With its tidy little packages steaming with juices and unadulterated flavors, cooking en papillote has always transfixed me. At the same time, I found myself flummoxed. Without ripping the package open, how could I be sure whatever I was cooking was in fact done?
Continue reading “Scallops with Artichokes, Tomatoes, and White Beans in Parchment” »
Who wouldn’t want to be a French girl? Whether true or not, we all imagine she looks great in skinny jeans and ballet flats, totes baguettes in her bicycle basket, doesn’t get fat, and brings a graceful touch to everyday living. Sadly, I am not French. But I did get to spend a week in Paris, and I can tell you that an ordinary American girl can quickly feel sublime and in her element among all that foie gras.
Wouldn’t holiday shopping go down a lot easier if you could skip chain stores entirely and browse handmade goods with a cocktail in your hand while bobbing your head to Le Tigre? As if you were looking for another reason to love Bust magazine, they brought us the Holiday Craftacular for the second year in a row.
On her popular blog the Wednesday Chef, Luisa tests recipes from the New York Times and Los Angeles Times food sections. It’s an idea I’ve loved since the moment I first became a loyal reader of her elegant, playful prose. When I asked Luisa to be a Guest Cook on Pink of Perfection, I had no idea I would become so enamored of her cozy kitchen in Chelsea, her wonderfully warmhearted nature, or that gorgeous face of hers. I also didn’t know I would be eating bison.
Continue reading “The Wednesday Chef: Bison with Smoky Wild Rice” »
Since 1886, the State Fair of Texas has been held every fall at Dallas’ 277 acre landmark Fair Park, where stately art deco buildings co-exist with the flashy midway. Students are allowed a day off school to attend what is the en masse social event of the season. Couples two-step, kids are pulled in wagons, city slickers ogle the live turkeys while farmers watch over protectively and with some amusement. Everyone comes to the State Fair, and everyone has a good time. Frankly, It’s hard not to.
Dan introduced himself to me by whipping up a peach caipirinha from my parents’ scanty liquor cabinet offerings. He had driven out to the farm in a rental convertible to meet his best friend’s new girl (that’s me). I asked him some very uptight question about where he learned so much about “mixology,” and he shrugged off an answer about “trial and error.”
Continue reading “Guest Cook: Dan’s 3 Course Italian Meal” »
Women with tools are hot, and Beatrice has an entire workshop filled with ‘em. This lady’s got pliers, hammers, an ancient sewing machine, a pneumatic staple gun and a whole lot more in the back of her vintage furniture shop, Atlantis, in sleepy-cool Red Hook, Brooklyn. The store is filled to the brim with all sorts of mid-century treasures, and I left the proud owner of juice glasses painted with a buck-in-forest scene.
Continue reading “The Hot Seat: Reupholstering a Retro Dinette Chair” »
If you’ve ever taken an early supper during which the restaurant staff changes the lighting scheme over from all-business lunch to starry-eyed dinner, you know that your dining companions instantly become twice as attractive. You don’t need a McMansion with dimmer switches in every room for an intimate effect; the basic element of fire will serve you quite well.
Continue reading “Fire With Fire: Simplest Lanterns” »
