Hot tomatoes. In the garden, of course.

Remember this?

Honeysuckle palace.

Here it is now.  We have a huge garden this year because we decided we'd seed grass in the fall rather than this spring.  Next year's plot might be considerably smaller. We shall see.

Squash, marigolds, and tomatoes.

 I've grown tomatoes many times in my life, but I've never had the vines go this crazy.  I haven't been very diligent about taming them, though, and this garden gets more sunshine than any I've ever planted.

The empty spots on the trellis are due to weak seedlings.  Some heirloom varieties just aren't as hardy, and they didn't survive despite hardening off and plenty of coddling. Boohoo.  On a happy note, I planted beans and some of them are the pole variety, growing among the tomatoes.  They're probably garden enemies, but I don't care.

Amish paste (I think).

 Chard is very cute in the garden.

Our orphaned pumpkin seedlings...one has really thrived.

The squash is getting ready to go overboard.  (If you want your ego to swell, grow summer squash. You'll look like a gardening genius.)  I have five squash plants--1 zucchini, 1 yellow, and 3 scalloped varieties--you can't see them in the photos of the big garden, but they're behind all the tomatoes.  Yes, I'll be leaving some on your doorstep.

Yellow squash variety.

 A few little ones. I've got a couple of big ones, too.

My corn and sunflowers.  I thought since I live in Kansas, I should grow both.  I planted more, but animals ate the seeds, even with me sprinkling hot pepper all over the ground.

I did search city code to make sure growing vegetables in the side yard was kosher, but thankfully found nothing on the matter.  Some HOAs relegate crops to the backyard. What a shame.  I think the corn is lovely.

How's your garden growing?  I'm enjoying everything about mine except the water bill.  We need some rain on the plains, please!

High Chairs can be cool, too

Last year, we painted Katie's Stokke high chair.  I meant to share it and forgot all about it, despite my friend Cat's reminders.  This was actually my high chair from childhood, and the finish was pretty rough, so the paint really brightened things up. Katie is the one who chose the color--I thought it was bright until Winslow made her request this spring.

Ryan cleaning the heck out of it.

Coat of primer.

Candy Apple Red.

At the kitchen table.

It's so stunning that Katie's chair now looks a little dingy in comparison. She's asking for purple.  We *might* do it.  Drew's chair is still wood-tones, and we'll let him choose when he's old enough.

A quick note about Stokke chairs. They are a luxury.  They're very expensive, but they last and are quite attractive.  You can strap in your infant or put up the baby attachment until kiddo is old enough to sit on his or her own. It is very difficult for a child to tip the chair over, too.  The seats are convertible for adult use by switching out the small seat for the large footrest, which can hold up to 250 lb.Very little for kids can be deemed "investment", but these chairs can almost be considered heirloom quality. They also have appeared on the cover of decorating magazines like House Beautiful, so that in and of itself is awesome.  Just my little plug. Stokke doesn't know I've said these good things.  

UPDATE on kitchen electrical: Ryan replaced all the outlets on the circuit and now the plugs for the freezer and such are working again.  Loose wires from Cousin Larry's renovation were the culprit.

I'm sharing this post at Miss Mustard Seed's Furniture Feature Friday.

Living Room Paint Colors

I've been fantasizing about paint colors recently.  Our living room gets very little light, so I've been trying to decide the direction we want to go in.  This website recommends putting bright colors in dark rooms, and after experimenting with a pale blue in the dining room, I'm inclined to agree.

It now feels like a dark hallway in an old hospital.  Lots of shadows.

So I'm looking away from the grays, pastels, and neutrals, and reaching for bold.  It'll totally be a stretch for me since I've never ever painted my kitchen Peacock Blue or my old apartment in Atlanta turquoise.  Nope, that was another Starr.

Anyway...one possibility is Cayman Bay by Behr.  You can see it on someone's wall on the blog Hairy Shoe Fairy. Just scroll down a bit and you'll see it.  It is a really lovely color.

Source

Robin's Egg by Glidden is also gorgeous.  Might be a little light, although the actual paint chip is pretty bold.

Source

Another favorite is Warm Gold by Glidden.  The paint chip online is so totally off, I won't even bother.

The Rooster and the Hen

We have a test pot of the gold color, so we're going to put some up on the walls in both the dining and living rooms to see how the light reflects.  Yellow is a cliche for dark rooms, so that's why we're going to give it a try first.

Bold is the word of the day.  Any other suggestions?  We've vetoed orange tones because of a terrible failure with terra cotta a few years ago.  Otherwise, the sky's the limit.

Sketti 'n Meatballs

Any man who likes to enjoy the odd roll-around quality time with his significant other learns how to push her buttons. No, not those buttons, dear reader, I'm talking mushy, love-language type stuff.

One of my favorite buttons of Starr's is her love of good food. I'm no great chef, but I have a couple of recipes in my back pocket that I like to pull out on a more or less regular basis, one of which is Meatballs Marinara, or Sketti 'n Meatballs.

I started making meatballs using a recipe from Mama's Minutae, but have since changed so many things that it has become my own, so it's time to chronicle the meatballs here!

Ryan's Sketti 'n Meatballs¹

Meatballs

2 lbs ground beef
3 eggs, beaten
1 cup bread crumbs, Italian seasoned
1/2 cup milk
1 cup shredded Parmesan (not that powdery grated stuff that comes in a shaker can -- that's for pizza!)
1 lemon for zesting
Italian seasoning
2 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
1 onion, chopped
Fresh garlic, chopped, or the good jarred stuff
More Italian seasoning
Olive oil

Toss your onion in a skillet with some olive oil. Cook until soft, then dump in 2T Italian seasoning and the garlic for a minute or so. I usually wind up adding 3 T of garlic, so if you're like me and afeared that a sparkly emo-vampire is going to steal your honey, load it up!

While your onion is going, mix up the rest of it. Start by putting the milk and bread crumbs together in a small bowl so the bread soaks up the milk. You're looking for a pasty consistency, so add a bit more milk if it's too dry.

In a large mixing bowl, enact violence on your eggs with a whisk, then mix in the cheese and salt/pepper. Zest about 1 tsp of the lemon into the mix, and add another T of Italian seasoning, because you're feeling saucy, right? When your bread crumbs and sauteeing bits are ready, add them. Mix it all together well, then add the beef.

You can use the big fork method or the Great-Scott-that's-unsanitary bare handed method of mixing your meat with its sundries. I'm not here to judge², just get it mixed well.

Oven at 375 F (190 C), use your favorite size disher³ to plop wads of meat onto a big baking sheet (I'd recommend a #10 because I like each meatball to be roughly the size of Starr's... fists).

You'll need to bake them for at least 20 minutes, but as much as 40 if you make them as big as I do. Flip them over when they're halfway done.

When done, put them in the sauce you made while the meatballs were baking, which I'm about to tell you how to make.

Marinara

2, 28oz cans of crushed tomatoes
1 onion, chopped
Fresh garlic, chopped, or the jarred stuff
Still more Italian seasoning⁴
Salt
Black pepper
Brown sugar
Olive oil

Chef's note: This is a very purist recipe (tastes JUST like Chef Boyardee⁵). If you like to toss a lot of odd crap in there (like vegetables, YUCK!), that's your lookout, but I'll have no part in it, I tell you!

In a large pot, saute your onion, garlic and Italian seasoning (about 2T again) in the olive oil just as you did above. Upend both cans of crushed tomatoes haphazardly into the pot (don't shake the can more than twice, 'else you're playing with it).

Add salt and pepper to taste (and actually taste it), then add some brown sugar. If you're new to sauce that doesn't come a jar with some made-up Italianesque name printed on it, 2 T is a good starting point for brown sugar, but you might need more if your tomatoes are super-pucker inducing.

Simmer.

After you add the meatballs, let it simmer for at least another hour, more if you can. You almost can't start this recipe too early. Just before you serve, mutilate one or two of your meatballs and stir them into the sauce.

Noodles

I know this doesn't require its own section. Pick your favorite and read the instructions on the box.

Now you get this:

Good Appetite!

                                                        
¹ That's right, I'm CLAIMING them.
² Yes I am, and that's gross.

³ You might know it as an "ice cream scoop," you ingrate. Haven't you ever watched Good Eats?
⁴ I may or may not have gone through an entire shaker of Italian seasoning in one recipe. Ain't tellin'.
⁵ This is definitely a lie.

My meds must be wearing off...

...because I bought something kind of cutesy at the West Bottoms furniture markets this weekend.  Me and cutesy usually don't mix too well, unless we're talking about newborns.  At Nook & Cranny, I found this for my wall:

In the usual good natural light spot in the house.

It's a primitive piece with some unfinished touches.

Drunken nail gun technique.

A couple of doors to little compartments.

Looks about right for a small rodent.

With really adorable wooden latches.

It'll definitely add to the over-propped-ness of the house, but for $15, I couldn't pass it up.  $15!  [Insert country-chic decor mag of your choice] would most certainly have charged at least $150.

I'm not sure where we'll hang it or what tiny animals we'll place inside the cages (just kidding PETA!). Maybe it should just stay on the freezer for awhile.