Chris Nordquist
It was bound to be a cold, snowy, mostly indoor weekend for our outdoors-loving daughter, and so I thought I would brighten up Julia’s room with an early Valentine’s treat. On Friday morning before the first flakes flew, I went to New York’s flower district (28th street, mostly between 6th and 7th Avenues) to get [...]
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All of our Holiday cookie packages have gone and, I think, have also been received, so our slightly crazy annual cookie project is done for another year (apart from some gingerbread I’ll bake tomorrow for our gingerbread tree .) Gingerbread is still Julia’s and David’s favorite, and my grandmother’s Date Nut Rolls are still mine, but [...]
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What can I say? They’re beautiful. And, apart from having good taste in friends, I can’t take any credit for them. The flowers were for a cocktail party at our New York place last weekend to celebrate Spring and, surreptitiously, David’s birthday. The occasion called for something very special, and so I called our good [...]
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One of the many unexpected benefits of having a child has been remembering some of the pleasures of my own childhood. Brownies, for instance. As I searched for the brownie of my childhood, though, I found that a really good one is hard to come by. Some were dry and chewy and tasted only vaguely [...]
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I had suggested a butterfly, and for a while she was into swimming like a dolphin (on the hall carpet), but by mid-October she had made up her mind: she would be a witch for Halloween. Last week I got a clarification: she still wanted to be a witch, but a good witch, preferably one [...]
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We’re back in New York now, but managed to fit in a short trip to London after our days in Paris. In London our balance between work and play shifted toward work, but we still found time to have some fun. We stayed at Brown’s Hotel in Mayfair, which is one of the oldest hotels [...]
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David and I are on a short trip to Paris and London, and we’re having a lovely time. It’s full-on fall in Paris — the leaves are turning, it’s a little chilly, and, of course, there’s the daily drizzle. No matter, though. Paris does grand very well, but it does cozy even better. We’re staying [...]
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So much about Rio de Janeiro is spectacular –the monolithic granite mountains that leap from the sea, the jungle that surrounds them (and the shantytowns that climb their sides) and, of course, the long beaches lined with rows of sleek modernist buildings on the land side and a wide band of exuberant human activity at [...]
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I hope imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, or at least of paying a compliment. Earlier this week I dropped by my friend John’s house in San Francisco for a little Holiday cheer (and consultation on his bathroom renovations), and I wanted to bring him a little gift. Early this year, John had brought [...]
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I feel like I’ve just finished the Toddler Challenge on Project Runway for Dummies, but Julia’s Halloween costume is finally finished. I hope she’ll actually wear it. Julia’s love for fish this year has bordered on obsession. ”Fish!” was one of her first words, and she spent the first half of summer diligently searching for [...]
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Smitten Ice Cream’s “Brrr.” Smitten in San Francisco makes your ice cream on the spot using its “Brrr” machine that freezes your order with liquid nitrogen –in 60 seconds. It sounds like a gimmick, but the super fast freezing produces and incredibly smooth treat. I’m hoping for a home model.
Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams. I make most of our ice cream at home, but Jeni’s Black Coffee flavor is better than mine. And (unlike Smitten or me) they ship.
Ultima Thule dessert bowl by Tapio Wirkkala for IIttala. An icy bowl for your ice cream.
Alfred Dunhill linen and silk scarf. For breezy beaches, airplanes, cinemas and other chilly places this summer.
Grady’s Cold Brew. Add this delicious handmade coffee concentrate (brewed with chicory and spices) to milk and ice to make a refreshing New Orleans-style iced coffee.
