what it means to become an American

I just listened to a good interview between Morning Edition's Steve Innskeep and writer Jhumpa Lahiri. It's part of their week-long series on what it means to become an American. It's sort of comforting (but surprising) to hear other people tell stories from their childhood that mirror mine.

I think I am going to have to pick up her book(s) and give it a look-see.

Frozen River interview on npr

I heard this interesting interview on Weekend Edition Sunday on npr this morning. It's a discussion with Melissa Leo the star of Frozen River. It gives away a little more of the story (no real spoilers, though), but I think it's worth checking out. And if you haven't seen it yet, I think it's a fantastic movie and highly recommend it.

in my inbox

...from yesterday, the link to the latest issue of small magazine.

It totally rocks! Chock-full of lots of awesome clothes, products and photos. I'm sure you crafty readers already know about small, but if you haven't, check it out and be sure to sign up for their mailing list. They also have all their back issues archived on their site.

Some of my faves below:

The first fashion piece is laid out in drawings by Emily Martin of (Inside a Black Apple) fame. She's one of my crafty-makey heroes. She's also selling the drawings she did for small at her etsy shop sometime this month. I won't be able to catch one any of them, her original art sells out so quickly.


Kids wearing cute hats.


Littles+rockstar aesthetic=cute overload for me.


Truly inspiring product design with recycled materials.

watch this documentary

It's called Billy The Kid and it's great. M and I watched it on dvd the other day and loved it. I'm a little brain-dead right now so I can't think of anything else to say about this movie without giving too much away. But it's short and sweet and will make you feel good about life after you watch it. Seriously recommended in my household.

vintage football posters

I can't find any information on these awesome football posters that M found on his daily internet browsings (full disclosure: I didn't read the article - too long for me). But aren't they awesome??

I think of our home decor as a work in progress, but I'm a little dismayed to report that it's mostly my stuff decorating the walls. If only these posters were more relevant for my favorite sports fan, I'd be happy to have them grace our living space.

beef

I'm not that good at cooking it. I do fine if it's cut up into little strips and seasoned into submission with an array of spices. That I can do. But a nice cut of beef cooked as a roast or as a steak? Ooh, that's hard. Most nights I serve up a passable version of either (usually a little undercooked because I am so worried about overcooking it and having to gnaw through my meal) and end up with lots left over. M never really minds because then that means I usually carve it up into really thin slices and add it to soup or cook it quick and top a salad with it, or grill some onions and mushrooms for a steak and cheeze sandwich. Calzones are another favorite go-to repair of my disaster with beef.

On this particular evening, I was trying to recreate a simple steak dish that I got once at a fancy schmancy restaurant (the kind where they charge you 18 bucks for a bowl of macaroni and cheese) during a work lunch. It was a flat iron steak (I think) seared medium well and then cut into strips and served on a bed of fresh arugula. The bite of the arugula undermines the richness of the steak. I was doubtful of the menu description, but my lunch companion swore by the dish so I went ahead and ordered it. And it was darned good. Mine turned out less so. Meat was too undercooked. M enjoyed it the next day cut up into thick strips and sauteed in a little olive oil in a hearty sandwich.

At least the sides came out as I planned. The menu was steaks with a drizzle of demi-glace over a fresh bed of arugula served with garlic mashed potatoes, sauteed broccoli with caramelized onions and fresh lima beans from the farmers market. I guess it's a steep learning curve as far as steaks and roasts are concerned.

poladroid love

I know swissmiss mentioned this awhile ago, but I just got a chance to check it out.

HOLY COW!

Poladroid is Awesome! I love how it takes my formerly blah photos...


...and turns them into romantic-nostalgic-polaroid-dreams! Suddenly my photos are so hip and edgy. Ka-pow!

NB: I added the writing in photoshop.

Check it out.

(as if I needed another computer toy to play with...)

adorable biscuit advert

Bakers Precious Biscuits from Shy the Sun on Vimeo.

Kids in cute clothes (the striped leggings just kill me), imaginary creatures from fairy tale books, magical, whimsical stylization. I wish my internet connection didn't suck so much because I love watching this short and sweet little ad over and over.

kern zip-up

This made me laugh.

For those times when you don't want to have to explain kerning. Though I suspect that most of you, like me, don't get hit up with graphic design questions while out and about. How cheeky would it be to email this image to educate clients?

Image from veer.com where you can also purchase said zip-up.

beautiful progression

Click on the image above to be redirected to the video.

This is a lovely advert for a car. I love the circular camera work and the compositing is really well done. I had to watch it a few times to catch all the details. It's short and worth the study. Also a beautiful score that crescendos to a dramatic visual climax. Very well done as a piece of advertising. Too bad it's a piece of advertising.

I made gumbo and savory bread pudding, oh and clam chowder too

and damn, it was good.

I used this recipe (Eula Mae's Seafood Gumbo) as the base but with some tweaks. I omitted oysters since I prefer mine uncooked, halved the amount of shrimp (m and I aren't huge fans), added a can of diced tomatoes and sausage and browned the roux to a milk chocolate color instead of the recommended peanut butter brown. Also, I'd meant to include some sliced okra, but forgot all about it and ended up chopping up some kale and adding that instead. Next time round, I might also add a half pound of scallops at the end.

All told, gumbo is seriously lacking in nutritional diversity. Don't get me wrong. It's darned tasty, but hardly healthy. It's just roux with some vegetables cooked down to nearly nothing and some seafood thrown in for good measure. Unless it's the gumbo that calls for game fowl plus spicy sausage. Either way, gumbo as a stand alone meal could use a side salad to help out. At least in our home.

The savory bread pudding was this recipe. Here served with clam chowder and a green salad.

I had some store bought sandwich bread that was sitting in the fridge from before we left for our trip. I knew when we left that it was going to be nice and stale by the time we got back and had some vague notion of turning it into bread pudding. But Savory bread pudding. The Mushroom and Gruyere recipe was really quite good. I mean seriously. I can't stop eating it. The only change I made was to use dried tarragon (I halved what was called for but I think it was still a bit much) instead of fresh since I couldn't find any fresh at the market.

The next time I make it (and believe me there will be many next times) I plan to make a few changes like less tarragon, maybe leeks instead of the onions it called for? I could even see studding it with some pancetta or lardons (what a dream, I haven't been able to find lardon since I lived in France). And I'll change up the construction of the pudding because the directions say to just lay the slices of bread in the baking dish and then add a layer of the mushrooms+cheese and then sandwich with another layer of bread. That was fine tastewise, but I think it could look better. So maybe I'll cut up the bread and layer everything like fallen dominoes? Something to think about.

When I was in New England, I meant to do some serious cooking. I mean the kind of complicated cooking that involves making your own stock and stuff. But we were so busy with other things the only thing I got to make was a coconut cake that was pretty good but not very pretty to look at. One thing I really wanted to make was some clam chowder with quahogs which are small clams that are tender and have a sweeter flavor and local to the area. I'd heard that these were the appropriate clams with which to make an authentic New England chowder. But of course I forgot to look for those clams while I was there. So I made do with some Manila clams at my local market. The end result was mostly just so-so.

I was working with a bunch of different recipes and trying to come up with something that I thought would give me the chowder that I imagine as being the best kind of chowder. I don't know. Maybe it was the roux. Maybe I really needed to make some fish stock after all. Maybe I should have used quahogs instead of manila clams. I definitely put in too much potatoes. The chowder was good, but it lacked something. The certain something that makes you go "mmmmm...." right after the first sip. My reaction was more like "Hmm?" I think I might have some ideas as to how to make adjustments. I'm thinking of making up some more roux with the rest of the clam cooking liquid and mixing it with the existing chowder to doctor it up a bit. Again, something to think about.

meeting up with Our Secret Brother John Green (osbJG)

It's been a busy coupla days around here and so I'm only now getting around to writing about last Thursday when I biked over to the Santa Monica Public Library to see osbJG. He was in town on his book tour promoting his most recent novel Paper Towns and I wasn't about to miss an opportunity to hear him talk in person.

I regret that the only good photo of him makes him appear as though he has agitated hands.

The library auditorium was packed (with some attendees in an overflow room. Thank goodness I got there early) with folks (mostly high school kids is my guess) dressed up for Halloween as per osbJG's suggestion. This queen of hearts' costume was too good not to photograph. And that sailor boy just warmed my heart. Look at that grin!


This gal wore my favorite costume.

Says she hand sewed it so it took her two weeks to make. See? It even flips inside out for when the ghost gets eaten by Pac-Man. Awesome!!


NB: osbJG came dressed up in costume as well. Can you guess who he's supposed to be?

Walt Whitman! Of course!!

I regret that my photography skills are so wanting. I think I was a little nervous. Nervous because I was one of maybe 5 non high school/college age kids there (the other 4 were probably parents who'd driven their kids over) and felt a little like a moron. Nervous because I was worried that when it came time for osbJG to sign my book I'd say something stupid and he'd mock me (in a funny and kind way, but mortifying if you are the one who getting mocked). Nervous because I was going to ask him to hold my sock-in-progress and he might think that I was a perverse sort of stalker indeed.

He did hold my sock in progress and graciously allowed me to photograph him doing so. I am racking up nerdy points in so many ways with this shot.

NB: I haven't finished the socks in question yet. I learned the hard way that knitting argyle successfully for me involves backwards knitting for the colorwork part.

The talk and reading was great! I like what osbJG said about why decided to write for the young adult genre, how he finds it meaningful to be given a voice, invited to sit at the table among those who might influence the opinions of our young people. It's validating to see so many young folks responding to his energy and enthusiasm.