The night before last I was looking for a source for the Alessi juicer by Philippe Starck (below left) after recognizing it in one of the scenes in Food, Inc. The juicer appeared in the kitchen of Eric Schlosser, author of Fast Food Nation, and I was curious about how much it cost (answer, $90). […]

If you haven’t seen it already, read the New York Times “Refreshing by Definition” on the essentials of summer cocktails. Lots of our favorites are there: mint, basil, lemons and limes, cola (specifically Coca-Cola, of course), and a muddler (thanks Mari) for all that mint and basil. Just as we’ll be using summer’s fruits in […]

In celebration of the official start of summer (and as a result of the horrid levels of heat/humidity in Minneapolis), this weekend we broke out the ice cream maker. As Tom mentioned, we took home a pint of strawberries from the Midtown Farmer’s Market and they were starting to get a little funky after a couple […]

Besides all of the edible treasures from today’s trip to the Midtown Farmers’ Market, we also took home a small group of succulent cuttings ($2.00). I thought I recognized the plant from my new (old) book, Plants for the Home, purchased at a thrift store for just $0.69. Of the succulents for sale, this was […]

About 10 minutes ago I was going to write about my first adventure in laying out a gallery wall (I suppose this handful of sentences somewhat counts). I bought a number of Ribba frames from IKEA to go with one I already had and used the papers inside to test possible layouts on our bedroom […]

On Monday I ordered another PosterHänger, a product that makes for a great cheap (!) frame for just about any sized work on paper. Designed by Jørgen Møller, they range from 12 to 72″ in length. I just ordered a 72″ for Tom’s world map (which is about 69″ wide) that I’ll soon be hanging in our bedroom […]

The Wedge is hosting a workshop entitled “Canning Foods Safely” with Suzanne Driessen on Wednesday, July 22 from 7 to 9 pm. The workshop is $15/12 members and was just announced in the Wedge’s most recent newsletter. Here’s what their description says: Whether you are new to home canning or have been canning for years, […]

I’m heading to a screening of Fresh on Wednesday night with Lindsay. There’s still time to get tickets for Wednesday’s screening. Just visit freshthemovie.com to purchase them online for $10 plus a fee of about $1.25 per ticket. Otherwise, they’ll be $15 at the door. Tuesday, June 2nd (SOLD OUT) Times: 6:30 pm (Screening & […]

Happy Summer! This Saturday I enjoyed a trip to Alexis Bailly Vineyards of Hastings, MN with Julia and Hailey. The wine, well, doesn’t deserve much comment. My notes are short and range from “drinkable but really too sweet,” “cloyingly sweet,” to “nasty. zero body. all acid,” “sour. wouldn’t buy it.” Only their Voyageur was somewhat […]

Last year Tom decided he’d like to start an herb garden on one of our window sills (After my agreement, this went into the grocery budget!). Living in a older brick building, we have the luxury of having large areas outside of every window on which to place planters. It’s true we have a northern […]