Vancouver Update: Garden Before and After

I thought it would be fun to post a few shots of the progress of my home garden. The greenhouse has done us well, as we have been eating Kale and Spinach non-stop for the last month. The herbs are pretty prolific too, including the Shiso (a Japanese herb likened to basil). Here are a few before and after shots.

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after

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The new patch is the second round of Spinach.

The Lemon Cucumbers are starting to wind their way up the trellis.

The Beans are pushing their way out of the greenhouse.

And our poppies are blooming (yes, we planted them rather late!).

So far all the hard work has paid off. I'll have to do a quick before and after of the pumpkin patch too...

Before and After: Stools

A few more lovely pieces of recovered furniture have arrived in Vancouver recently.

Erin found these commonplace nesting stools (pictured below) and sent them off to Victoria to be fancified. I think they did a pretty amazing job of transforming Grandma's emergency seating, that spent most of their life in a closet, into pieces of furniture that will be the focal point of any room.

Erin's thrift shop score

Tools of the trade

What happens when tools of the trade bite

What happens when the tools discover mold

And then, after all the labouring and convalescing....the final product. Hot pink Wallpaper print with appliquéd Horse and Pointer? Wow!

No "before" photo for this footstool, but what a lovely "after".

Before and After: French Onion Soup

Aren't onions just the best? Raw they are an awesome assault on your taste buds (red onion on a veggie burger? yummm!). Caramelized they are the sweetest, melt-in-your-mouth sensation. Like with French Onion Soup. This is a vegetarian friendly version. I should probably post the recipe for you. I'll ask the chef for it and if it's not a family secret, I will pass it on. It starts with at least six large onions, sliced....

and ends up baked in individual copper au gratin dishes, mmmm....

November 5th Update: Chef Christopher has given me permission to pass on the recipe for "Vegetarian French Onion Soup Von Awesome"

Melt 1/2 cup of butter in a large heavy-based saucepan.

Add 6 large onions that have been finely sliced (be prepared for some tears as that's a lot of oniony aroma). Cook over low heat for at least one hour (it's a lot of stirring and waiting, but it's worth it!) until the oinons are deep golden brown and begin to caramelize.

Add 2 to 4 chopped garlic cloves and 1/3 cup of all-purpose flour. Stir continuously for 2 minutes to fully coat the onions.

Gradually blend in 8 cups of vegetable stock (you can use vegetable or onion stock cubes) and 1 cup of white wine (can be omitted) and bring to a boil. Add one bay leaf , 2 springs of thyme, 1 tsp salt and 1 tsp pepper.

Cover the pan and simmer over low heat for 1/2 an hour.

Toast slices of stale bread (preferably French bread or baguette, not sourdough).

Place one slice of bread on top of each individual oven-proof bowl of onion soup.

Top with 1/8 cup grated Gruyère cheese (Asiago can work nicely too) and broil until the cheese melts and turns light golden brown (keep a close eye on it, there's a very fine line between browned and burnt, and you don't want to ruin the soup at the final step)

Serve immediately! The house now heart-warmingly smells of caramelized onions and patience, your guests will be salivating. Enjoy the taste of your efforts and the complements from the lucky recipients.

Before and After: Costume

Here's my boyfriend Christopher wearing the second-hand finds that were the start of his Halloween costume, including vintage Fox and Fluevog shoes! He says that he looks much better in person (my apologies for the terrible photo quality).

and now,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

may I present the Dead Rotting Corpse of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart!

Before and After: Door to Table

I found an old wood door in an alley on the way to work one morning this summer. A little sanding spruced it up quite nicely. It's still pretty rustic, but we like that around here.

Then on my way back from Bumbershoot, in Seattle, in September I bought a weird narrow table at a Goodwill south of Bellingham, for $6.99. I bought it for the legs (and the brackets that were included), thinking that they would be just the thing to turn the old door into a display table for the shop.

Here are the bits and pieces (the narrow board on the floor was the table top - odd),

And here is the door as a table! (sanded side as the top)

And here's a shot that I just took on my phone of the table in action, nicely displaying our kids clothes.