Cedar Plank Lobster Tails

Originally published August 31 2012

stacy reynaud

stacy reynaud

45 years is a long time. That's how long my parents have been married. This August, we took a drive up to Kelowna to make them a special anniversary dinner. I chose cedar plank lobster tails with roasted radishes because my Dad loves lobster and my Mom loves radishes.

Cedar Plank Lobster Tails

What you need:

• 1 jalapeno pepper
• ½ tsp finely grated lemon zest
• 2 tbsp lemon juice
• 2 tbsp unseasoned rice wine vinegar
• 1 tsp granulated sugar
• ⅓ cup good quality olive oil, plus more for grilling
• 6 uncooked lobster tails (7 to 8 oz each), halved lengthwise
• 2 untreated cedar planks (7" x 14" or similar), soaked in water for 2 hours*

What you do:

1. Preheat the grill to medium-high. Place the pepper on the hot grill and cook until charred on all sides, about 6 minutes. Let cool, then remove the charred skin from the jalapeno and cut the pepper in half, discarding the seeds. Finely dice the jalapeno.

2. Place the diced pepper in a jar with a tightly fitting lid. Add the lemon zest, lemon juice, vinegar and sugar; cover and shake well to blend. Add the oil and replace the lid. Shake the mixture again until emulsified. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Set aside.

3. Brush the cut side of the lobster tails lightly with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Place the cedar planks on the grill, close the lid and heat for 4 minutes. Arrange the lobster tails, cut side down, on top of the planks. Close the lid of the grill and cook until meat is opaque, not transparent, and firm to the touch, about 8 to 10 minutes.

4. Serve the lobster tails with a drizzle of the lemon jalapeno vinaigrette on top and more on the side for dipping.

* I picked up the cedar planks at Rona. A pack of two was $5.80. You can also get them at William Sonoma - for twice the price

Roasted Radishes

What you need:

• 1-¼ lbs medium-sized radishes, trimmed and quartered
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 2 cups fresh watercress, washed and drained, thick stems removed
• 2 tbsp fresh mint leaves, cut into a chiffonade

What you do:

1. Preheat the oven to 425°F. Toss the radishes with the olive oil in a medium bowl and season with salt and pepper.

2. Transfer to an oven-safe skillet and roast until golden and tender when pierced with a knife, about 25 minutes.

3. Remove the pan from the oven, add the watercress and stir until the watercress is slightly wilted. Stir in the mint and serve immediately.

Tip: Roasting radishes sweetens and mellows their flavour. Choose golf ball-sized radishes and quarter them for best results.

recipe adapted from Style at Home

Recent Manic Thrift Store Finds

Apparently, folks with BD tend to head toward mania at the end of summer - supposedly due to the change in light. Well, part of mine is thrift shopping. I go on binges once a month three days before my period, (five days before that I'm an exercise freak). So, considering it's the end of summer and 28 days has just passed - I'm now having what I'm going to refer to as the End of Summer Manic Sale! 

stacy reynaud

Might as well sell now because I know in the winter when I'm sitting here all depressed in the rain the last thing I'm going to want to do is muster up enough gumption to sell stuff!

If I didn't go through these episodes I would have never had the immense success I've had in my life doing what I love. I'm very lucky to have a supportive husband who understands and can say, 'Hey, you're doing that shopping thing again'. However, when he told me the other day that if he could have any interiors style it would be Italian minimalist I felt a little bad.

stacy reynaud

My style - a mash up of Scandinavian, bohemian, 70s beach chic is pretty much the furthest away from Italian minimalism you can get! Having said that, I've introduced him to Swiffers so he can at least visualize a sleek Italian surface.

stacy reynaud

Don't get me wrong, I'm not desperate to sell stuff - everything I've bought I love and I buy with the intention to sell. I put a lot of effort into my sourcing. The pieces I've chosen are high end, quality pieces not a bunch of crap that I shoved in a basket because I was out of control. Everything is vintage and most is from the early to late 1970s.

 stacy reynaud

So, if you're interested, I'm uploading stuff to Etsy, Craigslist and eBay and of course you can also message me and let me know you read this post and we can work something out.

From top:

1. Nils Jonsson Trio credenza - not listed yet but soon
2. Denby Mayflower - Etsy
3. Gucci Horse-bit navy leather shoes - Etsy
4. Peacock chair, love seat and basket chair - Craigslist
5. Peacock chair - Craigslist
6. 1970s BC stoneware ceramics - not listed yet but soon

More stuff to come!

Thanks for hanging around.

Everything we See or Seem

stacy reynaud

I was looking up Scorpion pose and came across a book recommendation, of all things. My local library rocks so of course they had it - now I will recommend the beautiful piece of literature to you.

Letters to a Young Poet by Rainer Maria Rilke. Translated by M.D. Herter  Norton, (1934). The translation/translator makes all the difference.

The close of the eighth letter:

"Do not believe that he who seeks to comfort you lives untroubled among the simple and quiet words that sometimes do you good. His life has much difficulty and sadness ... Were it otherwise he would never have been able to find those words." 

Oh, and here's Scorpion pose

My Invisible Cube Van

It's invisible because it doesn't exist. If it did, I'd be fetching this stuff for you this weekend!

2008 Flashback Post - Our Living Room Five Years Ago

Originally published September 14, 2008. Thanks for sticking around my blog for that long - know that I appreciate it. You give me something to write about.

after

When working with 620 square feet it can be challenging to find furniture that doesn't over power your space.

Windows, area rugs, drapes and a colour wheel (for direction) can help you define the space.

In this space I chose a 5 x 8 flokati rug to bring the room together. Your furniture should sit at just the edge of the rug and should be placed at a comfortable conversation distance from each other and close enough to the coffee table to rest your drink on. In this room the coffee table is a Nakashima inspired vintage old growth burl.

The color scheme was chosen to compliment the view of Stanley Park out the window. It was important to have some bright accents as this home faces northwest and nine months of the year are gray and raining. I chose shades of purple, red, green and gold to liven up the champagne velvet tufted couch and chairs.

Dark chocolate vintage crushed velvet drapes frame the view and pull out the wood grains in the original mid century oak flooring.

before

Looking at this before image - I'm quite proud to say I still have pretty much everything - minus the credenza and TV. The sofas, curtains and flokati rug were destroyed when our West End apartment building was infested by bed bugs a year after this photo. The ficus tree is actually celebrating its 20th birthday this year! It was given to me as a house warming present when I went off to university.

Summer Basil Gin Popsicle Recipe

stacy reynaud

I refuse to let all this basil we have go to waste. Voila - the basil gin boozicle!
I didn't want to use those creepy silicone popsicle molds,  nor the $30 stainless steel mold
from Whole Foods, so I improvised.

 

For the mold I used little recyclable plastic cups, (100 of them cost less than $3), and the popsicle sticks are craft sticks, (bag of 150 less than $3). You can get craft sticks at a craft store or that big box store that starts with W. If you want to be really swish - dye the craft sticks with food coloring or blackberry juice.

What you need:

• 1 cup gin
• 2 cups water
• bunch of fresh basil leaves
• 2 limes - juiced
• 2 tbsp agave syrup
• blender
• tinfoil
• craft sticks
• small cups

What you do:

• add everything to the blender and pulse slowly. Don't go too fast or it will get foamy and that stuff doesn't freeze
• pour the mix into the little cups
• pop a tinfoil hat on them
• slice the middle of the hat with a knife and insert the craft stick
• put the cups on a tray in the freezer for no less than 24 hrs.
• you can omit the water if you want - it just won't freeze as solidly

Vintage Peacock Chair - Emmanuelle Chair

I was probably around twelve when I first saw this image of Marilyn Monroe taken by Milton H. Greene.

Since then, I've wanted one of those wicker chairs - well a peacock chair to be exact - they just look so cool every time I see one in a photo.

Back in the winter of this year I bought one off Craigslist for $25. Damn right it looks cool, but that's about it. The only type of chair I can think of that is as close to as uncomfortable as this type are those plastic white slatted folding outdoor chairs (like this).

 See blondie there in the white sweater? That just about sums up me sitting on the chair!

At least Flo finds it comfortable.

How to Harvest Basil

This one's going to flower soon.  Harvest before it flowers.

via stacy reynaud

Our basil is out of control. To think I never wanted to plant any because I thought I'd end up eating it all in one shot. To get the most out of your basil harvest, here's what to do.

It's best to harvest before the herb flowers as this is when it contains those delicious fragrant oils. Who doesn't love the smell of fresh basil?

1. Start from the bottom of the plant and count up four sets of leaves. When you reach four, snip off the top two. If your plant already has more than four, then pinch off 33% of it. Snip or pinch right above the little leaves that are growing opposite each other. This tells the little guys to keep growing.

2. Once each new branch develops four sets of alternating leaves, pinch them off.  Keep up with this routine until the plant is about a foot tall. By then you'll have a nice bushy plant keen to supply you with enough basil gimlet goodness all summer.

3. To keep your basil through winter, dry it either in a food dehydrator (we have the Nesco Gardenmaster) or air-hang dry it (not in direct sunlight) and put it in an airtight mason jar.

Now, onto our Lemon Verbena plant!

For more in-depth info, check out the post on Vegetarian Times.

This Song | This Color | This Photo

You know those times when you're bombarded with something so much in such a short period of time? Well, over the past 24 hrs I've had three things do it to me.

This color I posted about yesterday,

this song

and this image.

Explanations? Thoughts? Willful exaggerations?

A Green Blue Turquoise Wall Thing

Confession -  I have an issue differentiating between blue and green. Hence, whatever you call this wall colour, I like it. Personally, I wouldn't use it on my walls because I'm too moody for blue (?) - however, my rock star turned designer guy friend Ryan used it in his bedroom and loves it.

I lied. I'd have this bathroom any day - remember my dream of having a window in my shower?

images: mine, bohemian homes, inspire bohemia, Florence Welch's living room in Vogue Living, Shelley Freedman, Velvet and Linen

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Wittgenstein has got it going on

Everything that can be thought at all can be thought clearly. Everything that can be said can be said clearly. 

Ludwig Wittgenstein, Tractatus Logico Philosophicus

Irrefutable Mens Shorts

I'm a leg woman. I can look beyond Magnum's mustache.

Bjorn Borg
Paul Newman
Robert Redford Paul Newman
The Rolling Stones