wine

beyond design

| heather parlato

places


watch the LA marathon in time-lapse photography from a point on the route in silver lake, edited down to one minute!

obscura day: preservation by exhibition. alyssa walker participates in atlas obscura‘s obscura day expedition to explore california city, an unfinished urban plan that sits in the mojave desert.

food


[photo: yummy supper]

if you have access to a field of dandelions and haven’t figured out how to use them, this dandelion jelly recipe from yummy supper looks like a really special treat. i don’t usually make sugar-based preserves, but perhaps there’s some way to use this recipe as a base for a dandelion sauce or bread or addition to a refreshing drink?

passover is around the corner, and i found this south of the border seder article really interesting. maybe an exciting new twist for your passover dinner?

wine


[photo: mary gorman]

how do you like to learn about wine from thekitchn.com. everyone has their own method for how they research an interest. personally i like to jump right into the action, visit wineries, talk to people, ask questions, write notes, quiz myself while tasting, run information from one source by another and get their take on it, and of course taste whatever i can. i think the best advice i’ve heard is taste as much as you can and drink what you like, and i follow it.

continue getting to know your grapes with bonarda and bourboulenc from drinksareonme.net

beyond design

| heather parlato


[photo by mattel]

not that i would buy specialty barbies or anything, but these dolls based on the characters of the tv show mad men are far more appealing to me than my 70s revisionist barbies & kens i grew up with. additionally, these dolls are at least in my same industry.

food & wine


[photo: 365daysofkale.com]

i know i’ve been on a crazy kale kick. i just planted 2 varieties in the garden after watching my mom’s kale plants last right through the entire year. then, a friend posted this link to 365daysofkale.com dedicated to kale recipes, so i have an endless supply to try. [thanks @zoetica].

can-free cooking made easy: avoid BPA and save money at the same time. i have been buying dried and sprouted beans from some farmer’s market sellers [and sprouting my own] mostly just to support local food, but greenlagirl.com has a point, BPA is found in many canned foods, and a great way to avoid them is to eat fresh and make your own preserved foods in glass jars.

dale cruse continues his get to know a grape series with bluebell and bobal. he also suggests this super-cute moleskine wine journal as a helpful way to keep notes on what you’re tasting.

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.