blakeybenny's Profile

Beware Grandpa Ott -- the morning glory, that is. Lovely and robust, but a prolific reseeder! My nigellas come back year after year. Strongest plants start out as seedlings in the fall, endure the winter, and have a good head start when they resume growing in the spring. Johnny jump-ups are also delightful reseeders.

Boiled yucca with good olive oil, lemon juice, and salt are a great alternative to baked potatoes (love it with grilled pork!). Nicaraguans make a refreshing salad -- vigoron -- with yucca, cabbage slaw, and crispy pork skin.

Freeze dried tofu -- koya-dofu -- is actually a basic in Japanese pantries. From Bon Apetit: http://www.bonappetit.com/recipes/food-lovers-cleanse/koya_dofu_and_vegetables

Keeping tofu in big containers of water changed daily is part of the Asian kitchen!

Lovely after picture!! Did you make the slipcover for the chair yourself or is it a ready-made? If it's the latter, can you share the source? Thank you!

The key to keeping grout lines clear are EPOXY grout in a darker shade and regular, 6-month applications of sealant. Epoxy grout is way less absorbent than regular grout and resists stain, and the sealant does wonders for stain resistance too. I have had tile stone counters for a number of years, and despite the messiness of family life, our counters still look great!

Our family can't get enough of El Bulli kitchen staff's simple dessert of grated chocolate on country bread with olive oil and sea salt. Recipe courtesy of NYT's Mark Bittman: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/03/magazine/bread-with-chocolate-and-olive-oil.html?ref=magazine

We just stayed in a lovely B&B of this style in Leon, a colonial city in Nicaragua. The owners had restored an 18th century home. Another plus of this design is its focus on communal living. The design encourages people to spend time together on the covered patios.

"El Zaguan" is the name of a wonderful restaurant in Granada, another Nica city with great colonial buildings. It is, of course, housed in this type of Spanish building.