Tertin Kartano is a 16th century farm that doubles as a hotel and restaurant (or vice versa) in Mikkeli in Southern Finland’s lake region. Much of what Papita and Matti Pylkkanen and their staff grow and forage – from wild chanterelle to rowan berries – are used in the traditional Finnish manor-house cuisine, and in creating its very charming ambiance. I loved these canning jars cleverly arranged with vines (others have leafy vegetables and herbs) in place of flowers for the café’s outdoor tables. (I don’t think I’ve ever seen chicken wire used decoratively before…) The vines appear to be hops, grown to make Tertti’s incredibly delicious, crisp, slightly bitter beer. read more…
TED is a yearly conference (its motto is “ideas worth spreading”) as well as a website where you can watch videos of riveting talks by truly remarkable people. Some TED talks are so compelling that they continue to be blogged and referenced around the internet years after they first appeared, like Jill Bolte Taylor’s “My Stroke of Insight“. You can connect to the talks right at TED’s website, browsing categories like “ingenious, inspiring, funny, most emailed”. Or, you can see the whole amazing listing – YEARS of talks, 500 and counting – on this ingenious spreadsheet.
Hot tip: On each talk’s web page, to the far right of the video screen are the words “open interactive transcript”. Click it, choose the language you want, and you can read the talk, copy it, or click where in the transcript you want the video to start from. It’s a great way to really focus on some of the amazing things that are being said.
One of the most pleasurable parts of cooking is the Eureka Moment, when an idea comes to mind unexpectedly that opens a clear path of discovery. The other night, a sudden brain-flash lead to discovery of a milkshake flavored with Amontillado sherry, a grown-up flavor to be sure, that in a milkshake makes an unbelievably satisfying dessert. It is so delicious and surprising, you could serve it at a dinner party (forget classic milkshake glasses – any cool glass will do). And it is something you could rely upon when your spirits need lifting. Fabulous Amontillado is not necessary; I use the stuff I keep around for cooking (barely decent enough to drink is the rule). Mixed into the shake, its flaws miraculously disappear.
The idea did not come out of the blue, rather was the product of several experiences that worked their way around my mind and memory until they evolved into the milkshake. Here’s the path, for those interested in how some recipes come to be (along with the recipe): read more…
Dennison Lee is one of several people I know who have shifted their life radically recently, some in response to the recession and their work drying up, and some hoping to find a more satisfying way of living. Dennison, who had plenty of work as a transportation economist, is one of the latter. He spent about a year getting ready for his move “out”, saving money, and trying on different plans in his head before he hit on the right next step.
He gave up his New York City apartment to join forces with Jim Grillo, a farmer he knew from the Union Square Greenmarket and moved four hours upstate to Jim’s farm. He lives there in a gutted Airstream he brought on CraigsList for $3,800, and outfitted to be his spare living quarters.
Dennison has become a farmer and forager as he explores other ways of being in the world. He has intentionally embraced a demanding, deeply improvisational way of living read more…
Adam Kuban of Serious Eats’ Slice Blog has a compelling series about people who have built their own pizza ovens. His interview with Mark Wilkie, who created this beauty is in the backyard of his Brooklyn rental, comes complete with photos and drawings of the process. Wilkie found lots of practical resources at Forno Bravo, a California based pizza oven maker that offers free plans for building “Pompeii” brick pizza oven as well as forums where d-i-y oven builders can exchange info.
It seems the Forno Bravo can fashion all or part of an oven if you’re into designing your own. Their “Photos” section has inspiring photos of wood-fired ovens from all over the world, read more…
If you ever need a big dose of delight and wonder, watch David Attenborough’s 4 minute beauty of a video about the bower bird of New Guinea, who creates astonishingly-decorated homes using careful arrangements of orchids, tree ferns, moss, the shiny wing covers of beetles, orange fruits, glowing red leaves, acorns, black fruits…with a clear sense of aesthetics!
It reminds me of the way kids create fantastical houses out of whatever they find. Only a bird did it….(At least one leading naturalist of the 19 century thought the bower birds little homes were made by a race of pygmies.) read more…
Every day for a year, as Christopher Rehage walked across China, he made a picture or video of himself, documenting his hair growth along the way. Day One shows him clean shaven, almost bald; he gradually turns into…a completely other version of himself. When he returned, he made this amazing little artwork of a video; it is way more than about watching someone’s hair grow. 3:40 minutes into the piece, it gets really moving and makes you think…
…about what time is…and how we change…and what we make along the way…share…leave for others to find…document….and if we were the same person a year ago, or yesterday?
It manages to look back and forward at the same time.
Corn on the cob is about the most perfect thing to eat on Labor Day weekend. Still, this simple surprising puree made with fresh kernels cut off the cob is a fine rival. A small amount of heavy cream and grated Parmigiano bind with the milky corn juices to achieve the texture of an ethereal polenta with a very pure, concentrated corn flavor. It is pure comfort food, summer-style. I have been known to eat it as a meal on evenings alone, made with 1 or 2 stray ears from a corn-on-the-cob feast. read more…
A big part of improvising is imagining possibilities, or “listening” to the possibilities inherent in a situation or a thing. That can mean any thing, even something as ordinary as a hook, though its always easier if it has a simple, rather classic design that can work in a variety of situations. The trick is to ignore what the item was originally designed for. This handmade brass boat hook from the great, bordering-on-fetish website Hook Lady is a fine example. It is at once handsome, understated, and elemental, both modern and rustic. It would work equally well as a bathroom towel hook, a closet hook, key hook, fireplace tool hook…as coat hooks (a row of them on a wall by the door), or, as a “pot rack” (many hooks composed in stacked rows or as a cluster on an entire wall of a kitchen)… read more…
When I clicked on the link to the spare typed list of principles entitled “Publish Local” posted on Reference Library, I came upon some wonderful, processy illustrations of them, along with a PDF of print-and-tape-on-the-wall-worthy signs – sixteen in all, in beautiful black-on-white type. At least the first twelve principles are reminders of a great path to bringing an idea into the world. If you tacked them around the walls of your workspace or office, you’d be sure to bring your idea to fruition, all the while keeping faith in your project. read more…
