Reading Material - San Francisco

Pacific Heights, San Francisco, California | Image: Laura Messersmith

It’s been a busy two weeks of travel first out to San Francisco where we hiked up this super steep hill to Pacific Heights and spotted this incredible house on the way – I could move right in! Then it was on to South Carolina with a great crew of friends (and kiddos!) for lots of football, cooking, and beach time. This is what I made in case you were curious:

All those flights have left this space a little radio-silent, but it’s fall again and I’m feeling reinvigorated to dive into new recipes featuring some of my favorite ingredients – prepare yourself for #smallkitchenfriendly recipes with lots of apples, squash, and warming spices. This weekend marks the first hurricane of the season shifting toward New York and it’s the perfect time to hunker down with some excellent reading material read by candlelight if necessary.

Reading Material:

Rainy weekends call for a stack of movies and The Kitchn has a perfectly curated list of their favorite movie kitchens. I’d willingly cook in every single one!

While we’re on the subject of silver screen perfection, this round table discussion of Nancy Meyers from The Toast is a spot-on summation of her seamless style.

If you haven’t read The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins yet (soon to star the wonderful Emily Blunt) please do! It made a 6 hour flight back from SF fly by, pun 100% intended.

This list of media brands as cocktails from Food52 is a little inside baseball, but it still made me smile. I think I’m either a Cherry Bombe girl or on a good day Food + Wine….

More humor, this time burgers as chefs from The New Yorker. Of course, our girl Ina got a shout out.

Chicagoland + Reading Material

I’m spending the weekend in the greater Chicagoland area to celebrate the bridal festivities of my sister-in-law, which if all goes to plan will result in lots of great food and wonderful times. I didn’t want to leave you hanging though and so without further ado I present a smattering of Internet fun for your amusement.

Reading Material:

Berries are seriously such divas! Good thing Food52 has some strategies to keep them fuzz-free a few days longer and free us from the tyranny of their delicate constitution.

Did you hear about the kerfuffle the New York Times caused when they suggested that peas belonged in guacamole? (No. Just, no.) Well, a writer from The Atlantic made the recipe. Allow me to preview: “I don’t believe in wasting avocados on an abomination.”

Lovely photography and a little French lesson courtesy of Buzz Feed. Hoping I might be the sortable kind of person…

And while we’re on the subject of French, a blast from the past: a piece from The New Yorker detailing several days of Julia Child’s promotional tour in 1974.

Remember when I spent last summer scouting the best mint chocolate chip ice cream? If Eater is right and these artisan ice cream makers have their way next summer it will be the best salt & pepper, bourbon, green tea swirl.

Fourth of July + Reading Material

Happy Fourth of July Weekend!

I say this pretty much every time a major holiday weekend rolls around, but seriously how is it July already? This year is flying by incredibly quickly and so is the summer! Thankfully there are still two whole months left, plenty of time for all the peach, tomato, and grill-related recipes I had in mind. We’re traveling this week first to North Carolina and then out to Pennsylvania for the Fourth. While we’re away I’ve collected a few items that caught my attention this week.

Reading Material:

I real Nigel Slater’s memoir, Toast a year or two ago and this beautifully written piece in the New Yorker captures exactly what makes his writing so special.

Oh, Audrey Hepburn. Basically everyone worships her fashion sense, and now thanks to a new cookbook called Audrey at Home by her son we can start to emulate her entertaining style too. (via Bon Appétit)

I love home ec tricks and this list of recipes to use up the last of the jar from Food Network is worth a look for the mustard vinaigrette alone.

While we’re on the subject of home ec, I need to print this chart from Real Simple so I know how long ingredients will keep!

Who doesn’t love a good cocktail, especially one with bubbly? Bon Appétit certainly agrees and gives us lots of drinks that sparkle….

Denver + Reading Material

The Rocky Mountains | Image: Laura Messersmith

We’re in Colorado this weekend, coincidentally at the same time that the Food & Wine Classic is happening in Aspen. While it sounds like such a cool event (and I did have a Gail Simmons sighting on our flight out), I’m psyched to have my entire immediate family together and to see a new part of the country. 

Hope you have fun plans for the weekend too – and in case you need a little reading material, here’s what caught my eye on the internet this week…

Reading Material:

Ina Garten continues to be a guiding light – both in the kitchen and in Life. Forbes has a great re-cap of her talk at the Third Annual Women’s Summit.

Yes, 2015 is the Year of Pie for me and just in time for all the glorious summer fruit to ripen, the Bon Appétit test kitchen has a step by step guide for how to make a perfectly imperfect pie.

You know I’m all about #smallkitchenfriendly cooking, but even some of these tips from The Kitchn for making it work in a tiny space were new to me.

Town and Country pretty much nailed this list of preppy movies and now I’m dying to watch Lewis and Billy Ray rock those orange juice futures.

Laurie Colwin writes like a character Nora Ephron might have invented, and therefore seems to be universally beloved by food writers & bloggers - so Food52 organized a themed picnic based on her recipes!