Tuesday, March 31, 2009

happy-go-lucky



there is nothing not to like about last year's happy-go-lucky, mike leigh's light-hearted and optimistic latest film. the story follows an urbanite 30-year-old schoolteacher whose good humor seems to never slip from her as she tackles everyday difficulties (a stubborn sister, an abused student, a possibly sociopathic driving instructor) head-on. poppy, played by the unbelievably charming sally hawkins, is just the right amount of cute and lovable. when a situation extends past joking-level, she registers and smoothly attempts to steer everyone away from a dramatic car wreck. she wears rose-tinted glasses constantly, in a way i only wish i could, never letting a bad mood or a sad moment get the best of her. she is witty, funny, and mostly effervescent, as a few critics have pointedly described her. at the end of his review of the film, david edelstein wrote, "I’d like to think Poppy will never go away, that we all can cultivate our inner Poppys." i like that.

reviews:
new york times
new york magazine

glorious food





*photos from last night's dinner

lately, i've been having a little too much fun poking through some new food blogs i've discovered. aside from the remarkable presentation of the dishes and the impeccable photographs, the sites are both so simple and unadulterated. i appreciate that the recipes are not the end-all-be-all of the posts and the creativity involved in these dishes is very inspiring. it's funny how in analyzing my appreciation of these blogs, i notice that they don't make me hungry or desirous of the food (although it looks delicious!) instead, they inspire me to want to cook more--to be more vigilant in the kitchen, more consistent, and more adventurous. i love making things with my hands and i don't know what it is about food, but i desperately enjoy making it--even more so than i do eating it!

having just received an enormous delivery of groceries from fresh direct, i am eagerly thinking up all the goodies i can make tomorrow. i've already put together a quick arugula, basil, & pine nut pesto before my basil spoiled. i have all this ground beef to make something with. maybe a bolognese sauce to freeze? or meatballs? cuban picadillo, maybe? help!! i'm htinking of putting together some homemade sauces in some sort of packs on etsy...thoughts?







*photos from jewels of ny

want to be outside



succulents. via abbytryagain.

Monday, March 30, 2009

bridget


spent my second afternoon hanging out at my new favorite local cafe, bridget with a good friend turned new blogger!

bridget is right around the corner from my apartment, on broadway close to the water. i found out about this lovely spot when lovely jess sent me an email about the new southside csa that caters to my neighborhood and will find a temporary home on monday nights at bridget.

in case you know nothing about CSAs, it stands for community supported agriculture. it's a volunteer-run program in which local farms offer "subscriptions" to members of a community who in turn receive weekly baskets of produce. this method allows individuals to buy what amounts to a share in a farm at the start of a season, providing cash flow to the farmers to purchase seeds and tools, and then reap the benefits of their investment throughout the course of farming season.

in the case of the one i joined (apparently there are others in greenpoint and in east williamsburg), the southside csa offers shares in wine, vegetables, fruit, and eggs. i purchased a half-share in both eggs and vegetables, meaning from mid-jun thru early november i will be picking up a crate full of fresh produce every other week! this also means that i will be volunteering with the southside csa, helping with distribution once (not until september!) and cooking a meal for the greenpoint soup kitchen with leftover produce (in july!)

read more about CSAs and visit bridget.

just kidding around





still not over this

Sunday, March 29, 2009

plaid mod mini



loving this dress i found on ebay.

i poured myself a glass of water..

and:

wisdom from my departed teeth

the only benefit of getting my wisdom teeth extracted so far has been the quality time i've managed to spend in front of my newly acquired working television, catching up on missed films of the past few months. i enjoyed watching both of them very much and recommend them for different reasons.




rachel getting married is a seamless and harmonious family drama that is the product of a very inventive collective. the film really drives home to those of us who were raised in passionate, crazy families, and also serves as an inspiration to those of us who aspire to create work out of a collaborative effort. i felt very tense watching the film, as if i was tapping my foot the entire time, and found myself trying to look away and drawn to the screen at the same time. the story was very well told, the music and style of the filmmaking was fresh and enjoyable, and the characters--who were marvelously unlikable, were all the more better to watch.



the wackness is an authentic and simple coming-of-age story that effortlessly conveys the sweet feeling of summer in the city and the stoned sedation of its main characters. laced with beautiful images and a serious soundtrack, the film also features great performances (especially by ben kingsley) and a story that is told calmly, with the drama always falling into place, but never hitting its audience too heavily.

double doubles

nearly 48 hours after surgery, now. yesterday, the laying-in-bed-watching-movies-flipping-through-magazines mode still seemed like a novelty. my jaw is still a bit numb and all i want are these burgers:

Saturday, March 28, 2009

i can't eat right now

but these are the things i am desperately craving:



wild things

this is too awesome, can't wait:



esp set to that arcade fire song!

wisdom teeth

i got my wisdom teeth taken out yesterday. meaning i am now 50% less wise and have chubby checker cheeks. this is what i look like:



i was very well taken care of, though. yesterday, i ate three chocolate puddings. i was just given a large tv, so the my living room sofa was pulled out for me and i have been camped out in the living room for the past 24 hours. i rented 5 dvds in advance and have already made my way through 3 of them. now i'm catching up on my hbo on demand, flipping through magazines i've saved for this weekend, and gathering recipes for an upcoming feast. life is good. it would be even better if i were capable of reading every book on my bookshelf today.

meanwhile, i've been having a lot of fun with this website. you should check it every day.

Thursday, March 26, 2009

roses smell like poo poo



i have nothing to say, but i know someone out there is really craving a post. click here to hear a funny song about them.

i'm right on top of that, rose!



just caught the awesome third act of don't tell mom the babysitter's dead on tv, easily one of the top films to come out of the 90s. i would be happy to explicate my love for this film right now, but i'm in a rush. so i'll just leave you with the movie's closing song, over which bryan gives sue ellen a rose and kisses her.

Saturday, March 21, 2009

rachel antonoff pt. 2




more rachel antonoff, photos from her look book:

rachel antonoff



click here to watch an awesome video starring maybe from arrested development.

Thursday, March 19, 2009

away we go

dave eggers meets sam mendes and they make a movie with maya rudolph and the guy from the american office, jim.

arsenio hall show...




check out THIS awesome clip of the beasties performing "so what'cha want" on the arsenio hall show!!

pizza night!

Last Saturday, I made dinner with my great friends Meryl and Jessica (of sacatonjune!)

We made asparagus with baked egg and grana padano cheese, mushroom and goat cheese-bechamel sauce pizza, and polenta-crust pizza with pancetta and spinach.


For the Asparagus, we just blanched the asparagus in boiling water for 3-5 minute, until they turned a brighter green. We then cut off the tough, bottom portion of the stems. Then we assembled them in a deep roasting pan, cracked open three eggs over different sections, and sprinkled generously with shaved grana padano cheese. We put in in the oven at about 400 degrees for roughly 10-15 minutes, until the cheese was melted and the egg should be cooked medium, with the yolk still runny. (*Watch this carefully--last night I overcooked this!)


The Mushroom-Bechamel Sauce pizza came from a recipe in Food & Wine Magazine:


Ingredients

1. 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2. 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
3. 1 1/2 cups milk
4. 2 ounces fresh goat cheese, thickly sliced
5. Freshly grated nutmeg
6. Salt and freshly ground black pepper
7. 1 pound pizza dough
8. 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for brushing
9. 1 garlic clove, smashed
10. 1 pound assorted fresh mushrooms, such as porcini, white button and stemmed shiitake, thinly sliced
11. 1 teaspoon thyme leaves

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 500°. Preheat a pizza stone or generously oil a large baking sheet. In a medium saucepan, melt the butter over moderate heat. Stir in the 3 tablespoons of flour until a paste forms. Gradually pour in the milk, whisking until smooth. Bring the béchamel sauce to a simmer over moderately high heat, whisking constantly, until thickened, about 4 minutes. Reduce the heat to low and cook, whisking often, until no floury taste remains, about 10 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the goat cheese until melted. Season the sauce with nutmeg, salt and pepper.
2. Cut the pizza dough into 4 pieces. On a lightly floured work surface, roll out each piece to a 6-inch round. Dust the rounds with flour and let rest until slightly puffed, about 15 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, in a large skillet, heat the 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Add the smashed garlic clove and cook over moderate heat until golden, about 2 minutes. Add the mushrooms, cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until tender and browned, about 15 minutes. Discard the garlic. Season the mushrooms with salt and pepper and stir in the thyme leaves.
4. Roll out one of the dough rounds to form a 9-inch round. Transfer the round to the peel and brush the edge of the dough with olive oil. Spread 1/3 cup of the béchamel over the dough and scatter one-fourth of the mushrooms on top.
5. Transfer the round to the pizza stone and bake for about 5 minutes, until the edges are crisp and the béchamel is bubbling. Transfer the pizza to a work surface, cut into wedges and serve. Repeat with the remaining dough and toppings.



And I believe Jess got the recipe for the polenta pizza from the NYTimes' Minimalist:

-1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil, more for pan
-1/2 cup milk, preferably whole
-Salt
-1 cup coarse cornmeal
-Freshly ground black pepper
-1 small onion, chopped
-1/2 cup (about 4 ounces) chopped pancetta
-1 pound spinach, washed, trimmed and dried
-1 to 1 1/2 cups Gorgonzola cheese, crumbled.

1. Heat oven to 450 degrees; brush a layer of olive oil on a pizza pan or cookie sheet. In a medium saucepan over medium-high heat, combine milk with 2 1/2 cups water and a large pinch of salt. Bring just about to a boil, reduce heat to medium, and add cornmeal in a steady stream, whisking all the while to prevent lumps from forming. Turn heat to low and simmer, whisking frequently, until thick, 10 or 15 minutes. If mixture becomes too thick, whisk in a bit more water; you want a consistency approaching thick oatmeal.

2. Stir 1 tablespoon oil into cooked cornmeal (polenta). Spoon it onto prepared pan, working quickly so polenta does not stiffen; spread it evenly to a thickness of about 1/2 inch all over. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, cover baking sheet with plastic wrap and put it in refrigerator until it is firm, an hour or more (you can refrigerate polenta overnight if you prefer).

3. Put polenta in oven and bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until it begins to brown and crisp on edges. Meanwhile, put two tablespoons oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onion and pancetta and cook, stirring occasionally, until onion is soft and pancetta is nicely browned, about 10 minutes. Use a slotted spoon to take onion and pancetta out of pan; set aside. Add spinach to skillet and sauté until it releases its water and pan becomes dry; sprinkle with salt and lots of pepper.

4. Take polenta out of oven, sprinkle with Gorgonzola, then spread onion-pancetta mixture and spinach evenly on top of cheese; drizzle with another tablespoon olive oil. Put pizza back in oven for two minutes, or until cheese begins to melt and pancetta and vegetables are warmed through. Cut into slices and serve hot or at room temperature.

Wednesday, March 18, 2009

jim beam

my friend kevin made this video:



click here to vote for it so he can win big!!

herbs



tonight i'm making dinner with my herbs from my finally thriving aerogarden! that ziploc contains mint, parsley, thyme, dill, and chives. very excited.

Tuesday, March 17, 2009

this is so cool this is so cool






it's an indoor/outdoor vertical garden!!! it's a "living, oxygenating work of art"!!!

from smith and hawken.

music for the coming sunny days




in the middle of a grumpy day, accumulated by lack of sleep and throbbing toothaches, this song really brightened my day. what a refreshing change of pace to listen to, and how inherently optimistic!

the sunsum band - mensee madwen via cold splinters.

brunch

you have got to be kidding me.

"just calm down, acting like a rookie
don't freak out over a couple of tables
...it's just brunch!"

"i've been waiting for 10 minutes
table 42 is throwing a hissy fit
...gonna get me some bru-u-u--u-u-unch!"


i'm pretty sure i also just heard a lyric like "the kitchen is in a hizzy!"

goddammit.

a marc depression



found this photo on liebemarlene.

these depression-era outfits look like they came directly out of a marc by marc jacobs collection, no?

a wonderful time



after ogling a beverly hills poolside shot of his in vanity fair, i'm eager to get my hands on this slim aarons book. or maybe i'm just eager to get myself to a pool.



Monday, March 16, 2009

how could you be so dr. evil



maybe i've developed a little crush on kanye (or as someone at work called him yesterday "kayan") after listening to his latest album a little too often (how could you be so heartless--still stuck in my head and seeing him look like a dashing dan at an event i worked last night, but somehow this led to me reading his blog. yes, kanye blogs. just like diddy and shaq twitter.

kanye put me on to some cool things:

+i love weird, dance-y, dark music videos. bat for lashes does it:

Daniel - Bat For Lashes


+a cover of "heartless" by the fray

+i really like kid cudi. kanye posted a song i hadn't heard called switchin lanes. (also check out this song,the sky might fall)

ice skating:

a mix of sports and theater for weirdos.



my friend luke sent me this because he designed the dresses worn by the girls on pedestals. once you get past the toothy, perverse figure skating, and the glittered microphones, check out luke's fab designs.

Saturday, March 14, 2009

desktop flowers

i wonder whether if i looked at this picture every day, it would make me a little happier:



i tried to put it on my desktop to find out, but it's all stretched and blurry. i bet you the fuzzy low resolution swallowing my screen would just make me a little angrier, instead.

found here

greed

this is pretty awesome. it's a faux perfume commercial directed by roman polanski, starring ms. natalie portman and ms. michelle williams.



found here

Friday, March 13, 2009

braids

one day i spent hours google-ing braids. when i didn't find what i wanted, i quit.

this is a blessing from sally jane vintage.


image via sally jane

click here to see her post.