Three weeks in the past, my husband and I moved from our home within the suburbs to an house in Manhattan…
…and whereas for probably the most half the transition has been clean (and scrumptious — the bagels!), I discover I’ve been a little bit hung up on a form of nebulous challenge: How will we flip this new house into a house?
To be clear, I like our new house. The recently-installed flooring are herringbone-patterned and don’t creak like my outdated circa-1926 halls used to. And there are considerate particulars, like retailers inside cupboards, so printers and blenders can reside elegantly stowed away.
Plus, the kitchen drawers are extensive sufficient for me to have an organized spice part for the primary time in my life. And perhaps the very best function of all: I can see my childhood greatest pal’s house from our kitchen window.
However we had been in our earlier home since 2003, aka 20 years, or, when put in one other, extra sentimental unit of time, your complete lives of our two daughters, who’re 19 and 21. That home was the one house they’d ever identified, the home the place, collectively, they blew out the candles on 36 birthday desserts. Each nook of each room was as well-worn and adored as their teddy-bear loveys, now residing in a storage unit bin marked “TREASURE CHEST.” As Mary Oliver as soon as wrote in a poem about house, “You understand how it’s: issues acquire.” And I really feel like she wasn’t simply speaking in regards to the stuff.
It’s not like I anticipated to our new house to instantly really feel as homey — I do know it’s going to take time — however I do discover myself wanting to expedite the method of warming issues up a bit. My daughters are away in school till Thanksgiving, so I’ll need to delay that a part of Operation Make New Reminiscences, however one factor I’ve discovered goes a good distance in the direction of the hassle? Cooking. (Surprising, I do know!)
Whether or not I’m making a quiche for visiting mates, or baking a challah for my dad, or simply placing collectively a easy dinner for my husband and me. The impact is immediate — like I can nearly see sparkles wafting out of the pots and pans, then floating down the house hallway. Additionally, I don’t assume it’s a coincidence that I discover myself craving outdated favorites, like Bean Burritos and Shrimp with Feta. The primary dinner I made in my new oven was mustardy baked hen — a recipe so adored in my household that it as soon as earned the doubtful honor of a meal we’ve beloved to dying. In my new house, I discovered its acquainted smells and sizzles to be so grounding, so comforting.
Baked Hen with Herbs and Dijon Mustard
From A Chicken within the Hand, by Diana Henry
1/2 cup Dijon mustard
chopped leaves from 6 springs of tarragon (or dill or chives or basil)
3 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
8 skinless, bone-in hen thighs (I’ve additionally used boneless and it’s positive)
salt and pepper
1/4 cup breadcrumbs (or panko)
Preheat the oven to 425°F. Mash the Dijon mustard with the tarragon and butter till mixed. Put the hen right into a roasting pan (or a baking dish) and brush or spoon the mustard combination onto the hen. Season, then press on the bread crumbs.
Roast within the oven for 35 minutes. The highest needs to be a beautiful golden coloration. Serve instantly with the cooking juices which have gathered across the hen, perhaps with some boiled new potatoes and a inexperienced salad.
Additionally comforting? This photograph door inside a kitchen cupboard. I principally reduce and pasted my outdated kitchen bulletin board, proper all the way down to a bit of paintings that got here house in my daughter’s second-grade backpack. What can I say, some issues are exhausting to let go of.
What else ought to I be doing? The place do you reside? Have you ever not too long ago moved? I’d like to know: How did you make your home really feel like a house?
P.S. Coming house dinners and readers share their coziest corners.
