Everything sublime is as difficult as it is rare. Baruch Spinoza

Sunday, August 25, 2024

Bits of Stuff

Yes. A photo of a living room.


I was sitting in a chair facing the room, phone in hand, and for some reason took the photo. Maybe my subconscious told me - one day you can write about sitting in the room and deciding to take a photo. So here we are. The horse head facing the camera was the first trophy any of my horses won. Shaka, at his second show, won the hunt seat class at the Northern Minnesota Arabian Horse Show. The best trophy ever. This was the last year they gave out the horse head trophy, the ceramist moved. The laughing basset was made for me by a good-friend-I've-never-met. It was honoring my beloved Howard after he died. The slipcovered furniture is all Gatto's fault, naughty furniture scratcher. The lamp belonged to my mother. Now I have written about the time I arbitrarily took a photo of my living room.


 Food
Another go-to for me. I spent yesterday afternoon making tomato sauce, parmesan sauce and roasting eggplant slices. Resulting in an eggplant gratin. There's also Italian sausage in there, but it isn't necessary. Who would have thought a guy born and raised on a dairy farm in southwestern Minnesota would absolutely love eggplant? He is pestering me to make eggplant 'meatballs', he likes those better than the real thing. Imagine that! I have two plants so we are in eggplant plentitude at the moment. Mark is of Czechoslovakian  (Bohemian) descent but grew up in a community of, almost exclusively, Norwegian Minnesotans. He mostly knew Minnesota style Norwegian food. I guess sometime this week those meatless balls will be on the menu. That sentence could be a double entendre. In the meantime, the remainder of the gratin will be lunch.

We are in for some very hot weather the next few days. No sauce will be simmering on the stovetop for now. 

28 comments:

The Happy Whisk said...

I'm 100% an eggplant girl. One year I grew ghost eggplant. They looked like little ghosts in the garden. Have a yummy week. Cheers.

Sandra said...

Is that the long, thin cream colored eggplant, Ivy? I have grown that. It is a good one. Eggplant is versatile and a real gift to vegetarians, which we aren't but could be.

Far Side of Fifty said...

I have never tried eggplant, it is one of those fancy vegetables:) Enjoy the last of the heat...your Living Room looks sleek and modern:)

Val Ewing said...

I've had fried eggplant and it was pretty good.
Other than that, not much cooking happening here. We are in for some miserable days.

As for your room, it is beautiful. Very tastefully decorated. What a beautiful house!

Boud said...

I can't digest eggplant, but it looks good. I used to grow it because it's beautiful, then give it to friends.

Sandra said...

I've never thought of eggplant as fancy, Far Side! It's versatile, use it in place of noodles in lasagna, make parmesana with it, lots of things. The furniture in the room is all on the old side. The sofas and chairs were bought about 1982, as well as the coffee table. I bought the rug in the '70s, not too long after China was opened up for trade with the US. I guess I don't do change!

Sandra said...

Fried eggplant is good. All the furniture has been around for decades. The house was quite the sight when we bought it!

Sandra said...

That's too bad, Boud. Mark brought in a nice shiny large one just a little while ago. I should plant just one, but I never do.

Bohemian said...

Your Food Porn and your Home are so Editorial for fabulous Blog Imagery. I have some Equestrian Collectibles, never owned a Horse but some of the Vintage/Antique Equestrian Objects are just so Cool.

Sandra said...

I do love your description of food photos as food porn! My office is full of photos, trophies and horsey stuff. It will likely all end up in a garbage bin when I bite the dust, but I won't be around to see it. 😉

Barbara Anne said...

What a lovely and tranquil living room!
Our beloved and dearly departed tri-color Basset was named Daisy. We miss her still.

Wishing y'all well!

Sandra said...

I absolutely adore basset hounds! I've had 3 - Harvey, Howard and Murphy. Living, breathing cartoons they are!! But you know that.

peppylady (Dora) said...

It been some time since I had an eggplant.

Sandra said...

It’s probably time you had one, Dora.

CheerfulMonk said...

That sounds yummy, but a lot of work!

"Tommy" said...

The floors in the first photo, along with the windows, the lamp in the distance.. all makes a statement of quiet life, of times of reflections

Rita said...

Now that is a picture of home! Loved that you took this for us. Feels like a really nice lovely welcoming home...with good food. ;)

nick said...

I rather like the table with the circular legs. A very tasteful room!

Anvilcloud said...

The unique table and the plentiful windows stand out to me.

Sandra said...

It's good but not much effort. There's a few steps but roasting and simmering takes care of itself!

Sandra said...

Life is quiet, Tommy. Lately I have spent time reflecting, as well. A sign of aging, I guess.

Sandra said...

It's home for us. It's too much house, really. If it weren't for the horses we would probably move. But, there are the horses.

Sandra said...

I bought that table in 1981, nick. All of the furniture was purchased in the early '80s.

Sandra said...

In 2017 we had to replace the windows in the far room. 16 windows. I wasn't liking them so much then, AC!

Stubblejumpers Cafe said...

I always enjoy photos of bloggers' home interiors; even what they fasten to their fridge doors is interesting to me. You've made your photos even more satisfying by talking about what we see.

Sandra said...

Thank you for the nice comment. I appreciate it.

Lori Skoog said...

How did I miss this post? love the photo of your living room. You come up with the best dishes! Looks divine. Never heard of eggplant meatballs.

Sandra said...

The things we take photos of because we always have a camera in hand. Like a random shot of a living room! Basically meatballs with chopped roasted eggplant instead of ground meat.