i’ll be honest, i got slim pickins for this week in non-design items. besides food, that is. today’s post will be short, savory & sweet.

food

[photo: faith durand]
i grew up in 2 different houses that each had orange trees, so i’ve always looked for new ways to use them. there are orange cakes of all kinds, but this one with olive oil appeals to my more savory senses these days: orange-scented olive oil cake from thekitchn.com [originally from saveur]. i imagine with a little tweaking, you could use this recipe as a base for a more herbed version with parmesan for a confusingly delightful tea cake.

[photo: lacucinaitalianamagazine.com]
another thing i like doing is roasting and grilling fruit for a mix of sweet and salty flavors. when i came across this recipe i wanted to share it, since all the fruit pictured seem to be in season: <a href="frutta arrosto from <a href="la cucina italiana magazine. being an italian magazine, they suggest using grappa, but i find white wine works really well too.

more for moms

[photo: rockscissorpaper.com]
while there are all kinds of suggestions online for how to ply your moms with brunch and mimosas and spring bouquets, there are also these cute crafty ideas you can do too: celebrating mom from rockscissorpaper.com. i love me some mom-mosas as much as the next gal, but if you remember how much your mom loved putting every single craft project you ever did up on the fridge, you might consider picking up the scissors and craft paper again. unless your mom has voiced her objections, i’m sure she’d love a mom banner. if i made this for my mom, she’d totally hang it in her office, right over all her cat photos.

home remedies

[photo: lisa brewster]
i’ve been trying out various biodegradable laundry soaps recently and have been curious about soap nuts, but didn’t know much about them. this article from re-nest.com has given me a little extra encouragement on trying them out: soap nuts: a green laundry detergent alternative.