corny, creepy or both?

 

what a day

what a week, what a month. Gosh, I haven't posted in w-a-y too long. What's going on? Well, the spring-like temperatures encouraged activities outside la maison - a couple of visits to the orchid show at the NYBG, a couple of trips to MoMA for the Cindy Sherman exhibition, a tour of the Tenement Museum on the Lower East Side, and even a performance of "Venus in Fur." All that (plus two car trips to Virginia and back) and two intricate needlepoint projects have kept me away from the computer. It's been quite nice really.

 

i am officially obsessed with two more things

The first is a new cookbook, "Plenty" - an inspirational volume of plant based recipes from one of the owners of  Ottolenghi in London. A few years ago, my sister-in-law introduced me to the small store/restaurant in Notting Hill and I've been a fan ever since. So I was delighted to discover this new book and I am not disappointed. Some of the recipes might be labor and/or ingredient intensive but if the results are anything like the lunches I had at the store it will all be worth it. Take a look at the website - a virtual, visual  feast


My other new obsession is Liz Earle skincare. I came across the products somewhere on the internet and thought I would try them. The company is based in the UK but you can buy their stuff online. the items arrived beautifully packaged and with a generous sample. No, I don't look ten years younger but the products are user friendly and feel great!

this year at the dog show

I saw two people I know! Not only that but I went with my friend and we had the best time. She got the tickets and access to a sky box so it was all around a very pleasant day with the dogs. Madison Square Gardens was definitely more crowded than usual and the dogs didn't seem to be grouped by breed in the benching area area but that meant I saw more breeds than usual as well as some unusual breeds - including some sort of large dark grey, hairless dog (low petability factor) that I recognized on TV last night and I now know to have a name that begins with and X and is unpronounceable. One of the new breeds being shown this year. I chatted to the friendly handler of an adorable wire haired daschund as we wandered behind the scenes; we then went to watch the dogs being judged (and to judge the people) in arena; and finally wound up in the sky box enjoying a spectacular bird's eye view and a delicious lunch. A day at the dog show doesn't get any better. And the adorable daschund won the Hound Group.

i am officially obsessed with

herbs and spices. The obsession started a few years ago when I discovered Penzeys. Initially I ordered by mail but when a small outpost opened a few miles away I would make any excuse to drive over and wander around the bare bones building, filling my basket with bottles. My faves were the ground cumin and the vanilla sugar. Then I discovered the double strength vanilla essence and baking has never been the same. I amassed an eclectic collection of items and stopped relying on things like"chili powder" and  "curry powder", preferring to mix my own from my shelf. I remain a loyal and devoted follower of the brand but  a couple of years ago a search for pomegranate molasses, sumac and za'atar (for recipes from  Ottolenghi) led me to The Spice House so now I have two excellent spice sources. Today I got ten fresh bottles of my go to items and spent some time this afternoon re-alphabetizing my spice shelf. Just in time to make the chilis for Superbowl this weekend.

holiday wear

I'm just back from a holiday coffee where the hostess served the most delicious frittatas, fruit salad with mint and mini ginger scones. Scones were from my kitchen-away-from home, Aux Delices. It was fun to catch up with people I don't see any more as the girls have graduated from the local high school and my social world has contracted. In a good way. Something that continues to amaze me (even after living in this country for over 20 years) is the attention to festive clothing, particularly in December, particularly at holiday coffees. Much as I think I want to find that perfect red sweater, possibly embellished with a few sparkly silver and white snowflakes, I just can't commit. Other ladies look lovely in their holiday garb - me, not so much. So for now it has to be the tartan "perfect" shirt from J. Crew and, when that is in the wash, a black sweater accessorized with an Hermes scarf - "Les Plaisirs du Froid" or "Joies d'Hiver". Now that's festive dressing.

holiday sights

Here are a couple of delightful sights that I wanted to share yesterday but it took w-a-y too long to load the pics so I'm trying again today. Spur of the moment, on a chilly but sunny day last week, I drove to the NYBG to look at the Xmas tree - it's huge and gorgeous and it's actually trees, plural.

Yesterday, when I was in the city, my friend and I spent some time looking at the Bergdorf Goodman windows. The detail is incredible and they seem to get more creative every year.

NYBG

under the sea

everything in this window is made of paper