Click here if you missed part I
Do you like the wallpaper? We’re not keeping it….but it does give a sense of the history of the house. With the demo in full swing, it’s exciting to visualize the new space. The soffits are gone, giving the walls an extra 12” in height. Recessed lighting adds to the sense of space.
When our construction manager told us to plan on 4 to 6 weeks, we thought he said that just to cover himself, as surely it couldn’t take THAT long. Those who have been through it smiled knowingly when we said we thought it would be way faster than that. Between covid19 complications, summer vacations and busy building inspectors we are two full weeks in already and don’t have sheetrock installed yet.
Thank goodness for summer. I can’t imagine doing this in the dead of winter. Porch and deck have been our dining and food prep places with he basement sink the wash station.
Dinners
It’s pretty easy to cook with the induction cooker and the grill. Some nights I try todo all of it own one place so cleanup is easier Here’s one example:
I used 1 lb. frozen sea scallops, 1 bag of Trader Joe’s frozen brown rice, and a mix of zucchini, summer squash and farm tomato. I picked some fresh sage and the from the garden. First off was slicing the vegetables into coin size pieces. Then came browning butter in the induction cooker and immersing the sage in the melted butter. I set that aside and placed the frozen juice in the pan. Usually I use the rice only in a pinch as it calls for microwave cooking, so this was a bit of an experiment in how it would come out in a skillet. As it softened and warmed, I pushed it to one side of the skillet, added some olive oil and placed the zucchini and squash in single layers, turning over after 3 minutes to brown on both sides. Tomatoes were only in the pan long enough to warm up and release their juices
The rice and vegetables were moved to a serving dish and I turned up the heat in the cooker for the scallops. I added some butter and sage to the pan and let them sit for a few minutes before turning over to finish cooking. They were moved to the rice and vegetable bowl garnished with sage and thyme.
Happily, there was enough for lunch the next day.
One of the best tools for summer cooking are shish kebab skewers. It takes only a few minutes to chop a variety of vegetables up, mix it with cubes of meat or fish or tofu, and slide them on the skewers.
Here I used eggplant, summer squash, zucchini, mushrooms, red onion sweet onion and scallops. Brush lightly with olive or other oil or dressing and place on the grill. Turn as they brown up. Once done you can serve on the skewer as your meal. If you want a heavier meal, slide everything on top of a bowl of rice or pasta but summer nights are made for light cooking and light meals.
Summer Salads
The salad on the left starts with lettuce greens from the garden, topped with sliced cucumber, tomato, corn kernels, sliced avocado. kalamata olives and a generous dollop of hummus. This salad is hearty enough to work for supper.
On the right is a super hot day salad. The flavors are a mix of sweet and salty. It’s made of cubed watermelon, blueberries, Greek feta and fresh basil. That’s it! Very easy. No dressing needed.
Fingers Crossed for Week Three
Right now everything hinges on the town inspector who needs to approve the insulation installation. Once he gives the go-ahead, sheet rock goes up and cabinets get unpacked. What could possibly go wrong?