EPISODE #87 -
SATURDAY AUGUST 20, 2011
When you are
in the middle of relaxing during the summer, just when you think
you are safe, you see it! It is the dreaded ‘back to school’
sales and that means summer is coming to a close. Even though
the calendar says we have another month yet to go. The days
are finally getting hot and everyone is thinking about fall.
But don’t worry there are still many days of leisure yet to
enjoy. And many more episodes of Fusion as well!
Street of Dreams Design There are
lots of wonderful homes at this year’s
Northwest Natural 2011 Street of Dreams; there is one that
caught our eye. Actually it was a full size cut-out of Paula
Deen that caught our eye. We found the
Pahlisch
Homes, ‘Paula Deen Northwest Retreat’ full of charm and
comfort. We met up with designer Tammy LeFever of
Interior Motives Accents and Designs (503-684-2790) to get a
tour of the home and see how she helped create this down-home
treasure. Paula Deen is known for her cooking, but this past
year she has introduced a line of furniture that matches her
cooking style and Tammy had a blast tying this furniture into a
beautiful home built by Phillip Pahlisch and his crew. And if
you like this style of furniture you can find pieces of the
Paula Deen collection at up to 40% off at Interior Motives.
Paula’s favorite line is ‘Treat your family like company and
your company like family’ and this home does just that. In this
home you can just put your feet up and relax. To show you how
relaxed this home is we took a quick tour of the kitchen. Some
of the amenities included ‘hidden space’ storage areas like
disappearing spice racks, dishwashers, and veggies drawers; you
can’t even tell that they are there. The Jenn-Air range in the
kitchen was incredible and supplied by our friends at
Standard TV and Appliance (503-619-0500). They also
supplied some ‘top of the line’ pieces from KitchenAid and they
all were covered in an ‘oil rubbed bronze’ finish that matched
the kitchen perfectly. If you would like to check out the
Paula Deen NW Retreat by Pahlisch Homes, stop by the Northwest
Natural Street of Dreams. The show runs until the 28th
of August.
Watermelon Tomato Salad
It is the end
of summer for the kids and that means watermelon time, but you
may be tired of having your watermelon the same old way all the
time. Chef David came up with a tasty recipe that uses
watermelon and some of your other garden veggies in a salad! He
started by marinating diced cucumbers and onions in a mixture of
vinegar, salt, sugar and cayenne pepper. While that is resting
you can prepare the rest of your ingredients. David showed us
how he slices the watermelon. He cut of the ends and shaves the
sides off the melon. This gives him an entirely pealed melon to
work with. He then sliced the melon into 1 inch squares. He
also sliced up some tomato and olives for the final assembly.
Now you can put everything together. We mixed the tomatoes,
melon chunks, olives and some diced basil and mint leaves in a
big bowl. That was topped with feta cheese and 2 tablespoons of
olive oil. David recommends that you make this right before you
serve it. The watermelon doesn’t store well and can break down
over time. It is a tasty treat made with an old summer time
favorite.
Check
out the recipe here.
NYC – Fish Tacos
Grilling
season is here and so our ‘Now You’re Cooking’ segment is
perfect for the outdoor chef. Chef Adam Zwerling from Evo
joined NW Natural Host Jenna to show us how easy it is to make
‘Tilapia Fish Tacos’. Of course the star of the segment was
the Evo Grill. This grill has a double burner system that
allows it to get hot very fast, so you don’t have to wait to
cook. The surface is huge and because of the double burner it
can have different cooking temperatures over the whole surface
of the grill. Chef Adam started by oiling the surface of the
grill with olive oil. He then placed the fish filets on the
surface and let them sear on both sides. That took about 4
minutes per side. When they were close to being done he warmed
up the tortillas on the outer edge of the grill where it was a
little cooler. Then he built his tacos on a plate with some
shredded cabbage, some homemade salsa, some chipotle sour cream,
cilantro and a squeeze of lime juice. It was fantastic! If you
would like the recipe you can check it out
here (link to recipe) and if you would like more
information about the Evo grill you can see them at the NW
Natural Appliance Center and on-line at
www.evoamerica.com.
NatureBake Bread
We are all
trying to be ‘sustainable’ in our kitchens by using organic
fruits and vegetables, but sometimes it is hard to find
‘finished foods’ that fill the bill.
At NatureBake, a local baking company, they wanted to take
that to a whole new level. They started making a bread called
‘Oregon Grains’ which takes local grains, mills them locally and
then bakes them locally. We visited NatureBake’s baking
facility in Milwaukee to visit with Shobi Dahl the CEO of
NatureBake and Clint Lindsey a local grain farmer from A2R Farms
to learn how they took this concept from the field to the
shelf. Shobi’s grandfather was a pioneer in baking natural and
organic breads, so it was just natural that Shobi would look for
a locally sourced product that was made to the highest of
standards. The problem was finding all the local sources for
materials. When Shobi asked around about growers he kept on
coming up empty handed. That is where Clint and his family came
in… Being a local grass seed grower for generations they were
looking to grow something else. The NatureBake partnership
allows them to grow a consistently high quality product for a
local company at a good price. The bread even includes locally
made honey and the milling is done by Bob’s Red Mill in
Milwaukee! It is a win-win for everyone, but the biggest winner
is the local consumer. The Oregon Grains bread is delicious!
Bar Cart Accessories
Entertaining
your guests at a dinner party can begin with the smallest of
details. A well stocked bar can also be a well dressed bar with
lots of unique items to show off. To get some ideas we stopped
by to see the ladies at
Ste. Maine
(503-232-1880). Erin showed David some of the cool items they
have that are functional and can still entertain. The first
thing we saw was the collection of shot glasses arranged into a
tic-tac-toe game. Very fun! As far as functional, we checked
out the cool wine stoppers, ice buckets, napkins holders, ice
tongs and trays. Just about everything that you would need to
be the perfect host. We finished off with the glassware. These
champagne glasses all had toasts in different languages.
Cheers!
Cat Plants
If you have an
indoor cat they still will crave greens. You can take the cat
out of the wild, but you can’t take the wild out of the cat…
they love plants. They are drawn to the textures of a plant and
will even nibble on one if they can. We went to
Al’s
Garden Center (503-726-1162) to see what ideas they had for
bringing plants indoors for those home-bound cats. If you have
plants, you need to make sure that they are safe for cats (and
your other pets). Take a piece of your plants to a local garden
center to make sure that they are safe. There are 2 plants that
we found at Al’s that are perfectly safe for your cats and they
are Cat Nip and Cat Mint. Both of these are typically outdoor
plants, but you can bring them in for a period of time to let
your cat enjoy them. You just have to take them out every
couple of weeks to let them rejuvenate. You can also plant some
things for your pets. Cat Grass and Wheat Grass are great to
plant for your indoor cat. If you plant these in a pot near a
window they should be ok. When planting you will want to use a
low, wide container so the cat can’t knock it over. We
recommend using an organic potting soil like Black Gold Natural
and Organic to make sure the soil is safe for your pet as well.
If you have plants that you don’t want your cats playing in you
can move them to a higher shelf or add mulch that won’t feel
good on their paws if they try to dig. There are also toys that
you can get for your pet including catnip toys. Make sure that
they contain organic and safe products, like organic catnip.
The best toys we found are from
Kats ’n Us
(877-440-4511). They are a local company that ships high
quality pet supplies anywhere in the country. If you have any
questions about keeping your indoor cats happy you can check
with you veterinarian and for any plant questions see the
experts at Al’s Garden Centers. |
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