Splendor and Glory

Murmuration from Sophie Windsor Clive on Vimeo.

via Andrew Sullivan

Something to remember

I am always trying to figure out how I can feed my family wholesome, nutritionally-rich foods with economy. I do not think cheap food is something to go after, no matter how strapped we are. Educating ourselves is the best reality.


Brand any fish ''sustainable,'' and you risk making it so popular that it is fished to the point of depletion. A truly sustainable fish has to be not only abundant but also carefully managed to prevent overfishing. That's partly why the lean, delicious, ruby-fleshed sockeye salmon of Bristol Bay, Alaska, is the fish you can eat with the least amount of guilt. It's one of the largest remaining wild salmon populations left, and it's so strictly tended that more salmon often swim upriver


-- particularly between June and September -- thanfishermen know what to do with. In the lower 48, river-blocking dams and human pollution have reduced once-comparable salmon runs to less than a tenth of their former size. Harvesting Alaskan salmon is also inherently low-impact: nothing like sea-floor-destroying trawlers (to catch cod)or 40-mile, sea-turtle- ensnaring long lines (to catch swordfish) are used.The most compellingreason to eat Bristol Bay salmon, however, is that buying it may help save it. The fish faces an existential threat in the form of Pebble Mine, a proposed copper-and-gold mine -- potentially the continent's largest -- that would sit at two of the bay's major headwaters and, according to David Chambers, a mining expert, add tons of toxic waste to the ecosystem. Mining promises a more lucrative economic future for the region: the 100- year value of the pebble deposit is estimated to be between $100 billion and $300 billion, compared with as much as $30 billion for a century's worth of Bristol Bay salmon. As magnificent as those silvery 5- to 15-pound salmon appear and taste, the salmon- processing infrastructure is geared more toward tonnage than high-end restaurant portions. Most Bristol Bay sockeye end up in cans or as frozen fillets in supermarkets. They can sell for just pennies on the pound, wholesale. Half of the harvest is exported.


Higher American demand for Bristol Bay salmon could raise its profile and spur opposition to Pebble Mine, but supporting the fish isn't necessarily easy. Local processors don't really have a Bristol Bay brand yet. But because two-thirds to three-fourths of Alaska's sockeye comes from Bristol Bay, choosing that salmon species is one way to consume fish from the right place. And if you buy canned salmon, check the embossing. Cans from Bristol Bay's oldest producer are stamped with the number 35.--Paul Greenberg

Ever since I read this in the NYTimes magazine back in October, I have been buying canned salmon, and making a  salmon loaf with mustard sauce, courtesy of my most-loved cookbook, Lost Recipes, by the magnificent Marion Cunningham.

Still looking for the 35 code on a can of wild salmon though.

BBC: Steve Jobs

via kottke.org

Two Homes In Georgia

A pair of sisters from Athens, Georgia live in gorgeous homes. I love their decorating style: personal, comfortable and filled with the handmade. Just perfect in my eyes. These photos come from Design*Sponge a back in 2009.  Just found them again last night perusing the web.  Wanted to remember them here on my blog.

  First up, Rinne Allen:

Her sister Lucy's gorgeous abode:

Thanks Grace, Lucy, and Rinne for all the beauty.

Downton Abbey

Like so many people I have become a HUGE Downton Abbey fan and cannot wait until January when season two begins and the drama resumes.

One of the reasons our last Thanksgiving was so enjoyable was my husband and I watched the whole series over the holiday. Thank you Netflix streaming.

Made

While web-surfing last night I came upon The Good Flock's iphone cover via A Continuous Lean.

Gorgeous leather and decidedly more beautiful than mine.  I made my iphone case two years ago with my sewing machine and an old date book cover I could not bear to throw away because I loved the leather. My cover serves its purpose. ( My iphone photo is so awful.)

BTW, I love the Good Flock's history.  Read the short piece on Marco Murillo's business sense in Inc.

Garlic: Just Watch.

Portland

This is a little late, but we traveled to Portland the weekend before Thanksgiving.  So impressed with their Farmers Market at PSU. Amazing amount of produce considering we were there at the end of November.  Some of the greatest pate I have ever eaten.  The best cup of coffee! Got most of the produce for our Thanksgiving dinner here. 

Went to a lovely Sunday morning breakfast at Mother's. (Don't let the music on their website put you off.) My children loved the place too. The chef/owner served us our food.   My kind of business: owner-owned and managed, works in the kitchen on Sunday morning, and serves her customers. Amen.

Slipped into another gem of a shop called Alder & Co.  Beautifully curated. Owner there too.

That town has incredible food and coffee... Oh LORD.

And that got this little porcelain egg grate at Powell's. Isn't it lovely for our home-grown eggs?

Note to self:  Next trip down bring bathing suit and go to School House Electric.

Two beauty hints to remember

I dye my hair from a box from my main grocer, Whole Foods. Good advice article on how to get gorgeous haircolor from a box.

2). Avoid The Orange
If you're looking to go darker, Petrizzi suggests skipping anything in the warm brown family. "Unless you want orange hair, steer clear of this inviting, snuggle-up-to-me color," he says. When dying your hair darker, those tempting ammoniated colors will actually just develop brassy. Going lighter? It may sound counterintuitive but choose an ashy shade. "It will do anything but singe your hair and will actually balance out any brassy undertones that may pop up," says Petrizzi. 

 via  Refinery 29.

And Number 2:

A red-orange lipstick that looks good on everyone, claims a Glamour editor.

the Sheila Maid

Oh, how I have wanted one of these for many years. I discovered a purveyor here in the U.S. that sells this wonderful invention. It's sweetly described as a "Clothes Airer."

Image from ANCIENT INDUSTRIES

Where does your milk come from?

I buy organic milk most of the time, and don't buy ultra-pastureized milk products.  But it's no longer possible to believe "organic" on the product any more, as Jaime Oliver recently pointed out why we feed our children such crap every day in our schools, and why labeling laws in the country are a joke:  "The food companies of America own you. They are more powerful than government."  

It's time-consuming work to find out where our food comes from. A blog brought to my attention a website that can tell you exactly where your milk comes from the code on the carton or bottle.  It makes me so happy.

Watercolor by Marion Hylton

I learned that our organic milk does indeed come from a local diary that is not part of huge conglomerate.

 Thanks, Skip.

The Big House

I finished reading a wonderful book last week called "The Big House" by George Howe Colt. I found out about this book as I do so much of what's good and great out there in this big wide world through a blog.  How I love you blogs.  This one is named the the blue hour, a beautiful site of photographs taken by Brian Ferry.

He kindly let me use some of his photos of Wings Neck, on Cape Cod, where the book takes place.

Highly recommend the book (and Ferry's blog).  Funny too, that Colt's wife is Anne Fadiman, whose book, "The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down", I read many years ago and still the story lingers in my mind.  A great, great book, and a winner of a National Book Critics Circle Award for Nonfiction. 

All photos by Brian Ferry

Dream store

Must plan a trip to LA to visit a shop called Cookbook.  It looks so fabulous.  Right up my alley.

Obsession

I have a healthy obsession for taxidermy. These two mounts are at an estate sale this weekend.  So tempting, a mount adds so much character to a room.

Blue Room

One of the nicest tours to come through on Apartment Therapy in a while.  Serene, classic, beautiful, and, most importantly filled with light.   Our master bedroom is painted this color, but the light in this house is magnificent.  The home is in the countryside of France. Check out this tour.  Thanks Maxwell.

from Apartment Therapy

Popsicle sticks, cardboard and Ann Wood

In talented hands, humble objects are turned into magnificent houses.

Photo by Ann Wood.