All Hung Up

Santa showed up this year…..in a brown uniform, masked as a UPS driver.   I knew he was a “new guy” and had something special for me because unlike most delivery guys who just chuck packages over the side of my patio gate, this guy knocked gently on the gate door, waited for me to open it, and handed a giant box to me with a smile on his face.  I smiled back and told him to have a great day.  Santa…..

Here’s the giant box:

I opened it immediately. 

Here’s what was inside:

My jaw dropped when saw it all.  I knew immediately which one of Santa’s elves had his ear – Katie! 

Here’s the thing, when you have a blog about products you love, friends (followers) are always telling you about products they love.  And that’s awesome!  I want to try anything someone else loves!  But my little “rule” for this “very big deal” blog I’ve got going here is that if I’m going to write about it, I need to love it.  

Elf Katie has loved Huggable Hangers from Day 1.  She told me about them on Day 1 of this blog; she wanted me to love them.  So I received them.  I tried them.  And I do LOVE them!  Here’s why:

They are saving my favorite Club Monaco tissue t-shirts from slipping off plastic hangers (because the Huggables are wide, with arches at just the right spot, and are covered in velvet, helping clothes stay put):

They’re keeping my wide-necked shirts on hangers:

Anything with a spaghetti strap gets hung up on a Huggable and just stays put (goodbye plastic hangers with those annoying little mini curved hooks that are supposed to help with this, but don’t!):

They’re holding up dresses that otherwise require safety-pins-hooked-to-dry-cleaner-hangers or annoying-hidden-ribbons-hooked-and-wrapped-around-aforementioned-mini-curved-hooks:  

Despite their very slim design, the Huggables are quite sturdy.  My heavier jackets are now on appropriate hangers!:

If you’re like me, you probably haven’t spent a lot of time thinking about hanger design.  But check this out….Huggable Hangers are shaped the way our neck/shoulder area is shaped.  Traditional plastic hangers are not shaped the way our neck/shoulder area is shaped.  How has this never come up?! 

To sum it all up, Huggable Hangers:

• Are slimmer than most hangers (read: closet space-saver)
• But they are sturdy and could handle the weight of heavy dresses and jackets
• Are nice and wide, so you clothes are more likely to stay hung and less likely to come off a hanger with shoulder divots from hangers that drop mid-shoulder.
• Have long necks on their chrome hooks, which is nice for turtlenecks or scoop necks
• Mimic the shape of our bodies, so clothing hangs similar to the way it hangs on your body. 
•  *You can order them in kid size, too!

So far, nothing bad to say about them.

A little more about the product, though. . .

The Huggable Hanger is Home Shopping Network's all-time best-selling product.  Stylists, organization experts, and even Oprah love Huggable Hangers!  They were invented by American mom/inventor/entrepreneur, Joy Mangano.  She has said, "I'm just like everybody else out there. I'm a mom, I work, I have a house to clean, things to organize. We all have certain similar needs, and I address them."

You can find Huggable Hangers here, in a rainbow of colors:

HSN.com

What was I waiting for?  I need more!  And goodbye dry cleaner hangers that I held onto because the foam padded-wrapped wire hangers kept things in place better than plastic hangers.  Goodbye you ugly little things!

And I want this closet.  Dear Santa……

It's Party Season. Go Nuts!

Last summer, one of my sisters introduced me to Rosemary Marcona Almonds from Trader Joe’s.  (Highly addictive!)  Then last week, a small bag of Sahale’s Parmesan Cheese + Herbs “Crunchers” jumped in my cart during one of those shopping trips everyone and their brother tells you to avoid: shopping while hungry!   I was a little overwhelmed by the herb + parm coating, yet I ate every last little almond “cruncher” (for, you know, taste test purposes). 

Riveting, right?  E ate some nuts.  Let’s continue. . .

Keep in mind, RARELY do I consider whether I could replicate at home something I can buy at a store.  (I applaud do-it-yourselfers, crafters, and people who embrace all-things-domestic; I’m just more of a “find-buy-support the economy” kind of gal.)  But when I mentioned that I intended to get back to blogging and in reply someone asked for holiday party hors d'oeuvre ideas, for some crazy reason, I wondered, “Would it be easy to make those Sahale things at home, only MY way, more like the Trader Joe’s almonds?”   I assumed I was just one quick Google search away from the recipe for what I wanted to taste.  Wrong!  I had to dig a little.  I’m an Internet sleuth, but going back to that part where I just assume buy what I need and call it a day, having to spend more than a few minutes finding a recipe for something that pretty much already lives on a grocery store shelf was annoying. 

But I came across the following recipe for “Herbed Nuts.”  It lacked parmesan, but the rest looked good.  The recipe was short and sweet.  It was a holiday weekend and I gave myself permission to spend 30 minutes on something like this.  And crossed my fingers (for two reasons: [1] I hoped these would taste good; and [2] figured if they tasted good, I could use them as a blog post). 

Well, here we are, so…..win, win! 

There’s a time and place for a bowl of chips at a party, but if you’re throwing a classier affair or need smaller snacks to put around a room for a cocktail party, go for nuts! 

Herbed Nuts

1)  Mix 3 Tbsp. melted butter with 1 Tbsp. each minced parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme, and 2 tsp. salt.  (I used dry spices – gasp, I know – but I bet fresh spices would be even better)

2)  Toss mixture with 3 cups unsalted mixed nuts. (I used 1.5 bags of Raw Blanched Slivered Almonds from Trader Joe’s)

3)  Bake at 325 degrees F for 25 minutes, stirring once.

p.s. Be sure to place a small stack of cocktail napkins next to each bowl of nuts.  You’ll need napkins!  

For the Love Of…..

“I like not only to be loved, but to be told that I am loved.”     - George Eliot


The big holidays are behind us, but that lovely love day is less than a month away. Red and pink hues blanket the stores and "Kay" and "Jared" hit us all over with their bauble ads. The rest is all hearts, flowers, love notes, and.....chocolate!

For those of you planning to shower your love with a box of calories, how 'bout we skip Godiva this year?  Skip Russell Stover and Whitman's this year while you're at it (and maybe every year . . . at least for a Valentine's Day gift).  Show her/him that you actually care and an effort was made! Here’s how. . . 

If you absolutely want to go the way of a box of chocolates, you know it works, and you’re confident in that space, one of the simplest steps up would be Truffles and Bon Bons from Chocolate Bar.  They are handmade, hand-packed fresh and oozing rich flavors like coffee cardamom, caramel, peanut butter & jelly and passion fruit.  A middle-of-the-road 24-piece signature box is $33.   

Chocolate Bar NYC




A step in the fancy direction takes us to La Maison du Chocolat.  Discover the luxury with a 28-piece Coffret Maison Dark and Milk box ($55).  They describe it as a “refined chocolate box,” and it is.  I’d say: exquisite. 

La Maison du Chocolat

If you’re willing to get a tad more creative and sweet, go this route: The Valentine Collection by L.A. Burdick Chocolates ($78). Artfully presented in a wood crate, a selection of this chocolatier’s best hand-crafted pieces – including a pair of their special chocolate mice (!) – are nestled in just so.  Be sure to read the “About Us” section of their website; they really are masters of chocolate. 

(If you think the Chocolate Mice are as quirky and cute as I do, it could be another option for you ($32 or $48))

L.A. Burdick

I have to throw in a plug here for Vosges Haut-Chocolat.  I’ve followed Vosges since their early days in Chicago, got to know some of the folks behind the scenes, and remain a super fan.  Different than a box of chocolates, but nonetheless rectangularly contained, a Mini Exotic Candy Bar Library ($25) would make a fun gift!  A library of chocolate – COME ON!   Throw in a Barcelona Milagro Heart of Love ($4) while you’re ordering online.  Make it Valentine-y. 

Vosges Haut-Chocolat



Shall I keep going???



Maybe you don’t want to gift pieces of chocolate.  How about brownies?  I haven’t met one person who hasn’t loved Fat Witch brownies. I mean, yes, it could be weird to give your lovely a tin that says "Fat Witch" on it, so tread carefully here. Plenty of options, but for Valentine’s Day, I think a great gift would be a “Tin of Favs.”  For $39 you get 2 Fat Witches, 2 Blonde Witches, 2 Walnut Witches, 2 Caramel Witches.

Fat Witch

Or….there’s cake!  And by cake, I don’t mean grocery store bakery section cake (unless that’s your fave, which, that’s cool, too).  No, I’m talkin’ “I’m-going-to-splurge-here-and-prove-to-my-special-someone-that-they-are-so-worth-it” cake. One of my absolute favorite boutiques in Manhattan is a cake boutique: Lady M Confections.  (My absolute favorite cake is their signature Lady M Mille Crepes, but we’re here to talk about chocolate…) And this work of art – the Couronne du Chocolat – can be shipped to you ($75 plus shipping and handling fees)!  It is dark chocolate mousse layered with chocolate sponge, topped with ganache and finished with white chocolate shavings and crumb sidings. Be sure to note their special ordering instructions, which are posted on the website.

Lady M Confections

Finally, what I consider the simplest and most romantic option: Champagne Truffles from Teuscher Chocolates. 

From Teuscher:

Decadent. Exquisite. Unforgettable. There is no question that our most popular truffle is also the world’s finest. A delicate milk chocolate shell wrapped around sinfully rich dark chocolate with a heart of French champagne crème, each one of our Champagne Truffles is a miniature masterpiece. Taste one and you will understand immediately how our signature specialty has seduced customers and critics the world over. Available in any quantity, all year round.

Pair these with a fine bottle of champagne, a hand-written love note, and call it Valentine’s Day. 

Teuscher

Just ideas.  Hope they help!  Now……who’d like to be my secret admirer?  :-)

- E

Gift Guide 2011: Think Outside [but also about] the Box!

While some of you race around enjoying the post-Thanksgiving shopping frenzy, I've planted myself in one of my favorite coffeehouses, far from the crowds, but nonetheless gift-minded. I am surrounded by catalogs, tear sheets and web "favorites." And I as I start typing, I’m on my second 16-oz drip. So off we go with some gift ideas!  Theme: Built Unique

 

• For fish people.
• For someone who does not have small children.
• For the “cool factor.”

Fishscape Fish Bowl ($140), available through The Conran Shop:

A run-of-the-mill fish bowl, this is not! Aruliden, maker of the Fishscape, won the 2011 International Design Excellence Award (IDEA) from the Industrial Designers Society of America (IDSA) for this innovative design, which combines light and shadow to create an elaborate underwater home for fish, who are not included.
http://www.conranusa.com/159531/FISHSCAPE-FISH-BOWL/Product


 

• For someone who appreciates conversation pieces.
• For the green thumbs.
• Also for the “cool factor.”

Truss Planter by PULL+PUSH ($58), available through Molla Space:

A cement planter designed to represent an abandoned building. Designer Nobuhiro Sato, who is based in Kyoto, hand-makes all his work using concrete as his base material. His products are meant to inspire us, by pulling and pushing new ideas in and out. Works, doesn’t it?!
http://www.mollaspace.com/shop/truss-planter-by-pull-push.html

• For the birder.
• For someone with outdoor space.

The Garden Pavilion Birdhouse ($223), from Home Bazaar:

 

This is just one example of the MANY incredible birdhouses Home Bazaar offers. The Garden Pavilion was inspired by a classic English Conservatory style greenhouse. It features two separate nest boxes, floor-to-ceiling details on all four sides, and a removable base for easy cleaning. This particular model will accommodate wrens, finches, chickadees, nuthatches and titmice. Never heard of the last two; doesn't really matter.
http://www.hbbirdhouse.com/Garden+Pavilion+Birdhouse+-+Large_.a10.htm

• For someone who has kids who don't destroy stuff.
• For someone who has to buy something for a kid, and secretly can't wait to play with it themselves.
• For someone who really likes Mid-Century modern design.

 

The Ultra Modern Doll and Furniture House Set ($198), available through Chiasso:

 

This is one very hip dollhouse! Chiasso's “real estate ad”: "Your move-in-ready, modern dream home—complete with open floor plan, contemporary stairway and the coolest of furniture—20th century master designs in miniature. Windows open."
http://www.chiasso.com/store/item.aspx?ItemId=56612

 

• For the boys who will always be boys.
• For someone with tablespace to spare.

LEGO Fallingwater ($100), from ShopWright

 

This is a LEGO replica of Frank Lloyd Wright’s famed Fallingwater, one of the most unique homes in the world.  Build it like any other LEGO set.  This one, you may not want to de-construct, though. 

http://www.shopwright.org/lego-fallingwater.html

 

• For hobbyists.
• For lovers of On Golden Pond.

Chris Craft 1949 Racing Runabout Kit ($220), available through Garrett Wade:

Honestly, what a gorgeous boat! I'll take a full-size version, thank you!

Until that happens. . . . a beautiful wood-boat kit of moderate complexity. The controls, motor and NICad battery are available separately; yes, it can actually "runabout" the pond.
http://www.garrettwade.com/product.asp?pn=78M01.01

Get gifting.  And remember, Gift Inspired!

 

- E

Some Good Stuff!

 

Classic Bread Stuffing, courtesy of GOOP

 

 

• Note: I used to hate stuffing. You know the "stuff"....the sticky, gloppy stuff that came from a box (or was it a tube?)....yeah, that stuff. Never cared for that stuff and convinced myself I hated stuffing because of it.  
• Note: Now I love "my" stuffing.

• Note: I am a disciple of Gwyneth Paltrow. Specifically, her style, her GOOP, and anything she does involving food.
• Note: "My" stuffing is Gwyneth's stuffing.

 

This is the story of how this all came together:

 

Leading up to Thanksgiving 2009, Gwyneth had written about some of her favorite Thanksgiving dishes in her GOOP Newsletter. It seemed there was nothing extra special about her Classic Bread Stuffing. In fact, the recipe reads incredibly basic. But she did say you could use challah. Love challah! And like I said, I do what Gwyneth does. So Classic Bread Stuffing (using challah) was happening!

 

Thanksgiving Dinner 2009 was held at my tiny studio apartment in New York City. (The picture to the right is a picture of my kitchen. Yes, you can prepare a Thanksgiving feast with just 8 inches of counter space, so long as you don't mind resting pans on the top of your garbage can or on the floor. I do miss that apartment!)

 

The attendees: two of my sisters and me. The menu: Thanksgiving food, as organic and fresh as possible. I combed through my recipe files and put together a rather lovely, veggie-heavy meal. The turkey took a backseat to side dishes that year! The sautéed carrots and Brussels sprouts were nice. I was quite proud of the green bean casserole (no cans of mushroom soup here). But in my humble opinion, the pièce de résistance was the stuffing.

 

I'm a little bummed that I can't describe the taste and texture in mouth-watering detail; I don't remember the specifics. I just remember loving it! And I remember thinking that from then on, if asked to make something for Thanksgiving dinner, this would be my go-to dish. I will never be in charge of turkey. I want nothing to do with yams. My mother's mashed potatoes (with skins left on) are too good to mess with. My aunt's bread wins every time. And my pies will never look as pretty as my sister's pie. But "my" stuffing will follow me wherever I go.

 

So here it is.....this is what all this fuss is about....

 

 

Classic Bread Stuffing

Generous on the onions and fennel seeds, this stuffing is hearty and satisfying but not soggy or heavy as stuffing can sometimes be. Made with good vegetable stock, it’s vegetarian-friendly.

 

Serves: 12, with leftovers

Time: 2 hours, a lot of which is completely unattended

 

Ingredients:

· 15 cups of 1/2˝ bread cubes (challah, wholegrain, or ciabatta)

· 1/4 cup butter + 1 tablespoon cut into small pieces

· 1/4 cup + 1 tablespoon olive oil

· 1 very large onion, very finely diced (roughly 2 1/2 cups)

· 2 stalks celery, very finely diced (roughly 1/2 cup)

· 2 1/2 teaspoons fennel seeds

· 3/4 teaspoon celery seeds

· 2 generous tablespoons finely chopped fresh rosemary

· 2 1/2 teaspoons coarse salt

· 1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

· 2 1/2 tablespoons roughly chopped fresh parsley

· 2 1/2 cups high-quality vegetable stock, divided

 

Preheat the oven to 300º F. Spread the bread cubes out on two cookie sheets and bake for about ten minutes or until a bit dried out, not browned.

Meanwhile, heat the 1/4 cup of butter and olive oil over medium heat in a large sauté pan. Add the onion, celery, fennel and celery seeds, rosemary, salt and pepper and sweat the mixture for 20 minutes, keeping the heat low enough so that the vegetables don’t color – you just want them to get soft and sweet. Turn off the heat, add the parsley and let the mixture cool for about ten minutes in the pan. Add the bread cubes and 2 cups of stock; stir to evenly distribute. Let the mixture sit for about an hour to let the flavors really get into everything (now’s a good time to work on your other Thanksgiving dishes!).

Reserve two cups of the stuffing for the turkey if desired.

Set the oven to 350º F. Put the stuffing into an ovenproof baking dish (you could even leave it in your sauté pan if it doesn’t have plastic handles – one less thing to wash!). Pour over the remaining stock and dot with the remaining tablespoon of butter. Bake for 25 minutes, or until the top is lightly browned.

Feel free to claim it as your own!

To the friends and family I will share Thanksgiving dinner with this year, get ready for the good stuff[ing]!

And Happy Thanksgiving to all!

- E

p.s. This is GOOP: http://www.goop.com/

Tied up and Hanging out

Alice Rosignoli's "20 Hangers" Wardrobe

For every one "thing" I've tried, vouch for, and want to tell you about, I've got at least 27 things I read about/ heard about/ saw in a store/ tracked down online/ really want to try/ know I'll love/ and just can't wait to talk about. With the holiday shopping season right around the corner, I think I may pepper my posts in coming weeks with some fun things that you, too, may enjoy. Or, maybe you'll just get a kick out of some of the random things I drool over. Either way, come friends, let's delve into the "E files." (Yes, there are files.....kind of a lot of them, actually.....)

So artist/designer Alice Rosignoli is over in Europe, working with ordinary hangers and dreaming up a way to transform how things hang. She fashions the "20 Hangers" wardrobe. The design world notices. New York Magazine features the product in their recent Fall Design 2011 issue. I see this. And I'm in love.

The concept: 20 common wood hangers and black ropes, hanging from cables attached to your ceiling or wall. Senior industrial designer, Sally Rumble, describes it as a chandelier of sorts. (Great way to think of it!)

The real-life application: E's dry cleaning and freshly ironed threads move from their assumed positions on the back of doors and closet door handles to a Maypole-like installation hanging as the art currently missing from her bedroom.

You see, while many people may look at "20 Hangers" as a brilliant invention for the closet space-deprived, I look at "20 Hangers" as an awesome opportunity to play around with the clothes I already hang outside my closet. I imagine some of my tanks and sweaters getting reacquainted, and my otherwise very neutral wardrobe looking rather handsome mingling loosely as a group.

This:

Looks way better than this:


Wouldn't you agree?!

Price: 120 euro, plus shipping. That comes to 150 euro, or a little more than $200. I know - I know!! - that is a lot of money for hangers. When it comes to household items worth spending money on, I realize for most people hangers are right up there with paper towel holders and drawer dividers.

"So E," you ask, "you haven't actually tried these, they're not across-the-board practical, they're pricey, and, frankly, they're a little 'out there' for everyday living, why are you telling us about these?"

Well, if you love 'em and you can afford 'em, go for it! (http://alicerosignoli.it/) If you're intrigued by Alice's ability to take make some ordinary objects cool, then do what I do and print some of these pictures and stare at them. Finally, we're entering gift-giving season. Your takeaway? Gift inspired.

"Gift" being a verb...the act of gifting. Think outside the box. Notice what people like, what they do, what they use, and what not everybody else has. Absorb the options. Allow yourself to be inspired. And gift inspired.

Speaking of hangers and gifts, a few years ago, I gave one of my sisters a [rather pricey] knitted hanger as a gift. She's the fashionista of our family and is the one I knew would appreciate something like this. It's great for delicates, but absolutely perfect for the heavy vintage coat she cherishes. She never would have purchased a knitted hanger for herself, but was happy to receive it as a gift! I was in awe when I saw them, allowed myself to think beyond her "wish list," and purchased confidently.

I sure hope I didn't lose you here today. I'm hung up on the "20 Hangers" (yes, pun totally intended!) and am in the midst of pulling gift ideas for several projects, so this is a glimpse of where my head is these days. I have not succumbed to Pinterest. Pretty sure that's where I belong. For now, consider this my pinboard manifesto.

- E

Be a Super Hero!

Brooklyn Superhero Supply Company

Bloggers who post daily: you are my heroes! How do you do it?

When I started this blog, I was between full-time jobs, and looking for a creative outlet. I figured a post per week would do. But now, I've got a whole lot goin' on! At any given moment, there are at least 12 things I (a) wish I was doing; (b) should be doing; (c) am thinking about doing the second I finish what I'm currently doing. Tending to this blog has been a, b, and c since I started it. Sometimes I wish I was Evie from the late '80s/early '90s TV show "Out of this World." Remember her? Her father was an alien from the planet Anterias. Being half-alien, of course she has superpowers, including the ability to pause and un-pause time! Why wish for more hours in the day when you could wish for the ability to pause time, check everything off your list without interruption, then un-pause and resume?!

What superpower would you like to have? Who did you pretend to be when you were a kid? Growing up, I loved to "play house" with dolls and Barbie; I was always the mom! Other than that, I put my creative juices to use rearranging furniture in my bedroom for fun, and sketching floorplans for my parents to use to remodel our house. Yeah . . .

Anyway, I don't have kids of my own, but hear more and more friends and relatives talk about the importance of "dramatic play." Who knew that there was such an official term for what a lot of folks in my age group knew simply as "dress up."

Well, parents (and adult dreamers and seekers-of-all-things-cool-and-unique), I am super excited to introduce to you to the Brooklyn Superhero Supply Company. Let them handle "dramatic play" for you, for when it comes to helping your kids make believe, you will never come close to what BSSCo has put together! This truly is one of the most unique lines I've come across in years, maybe ever. (And I don't use "unique" lightly. When I was PR, churning out press releases for consumer products, my co-worker, Janet, begged us to avoid using the word "unique." It was/is an over-used word. But what can I say, we were 20-somethings trying to convince reporters to pay attention to what we were hawking. We thought we were slick.) But I digress. I'm going for it; I'm calling Brooklyn Superhero Supply Company UNIQUE! Let me sell you on this. . .

[Stop here if you live in the New York City area. You need to just strap on a cape and soar over to 372 5th Ave. in Brooklyn and check this place out for yourself!]

Brooklyn Superhero Supply Company: purveyors of high quality crimefighting merchandise. Finally dear heroes, one-stop shopping!

You'll start with your Secret I.D. Glasses, or go a step up and get your "human identity" Starter Kits. You may need a new Cape. Depending on your identity, you may need to add a gallon of Muscle, X-Ray Glasses, or a Sequin Belt. Surely, you'll need some gear (a Mind Reader, perhaps) and lab supplies (some Matter, a case of Kryptonite, and some Chaos, which is for use by licensed heroes only). Manuals will come in handy, but some Speed of Light fluid will help you navigate the Index of Good & Evil.

Superheros don't deal with dollars, but for what it's worth, you humans can purchase a Vortex for $11M or Time Portal for a cool $3.8M. For now, maybe just the Red Phone?

You know what? I'm not any more imaginative and creative that I was when I was 8, so I'm going to stop trying to describe all of this in a clever way. You really need to check out for yourself. Go to the website NOW!

Ack! Wait! Before you go, I want to mention two things to keep in mind:

• ALL PROCEEDS from the sale of Brooklyn Superhero Supply Company products go directly to support the free writing and tutoring programs at 826NYC, which is a nonprofit organization that assists students ages 6-18 with their creative and expository writing skills, and helps teachers inspire their students to write.
  


• The BSSCo store in Brooklyn is staffed entirely by volunteers.
  

They are heroes in their own right. So, without further ado, Brooklyn Superhero Supply Company: http://www.superherosupplies.com/

- E

[All images courtesy of Brooklyn Superhero Supply Company]