Ideabook Tuesday: Heritage

Heritage is a food trend and a trend in fashion, so I'm pretty sure it's about to be a new design buzzword, too. Here's what I had to say about it on Houzz:

The September issue of W arrived in my mailbox last week and when I opened it to the letter from the editor, one single word stared me right in the face: "heritage."

The letter wrote about "heritage" as the current buzzword in fashion, where it seems to refer to anything even remotely related to the past (and considering how quickly fashion trends evolve, the past could be about five minutes ago).

I like vintage clothes as much as the next girl, but my noticing has less to do with my interest in fashion trends than with my interest in food trends, though. "Heritage" has been all the rage in food for the past few years - just ask the heritage turkeys that grace every food mag around each November.

If it's hot in the fashion world and hot in the food world, you know what's next, right? That's right: heritage design.

In food, "heritage" means more than just "old" - it has something to do with pedigree and with knowing where a food item comes from. In this case, design is more like food than fashion, with trends that last longer than one season, and where a single piece - an armoire, for instance - can long outlive a pair of even the most finely made jeans (and requires a larger investment). Heritage in design is about the history of an item or even materials, and also about the history of the people who have interacted with those items.

So watch for it. I expect we'll start to see more articles and posts about "heritage" design - starting here:

Buzzword to Watch For: "Heritage"

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Marina City, LEGOs and Lunch

Marina City in real life, taken in January 2009 when we were in Chicago for our friends' Sam and Stacey's wedding:
And in LEGO world:

Up close:

As previously mentioned, Dixon and I made the trek to DC on Friday to see the LEGO exhibit at the National Building Museum, which was super cool. It's not huge, but the LEGO buildings themselves are really impressive. They're intricate and perfectly constructed, taking hundreds, if not thousands, of hours to plan and to build. As my sister said, how cool of a job is LEGO artist/architect? Someone gets to actually do that. And get paid.

Dixon liked seeing the buildings, but he (and all the other kids) were more interested in the room attached to the actual exhibit. It was filled with low stools and benches, along with bins filled with zillions of LEGOs. The idea behind the hands-on part of the exhibit is that kids look at the buildings and then build structures of their own that they can place in an ever-changing LEGO landscape.

What's funny is that the parents accompanying the kids were all building, too. Everyone loves LEGOs.

Poor Dixon had to deal with not only his controlling mother, but also her controlling sister:

In this case, Erin might even be worse than I am, since she's the one in architecture school.

After lunch, we hopped back on the Metro (Dixon's first underground train trip!) to head back to Erin's neighborhood for lunch. We sat outside at a cafe about four blocks from her house, chosen (in part) because it's name, Cafe Saint-Ex, is an homage to Antoine de Saint-Exupery, author of the Waskom family's favorite book-in-French, Le Petit Prince.

The drinks menu was intruiging, but it was the middle of the day, so we didn't booze it up too much, sticking instead to a beer and a glass of wine. For lunch, I had a mixed green salad with big, chunky raspberries and a squat little piece of fried cheese - really nice all around. Dixon and Erin both had burgers and fries and, I have to admit, they made my salad look a little sad. Fortunately, I was able to eat a quarter of Dixon's burger (and a quarter of his fries). The fries were great - double-fried, I think - and the burger was on an incredible bun that was just a tiny bit sweet.

All in all, a very nice day - perfect weather, easy transportation, great (and fun) art, and a good lunch. Traffic wasn't even that bad! Not that I want to take up that commute, but it's totally worth it for an occasional day trip.

Friday Festivities: LEGOs in Washington

In a little while, Dixon and I are going to brave not one, but two rush hours to head down to DC to see my sister's new place and to go to the National Building Museum, which has an exhibit of Adam Reed Tucker's famous buildings made out of LEGOS:
Dixon is pretty excited and I'm looking forward to his first visit to a museum (sort of). Not as exciting? Leaving my house two hours before I'm supposed to be at Erin's. DC traffic is the worst.

Old School Thursday: Mmm Cherries Edition

Today is National Cherry Popsicle Day…and that’s about all it is. I guess at least it’s appropriate for late August.

So to celebrate…cherry popsicles, of course, but maybe you could take that a step further. I have been all about the kiddie-to-grownup cocktail lately and cherry popsicle flavors seem like a good base for one. Actual popsicles are probably too sweet to make a really good grownup cocktail (unless by “grownup” you mean something kids at Senior Week would enjoy), but maybe you could melt down a popsicle into an intense syrup, then mix it with, say, gin and selzer?

Or make a more sophisticated cherry popsicle, using actual cherry puree?

Or, you know, something along those lines.

Last Night's Dinner: More Loire Valley at The Dogwood

Last night was our second trip to The Dogwood for their Merry Mondays wine club dinner and once again, it was pretty great. The menu:

Course 1

Split tasting:

Gigamoto Pacific oysters &

Seared sea scallop with Asian summer vegetable stir fry

Paired with:

Domaine de la Garreliere Touraine Cendrillon Sauvignon blend 2008 &

Domaine de Geurande Muscadet Sevre et Maine sur Lie "Le Vigneau" 2009

Course 2

Split tasting:

Country pate with house pickles (and a grainy mustard cheese) &

Pan-roasted mussels with Madras curry and local sweet corn soup

Paired with:

Domaine Huet Le Haut Lieu Demi-Sec Vouvray Cenin Blanc 2008 &

Jean-Maurice Raffault Chinon Chenin Blanc 2009

Course 3

Trio of heirloom tomatoes with chevre cheese crostini

Paired with:

Gerard Boulay Sancerre Chavignol Sauvignon Blanc 2008 &

Domaine Merlin Cherrier Sancerre Sauvignon Blanc 2009

Course 4

Blackberry barbecued Duroc pork chop with sweet potatoes and greens

Paired with:

Domaine de la Garreliere Touraine Rouge Cabernet Franc 2008 &

Les Rocher des Violettes Touraine Rouge Cot Vieilles Vignes Malbec 2009

Yeah, they do a pretty good job putting together a menu.

Everything was really lovely and it's fascinating to taste multiple wines with a single dish (or, in the cases of the split tastings, to compare two wines with two dishes). That structure, combined with the nice little packet of information everyone receives, make the dinners satisfying on an intellectual level.

But they aren't all dorky wine talk and of course they're satisfying on a more fundamental level, as well. They are really, genuinely fun. Plus, the food is awesome. The star of last night's meal was the sweet corn soup with curry and mussels. The curry provided exactly the right balance for the super sweet corn - the end result was seriously delicious.

This dinner (and the region) is dominated by white wines, which makes it interesting for us, since we mostly drink red. Interesting, but of course we still end up liking the reds best. Last night, our favorite was (unsurprisingly) the Malbec - though the Washington state pinot noir the chef cracked open after dinner was a close second for me.

Which brings me to the company. The food is fantastic and the wine is thoughtful and delicious, but the dinners are fun because of the people. The Dogwood's owners, Bridget and Galen Sampson, are super easy to talk to and they care so much about food and about what they're doing with the restaurant. They're really excellent hosts - we've left both dinners planning our next visit and excited to eat there again.

How Manly Is Your Drink?

The real question is: where would Labbatt Blue Light Lime fall on this chart? I'm sure that's what Cooper's dying to know.

(Via AskMen.com)

Who Are We Drinking?

This format doesn't totally do it justice, but the cluster diagram below is just a gorgeous representation of the fact that only three firms (Coca-Cola, Pepsi and Snapple/Dr. Pepper) control 89% of the soft drinks we drink in the U.S.:

(To look at it up close and read the analysis, click here.)

It's been a while since I've worked on any CSD (carbonated soft drinks, for those of you not in the know) clients, but back in 2004 and 2005, before pharmaceuticals took over my professional world, I was knee deep in sugary bubbles all day long. As a result, I find this interesting, but not surprising in the least.

However, I am almost a little surprised at the sheer variety of choices that still remain in the category. Yes, this includes generics and it also includes the ten zillion new energy drinks that seem to pop up each week. But that doesn't change the fact that - wow, we have a lot of choices.

Old School Thursday: Happy Birthday Suz Edition

Today is my friend Suzanne’s birthday, so it is only appropriate that it is also National Soft Ice Cream Day. Less appropriate, maybe, that it’s the Feast of St. Magnus (the patron of fish mongers) except that Suzanne really does like fish. So happy birthday, Suzanne!

There’s not much more food news today, except that today in 1856, Gail Borden received a patent for his process to make condensed milk. This is mostly of note since Borden is still a major condensed milk brand. Inasmuch as there are major brands of condensed milk.

So, to celebrate…maybe a tres leches cake? With soft ice cream…and 35 candles?

A Quick Note on Shrimp and Grits

When we were in New Orleans last fall for Tom and Cail's wedding, we ate a lot of shrimp and grits. Until last week, though, I'd never made them. I'd never even made grits. I found something about them intimidating. That something, actually, is that I know it's not that hard to screw them up.

Then again, as it turns out, it's not that hard to get them right.

This month's Food & Wine is all about southern flavors (unsurprising, since I'm not sure they could get hotter) - including shrimp and grits, which I made:

And they were good. I will caution against oversalting - when I tried the grits, they weren't salty enough, so I added some. Unfortunately, I didn't take the shrimp into account, so the overall effect was a little salty for me when they were combined. Not terrible, but a little intense.

Not only were they good, but they really were easy. Plus, Grace Parisi's recipe adds a little spinach. Antioxidants!

Researchy: Yet Another Bacon-Themed Infographic

Via: Online Schools

Things I learned from this:

• I live in the fourth biggest bacon market in the US
• Denmark sounds like a pretty sweet country
• My bacon consumption during pregnancy probably gave Dixon a leg up in the smarts department

I Need a Punch Bowl

Because tonight we will be drinking this:

Out of a bowl from Crate & Barrel that I think was designed for pasta salad.

"This," by the way, is peach sangria made from a recipe Garden & Gun dug up from the Charleston restaurant Slightly North of Broad. I made it last night, as it needs 24 hours to sit, but even then it tasted good.

And, in case you're wondering, yes, I did take a picture of it while it was already in the fridge. Not in the photo: the plastic wrap I pulled back from the bowl and the 15 Capri Sun apple juices right next to it.

Old School Thursday: Conspicuous Consumption & Cranberry Edition

Today is National Toasted Almond Bar Day, which mostly just makes me sigh, but then again, I do like a nice Good Humor Toasted Almond. So, happy NTABD to all you ice cream men out there.

It’s also the opening of grouse season in Britain. I not 100% sure that people really eat grouse, but I hope they do. Since they’re hunting them and all.

In other news, today is the birthday of Diamond Jim Brady (1856), the crazy gluttonous financier. He was the prototypical overeating American, often taking down multiple lobsters, oysters, steaks, and desserts. I’m kind of in awe of him. Even if I feel a little sick just thinking about it.

Nearly one-hundred years later, in 1948, British metallurgist Harry Brearley died. For one thing, how badass does it sound to be a “metallurgist”? Also, Brearley invnted stainless steel, for which my kitchen thanks him.

And finally, today in 1981, IBM introduced its personal computer – the PC. And for THAT, I (and a million other bloggers) thank them.Plus – though it’s not quite today, Ocean Spray Brad emailed me earlier in the week to tell me that Saturday (the 14th) is the 80th anniversary of the official start of the grower-owned Ocean Spray cranberry cooperative. And 80 years is certainly nothing to sneeze at!

So, to celebrate? Piles of toasted almond bars, eaten while sitting at your computer. And this weekend: a cranberry cocktail or two in honor of Ocean Spray!

Pollard Weekend: Eating & Antiquing

What a weekend.

As I mentioned yesterday, we decided to rearrange our house this weekend. We'd been talking about it for a while - switching the living room and dining room is a big move, even if it does better reflect the way you use your house. (And yes, it was my inner anthropologist/user experience researcher that sparked this.)

Changing things around, of course, means buying some new things, so we set out on Saturday morning in search of a new coffee/cocktail table and an armchair or two. While we didn't come home with any of those things, we also weren't exactly empty handed.

We started out our search down by the stadiums, at Second Chance. With stuff spread out over multiple warehouses, Second Chance can be a little intimidating. We only went to warehouse four, which includes all the antiques (and where we've found some cool pieces before). This trip, unfortunately, we came up dry.

Undeterred, we crossed Russell Street and hit Housewerks, which is one of my favorite places to browse. The first thing we saw there, right in the parking lot, was a big old mess of metal desks with swivel seats - perfect for a kid's room. We assumed the desks had been salvaged from an old school. We were wrong. After a few inquiries, we discovered that they were old prison desks...and we were even more excited.

So now Dixon has a prison desk of his very own: Cooper did a little sanding already, then took the desk to work to finish sanding and to paint it green. Dixon is super excited for his "desk that was in jail." Understandably.

After Housewerks, we ran around the corner for a quick trip to DeBois Textiles. I hadn't been before and wanted to check out the fabric, which was exactly as promised: cool, designer, and crazy cheap. The vintage clothes are outrageous, too, and if I'm ever invited to a Three's Company theme party, I know where I'm going.

After DeBois, we drove down to Catonsville for our first visit to the mid-century vintage store, Home Anthology. We arrived about twenty minutes before the store opened, so we stopped at Duesenberg's for lunch. On one hand, it was a great call - my lobster grilled cheese was delicious and way more lobstery than I ever would've expected and Cooper's brisket sandwich was Flinstones-hilarious big. It was kind of a long trip, though - it probably took forty minutes for our food to arrive. I'm not sure if that's typical or if something was going on, but we weren't in a rush, so it wasn't that big of a deal.

After lunch, it was on to Home Anthology, where I could've easily redecorated the entire house. It was so full of great quality furniture that I absolutely loved. Interesting pieces, lots of wood, really great overall (the people were nice, too).

We saw one cocktail table we were dying to buy, but it was already sold and we seriously considered a couple of chairs but decided to wait until we rearranged to remeasure. We did not, however, decide to wait on one thing: the gorgeous teak expandable round dining room table:

When it's closed, it seats about four comfortably, but when the leaves are open, it's 70 inches in diameter and seats eight to ten. The table was brand new to Home Anthology - it didn't even have a price on it when we got there - and when I saw it, I kind of freaked out. I've wanted a table like this for a long, long time - a year or so ago, Discovery Doug even sent me a link to a similar(ish) table called Capstan. Sadly, we don't have a spare $20,000 to spend on a dining room table. But if we did...

Well, we don't need to now because we have an expandable table. This one's made by the Danish company Dyrlund and we think it was probably built between 1965 and 1970. To make the table smaller, the leaves around the edges fold up, then slide underneath the smaller center part of the table:

It's in great condition and is just so incredibly cool. I've never been this excited about a piece of furniture before and I am actually kind of embarrassed about how happy it's making me.

When we got back home, we started moving things around right away. Even though we didn't get the cocktail table or armchair we were looking for, we were able to create our kitchen-lounge space with a few makeshift pieces, including one of our dining room chairs (which are from IKEA), our old living room coffee table, and a rug we've been storing in the basement. Dixon is all about the new arrangement:In that corner, you can just sort of see our other Home Anthology purchase: a little wooden table with a linen basket for magazines. We topped it with a new table lamp from IKEA:

I saw that lamp a few months ago and thought it was so cool - it's bamboo - and it fits really nicely in that corner spot.

Sunday, we got up and out the door early, hoping to find that table and chair. We started off with a great - and big - breakfast at Golden West (which, like Clementine, is so kid-friendly). I had the breakfast polenta with chorizo (spicy and delicious) and Cooper had huevos montulenos, which actually had so much food he couldn't finish it. Both dishes were fantastic. I know people on the Baltimore Sun blog complain a lot about Golden West's hipstery vibe and sometimes slow service but honestly, our service couldn't have been better. And it was quick.

After breakfast, our plan was to visit Oakenshawe 1021 for some more furniture shopping, but it was closed! Someone was there and she told us the store was having a "grand opening" next weekend, which confused me, since the website hadn't mentioned anything about the store being closed (and since I'd been there before). We were disappointed, but consoled ourselves with a browse at Paradiso, which has a very cool pinball machine coffee table and carnival game bar. We also made a quick (and fruitless) trip to the Clearinghouse in Cockeysville, where everything was too traditional for us.

I was bummed that we didn't buy anything Sunday, so I headed up to IKEA on Sunday afternoon while Dixon and Cooper started on the desk. I got the lamp and some extra dining room chairs, but also had to deal with hoards of families shopping for their off-to-college kids. I never realized how good of an IKEA shopper I am until I was faced with hundreds of people who have never been to the store before. Sheesh.

So now, we're still hot on the trail of a new chair and a cocktail table, plus we need to find ourselves a new rug for the dining room (our old dining room didn't have a rug and the old living room rug is just too small for the gigantor table). Which means we've got a lot of additional shopping to do!

Designing Tuesday: Our New Expandable Round Dining Room Table

Sorry about the lack of post yesterday!

I was busy after a long weekend full of shopping and eating. All of which I will write about, of course. But the big story around our house is that we've switched our living room and our dining room, so we now have a little loungey space off the kitchen, where the dining room used to be, and we have an unfinished space with too small a rug in the front room, where the living room used to be.

This was inspired by actually thinking about how we use our house - and moved along by the discovery of a super cool Danish expandable dining room table at Home Anthology in Catonsville. It was so new that it didn't even have a price on it and we bought it within about five minutes. It's just what I'd been looking for - for a long time. It's amazing.

It's also the inspiration for this ideabook, in which I beg for new ideas for how to work with a round table:

Dining in the Round: My New Table

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Last Night's Dinner: Grilled Rockfish and Tomato Tart

I am pretty sure that I write about food more during August than any other month of the year...because it's all just so good. Take this week, for instance. Tuesday, crabs with Bill and Kyle. Thursday, rockfish with my mom.

Like the crabs, the rock came from Conrad's and it was super fresh. Cooper put it in foil with some white wine, olive oil, garlic, rosemary, salt and pepper, and lemon. The results were pretty perfect - when you've got ingredients that good, it's hard to mess them up:

I also made a tian-like dish with onions, garlic, zucchini, potatoes and tomatoes - all from either the Rackovan farm or the CSA. It was rustic-looking, but pretty. And I, of course, forgot to take a picture.

I remembered, though, to photograph the tomato tarte tatin I made, using this recipe from Bon Appetit:

The tarte is definitely pretty and it certainly turned out as intended. Plus, it's not a bad use of a bunch of tomatoes (in my case, a bunch of Romas from the Rackovan farm). But I'm not sure it's really, as BA calls it, "a revelation." It tasted good, but none of us could quite get past the fact that we were having tomatoes for dessert. My mom thought the issue might mostly be mental, but it was an issue nonetheless.

All in all, though, a very nice dinner. But then again, that's expected for August, isn't it?

Old School Thursday: Moutarde Edition

Today is National Mustard Day and since I sincerely love mustards of all stripes, I’ll certainly be celebrating.

The rest of today’s news is all sad – a string of notable deaths, starting with the passing of French chef and author Alexis Benoit Soyer in 1858. Soyer, who spent most of his professional life in England and Ireland, wrote a bunch of “accessible” cookbooks that helped people cook well inexpensively. Kind of like a French “$30 a Day” host. Except not really at all, of course.

And in the last century, we lost Carmen Miranda (aka the tutti-frutti lady) in 1955 and Marilyn Monroe only a few years later in 1962. No, Monroe doesn’t have all that much to do with food, but she certainly is an American icon.

So, today, we don’t actually have that much to celebrate. So just be thankful for the mustard.

Why I Love August

Last night, Kyle and Bill came over and we had dollar crabs from Conrads...among other things. We started with tomatoes, basil and mozzarella. The mozzarella was from Ceriello, the basil from the yard, and the tomatoes from Mary's family's farm in Pennsylvania:

It's just perfect tomato time.

After the tomatoes, we moved on to steamed shrimp with onions:

Shrimp aren't that pretty to photograph, but they really did taste great. They usually do when they're packaged in foil and styrofoam.

Next, we set up the table outside and pulled out the mallets and knives:

Everybody wore their best this-can-get-dirty gear. Especially Bill:

This, to me, is what America is all about. So many choices, so much freedom:

And the crabs themselves:

Dollar crabs are smalls, but these were heavy. And hot. And nicely seasoned. And, as Cooper pointed out, they weren't hot because they'd been reheated - they were freshly steamed, which makes them so much better.

Finally, just because, here's Mia, the newest addition to Kyle and Mary's household:

She's pretty cute.

It was a great meal - the kind that ends because you can barely move anymore, both from picking and eating. A perfect late summer night all the way around.

Designing Tuesday: Pink and Green

I know - two ideabooks in two days. But...pink and green. It makes me happy.

Inside My Closet: Pink and Green Everywhere

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Not Really Recommended

Last week, I posted a roundup of a few things I liked. This week...the opposite. So here goes:

1. Garlic and basil pasta from Trader Joe's. I love TJ's with all my heart, but every time I buy dried pasta there, I end up regretting it. It is just not that good.

2. Rolling out puff pastry when the recipe explicitly says to use very, very cold. Without rolling. I swear, I am the worst pastry chef ever. I was making this and just ruined it horribly. What's worse is that I've made that twice before. In 2005, but still.

3. Carpal tunnel. My left wrist is killing me right now.

4. Bobby Flay's mint chimichurri (from Boy Meets Grill). It might look pretty:
And the boys might look cute cooking it:

But it tastes like a big bowl of green honey. Not that amazing with steak.

I am happy to report, though, that TJ's pesto chicken breasts are not bad and a very easy (cheap) weeknight dinner option. Also, we made some roasted salsa verde this week with tomatillos from the CSA and assorted peppers from the Greenspring farmers' market. Cooper roasted the veg on Saturday and I blended it up with some olive oil, garlic and salt on Sunday. Great results. And roasted peppers are pretty:

Even though there have been a few disasters in the kitchen this week, we've had a triumph or two, too. So that's something, I guess.

Designing: Brick

You know what's funny? When commenters on Houzz accurately guess where I went to college based on an ideabook. I'm pretty transparent.

Mighty, Mighty: Celebrating the Brick House

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