Virtual apartment tour (+mezcal-orange glazed bok choy)

Happy housewarming to me!

This weekend, my boyfriend and I threw a party in our new apartment – the finishing touches are finally all on the walls, and we wanted to show the place off! Also, now that we’re in Reston most of our DC friends are a lot farther away, and we needed an excuse to see people…and make them come to us. We tempted them out with tacos and Moscow Mules with homemade ginger lime syrup. David is a huge fan of Momofuku, so he made Dave Chang’s pork shoulder and this amazing slow cooker Mexican chicken, while I threw together a pineapple salsa and one with roasted corn, tomatoes, tomatillos, and red onion.

My sister just got back from Mexico, so we did a mezcal tasting before the party got started – she provided the authentic cups, salt seasoning, orange slices, and even crickets to go along with it!

Take a virtual tour of the apartment!

: Welcome! The first thing you see when you walk in is art by my friend Jon Mort, who I’ve sat for a handful of times (the bottom right picture is me!)

: A bowl my cousin gave me when we went to Costa Rica together, and pinecones from my grandmother’s house.

: To the left is the living room – David and I both put our decor and furniture together in here, luckily the red and gold theme worked!

: The coffee table we refinished, originally $50 on Craigslist – many, many hours of scraping and sanding here.

: The cymbal on the wall was used by the drummer of Middle Distance Runner, who David is good friends with – we met at one of their shows back in October of 2013! The picture to the left is of a crew team (David rowed for Wisconsin from 2002-2004).

: Our book shelf – you can see the bottom are mostly his big heavy law books; the art above is again by Jon Mort.

: Behind the living room is our office area, which we also use for workouts – just roll the chair and rug away and it’s mostly big enough for both of us together.

: Our little sunny balcony – with a nice view of the trees and trails in our condo community.

: The other side of the balcony – this table was my great grandmother’s – it’s on the list of things to refinish but for now it’s enjoying some fresh air!

: Turn the corner again and you get a peek into the dining area.

: The shadowbox I made after our trip to Nashville, full of little souvenirs from the restaurants and attractions we visited.

: Our sweet little dining area – to the left is a pew from my hometown church, which they gave away when they refinished a few years ago. To the right is a table I refinished from Community Forklift (originally $22!).

: Our dining area is divided from the kitchen by this peninsula; it makes the whole area feel open!

: Food art by Marcella Kriebel, an amazing DC-based watercolorist.

: The kitchen, viewed from the dining area…just some homemade croutons cooling on the wood block there…

: Gotta love a gas stove…also in process is some broth from veggie stems and skins.

: We only have one tiny bathroom, but I like that it’s bright and white! The watercolors on the wall are by a Philly artist that I got when I lived there for grad school.

: The master bedroom! We chose teal, navy, and some other cool color shades to complement.

: The teal leather chair was the inspiration for the color scheme – I found that fabric online and made the curtains with iron on seam binding and pop on grommets. So easy!

: I love lots of pillows…David tolerates lots of pillows…and I made the art with some acrylics that I let get runny and wet; my representation of the cosmos.

: I splurged on this pillow case from West Elm with a gift card from my Aunt 🙂

: A cozy blanket throw, also from West Elm.

: Opposite the bed is the Postrgram I made after posting my 1000th Instagram; the main image is of the stained glass outside the Columbia Heights metro, my home base for the 5 years before we moved! And David’s rowing medals and guitar, which he occasionally serenades me with.

: A close up of the Postrgram – the main image is made up of 1000 individual Instagrams (to do this yourself, just go to www.postrgram.com!)

: The guest room, completed with my old bedroom suite.

: Wall art (siren by Jon Mort).

: Comfy chair and a stuffed giraffe from my childhood.

: The magnetic board I made with an old frame, some fancy paper from a trip to Panama, and little keepsakes I glued magnets to.

Time for tapas!

There were leftovers from the party, and the RecipeRedux theme of the month is tapas, so for dinner tonight we did a few tapas plates – a great way to upcycle your cooking for a second life! There wasn’t enough of anything left to make a full meal of, but altogether we shared these tasty little plates and were perfectly satisfied.

The chicken and pork were just plated up with some quinoa, radishes, and avocado, but I had a lovely bunch of baby bok choy from the farm that was fresh and just waiting to be cooked up. Inspired by the mezcal, we made a glaze that perfectly balances spicy, sweet, and smokey. So fast and easy – and of course filling in that veggie gap that was missing! Great as a side dish, but if you added some tofu you could easily serve it over rice for a full meal. Bok choy is one of the greens highest in calcium, and it’s always tender and mild, so try it with people who don’t love greens!

Mezcal-orange glazed baby bok choy

Ingredients

10oz bok choy (~2-3 cups chopped)
1 Tbsp olive oil
juice of half a large orange (1/4 cup)
1 tsp cornstarch
zest of half an orange
2 Tbsp mezcal
1 Tbsp honey or agave
dash of chipotle powder
dash of salt

Directions

Heat the oil in a large skillet on medium and add bok choy. Saute for 3-4 minutes, until tender. Remove from pan. Whisk cornstarch with orange juice and zest in a small cup; pour into empty skillet over medium heat and add the remaining ingredients, stirring to mix. When sauce thickens and bubbles, it’s ready – add back in the bok choy and turn to coat. Serve!