"good books!" and "books I recmend!"

Todd found these lists in S's room the other night as he was getting her ready for bed. No idea what was behind them other than, apparently, a desire to share her love of reading?


If you need a translation, here we go:

list 1:
Good Books!
American Girl books!
Chapter books!
Mary Poppins!
Danny and the Dinosaur!
Wacky Wednesday!
Oliver + S Little Things to Sew!
So on and so forth...

(I love "so on and so forth" --so much better than "etc." And how funny that she included my book on her list. I'm flattered more than I can begin to tell you. But let's continue...)

list 2:
Books I recommend for kids! starting to read! in school! (at least I think that's what it says)
Bob Books
One Red Dot!

Clearly my translation is lacking the charm of the original text, since as I was unable to include the all-important arrows. But I did keep the exclamation points, which also play an important role.

* * * * * * *

I've got a book to recommend, too, found over at Purl the other day.


I've got a long-time obsession with French macarons, having even gone so far as to make Todd bring them back from Paris for me. Fortunately we have a decent bakery in our neighborhood that creates a few flavors, so I can still get my fix locally.



I've tried making macarons at home but had trouble getting the texture just right. You know, that crispy exterior with the slightly chewy inside. I'm looking forward to trying the recipes in this book because, in addition to photo instructions, it also includes tips and hints for troubleshooting. It includes instructions for making the different flavors, as well as suggestions for matching the flavored fillings to the flavors and colors of the meringues.


But the real attraction with this book is the gorgeous photography. Doesn't this just make you hungry looking at it?


And if that's not enough, there's a section on packaging them that includes all sorts of cute and clever ideas.



But the thing that really impresses me about the book is that the author thought of everything. The last section includes recipes for using the leftover egg yolks.


I'm torn between making the rich and creamy pudding and the caramel ice cream.

* * * * * * *

One more book-related item:

I'll be doing a special event at the New York Public Library next Saturday, and I'd love it if you would come! Details here. Bring the kids!

visual taste buds

Most people go to the New Amsterdam Market for great local and artisanal foods: raw cheese, wild mushrooms, designer ice cream, and unbelievable chocolate. I love all those wonderful items, but Todd and I are in agreement that we're not quite on board the food train. We have a CSA membership and we both love good food, but we're not quite down with the obsession.

So when we joined some friends at the market today, I spent more of my time dodging the downpour and watching what people were wearing than trying the foods. It's a bit dark under the FDR where the market it held, but I managed a few candid photos. New Yorkers have such style!

Once everyone had their fill, we dropped in at Pasanella and Son, across the street, to check out the wine selection. Once again, I wasn't looking at or tasting the wine so much as examining the surroundings. One of the owners is a former editor at Martha Stewart, and it shows.

We brought home a few bottles of fantastic wine. I like them not just because they tasted amazing at the shop, but also because the labels on the bottles are really beautiful.

Are you getting a trend here?

blueberries for S

I found a bunch of tiny metal buckets at a gardening store last year and knew exactly what to do with them. I brought them, with a few pints of blueberries and the book Blueberries for Sal, to Tsia's school for snack time.

If you're not familiar with the story, little Sal and her mother go up Blueberry Hill to pick blueberries to can for the winter. Sal's mother picks blueberries and puts them into her large bucket, and Sal likes the sound the blueberries make when she drops them into her own little bucket: kuplink, kuplank, kuplunk. But Sal really prefers to eat the berries.

While I read the story out loud to S and her classmates, they dropped blueberries into their buckets just like Sal. They liked the kuplink, kuplank, kuplunk sound the berries made but, just like Sal, they preferred to eat them.

After a while of picking, Sal gets tired and sits down to eat all the berries she can reach from her spot.

Meanwhile in the story, Little Bear and his mother are coming up the other side of
Blueberry Hill, eating all the berries they can store up for winter. Little Bear gets tired and sits down to eat blueberries while his mother continues along.

But when Sal and Little Bear hurry to catch up with their mothers, things get all mixed up. Little Sal finds Little Bear's mum, and Little Bear finds little Sal's mum. Everyone is surprised, and both mums go hurrying off to find their own offspring. I love the expression on the Little Bear's mom's face in this illustration.

In the end, everyone is reunited, get all the berries they need, and return home down their respective sides of the mountain for a happy ending. Here are Sal and her mother, canning blueberries for the winter.

And at the end of our story, everyone had eaten all their blueberries and had a good time in the process.

stitching style

Last spring I had the pleasure of attending one of Natalie Chanin’s sewing workshops in New York. It was such a lot of fun! We each selected a project beforehand, and when we arrived it was waiting for us in a lovely kit (much like the one that Melanie Falick blogged about recently.) At the workshop, Natalie showed us how to use the same techniques her couture team follows when they stitch items for the Alabama Chanin collection. Then we spent the day stitching and chatting, and a chef came to prepare a delicious southern-style lunch for us. If you ever have the opportunity to spend a day with Natalie at one of these workshops, you’ll find that it’s incredibly rejuvenating and relaxing; none of us wanted to go home at the end of the day, and we made some wonderful new friendships in the process. (What is it about women, sewing, and bonding? I had a similar experience last summer at Heather Ross’s Weekend Sewing workshop in Vermont and am looking forward to doing it again this summer. It’s such a great way to make new like-minded friends!)

I never showed you what I made in Natalie’s workshop, but at last it’s time for the big reveal.

from Alabama Stitch Book

Back when Natalie and I first met, I sent her some Oliver + S patterns and one of her seamstresses made a darling Tea Party Sundress using the Alabama Chanin methods. The dress made an appearance in Cookie magazine’s profile of Natalie, and when I saw how wonderfully it turned out I just had to make one for S. I selected two colors from her organic cotton jersey fabrics: silt and light pink. I used the stencil provided in the Alabama Stitch Book (which I reviewed here) to transfer an all-over pattern onto the traced dress pieces, and once Natalie got me started with stitching I just couldn’t put the project down—I stitched all the way to Pittsburgh and back when we went to Quilt Market, and it was finished in time for my sister’s wedding.

Tea Party Sundress a la Alabama Chanin

As Natalie explains in her new book, Alabama Studio Style, cotton jersey relaxes when you wear it. Which means that it’s a good idea to start with a snug fit when you select the size you’ll be making. I made Tsia’s dress in her regular size, and of course the finished dress was too big. (I should have started with a pattern two sizes smaller and lengthened it following the methods I just posted on the Oliver + S blog to fit her height.)

So we’ve waited a while, and the dress is starting to fit. Tsia has worn it all winter with a turtleneck and tights, and I love how the fabric edges are starting to soften just a bit with each washing, giving the reverse appliqué a patina.

Alabama Studio Style

I had so much fun making this dress, now I’m planning to make myself one of the dress patterns from the Alabama Studio Style book . I still need to decide which style, size, fabric colors and stencil pattern to use. Any suggestions? (I really love the Angie’s Fall stencil, which is new to this book.)

Alabama Studio Style

If you’re interested in trying out these techniques but aren’t quite ready to take on a complete dress (and it is a commitment to make a full dress), there are lots of other terrific smaller projects in both books. I love the Small Medallion Placemats and the Medallion Boudoir Pillow in the new book (both of these projects use another new stencil that is included in the book), which look really contemporary and minimalist. There are so many great projects and recipes included, and the book feels very much like Natalie’s warm and relaxed personality, with some of her wonderful southern hospitality thrown into the mix. With both books, you’re only missing the companionship of a group of stitching women like we had at the sewing workshop.

And maybe a chef to cook you some delicious southern food at lunchtime while you relax and stitch and chat.

Alabama Studio Style

Natalie has included instructions for many different embellishment techniques like relief appliqué, backstitch reverse appliqué, and the beaded embellishments that have graced recent Alabama Chanin clothing collections. I’ve had an opportunity to admire these details during Fashion Week every season, and they are so inspirational. Each of these embellishment techniques look very different from the others when completed, and you could use them in many different ways to suit your own purposes, even if you don’t make any of the specific projects in the book. I particularly love the starburst “eyelet” stitch, which you could embroider by itself or bead for two very different looks.

I love how these two books can stand independent of each other but also build on each other. They're both absolutely beautiful, informative, and inspirational.

and marshmallows for all

You might remember our family Christmas tradition of mailing a sort of care package to each family outpost. (Don't worry--I don't really expect you to remember this.) We all wait, if we can remember, to open our respective packages on Christmas day to see what sorts of fun or useful gifts have been included. Sorry I couldn't send one to you too, but I thought you might enjoy seeing this year's contents all the same. Todd wrote it, so I can't take any credit:

And a Merry Marshmallow Christmas to you!

This year’s Christmas package contains items of just one kind—marshmallows in all their glorious variety! Each type of marshmallow has been selected specifically for you by one of us. Here’s what we’ve each chosen.

1. Tsia: Japanese marshmallow treats.

These are one of Tsia’s favorite treats. She says, “You have to come to New York to buy them. [Editor’s note: We get them at our local Japanese grocery store.] Only eat them after dinner because they have a lot of sugar. They are so good. I like apple and strawberry inside.” Tsia picked out some bags of each kind, so your package will have either the apple- or the strawberry-filled kind.

2. Todd: marshmallow snowmen.

You may already be familiar with Todd’s addiction to the wonderful Easter candy known as Peeps. He was extra excited this year to discover that we can make them a central part of our family’s Christmas celebration, too! Todd has some very specific instructions for “ripening” the peeps. “Some people like their Peeps fresh and chewy. I don’t. A Peep doesn’t truly reach its Platonic form of true Peepness until it’s perfectly ripened. Here’s what you need to do to encourage these little gems along. Make a long slit on the top of the package. Allow the package to sit open, but untouched for 7-10 days. Then enjoy!” A ripened peep develops a crunchy, hard crust and a slightly more chewy center.

3. Liesl: homemade vanilla and peppermint marshmallows.

Years ago, Liesl saw an article in Martha Stewart Living about making your own marshmallows. She thought, “Oh, please, Martha. Like anyone has time to actually make marshmallows. Why would you bother?” Then, a few years ago, she decided to give it a try. The result? Heavenly flavored cubes of gelatin and corn syrup filled goodness! These homemade marshmallow are flavored especially for the holiday season. Enjoy them with a cup of hot chocolate for a warm holiday treat on a cold night. But be careful. They are sweet. So sweet, in fact, that they recently beat our ultra-sweet tooth of a kid. She couldn’t finish one and was so ashamed of her defeat that she tried to hide the leftover in the garbage, not being able to admit that she wasn’t up to the challenge of eating a whole one.

We hope that you enjoy our package full of marshmallowy happiness and that you have a merry Christmas!

Love,

Liesl, Todd, and Tsia

secret loves?

I'm having two love affairs, at present.

Don't worry; Todd already knows about them. And he doesn't seem to be upset with me.

The first one is with Muji. Are you familiar? Straight-talking, really good-looking, sexy, and Japanese. I spend as much time with Muji as I can, sneaking off whenever I can get away.


Ok, Muji is a store, actually. They manufacture inexpensive, clean designs with a contemporary, no-nonsense aesthetic. I love their office supplies (especially the notebooks and sketchbooks), housewares (the clean and simple dishes and glassware), and even their clothing has a wonderful modern-but-natural/recycled aesthetic that I adore. I'm gradually accumulating a Muji lifestyle, I think: my alarm clock, favorite washcloth, most comfortable T-shirt, and many of my favorite items in the studio all came from Muji. And while I used to have to travel to the MoMA store or their single downtown location to get my Muji fix, now I'm discovering little shops popping up all over the place: near my dentist in the Flatiron district, just off Times Square around the corner from my favorite fabric shops...it's so great! Ah, Muji, my not-so-secret love...

My second big love affair is with Mark Bittman. No I'm not sleeping with him. But I'm certainly cooking with the guy. Man after my heart, I tell you. Not only do I still adore his cookbook (he has many others, by the way; does he have little elves who staff his test kitchens around the clock? How is he possibly generating all these articles, recipes and books???), but he does his cooking in a genuine (i.e. tiny) New York kitchen and, true to the name of his New York Times column ("the minimalist") stocks it with only the necessities. Oh, and he blogs, too; how can I not love him?


I think I'm gradually cooking my way through Bittman's book, but at present I'm obsessed with Bechamel sauce (and it's myriad uses) and Korean pancakes. Try them: we all adore them over here.

My favorite Bittman piece of all time? Right here. In it, the Minimalist discusses the tools you really need in your kitchen. I've been meaning to write this same piece for sewing; really, who needs all those crazy gadgets?

Stay tuned; I will do it soon, I promise.

In the meantime, I think I'll do a good old-fashioned swoon for my two love affairs. Aren't they charming and wonderful?

weekend fun

Last year my sister and I experimented with joint cookie-making, to great success. It's so much easier to do the whole rolling-baking-decorating-cleaning thing when two adults are involved, let me tell you. So this year we made it a whole-family event and waited until a Saturday when everyone could chip in.




sugar + kids + holiday = superfund cookies. That frosting below is actually a neon green, just to give you a little perspective on the situation.


Yes, one in the mouth and one in the hand. Do you feel my pain?


After all that excitement, we needed a little walk. A quick trip to the new Gehry-designed science library on the Princeton campus was in order. You really can't see it behind the Serra sculpture, there. This is a peaceful-looking photo, but that's because you can't hear the three kids hollering inside the walls of the sculpture to make echos.


I think everyone had fun. And everyone had sugar. Don't forget the sugar.

Brooke wrote about photo booths the other day, particularly the one at Bubby's in Brooklyn. How coincidental; we had plans to meet friends there this afternoon!

DUMBO, where Bubby's is located, stands for District Under Manhattan Bridge Overpass. To get to the restaurant, we walked walk under the bridge. Nice view of the Brooklyn Bridge, as well.





Before we could go to brunch, Tsia needed to throw some rocks into the water. New York kids don't get to do that very often.


A good time was had by all. Lots of food, too.


Then Tsia took charge of the camera. Those condiments are almost a cityscape when seen from her perspective.


And of course we had to try out the photo booth. So this is for Brooke:


Lesson learned: I should learn to be vain enough to check my hair before doing things like this. What is that strange curl in the middle of my forehead?