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.

Domino Mourners, Rejoice!

Say hello to Lonny- the new magazine that has the hopes and dreams of Domino mourners everywhere on it's shoulders- no pressure or anything. Former Domino editor Michelle Adams rounded up some alums of the well-loved shelter mag to re-create the magic in an online-only format. While it might seem like a bummer to not have a glossy book to flip through, the consolation is that the features will be way longer- and zoomable details! 20 pages of former Domino ed-in-chief Deborah Needleman's upstate New York home? Ill take it! (Though I'll never forget that she didn't have a hamper for used hand towels in the bathroom at the launch of Domino's design book, held at her Tribeca loft. Even the perfect miss some details every once in a while. whew! )

Hyperlinks will also make shopping from the pages a snap- just click and shop!

Lonny launches this Thursday, Oct 1. Oh happy day.

this is north dakota.

I'm gearing up for a big two week trip out to the midwest with my boyfriend who hails from the great state of North Dakota, and I'm also getting ready to revive thisisnorthdakota.blogspot.com, a blog and photo journal that I started on our first trip out there two years ago.

As a city girl who had never been to the Great Plains, nearly everything we saw was new and exciting and slightly weird in a charming country way. I revived it on a second trip last summer for a 125th anniversary celebration of the town of New Rockford (pop. 1400), and I'm excited to revv it up again. It's a great way to keep the trip organized, and to keep everyone back home involved in our pastoral endeavors. This upcoming trip includes a leg that will take us farther west into Montana and Wyoming, including a stay in West Yellowstone to take in the park views. I know that my posts haven't always been personal in nature, it's something I've been resisting for some reason, but I'm giving in now. I'll be linking to the blog here with teaser pictures and videos, but I hope you'll check it out and follow us on our trip. One of the first things I'll be posting about is the grand opening of a shop in town that is advertising 'Live Bait and Gourmet Pocket Pies' in the hometown paper, which we have delivered to our Park Slope home so we can keep ourselves up-to-date on town gossip. Gourmet pocket pies sound pretty good, no? I don't know if they're sweet or savory, or what constitutes 'gourmet' in the middle of North Dakota, but you can bet I'll find out and report back.

PS- that's a pic of yours truly at the wheel of a Ford F1 pickup from the '30's, getting ready to drive down a dusty gravel farm road. No power brakes or steering-- a full body workout.