failure is fruitful

Kickstarter

2010-03-23T06:54:00.000-07:00

A new fundraising platform for creatives: www.kickstarter.com

Art History 101

2010-03-22T06:11:00.000-07:00

This just about sums it up.

Poster available here.

Whale tea towels

2010-03-17T06:02:00.001-07:00

These tea towels remind me of Ponyo.

Ponyo!

2010-03-16T13:50:00.001-07:00

If you haven't seen Ponyo, you should. It's the story of a goldfish named Ponyo who meets a friend named Sōsuke and then wants to become human. The movie is a Japanese animated film by Studio Ghibli, written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki. The animation and music are spectacular, and the story is darling!

I especially love the style of the images in the title sequence. We need more movies for children like this.

Books in the Age of the iPad

2010-03-16T10:54:00.000-07:00

Here's a smart essay on books, digital reading, and the iPad by Craig Mod.

Bare Fruit Mango

2010-03-15T04:34:00.000-07:00

organic, sugar-free, preservative-free, and made in a nut-free facility

Farfalle With Gorgonzola, Arugula and Cherry Tomatoes

2010-01-12T08:26:00.000-08:00

A twist on a pasta disch for Christo:

Ingredients

* Salt and freshly ground black pepper
* 1 cup half-and-half, cream or milk
* 1 cup crumbled Gorgonzola or other good blue cheese
* 1 pound farfalle or other pasta
* 2 cups arugula trimmed of very thick stems, washed, dried and chopped
* 1 cup cherry or grape tomatoes, cut in half
* Freshly grated Parmesan to taste, optional

Method

* 1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil and salt it. In a small saucepan gently warm the half-and-half and Gorgonzola just until cheese melts a bit and mixture becomes thick; chunky is O.K.
* 2. When water boils, cook pasta until it is just tender but not mushy. Drain and return to pot over low heat.
* 3. Stir in Gorgonzola sauce along with arugula, tomatoes and a healthy dose of black pepper. Stir to combine, taste and add salt, if necessary, then serve immediately, with grated Parmesan if you like.

Grilled Chicken & Soy Lime Sauce

2010-01-11T10:33:00.000-08:00

Recipe provided by Pacific Natural Foods...

Ingredients:

* 1/2 cup wheat free Tamari (gluten free) or soy sauce
* 1/2 cup fresh lime juice
* 2 tbsp garlic, minced
* 1 tbsp peeled fresh ginger, minced
* 1 tsp curry powder
* 4 skinless boneless chicken breast halves
* 1 onion, sliced
* 1 cup Pacific Natural Foods Low Sodium Chicken Broth
* nonstick vegetable oil spray

Whisk first 5 ingredients to blend in 8 x 8 x 2-inch glass baking dish. Add chicken and onion. Cover and let marinate at room temperature 1 hour or refrigerate up to 3 hours, turning chicken occasionally. Prepare barbecue (medium-high heat) or preheat broiler. Remove chicken from marinade. Strain marinade into medium saucepan; add Low Sodium Chicken Broth. Boil until sauce it coats a spoon, just about 12 minutes.

Meanwhile, spray the chicken with vegetable oil spray. Grill about 4 minutes per side until cooked through. Transfer to platter. Spoon sauce over chicken and serve with rice.

Halibut with Balsamic Glaze

2010-01-10T05:51:00.000-08:00

Ingredients
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
2 to 3 tablespoons honey, depending how sweet you want it
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
4 (6-ounce) halibut fillets
Nonstick cooking spray
Directions
Whisk the vinegar, honey, oil, and garlic in a bowl. Arrange halibuts in an 8-inch square baking dish. Pour marinade over the fish, coating it completely. Cover and refrigerate at least 30 minutes and up to 4 hours.

Preheat the broiler. Line the bottom and sides of a baking sheet with foil. Spray the foil with nonstick cooking spray. Remove fish from marinade, reserving marinade, and arrange the fillets atop the baking sheet. Pour the marinade into a heavy small saucepan. Broil the fillets until they are just cooked through and caramelized on top, about 12 minutes.

Meanwhile bring the marinade to a boil and simmer until it thickens slightly and becomes syrupy, whisking often, about 15 minutes. Spoon off any excess oil from the sauce, if desired.

Transfer the fillets to plates. Spoon the sauce over and around the fillets, and serve.

Bike Helmet

2009-11-30T08:11:00.000-08:00

I would like to have this bike helmet, please.

Maira Kalman

2009-11-30T06:06:00.000-08:00

I love Maira Kalman. And I love her latest post on her NYT blog, "And the Pursuit of Happiness."

Overparenting

2009-11-27T15:12:00.001-08:00

I'm loving the new discourse that is finally beginning to surface, criticizing the new age tendency to overparent. I couldn't agree more: "When you lighten up, they'll fly higher."
http://parenting.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/11/19/a-new-look-at-over-parenting/

A Parenting Manifesto

2009-11-27T15:06:00.000-08:00

So nice to see these thoughts in writing...
http://www.quinnnorton.com/said/?p=284

Vegan Chocolate Cheesecake

2009-11-26T06:15:00.001-08:00

Graham Cracker Crust
1 1/4 cups chocolate or regular graham cracker crumbs (from 9 5-by 2 1/2- inch crackers)
3 tbsp sugar
4 tbsp Vegan buttery spread (Earth Balance) melted and cooled plus additional for greasing the pan

Preheat oven to 350 with racks in middle and lower third and put a baking sheet on the lower rack. Grease bottom and side of spring form pan. Stir together ingredients and then press into bottom and 1 inch up the side. Bake until set (10-12 min) then cool completely (about 45 min)

Chocolate Tofu Filling:
2 1/4 cups sugar, divided
1/3 cup water
8 oz bittersweet chocolate (no more than 60% cacao), chopped
2 (1-lb) packages silken tofu, drained
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (not dutch process)
2 (8-oz) containers soy cream cheese at room temperature
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
Rounded 1/4 tsp salt
9-inch springform pan

Heat 1 cup sugar in a 1 1/2- to 2-qt heavy saucepan over medium heat, stirring with a fork to heat sugar evenly, until it starts to melt, then stop stirring and cook, swirling pan occasionally so sugar melts evenly, until it is dark amber. Remove from heat and carefully stir in water (mixture will bubble up and steam and caramel will harden), then cook over medium-low heat, stirring, until caramel has dissolved. Remove from heat and whisk in chopped chocolate until smooth. Cool fudge sauce slightly.

Puree tofu and cocao in a food processor until smooth.

Beat soy cream cheese and remaining 1 1/4 cups sugar with and electric mixer at medium high speed until fluffy. At low speed, beat in tofu puree, vanilla, salt, and fudge sauce until incorporated. Pour filling into crust and bake on middle rack until top of cake is shiny but still wobbly when pan is gently shaken, about 1 hour. Turn oven off and leave cake in oven for one hour more. Run a knife around top edge of cake to loosen, then cool completely in pan on rack (cake will continue to set as it cools). Chill cake loosely covered, at least 6 hours. Remove side of pan and transfer cake to plate. Bring to room temperature before serving. (Cheesecake can be made 3 days ahead and chilled.)