THINKING ABOUT THE SPRING OF 2020

April 27, 2020

This post is part of a series I do to write important things I need to tell you about and a mix of homemaker stuff. And let’s be honest, sometimes popular culture because I am I think going to always be someone who engages with “the arts” AND I HAVE THOUGHTS. I love doing things by the seasons, so I share one that often. There are some re-occuring categories such as: “all is vanity,” “a follow,” “into it!,” “prime-able,” “a cry for help,” and “I am not tech-y, but.”

into it!: I just got the cutest recipe card box and I am very happy about it. I think I have settled I’m more of a recipe card box person than a recipe binder person, but we will still see. The binder just feels so big! I used to look up favorite recipes and write them on a sticky note so many times I was like wait, this is the exact purpose and function of a recipe card box.

kitchen kitsch: are you a keep stuff on the kitchen counters or keep no stuff on the kitchen counters person. I am medium, so I guess I immediately messed up the question. If I had more counters and maybe a part with open shelves I’d keep my blender out permanently and this one is pretty enough to merit that much visibility.

i’m not tech-y but: we got a new sound speaker that is good looking and vintage feeling and timeless and great sound quality (not that i can actually tell) and i have CAPITAL “L” loved it. Using different tones of music at different times can give such shape to the day.

bookish: I don’t normally put children’s books on my goodreads but I had to give Alligators and Music a five star because I loved it so much!

pretty utilitarian things: when you finally just purchase that thing (that really wasn’t that expensive) that improves the quality of a part of your life.

for the children: an a+ kids room.

just a little book recommend: the above recipe is a strawberry cake from the cookbook super simple – one of my favorites!

sourdough, i guess: after hearing this book recommended from several different sources as the one to get to learn sourdough (with minimal kneading), i purchased. maybe i’ll do sourdough. maybe i won’t right now. but i thought it’d be good to have at some point for me or my daughters. right now i feel satisfied with my life of baking with commercial yeast but i’ll hear her out.

a follow: the @arrowsandbow instagram account is sharing their home renovation right now and it feels productive and fast moving and i am living vicariously.

PULLED PORK WONTONS WITH MANGO JALAPENO SALSA

April 20, 2020

Elysia Moccia

Normally in spring, my home is an ever revolving door for our friends come game time. (This year is one to remember for being different in that way!) Having easy, make ahead appetizers, with simple assembly make feeding our hungry game viewers one of the easiest things to check off my hosting list. The most recent fan favorite was these pork wontons that I top with a mango jalapeno salsa. Everything can be made hours ahead, and all that is needed is a few minutes of assembly.

I like to plate ten or twelve wontons at a time and everything keeps well to assemble more as the night goes on. These are a nice change of pace to the traditional spread. Whether you consider yourself a sports fan or not, most of us will gladly jump on the bandwagon of college basketball come march or football in the fall.

My favorite part of the whole experience is that it’s a solid excuse to have favorite game day snacks.

Pulled Pork Wontons with Mango Jalapeño Salsa
Serves 36 wontons

36 wonton wrappers
2 pounds boneless pork ribs
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 yellow onion, chopped
1 and 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon pepper
4 garlic cloves, smashed
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper, divided
1 teaspoon liquid smoke
1/2 cup bbq sauce, more if desired
1 mango, minced
1/4 cup red onion, minced
1/4 cup red bell pepper, minced
2 jalapeños, divided
2 tablespoon cilantro, chopped
2 green onions, chopped
1 lime, juiced
1 tablespoon honey

Drizzle olive oil to cover the bottom of the slow cooker. Place boneless pork ribs, onion, 4 smashed garlic cloves, liquid smoke, 3/4 teaspoon of cayenne pepper, salt, and pepper into slow cooker. Cook on high for 3-4 hours or low for 5-6 hours. Once pork is fork tender and falling apart, shred pork and mix in bbq sauce, adding more if desired.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Cut corners off of wonton wrappers. Press cut wontons into muffin tins sprayed with cooking oil, making sure wontons are gently pressed along the sides and bottom. Bake for 6-7 minutes, or until the edges are golden brown. Let cool for 5 minutes. Once cooled you can keep them in sealed container until ready to assemble. This can be done the day ahead, if desired.

Mix mango, red onion, red bell pepper, 1 minced jalapeño, cilantro, green onions, lime juice, honey, and 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper. Cover and refrigerate one hour to allow salsa to marinate. The longer it sits the better it gets!

To assemble place bbq pork into bottom of baked wonton cup. Spoon about 1 teaspoon of mango salsa onto pork wonton and garnish with sliced jalapeño.

PULLED PORK WONTONS WITH MANGO JALAPENO SALSA

Author: Rachel Schultz

Ingredients

36 wonton wrappers
2 pounds boneless pork ribs
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 yellow onion, chopped
1 and ½ teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon pepper
4 garlic cloves, smashed
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper, divided
1 teaspoon liquid smoke
½ cup bbq sauce, more if desired
1 mango, minced
¼ cup red onion, minced
¼ cup red bell pepper, minced
2 jalapeños, divided
2 tablespoon cilantro, chopped
2 green onions, chopped
1 lime, juiced
1 tablespoon honey

Instructions

Drizzle olive oil to cover the bottom of the slow cooker. Place boneless pork ribs, onion, 4 smashed garlic cloves, liquid smoke, ¾ teaspoon of cayenne pepper, salt, and pepper into slow cooker. Cook on high for 3-4 hours or low for 5-6 hours. Once pork is fork tender and falling apart, shred pork and mix in bbq sauce, adding more if desired.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Cut corners off of wonton wrappers. Press cut wontons into muffin tins sprayed with cooking oil, making sure wontons are gently pressed along the sides and bottom. Bake for 6-7 minutes, or until the edges are golden brown. Let cool for 5 minutes. Once cooled you can keep them in sealed container until ready to assemble. This can be done the day ahead, if desired.
Mix mango, red onion, red bell pepper, 1 minced jalapeño, cilantro, green onions, lime juice, honey, and ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper. Cover and refrigerate one hour to allow salsa to marinate. The longer it sits the better it gets!
To assemble place bbq pork into bottom of baked wonton cup. Spoon about 1 teaspoon of mango salsa onto pork wonton and garnish with sliced jalapeño.

A FAMILY PHOTOS GALLERY IDEA

April 13, 2020

Rachel Schultz

So, I obviously like displaying family photos for the warmth, love, and memory. What kind of monster doesn’t. But you guys know sometimes they can feel a bit “suburban.” When I wanted to put some family photos together I gave some thought to how to do them in a way that felt elevated and matched the rest of the style of our home’s furnishings. In other words, that the photos would be beautiful in how they were displayed, beyond just the positive feelings of the pictures themselves.

Yes, they are family photos, so I’m not going full haute such that it isn’t realistic for families living their real, beautiful, homemade dinners life. But I like things to be aesthetically nice, while still making every age feel welcome.

Alright I got too philosophical! But here’s the details and how to re-create if you’d like.

I really really like a simple light natural wood frame, that is not too wide. IKEA has a killer one and the price is great ($13). It was exactly what I wanted for this project, but I didn’t feel like driving to ikea. So I searched and searched everywhere for the same thing, and it just does not exist within the scope of my search of retail I know of, but for five to six times the price.

DELIGHTED WAS I to go on ikea to check shipping options, because in recent years they have expanded their shipping and they would send me the ten frames I needed for only $10 more. ABSOLUTELY TAKE MY $10 to not have to drive. And now I have the gift of knowledge I can inexpensively order many things from ikea without having to drive. (Wheels turning.)

I did my inexpensive matting trick where I just buy big sheets at hobby lobby and have them cut them down, in this case to a 16 x 20 inch pieces. Then I adhere my photos over top.

To check for photo size, I tested several options – three, four, five, and six inch squares. Five inch was my favorite, that’s what I went with. I positioned them about three fourths of the way up in the frame. For square frames, totally centered would be nice too. Our living room has lots of traditional so this framing is the sleek, clean lined element I wanted!

I will add, another one of the ways I like to do family photos is in just cute small decorative tabletop frames here and there. It feels charming and romantic. I think the frame being attractive or quality makes or breaks it, unless the composition of the photo is truly a work of art. There’s exceptions I am sure, I’d have to think about it.

Previously I thought I’d do a collection of different oil paintings around the room but that was just taking so long to curate and once I was starting to fill it out, the color and variety felt too overwhelming. This was much faster and affordable to put together and for a room of this size to handle ten repeating pieces of art, they need to feel visually light.

Here’s the diy for the millwork we installed on the walls that I love having all over my house.