Nov 30, 2012

Fletcher's Brooklyn BBQ

Some BBQ to kick off your Friday morning. (See the Serious Eats article here.) I loved the light that late afternoon.

Nov 28, 2012

Pie for breakfast

One morning last week involved the fanciest coffee I've ever had ($25 for 150g! but so worth it!) and a slice of Four and Twenty Blackbirds Black Bottom Oatmeal Pie (no stranger to these parts). If only all days could start like this.

Nov 25, 2012

Adventures in nutella buns

Like with all cookbooks I get, I started to read This is a Cookbook by Max and Eli Sussman cover to cover. (Mind you, I rarely actually cook from cookbooks -- I like to absorb the details of the recipe and admire the photos, but that's usually as far as I go.) I stopped dead at the recipe for Nutella Buns and thought, "I MUST make these immediately." In fact, I was so unprepared to make these that J had to run to the grocery store to fetch me a proper rolling pin. (Oh yes, I tried with other household objects in the meantime, but was having trouble rolling to the proper size.)

We took some process photos for kicks. Since I have no kitchen counter space, I use the dining table and the heater/window ledge instead -- ah, some day, I will have a real kitchen...


The buns rest on top a brown sugar/butter mixture with chopped pecans. Once they were done baking and cooled a bit, I flipped them over. The result is below.

Some fun with ingredients.

So who wants to come over for breakfast?

Nov 23, 2012

Hot Pot

The five of us -- mom, dad, J, (and Avedon sort of!) -- enjoyed a nice hot pot in our tiny apartment yesterday for a very untraditional Thanksgiving. I grabbed a few photos of the set up and spread.

For the sauce, we mix satay with peanut butter and cilantro. I like to add some hot chili paste to mine as well. We started with chicken broth, added a ton of mushrooms, napa cabbage, other leafy greens (that I'm not sure what their English name is), egg dumplings, fish tofu, tofu, tofu noodles (so interesting!), vermicelli, duck slices, brisket slices, giant shrimp, rice cakes, etc.


It was a crowded table, that's for sure.



I just had leftovers for lunch. And there's still so much more!

Nov 21, 2012

Thanksgiving Eve

J and I started a tradition a few years ago where we treat ourselves to a pre-Thanksgiving feast on Wednesday night. How can you really go wrong with a tradition like that? In the past we've been to Adour and Gramercy Tavern -- tonight we'll head to Blue Hill in the West Village.

This is a totally gratuitous style post, but I thought I'd share what I normally wear to a nice dinner. I always reach for dark jeans and a loose silk blouse (gotta make room for the gluttony ahead of course). Always with the sleeves up and a sort of hasty tuck. It's definitely my comfort zone. Heels, if I can muster up the energy to want to deal with them after a heavy meal (so, rarely).


Jeans: Current Elliott // Blouse: Tinley Road // Necklace: Kate Spade (Mine is a cheaper factory version) // Bracelet: Hermès // Shoes: Christian Louboutin // Bag: Chanel WOC

Hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving! My parents are coming to town and I'm kinda excited about my first Thanksgiving actually in the city.

Nov 19, 2012

The Fat Radish

Yesterday, I had the perfect Sunday brunch at The Fat Radish. It was my first time there, and I fell head over heels for the table in the front of the restaurant. The rest of the restaurant was super charming as well, but the light at this table was unbeatable. It's completely separated from the rest of the restaurant, but it felt like eating at someone's kitchen table.

I was a bit unprepared for the awesomeness of this space and didn't have a "real" camera on me -- but I always remind myself the best camera is the one you have on you. So I'll let my iPhone take it away!


I am looking forward to a return visit!

Nov 14, 2012

Lulu & Po

I loved shooting at Lulu & Po in Fort Greene recently for this Serious Eats review. Below are a few shots not published in the review. Isn't the interior great? I love that bubble pendant lamp. And the floors. And the color scheme. And the white subway tile at the bar. And the amazing bathroom (see last photo).

Nov 12, 2012

*Shipping update

To all my amazing calendar buyers, thank you so much for placing an order. I was overwhelmed with all the international support - didn't know I had so many international readers! I had wanted to ship orders within three business days, but due to UPS not delivering any of my printing supplies or shipping supplies, I'm afraid shipping will be a bit delayed. I had no idea it was going to be this difficult to get my packages, as UPS is usually good about this. I sincerely apologize and will get your calendars shipped as quickly as humanly possible when I have the supplies. Thank you so much for your patience.

Nov 8, 2012

2013 Instagram Photo Calendar

I have always wanted to design a little calendar using some of my photos from the year. This year, I thought it would be fitting to use Instagram photos, and I'm excited to finally present the finished product. The calendar is printed on a nice matte paper and comes unbound, so there's some flexibility in how you want to display it. When each month is done, you can cut off the calendar portion, and keep a little 5x5 print (if you'd like :)).


The photos I chose are tied in to still life, coffee and interiors - which comprise the bulk of my Instagram feed.


For the month of November, I am donating 25% of all calendar sales to local Hurricane Sandy relief efforts (a great list on Jenna's blog here). You can grab a calendar with the button right down there.

OUT OF STOCK





Update: December 13 -- At this time I'm no longer shipping internationally. I appreciate all the love from you, international buyers though!

Thank you for your support!

Nov 7, 2012

Magical

It's a winter wonderland out there right now.


*Also, praying camera and lens dry off with no repercussions.

Nov 6, 2012

A week offline

Hello - it's been a while. Last Sunday, before the storm, J and I, along with a reluctant Avedon, evacuated our apartment under mandatory orders. I wasn't sure what to expect. I assumed the power would go out and maybe we'd lose water. But I was expecting things would be fine after the storm passed. As some of you know, I live VERY close to the water. So close that, in fact, our street and building experienced heavy flooding, about 5-6 feet during the surge. Every ground floor apartment and business establishment in the neighborhood sustained pretty bad flooding damage.

We were lucky. Despite that we went a full week without power, heat, or hot water (well they're still working on that one), we are among the lucky.

Before the power came on yesterday evening, I was in pretty low spirits. My body ached from walking all over the city during the day time to avoid being in our depressing apartment, I was incredibly anxious about all the work I was missing out on and all the emails that needed my attention, and I was just damned tired of breathing in so many candle fumes. Then the fridge started to buzz and there was an energy in the air. I was very cautiously optimistic, afraid that if I exclaimed that the power was back on, it'd go away.

But now that I'm slowly getting back in the swing of things, I am incredibly thankful that I still have a place to call home. My little apartment is still standing and well. I can't even imagine having to rebuild from scratch and I feel terrible for those who lost everything.


Thank you to everyone who emailed or tweeted or got in touch with concerns. It's so so good to be back!