A Piano, Reborn

 The cabinet that my husband built from a 1916 piano.

 

Nate gutted the piano, took out the strings, keys, soundboard, and the decorative panel in the front.  He removed the structural members in the back. He then built a box cabinet and fitted out the former key area into compartments.  

The compartments are perfect for silverware and serving pieces.  They are about 2 1/2" high and 14" deep.

The left side of the cabinet has a vintage wire towel rack. This picture also shows the built-in wineglass racks and the lights inside the cupboard.
     

Nate built a drop-leaf shelf on the right side of the cabinet.
He used a hinge from the top of the original piano.
     

Under the cabinet, he used the large central decorative panel to create doors for a storage unit.
This part measures about 19" tall, 22" wide, and 13" deep.
   

To the left, he created an opening for a wine chiller or a small cube frig.
  

Two mahogany-stained pieces for display and storage: a raised plate rack and a tiered box for wine bottles.

The metal bar (that dampened the strings), removed from the interior 

and suspended along the front.
  

Can be delivered to 50-mile radius of Elk River, MN area.

612 239 4888 (Nate Murphy)

Price reduced!!
Now $2400 (was $3200)

To see our other piano bar, click here.

Paring Down

Driftwood from Lake Pepin and Superior's North Shore, piled in a basket and formed into a cross.  

These old weathered pieces of wood are free.  

But I suppose they cost something.

They came from trees that were as fresh and green as the leaves in the white vases.

Now the wood is dead, but to me it is lovely.

It reminds me that pounding and suffering don't make things disappear.

The essential thing remains.

"If your heart is broken, you'll find God right there; if you're kicked in the gut, he'll help you catch your breath.  Disciples so often get into trouble; still, GOD is there every time.  He's your bodyguard, shielding every bone; not even a finger gets broken."

Psalm 34: 18-20, The Message

Sherry's Caramels

Here is my sister-in-law's famous caramel recipe.  I made five batches this year, mostly for teacher gifts.  

Makes 8x8 pan, or 2 1/2 lbs.

To prepare the pan: line with parchment paper, then butter the parchment lightly.

1 cup butter

2 cups brown sugar

1 can sweetened condensed milk

1 cup light corn syrup

1/2 tsp. sea salt, or to taste

1 tsp. vanilla

Melt butter over low heat.  Add brown sugar, corn syrup, and sweetened condensed milk.

Raise range heat to medium.  Stirring constantly, cook caramels for about 8-12 minutes.

Your range and the heat you use will determine cooking time.

As caramels cook, use a candy thermometer.

My best caramels are cooked to exactly 240 degrees.  

(The heat tends to fog the thermometer, so I finally marked the line with a Sharpie).

As soon as the caramels reach 240, turn off heat and stir in your sea salt.  I use freshly-ground salt.

Add vanilla, stir.

Place a large sieve into your pan, or ask someone to hold the sieve for you.  Pour caramels through the sieve, into prepared pan.  Cool completely.  I usually let them cool all day,

until my daughters have time to help me wrap them.

To wrap:  you'll need about 65 wrappers, depending on how big you cut your caramels.  

Wrappers are easy to cut out of wax paper, or you can buy them at a bakery supply store.

Invert the pan over a big cutting board.

Keep knife moving as you cut.  They are so buttery, the knife won't stick as long

as you keep moving it. I use a big chef's knife.

I like to cut them in rows about 1 1/2 inches wide, then cut each row into narrow pieces.  

(The width of the row becomes the length of the caramels).

Enjoy!  These are pretty amazing.  So why do we make them only at Christmas?

White-Chocolate Hazelnut Biscotti

These aren't the most delicious cookies in the world.  But they are amazingly good, and they're a little different than the usual.  I also love how they look in a vintage canister.

1/2 cup butter (room temperature)

3/4 cup sugar

2 eggs (room temp.)

1 tsp. vanilla

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 tsp. salt

3/4 cup hazelnuts

2/3 cup white chocolate, either chips or a chopped up bar

First, prepare the hazelnuts.  This is putsy.  Place them on a rimmed baking sheet and toast in a 350 degree oven for about 15 minutes.  Check to see if skins will easily rub off.  If not, continue toasting until it seems like the skins will remove pretty well.  At this point the hazelnuts are toasted.

Remove them from oven (leave the oven on),  pour them onto a clean but not beloved dish towel, and roll them around in the towel to remove the skins.  I can never quite get all the skins off, but that's okay.

Place them on cutting board, and chop into pieces about the size of chocolate chips.

To make the cookie dough:

Beat together butter and sugar till light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.

Beat in eggs, one at a time.

Add vanilla.

Combine flour, baking powder, and salt, and add to butter mixture.

Mix briefly.

Add hazelnuts and white chocolate pieces, mix well but do not over-mix.

Divide dough in half.

Form into two 12X2 inch loaves on parchment-paper lined baking sheet.

I like to make my loaves squared-off, sort of rectangular, but I've seen some pastry chefs who just mound the dough into a very rough loaf, and that seems to work just fine. It's easier to manage the dough if you flour your hands a few times during the process.

Bake the cookie loaves at 350 for about 25 minutes.  Remove from oven, cool for 10 minutes. 

Place on cutting board.

Slice diagonally into 1/2 inch thick slices, and place slices onto baking sheets. (Now you will need two baking sheets.)  Bake about 8 minutes, and then, if you are feeling up to it, turn each cookie over for the remaining 4 or 5 minutes.  Remove from oven when cookies are lightly browned. 

Don't remove them too early, or they won't be crisp. 

Transfer to cooling rack.  When they are cool, store at room temperature or freeze. 

These cookies freeze very well.