Mr. Prof designer home

It's Friday people! WOOHOO! And to top off a Danish week, here's a very cool Copenhagen penthouse. You may've seen it before on Bungalow 5. There are so many things I love about this home - the colour palette (black, white, all shades of grey and a dot of cognac), the original features such as the fireplace and french doors and the stairs lined with fabulous pairs of shoes. If I tried to do that here my 18 month year old would have a field time trying them all on and it would be a bit of a hazard! Still, you always want what you can't have right?!

Via

What's your favourite thing about this lovely Danish apartment? Can anyone help me find the original source, I'd love to credit the owners and photographer.

Have a wonderful weekend all, and see you Monday!

It's been awhile since I cooked pork. While we haven't gone completely vegetarian, we are eating way less meat these days. I wanted a little variety and Katie has had this Roti de Porc au Lait on her weekly menu a few times since she made it for one of the recipe swaps so I figured I needed to give it a try.

This was definitely a fall meal, what with the mashed potatoes and green beans alongside the pork. I couldn't tell you the last time I bought potatoes - I feel like it's been ages since we've eaten them. Baby Girl was thrilled to see them on our plates - she loves mashed potatoes. We both enjoyed the pork but the sauce, which Katie complained was too thin when she made it, was too thick. I wish it had been a little thinner so it could have soaked into the meat and potatoes.

I really enjoyed the cooking method of slowly simmering the meat in the milk sauce, but my sauce was starting to burn so I had to check on it often, making this less of a "set it and forget it" meal than I'd hoped. Still delicious, though.



Roti de Porc au Lait
From Anthony Bourdain, as seen on So Tasty, So Yummy

3 pound boneless pork loin roast
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon butter
1 medium onion, chopped
1 carrot, finely chopped
1 leek, white part only, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
2 tablespoons flour
2 cups whole milk (important not to "skim" on this)
1/2 teaspoon dried parsley
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1 bay leaf

Season the pork with salt and pepper. Heat the oil in a Dutch oven. When the oil is hot, swirl in the butter. Brown the roast on all sides, 6 to 7 minutes total. Remove the roast from the pan and set aside on the large plate.

Add the onion, carrot, leek, and garlic and stir over high heat until soft and caramelized, about 10 minutes. Stirring constantly, add the flour and cook for 2 minutes, then add milk, parsley, thyme and the bay leaf. Bring to a boil and cook over high heat for 5 minutes.

Add the pork and any juices that have collected on the plate. Reduce the heat to a simmer. Cover and cook over low heat for 1 hour, making sure to periodically rotate the pork (the sugars in the milk can cause sticking and scorching). Remove the pork and allow to rest for 15 minutes.

Remove the bay leaf from the sauce. Using a hand blender, purée the sauce until foamy. Adjust the seasoning as needed. Carve the pork and arrange on a serving platter. Spoon the sauce over and serve immediately.

A while ago I featured a post on the Danish artist Bjorn Agertved's stunning Copenhagen apartment. So you can imagine how excited I was when I spotted his family summer cottage over at Decordots today!  Featured in Femina, Bjorn's weekend retreat is full of treasured mid century designer items such as the Butterfly Chair (or BKF chair) and Borge Mogensen chairs as well as some wonderful vintage industrial lighting.

Photos: Pernille Kaalund for Femina via Decordots

This is turning into a bit of a Danish interior design week, and why not? The Danes really know what they're doing when it comes to fabulous home styling don't you think?

PS Thank you for all your encouragement with painting my kitchen wall with blackboard paint - just what I needed! I'll post some pics on it once I'm done!

Nomess via Stylizimo

On another note, there's something wrong with my man. He keeps saying yes to everything. I'm getting nervous. Yesterday he said I could paint one entire wall of the kitchen in blackboard paint. Now I'm too scared to do it.....what?!

I'm actually surprised by how much we both love tofu. I know it's good for us and it's a great substitute for meat, but I didn't think we would both be head over heels for it. So far I've made 4 different tofu dishes and we've loved them all. This is shocking to me since my husband had always been a meat and potatoes kind of guy. If I served him a meatless meal the first thing he'd ask is, "where's the meat?" quickly followed by, "you know, some bacon would make this better."

This Kung Pao Tofu is another take-out fake-out (to quote Rachael Ray) that is actually better than anything we could get at a local Chinese restaurant. The flavors were outstanding and the fresh veggies and crispy tofu rounded out the meal. I made a few modifications to the original recipe, adding some chicken broth (or you could use vegetable to keep it vegetarian) and a few splashed of fish sauce to bump up the amount of sauce. We like our stir-fries saucy, what can I say. I don't have coconut oil so I cooked everything in canola oil and it worked just fine.

Between the 30 minutes to bake the tofu and the actual cooking time of the dish, this is not exactly a weeknight-friendly meal unless you get home from work early. Unfortunately we think Baby Girl might have a mild peanut allergy so she didn't get to sample this meal. I took these pictures before I remembered the green onion garnish, which I added before we ate and definitely helped brighten up the dish.



Kung Pao Tofu
Modified from Prevention RD

Cooking spray
2 blocks extra firm tofu, pressed and drained, then cubed
2/3 cup roasted peanuts
2 tablespoons canola oil
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes, or more to taste
1 large red bell pepper, sliced into strips
12 oz mushrooms, sliced
4 green onions, sliced and divided
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
4 tablespoons soy sauce
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 inch piece fresh ginger, grated
1 cup chicken (or vegetable) broth
A couple shakes of fish sauce, optional

Preheat oven to 425 F. Line a baking sheet with tin foil and spray well with non-stick cooking spray. Arrange tofu on the baking sheet and lightly mist with oil. Bake for 30 minutes, turning the cubes after 15 minutes.

Heat canola oil in a wok over medium-high heat. Add peanuts and red pepper flakes and cook for 2-3 minutes, stirring frequently. Add tofu and stir. Add bell pepper and mushrooms and cook another 1 -2 minutes.

Add half of the green onions, vinegar, soy sauce, garlic, ginger, chicken/vegetable broth and fish sauce. Reduce heat and allow sauce to thicken for 2-3 minutes. Serve over cooked rice topped with remaining green onions.

Photography: Andreas Mikkel Hansen for Bo Bedre

And the lovely guys at Bo Bedre have given a great guide to where many of the items are from, in Danish mind you, but you can always google translate :) To save you looking - the outdoor Globe fireplace is from Swedish brand Vauni, how fab is that?!

I thought after the Lititz, PA craft show that things would settle down and I could get my body back to normal…but being I’m ME…that doesn’t ever happen…I just can’t seem to stay still.  And I do pay the price for it but sometimes it’s worth it (well, the hurt isn’t worth it but the outcome is).
That being said…I guess we didn’t get enough of doing a show so we had a Craft Show and Rummage Sale at the same time on Saturday.  Now I think we are loose in the head because we forgot how much work the shows are – even though it was here at the house the only difference was we didn’t have to drive…but we did set up two different areas.

We set the show up in the driveway minus the backdrops because they are way too much work to attach and then put up the curtains around them.  But no one knew the difference and they bought anyway.

The rummage was in the screen room so in case there was rain we were covered in both areas.

It all went well…weather was fantastic until noon and then it turned hot!
One of my blog/website followers came all the way from IL. Thanks so much Connie for making the drive and I hope you were able to go to Dan DiPaolo’s place and Finder’s Keeper’s.  I look a bit frazzled from the humidity!
Meet Connie Moore

Doug went out to do some grilling the other night and he found this little tree frog (think that’s what it is because it has the suction cups on its feet) and it lives all day long on the siding behind the grill and towards night he goes in behind the window casings….look at those little bug eyes! Normally you can’t see him because he tucks himself way in.
 

THEY’RE BAAAACCCCKKKK!
Yep…remember the jar toppers from a couple years ago…well we made them again.
You can find them on my other site:  http://kmprimitives.blogspot.com/

$8.00 each plus shipping
We have Mr. Jack; Snowman child; Snowlady; Snowman and the toppers fit on any pint or quart jar

On Friday night we went out to Dan DiPaolo’s Barn party. Besides the goodies to buy in the barn there’s drinks, food and music. KR Bluegrass played on the porch of his log cabin. People bring lawn chairs or sit on blankets or hay bales and many bring picnic food or snacks and drinks of all kinds. It’s two hours of beautiful Bluegrass music.
One of his specials that night were his Sunflowers for $5 a bunch.

There were a few that were just buds so I cut them short and put them in my Pewter pitcher and by morning they had opened

I have never been able to grow Geraniums…ever!  But I bought this large potted one from Dan’s place in May and it was huge and full….finally they died off as they normally do.  Well I figured it was finished and would just leave it for the time being…well over a couple weeks it grew 30+ buds and about a week before we headed to PA they blossomed…I was amazed that this is the 2nd go round for this plant.  The flowers aren’t as full but there are just as many.

Last Saturday night was my brother/sil’s 50th wedding anniversary and they took their family plus Doug and I, our sister and our step parents out to dinner. I believe there were 15 of us.

 

These are our Step parents…Boots and Virginia and she turns 90 tomorrow (28th). Boots is 88.
If you don’t remember the connection…Boots married our mother and after 5 years she passed away from Cancer and 3 years later he married Virginia (moms friend) and they both have been family from day one. My sister is next to me.

Again a long post…I never start out with the intention but it just happens.  Bet you wouldn’t want to be in the same room with me and have to listen to me.
And if you get a chance…say a little pray for healing for one of our blog friends Margie from Hungry Hook Primitives – she hasn’t been feeling well the past few weeks. Sending prayers your way Margie.  http://hungryhookprimitives.blogspot.com/

Blessings to all…enjoy!

Karen

Covet Garden

A little erm, off the weather today as recovering from a friend's wedding in the beautiful fishing village of Öregrund, near Uppsala at the weekend. It was such a romantic day! I promise to be back tomorrow with lots of inspiration and a beautiful house tour (and a clear head hopefully!).

I love fried zucchini but I don't like the grease or the calories that come along with the traditional breaded variety. As soon as Tara posted these Crispy Baked Zucchini Fries I knew I needed to try them. For one thing, there's NO oil in this recipe. None. The only fat comes from the egg and the seasoned panko gives these a deliciously crunchy bite.

When I weighed the zucchini at the store I was surprised to see that two small zucchini = slightly over 1 lb. It didn't seem like it would be enough but I had more than enough to cover my baking sheet. I'm glad I didn't cut the recipe in half because we inhaled these. My mom and I enjoyed 3/4 of the tray ourselves and SP finished them off when he got home from work. Baby Girl loved the raw zucchini (with the green skin, please), but wouldn't touch them breaded and baked. Go figure. I served them with ranch dressing for dipping, which was perfect.

I loved these so much I put zucchini on the shopping list so we could have them again the following week. It's a great guilt-free way to enjoy zucchini. Make them soon!

Crispy Baked Zucchini Fries
From Confections of a Foodie Bride, as seen on Smells Like Home

2 eggs
2 cups Panko breadcrumbs
1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/4 cup flour
1 lb zucchini, cut into 4-5-inch long sticks, about 1/2-inch wide

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Line a 12×18-inch baking sheet with parchment paper.

Whisk the eggs together until bubbly in a shallow pie dish or bowl. In another shallow pie dish or bowl (glass baking dishes work great too), stir the breadcrumbs, salt, pepper, garlic powder, and cayenne pepper together until well-blended. Set both dishes aside.

Place the flour in a large zipper bag (gallon-size works best) and toss in all of the zucchini sticks. Seal the bag well and shake up the zucchini until all of the sticks are coated with flour.

Taking a few sticks at a time, roll them around in the beaten egg then coat them in the breadcrumbs, lightly patting the breadcrumbs onto the zucchini if needed. Try to not to handle the zucchini too much at this point or the breading with fall off. Carefully transfer the sticks to the baking sheet, spacing them about 1/2-inch apart. You’ll be able to fit the entire pound of zucchini on a 12×18-inch baking sheet, so push them close together if needed. Repeat with remaining zucchini sticks.

Bake for 18-22 minutes until golden brown and delicious-looking. Serve with ranch dressing or marinara sauce.

The best way would be to reheat these is in a 375 degree oven for 5-7 minutes until they are heated through.

Amy Neusinger

Have a lovely weekend all and see you Monday! x

When I received Jessica's blog for the Blogger's Choice swap I knew I was in trouble. There are just way too many delicious recipes to make. How was I going to choose? We are going on vacation soon and after last year we realized the area where we're staying isn't exactly good in the breakfast department. This year I thought I'd make some breakfast foods at home (muffins and breakfast burritos) and freeze them so we could eat breakfast at the condo instead. I decided to pick one of her many delicious-looking muffin recipes to make and freeze and after much deliberation I settled on Blackberry and Lemon Muffins, subbing blueberries for blackberries simply because we like them better and they're easier to find.


These were incredibly easy to make - mix dry ingredients in one bowl, wet ingredients in another then combine. Easy peasy. I ate one before freezing the rest and it was yummy. I wished it was a tad bit sweeter (UPDATE - after eating more than my fair share of muffins while on vacation I've decided the mild sweetness is perfect) but otherwise they were delicious. I'm planning to toast them for breakfast a few times while we're away and serve with plenty of butter (what, we'll be on vacation).

Blueberry and Lemon Muffins
Slightly adapted from Sunny Side Up in San Diego

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
Grated zest of 1 small lemon, about a heaping tablespoon
2 large eggs
1 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
1 cup sugar
8 tablespoons warm melted butter (1 stick)
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cups (about 6 oz) chopped fresh or frozen blueberries, if frozen defrost and drain liquid

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Prepare 2 muffin tins with 18 liners.

In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and lemon zest. Set aside

In a large glass measuring cup, whisk together the eggs, sour cream, sugar, lemon juice, butter and vanilla.

Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and, using a wooden spoon or rubber spatula, mix together just until evenly combined. Add the blueberries and gently fold into the batter. Careful not to over mix, that can cause tough muffins.

Divide the batter into the muffin cups, filling each about 2/3 full. Bake for 18-20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Cool in pan for just a few minutes, until the muffins are cool enough to handle and transfer to a wire rack.

To freeze - Cool muffins completely. Wrap each muffin in a piece of plastic wrap. Place in a freezer bag and freeze for up to 1 month.

Philip Karlberg

Imagine having huge windows like this? Such wonderful light! And that bathroom......that bathroom?!