What's in Your Dining Room? A Pinterest Adventure

When I promised ManO we would eat in the dining room more often, I didn't realize the ripple effect it would have on my meals, our conversation, and most especially the decor!  One month and I figured we'd be tired of it and I'd get to turn the room I never used into my dream library.

But a funny thing happened. We liked talking to each other and guests without the distraction of the television or dirty dishes (I'm a use all the dishes, spread the mess around kinda cook). There's a reason restaurants are so popular! No television unless we're in a pub and then ManO sneaks looks at the scores. No dirty dishes. Except we have "seat them by the kitchen" faces. We did an informal study once and realized 90-99% of the time, that's where the host leads us unless we say ASAP, "we want to be FAR, FAR, FAR away from the kitchen." I keep hoping it's because that's where a lot of restaurants seat families with children and we look like we're young parents or, at the very least, tolerant grandparent types.

So why didn't we eat in the dining room before now?  It's simple.We'd started referring to it as
"the museum." The dining room was the last decluttering domain, a reminder of times and people past. Last year, we still couldn't bring ourselves to go through all the formal  stuff we'd inherited.

But after our challenging 2014, 2015 needed to start fresh!  This month's experiment proved we liked eating in the dining room. We just needed to make it our own, keep a few valued heirlooms and antiques then mix them with our favorite things. ManO wanted to keep our newlywed furniture (he's sentimental and it's solid wood) but he wouldn't let me paint that maple no matter what Pinterest said!

My $50 budget also kept me under control because Pinterest can tempt you to do things you never thought you'd do.  We wanted an Ameri-Parisien feel to the room. Plenty of ideas on the boards. Faux French linen placemats were a much less expensive touch than the real thing. 

I had a huge grill-front tavern plate rack of my mom's above my buffet. I wish I had a picture. My sisters and I've called it the "pigeon coop" since we were little, if that gives you an idea. It overwhelmed and darkened the room.  Off the wall it went. Wow, a more serene space already.

My favorite antique from my childhood bedroom is the four drawer apothecary chest.

 

I'd spent $17 on four placemats and $20 on wall paint/patch supplies so my personalized art pieces had to be cheap.

 A frame borrowed from another part of the house and an 8x10 print for $3.99 added another dash of  Paris.  ManO looks quite, um, dashing on this bridge over the Seine.

Pinterest helped again when I looked for ways to update our decor.  I love the sign trend out now but that's what it is, a trend. So I went shopping in my house for another frame. I thought about my favorite quotes en Francais and consulted Belle Calhoune  who loves all things French. She also has ten years of French lessons to my seven.

The French have such beautiful words like etoile for star and amour for love. What to choose? But the beauty of making my own "quote art" is I can switch it out. For now I settled on a Matisse quote reflecting my philosophy of life, "There are always flowers for those who wish to see them." It's about finding beauty in the world (see Jan Drexler's Monday post, ) and gratitude in the dark times.

I hope Monet forgives me for using a Matisse quote overlaying a picture we took in his garden. 

By this point my library idea was toast. But no Paris apartment would be without books. Out when all the things that made the hutch look like my grandma's and in came my favorite books and pottery collection.

Best Pinterest book/bookshelf styling tip: No need to buy books by the yard. Use books that you have and love. My flower arranging, spiritual writing and reading, and our travel books look great together without the dust jackets. Bonus, they lighten up the brown hutch I wasn't allowed to paint!

Not everyone can or wants to have a Paris inspired dining room but I leave you with one of the most wonderful spice blends from Penzeys Spices,  Sunny Paris. Such a wonderful blend of purple shallots, chives, green peppercorns, tarragon, and more. I use it on plain chicken and fish to dress it up, in salad dressing, over asparagus and in breakfast dishes. Yummy and so easy to use!

So, if you could have a dining room anywhere in the world, where would it be?  Are you decluttering this winter? Do you have a favorite spice that makes you think of far away lands? PS. Have you visited the Yankee Belle folks' boards on Pinterest? Such fun.

We’ll Always Have Paris and Duck Dynasty.

This week is our thirty-third anniversary. This is also the week my radiator gave out. Guess what I am getting as an anniversary present? The joke in our house is we always have to replace an appliance around holidays and special occasions. Man O insists that a car is not an appliance. I say it is since it make my life easier. That’s my definition of an appliance.

 

This is a 1930s car radiator. Modern versions don't look that much better. Jewelry it is not.

We had grand plans of going out to our favorite French restaurant, run by natives of that glorious country.  Man O gets the sea bass and I get the duck. We can count on stellar ingredients and beautiful presentation. The ingredients are pure. No preservatives. No allergy issues. A high price tag for our little culinary adventure. Sigh. Not in the cards this year with the car issues. True love always faces trials.

Speaking of true love and trials.... One of the reasons I fell in love with Man O is because he fell in love with the movie Casablanca, containing the famous line, “We’ll always have Paris.”  A girl with seven years of French under her belt and a passion for old movies thinks that way. 

What a view! Oh, and Paris looks pretty good too.

Man O and I celebrated our 25^th anniversary in Paris.  We took a boat tour on the Seine, seeing all the famous bridges spanning the river.  We visited museums, climbed the Eiffel Tour and busted our knees getting to the top of L’arc de Triomphe. But most importantly, we ate well, in little street bistros, grand chateaux and country inns.

At one chateau/fine dining establishment, I ate pigeon. Pigeon that practically cooed. Pigeon that was so raw I couldn't eat it. I tried to be polite and not send it back. But the chef caught wind of my discomfort. He was not amused. Never, ever, ever make a French chef mad. They are rather temperamental. In the middle of his lecture, I vowed to stick with duck as a fancy chicken alternative for the rest of my life. Never had I been served one that quacked!

Now back to our anniversary meal. I was prepared to learn how to duck hunt by watching Duck Dynasty. I thought it would be that hard to procure it! But hunting up duck in my local stores was not difficult. Nothing about the recipe was as difficult as I thought it was supposed to be. Maybe my view had something to do with an expensive restaurant price tag. 

Until now, I thought of duck as special restaurant meal, not a fix at home dish. But Duck L'Orange is one of those recipes that sounds challenging but isn't. It also isn't as expensive. If you don't hunt, duck can be found in the freezer section of your local grocery. Duck breasts run around six dollars in our area. 

We are cutting down on meat so I made medallions and filled the rest of the place with sauteed spinach, baked potatoes, and a bakery croissant for Man O.  The whole meal was less than an appetizer at our lovely French restaurant. Add some candles, Parisian music on the ipod, a tablecloth and grandma's old china. All set for a romantic celebration!!!! 

Now for the instructions. Brace yourself. I am listing all the alternative ways you can make this dish with ingredients on hand, if you are watching sugar, fat or have allergies.  I tweaked it and removed the expensive ingredients like grand mariner and fresh shallots.  But I can tell you, it is a special occasion dish worth the use of a little sugar and butter.

Easy Duck L’Orange

1 duck breast (or more)

1 orange (half juiced, half sliced) or ½ cup orange juice  (Double with each breast added.)

1 cup chicken stock (I use my own stock but canned stock is okay. Organic is better but pricier. Do not add salt if you use processed stock. It has enough already.)

3 tablespoons butter, divided

1T balsamic vinegar

¼ cup sugar ( if cutting sugar, use a teaspoon and follow thickening instructions)

1/4 teaspoon Penzey's Sunny Paris seasoning, Herbes de Provence, or diced shallots, sauteed

Dash salt

Got my ingredients ready to go, well, most of them.

Step 1: Score duck skin in crosshatch marks. Place two tablespoons of butter in skillet and melt. Add duck, skin side down. Cook on medium low until done to desired, approximately 12-15 minutes for medium rare and more for medium. Do not turn but lift to make sure skin is brown and crispy. Some recipes suggest medium rare but we are more medium people. We were scarred by the pigeon experience. Remove and set duck aside to rest while you prepare the sauce.

Step 2: Pour duck fat out of pan. Add tablespoon butter and melt on medium low. Add sugar and stir until melting into the butter, scraping browned bits as you go.

This is how the L'Orange Sauce with look at the beginning.

Step 3:  Add  chicken stock and orange juice. Turn up heat and reduce the sauce until thickened, stirring constantly.  [If not using sugar or in a hurry, put one tablespoon corn or potato starch in the cold stock or juice and stir to dissolve, then add to the pan. But it is better not to use the starch, just sayin'. Use patience and do the reduction. ]

Your sauce will thicken and look like this.

Step 4: Add the vinegar, spices and/or sauteed shallots. Stir to blend and take off the eye. The sauce will thicken even more as it cools.

Step 5: Place the breast (or cut medallions, if you are sharing one piece) on the plate. Pour sauce over the meat. Decorate with orange slices.  

As the French say, "Voila!"

Yes, I cut out some ingredients to make it cheaper. Yes, I cut out some steps to make it faster. But the end result was still delicious, inexpensive, and I feel empowered to try more "difficult" (or so I thought) dishes!

Do you have a special dish you make after finding out it really is not as hard as you thought?Or do you go to a special place every year for celebrations? Do tell!