Meanwhile, back in the Catskills…
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Yesterday, at some point is a series of photographs that describe a moment I experienced during the previous day (or thereabouts). The posts are meant to be stand alone images, though at times I can’t control myself, and I end up expanding the caption into a more lengthy bit of text. Hopefully the extra information is useful, or at least interesting. If not, feel free to ignore it.
A rainbow over the bay on our last morning in Maui.
It’s the middle of “spring” break and we have ventured upstate to check out what’s going on in the Catskills. We foresaw days filled with brisk walks through the woods, mountain vistas and some interesting food.
We got cold, rain, fog, and some interesting food.
I’ll tell you more about the trip when we’re back at HQ, but today I find myself scrolling through photos from our year-end trip to Hawaii. I thought I’d share them with you guys in the desperate hopes that posting images filled with sunshine and warmth will convince Mother Nature to give us a break and usher in spring.
And so our spring vacation odyssey begins…
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Yesterday, at some point is a series of photographs that describe a moment I experienced during the previous day (or thereabouts). The posts are meant to be stand alone images, though at times I can’t control myself, and I end up expanding the caption into a more lengthy bit of text. Hopefully the extra information is useful, or at least interesting. If not, feel free to ignore it.
Yesterday was almost 70 degrees. I dug out my Birkenstocks from where they’d been hibernating for aeons and, for the first time in memory, my toes saw the light of day. It was glorious. And it got me thinking about what other everyday options there might be out there for my feet this season. Here are 5 pairs I’m thinking of trying…
Photo courtesy of shopbird.com
Maybe if I start wearing golden sandals, I’ll be able to fly like Hermes and won’t have to deal with traffic or the subway anymore…
a détacher highsmith t-strap low heel sandal. $425 at Bird
Photo courtesy of zeromariacornejo.com
Leave it to the genius Maria Cornejo to deconstruct the oxford in a way that feels classic and ultra modern at the same time…
zero + maria cornejo Flo Oxford, $495 at zeromariacornejo.com.
Photo courtesy of UrbanOutfitters.com
If you want to give this whole fringe moment a try without too much of a financial commitment, try these tasseled sandals from Ecote…
ecote braided tassel sandals. $49 at Urban Outfitters.
Photo courtesy of Avarcasusa.com.
Or maybe it’s about simplicity of form but a bold color, like these classic Pons sandals from Spain…
pons classic women avarca. $77 at avarcasusa.com.
Photo courtesy of cstyleswomen.com
And then there is always the old faithful, the humble, reliable, ever comfortable, your-feet-will-thank-you-for-buying-these Birkenstocks…
classic gizeh sandals by birkenstock. $95 at Birkenstockusa.com.
Nothing like a few cookies after a rigorous Easter egg hunt…
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Yesterday, at some point is a series of photographs that describe a moment I experienced during the previous day (mostly). The posts are meant to be stand alone images, though at times I can’t control myself, and I end up expanding the caption into a more lengthy bit of text. Hopefully the extra information is useful, or at least interesting. If not, feel free to ignore it.
They call it oven-braised beef. I call it pot roast, though I’m thinking of changing up as the former sounds considerately more elaborate than the latter…
I had this idea of doing a regular recipe column on this blog… I thought Thursdays would be good as Wednesday is the one day my daughter is occupied till 5:30, giving me a bit more time to shop, cook and photograph. Turns out, doing anything on a regular basis is much harder than I figured. Life manages to get in the way more than I care to admit (what? mid-winter break? in-laws in town? kid out sick for THREE DAYS STRAIGHT?) Plus sometimes I get so excited to eat that I forget to photograph the finished product, which is super annoying.
But I refuse to give up. And so here, on a Friday, is the next installment of the Thursday food post. About a pot roast I made over a week ago, featuring a photograph of the lunch time leftovers I had 2 days after I cooked it in the first place.
I found the instructions on Smitten Kitchen, but she got it from a 2001 issue of Gourmet Magazine (may it rest in piece). The appeal is that it is super simple, with just meat, a can of tomatoes and garlic. You tie up the beef, chop up the tomatoes and garlic, dump them on the beef, and cook it.
OK so maybe I’m not the best at tying up a roast. But hey, at least I’m trying.
Deb used a 3 1/2 lb roast and cooked it at 300 for 3 – 4 hours. I used a piece half the size and cooked it for around an hour and a half till my thermometer read 135 degrees for medium rare. I also couldn’t help myself and added an onion (peeled and quartered) as well as some thyme and a good pour of red wine. Also, Gourmet says to buy meat from the supermarket because it’s fatty, which is evidently what you want. I stand with Deb Parker on this one and went to my local butcher (The Meat Hook, which rocks) and bought me a high quality, grass-fed, free-range cut, but just asked them to leave the fat on. And it was delicious, let me tell you.
As long as you like beef and tomatoes, you won’t be sorry you made this dish. And the leftovers are even better than the first night’s version, if you ask me, so a generously size piece of meat is not a bad thing.
You can cook from the original Gourmet recipe, or enjoy Smitten Kitchen aka Deb Parker’s snappy prose and extensive photos. Or just scroll down as I’ve reprinted the whole shebang below: — Read more
Our cheerful new Poturo kettle. At long last.
Finally finally, we have a new tea kettle. Our former, burnt-on-the-inside model, which I have been looking to replace for months, has been retired and this new, smaller elegant Japanese version sits in it’s place.
The beauty of the Portoru kettle lies in its simplicity. It’s just the right size, beautifully proportioned and makes me happy every time I look at it. (is that weird?) It is not super fast and modern, like an electric kettle, nor does it have a whistle, so I have to pay attention to ensure I don’t repeat my old mistakes. It’s handle is made of the same enamel as the rest of the pot, allowing for a beautiful uniformity but requiring the use of a pot holder.
And yet, despite all of it’s shortcomings, I am smitten.
As I type this, a white version is on sale on One Kings Lane, which is where we bought ours. But if you miss that opening, or are interested in a different color, try Creatures Of Comfort, where a full range is currently available, albeit without the discount.
May all of our futures be filled with delicious cups of tea.
Chuck Dugan Is AWOL is the one and only novel by Eric Chase Anderson
I like to tell my daughter that every kid has a super power. For one particular boy in her class, it’s math. For others, it’s soccer or gymnastics. Ada’s superpower is wrapped up in stories, on both the giving and receiving end. At the ripe old age of 7, she can tell a complex and coherent story that goes on for 20 minutes straight, and she will sit still for hours if the book we’re reading is interesting to her.
And when it comes to listening to stories, the more complex the tale, with multiple twists and turns and unexpected digressions, the better. Which is why Eric Chase Anderson’s Chuck Dugan Is AWOL was a perfect choice to read aloud, even though it is ostensibly for teenagers and above. The book has everything you need– a coerced marriage, evil admirals, pirates, bicycles riding off rooftops, disguises, whales, hotel lobbies, maps and lost treasure. Plus brilliant illustrations in the form of intricately labeled diagrams and maps that look like something straight out of a Wes Anderson film.
A map of the Dugan family boathouse in Maine.
Which makes perfect sense because this book was written by the eccentric director’s brother (Eric Anderson/Wes Anderson… get it..?) Clearly the Anderson family is not lacking in the imagination dept.
A buoy/hideout in the middle of the bay.
The only downside is that the novel does, eventually, come to a close. My distraught daughter had me scouring the internet in search of a sequel that has yet to be written. It took her a week to recover from this unhappy turn of events, which is understandable in this age of 7 Harry Potters, 51 Magic Treehouse books and 6, oh-no-wait 7, Star Wars movies. Though to be honest, the stand alone-ness of this story makes it all the more worthwhile.
Not one to take things lying down, my daughter is in the process of pleading with Mr Anderson, in letter form, to write another installment.
I’ll keep you posted.
