owee (Zowee). The Daily Drop Cap is an ongoing project by illustrator/typographer Jessica Hische. She posts a new decorative initial cap each day, and they're all free for us bloggers to use to beautify the Internet (she even supplies the HTML that we can copy and paste into a blog post). Aren't they wonderful? I had to think of a way to start this post with a "W" because I think it's my favorite one so far—and so Halloween-appropriate! You can find the rest of what she has created so far by clicking on the link above. Looking forward to seeing the full set!
Also, definitely check out Jessica's website and blog. Her designs and illustrations are simply stunning.
I've been arranging my craft room and decided that I need to do something with the loads of fabric scraps I have sitting around the house. Luckily, I found this awesome free foundation pattern and here is the result so far:
I wouldn't say that I enjoy paper piecing (so time conusming), but it's a fairly easy technique and I love the result. Perfect points every time!
I'm thinking of making a throw-sized quilt made up of these blocks. One down, 35 more to go . . .
Of course, my track record for finishing projects in a timely manner is not so good, but if I do a block per day maybe I can have the whole thing done by Christmas.
If you remember, my sewing machine broke right before your baby shower last year. I eventually got a new one, but a bunch of stuff happened. Then I moved. Then I couldn't figure out what happened to half of my sewing stuff on the way from Santa Barbara to Lexington. And when I finally found all of it, I smashed my quilting finger trying to adjust the weightlifting bench at the gym (see what happens when you try to do something good for yourself? Never again.)
Excuses, excuses.
But Meg's quilt is finally done! Since you last saw it, I finished hand quilting the scroll details in the yellow sashing, quilted the borders, sewed on the binding, and appliqued a label on the back. I also sewed corners on the reverse side where you can insert a dowel if you want to hang it on the wall.
I'm sorry it took so long. To try to make up for it, I used some leftover fabric to make a little matching pillow. (For you typeface fans out there, the "M" is set in Futura. Those nice straight lines were perfect for my weak applique skills.)
Anyway, I know you've had a lot of crap to deal with lately, with the super trying to close your kids' school and your stroller getting stolen (what's up with that??)—so I hope this cheers you up a bit!
The package is totally going in the mail this week. Really.
On Tuesday afternoon we stopped by the Bluegrass Farmers’ Market. It’s just down the road from our place, and it’s the only farmers’ market in Lexington that provides 100% locally grown produce—the vendors sell only what they grow.
As we looked around, I saw someone selling sweet potatoes and knew right away that I needed to buy them so I could make Mark Bittman’s recipe for Roasted Sweet Potato Salad with Black Beans and Chili Dressing (spotted in The New York Times, naturally).
When I approached the sweet potatoes, I picked up a hefty one and asked the farmer what kind it was. “That’s a Beauregard,” he said. He proceeded to tell me that it’s a rather popular variety that was developed at Louisiana State and named after P.G.T. Beauregard, the Confederate general who fired the first shot at Fort Sumter in South Carolina, thus starting the American Civil War. It is also lower in sugar and subtler in flavor than other sweet potato varieties. Isn’t that fantastic? You can’t get that kind of info at a supermarket.
I made the sweet potato salad without any modifications and it was unbelievably delicious. So dreamy. The fresh lime and cilantro flavors just match up so well with the heat of the jalapeno and the warm creaminess of the sweet potatoes and black beans. I could eat this dish all day long. I am going to make another batch as soon as I finish posting this.
I used up another sweet potato in a corn chowder recipe I dug up from the July 2005 issue of Gourmet (sniffle . . . rest in peace). I really liked the use of sweet potato in this recipe—a nice twist on an old classic. It was very good, perfect for a cold fall day, and came together quickly, though I’d recommend blending half the soup to make it thicker.
What to do with the rest of my sweet potatoes? Maybe sweet potato ice cream or sweet potato pie. Definitely going to attempt the recipe for sweet potato gnocchi with fried sage and dried chestnuts from the October 2009 Gourmet.
I was scanning the front page of The New York Times as I usually do every morning: new Supreme Court term starts today . . . three Americans share Nobel Prize for Medicine . . . Condé Nast to close Gourmet magazine . . .
Wait. Condé Nast to close Gourmet magazine???
I am utterly and completely shocked and heartbroken. Well, not shocked because everyone knows it's a bad time for the world of glossy magazine publishing and that food blogs are cutting into the readership of food magazines . . . but I would've guessed that if it came down between Condé Nast's two food titles (both to which I faithfully subscribe), Bon Appétit would've been the first on the chopping block. Which would've been unfortunate, but it isn't Gourmet.
I haven't been this sad about a magazine since Condé Nast decided to shut down Domino and MSLO gave Blueprint the ax.
In fact, I am even sadder over Gourmet's demise. I know it must sound crazy to have such an emotional attachment to a food magazine, but it's Gourmet! Sixty-eight years old. A legend in the food world. Great writers that turn out serious food literature month after month. In other words, more than just recipes. What is Ruth Reichl going to do now?
I think I'm going to turn the pages of my remaining issues a little more lovingly when they arrive in the mail.
On Friday night we drove to Newport, KY, to see Built to Spill at the Southgate House. Newport is right across from Cincinnati on the Ohio River. To get there, we had to cross a bridge into Ohio, then cross another bridge back into Kentucky. After living in the West for the past nine years, I kind of forgot how quickly you can cross state lines like that on this side of the country.
A little about the Southgate House: it's the former home of Richard Southgate, a lawyer, Kentucky state representative, senator, and silk manufacturer. The house was built in 1814 by British prisoners of war from the War of 1812. Before it became a live music venue, it hosted visitors like Abraham Lincoln and the volunteer company led by Captain Sidney Sherman, who went on to join Sam Houston and the Texas army to defeat Santa Anna at the Battle of San Jacinto during the Texas Revolution. Also, the guy who invented the Thompson submachine gun, John T. Thompson, was born there in 1860.
Looks like Halloween came a little early this year, hmm? You wouldn’t think that this place was a music venue or nightclub just by looking it, but I’d say that the ballroom in the back of the house is similar in size to the main stage at Bricks (or whatever it’s called now) in Salt Lake City or the 9:30 Club in DC.
We got there early enough to grab a spot on the floor near the stage, but we’re a couple of old geezers who have done our fair share of rubbing up against the sweaty, head-bobbing masses during our college years, so we decided to park ourselves in a couple of chairs on the balcony.
Opening for Built to Spill was a band called Disco Doom. They are from Switzerland, a magical land filled with delicious chocolate, Roger Federer, and a functioning health care system. I like them a lot and they played a great set. Sort of reminds me of a hybrid of Pavement and Broken Social Scene, and their front woman totally rocked the omnichord! Their stuff is pretty hard to come by (we were lucky enough to purchase their full-length and EP at the show), but they do have a few songs up on their MySpace page—a couple of my favorites are "White Gun Cold Jet" and "The Great Disaster."
Just counting the past five years, we’ve seen Built to Spill twice in SLC, once in DC, twice in LA, once in Long Beach, and now once in Newport. Obviously, I think that seeing them in concert will never get old. It's still hard to believe that more people haven't heard of them considering the fact that they've been on a major label since 1997 and several commercially successful bands (Modest Mouse, The Shins, and Death Cab for Cutie, just to name a few) and tons of up-and-coming indies love to name drop them as a major influence. Maybe if they agree to do commercials for package delivery companies or salad dressing . . . yeah, it'll never happen.
Part of what I love about Built to Spill (besides Doug Martsch’s ability to grow an amazing beard) is that they dress like a bunch of unassuming factory workers and have zero interest in being flashy or pandering to the audience—no matching skinny suits, no pyrotechnics, no fancy light show, no talking about how their new album drops next week (I'll do it for them: There Is No Enemy, which can be streamed in its entirety on their MySpace, is out on October 6). Other than the occasional "thanks for coming out tonight" in between songs, they cut through all the crap and just play great music. At the Newport show, they played one song from their new album ("Hindsight"—awesome) and the rest was a fantastic mix of tracks from their previous albums, including "Carry the Zero," "In the Morning," "Joyride," "Strange," "Sidewalk," and "Traces." (Alas, no "Cortez the Killer.") Also, I think it’s hard for most bands to pull off two guitars, let alone three, without sounding messy—but Built to Spill probably has the most technically clean sound of just about any band I’ve heard live. And because they will never stop touring, ever, I bet that we’ll probably get a chance to see them again sometime next year.
owee (Zowee). The Daily Drop Cap is an ongoing project by illustrator/typographer Jessica Hische. She posts a new decorative initial cap each day, and they're all free for us bloggers to use to beautify the Internet (she even supplies the HTML that we can copy and paste into a blog post). Aren't they wonderful? I had to think of a way to start this post with a "W" because I think it's my favorite one so far—and so Halloween-appropriate! You can find the rest of what she has created so far by clicking on the link above. Looking forward to seeing the full set!
