diy

beyond design

| heather parlato

neighborhood

a friend and fellow designer recently mentioned that her landlord was turning their front yard into a CSA farm, and that they’d be growing produce for sale right at home. when i inquired how they were going to go about it, she pointed me to LA farm hands where interested parties can sign up to buy fresh CSA produce from local LA growers. fantastic!

thanks to eric garcetti’s help, the food & flowers freedom act is set to become law according to laist.com. this is a revision to an outdated law that disallowed selling homegrown fruit and flowers. garcetti claimed to have grown 80% of his own produce last year–i can add that to the list of reasons why i love that he is LA city council president. well, that AND my facebook friend. ha.

greenlagirl.com offers this list of neighborhood tidbits: eric garcetti has a new iphone app “garcetti 311” to help clean up the city, and may is bike every saturday month!

diy projects


[image: bestgreenhometips.com]
winter detox: 12 easy diy air fresheners. as the weather warms up, sometimes i find i’ve had the windows closed and the heat on long enough that my house needs a breath of fresh air. these are some great ideas on how to add natural scents to your home, from ohdeeoh.com.

food & drinks


[photo: brian leatart]
i decided to try out some yams this week from one of my farmer’s market vendors, and since citrus rinds are one of my favorite seasoning agents, i think this recipe is how i’ll prepare them: roasted yams with citrus and coriander butter from epicurious.com

jose & joel’s mexican sangria looks like a classy cocktail version of my usual slice-and-throw sangria system. thanks, designsponge.com!

beyond design

| heather parlato


everyone has played one of these games, and seeing them in live action is totally hilarious! from mfeedia.com

diy projects


[photo: thehipsterhome.com]
the craft zine blog posted a how-to on these little mini terrariums in upcycled lightbulbs and jars. what a great use of cute containers!


[photo: designspongeonline.com]
sewing 101: how to make a shower curtain from designspongeonline.com. i think this project is a really cool way to make a washable, colorful shower curtain from fabric you really like.

food


[image: kana76]
try this: sweet and smoky broiled grapefruit from thekitchn.com. i love grapefruits and i think this sounds delicious. maybe a good way to prep fruit for savory sauces as well. great idea!

sharing a great standby recipe that i love from epicurious.com, these szechuan sesame noodles are spicy, nutty and tangy. i’ve been making them for years with buckwheat soba noodles.

drinks


[photo: rockscissorpaper.com]
pour mom a drink from rockscissorpaper.com is an interesting sounding cocktail recipe using elderflower liquor. i love the flower garnish, perhaps my mom will have hers with nasturtiums.

in honor of tax day, this cocktail for tax night: the tax night relief is a fun idea, from thekitchn.com.

it’s helpful to become familiar with wine lingo by heather stober fleming for southcoasttoday.com is a good reference for defining all the common terms in wine tasting and character. always good to refresh your knowledge, which helps you pick out more nuance next time you taste.

music

my sister has been nominated for singer of the year by the jazz journalists association! additionally, my client gerald clayton has been nominated for up & coming artist of the year. very exciting, and they’re in excellent company. can’t wait to find out how they place on june 14!

beyond design

| heather parlato

rsvp to view an advance screening of DIRT! [thanks greenlagirl.com].

diy


[photo: gregory han]
how to clean and deodorize with tea from <a href="apartmenttherapy.com

green your dental hygene from re-nest.com. i’m always looking for workarounds, and dental implements are one of the harder things to do yourself.

food

if you’re in california and have lemons [or eating seasonally and want to keep them through to the next season] here’s a great way to put them up: how to make preserved lemons from thekitchn.com.

i’m doing a lot of cookbook cooking this week, so copyright prevents me from sharing those recipies, but i did pull out this old favorite from a few years ago fish with curried cucumber & tomato salad from epicurious.com.

drinks!


[photo: missginsu.com]
make your own citrus bitters from missginsu.com. i make a lot of extracts and infused vodkas, so i think this bitters prep will be a nice addition to my pantry & eventually my cocktails!

i bought blood oranges this week specifically to make this! spicy blood orange jalapeño margaritas from thekitchn.com

dale cruse continues his get to know a grape series this week with blanc du bois.

beyond design

| heather parlato

los angeles


i love ok go, and this amazing video was filmed in echo park!

i have to admit, i’m totally fascinated by this documentary about kayaking the LA river.

diy


[photo: made from scratch]

diy cat table made from scratch from re-nest.com. i love this idea for a cat lounge area, using salvaged materials & giving cats a safe outdoor retreat to visit.

how to make scented linen powders from apartment therapy. i’m a total sucker for old-fashioned touches like this, and custom scented linens sound divine.

food


[photo by: gail albert halaban]

if you’re eating seasonally, don’t pass up this caramelized cumin roasted carrots recipe from epicurious.com. delicious to eat, and scents up the kitchen nicely!

wine

more from the get to know a grape series from drinksareonme.net. this week’s grapes are bastardo, black malvasia, and black muscat. happy varietal drinking!

beyond design

| heather parlato

http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=3537180&server=vimeo.com&show_title=1&show_byline=1&show_portrait=0&color=&fullscreen=1

The East Side of Los Angeles on a Sunny Day from clark vogeler on Vimeo.

diy


[photo by sarah rae trover]

homemade scented laundry booster from apartment therapy. i have so many essential oils and fresh herbs, this sounds like a really fun project to experiment with.


[photo by romulo yanes]

i’ve been eating lots of kale this winter and wanted to profile some particularly interesting recipes i found:
lacinato kale and ricotta salata salad [pictured above], and kale and white bean soup [with sausage] from epicurous.com.

another deliciously simple recipe i tried [also from epicurious.com] was this fish tagine with tomatoes, capers and cinnamon which boasts a short list of ingredients and simple preparation. i had mine with tilapia.

if you’re looking for eco-friendly seafood, santa monica seafood has moved and expanded to include a dining area and oyster bar. i went to check it out a few months ago and had some oysters and clam chowder, and my friend and i agreed the chowder was the best we’d ever had. thanks to greenlagirl.com i now know they offer a sustainability list so shoppers can make personal choices about what fish to buy. fantastic!

wine


listen to vincent price talk about wine in this 1977 recording, from theendofbeing.com

dale cruse continues his many part series on grape varieties. catch up on aurore, auserrois blanc, baco noir and barbera this week.

beyond design

| heather parlato

diy


[photo: sarah rainwater]

10 surprising, green & thrifty old school hacks from apartment therapy. i love this list of simple home remedies.

food


[photo: emily ho]

citrus salad with lemongrass syrup — a deliciously seasonal fresh treat from the kitchn

citrus tilapia from epicurous.com — we’re enjoying this tasty dish this week!

scanwiches! it’s just what it sounds like: sandwiches face down on the scanner.

wine

recycle wine bottles into swanky cups — so cool! who has a wine bottle glass cutter? from seriousaboutwine.co.za

get to know a grape: arneis from drinksareonme.net. i am really enjoying this series from dale cruse’s blog spotlighting different grape varieties. this is 7th in a series, so here are links to the first 6 as well: aligote, alicante bouschet, aleatico, albarino, agiorgitiko, and aglianico. might be fun to drink along with them as an alphabetical wine study!

this week i pulled a bottle from the reserve cellar to enjoy: kenneth volk‘s heirloom negrette [2004] i picked up on a trip last year through the central coast. it’s a unique and delicious varietal, dark in color. it has a very soft, smooth mouth feel with notes of leather and blackberry, maybe even memories of springtime sunsets on the finish. i might suggest pairing it with a steak or broiled pork chops, but i’m enjoying sipping it so much, i think it’s a good opportunity to try a rare varietal on its own. kenneth volk wines are an exceptional treat, make it a stop on any tasting tour on the central coast. this wine is only available at the winery.