UPDATING THE MUDROOM!

The mudroom makeover.....

For sometime I have been saying to myself "I must do something about this mudroom!" I come in from the garage put my things away and forget about it - finally I have done what I call a mini-update to the mudroom.  It was not bad but needed to be better.
               
I started with the auto themed hat boxes (they really do contain hubby's hats), they worked great in a closet but not so good in the mudroom.

I covered them with vintage wallpaper (from the 40's) and lined them (the bottom too) with vintage newspaper (NY Times, June 1944).  I will put a link at the bottom from a previous blog post showing how to do this and links to resources.

Needed to make a sign as the nice artwork I had there was never hung because I knew it was not right for the space. So hubby cut me a board, sanded it a little and I dry brushed it a pale yellow.

Using a stencil and some Annie Sloan paint added a cocoa brown color to the sign.

 To hubby's shop (where my small hand sander lives) to "antique" the sign. After wiping off all the sawdust the sign gets a clear coat finish.

After completely drying back into the house to add a couple of metal evergreens.

 Finished product - this time of year all we really need is a windbreaker (sometimes) so for now not many coats here but that will change with winter.  Also reminded us to go through things and give hats/coats to the Goodwill that we no longer use.

Resource

Farmer's Market Sign, will be available soon on BOM
Link to post for covering the hatboxes, Link
Ikat design linen/rayon fabric on pillows & pad, Bedazzle by Waverly
Baskets, Pottery Barn

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FRUIT TART FOR ALZHEIMER'S IDAHO

If you follow this blog you know that I volunteer for Alzheimer's Idaho support group (local grassroots organization). They are meeting early this month and it's summer so a smaller group - I decided to make a cool summer dessert - fruit tart with pastry cream and strawberries, blackberries, blueberries and kiwi.

For a tart like this I would normally make a sweet pastry with cream cheese but no cream cheese so I just made regular pie pastry.

 

A little trick to transfer the pastry to the ring is to slip the insert under the pastry and then with the tip of a knife lift up the insert and you can then transfer it to the ring and trim the edges.

Brush the crust with egg wash and dust with super-fine sugar.

The recipe that I used for the pastry cream is one that was given to me by Butchart Gardens, located on Vancouver Island, BC. I did a post on the gardens after a visit. They share many recipes but asked that I not publish this recipe for the pastry cream - any pastry cream recipe will work for the tart. I will put a link to a recipe below in the resource area.

I had to get out my metric tools for this one - but it worked.

Put the pastry cream in the fridge until cooled - stirring every once in a while - you do not want a film to develop. Once the pastry cream has cooled fold in sweetened vanilla whipped cream until all combined.  My recipe for the pastry cream called for two cups of milk so I whipped 1 cup of cream with vanilla paste and some superfine sugar.

Wash your fruit and pick the best "pointy" strawberries, slice a small piece off each side and cut in half and form the circle around the tart - brush them with a little apricot glaze - just add a little water to some apricot preserves and brush with a pastry brush.  Add the blackberries around the edge and brush them with the glaze and then fill in with blueberries, blackberries, a little sliced strawberries and some sliced kiwi's and brush them with the glaze.  Chill until ready to serve.

Here it is ready to be served to those wonderful, deserving of a good dessert and dinner, women.  Hope they enjoyed.

Resource

Tart pan, Williams-Sonoma
Footed cake stand, Williams-Sonoma
Recipe for pastry cream, The Tough Cookie

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BISON BURGERS ON BRIOCHE BUN WITH CARMALIZED ONIONS AND CHIPOTLE JAM

Making this burger is the reason I made the Chipotle jam (see my post of June 11, 2015). If  you don't want to make the jam just leave it off - won't be the same but still will be a darned good burger. There are some apple-chipotle sauces available online and at specialty stores but I cannot recommend any of them because I have not tried them and I love the flavor of the chipotle in adobo but do not want it too hot.  My grandsons ages 8 and 9 had these burgers - they were not too hot.

 

Making a menu card is something I have done for many, many years. If you come to my house for dinner it will be in my cookbook stand by the stove.  The card serves several purposes - first I use it as a guide for my shopping list, a reminder to don't forget anything but then I realized years ago that there was an unintended consequence - I save them and when I find them among my things I am brought back to that dinner, those guests and that time. Nostalgia at it's best.

One of the key factors to this yummy hamburger is the bun.

This is what most people think of when you say brioche but brioche is a buttery egg dough that comes in many forms.

This is what to look for - good luck.  I had no idea that these delish buns would be so hard to find - at least in the Boise area.  I made many calls and finally hit pay dirt by another name.

Finally I found some buns.  I expected when I went to Zeppole to pick up my buns that they would be kosher and contain no dairy (and you know a brioche French bread would have a lot of butter) but to my surprise the buns were not kosher so I'm thinking these are really more like a brioche but - they were just what I was looking for, delicious, perfect. King's Hawaiian does make a hamburger bun so if you want to make these and cannot find brioche I think this would be an OK substitute.

Decided on a simple tablescape with items that work with "burgers in a basket" plastic baskets from HomeGoods (I think I saw them at the $store too) red and white checked tablecloth, some favorite country looking salad plates for the potato salad and dessert - plus my gran-daughters favorite item - the ketchup squeeze bottle. I have always liked to use place cards even with family.  They are especially good with smaller children because they just look for their name and there is no dialogue on who get's to sit by....you know what I mean?

I did not take many  photos while making the burgers but will give directions below.  The caramelized onions are so important in this recipe - oh so simple to do - add a little butter and some EVOO in the bottom of a large pan and let them get some heat and then add the onions, salt and pepper them, do not get the pan too hot, take your time, just keep turning and stirring them. Eventually they will turn a golden brown and if you keep going they will get even a deeper brown. The sweeter the onion the easier they are to caramelize.

A big, yummy burger! They are 1/3 pound burgers so a few halves were sent home in "doggie bags."  Because they do not have lettuce, tomatoes, etc. easy to reheat.

Ingredients:

Ground Bison (if you cannot get use ground sirloin) Many Costco's carry bison.
Rolls, preferable brioche
Sweet onions, Vidalia or other sweet onions.
Cheese, we offered American, Kraft's chipotle and cheddar
Apple-Chipotle jam
Salt & Pepper

Directions:

I used (4) large sweet onions for (6) burgers and we used all of the onions. Put the sliced onions in a large pan with a little butter and some EVOO and add salt and pepper and cook, turning often, until they are a nice golden brown and caramelized. Turn down the heat to the lowest and keep them warm until time to use.

Make you 1/3 pound patties - size of the pattie depends on the size of the bun. Be sure and put a thumb print in the middle of the pattie to make for more even cooking. Place on your BBQ and use salt & pepper only for seasoning. When they are done place the cheese on top to melt.

On a griddle pan (or big cast iron skillet) add some butter and toast the bottoms of the buns.

To put the burger together place the pattie on the bottom of the bun, then pile on the onions, finally drizzle the apple-chipotle jam on the onions (because it is a jam and I wanted it to be drizzled I heated some in the microwave until it melted and could be poured) add a little Best Foods (Hellman's) mayo to the top of the bun, wrap in paper and place in the basket with some sweet potato fries! Enjoy!

Resource

Salad plates, Kohl's
Burger baskets, Ketchup bottle, HomeGoods
Red & White buffalo checked tablecloth,Bistro Check Casual Tablecloth Red White Striped Checkered Pattern 60 " x 102 "
Hem-stitch napkins, Williams-Sonoma 
Salt & Pepper shakers, HomeGoods
Water goblets, Villeroy & Boch Bernadotte Goblet
Red handled flatware, Hampton Forge Argent Sophia 20-Piece Flatware Set, Red, AFU70920QF
Red checked burger wrappers/basket liners, restaurant supply store or,Regency Basket Buddies, Red Check 24-pack

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