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mschatelaine's Profile

Display Name: mschatelaine
Member Since: 4/5/07
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It's so popular in our house, I rarely get custody. Between my husband and my kids, I never get a chance to use it. They do everything on it -- watch kid shows, play games, make animated movies of their own stories (a very cool app!), use to tune the violin and act as a metronome, read kid books...! It always seems to be in use.


Reader Survey: How Often Do You Use Your iPad?
2/13/12 1:48 PM

" then carve and keep in a low oven to keep warm."

You can't keep the first chicken in a low oven after carving if the oven is being used to roast chickens 2 and then 3. What do you do with the first chicken for approximately 2 hours? Tented foil won't solve the problem.


How Do I Keep Roast Chicken Warm Before a Dinner Party?
Good Questions
2/13/12 10:21 AM

...ooops... either roast chickens cut in 8 equal pieces French fashion, or roast all thighs or all breasts...


How Do I Keep Roast Chicken Warm Before a Dinner Party?
Good Questions
2/13/12 9:54 AM

Keeping chicken warm without drying it out can be tricky... Have you thought of using a different form of chicken? For example, cooking 3 flattened chickens simultaneously? You could probably fit all three in your oven at the same time. Or roasting chicken pieces? Either each chicken cut into 8 pieces (the French way of portioning a whole chicken creates 8 evenly-sized pieces, with the 2 wing tips leftover).

Personally, I would try a different menu if I couldn't fit all the meat in at one time; you are making your life terribly difficult when there are already lots of details to see to. If you want to stick to poultry, have you thought about roasting a stuffed turkey breast?


How Do I Keep Roast Chicken Warm Before a Dinner Party?
Good Questions
2/13/12 9:53 AM

Years ago, Calvin Klein did a beautiful bedding set where he combined a brownish red (cinnabar) with a bright red; it was amazing.

More recently, they had a red hued set called "Twill Stripe", which was also very nice (although not as stunning). It has probably been discontinued though.

http://mattresszine.com/mattress-news/calvin-klein-twill-stripes-bedding-collection/

Still, they will probably come out with another red bedding set eventually, and they do a really nice job with them. Layering different shades and textures is important, because otherwise they can resemble red sating sheets a bit too much.

Another option would be the red twill versions (they have 2 patterns) at Matteo Home.

Also, check out John Robshaw and Les Indiennes; they do beautiful red patterned bedding.

(really, my favourite colour is periwinkle)


A Scarlet Letter: Embracing Red
2/10/12 9:31 PM

I should say -- the wall color (DKC-17) actually does feel "chill and relaxing". The entrance floor is black cleft slate, and the baseboards are natural squared-off walnut (oiled; no shine), and it marries beautifully.

The sofa is a bright red Ligne Roset Togo; it's fun and bright, not loud and screeching.


A Scarlet Letter: Embracing Red
2/10/12 6:56 PM

I'm sitting on a bright red sofa.

Looking at the red wall in my entrance. (Donald Kaufman Color. Awesome.).

And yes, I've been known to wear bright red lipstick.


A Scarlet Letter: Embracing Red
2/10/12 6:42 PM

Heh, it seems I'm only guilty of rushing my caramelized onions at times.

Don't do vinegar when I'm poaching eggs though -- the real trick is to use super fresh eggs, as the protein of the egg white hasn't degraded. Also, I use Delia Smith's poaching technique -- you let the eggs sit in simmering water for exactly 1 minute (carefully timed), and then turn the heat off, letting them sit in the hot water for x amount of minutes (depends on how many eggs you are making). That way, the egg whites don't get boiled into a tizzy.


The 40 Most Common Cooking Mistakes
Cooking Light
2/10/12 11:54 AM

I love this room; it is wonderful, and perfect. Very real, and yet well designed and fun.

The bunk bed is AMAZING, so much nicer than any other bunk beds I have seen elsewhere!!!

This room works -- it has all sorts of nooks and crannies to put a treasured toy or work of art.

...And about that much maligned work of art: when I was 4, I fell in love with NY, and would have given anything for that framed print. It's perfectly appropriate for a kids' room.

I love the fact that it is a shared room, because kids love to hang together. We have an 8 and 5 year old (girl and boy respectively), and even though each has their own room, they have moved into the guest room to sleep, where they have taken over a pair of single beds. They love to take the flashlight and read stories to each other under the covers just before they fall asleep. Go figure.


Oscar & Boots' 150 Square Foot Bedroom
Kids Tour
2/10/12 9:09 AM

Having a slew of never-fail, best-of classics is really important. I also agree that for everyday cooking, you need to master technique.

This is why I think that Delia Smith's How to Cook series (originally 3 books, but now combined into 1) are so very brilliant. For example, she teaches you how to make perfect scrambled eggs, and then gives you lots of variations. Or how to make a perfect pork chop, and then you are free to improvise flavours. How to make perfect baked (jacket) potatoes. The tv series was really good too.

So, to that list I would add bolognese, several ways to cook steak (skirt steak, hanger steak, strip loin, with a shallot red wine sauce); how to make great pork tenderloin; perfect mashed potatoes; macaroni and cheese, a couple of simple classic pasta sauces (e.g., romano and black pepper), and perhaps some good, solid stir fry basics an variations (several years ago, Real Simple had a great feature on this).

I'd also add a German Apple pancake recipe (3 eggs, 3/4 cup milk, 3/4 cup flour, dash salt, 425° oven for 15 minutes, 350° for 10 in a cast iron pan, plus apple brown sugar filling); clafouti; crepes. Oh, and a few good salads -- a perfect Salade Lyonnaise, Nicoise.


12 Recipes to Know By Heart
2/9/12 9:35 PM

Love how the heritage and bones of the house are maintained, and yet the house is contemporary as well. The shower is beautifully done.


Clare & Thierry's 1905 Echo Park Craftsman
House Tour
2/9/12 8:43 AM

Usually, the radio -- CBC1.


Cooking for One: Eating Alone
2/8/12 9:53 PM

Very Belgian; very, very nice.

Is the bed from Ochre as well? It is strange that it is not a queen size... Wish I could afford that chandelier for my house; it really makes the room.

Getting rid of that soffit made a huge difference; some features put in by builders are bad design.


Before & After: Sophisticated Master Bedroom Makeover
2/8/12 4:42 PM

Miss Bacon :-( (Wes and Kayla too!)


Wes & Kayla's Repainted Rental Kitchen
Kitchen Spotlight
2/7/12 10:41 PM

Also CMSORIO, those pictures are not all examples of the effects of high gloss paint... Some of them have been glazed, and the ceiling picture depicts a stretched vinyl product (which does away with the need of having a perfect surface... very cool). In order to achieve many of the effects above, you would need to do more than just use high gloss paint.


A Shining Example of Glam: High Gloss Interior Walls
2/7/12 10:26 PM

I had the same thought about spilt tea... Nope, not a breakfast in bed person. (hate crumbs in bed too)


Battista Tray: Breakfast in Bed Just Got A Little Sexier
2/7/12 5:55 PM

The salt makes the skin crispier and the inside fluffier. It is very, very important to use starchy potatoes like russetts to get the right effect.

The difference between this recipe and the one I use, from Delia Smith, is that Delia says to turn the oven to 375°, and bake them 1 3/4 - 2 hours. The slower oven makes them even crunchier and fluffier.


How to Bake a Potato in the Oven
2/7/12 1:42 PM

$1000?

Not likely!

The French marquetry bombé chest of drawers with gilt accents and a marble top -- that alone is several thousands of dollars.

Let's be honest -- it is not the board and batten which makes the room. I am struggling to see how it relates to anything in the room actually. No, it is the change of colours, of lighting, of bedding and of furniture. The "after" would still look fantastic without the board and batten, and if the furniture, bedding and colours were not changed out, the board and batten wouldn't make the room look better.


Before & After: Jae's New Board & Batten Bedroom
2/7/12 1:28 PM

The "after" is gorgeous and rich; stunning.

Notice how in the before the ornamental detail didn't really stand out, and now it is celebrated.

The overly-bright colours on Victorians became popular in California in the late '60s and early '70s, but they are historically incorrect. The "after" paint scheme demonstrates quite accurately how the home was supposed to be painted.

I applaud the owners for going to the time and expense of doing the job right!


Before & After: Painting a San Francisco Victorian
2/6/12 5:56 PM

Glasses were not designed to be stored standing on their lips, which are thin and fragile in comparison to their bases.

Gifted my mother in law with Moser gold-lipped Lady Hamiltion crystal high ball tumblers, and practically passed out when I saw that she stores them on their golden lips. Needless to say, she has chipped one of the lips...


Stacking Glasses: Face Up or Face Down?
2/6/12 2:09 PM