It wouldn’t be exactly true to say that I woke up to rain. Still, a heavy blanket of fog swaddled our little yellow house on the hill, and the ground was wet enough that I can imagine it may have rained overnight.
Bundled up in my red winter coat, I leashed up the pooch and went for a long walk in McLaren Park. Despite what folks say, we do have seasons in California.
Sometimes, we live with evidence of all of them at once. Just today, as Ruby and I tromped through mud and autumnal fallen yellow leaves, I also bathed in the smell of winter’s piney conifers. These firs, lush yet strangely expectant, as if they’re just waiting to be strung with shiny glass balls.
Just a short way down the path, I was surprised to find evidence of the first blackberry blossoms, a reminder that summer will come and provide mounds of juicy berries- rife for the foraging.
I found pink cottage roses wet with dew, spiders spinning sparkly webs, dazzlingly-bright yellow flowers, shy mushrooms peeking from beneath blades of grass, and nasturtiums- from whom I stole a sip of spicy nectar. When I left the cover of the tress and came upon a grassy playground, robins sang while hunting for fat little worms.
You see all the seasons, right there before me.
As we neared the end of our walk, a few raindrops fell. Tucking my camera into my coat and quickening my pace, I looked forward … get the recipe
I love the holidays. I like it when the air gets crisp. I love the tinsel and the flashing of Christmas lights behind drawn curtains as I walk the dog at night. I even love Christmas music.
I grew up in a family that made a big deal of the holidays. We had HUGE parties with lots of people- we hired a Santa at Christmas & an Easter Bunny when his time came around. Everyone was invited. While the fun and the chaos were always exciting, these parties were not my favorite part of the holidays. Christmas Day held gifts and a lovely family meal at my aunt’s stunning home in Napa. Still, this was not my favorite day of the season. It was always Christmas Eve when our closest family friends, The DeBonos, would come over for fondue.
I’ve known the DeBonos since I was five years old. The best thing about Christmas Eve was that nobody had to get gussied up, we didn’t have to be on our best behavior, and we always laughed until our faces hurt. Forget leaving pretenses at the front door, we could just pack them away in a box.
Much of my immediate family is gone now; it’s really just my brother and I. We’ve worked hard to build a family around us; people like (to mention a few) The DeBonos, our friends The Olivas, The Smiths, The Other Smiths, Miss Jackson, The Mackins, The Sloane-Frenches, The Jennings, Mr. Largo, Ms. Banana, and … get the recipe
In case you were wondering, Hanukkah begins on Tuesday the 20th at sundown, this year (I had to Google it). While I am half Jewish (technically the wrong half), my mother was raised Catholic, but was a practicing Za Zen Buddhist when I was born. To make things all the more confusing, I went to Catholic school, but never had to go to church. I was raised to be very proud of my Jewish heritage on both sides. Yep, both.
So, while we celebrated Christmas, we also celebrated Jewishness. Not Jewish holidays, or customs really. I was happy to be a Jewish girl at Catholic school. Proud that my great grand uncle was Alfred Dreyfus, the Frenchman falsely accused of treason and the subject of one of France’s great political scandal’s known as The Dreyfus Affair. Aunts and uncles spoke in hushed tones of how I didn’t get The Jewish Nose. This made me sad, but appeared to make them happy.
Our Jewishness revolved mostly around food, Yiddish words, and the odd piece of jewelry- a Star of David here, a Mezuzah there. But if I’m honest, it was mostly about the food. Saturdays were deli days. My dad, my brother, and I would go to Mo Greenburg’s Jewish Delicatessen and get knishes, pickles, corned beef or pastrami sandwiches, latkes & pickled Beets. This was as close as I ever got to a temple until I entered high school. This was all I knew of Jewish holidays until my … get the recipe
On Tuesday, my brother came over. Our original plans were to toast our mom on the anniversary of her passing. I’d picked up a fantastic French bottle of champagne and I was going to prepare some local quail I’d procured.
In reality, we watched a hilarious hillbilly slasher flick and ate junk food. It was awesome. At one point in the evening, my brother looked at me, and said, “I’m craving apple pie. We should go get some.” I asked, “Will pear do?”
Now, I’ve been told my kitchen is a little like an apothecary. Its walls are lined with jars filled with powders and potions. I’ve been known to emerge from it bearing mysterious creations with curative powers. Tuesday night, when I walked out of that kitchen, with a steamy, golden, pear gallette, I felt less like a woman of science, and much more like a magician.
There is nothing like the look on a person’s face when they catch sight and smell of something baked just for them- especially on the spur of the moment. And this, is why I love to always have a bit of pastry crust chilling in my fridge.
You may have seen my photo tutorial for butter and lard pastry crust. That crust is still amazing, but a month ago, something earth-shattering happened. My friend Kimmie of Full Circle Foodie came to me & said, “You know I love you, but I had pie crust better than yours”
I stopped dead in my … get the recipe
I really need no excuse to have friends over for dinner, cocktails, and conversation. Whether it’s a planned gathering with a big sit down dinner or something more impromptu, I love to have people in my home and feed them.
I realize that not everyone feels as comfortable in this realm, and that planning parties and festive dishes can fill people with anxiety- even a sense of dread at times. The holiday season can be doubly hard as it brings gatherings, not only in the home but potlucks, cookie exchanges, and food-centric events of every sort.
Even the most seasoned host, the most proficient kitchenista, has to have some dead simple recipes up her sleeve. The best of these seem as though they might be impossible to replicate, sound ridiculously fancy, and yet could be executed by just about anyone. Meet, my new best friend, goat cheese mousse- the simplest most elegant holiday appetizer I’ve made.
The other night, I was rushing off to a pot luck. yet I had time to create, prepare, & photograph this recipe. Simultaneously I made cranberry blood orange jam, and candied kumquats from Simply Recipes in just over one hour. This is not because I am some sort of super woman- it’s just that easy! Oh, and while everything was in the icebox chilling, I was in the bath, getting pretty. Not only was this gorgeous, fluffy, and rich mousse devoured at the party, I looked gorgeous fluffy and rich. Hmmm, maybe a bad … get the recipe
Welcome to part two of Design and Branding for Bloggers or Food Blog Design Bootcamp. This is a series created by The Cusinerd and Me, The Tomato Tart.
In part one, we talked about:
basic brand elements
mission statements
and your voice
I ended the last post with a pretty bold statement.
Of course, that’s easy to say. You might even say it rolls of the tongue, but start to think about it and it may come off as confusing. I promise I’m not speaking in riddles or channeling Yoda. We’re gonna break this down.
your blog is your brand:
To clarify, your blog is the place on the web where your brand is expressed. Each time you post, you have the chance to strengthen your brand with your words, your photos, personal stories, and recipes.
For example, there are countless recipes for apple crisp on the web, and I’ve probably seen at least 40 of them this season. There’s one I want to share with you. It stood out in my mind, not because it’s the best recipe (although it sounds fantastic), not because it has the prettiest photos (although they are lovely). Lora, The Cake Duchess’s, recipe for a cranberry apple crisp stood out in my mind because of the story she told about making it with her dad.
What a perfect example of standing out in the crowd. The beauty of this is that all Lora had to do was be authentic- to stay true … get the recipe
WHAT IS YOUR BRAND?
There are roughly 179 million blogs on the web.
98,500 more blogs will be created in the next 24 hours.
There will be more than 1.1 million blog posts in that same time period.
The numbers are huge. They can seem overwhelming, and statistics like that can make a person wonder how one little blog can shine in a sea of hundreds of millions.
The good news is that your blog can shine.
In this four part series on, The Cuisinerd & I will present to you the basics of branding and design for bloggers. This presentation was originally created as a live session and presented at Foodbuzz Fest 2011 in San Francisco, CA. Kristin (The Cuisinerd) & I put our heads together to come up with these simple and effective branding and design essentials:
So back to making your blog shine, sparkle, and stand out in the crowd. It starts with a simple question:
“What makes you, you?”
You may not be a corporation, with a team of people managingyour brand, but that doesn’t mean you can’t approach your branding like a professional. There is a balance though, as a blogger, a writer, a photographer, a person, your brand is you, and it should reflect your very essence.
The best personal brands are the most authentic, the most honest.
What Is Your Brand?
We’ll start at the beginning. Most people know about logos, taglines, website URLs. These things are all a part of your brand, … get the recipe
It’s that time again, when we turn to our vintage cookbook and create something new, and hopefully spectacular. This month, after a year of working our way through the old one, Christianna has selected a new book.
We have moved on to The Second Ford Treasury of Favorite Recipes From Famous Eating Place. How’s that for a mouthful? And, we’re remaking a total classic, the Toll House Cookie. Of course, my mind went wickedly wild at first. I have pushed the envelope on some of these vintage recipe swaps- making donut vodka during the potato donuts, sopapillas with drunken berries during the taffy apple swap and a bacon and escarole custard to revamp hot slaw.
This time, I thought about doing frozen cookie dough truffles, but then I remembered last year when I made candy cane truffles. I was cursing my friends, my kitchen, my chocolate, and the world. NO TRUFFLES! Then I thought about a bacon, bourbon, and chocolate chip cake. While I still might keep that cake in my back pocket, I remembered that this is cookie season. If we’re remaking the classing Toll House cookie, I’m sticking with a cookie.
The question is, how do you improve upon a chocolate chip cookie? Bacon? Yes, and I almost went there. But then, my brain went to brown butter- the best liquid aside from vintage champagne FACT- not opinion. Of course brown butter alone does not a cookie make- fleur de sel? A quick search showed that theses … get the recipe
