course, once we got to Austin and unpacked Vinny (my car), we made a trip to The Container Store, or, as Dad likes to refer to it, Anal-Retentive Heaven.

As anyone who has moved all of their wordly belongings out of state knows, moves are hard. They're stressful.

In the midst of such stress (mostly on my part), we found ourselves wandering the aisles of The Container Store at the Austin Arboretum. As lost people are wont to do, we were going up and down every aisle in the store to make sure we weren't forgetting anything. I don't know how familiar you are with The Container Store but their employees are aggressively friendly. This one saleswoman, who looked a little too much like the cartoon Cathy come to life, just would not take a hint and leave us alone. She must have asked us if we needed help, oh, 4 or 5 times. In the span of 20 minutes. We didn't need help the first time she asked and we didn't need help the fifth.

As we meandered down the hook aisle, Cathy pounced once again.

"Can I help you with a hook problem?"

It was all we could do not to laugh in her face. A hook problem? How do you have a hook problem?
Like this?

Which brings us to today.

In the move to reorganize and clean out my apartment and make better use of my "storage room," I am now trying to be super-efficient with my closet space across the board. Sadly, my dining table leaf has been left without a home in the new storage room layout. It has taken up residence in the hallway - obviously not a long-term solution. I was excited to discover it actually fits in my linen closet, but only if I find another home for the ironing board. Brainstorming space solutions, I realized that if I hung the ironing board on the closet door, my leaf storage problem might be solved.

I decided to try ready-made options first in my quest to hang the board. I picked up one of these handy dandy things at Bed Bath and Beyond, but it didn't really work because a) I didn't need storage for the iron, just the board, b) my iron didn't fit that nicely in the holder because it's too big, and c) I would have had to install this on the thinnest part of my door because the charming "architectural detail" prevents me from installing it at the top, where it's the thickest.

I really just needed to mount the bottom part of the iron & board holder on the door but couldn't do that without adding ugly washers to the scenario to keep the molded hook thing that came with the kit on the door. As a firm believer in the balance of form and function, I nixed that option.

Then I realized there must be hooks out there in the world that I could install on the top of the door to hang the ironing board. I dug through my hardware box and assorted existing selection of hooks, but none quite fit around the ironing board leg. Next best option was a trip to my trusty local hardware store (the kind of old school place that's just filled with so many parts and bits that it's almost impossible to find anything unless you ask) and came home with a few prospective solutions.

In the end, the simplest option worked best. Look how spiffy my ironing board (with awesome cover from the DeKalb, IL TJ Maxx) looks now. And now the table leaf is no longer in the hallway. I'm so very pleased.