When a friend sent us this image of Greta Oto, a wondrous butterfly with transparent wings, we thought immediately of “The Butterfly Dream” from an ancient Chinese text written by the Daoist sage Chuang-Tzu:
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Crispy Saffron Noodle Cake
Like many cooks, I’d used saffron for years without knowing that it is the dried stigmas from a certain crocus or why it is the most costly spice in the world. After I went to Spain and witnessed the saffron harvest for myself, the backstory made dishes like this Crispy Saffron Noodle Cake all the more wonderful.
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How I Reburbished an Old Shearling Coat + Made it Reversible
Although initially pricey, shearling coats are a great clothing investment: they are incredibly warm and last years. But like anything, they begin to show wear. There IS a simple solution that will keep them going for years that I learned from Suzanne Shaker: turn your shearling inside out and have new zipper put in by…
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The Benefits of Looking Down
We often write signs that say LOOK UP to remind ourselves to get our heads out of whatever we’re doing and look around. We also practice looking DOWN, and had been meaning to write about our wonderful discoveries doing just that on our daily park rambles, when Dutch artist Saskia de Brauw beat us to the punch.
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Annals of REALLY Bad Design: Faceted Crystal Sink
The other day, we got an email from a reader named Ann: Here’s something for your Annals of Bad Design! It almost deserves its own new category . . . Annal of Really Really Bad Design! We found we agreed on WHY the amethyst bathroom sink is really really bad:
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Scent Your Home with Wood Smoke, and a Poem
Even in chilly climates and country settings, wood fires, the most ancient of heating methods, have begun to go out of favor due to health and environmental concerns. Still, a house that smells like wood smoke evokes primal memory and connection, as the poem below describes. Whether you live in city or country, it’s an easy feeling to…
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Inspiration + Improvisation from Mozart in the Jungle
(Video link here.) We spent part of the weekend binge watching the truly funny, inspired Mozart in the Jungle on Amazon, about what happens when a young, brash, wildly creative maestro takes the helm of a symphony orchestra. It is rich with inspired moments —and improvisation —, like the beauty above. We’re thinking that the mission the maestro gives his assistant is…
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