October 2011
32 posts
Several months ago I went to a magazine launch party (for Lost Magazine, if you’re curious), and because the latest issue was focused on food, they were giving away several cookbooks. One of them was James Beard’s American Cookery. I had seen it glaring at me from the stack well before the raffle started, and boy did I think nasty things about how badly I wanted it. When the raffle...
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September 2011
43 posts
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Sometimes I think that a lot of my car horn angst would go away if the sound of car horns wasn’t so damn aggressive. Every time I hear them I picture the drivers as scowling, red-faced assholes who think wherever they’re going is more important than everyone else, that they’re making punching gestures out the window, and they want to kill whomever they’re honking at.
...
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I kind of hate that phrase “only in New York City!” but honestly:
Last weekend I ran a race in the Hamptons. There was a very sneaky, broad range of elevation, and my entire body was covered in tributaries of sweat because the rain we were planning on turned out to be the same volume of water but in the form of humidity. But I don’t regret it, I beat the time I was hoping for,...
Last night Kathryn and I watched Friends with Money—first time for her, fourth or fifth time for me—and at the end discovered that there’s director’s commentary! So I sat there and watched the whole thing all over again, reveling in the extreme likability that is Nicole Holofcener. It is so worth watching, especially to learn which scene was filmed at her Mom’s house (it’s...
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“And why’s Janis Joplin’s life read as a downward spiral into...”
– I Love Dick
This book is taking a while, but basically you just can’t rush through any of it.
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In honor of the Emmys, and my not having a TV that I understand how to operate, I’m watching season 1 of Mad Men (on my computer) for the very first time. It’s really good! I want to be Joan for Halloween.
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Something "different"—
—which could sound like my Dad when he has no context for his reaction (like when he started reading The Hunger Games trilogy, or when I gave him some kimchi that I made to try) and he scrunches up his face, looks kind of quizzical, and says with some enthusiasm, “That—that’s different”’—
to do tonight is the Good Festival in Williamsburg, a music and food celebration,...
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Sometimes I think it would be a hilarious idea to dramatize yoga instructor biographies, too.
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Dinner parties
My opinion is that when you host a dinner party, no matter what the intention or scope, it absolutely must include dessert. Dessert is what makes a dinner party a party and not just dinner. And dessert could be any number of things: a really perfect peach a la Alice Waters, or cake from a bakery, or a fruit crisp you made, or some cookies from a box, or a bar of dark chocolate decorated with drops...
bobberens said: So beautiful. I love poached eggs so much, and that is beautifully poached.
Two minutes and forty-five seconds exactly, on a rapid simmer, with 1 tablespoon vinegar. Works every single time for me.
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“7. Just leave the bar when the drunk cartoonist starts to draw you. Because it...”
– Tips for Moving to Atlanta, U.S.A.
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robertpatrick said: my grandmother would peel tomatoes for my fussy grandfather by holding them over the open flame of her cook top as well as skinning bell peppers that way (charring and scraping), but eggplant, never. let us know how it turns out.
It’s pretty good! The...
“Never demean yourself by talking back to a critic, never. Write those letters to...”
– Truman Capote
JVB, listen up. You, too, C-Dub.
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