site we’re psyched about: shelfari
As a rule, I say yes to book club. A guaranteed time for wine, food and friends, I look forward to our meetings and the set date helps me to incorporate a few good reads into my otherwise insane schedule. Recently, a friend turned me on to Shelfari, a social cataloging website for bookworms. Part of the Amazon family of web brands, the site allows users to create a profile (using their Amazon credentials) and create and share shelves of books they’ve either read, own or have on their wish list. Users also have the option of reviewing, rating, recommending or tagging books for quick and easy organization and discussion. Though I consider myself a beginner book clubber (and don’t have room for real bookshelves), this seems like it has potential to be a great organizational tool. What do you think, readers? Would you ever use a site like Shelfari to organize your reads? Are you in a book club? What are you reading? — Sarah C.
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online magazine alert: introducing trad home
My digital bookshelf is beginning to get out of control, and just as I start to grow content with the solid stable of online magazines competing to draw me out of my Domino mourning, we have yet another to add to the list. Last week, the folks at Traditional Home launched Trad Home, their digital collaboration with the editors of Lonny. Slated to release issues in May and October, the venture promises to feature 100% original content. Traditional Home is also partnering with sale spot One Kings Lane to host tag sales curated by designers from their annual “hot list†to watch. Running from June to early fall, each “Trad Home Tag Sale†will feature a room created by each designer where consumers can glean décor tips and buy anything they see in the set. Bookmarked! – Sarah C.
blogwatch: where we’ve been clicking this week
It’s like Saarinen meets Alien: the E-lastic table by Timothy Schrieber, at Contemporist.
If our modern fire pit round up from a few years back wasn’t inspiration enough, CasaSugar’s got a smokin’ hot roundup of modern fire pits.
Coolest Easter eggs ever! Find out how to DIY your own Mondrian inspired Easter eggs at Curbly.
One of our favorite bloggers has hit the big time — er, kinda. Pam from RetroRenovation had her highly-informative video about her bathroom remodel featured at Urlesque, and apparently, they think it’s the funniest thing they’ve ever seen!
Over at Collectors Weekly, read a fascinating article about Kem Weber, the mid-century innovator of flatpack modern furniture. Via BoingBoing.
It’s the most wonderful time of the year! That’s right… National Grilled Cheese Month! If you need a little help in the creativity department, let the helpful tutorials and recipes at The Grilled Cheese Academy guide you through the next few weeks like Yoda training Luke in the ways of the Jedi.
real life test kitchen: pasta with peas, prosciutto, and crème fraîche
Today’s recipe comes right in time for Spring, from the pages of one of my favorite cookbooks, A Twist of the Wrist, by Nancy Silverton. This book has been a great source of lots of quick and easy meals made from easily-sourced pantry and freezer staples. (The Chicken Tonnato Salad? To. Die. For.) The recipe calls for orecchiette, whose curved shape I imagine would, as Silverton says, “capture the tiny peas” in a way orzo pasta just can’t. With orecchiette or without, I really love this dish’s simplicity: frozen peas, garlic, crème fraîche… Oh, and instead of prosciutto, I used Spanish jamon Serrano for my version — I think it’s got a nicer, more developed flavor. But whatever way you make it, it really is easy, and delicious. — Megan B.
Click for the recipe, after the jump! (more…)
strangely appealing: modernist cuisine
Chances are if you’re a certified science nerd or a foodie with a serious study habit, you’ve at least heard of Nathan Myhrvold. In the mid-1990s Myhrvold took a leave of absence from his job as the chief technology officer at Microsoft to attend a professional chef’s school in France. The lifelong love of the science of cooking not only spurred that trip, but also inspired his next project, Modernist Cuisine: The Art and Science of Cooking. Self-published with the help of co-authors Chris Young and Maxime Bilet, the 40-pound, six-volume cookbook provides an in-depth look into how the incorporation of science and technology in the kitchen can change the way we experience food. While its stunning, cutaway photography, 2,438 pages and 1,600 recipes deem this a one-of-a-kind find, the $625 price tag ($462.61 online), might just keep this one in stock. A perfect candidate for the top spot on that “For The Foodie Who Has Everything†list? We think so. –Sarah C.
via NPR
