New Photos: Spring Arrivals!

One of a kind Asian Eye scarves, Nic & Zoe collection suitable for work, Liebeskind German leather bags, pristine Jill McGowan blouses, stunning European ivory jackets by Groa, and much more, including cute Valentine pins, arrived for spring at Renee's last week. Here's a photo collection for you to browse. Please stop in soon to try on something new for spring!

Don't forget our "Soup" event on Wed., Feb. 8. Bring a crock pot of your favorite soup to share. Or just drop in for lunch. Either way, there will be enough hearty and nutritious lunch for all.

Sending warm love on the last day of January,

~renee

Cooking or Clothing? How 'bout Both!

Hello again, dear readers. My goodness, had I known you were so interested in cooking (or was it that you were housebound and bored?) I would have opened a restaurant instead of a clothing store! Just kidding. But you did respond more to my last post about pinto beans than all other posts I've published combined! So if you will indulge me one more time, I am eager to provide an answer for the next time someone in your household asks the dreaded "What's for dinner?" question! Just come up with a better name for it than I could: pork shoulder. There must be a more elegant name for it. Picnic ham? No, that doesn't do it either. Let's see, the New York Times magazine article that gave me the inspiration called it bo ssam. Still, the name doesn't really matter, because truly when you taste it, you'll think you died and went to heaven. The restaurant in the Times article charges $200 for a piece of meat like this. But you can make it at home for about $20.

Here's how. Buy a pork shoulder (really, that's what QFC calls it) with a bone in it. Around seven pounds should do it. Measure out a generous half cup white sugar and mix it with a half cup of salt. Put the raw meat on a large piece of plastic wrap, and put that on a baking tray. Sprinkle the meat with the salt and sugar mixture. Wrap it all up in the plastic, and put it in the fridge on the tray overnight. Next day, turn the oven on to 300 degrees, unwrap the meat, and bake it, for around four hours, or until it develops a yummy-looking crust. Then, enjoy! I served it with more brown rice and the beans that I made last week. The Times suggests wrapping lettuce leafs around chunks of it and dipping it in hot sauce. That sounds good, too. (I recommend Frank's if you you don't want to make your own.) No matter what you eat it with, preparing this entree is a lot less work and tastes exponentially better than any fancy dish you could conjure up. Your family will be in awe of your cooking talent, too!

As for clothing, the snowbanks have melted, and the UPS guy finally showed up. Here's what he brought us: beautiful white cotton blouses and a jacket to add to the spring collection we have going at Renee's from brand name Gretty Zueger! Put them with jeans, or wear them with shorts this summer. And even though it's still chilly outside, they won't last long, because they are that cute!

Happy full work week to all!

Love,
Renee

P.S. Don't forget to stop by any time after noon for our soup exchange on Wed., Feb. 8. Bring hot soup in a crock pot to share, or just show up. There will be plenty for all. Sounds like we'll be having clam chowder, cowboy black bean, chicken noodle soups and more to sample. Along with bread from the Russian restaurant next door, you'll get a complete nutritious, delicious meal at Renee's. We'll keep the crock pots on for you until it's all gone.

Pinto Beans (Or "How I Spilled the Beans.")

This blog doesn't always have to be about clothing. Does it? I hope not, because it's a snow day here in the Seattle area, and nothing around here is moving. No new clothing has arrived. I don't think the UPS man is like the mailman ("Neither rain, nor snow, nor sleet, nor hail shall keep the postmen from their appointed rounds.") who already came. I haven't seen the UPS guy or his truck for a few days. Maybe they are all stuck in the snowbanks.

All this snow has me interested in staying home! And when I am home, I like to cook. I made some killer pinto beans last night. Now I know pinto beans aren't very exciting, but these turned out so well! I started the day before at the co-op. I spilled the beans all over the floor by accidentally opening the spout wider when I tried to close it. Uh oh. I had to confess to the cashier that I made a mess back there. That was after I tried to laugh it off to the lady standing behind me in the bulk area who was, by this time, looking at me out of the corner of her eyes to see if I was insane. "Oops, he he," I muttered under my breath, chagrined, when I really wanted to scream "Aieeeeeeee!"

Anyway, that night I put a cup of them (dry) into a pan, covered them with water, and brought it to a boil. Then I put the lid on the pan and turned off the heat. The next morning (yesterday) I drained and rinsed the beans. Covered them with water again. Chopped up an onion and put that in. Found some old dried out garlic cloves, peeled those and threw them in. Put on the heat at a slow bubble. The beans started cooking. Soon they began smelling sooooo good. Next thing I knew, there was a lovely gravy going. When I tasted a bean, maybe about 1.5 hours later, it was tender. I added some salt, chili powder, a bit of cumin, and some tomato sauce to the pan and stirred. That's when I knew this dish was gonna be good! Tossed in some chopped red pepper and green onion for good measure (and good photo).



I sprayed nonstick oil into a baking dish and dumped it all in. Let it sit on top of the stove all day, heat and lid off, while I was at work. When I got home, I shredded some really good white Irish cheddar cheese and sprinkled it on top of the beans. Shoved the whole thing into the oven, lid off, at 350 degrees for 45 minutes. In the meantime poured some brown rice and water in the rice cooker. Bill seasoned and grilled chicken breasts. I cut up kale and cooked it. Can I just say, I could have eaten the WHOLE casserole of crusty bean bake over the rice by myself. It tasted so good on a snowy night. Bill was NOT as excited as I was about the bean dish, and he was even more adamant about not putting tongue to kale even just to taste it. Fine by me, I got to eat all of the kale myself. Still, I got a lot of satisfaction out of some simple pinto beans. Yummmmmmmmm.

And this, dear readers, sums up my work at Renee's (and my whole life!): take something simple and innocuous such as pinto beans. They are dry, plain, and basically inedible to begin with. Add some clear cool water and heat. Season with love. Voila! You end up with something delicious, nutritious, and good for you. At Renee's take something seemingly plain and "normal," add quality with fine fabrics and top-notch construction, and get something that gives you pleasure every time you wear it. Just. Like. That.

This morning I made granola. Mmmmm. And in the evenings, cocoa--REAL cocoa-- has been our light but yummy-tasting "dessert!"



And that's my cooking story, readers. It's a change-up from the regular clothing post. Hope you are having a good snow day, one and all!!

Sending my love and warmth,

Renee

p.s. I am going to host a soup exchange at Renee's on Wed. Feb. 8. Make your favorite soup, bring it to Renee's hot in a crock pot, and let's do lunch together. If you don't want to cook soup, come anyway. There will be plenty to go around. I'll provide some yummy rye bread from the Russian restaurant next door to go along with the soups. What do you think? Will you make soup? Will you eat soup? Do you like soup? What's your favorite soup? Please post a comment.

Renee's is bringing on Spring!

Going somewhere warm? Need a dress for an event this spring or summer? Don't wait, these won't last. Above, Luna Luz black and green "Cheerio" dress. Love it!


Luna Luz ombre short dress, from black to green.

Luna Luz green tank dress, woven cotton poplin bottom and knit cotton stretch bodice. Beautiful!


Luna Luz cut-out shoulder white cotton stretch knit top, tied-up black skirt.


Elana Kattan tank dress with princess seams.


Comfy asymmetric black netting top over white crinkle tank top.


Comfy asymmetric white netting top over black crinkle tank top.



Wooden Ships cardigan, Tees by Tina tank.


Fidji shoes. One olive, the other 2-tone taupe sling back.


Nic and Zoe cardigan and tank, color sand.


Wooden Ships sweater, Three Dots tee, Silver jeans.


Miss Me jeans, Three Dots tee, Wooden Ships sweater.