days with my father

More of a somber than uplifting post today....but I felt so compelled to share this website with you.

Philip Toledano is a photographer. By trade. He recently released a photo essay titled Days With My Father. This touching compilation of photos was taken after the death of Toledano's mother. The images give an intimate look at the father-son relationship and serve as a time capsule of the period. Although very simple and sparse, the series captures a spectrum of emotion.

The elegant design and functionality of the site compliments the work by allowing the photos to stand on their own and speak for themselves. I found it to be inspiring and at times heart-wrenching. Grab a tissue, visit Days With My Father and then go call your family.

Sassafras Bindery

I know this bookbinder, see.....

Who makes the most beautiful books.





and boxes.



and books


and boxes


by hand. Her hands.

Schooled at the North Bennet Street School, where students have been learning handcraft trades since 1885, and residing in Brookline, Jessica Roland makes mighty fine books, boxes, and enclosures. Her craftsmanship is amazing, with incredible precision and creativity.

But most importantly, Jessica makes bespoke items.....from Sassafras Bindery:

I make blank books, albums, and editions of self-published work. All work is hand done and all materials are acid free.

Collect your children’s artwork and I will bind it into a coffee table book as a beautiful and meaningful way to preserve memories. Make one for each year of school or present one as a graduation present or a keepsake for a grandparent or teacher.

Archival boxes and enclosures for documents and books or custom made boxes to fit personal photographs or business cards.

If your grandmother’s cookbook or your favorite read from high school has fallen apart, let me rebind it so it can be part of your life again.

I welcome artist collaborations.

I invite you to check out her website, Sassafras Bindery, and see her incredible work.

If Shoes Weren't Weird Enough......

How about gettin' around in a Formula 1 Sports car made entirely out of........ BREAD.

Talented chefs from the Royal Plaza on Scotts hotel in Singapore have created this awesome life-sized Formula 1 race car out of different types of bread.

It took a total of 14 liters of water, 15 kg of yeast, 2 kg of salt, 10800 ml of food varnish and 549 hours of hard work to complete the car.

Mmmmm.....food varnish.

Superstition or Supreme Control?

I never really thought of myself as superstitious. Not really. I don't avoid walking under ladders. I don't really care about crossing a black cat's path. No big whup when my umbrella flies open indoors. Spilled salt, crack mirror, 13th floor or aisle.....*yawn*. No biggie.

But. I do have the 'habit' of absolutely needing to knock wood whenever I say something like, "My kids haven't had H1N1, yet." Or, "Stitches, but no broken bones here", or "My daughter's never lost a leg and been to the emergency room".....really anything that temps fate I really have to literally knock on wood.

Freaky like.

Another must-do is when I'm on a plane, either alone or with my husband or even with the kids, I go through the whole mental imagery of my death, my memorial service, the music played at the memorial service, life without me around or with my family.....I do this because in my wacky brain I somehow believe that I can thwart death and disaster by playing it all out in my head. It's magical thinking. And it works like a charm.

Like I have supreme control or something.

The Maple Syrup Cocktails (that are dancing in my head)

"What are you doing today?"

"I'm driving to Connecticut to spend the day with some good friends. Alone."

"Why can't I come?"

"You have to be taller than 4 feet to be invited."


Last Sunday, I had the pleasure of spending the day with friends that recently moved to Pomfret, CT. I've known these friends for some time and selfishly planned the day so that I could have them and their near 2 year old all (that's not quiet 4 feet but he might be some day) to myself, while my husband and kids were flittin' around doing other things. In Brookline.

Pomfret sits in the Quiet Corner of Northeastern Connecticut. It is verdant, hilly, and for now covered in green grass and almost-bare gray trees. It's an amazingly lovely and peaceful area.

(CA on flickr)

Part of our day included some art projects that Dave had planned. Another was walking around an old Colonial farm that has been in the family for centuries.

It was over the art project (and midday gin and tonics) and our discussion of a recent trip that Dave and Linda had taken to Quebec City that Linda began describing a cocktail that she had that has stuck in my head ever since.

I think it was either Linda's skill at chronicling this maple fantasia or Linda's ability to set the stage and take you right into the dark wood bar, fireplace, and serve you your drink....and

it. just. sounded. delicious.

Maybe, because to me, nothing beats a well-crafted cocktail?

Maybe because the ingredients seem particularly timely and autumnal?

or maybe I'm just forever looking for an excuse to try a new libation-seasonal or not?

The cocktail was basically a whiskey with maple syrup. And with some research, I found three concoctions worthy of sharing:

The Maple Leaf


(a variation on the Whiskey Sour)

2 oz Bourbon

½ oz Maple Syrup

½ oz Lemon Juice

Shake and strain into a cocktail glass filled with crush ice. Drink on a porch with an old dog.

and for something that doesn't require an old dog or a porch.....

Pure Canada Cocktail

2 oz Canadian whisky

1/2 oz maple syrup

1/2 oz fresh apple juice

3 dashes aromatic bitters

1/6 of a fresh lemon

In a cocktail shaker full of ice, combine all ingredients. Squeeze the lemon segment over top and drop in the rind. Shake well and strain into a chilled martini glass.

Filibuster Cocktail

(adapted from Food & Wine's Cocktails 2008, from a recipe developed by Erik Adkins for the restaurant Flora in Oakland, CA)



1 1/2 ounces rye whiskey (bourbon can be substituted)

3/4 ounce fresh lemon juice

1/4 ounce pure maple syrup

dash Angostura bitters

1 egg white

lemon twist (for garnish)

Place all ingredients (except for the garnish) in a cocktail shaker and shake thoroughly. You should begin to feel a slight difference in the way the liquid moves in the shaker as the froth develops. Now add the ice and shake briefly again, to chill. Strain into a cocktail glass and garnish with a lemon twist.

Notes: Described as a very sophisticated, well-balanced cocktail. It has a smooth texture and a complex flavor. The maple flavor doesn't stand out here as noticeably as it does in the more rustic Maple Leaf, but blends in almost seamlessly with the bitters, bourbon, and lemon.

(More on the Maple Leaf and Filibuster recipes and notes can be found *here*)

For loafing around

For the kids, too....


Found *here*

What's for lunch?

Fast Food.

• Gruyère
• Peasant bread or ficelle.
• Shallot, minced.

Slice and toast the bread. Top with a slice of cheese. Broil for only minutes. Top with a pinch of minced shallots. Thyme was added as an afterthought for more color than taste. Turns out the thyme adds a nice round earthiness to the whole fast-food creation.

Yeast paste, Anyone?

Have you ever had Vegemite?

Quintessentially Australian. And not unlike American Peanut Butter, basically a condiment that is viewed as utterly disgusting by the rest of the world.

Well, the folks at Kraft Foods were dying to change the name of Vegemite. Not because of the taste, but because it seems it was overdue for an update.

This salty, gooey, yeasty, paste is, well, gross. Just gross. But it's beloved by all Australians.

"Australians are passionate about Vegemite. Travel almost anywhere and you are likely to find an Aussie with a tube of the brewer’s yeast extract stashed in his bag. Babies are weaned on it. Schoolchildren eat it on sandwiches. Adults revere it as a hangover remedy, a vital source of Vitamin B and a staple breakfast food — spread lightly on hot buttered toast." -from the NYTimes.


But living in a country with beloved and iconic foods such as sliced white bread, peanut butter, and maybe something I found called 'frito pie', who are we to judge a national sticky paste favorite?

So, no more Vegemite Sandwich, from the Men Down Under.

Welcome: iSnack 2.0.

For now, at least.

**CORRECTION AND UPDATE TO THIS POST**
From a reader (and more thorough "investigative research") I understand iSnack 2.0 was scrapped.

Vegemite is now:
It's all really so very fascinating.....

I'm all over the map

I've always had a fascination with maps.

(from bombusdesign on flickr)

When I was a kid we had these old, plastic, place mats that were nautical maps of the Maine coast.


Between the dribbles of applesauce, tuna melts, and chipped beef I would stare and stare and imagine what it would be like if I placed myself right. there. They weren't particularly colorful but they were an awesome orientation to mappery.

Years later, in search of a clever gift for my husband, I grabbed a couple of his father's old roll-down-teaching maps, from his years of teaching history at Cranston East High School.


I framed the pre-WWI map of Europe. It still hangs in our dining room. Serves as an excellent conversation starter, day-dream-instigator, and where-would-you-like-to-be initiator.

And recently I purchased some world map place mats. They come in a tablet of 30, of New York, London, Tokyo, and Paris. I doubt I'd let a plate of mac'n cheese be placed upon these....but you never know. It would be cool and I would love my kids-any kid-to ask about these locations, ponder what it would be like to live there, look for the funniest named street, etc.

I recently stumbled upon this website....and I marvel at the ingenuity of the work and use of maps.

(from bombusdesign on flickr)

Put your feet on a London coffee table.

(from bombusdesign on flickr)

Sit on East London.

(from bombusdesign on flickr)

Go to Italy with a lacquered catchall.

(from bombusdesign on flickr)

Put your fruit in the streets of Paris.

Yeah. I would definitely have to say I'm all over the map.

Perfect music for a fall day....

After all...isn't Halloween all about one big Bloc Party?

It's just a little finger painting

The NewYorker has jazzed up their website with all sorts of gizmos, bells, and whistles. Jorge Colombo recently sketched a cover for the magazine using Brushes, an application for the iPhone.

Find more *here*.

Mad Classic "Ha-rah"

True confession: I don't like Halloween. I don't like all the creepazoid decorations. I get tired of orange and black (and purple and green....) And I don't do scary movies. Not so much. And if it were up to me, we'd be the horrifying door to knock because we'd be handing out pencils and balloons.

If there were a Hallow's Eve Ebenezer Scrooge, that would be me.

And so on October 31, when there's a Friday the 13th marathon running on television, I'll quietly slip into bed without a blink of an eye. Cornball slasher or not, I hate suspense and I really hate gore-y suspense.


But there is one classic horror movie I'll watch. Only one: Rosemary's Baby.




I love this movie for all of the visual loveliness.


Filmed in 1968, the style, the colors, and the acting aren't so much kitsch as they are real and gritty.


It's New York City. It's The Dakota.


It's Mia Farrow, John Cassavetes,

and the ever-eccentric Ruth Gordon.



And I love this movie for the portrayal of isolation, conspiracy, and paranoia with a helpless and pregnant Rosemary Woodhouse in the midst of a hot, summery metropolis on the Upper East side.


If you choose to watch a movie in the spirit of this Halloween, I implore you to be stunned by the creepy but glorious Rosemary's Baby.

A Punk

There's a 6th grade kid that I know really, really well that when asked what she wanted to be for this Halloween said, "A punk".

"You mean you want to go punk or you want to go as some impy punk kid?"

"A punk, you know with crazy hair and skinny jeans"

"Okay, so that would be just punk, as in an adjective. Not as a noun."




Could I come up with some suggestions on what this 6th grader would wear? I mention safety pins. Black. Ripped, holey tights or jeans. Doc Martens.

(from Jessica @ here)

Her reply is, "You don't know".

Okay, granted, maybe my foray into punk was this Midwestern-shiny-clean version of punk (not punk at all, really, more like Pop-punk. Ponk).

The Go-Gos

But she wouldn't know that. Right?


I could tell her how The Clash spoke to me as teenager (but really 5 years after anything they released made it to me in Kansas).

The Clash, Chateau Neuf, Oslo, Norway, May 21st 1980

I could wax on and on about teenage angst, what music can do for you during all those confusing years, I could even tell her about Sid and Nancy.


Maybe a history lesson on punk, the sub-culture, the music, ideologies, where it all began....?

But then that would somehow kill that whole private thing we have with our own personal rebellion (and my rebellion was all about music-still is-and how I would blast my Sony Walkman).

And she's just in 6th grade, after all.

Build me up, Buttercup

Here's the dealio: squash isn't only a verb it's a mighty tasty root veg that gets loads of play during these chilly, autumnal months. You've got your acorn, butternut, pumpkin, even a hubbard now and then.

But one that gets overlooked is the Buttercup variety. This lusciously soft orb has a wonderfully orange flesh that's like no other....very nearly the same color of the sky in October at dusk. And the skin, when cooked, is not only edible, it's quite flavorful.

We had a dreary day yesterday - one that was just begging for heat, both the warm kind and the spicy kind. So, I altered an old squash soup recipe I had. And it was a hit. The spice should be adjusted for the younger folk.


Spicy Buttercup Squash Soup
2 tablespoons butter
1 large onion, chopped
1 leek, chopped
3 garlic cloves, sliced
1 large potato (Yukon Gold or Russet), quartered
2 boxes chicken stock
1 large buttercup squash, halved and seeds removed
1 teaspoons cayenne pepper
1/2 cup cream
1 tablespoon sherry
salt and pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS
1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Pour a thin layer of water in a baking dish, or a cookie sheet with sides. Place the squash halves cut side down on the dish. Bake for about 40 minutes, or until a fork can easily pierce the flesh. Cool slightly, then remove the peel. Set aside.

2. Melt the butter in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onion, leek and garlic, and saute for a few minutes, until tender. Pour the chicken broth into the pot. Add the potatoes, and bring to a boil. Cook for about 20 minutes, or until soft. Add the squash, and mash with the potatoes until chunks are small. Add the cayenne. Salt and pepper to taste. Use an immersible hand blender to puree the soup, or transfer to a blender or food processor in batches, and puree until smooth. Return to the pot.

3. Stir in the sherry and half-and-half cream. Heat through, but do not boil. Ladle into bowls, inhale.

A wholesome take on an autumnal standard...

Thanks to my friend, Lisa, and her creative ways with baking I managed to whip up three loaves of this amazingly moist pumpkin bread before the weekend. For an extra ker-pow I topped a couple of loaves with whole walnuts. The nut-less loaf is, of course, nut-less. Through and through.

Pumpkin Bread

3 cups sugar
1/2 cup canola oil
1/2 cup apple sauce
4 eggs
1 5/6 cups flour
1 1/6 whole wheat flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
2/3 cup water
1 15 oz. can of pumpkin

1. Grease 2 9x3x5 loaf pans, set aside
2. Mix sugar, oil, and apple sauce until well blended
3. Add eggs. Mix well. Set aside.
4. Combine all dry ingredients.
5. Alternately add flour mixture adn water to sugar mixture, sirring constantly until just combined.
6. Beat in pumpkin.
7. Spoon batter into pans.
8. Bake in a 350 oven for 55-65 minutes or until a wooden toothpick instered near centers comes out clean.
9. Cool completely on wire racks.

(cruddy photo taken by my cruddy iphone)

Feeling antsy today.....

Donuts and Deval

The mission: To check out the 54th Regiment Monument and the Hall of Flags in the State House

The assignment: Family Exploration of Boston: A Third Grade Social Studies Project for School. For real.

After the T, and some dilly-dallying with cameras, monuments, and donuts.......





we wend our way to the inner sanctum of the State House.....

only to find a closed-off ceremony taking place in the exact room we were hoping to enter.

but! the ceremony ends.....

and! we spot the Governor of Massachusetts, Deval Patrick.


and he's shaking hands and the crowds thinning.....and before you know it, the Governor is wiping donut crumbs off the chin of a certain Brookline 3rd grader and a photo is taken.


Crumbs free.

Poached

(borrowed from food52)

I find that the mornings that I have an egg or eggs at the start of my day, I'm much more alert and not really hungry until the afternoon. For years I've been mangling poached eggs (the healthiest version of the ovo, I feel).

Until I found this very basic and simple method.

Serves 1
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon white vinegar
• pinches Salt, pepper, and paprika
1. Set a timer for 4 minutes (but do not start it yet) and put your toast in the toaster, ready to start but not yet toasting. Crack an egg into a small bowl and set aside.
2. Bring a small pot of water to boil. Once a full boil is achieved, add in the teaspoon of vinegar. Swirl the water into a whirpool with a spoon.
3. Gently, but quickly, slide the egg into the swirling water. Immediately move the pot from the heat and cover. Hit "go" on your 4 minute timer and pop the toast into the toaster.
4. After 4 minutes, remove the egg with a slotted spoon. Dab lightly with a paper towel, and transfer to a small serving bowl. Cut the toast into small slices for dipping. Sprinkle the egg with salt, pepper, and paprika.

Local boys :: Bishop Allen

Cheese or font?

Cambozola or Baldessare? Molbo or Arsis?

How well can you tell your fonts from cheese?

My brother sent this to me....I thought for sure I'd get every answer right. Fun for a slow Friday, Cheese or Font is an online quiz created by Tony Gambone that tests your knowledge of font/cheese names (it's harder than you think). The site also puts together some interesting stats: with almost 2 million questions asked, Helvetica was the easiest item (obvious, yet 11% think Helvetica is a cheese). Give it a try.

Wild Wearables

With the much anticipated October 16th opening of Where the Wild Things Are, suddenly white furry jumpsuits are all the rage. Particularly at Opening Ceremony.

For real.

Max Suit, $610.

Bull Shawl Jacket, $635

"a perfect winter coat for every wild rumpus", Ira Military Jacket, $805



Inspired by Carol (and meeting all your faux fur needs), the Carol Flare Coat, $575

"The wild things 'were frightened and called him the most wild thing of all and made him king of all wild things' and you can be the same in this max short fur. This jacket...features the top half of the max play suit, but with removable fingerless gloves and eared hood for a more demure look." The Max Sweatshirt, $460.

I wish I were here right now.....

or here....


or here....


or even here, with the chill in the air and drizzle on my face....



possibly ending the day here....


or strolling here...

These and many more postcards of Paris can be found *here*, Rita Crane Photography.

It's all about the porky roux...

I'm still in the food aisle with this post..... And with a back-to-school-clean-out-all-files frenzy, I came across a couple of recipes that I've been wanting to make. One, in particular, seemed a little daunting since it included ingredients that were foreign to me but it. just. sounded. so. good. It was a Japanese curry, something that I'd never heard of in my small, little world.

And yet, I'm resourceful. I can figure stuff out.... and Fortuna had spun her wheel for me with a recent opening of a Japanese market right in Brookline Village. In the Boston area it's particularly easy to find Asian grocers, especially Korean and Chinese - but a market that specializes in Japanese isn't. Until this Japan Village Market.

I've been in a couple of times. Grabbed the reasonably-priced sushi for dinner, but really just sorta dashed in and out since everything was in Japanese and nothing was in English. And sushi is so recognizable, you can't really go wrong. But the last time I was in I had Maia in tow and her curiousity made it easier to browse around the aisles. But besides a slight bow of my head, it was still totally overwhelming.

With this recent chill in the air, I wanted to make Katsu Curry. So, I called a fellow Pierce School Parent, Yoko Imai, and asked if she wouldn't mind giving me a little tour of this new store - maybe help me figure out what I should get, which brand, what's overpriced, you know....give me that inside scoop. She obliged, and actually she was delighted to help me wade through everything.

For instance, the seemingly enormous selection of dried seaweed, and whatnot:


or the udon noodle selection,


the very necessary Kewpie mayonnaise (c'mon, who doesn't think Kewpie and Mayonnaise are a marriage made in heaven?)


Indistinguishable sauces, condiments, seasonings....


and the grand assortment of POCKY! and other packaged Japanese treats....



and here, curry powders that were the necessary get and reason for my grocery research,

(shoddy camera work by me and my phone)

And with Yoko's help, I left with a bag of authentic Japanese rice (short grain, a lot like arborio for you risotto fanatics), S&B curry, and Tonkatsu sauce in my arms. Maybe I'm the dope that didn't know that there's a Japanese-only food aisle at the local Stop'n Shop (I seriously doubt it) or maybe that our convenience store has S&B curry powder (no, not really), but I'm psyched about this dish. And I'm psyched that I can work a little Japan into our world at 33 Kent Street.

Katsu Curry

(Lars Klove for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Jill Santopietro)

For the sauce:
3 tablespoons butter
1 pound ground pork
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
3 tablespoons flour
3 tablespoons curry powder, preferably S&B (see note)
1 onion, peeled and quartered
3 cloves garlic, peeled
1 green apple, peeled, cored and quartered
1 mango, peeled, cored and quartered
1 2-inch piece ginger, peeled and cut into coins
1 large carrot, peeled and cut into coins
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 cup low-sodium chicken broth, plus more as needed
For the pork:
Peanut or canola oil
3 eggs, beaten
1 cup panko bread crumbs
6 thin, center-cut boneless pork chops, lightly pounded
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Cooked short-grain Japanese rice
Raw cabbage, thinly sliced
Tonkatsu sauce (optional) (see note).

1. Make the sauce: Melt the butter in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the ground pork and season generously with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the meat has browned and the moisture has evaporated. Mix in the flour and curry powder, turn the heat to low and cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, to make a porky roux.

2. Meanwhile, in a food processor, pulse together the onion, garlic, apple, mango, ginger, carrot, tomato paste and Worcestershire sauce until a grainy purée forms. Transfer the purée to the pork and mix until combined. The sauce should be very thick.

3. Stir in the chicken broth and cook, partly covered, over low heat for about an hour, stirring occasionally. If needed, add a bit more stock to loosen the sauce.

4. Prepare the pork: Heat 1 inch of oil in a frying pan and set a candy thermometer in the oil. Place the eggs in a wide shallow bowl and the panko in another. When the oil temperature reaches 320 degrees, season the pork chops all over with salt and pepper. Cover them, one by one, in the egg and then in the panko, and fry in batches in the hot oil until browned, for about 4 minutes per side. Transfer to a paper-towel-lined plate and let drain for 5 minutes. Slice the pork chops against the grain. Serve the curry sauce over cooked Japanese rice. Top with the sliced pork and serve with a small handful of sliced cabbage. If you choose, drizzle the cutlet with a little tonkatsu sauce. Serves 6. Adapted from Hiroko Shimbo, author of “The Sushi Experience,” and Sam Sifton.

A Carnivore's Delight

Perhaps the best way to celebrate 15 years of marriage with a Kansan is to take them to a charcuterie? Maybe enjoy a cocktail among the industrial refrigeration units filled with cured meats, and pâtés?

and since this Kansan might also enjoy a faux trip to Paris, where diners can sit along side the jars of nuts, olives, or moutardes for sale.....

or be amidst the breads, cutting boards, cutlery, and the like...

where a foie terrine can be studied, appreciated, and savored like only foie can....

or where you might find the antipasti is the perfect amount
of meats and fruit/sweet and savory....

then going to The Butcher Shop is the only proper answer.

552 Tremont St.
Boston, MA 02118
Phone: 617-423-4800

Fax: 617-423-4840
Email: info@thebutchershopboston.com

Website: thebutchershopboston.com

And they're from France....

An homage to John Hughes? The perfect end to a summer's eve? or just a Brooklyn pack mash up?

Either way, it's Phoenix and Lisztomania. Brilliant.

From Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix.

phoenix - lisztomania *brooklyn pack mashup* from ian parker on Vimeo.

Under my umbrella-ella-ella-ella

They say rain today. I say bring it.



Because I have a new Judy Jetson bubble shield that allows me to stay dry and look cool.


Scott has one too. And I imagine if he were to run smack into a building, he'd bounce right off.

This amazing invention and other bumbershoots can be found here.

Finding Art in the Age

ART IN THE AGE OF MECHANICAL REPRODUCTION

(from flickr)

I discovered this - what I think I can only call a amalgam or compendium or simply a collection of coolness - when I was researching my bit on Hendrick's.

This guy, Steven Grasse, really seems to be serious about discovery and opportunity and inspiration. He's also the brains behind the clever and witty marketing of Hendrick's. And now he's the brains and brawn behind a new spirit, ROOT. This vintage liquor, which was originally the meaty version of Root Beer, back in the days of Prohibition, is getting loads of attention.
Root returns Root Beer to its “roots” as Root Tea, an alcoholic drink taught to settlers by Native Americans in the 1700s; it’s an organic, 80-proof liqueur made from U.S. sugar cane.

And I for one, can't wait to give it a try.




But for now, I can't stop checking out the quips and tips and news bites and artistic attention and again, all sorts of coolness that is found at Art in the Age. I highly recommend that you check this site out. I believe this guy has tapped into something that is very uniquely American with it's lovingly nod to simplicity, creativity, and opportunity. Old-style.

River Sea Ocean

We're still in vacation mode.....barely home before heading out to the coast of Rhode Island. While it's far from May 17th, when this video was filmed, I thought it encapsulated that free-fun-ice cream feeling of summer.....and I happen to love Damon Gough.

Allow me to introduce my friend, Hendrick.....

And his ever classic Gin and Tonic.

Andrew Scrivani for The New York Times

I've recently decided that the only suitable way to make a most delicious (if not somewhat magical) G & T is with Hendrick's Gin. "Hendrick’s is an iconoclastically produced small batch gin distilled in Ayrshire, Scotland."

Contained in a nice squatty bottle, this gin is a fairly recent addition to the typical spirits found on the shelves in your local liquor store. Although one might beg to differ - studying the clever label - you would have the impression that this Gin is centuries old. It's not. He's a modern dude, made by some wickedly clever Scots with a very rare distiller, one of four in the world.

And rather than a tall, slim bottle like Tanqueray or Bombay Sapphire, this short, rotund bottle is a little reminiscent of something you'd see in some old apothecary collection. And apparently, the Scottish creators of Hendrick's wanted to maintain a certain protectiveness and mystique to their handcrafted, small-batch gin. In doing so, they decided that an apothecary bottle would do nicely, which holds a liquid that pours like oil and tastes like a crisp cucumber.

"Hendrick's has no shortage of eccentricities. It's the gin from Scotland. It's the gin in the cute green cardboard tube. It's the gin made with cucumbers. Yeah, pretty weird. But when you drink it, you know Hendrick's is more than its tag-line, "a most peculiar gin," suggests. It was obviously crafted with care by distillers who understood why cucumber (and rose petals, too) would blend so nicely with juniper, coriander and lemon zest. Like all true eccentrics, it makes a strong impression in this case, one well worth remembering ($30)......" (from Food&Wine)

....and the only proper way to toast to the waning hours of the hot, beachy days of summer.

Classic Gin and Tonic
3 ounces Hendrick's
Tonic
Wedge of lime

Fill a chilled old-fashioned glass halfway with ice cubes, and pour in the gin. Gently rub the lime wedge around the rim of the glass, squeeze in a few drops of juice, and drop the lime into the glass. Top with tonic, and gently stir once or twice.

Thaltha? No, Salsa!

It's high corn and tomato season these days....and with all the wet and rain in July, it's really only questionable tomato season. We've found a couple of excellent heirlooms, picked out some meaty beefsteak but my go-to for a dish that requires fresh tomatoes are cherry tomatoes. Not the grape ones but the miniature round, juicy ones that are actually seasonal this time of year. They're Lilliputian versions of a beefsteak, in my humble opinion.

Since I tend to visit the farmer's market with the underlying panic of Armageddon-as in, this might be the only chance I have in my entire life of getting anything that tastes like it's supposed to, I always come home with an armful of corn.

And with much of the leftover corn that's been steamed to perfection, I came up with this recipe so that none of those golden, sweet nuggets of goodness will never go to waste.

Cherry Tomato and Corn Salsa
Yields 2-3 cups

4 ears of steamed corn, kernels removed
2 pints of cherry tomatoes
4 stalks of scallions, chopped
1-2 jalapenos, to taste *
1/2 cup of cilantro, chopped finely
Juice of one lime
Teaspoon of olive oil
Teaspoon of white balsamic vinegar
Salt and pepper to taste

Combine all ingredients. Allow to sit at room temperature up to one or two hours before serving for flavors to combine (this is key!).

*a word on heat: I tend to go easy on jalapenos with this dish as too much kills the sweetness of the corn and meaty tang of the tomatoes