Old School Thursday: Get Your Champers On Edition

Today, New Year’s Eve, is also known as National Champagne Day – and that’s as it should be, since it’s likely that more champagne bottles will be opened tonight than any other single night of the year.

We’ll be ringing in the new year with dinner at Crush, possibly followed by drinks at Grand Cru, which was also the site of a crazy New Year’s Eve celebration back in 2005. Crazy not because of the drinking, but because Cooper ate a bunch of espresso beans and, well, there’s a reason why “Caffeine Cooper” is always an entertaining hit.

But enough about our personal December 31st history. Lots of other things happened on this date.

To start, all the way back in 1600, the British East India Company was incorporated by royal charter, giving Britian a stake in the very busy international spice trade.

Two and a half centuries later, in 1853, England was in the news again, when a dinner party for scientists was held inside a life-sized model of an Iguanodon dinosaur. The dinosaur was part of an exhibit of 2 dozen dinosaur models, created by sculptor Benjamin W. Hawkins and paleontologist Richard Owen, at the Crystal Palace in London. No word on what was served at the party, but it sounds kind of awesome and trippy, doesn’t it?

Finally, today in 1938, the breathalyzer’s predecssor, the Harger “Drunkometer,” was introduced in Indiana. Good timing, Indiana! Also, “Drunkometer?” What a great name.

And that’s it for 2009! Hope everyone has a fun, safe night, whatever you’re doing. I’ll be taking a break tomorrow and over the weekend, then will be back, rarin’ to go, on Monday, January 4, 2010!

[Photo by Flickr user Oskay. Used under the Creative Commons license.]

Heading off the Hangover

And I don't mean the movie.

With all the festivities around Christmas and New Year's, it's hangover week in a lot of houses.

It seems that, especially as I get older, even if I don't drink all that much, I pay for it the next day. It probably has something to do with being woken up by an energetic three-year old several hours before I'm ever ready...

That's why I was more than a little grateful when the nice people at Fernet Branca sent me an email titled "Get over Your Hangover," along with a real live sample of Fernet Branca itself.

Fernet Branca is an amaro, which basically means it's Italian bitters (or, as Cooper would say, "It's Italian; it's worth more than you're life.") According to herbalists (also Italian, I'm guessing), the liqueur is made of more than 40 herbs that, together, comprise a stellar hangover cure.

Whether it's the herbs or placebo effect, I don't know (or care) but anything that will help out with the morning after is good with me. Plus, a dash of Fernet Branca adds a little depth (and a little topaz color) to a plain old mimosa. It's good, and would make an excellent addition to any New Year's Day brunch bar set-up.

On that note, happy New Year's Eve Eve!

Monarch Coffee: It's Got a Story

The company I used to work for, Context Research, has an excellent tag line: Stories Matter. (Context is an ethnographic consulting company, and cultural anthropologists are about nothing if not stories.)

I don't know if it happened while I worked there, or if I found the job there because it had already happened, but at some point, I internalized that message. Stories matter, and everything's better when it comes with a story.

Especially food.

And that is why, after nearly six years of letting it hibernate in its box in the closet, we finally hauled out our brand-new-wedding-shower-gift coffeemaker. Until this week, when we wanted coffee, we went out and bought a Dunkin Donuts Box of Joe. We are that lazy. That inefficiently lazy.

But no more, thanks to Cooper's high school friend Patrick and his wife, Lori. Patrick and Lori live in Denver, but were in town last week for the holidays, and they came bearing gifts. A sheriff's badge and moose t-shirt for Dixon and a package of ground coffee for us.

But not just coffee. The coffee came with a story. You see, the people who sell the coffee (which is called Monarch) are friends of Patrick and Lori's, so they've got a special attachment to the brand. I wish I'd had a video camera to record Lori explaining how cool it was that their friends bought a coffee bean farm in Costa Rica, and turned their house into a roasting facility (imagine how amazing it smells all the time).

It's the kind of story that I like best - a work/life fairy tale. Two people figure out what they're really passionate about, then they figure out a way to turn that into a job. Not everyone can do it, but the ones who can are really lucky.

And as a result, they've created coffee with a great story. Oh, with great flavor and a great aroma, too. I am not, obviously, a coffee connoisseur, but this stuff certainly beats Starbucks (at the very least).

The story alone, though, is worth buying some coffee. Worth buying a coffeemaker, actually.

Ideabook Tuesday: 10 Design Trends for 2010

Because I like lists and because it's the season for them...

10 More Design Trends for 2010

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Trendy Monday: 2010 Food Trends, According to Epicurious (and me)

I do love trend list season.

Today's Trendy Monday comes courtesy of the Epicurious blog. Editor Tanya Steel serves up her predictions for 2010 in "front burner/back burner" form. The "front burner" trends are the ones on the rise, while "back burners" are trends that we'll see the back of in 2010.

I like the format - I think "in and out" lists are smart. I agree with most of the trends, too, though I have a few thoughts. Enough thoughts that I let my research analyst side take over and I created a chart in PowerPoint to outline my comments (click on the chart to enlarge):

Pretty fancy chart, huh?

Merry Christmas, Everyone!

I hope your days are filled with fabulous gifts and even more fabulous food.

Old School Thursday: So Much More Than Christmas Eve Edition

Merry Christmas Eve. Hope everyone has a wonderful meal tonight, if you’re celebrating, and a fantastic day tomorrow. Today happens to be National Egg Nogg Day, which is, for once, completely, 100% appropriate. It’s also St. Adam’s Day, which is a little less appropriate, since he’s the patron saint of gardeners (and it’s not like it’s gardening season). But it’s Christmastime, so it’s really time for all the saints, right?

In other news, today would be Kit Carson’s 200th birthday, which really only merits mention here because a) supposedly his last words were, “Wish I had time for just one more bowl of chili,” and b) his name was Kit. Much like a certain blogger’s.

There’s little food-related news to speak of, then, until 2006, when thieves in a Chicago suburb stole a tractor trailor full of half a million dollars worth of broccoli. Which, really, is an awful lot of broccoli.

On normal days, this is where I’d say you should celebrate with broccoli and chili, but let’s be realistic. Tonight, it’s all about the egg nog.

Enjoy!

Artsy Wednesday: Isaac Mizrahi + QVC = Cheesecake

Isaac M is getting all kinds of buzz for his new QVC line - which really isn't surprising at all, when you consider that one of his new products is this adorably holiday-appropriate cheesecake (for $48 plus $11 in shipping and handling, which is not at all outrageous).

Isn't it pretty? Easily as pretty as a lot of more expensive desserts.

I'm not exactly a QVC junkie, but I love Isaac Mizrahi. I nearly cried when I found out he was leaving Target for Liz Claiborne - something about his line for Target just did it for me.

I'm not sure yet if I'll end up with the same sort of devotion to the QVC line, especially since I can't try something on when I run to the store to pick up cereal, but this satin clutch and these festive plaid plates are definitely making a case.

Ideabook Tuesday: All About Fun

I'm kind of a sucker for lists and predictions, so I'm in heaven right now. End of decade wrap-ups and predictions for 2010? Yes, please.

The other day, as I was browsing the internets for design ideas, I noticed a prediction that especially resonated with me: an emphasis on fun interiors. A few minutes later, I opened up Food & Wine to find an article (that's not online yet) about fun food. Next, a spread in Bazaar about fun clothes.

So it sounds like 2010's going to be a fun year. Fortunately for me, "fun" is pretty high on my list of priorities. So here's my first shot at having fun for 2010:

My Favorite Prediction for 2010: Everybody Just Wants to Have Fun

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Trendy Monday: It's List Season

It's that time again - end of year (and end of decade) lists are all over the place, as are lists suggesting trends for the next year/ decade. This isn't exactly a list, but it is a collection of some quotes I found interesting from this Chowhound discussion of next year's likely trends:

• RETURN TO LUXURY: Champagne wishes and caviar dreams. Because I'm sick to death of recession-friendly anything.
• PRICEY SEAFOOD: Many high quality fish cuts will go through the roof thanks to shortage, and also [more] responsible fishing techniques. I sadly anticipate paying £6-7 for a tuna steak from a store.
• WEIRD LOCAL SEAFOOD: Definitely agree on the use of lesser known seafood. I live by the Chesapeake Bay and right now people are pushing for more use of the native sting ray that swim in these waters - they're calling it Chesapeake Ray. I've had it and it's not that bad.
• SPENDY SAUSAGE: Sausages will increase dramatically in price and quality.
• KOREAN FLAVORS: Sriracha is so over. Gojuchang mayo will be THE condiment of the next decade.
• WEST-TO-EAST: Not absolutely positive, but it seems to me that everything hits the west coast first (except the idiotic cupcake frenzy). Asian stuff especially because, well, it's closer to Asia. But a trend hasn't completely crested until it hits NYC, where, if the Times is any indication, Korean is now the super-trendy thing to like. Of course its possible that the Times is, er, behind the times.
• FRIED CHICKEN: Frank Bruni, departing NY Times food critic, said in an interview with Charlie Rose that the current "up-and-coming" restaurant bandwagon is fried chicken.
• BENEFIT IN-HOME DINNER PARTIES: Pretty much what it sounds like - in-home dinner parties that are set-up to benefit a cause.

Fried chicken's been on the trend radar for a couple of years now, as have Korean flavors, and the seafood situation's been evolving, too. But that west-to-east observation was an interesting one. And I agree with the first comment - I am pretty over "recession-friendly" as a kitchen strategy.

Costumed

We have a lot of theme parties, but not nearly enough of the elegantly costumed sort. Today's Magnum photos on Slate are amazing:

From an unspecified ball in 1965.

Truman Capote and guests at his Black and White Ball, held at the Plaza in 1966.

More Black and White Ball fabulousness.

Snow Day Shopping List

Milk and toilet paper? Please. That's for amateurs. I need:

• Oysters (and the ingredients for oysters Waskom)
• Crab dip ingredients
• Baguettes
• Snacks from Neopol Smokery
• Ceriello proscuitto and breadsticks
• Pasta and sausage
• Pizza-making ingredients
• Booze

This "Monster Stoooorrrrm" is kind of messing up my weekend. Tomorrow is supposed to be my annual birthday-time visit to McGarveys, but if we're buried under 24 to 36 inches of snow, that's not going to happen. So instead, I'm heading out to the store today to make sure we'll be adequately fed tomorrow and Sunday.

Old School Thursday: Holiday Edition

Today is National Maple Syrup Day, suggesting that we should all have pancakes for breakfast. Not a bad day, really, and I understand why the maple syrup lobby would have a day of its own. It would be a little more appropriate earlier in the fall, but hey, at least its not National Pizza with the Works Except Anchovies Day.

In other news, today is mostly about the production of seasonal cultural events. Today in 1843, Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol was published for the first time. It’s pretty food-centric, with all that pudding and the roast beast or whatever.

Nearly 50 years later today, in 1892 in St. Petersburg, The Nutcracker was performed for the first time – and now Clara and the nutcracker and the Sugar Plum Fairy and everyone else are nearly as famous as Santa Claus.

In fact, this past Sunday, Jen, Alicia, Maddy and I had lunch at Petit Louis, then saw a local version of The Nutcracker, performed by the Baltimore Ballet. My favorite part? The little tiny girls who run around the stage and wave to their parents. Totally cute.

But What about Food Geeks?

Via Discovery Doug, who pointed out the glaring absence of anything food related.

Artsy Wednesday: Tim Chumley Cross Sections

Yesterday, Cail sent me a link to these gorgeous cross-section photos by artist Tim Chumley. He photographs very thinly sliced pieces of fruit and vegetables, to great effect. More proof, of course, that food really is art.

Ideabook Tuesday: Creative Christmas Trees

I'm feeling festive.

And busy.

Creative Christmas Trees

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Trendy Monday: Jose Andres' Bazaar

Last week in the WSJ, Katy McLaughlin wrote an interesting article on Jose Andres' LA restaurant Bazaar, and the restaurant business trends it may or may not be spearheading.

The trends:

• Snacks replace the meal (small plates)
• It's in a hotel
• The bar is the focus
• Rejecting tradition (no white linen here)
• The restaurant is the entertainment (nightclub atmosphere)
• Wild cuisine
• Open floor plan (Bazaar is in a hotel lobby)

McLaughlin discusses each trend in general, and in terms of whether its a fad or something we can expect to see more of in the future. Though she kind of hedges and is reluctant to make any truly bold predictions, I got the sense that the first two, at least, are probably trends we'll see more of. Then again, tapas isn't exactly a new thing in the dining world, even in the U.S. And hotel restaurants...not new either.

Still, its worth a read, and its interesting to look at the industry's future based on the choices of one particular restaurateur.

Modern Gingerbread House

Libby just sent me a link to this gingerbread house, which was featured on Apartment Therapy:
A company called Hometta, which sells plans for cool sustainable houses, created the gingerbread house based on a house designed by HouMinn Practice. You can download the plans for the gingerbread house from the Hometta website, and if you register on their site by Sunday (the 13th) you're in the running to win a complete kit to make the house.

Of course, if I made it, it would not look anything like the picture above. But so cute, right?

Entertaining Friday: Apps

Coastal Living just published a nice little collection of ten simple party appetizers. They're all familiar without being boring, and perfect finger food. It's a nice resource.

My favorite is the crab, mango, and cashew dip. I've had more than a few crab dips in my day, and more than a few crab and mango stacks, but somehow I've never had a crab dip that incorporated mango. It's a great idea and a nice little twist on a classic. I'd recommend making it in addition to traditional crab dip, not instead of, though. At least if you live in Maryland. Because you know things might get ugly if there's no regular crab dip to be eaten.

I've always had lots of luck finding great hors d'oeuvres recipes on the Food & Wine website, too. I've made these chorizo-filled, bacon-wrapped dates (though I used dried figs) a couple of times and I can say that, though they need some blotting, they fly off the plate.

Epicurious has a nice list, too, if you're looking for fancy (more than one foie recipe? Sign me up.) The roasted sweet onions with Italian bleu cheese caught my eye - and made it onto my menu for tomorrow night, when we have drinks here to celebrate Cooper's birthday, before going to see Alicia's brother's band.

'Tis the season for hors d'oeuvres. Then again, is any season really not the season for hors d'oeuvres?

On the Top Chef Finale

I was Team Kevin, but as I've said over at All Top Chef, everybody in this finale was talented and professional enough to win. What a good season.

But still...Team Kevin. Especially after reading the interviews Cail's just sent me. This quote, from his interview with Creative Loafing, summarizes what I so respect in him, philosophically:

This is the crux of our situation in Atlanta. It troubles me that people think that Southern food is simply food of uneducated people who have no taste. They forget this storied, elegant history of refinement that we have. We have a longer standing food history in the South than any other region in this country, something we should be proud of.

I’ve taken it on as my mission – I’m not trying to make “New Southern” cuisine, I’m trying to make food that has a sense of place – both where I’m from and where I cook right now. I want people to be proud of that. I want people to feel like we can create our own cuisine style here that continues that history, that continues to make the South a place that you should be proud of and has amazing food.

Old School Thursday: Drink by the Drink Edition

While there are no food-related historical events of note today, it is National Lager Day, and I’m sure we can all celebrate that. And when you’re celebrating, be sure to toast St. Eulalia who, besides being saddled with quite a name, is the paton saint of sailors, mariners, and rain.

Normally I complain just a little about the randomly generated “national days,” but not today. I can’t think of anything better than recognizing sailors with beer. I myself have been sailing about a zillion times with my dad and I can say with almost complete certainty that every time we’ve been out, he’s had at least one beer. It’s only natural.

So cheers, everyone. Especially all you sailors out there.

Artsy Wednesday: At Our House

Christmastime with a preschooler - it's kind of like creating outsider art, AVAM style:
The cookies, they can hold a lot of sprinkles.

You'll note that this year, I opted to go with the gingerbread-house-from-a-box. Last year's Eames Case Study House fiasco is still sort of raw.

Ideabook Tuesday: At the Flea in Paris

The flea market in Paris is one of the more amazing places in the world. Everyone should get there at least once. But if your budget doesn't run to international travel these days, you can read Becky's ideabook on how to get the Les Puces look without the flight:

How to Get That Paris Flea Market Look

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Pictures of Drinking

It's holiday time, and that means one thing: the media focuses on drinking. I like it. Today's Magnum photos on Slate are titled, "I'll Have Another." They're fantastic, a great collection of drinking pictures that span nearly a hundred years, and several continents. My favorites:

The Duke of Rutland, drinking champagne at Belvoir Castle in 1959.

New York City, 1968. I'm hoping it was Christmastime.

Henry's Passion Merlot

Last night, we drank a special bottle of wine.

It was a 2007 merlot from Chateau Felice in Sonoma, which in itself isn't all that unusual (except that we don't drink many California wines). It was a good bottle, too - fruity and a little oaky and definitely buttery, with just a little sweetness.

What made it really special, though, is the story behind it. The wine, Henry's Passion, is named after a kid from Maryland, Henry George Lubke IV. You can read the full story here, on the Chateau Felice website, but the gist of it is that Henry, the son of a wine distributor, always wanted to be a winemaker. In 2006, when he was 20, he dropped out of college and moved to Sonoma to help with the harvest at Chateau Felice.

He stayed on after harvest, working in the tasting room and helping with events. Sadly, during the 2007 harvest, Henry passed away in his sleep one night, due to a previously undetected heart condition.

To honor Henry, Chateau Felice bottled two barrels of 2006 wine Henry made with the winery's Cellarmaster, Tom. They called them Henry's Passion, and sold most of them here in Maryland, with proceeds going to a scholarship fund in Henry's name at Boy's Latin, where he went to high school (also Cooper's alma mater). The next year, Chateau Felice expanded the program, still selling most of the wine in Maryland.

I read about Henry's Passion earlier this month, but was reminded to buy some when I received an email from Wells last week. It's available there and at a few more Baltimore-area stores (listed on the Chateau Felice website), plus at Bay Ridge Wine & Spirits (my former wine store stomping grounds) in Annapolis.

I'd definitely recommend it, both for its story and on its merits as a wine. I can't think of a better way to honor someone whose love for wine was impressive and strong.

I Am Thinking about Making...

Amanda and Merrill's gin fruit. Doesn't it look fantastic:

It's not hard to make, either. Especially since I already have so many cute little jars like that.

As a semi-aside, I've been enjoying food52's week-in-review newsletter. Thanks to my sister's friend LP for introducing it to me.

Cool, Cool, Cool: Daily Drop Cap from Jessica Hische

Designer/ illustrator/ typographer Jessica Hische has been working on a super cool project for the past couple of months. Most every weekday, she posts a new design for one capital letter. She's up to X.

The designs are super cool and I'm reminded again that I wish I was more artistic myself.

Check out my initials, daily drop cap-style:

So cool, right?

Entertaining Friday: Martha Foose's Milk Punch from Garden & Gun

Have I mentioned lately (and by "lately" I mean "this week") how much I love Garden & Gun? Both for the magazine itself and for the legitimately amazing email newsletter, "Talk of the South." The emails go out frequently and each one just covers one topic, so they're short and manageable to read. Most importantly, they're about stuff I actually want to learn.

Take the newsletter I got today for example. It's just one short recipe for milk punch, which is a slightly lighter version of eggnog, and which is also something I am totally going to make this Sunday when I decorate our tree.

Plus, I had no idea, until I saw this email, that I desperately want a silver punch bowl and punch cups. The picture above was in the email and...gorgeous. I am mentally planning a million Very Fancy Parties Featuring Punch right now.

Old School Thursday: Forefathers (and Mothers) Edition

Happy National Ice Cream Box Day. I’m not going to talk about it this week, partly because I don’t even know what an ice cream box is.

Today is a big birthday, sort of. Today in 1368, Charles IV of France was born. He was a bit of a foodie back in his day, hiring Taillevant as Master of his kitchens and giving sole rights for the ageing of Roquefort cheese to Roquefort-sur-Soulzon, making him the forefather of all those current EU regulations.

Then, in 1842, Ellen Swallow Richards was born. Who is Ellen Swallow Richards, you ask? She’s one of the founders of the U.S. home economics movement, of course. It’s because of her that I made sub-par chicken cacciatore and an ugly “bug in a jar” pillow in 8th grade.And that’s today. To celebrate…Roquefort, obvs. Skip the ice cream box.

Last Week's Dinner: Wine Tasting and Truffle Fries

Week before last, Cooper and I did something uncharacteristic: we went out, even though it was Thursday. And raining.

We started the night down at Roy's, for the wine club's presentation on the aroma wheel. Our friends Matt, Amy and R (who is a doctor and, I think, not interested in internet fame) joined the wine club a few months ago and they've been after us to go with them ever since. I'm glad we could finally make it - it was great.

Apparently last night's talk was a little more involved than usual, but we learned a lot. The speaker, Sharon Chama, trains restaurant staffs in wine tasting and pairing. She gave each of us a copy of the aroma wheel developed by Ann Noble back in 1990, during her time at UC Davis. I like the wheel, partly because it's useful, partly because it's pretty, and partly because it obviously came about via qualitative research (and qual always warms my heart):



We then sniffed six different wines - three white, three red. The base wines were the same - just a regular red and a regular white - but Sharon had doctored each with essential oils to demonstrate certain smells. Our job - and it was a competition - was to identify the smell, with the help of the wheel.

Since I can't smell anything, I thought I was going to do miserably, but that Cooper was going to tear it up. As it turns out, I got two of the six right, and was somewhat close on two of the others (but totally off on the last two). Cooper and Matt each got four right - the same four - and interestingly enough, the one they both got way wrong, they got way wrong in the same way. Apparently green apple smells like pine to them.

After the lecture part of the night, we each had four wines to taste (two whites and two reds), and Roy's sous chef paired each with a small plate. The first wine, a Sauvignon Blanc, was matched with a spicy salmon roll garnished with a mandarin orange salad and yuzu vinaigrette. The second, a buttery white blend that was a little fruity for me, was paired with a fantastic blackened shrimp served with corn polenta. The third, a Pinot Noir, was matched with a ridiculously well-cooked diver scallop in Korean black-eyed peas (that pair was amazing) and the fourth - an oaky blend of nine varietals - was matched with a gorgeous piece of medium rare lamb served over sauteed oyster mushrooms.

I gravitate towards red wines, especially in the fall and winter, so it's not surprising that the two reds were my favorite (though the last one was oakier than I usually like). All around, it was a super fun night and we're looking forward to going back when the club starts back up in 2010.

(Also, as a side note, that wine club would be a great way to meet someone if you were dating.)

Of course, four small (and I mean small) plates aren't exactly filling (for us, at least), so on the way home, we dropped by the bar at Crush for some snacks. I ordered the French dip and Cooper got the tenderloin salad -nothing fancy - but neither of us could finish because we got greedy and ordered the truffle fries as an appetizer, not realizing that they come in a bowl that's bigger than our heads.

I think Crush does a lot of things well and I'm really happy to have them as a neighbor. The truffle fries, though, might be their biggest accomplishment. I'm often disappointed by anything "truffled," because they're usually so under-truffled that I can barely taste the flavor. Not these fries, though. They smell outrageous and taste just as good. In fact, last night, the ladies at the next table asked us if the fries tasted as good as they smelled. Yes, yes they do.

Overall, good night. Especially for a rainy Thursday!

Ideabook Tuesday: Design Trends on Houzz

I make no secret of the fact that I think trends are cool. That's why I wrote this ideabook, based on the most frequently used photos on Houzz:

15 Popular Design Trends on Houzz

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