Do you love vintage wallpaper?
See how graphic designer Nicole Lewis turned a $1 barn-sale find into Fondue Vintage Homewares — a place where old wallpaper gets a new lease on life.
These 1940’s-50’s switch plates are on their way to our place.
Up and at ’em
Started Friday w/ the sweet Kerry Mc and a 7a trail ride on Rodeo. The girl rode like a pro!
august escapism
Am ready for a new kind of reading adventure for the last month of summer, so about to dive into Castle Waiting and Castle Waiting II.
Farm Lessons
When you have stalls and horses, you need wood shavings – and lots of ’em. But we had no idea where to get the stuff. So as usual, our friends came to the rescue (thanks, D.G.!). Enter Randy the shavings man, who’s now part of our farm, er, family. He’s also an Auburn alum, so we like him even better. 🙂
Lisa Makes Ratatouille
One of our favorite weekends of the year is when the lovely Lisa Bertagnoli flies in from Chicago for a good dose of Southern culture. And this time she came armed with a recipe for ratatouille, which we populated with veggies from our garden and the local farmers market. It was delish and healthy and made for a very happy dinner. We served it with a side of angel hair pasta and garlic-butter ciabatta rolls.
Here’s the recipe.
Ratatouille
Ingredients:
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 eggplant, cut in 1/2-inch cubes
¾ teaspoon sea salt
Freshly ground pepper
2 small summer squash, cut in 1/2-inch cubes
2 bell peppers, cut in 1-inch pieces
1 onion, halved, thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 bay leaf
½ teaspoon rosemary
2 teaspoons thyme
3 medium tomatoes, chopped
½ cup chopped basil, plus 4 sprigs for garnish
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1. Heat 1 1/2 tablespoons oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add eggplant, 1/4 teaspoon salt. Cook, tossing occasionally, 10 minutes. Transfer to a bowl.
2. Add 1 tablespoon oil to the skillet; add squash, bell peppers, remaining salt and pepper to taste. Cook, 5 minutes; transfer to the bowl of eggplant.
3. Add remaining oil; add onion, garlic, bay leaf, rosemary, thyme. Cook until the onions turn translucent, 5 minutes. Add tomatoes; cook, 10 minutes.
4. Return all vegetables to the pan; cover. Cook until the eggplant is tender, about 5 minutes. Stir in chopped basil and vinegar. Divide among 4 plates; garnish with basil sprigs.
Adapted from recipe by Kay Stepkin, originally published in Chicago Tribune, July 20, 2011
