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prosejudo56-blog · 5 years

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A Passionate Home Cook's Bright Mid-Century Modern Home

Welcome to My Life at Home, where we slow down for just a minute to share a glimpse into the lives of food lovers we'd love to get to know better. Kick off your shoes and get comfy!

When I first met Kevin Masse, I knew immediately he was my type of people. Seatmates at a dinner, we chatted each other's ears off all evening. Our shared love of good home cooking, mid-century modern design, and sweet furry pups had us reach near-BFF status by meal's end. As the head of integrated marketing and brand partnerships for Bake From Scratch magazine, Kevin has an unsurprisingly appetizing Instagram feed, but I quickly discovered this marketer-by-day was chock-full of talents that extend beyond the kitchen.

Turns out this self-professed "serial home cook" is a downright modern-day Renaissance man. Sure, he can whip up beautiful, impressive (but always doable) meals, but he's also a veteran marathon runner (10! PLUS an "ultra marathon"—that's 37.2 miles, people), a classically trained pianist, a yoga teacher-in-training, and a budding philanthropist.

(Catches breath.)

Most importantly, Kevin couldn't be a kinder, more down-to-earth person. Come join me in getting to know this devoted dog dad a little better...

HANA ASBRINK: Hi Kevin, please tell us about yourself.

KEVIN MASSE: I am, first and foremost, a marketer by profession. I spent more than 10 years working in brand strategy in New York City before going into the world of start-ups and working for a growing food media company, where I was in charge of community engagement. This year, however, I decided to leave my job behind and spend time exploring ways to bring purpose into my life. So far, it has been an incredible experience.

I started volunteering with an organization called Healing Meals Community Project, which delivers organic meals to families facing health crises. The meals are cooked by high school students during an after school program, with adult mentors in the kitchen. I have been mentoring these high schoolers for the past few months now, and I can honestly say, nothing has been more nourishing for my soul than being in the kitchen with these kids.

I have also spent much of the time this year in the kitchen, focusing on creating new recipes and learning more about bread baking. The next chapter that I am embarking on is yoga teacher training. This year, my husband and I committed to doing a 40-day yoga challenge through a local studio called The Yoga Shop. I have seen so much of my life transformed that I am now enrolled in a teacher training program that starts this month. What I love is that yoga and food are very intertwined. They both require practice, commitment, and time; and both nourish the soul and make you feel whole.

HA: How long have you lived in your current home? What do you like most about it?

KM: We bought our home almost three years ago. We wanted our dogs to have a backyard and we were ready for more space. We saw the house the day it went on the market and had an offer in just hours after. We love that it's just the right size for us (about 1,800 square feet), which is much bigger than any of our old New York City apartments. It also has an open floor plan, which is something that's harder to come by in older homes.

The entire house (kitchen included) was remodeled before we moved in, which was a huge plus because we loved the finishes they put in: white cabinets, quartz marble counters, marble backsplash. We also loved that the house is on one floor, which means we can look forward to growing older together here.

Kevin's kitchen is part of the home's open floor plan. Photo by Kevin Masse

HA: Tell us more about your cutie pups. How did they come into your lives and how do they make themselves at home?

KM: Our dogs are our children. We got our first dog, Huxley, a Brussels Griffon, when we lived in Manhattan and he quickly stole our hearts. To say that he changed our lives is an understatement. He loved living in the big city and had so many friends at the Washington Square Dog Park. He was (and still is) a social butterfly.

When we moved to Connecticut, we got him a brother—a legitimate brother, actually. Orwell, our second Brussels Griffon, is Huxley's half-brother (they share the same father). They love each other so much. They have run of the entire house when we are home and have beds in pretty much every room. They love being right next to us when we are on the couch, but also just lounging on their own in different parts of the house. When I am working, 9 out of 10 times, they are in the living room or bedroom, either in their beds or hanging out in their crates.

We'll be right here, 'kthanks. Photo by Kevin Masse

HA: Describe your decorating style. What are you influenced by?

KM: We are very mid-century and minimalist in our style. Both my husband and I appreciate the clean lines and proportions of mid-century furniture, and we were fortunate enough to purchase an original dining set from my grandparents' neighbor right before we moved to Connecticut. What I love about the pieces is that they are not only beautiful to look at, but also really ingenious in their design functionality. Our table sits at 48-inches round, but expands to more than 10 feet, which means we can have great dinner parties without having to occupy a gigantic dining room.

I would say our home is influenced heavily by our personal tastes, rather than any one particular designer. I’ve really focused on trying to find pieces for our home that we will have forever, and not just pieces that will get thrown away with the changing tides of decorative taste. I love the history that comes with the furniture and pieces we have started to collect. Each one brings a different story, but collectively, they tell the story of who we are and our home that we are making together.

Bright pops of color in the mid-century modern arm chair cushion pillows. Photo by Kevin Masse

HA: Where do you like to shop for your home?

KM: Here are just a few of my favorites:

Inspirational online sites: I love Horne, which is an online retailer that sells everything from furniture to lighting to kitchenware. It's great for inspiration. I could also spend hours on Etsy looking at different things, and often, can find amazing pieces for a fraction of the cost.

Kitchenware: I truly love going to Food52's Shop as I think they've done a really fantastic job finding products that help real home cooks without relying on the fluff of gimmicky tools. I know that if Food52 sells the product, it has likely been well-used in their test kitchens.

Lighting: Rejuvenation has incredible lighting and I love the mix of styles. They also have great sales so you can usually find what you are looking for at a pretty reasonable price.

Furniture: I love Blu Dot and have a lot of the furniture in my office. The styles are exactly what we love and the quality is really great, which is important to us.

Brick and mortar shops: Mud Australia is one of my favorite stores to visit. I have been collecting pieces over the years and love going into the shops any chance I can get. I love the aesthetic of the stores, and even purchased a Vitsoe Shelving System for my home, based on how much I loved them in the Mud Australia shops.

Vitsoe shelving on display in the office, along with Huxley and Orwell. Photo by Julie Bidwell

HA: Something you hate-to-love or love-to-hate about your home?

KM: Our house has popcorn ceilings and I really wanted to have them all removed before we moved in, but it never happened. I have grown to not notice them, but still really want to have it all removed and redone. It is a VERY expensive project and all of the rooms have them!

HA: Do you have a favorite corner or nook of your home?

KM: The one project we undertook a few months after moving in was the removal of a broom closet at the end of our kitchen. When we moved into the house, it came to my attention that our cabinets were mounted at 16 inches above the counter, rather than the standard 18 inches, which meant many of our countertop appliances, including our coffee maker, did not fit under the cabinets.

That became the impetus to take out the closet and in doing so, it turned out that the closet was exactly the width of a built-in wine refrigerator. We converted the closet to become our bar/coffee station, and it was one of the best things we’ve done. Now we have a place to pour our coffee in the morning and mix our cocktails in the evening, genuinely multipurpose.

We are so here for this clever coffee/bar nook. Photo by Kevin Masse

I also really love our dining room. Of course, there is the furniture, which makes me happy every time I see it, but we recently hung wallpaper from Hygge and West and it has made all the difference in the world. The birds add just the right focal point to the heart of our home.

An accent wall anchors the dining area. Photo by Kevin Masse

HA: If your walls could talk, what would they say?

KM: “Who’s Alexa and why are you always talking to her?”

HA: How often are you cooking? Is your husband Michael a cook?

KM: On most weeknights, you will find me in the kitchen. The kitchen is where I spend most of my time and I could not be happier about it. I do some form of cooking every day of the week; I cook dinner for us about six nights a week. We’ve been trying to limit our dining out in the new year and focus more on being home at night with the dogs. We’ve also been going through a really rigorous yoga program, which has really driven us to focus on being more thoughtful with our food choices. While Michael does not normally cook, he did make a really fantastic quiche back in January.

HA: Are you guys entertaining often?

KM: We entertain at least once a week. My favorite way to entertain is low fuss and low stress. I love inviting friends over last minute when I realize I have enough to feed more than the two of us at home. I like to cook for our guests just as I would for us on a typical weeknight. I think when the food is unfussy and honest, it creates the best experience for those you have over. I think if people want fancy or fussy, they'll just go out to a restaurant. I want people to feel like they are home when they are here.

Hi Kevin, we'll be right right over.

HA: Do you have a signature drink or dinner party fare?

KM: I love roasting chickens for dinner parties, especially during the cold winter months. People are often intimidated by roasting whole chickens, but with just a little pre-planning and a good dry brine, you can create an incredible and easy dinner party that guests just go crazy for. I love spatchcocking the birds and two chickens will usually feed six people. Roast some vegetables to go with it and you’ll have a really happy crowd.

HA: What is your ultimate comfort food?

KM: Pizza is my ultimate comfort food and I love making it at home. I have really gotten into sourdough and have been making pizza with a sourdough crust. I bake it at 550°F on my baking steel and get restaurant-quality results with minimal effort. I also love that pizza is easy enough to make on a weeknight, and if I don’t have time to make the dough, I go with store-bought and let it rest before working with it; it works like a charm every time.

Pizza and roast chicken (spatchcocked or whole) make the world a better place. Photo by Kevin Masse

HA: What do you always keep in your fridge?

KM: Each week, I take out a few jars of homemade stock that I keep in the fridge. I use these during the week to add depth to recipes without having to take all day to cook something. Stock is so much easier than what most people think. I freeze all the ends of my vegetables when I am prepping (onions, carrots, celery, herbs) and also freeze chicken carcasses.

I also amp up my cooking with good condiments like harissa, tomato paste, and crushed Calabrian chili peppers. I also lean heavily on things like Greek yogurt, buttermilk, parsley, and cilantro. (Tip: I keep my cilantro and parsley, washed, in Ball jars in the fridge and they can keep for anywhere up to two weeks!) These key ingredients function as the backbone of my cooking.

Open sesame! Photo by Kevin Masse

HA: What are your top three kitchen tools?

KM: The ones I turn to again and again:

Huge cutting board: I cannot stress enough how important it is to have a big, heavy, top-quality cutting board. It allows you to prep a lot of things at once and not have to work on a teeny tiny space. My cutting board weighs approximately 15 pounds and sits on my counter all the time.

Chef's knife: My Miyabi chef's knife is a powerful and beautiful piece of equipment to work with and makes prep a breeze. I sharpen it myself with a wet stone and can work with it for hours without feeling fatigued.

Enameled cast-iron Dutch oven: I have a small collection of Dutch ovens in various sizes and these get used almost daily in my kitchen. I cook on induction, which has been a game changer for me and I love that cast iron works on such a modern technology. The Dutch ovens are incredible because they heat really evenly, retain the heat very well, and can go from stovetop to oven to table all in one shot.

HA: What is your favorite way to unwind after a long week?

KM: Baking bread is my favorite way to relax after a long week. I love the methodical, slow nature of the process and knowing that with only a few ingredients, you can get something so incredible and rewarding. Not to mention, it makes the house smell really incredible while they're in the oven.

Look at those ears. Photo by Kevin Masse

HA: What's on your playlist right now?

KM: “Hey Alexa, play Brahms on Spotify.” I love all different kinds of music, but 90 percent of the time I am listening to classical. I love the Romantic composers: Brahms, Chopin, Schumann, Liszt, etc. I love that each time I hear a classical piece, no matter how many times I've heard it before, I can pick out something new, like a new line or note that I did not notice before.

I was classically trained on the piano for nearly 20 years and I think this has had a big influence on my musical tastes. However, I do love all types of music and have a real soft spot for Neko Case, Lana Del Rey, Florence and the Machine, and Mumford & Sons—music that feels like music, if that makes sense.

HA: Do you have a favorite Food52 recipe?

KM: The Genius Nekisia Davis Olive Oil and Maple Granola Granola, hands down. I have made this recipe with some variations for years now and each and every time I make it, it comes out incredible. It hits on all the right notes for me: sweet (but not overly so), crunchy, and salty. I have to be careful not to eat too much of it!

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.

Another Genius Granola Recipe

What do you love most about Kevin's home? Let us know below!

Source: https://food52.com/blog/23889-my-life-at-home-kevin-masse

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irldumbass-blog · 6 years

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I’m going to talk about my heartbreak in as full detail as I can.

I have been in 3 relationships, they have all come to an end which is never easy. That person becomes a part of your routine and its so sad to think about them not in your life anymore, whether you are breaking up with them or they are breaking up with you. I’ve had those feelings every time I’ve had a relationship come to an end. Although those feelings are very strong I haven’t had my heart broken until this year around mid February.

My ex boyfriend Alan and I broke up within the first few days of October. He broke up with me, I didn’t take it very hard because I was going to end it anyways but I’m horrible at breaking up with people so I didn’t know when was the right time. Anyways we broke up and I was totally fine. The next day at work my coworker is talking to me about the break up and these two Australian boys come in, one was this tall dark haired boy with the same colouring as me, the other one was a little shorter and not as cute but he had long hair. Me being the way I am I only pay attention to the shorter guy because he has long hair and my eyes completely gravitate towards it (it makes me sooooo weak). I’m just working and walking around the store and long haired guy and I’s eyes are following each other. I have tons of cute guys who come into my work weekly, I don’t know what it was about him but I actually could not stop looking at him. They eventually left, but I was just thinking, damn, I hope he comes in again.

About a week later I match with this guy named Cieren on Tinder who messages me about red bull and how it isn’t good for me. I was giving him a bit of attitude because red bull is my life and he looked cute in some photos, really bad in others. At some point in the conversation I told him I work at a costume store and he told me he was in a week ago and completely recognizes me. I put two and two together and realized that it was the guy I kept staring at, I actually could not believe it. We texted for about a month and then decided to meet up one night when he was done work and I was coming home from a party. We met up around 1:30-2am (lol) and sat at Trinity Bellwoods for a couple hours just talking about everything. The more I looked at him the more I realized how cute he actually is. He has kind of a weird face but I liked it in a way? It just worked. I don’t know. He has light brown hair that goes past the shoulders, green eyes, small nose, small face if I’m being honest, about 6ft tall and pretty lanky. His teeth weren’t perfect and his smile was semi crooked but I kind of liked it. We walked to McDonalds so we can be somewhere inside and this homeless man used his money to buy us coffee and muffins because we “looked like a beautiful young couple”. McDonalds closed so we moved to Tim Hortons across the street and talked until 7am. He was going to Berlin that weekend but he asked if I wanted to hang out when he got back. I was really enjoying my time with him so I said yeah. We cabbed back to our own houses together and my stop was first. We both got out of the cab and we hugged and said our goodbyes but then I kissed him. And then kissed him again. I literally never kiss a guy first on the first date because it makes me anxious as hell but I don’t know what it was, I went home with the biggest smile on my face.

The first thing I did when i got home was look him up on Facebook so I can show my friends. I look up his full name, hes the first person who pops up and it says “in a relationship with Issy H”. I was like ...oookaayy....maybe this is old and hasn’t changed it......or hes being really sketchy what the hell is happening... He was off to Berlin anyways so I decided I’d wait until he brought it up, or I would just bring it up in person to him.

He came back from Berlin and I met up with him around Trinity Bellwoods, he bought me German cigarettes which was very thoughtful of him. First thing I asked him was who he went to Berlin with. He stopped walking and was like “I have to tell you something, I’m in an open relationship. I understand if you don’t want to hang out and I’m really sorry for not telling you earlier but I had such a good time hanging out with you and I didn’t want to ruin it.” I didn’t really know how to react, but I thought, well okay thats fine, we’ll just have a NSA thing going on. We went out for drinks before he had to leave for work, and he told me he wanted to take me out on a date. I was so confused because he just told me he was in a relationship and now he wants to take me on a date? I thought we were just going to go for drinks from here on out and then go back to my place and hook up. I’ve never hung out with a guy in an open relationship so I didn’t really know how to act so I agreed to go on dates with him. One day my work had a Christmas party and he asked me if I would go to his works Christmas party with him, I was so confused (again) because like, why aren’t you bringing your girlfriend Issy? I said no but he asked if he could see me that night so he came over and we just talked and kissed till about 5am. I told him about my darkest shit, things I do not tell strangers, like when I was in a very sexually abusive relationship when I was 14/15. I don’t know why I would tell him that but I felt very comfortable and close with him even though I only knew him for a month. He told me that his girlfriend was very jealous of me hanging out with him as much as I do. I felt really bad but I also really wanted to continue hanging out with him and he wanted to continue hanging out with me, after all he was the one in the relationship and could have took it on himself to stop seeing me. There was one instance where he met me at work and I had to meet up with Summer to go to a show with her, so we walked around the Eaton Centre and he told me he lied to Issy and said he was at work instead of hanging out with me. Thats when I started to feel really weird about the situation I was in, because I liked this guy but he has a girlfriend and I was kept a secret. I don’t know it was weird.

We went to my friend Trevor’s birthday drag show two days before Christmas with my friends Connor and Alex. They really liked him and I was so happy but also so conflicted because of the situation with the girlfriend. I was house sitting my friend Jens apartment, so him and I went back there and we talked all night. He told me hes never felt so connected with someone this strongly in his entire life and I felt the same way even though it was such a short period of time knowing him. I felt so guilty and sick because hes telling me this while his girlfriend is only a couple km away. We cuddled on the couch and made out but he was too anxious to have sex which was totally okay and understandable. We stayed up until 8am and I walked to work. I was completely drained from lack of sleep and the intensity of the conversation. I thought about it all day, so later that day I texted him and told him I will continue hanging out with him but I can’t go any further but friends with him until he figures out his situation with Issy. He told me he understood and he apologized. I hung out with him 2 days later.

Issy started to get jealous to the point where she would attack me. Looking back, I don’t even know why he would tell me any of this because it would obviously just make me uncomfortable and hurt my feelings. She would say things like, “Why do you hang out with her? She looks so fake like she wears all this makeup and wears fake nails” etc. It hurt because I don’t see a problem with the way I look and I never attacked this girls looks to Cieren. I would consider myself a genuinely kind person and for this girl to attack me really bothered me. I met Cieren’s friend Dermott and that did not help the case because apparently when he saw Issy he was talking to her about how good looking and nice I am. Looking back at it I understand why she hated me; I was spending time with her boyfriend. At the same time though, they are in an open relationship. It should not matter. It got to the point where she would read our text conversations, creep me on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, etc. It was a lot for me to handle and I didn’t ask to be put in this messy situation. I should have gotten out of it sooner than later but I really liked him. I started to hate her and would want to hang out with him more out of spite which is pretty evil of me looking back. I liked him so much and I didn’t want to not see him. One night we were at Panamar and he told me he has a really big crush on me. Honestly everything felt perfect with him but in reality nothing was perfect. He told me Issy and him weren’t together anymore and they were breaking up for good once they were back in Australia. He said they weren’t together but he kept switching answers and she would post photos of him/them hanging out still. It was all super confusing to me because i never got a straight answer from him.

One day we went out for dinner and drinks, I ended up back at his place because Issy was in NYC for a couple days. He gave me head in the bed they sleep in together every night and I didn’t even do anything to him. I felt super uncomfortable to be in his house because he lived with quite a lot of roommates and they obviously know I am the -other- girl. We went out for brunch the next day and Issy called him, told him she knew what happened. He felt so sick he couldn’t even eat. I felt really guilty but at the same time, he told me they weren’t together anymore and even if they were, they are in an open relationship. We hung out all day and he asked me if I was seeing anyone else other than him, and I was. I was also casually seeing a boy named Colt and Cieren got so upset and jealous. I told him I liked him more than Colt, which was true. I shouldn’t have told him that though because he didn’t even deserve to be hearing that. I wish I liked Colt more than I liked Cieren because he probably wouldn’t have put me through all this emotional labour to hang out with him.

One night Cieren and I went out for dinner and he asked me what would happen with us if he came back to Toronto. Because he had a crush on me, I was comfortable to tell him that I would date him. He didn’t really say anything back so I went to the washroom and had a giant anxiety attack because I didn’t really know what else to do... Like why would you ask me that? He knew the answer he just wanted me to say it out loud. I couldn’t really talk afterwards, it wasn’t even because I was mad at him or trying to give him the silent treatment, I just really didn’t know what to say. I smoked like 3 cigarettes because I was so overwhelmed by my own feelings. We took the streetcar back to the west end and he started crying when we got off. I walked up to college and we sat in an A&W and kind of just broke down. He was crying saying he likes me so much and doesn’t know what to do because hes going back to Australia in less than a month. I didn’t really know what to say and thats when it kind of clicked in with me that he was leaving. We talked it out and we both agreed we have really strong feelings for each other and I went home. He came to my work on my break the next day to buy me a coffee and apologize to me about last night. We just continued on.

The week he was leaving I drew him this beautiful card and wrote the most heartfelt shit. The last guy I made art for was Alan back around Christmas time last year. I saw him the night before he left, he met me at work and we went to Java House and got really drunk on cheap beer. We made out in the bathroom downstairs and were super PDA in the booth we were sitting at. We Ubered back to mine and he just sat on my couch and started bawling. I brought him into my room and I gave him the card. He read it and just hugged me and went on top of me completely sobbing. We just cried and told each other how much we like each other. Its like a break up that we didn’t want to happen but it was pretty much forced. We took pictures together and we were all red in the face from sobbing, he needed to go because his roommates were having a goodbye drink night for them so I walked him to the lobby and we just bawled and held each other. We kissed like 20 times and then he left. I bawled my eyes out for the next half hour, he texted me saying “I have so much love for you”. The next morning he texted me before he left, saying they drove past my apartment building when they were in the taxi and he was so upset. He messaged me at the airport and in between flights every chance he got. Him and Issy were at the airport together but apparently they barely talked.

When he got back to Australia, we would call each other for 3 and a half hours just talking about anything and catching up. He’d tell me he misses me and has even stronger feelings now that he has left and was planning on coming back so we could see each other again. Because he was gone, I was back on Tinder. You obviously get some pretty bad messages from men on that site, there was a couple times that I’d tweet that men are shitty. Cieren took it so personally and told me that women can be even shittier, defending men and doing that annoying “not all men” shit. He all of a sudden verbally attacked me and called me ignorant, immature, rude, told me my opinions are stupid, etc. Even though he was being so hurtful to me I still wanted to talk it out with him because I liked him so much. He stopped messaging me, completely ignoring all of my messages. I was so hurt. I check Instagram and he is fully hanging out with Issy, even though he told me they weren’t together and were for sure ending things when they went back to Australia. Directed at him this time, I tweeted that men suck and my friend alex replied “-australian accent- not ALL men-” and I laughed because Cieren and I weren’t talking anymore and he kind of screwed me over. Cieren messaged me all of a sudden freaking out at me telling me i’m cyberbullying (lol) him. Sure I may have not laughed at what Alex said, but at the time it was completely justifiable. After all, he stopped talking to me and said really rude things to me questioning my intelligence. For some FUCKED up reason I sent him a huge apology even though I really shouldn’t have. He didn’t even respond to it.

I was so fucked up over him for months. I would cry and question what I did wrong, but I realize now I really couldn’t have done anything. I should have just ended it when he told me he was in an open relationship. Instead, I went through the most emotionally draining experience of my life all for a guy who was rude to me and could never take accountability for his actions. He messaged me recently telling me that he hopes I’m doing well, he still thinks about me every day and he misses our time together. Then he continues to tell me that I am insane. He is insanely passive aggressive and doesn’t even realize it. He never apologizes for anything, even after everything he put me through those couple months he lived in Toronto. I got absolutely no apology about anything because he doesn’t even realize how much he broke my heart. This was the first time I’ve been so crazy about someone and it ended so horribly. He turned out to be a completely different person than I thought he was. I’m sure he is still with Issy, I used to hate her but I just feel bad for her at this point. She obviously really loves this guy and hes messaging this girl from Toronto telling her he thinks about me every day. He treated me so unfairly and so horribly and I don’t think I can ever forgive him. He completely ruined my trust, I used to have no problems with it but I have insanely strong trust issues now. It really sucks and he really hurt me but this situation has helped me grow into being a stronger person and to not settle. I deserve the world and he did not deserve someone like me. I’m doing better than I was a couple months ago, I have deleted him off of social media so this chapter of my life has officially closed, which is why I’m writing this.

Goodbye heartbreak, goodbye manipulative men, goodbye gaslighting men.

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