Feast or Famine

So, we're taking on another huge project. As if we didn't already have enough old buildings to rehab (two houses), we will soon be the proud occupants of the building at this link:

http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&q=calhoun+st.+fort+waynt&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=S+Calhoun+St,+Fort+Wayne,+Indiana&ll=41.068319,-85.138078&spn=0,0.049438&z=15&layer=c&cbll=41.068688,-85.138153&panoid=CL3zFW4ozgtj45tJg6NTCQ&cbp=12,107.64,,0,-7


This is the soon-to-be home of Aaron J. Butler, Attorney at Law (or daddy Butler as we know him around here).

The building is pretty rough right now, but the owners will soon totally fix up the inside with some input from us. We are super excited. It's cozy, but has plenty of room to grow the firm. And, of course, I get something else to decorate. Yay!

Any ideas about decor, colors, materials, style, etc.? Your opinions are welcome (and needed). Or about what food we should serve to visitors??

A Victorian Christmas

I love an old-fashioned Christmas! I'm not talking old-looking here. I'm talking about doing the actual things that people used to do for Christmas.

I started making decorations a few months before Christmas. (I'm not crazy. I was quite pregnant, very bored, and had nothing better to do.) I got lots of my ideas from here: http://www.victoriana.com/christmas/  And, we can't forget to thank that bane of college professors everywhere, Wikipedia.

One of my favorite decorations was popcorn garland. I decided to pop the corn the old-fashioned (and cheaper) way: on the stove. Note: make very sure not to overfill the pan...once it starts popping you will have crap all over your kitchen. This makes a big mess that's hard to clean up when you are fighting a 130 pound dog over the food on the floor.

I also made some ornaments by drying/baking apple and orange slices. They turned out nice, but not quite as cute as I had hoped. They shrunk pretty small, so next year I think I might use the biggest fruit I can find.

Additionally, I made super cute felt flower ornaments that I saw in Better Homes and Gardens.

Moving on. The big deal for Christmas was...dinner! I made an enormous dinner that I literally spent months researching and planning (again, I was bored). The menu: cream crackers, fresh goat cheese, chicken liver pate, deviled eggs, mirepoix bouillon, herb roasted chicken, herb roasted red potatoes, maple-glazed yams, steamed bacon covered brussel sprouts, apple spice upside down cake, egg nog, and fruit punch. Oh, by the way, EVERYTHING was homemade! How long was I cooking? Six hours! But, it was definitely worth it! I got most of the recipes out of How to Cook Everything by Mark Bittman and the Better Homes and Gardens cookbook. Pictures:

The milk separating into curds and whey:

The eggs for the deviled eggs cooking:

The pate ready to be put into the fridge in order to set up:

The mirepoix bouillon:

And, the finished crackers:

I would have taken more pictures of the other food, but by the time I was done I was too exhausted. Sorry.

Pictures of the tree:

The bird's nest we found:





Finished! (A few things are kind of hanging off of the tree. Great Danes happen.)



And, a close-up of the ornament of our Victorian home that a neighbor made for us. You can also see the felt flower:

And, one last blurry picture of Argus and his antlers:

Merry Christmas!