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31 May 2010

Moving Sucks, Cooking Rocks


Hubby and I continue to unpack our earthly goods at a glacial pace. Today we unearthed my cookbooks, which for me is like coming upon a box of photo albums of life-long friends. Love, nostalgia and excitement swept through me as I removed each book from its box and flipped through it, lovingly smoothing the pages and fantasizing about the meals that I will cook in my new kitchen. For many of my cookbooks I remember the period in my life when it was purchased and I first started cooking out of it.

I almost cried when I discovered that about 1/4 of the books had somehow been exposed to water and were starting to mold. I briefly considered trying to salvage them, but I will tragically have to replace several hundred dollars worth of cookbooks over the next year.

Images from Donna Hay

21 May 2010

Holy Cheap Hermes Batman!

Online sample sale website Rue La La is selling Hermes Birkins and Chanel quilted handbags.
Believe it people.
You can join Rue La La with this invitation and check it out for yourself.

Image from Rue La La

Whit Hats


I totally need this hat.
From the new miler Whit NYC

Via Oh Joy, Image from Refinery29

20 May 2010

Zeno Hot Spot, Not So Hot

I was super excited when I first noticed the Zeno hot spot for sale at CVS. This cute little gadget allegedly packs some powerful zit fighting action. Previously, the zeno technology was only available in a re-usable format for $129 (which you had to purchase replacement cartridges for at $25). Now, at $40 this little pink plastic nugget is hardly a deal, but if it was really 90% effective at elimating zits, I was willing to splurge. The zeno works by delivering a 2.5 minute dose of heat to your pimple, killing the bacteria responsible for the flair up. Sadly, I found this gadget to be ineffective on both my and my husbands zits, and we don't even have cystic acne (the kind it doesn't work on). So, I just wanted to give you a heads up, don't waste your money on a zeno...in my experience it really only works maybe 40% of the time, and that is just not worth the price. Futhermore, my zeno randomly turned itself on when I bumped it (even when the cap was on) which is a giant waste of money because the thing stops working after 80 uses.

09 May 2010

Basilcello on Ms. Adventures in Italy


Speaking of Basil, when I was searching for ways to use my basil flowers I ran across an article about making your own Basilcello (like lemoncello) on Ms. Adventures in Italy. How divine are her pictures? Go check it out! I'm totally making up a small batch for myself next week.

Image from Ms. Adventures in Italy

Basil Flowers

I'm back in DC after a week of packing in Boston. Miraculously my herbs and tomatoes survived their week of neglect (all except the mint, surprisingly). My basil flowered in my absence, usually I eat the entire plant (or kill it) before flowers emerge, so now I'm wondering what to do. Some websites say that you should cut flowers off immediately, because they will effect the flavor of your leaves, while others say that this is an old wives tale. Either way, those cuties are coming off and I just need to figure out how I want to use them, as they are apparently edible. My first thought is to throw them into a nice salad for dinner tomorrow, but I feel like that is kind of the easy way out. I think I would prefer to use the flowers as a garnish in a cocktail, I'm thinking a Basil Gimlet (like this, but with gin instead of vodka).

Have any of you ever tried Basil flowers?

Image from wikipedia

03 May 2010

News from the home front


Well my darlings,
I was in Washington DC for the entire Cherry Blossom season and I didn't manage to make it down to check them out...tragic. In fact, I have to say that my life has been very uneventful. I've tried out some DC restaurants since moving to the area, signed up for a CSA and started a little veggie garden on my porch. In fact, I've gone a little patio garden crazy, having purchased about six different varieties of heirloom tomatoes. I hope to go back to blogging regularly in another week or two when all of my furniture and whatnot is finally down here (and I won't be sleeping on an air mattress anymore). I've been without regular computer acess and craft supplies for over two months now, I'm still not sure how I survived!

Kisses

Image from http://www.twilightearth.com