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Housekeeping

In the past few years, this blog has become outdated. I have been posting less and spending more time with my family. It’s a little bit crazy realizing just how much free time you have when you don’t have kids… and yet you never realize and don’t always use that free time wisely (or at least I didn’t, when I look back on it).

I’ve done a little housekeeping to bring things back into 2017.

I updated and republished my “About” page.

I updated and republished my “FAQs” page.

I’m finding dead links and fixing them.

And I am (slowly) going through old posts trying to re-tag where I’ve missed things.

Since we’re talking housekeeping, I wanted to veer into some actual housekeeping talk.

We recently moved back into an apartment (a 2-bedroom in Princeton) from a 4 bedroom home (in the neighboring suburb).

After being an apartment/city person for almost 12 years, I could not adjust to owning a house. Does anyone else feel this way?

The housekeeping was exhausting. I felt like I was constantly cleaning and tidying up after messes appeared (ahem, small children). The sheer number of rooms to keep up with was so much – cleaning bathrooms – cleaning a dining room and a kitchen (!) – so much cleaning! Not to mention the mental effort involved in keeping track of all the places in the house.

We ended up paying someone to mow and care for the yard that we thought we’d wanted. I did not understand how much “housekeeping” the outdoor part of a house really required. Or how expensive it got if you didn’t have the time or desire to do it yourself.

Stuff seemed to collect in every room, the basement, and the garage. How does this happen? We were only there 1.5 years. And I swear I am a minimalist!

So one day earlier this year (after discussing it… basically since we bought the house), we decided to put it on the market. Not even two weeks later we were showing, we were in contract in less than a week, and we ended up closing in early August.

We moved to Princeton (our process for deciding this location is another post in itself). We’re renting. And we love living in town. Princeton is great. Our small place is a lot easier to care for and I can walk to my favorite coffee shop. I can also bike (or take a long walk) to yoga. Those were my requirements for when we moved. Bobby’s requirements were that he have space for his music stuff, which we are still sort of working on (his piano is set up, and the guitar is out, but he doesn’t have his own room for it).

I am very happy to be rid of lots of housekeeping. And the family seems to be enjoying our new digs too.

How do you feel about housekeeping? And living in apartments vs. houses?

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The Very Best Teriyaki Salmon Recipe

This is the best and easiest teriyaki salmon recipe I have ever tried. (Ok, I haven’t tried that many.)

I make this recipe about once a week, rotating my fish selection. The photos here are of salmon. Last night we had this with a new fish that I picked up at the farmers’ market last Saturday – I think it was called Cobia. Delicious as always!

I got the original recipe out of a book: Japanese Women Don’t Get Old or Fat. I borrowed it from my mother in law a while ago and have not given it back yet… there are just too many good recipes in there.

Teriyaki Salmon Recipe

Ingredients

  • 4 4-ounce pieces of salmon (works well with any firm fish – tilapia is the only one I’ve tried that doesn’t work well and that’s because it tends to fall apart)
  • 2 tablespoons canola oil, olive oil, or ghee

For the marinade:

  • 2 tablespoons soy sauce
  • 3 tablespoons mirin

For the teriyaki sauce:

  • 1/4 cup mirin
  • 2 tablespoons soy sauce
  • 1 tablespoon sugar

Instructions

  • Mix the marinade and let the salmon sit in it, flipping once, for about 10 minutes.
  • Meanwhile, make the teriyaki sauce by mixing those ingredients (soy sauce, mirin, sugar).
  • Heat the oil in a skillet over high heat.
  • Remove the salmon from the marinade and pat it dry with a paper towel.
  • Reduce heat to medium and cook the salmon, skin side down, for about 5 minutes.
  • Flip the salmon and cook for one more minute (skin side up).
  • Whisk the teriyaki sauce one more time to make sure the sugar is dissolved, then pour it over the fish.
  • Tilt the pan to spread out the sauce and use a spoon to spoon some over the top of the fish.
  • Cook for about 1 more minute to let the sauce thicken.
  • Remove from heat, and pour any extra sauce over top of the fish.
  • Serve with fresh rice and a veggie side.

The only changes I made from the original recipe are:

  • I use a little more oil and sugar. It still doesn’t have a lot of oil or sugar.
  • I don’t remove the fish to wipe out the oil before I add the teriyaki sauce. It’s an extra step to reduce the fat but I don’t really mind skipping that. Fats make this dish yummy.

Original here.