Tea for Two, and Two for Tea

Happy post-Thanksgiving! I know it's all holiday downhill from here, and that's totally fine with me (I'm in possesion of a DIY pre-fab gingerbread house from Ikea, which I plan to decorate a la Domino mag, craftylike. I'm in the spirit! pics to come)
So, that means thinking about gifts, right? Jeez. I spent the weekend caring for my ailing boyfriend who was stricken with a forceful cold. Tea, tea, and more tea were called for, and as I tapped out scoops of tea from Kusmi and Mariage Freres, I realized that some gorgeous tea makes for a beautiful gift. A recent trip to Montreal brought me into the world of Kusmi tea for the first time- hey, if it was good enough for Russian czars, it's good enough for me! And Mariage Freres is a gorgeous tea house in Paris, with amazing packages. I can't think of a better way to give a gift that keeps on giving, looks and tastes delicious, AND lives on, greenly, with containers that can be re-purposed. There are flavors galore, caffeine-free, strong, weak, in between. Something for everyone on your list, in other words.

Oh- and the best part? You can buy it all online, while you sip some tea yourself. If you're feeling particularly sweet, throw in some nice honey, too. We need to support those beekeepers!

Long Live Ruth!

While mourning the loss of Gourmet magazine (especially tough at this time of year) I temporarily forgot about the TV series that Gourmet produced with American Public Television called Adventures with Ruth.
Happy to stumble upon it in my program guide, I've TiVo'd the series and have enjoyed two episodes of former Gourmet Editor-in-Chief Ruth Reichl (rishel) traipsing around Mexico and Seattle, respectively. My friend Martha introduced me to her books a handful of years ago, and I'm getting ready to dive into Tender at the Bone again soon. There's something about the way this woman writes and thinks about food that hits all the right notes.

As I get ready to make my Thanksgiving lineup (brussels sprouts and cauliflower in a creamy gratin topped with breadcrumbs, my friend Justin's mom's biscuits, a fancy lattice topped apple pie, some pumpkin muffins for T-day morning, to name a few menu selections) I'm thinking back to all of the inspiring moments I gleaned from Gourmet- it sounds silly, it was just a magazine. But to me, it was more than that-- it was a place to share my love of food with a group of writers and editors who loved cooking and food just as much as I did (more, of course, they lived and breathed it!). So, I encourage you to find Adventures with Ruth in your local programming and check it out. Her enthusiasm for life's simple pleasures is infectious, and even if we can't look forward to Ruth's musings in our mailbox every month, at least we can enjoy the wonders of the food world along with her on TV. Something to be thankful for.

If you are of a certain age.....

Than this video should evoke warm and fuzzy feelings. Sesame Street is 40 years old today! And who knew- they pitched the show to major networks like NBC and ABC, who declined it. Ahem-somebody's feelin dumb today, right?

What Is Inspiration?

I just read about this new site from Antropologie called theanthropologist.net. It seems to be an online gallery-type space that explores the idea of inspiration and where it comes from. They've got some heavy hitters answering that question-- director Jane Campion, whose most recent film Bright Star follows the life of poet John Keats, shares some beautiful images from the production of the film, including what a dance card from a cotillion looks like. So beautiful.



Filmmaker-photographer Andrew Zuckerman shares some great films about several things near and dear to his heart, including Chiara Clemente, Bill Withers, and the owners of Buon Italia, a grocer at Chelsea Market. A nice place to click around.