turkish delight on a moonlit night, apr.11

off we go to istanbul (not constantinople) and cappadocia, turkey. this is technically my first trip to ASIA! and high on my long list of things to do, see and eat are:

hagia sophia/ayasofya
sleeping in a cave
the blue mosque
figs, nuts & honey
hot air ballooning above fairy chimneys
a boat trip down the bosphorous
turkish coffee fortune-telling
beautiful rugs (1 for us, 1 for my mama)
spice markets and bazaars

and turkish delight in a rainbow of colors...






ciao for now.

xo

do the twist, mar.11

I LOVE hair tutorials! Maybe one morning i'll invest more than the 10 seconds it takes to do my little signature twist-n-pin, and try out one of these lovely looks...







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meet piet, jan.11

as i near my 11th year of apartment dwelling, i've come to the conclusion that working fireplaces are nothing more than a daydream, and i must settle for warming my hands with a mug of hot chocolate, and roasting marshmallows in a toaster oven.

thank goodness! for fredrik hyltén-cavallius and his little friend piet, a smoke-free, soot-free, chimney-free indoor stove that burns ethanol instead of wood. ha.lle.lujah.

for the girl who has everything....dec.10

i promised my boo i would not publish anything related to what i want for christmas...so here is a list of lovelies that i would give to someone with similar taste :)

1. rennes le chateau's new leather duffle is such perfection, everything i...i mean she...is dreaming for in a bag at the moment.


2. make her these campfire orange cakes (use chocolate cake mix!!)


3. morganite studs are sweet, delicate, lady-like and soo classic.


4. i already own lena corwin's "printing by hand" and can't say enough good things about it! she gives super-detailed instructions for crafty projects involving various print methods and there's even a little pouch in the back where lena has generously shared some of her own custom patterns. i made the screen-printed baby quilt for my sweetpea niece!


5. enormouschampions' whale tea towels are earthy, neutral and cool for the kitchen. this one is lovely as well!



6. eleanor bolton's twisted necklace is a new obsession- so chunky it might even keep her neck warm!


7. an adorable teahouse to go with the tea towels above.


8. malin + goetz make some deliciously scented products, and one of my faves is the synthesized musk eau de toilette. petitgrain tonic is a close 2nd.

on motherhood, nov.10

early last sunday morning my beautiful, brave sister gave birth to baby gia and i became an aunt! by way of photo messages and daily phone calls (during the first one, she gave me a baby sneeze!) i have fallen so hard in love with this little sweetpea and am literally counting down the seconds (approx 518,400) until i can hold her in my arms and just stare at her.

i can't stop thinking about the fact that there is a new member of our family, someone i will watch grow and change and become who she will be...someone who will come visit her aunt in NY all by herself one day...and i imagine all the things i will want to show her and teach her and learn about her. i came upon this great piece on parenting, and felt really moved by the simple idea of walking the walk and teaching by example.


ps: i totally got teary-eyed while writing this!

k-i-s-s-i-n-g, nov.10

i looove love

apples, again, oct.10

last time we met, i told you all about my early october saturday spent apple picking with friends, and showed you my sunday baking results. now i'll share the recipes that made it all possible...

apple pie with cheddar crust
i made dough for one pie but ended up using smaller baking tins so had enough dough left to serve as the base crust for a second pie. that one i just topped with oats, cinnamon and brown sugar, so let's call it a crisp.

autumn in a bite
doesn't that just sound delightful?! so i totally improvised on this one. i had some leftover homemade caramel sauce from my boo's birthday dinner, and swapped that for the caramel candies this recipe calls for. i also realized too late that i didn't have enough granulated sugar so made up the difference with extra brown sugar. due to these little tweaks, the cookies turned out really fluffy, almost muffiny. so i renamed them caramel apple breakfast cookies and voila, they were a hit!

crockpot apple butter
finally, i had to do something with the gazillion apples that remained before heading off on a 10 day trip to italy. i went with this recipe because a) apple butter freezes well so i can eat it all winter long, and b) i was running out of time before my trip and the crockpot did all the work for me while i slept!


PS: i LOVE this guide to local apple varieties!

appley ever after, oct.10

a few weeks ago i went apple picking with some lovely ladies. it's becoming an annual thing, and i love it. maskers orchards is gorgeous and you can drive right up into the trees and park where you like. next time i'm definitely packing a picnic!













bacon, egg, apple-cider-donut sandwich, mmmm


cheddar cheese pie dough



cheddar apple pie, apple crisp

caramel apple breakfast cookies

leftovers

eeeataly, oct.10

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i'm heading off to salerno and florence italy on friday for a 10-day work trip. it will be filled with a leather fair and tannery visits, but i'm definitely planning on squeezing in some art, pizza and gelato, gelato, gelato! if you have any recommendations, send em this-a-way.

food porn: honig, oct.10

i just discovered a sweet little gem of a food blog that i thought might make your tummy growl...

speaking of food, this is pretty drool-worthy, non?