Monday, February 8, 2010 at 12:48PM This was the first year I watched the Super Bowl in its entirety and this was my favorite commercial of them all. I've watched it several times since and it still makes me smiley and teary.
AND...How about those Saints?! :)
Friday, February 5, 2010 at 1:08PM With snow on the way, this week's Friday Favorites are white-themed and available from Etsy. ... Enjoy!
White Porcelain Whirl Bowl - Beautiful as a serving piece on the dining room table or as a statement piece on the coffee table or shelf. Measures approximately 5.5"W x 3"H and holds about 1.5 cups.
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Salt & Pepper Shakers - I just want to pick these up and hold them in my hand. They're kind of adorable for salt and pepper shakers, don't you think? The holes are big enough for different kinds of spices with larger grains or even kosher salt. One has two holes, the other one three. Close at the bottom with a tight rubber stopper.
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Neighborhood Plate - Bring this to your next neighborhood potluck or as a housewarming gift for a friend! Smooth, bright white glazed finish with screen printed drawings. 9"x9"
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Porcelain Tea Bowl - Use for tea, ice cream, cereal or whatever you'd like! This bowl/cup is food safe, microwavable, dishwasher-able, & oven safe. Bowl without the bird is 4 1/4 inches wide and 2 3/4 inches tall. With the bird 3 3/4 inches tall.
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Saki Cups - A burst of red makes these fun to sip sake or tea from or use them as tiny planters for your window sill herb garden. They are approximately 2-1/2”w X 1-1/2”h.
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Blog Lovin'
There's just so much good stuff out there! A few favorites to share:
WhatILike is written by Lauren, a girl in love with living in NYC and writing about food, shopping, reading and fun in the city. My kind of girl!
Is your wanderlust in overdrive like mine is? Visit RealHoneymoons where you can visit destinations all over the world from the comfort of your own couch with real-life honeymooners like my dear friends Jen and Eli whose trip to Greece is the current featured honeymoon.
BrilliantSulk is just that - brilliant. I love her site with the great photos, love her funny voice, love that she's in San Francisco!
WinosandFoodies is curated by a lovely woman on the other side of the world from me - Australia. Gorgeous photos (she's participating in Project 365 which I've also been toying with doing as it's such a cool idea), delicious food and she's also a cancer survivor and writes poignantly about her experiences. I just love her.
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Thanks as always for checking in. For those of you in the path of the snowstorm I wish you hot cups of cocoa and a giant Snuggy for wrapping up in! Have a wonderful weekend!
xox, J
Monday, February 1, 2010 at 2:11PM My mother, a child of a child of the Depression, has passed along her tendencies to stockpile groceries, though to a much lesser degree. Growing up, our pantry was famous among friends for its vastness. There were always at least 3 boxes of Cheerios (Dad's favorite snack) and at least 6 boxes of confectioner's sugar. In the garage freezer were literal buckets of pecans and pounds and pounds of butter. Even now when I go home for a visit and go to cook something, I always know that Mom will have whatever ingredient I could possibly need.
Our kitchen here in Cambridge is tiny and I simply don't have the space to stockpile, but the gene is still active. Whenever I go to the store, I almost always pick up a pound of butter and pop it in the freezer. I'm the same way with dry goods - beans, grains, pastas, etc. For some reason, I've accumulated several cannisters of cornmeal. No idea why.
In order to make some space in the cabinets and lessen the inevitable avalanche that happens every time one is opened, I decided to do some tinkering with cornmeal cookie recipes and the results were well-received. David deemed these Lemon-Lime Cornmeal Cookies as his new favorite (it changes every few months or so). They're bright and cheerful cookies, perfect for grey, snowy days that need perking up.
Lemon-Lime Cornmeal Cookies
1/2 cup butter
2/3 cup sugar plus additional for shaping
1 egg
1 teaspoon lemon extract
1/2 cup cornmeal
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup all-purpose flour
Glaze:
1 teaspoon grated lime zest
1/2 cup confectioners' sugar for glazing
1-2 tablespoons lime juice
1. Preheat oven to 375° F . Line baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. Beat butter and 2/3 cup sugar together until creamy. Add egg and lemon extract. Blend well.
3. Combine cornmeal, baking powder, salt and flour. Add flour mixture to butter mixture and mix just until combined. Do not overmix.
4. Drop dough by teaspoonfuls onto baking sheets. Dip the bottom of a glass, into ¼ cup sugar, and press to slightly flatten the dough. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until cookie bottoms are lightly browned. Allow to cool.
5. For the glaze: Combine zest, confectioners' sugar, and enough lime juice to make a spreadable glaze. Spoon over tops of cooled cookies.
Friday, January 29, 2010 at 1:20PM Brrrrr! It's FREEZING outside today! Enjoy these Friday Favorites to {hopefully} take your mind off of the cold!
From Curbly, this is a fabulous idea for making individual pies - savory or sweet - that freeze beautifully and are a cinch to pop into the oven on a moment's notice.
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I have an obsession with salts. Our spice cabinet is brimming with pinks, greys, fleurs, smoked, kosher, you name it. This Salt Pig is both cute and functional for storing salt for the sodium obsessed.
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Have you visited King Arthur Flour's online store? It's a baker's dream! This Sourdough Starter and Crock makes a great gift and with any luck, the gift-receiver will return the favor with some freshly-baked bread!
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Roasted Broccoli with Marcona Almonds and Smoked Paprika Vinaigrette - Ever since I read about this recipe on Food52 I've been dying to try it. Love broccoli. Love Marcona almonds. Love sherry vinegar {and have a gigantic bottle of it that needs using}. LOVE smoked paprika!
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Rare Tea Company - This UK-based tea company has some of the most exquisite teas you'll ever taste. As I mentioned, they are UK-based, but thankfully my favorite US-based Food52 carries a selection for purchase!
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Anson Mills Stone Ground Course Yellow Grits - One of my very favorite clients sent us a package of Anson Mills stone-ground grits for Christmas this year and David and I are carefully rationing them, savoring every bite. I cannot gush enough about how terrific these grits are! Y'all, they will change your life! I whipped up a batch this week with garlic and goat cheese and served in deep bowls topped with chunky, spicy tomato sauce - heaven!
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New favorite home-lusting site: DesireToInspire
Working on my valentines and looking for inspiration
MyMarrakesh and PioneerWoman are finalists for Bloggie Awards. Do you love them, too? Go here, scroll to the right and vote now!
My latest impulse buy at Formaggio Kitchen is a tin of sumac. It was just too pretty! Anyone have any recipes that use sumac?
Thanks as always for reading {and commenting!}! Have a lovely, warm, snuggly weekend!
xo, J
Wednesday, January 27, 2010 at 7:00AM 
If Fez is Morocco 5,000 years ago, then Marrakesh is Morrocco today. There is so much to love about Marrakesh. The city nearly vibrates with energy and excitement--scooters zooming to and fro, vendors hawking freshly squeezed orange juice, minarets blasting the call to prayer throughout the day, acrobats and snake charmers in the Djemaa el Fnaa--all beneath a bright blue African sky. The scent of jasmine and orange blossom mixed with diesel wafts through the air, sun warms the pink plaster walls and voices in French and Arabic dance throughout the medina. I fell madly in love with Marrakesh!
Street in the medina and typical Moroccan front door
View of the roof deck at our riad and where we enjoyed breakfast each morning
Inside our riad
The souks
Moroccan chandelier
Kotoubia Mosque (Flickr via Miguel Selas Canga)
Antique hookah pipe
Rugs and more rugs
It's a small, small world...
We had the great pleasure of meeting Maryam from MyMarrakesh while we were in town. Maryam has a book coming out with Artisan so we had several mutual friends in common. {Working for Artisan makes the world much smaller in the most wonderful ways.} She and her family graciously invited us to dinner at her home and David and I were super eager to accept the invitation. As Maryam's home is just outside of the heart of the city, she was kind enough to send a driver to pick us up. "You'll never find us otherwise," she said, and boy, was she right! Riding along with the driver, we stopped in front of the METRO--what looked like a Moroccan version of Wal-Mart-meets-Home-Depot. He hopped out and told us in very broken English that he would be right back and sure enough, he returned moments later... trailed by the most adorable family! It was Lisa of A Bloomsbury Life and her dashing husband and darling son! METRO is apparently a perfect landmark just outside of the city as everyone who's everyone in Marrakesh knows where it is. Lisa and Maryam had another mutual Artisan friend in common but had not met in person either, so we were both eagery anticipating the evening ahead.
We arrived at Maryam's home at Peacock Pavillions where we were greeted by her beautiful family and dear friends who were visiting from France with their young daughters. Lisa, who has an true gift for words {and photography!}, wrote a terrific recap of the evening which you should hop over and read here. It was a fabulous night that had us eating, drinking, laughing and enjoying our new friends as if they were old ones. Meeting Maryam and Lisa was such a treat for me as I consider them two of my heroes in the blogosphere. Both are absolutely incredible, talented women and spending an evening with them, as well as Maryam's best friend Anna, was both fun and inspiring. In short, the evening was a huge highlight of our trip!
Jaime Harder Caldwell
Maryam's blog has been nominated for a Bloggie Award for Best African Weblog! If you like what you see, please click here, scroll to the right and vote for her! Polls close on January 31st!
