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Sunday, October 18, 2015

Front Porch Flower Bed

Before I get into the mini front porch project, how was your Thanksgiving? This was the first long weekend, probably since this past summer, that we weren't traveling so it was nice to relax at home and catch up on some baking and cooking. 

I tried making this Apple Rose Tart for the first time. Manuela's video made it seem so easy! It's not too too difficult if the Gala apple slices didn't keep break apart on me. Why didn't I read the caption in the video more closely before dashing out to the grocery store? Manuela said "Red Delicious Apple"! Oh well, next time. The not-so-pretty apple tarts however turned out to be delicious. For holiday, I always like to make a dessert with apple as an ingredient - to me, apple + nutmeg + cinnamon = festivity. 




I recently purchased the Sansaire sous vide cooker and am loving it. It allowed me to more preciously control the doneness of steaks and pork loins with very little moisture loss. You can also use it to sous vide ribs, poultry, fish, eggs and vegetables,etc.. 

So this Thanksgiving we made sous vide five spice pork tenderloin with creamy mushroom ragout, and it was a hit. I find we are also eating a lot healthier and cleaner with this new sous vide cooker. Sansaire is super quiet, and I actually found the bubbling sound therapeutic. 

Now onto the porch project. This was what it used to look like. I had my heart set on that wrought iron picket fence for the longest time. I would've never got rid of it if it wasn't rusting on me, and pretty badly too. So every spring we would have to inspect the fence, remove those rusty panels, sand them down, then spray paint them to get rid of the rust. I grew tired of doing that. 

So I hired back the contractor who did the landscaping in our backyard to add a retaining wall along the flower bed. I like that it outlines my front porch garden, and gives it definition. 


So this is what my front porch looks like now after I parted with those rusty iron fences. The openness makes my garden look bigger so I am happy with the outcome. 

Now onto my favourite subject, art! I was approached by Jenn @ 1st Art Gallery to review their oil painting reproduction service. Here is a sneak peak of the painting I chose and the frame from a local framing shop. More details on this project to come.