My head is still spinning – over the last two months we packed up our home in Prescott, drove ourselves and the three cats 1650 miles across company and have more or less moved into to our new home. What an incredible amount of experience crammed into a few weeks!
The kitchen in our house was gutted . Once escrow closed Meggan installed a utility sink in the kitchen. She says it is hard to clean and paint without water!
We got here and walked into an exquisitely painted but very bare kitchen – the only item in it was the lonely little utility sink.
We think that the kitchen is the most important room in the house so we started there; literally started from the ground up. We were told that there was a lovely long-leaf pine floor under the tile debris. Which is why David spent the first day we were here sanding of the glue and junk off the floor. When he was done we saw that there was indeed beautiful wood. Beautiful wood badly in need of repair and loving care. Decided to delay immediate work and instead lay down cheap vinyl to protect the from any further damage. We will tackle this in the fall when it gets a little cooler!
Once we had a decision on the floor we moved in a fridge, a toaster oven, microwave and electric frying pan. Went out and got a gas grill and on the way home stopped at Farmer’s Market. While there we scored some corn, tomatoes, onions and greens. Later that afternoon we had our first home cooked meal in a couple of weeks: roasted corn on the cob along with grilled onions and tomatoes. I don’t think I have ever enjoyed a meal more!
We were in business. Although I have to say that cooking with no counter space is a trick. David set up a rolling island, a couple of folding tables and put together a rolling storage rack. We gleefully refer to the process as camping in our own house. Very comfortable camping all things considered!
While we camped for the next couple of days, we feasted on a big salad made from fresh greens, tomatoes, carrots and cucumbers. Grilled and enjoyed eggplant, squash, tomatoes, carrots and potatoes. Even if we were camping it still felt downright luxurious to eat simple, home prepared fresh veggies.
At the end of the first week we had the most exciting day of all — the day we got a real gas stove and range!! I immediately made pasta sauce, started soaking black beans and dug out some rice.
The other exciting thing was the gift of a triple bowl 44 inch sink. Now all we need is something to put it on. That is next weeks project: find kitchen cabinets and the counter top to get installed asap. Did I mention that in the meantime we are just happy to be eating real food again?
One of the wonderful things about New Orleans at this time of year are all the Farmer’s Markets. You can find ones on Saturday, Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday. We are taking full advantage! Today we got 10 lbs of “seconds” tomatoes and a bunch of peppers and onions so tomorrow we make salsa!
Life should be calming down a bit in the next couple of weeks. I will finally get to start posting on a regular basis. I have missed writing more than I thought possible. So watch for new posts. Lots of nutrition news, garden updates, cooking tips and our other NOLA adventures.
And there, my friends, you have it – the NOLA adventure update! Stayed tuned!
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Watching Meggan and her Dad today reminded me of so many Father’s Day meals with my Dad. We laughed had long discussions about things that interested us and probably no one else and ate bland food. . . I want you to know that (IMHO) David is the second best Dad that ever lived. My Dad, however, is/was unquestionably the best Dad that EVER lived! And I miss him.
Mom got out the butane stove and Dad found the package of potatoes, water, milk, fresh butter, salt and a kettle. With a great flourish he picked up the package and began to read the instructions. It took about ten seconds for his face to fall. He quietly handed the package to my Mom.
