The End!
July 2, 2011
This blog was a fun project while it lasted, but I am beginning to find that WordPress is a bit stifling. Time for the next chapter!
Keep a tab on my tricks at my new blog, http://toddrightnow.tumblr.com
My camera
May 29, 2011
appears to have been misplaced. This is very troubling.
Book Report: The Beautiful Fall
May 23, 2011
Last summer, my friend Jennifer recommended to me that I read this book called The Beautiful Fall. I haven’t really had much time to read for pleasure during this past year, but now that school is over I have had time to sink my teeth into this pageturner.
There is something to be said about a history book which reads like a thriller. This book tells the story of Yves Saint Laurent and Karl Lagerfeld in 1970s Paris, when they were both creative rivals and fighting to dress as many fabulous society women as possible. An ensemble cast of characters marches in and out of the story, each character so sharply developed that you feel less like you are reading a book, and more like you are sipping champagne in St-Tropez or Marrakesh alongside them.
Things start to heat up after about 100 pages of medium-paced narrative, when cliques start to form, sex and lies become rampant, and the stakes become impossibly high. For YSL and Lagerfeld, it wasn’t about the clothes: it was about creating an artistic legacy to last throughout the ages. Each began to break the codes of couture in their own way, focusing less on hemlines and contours and shapes, and focusing more on sexuality, identity, and- dare I say it- the pursuit of “fierce.”
Definitely a must-read for anyone interested in understanding why YSL and Lagerfeld are hailed as creative geniuses.
The Beautiful Fall. By Alicia Drake. Back Bay Books.
Boston Museum of Fine Arts, Revisited
April 30, 2011
Yesterday was a perfect spring day in Boston. It was also my last day visiting home, so my mother and I decided to spend the day together and do something that has always been really special to us: visiting the Museum of Fine Arts. I hadn’t been in over a year, since before the massive renovations had been completed so I couldn’t really conceptualize just how massive a change had occured.
We didn’t have a ton of time (we needed to go shopping, we have our priorities straight) so we just visited the new Art of the Americas Wing, lunched at the New American Cafe, and called it an afternoon. We did, however, have time to check out the Chihuly exhibit, which focused on this insanely talented glassbowing artist. Really cool stuff.
Click through the gallery for some of the day’s highlights…
This slideshow requires JavaScript.
Just thought I’d share
April 29, 2011
a random food picture I took. Today I made a really tasty turkey meatloaf with sauteed leaks, portobella and cremini mushrooms. Here it is, before all the meat is added. Really feeling food pictures lately….
The Shocking Conclusion…
April 28, 2011
I did it. I managed to screw up the simlest recipe for banana bread in the world. As indicated by the discoloration on the bottom of the slice, the loaf is at once overcooked and undercooked. The darker area on the bottom of the slice is a tad dry and want of butter, and top is quite mushy. Well, we can’t say I didn’t try!
Anybody have tips for how to not bake like this??
Todd Live-Blogs His Baking – What Will Happen Next…?….!
April 28, 2011
Oh, the joys of suburban life. I’m home for the week, visiting my parents on the North Shore of Massachusetts, and there is literally nothing better to do on this lovely evening… than bake. I’ve decided to throw you readers a curve ball and live-blog my late-night banana bread baking buffoonery. I promise a good read, some appetizing pictures, and that I will probably eat most of the banana bread before going to sleep tonight. But I probably wouldn’t tell you about that last part.
What will he blog about next?!
Our story begins with two sad-looking bananas, just a bit too brown to eat, but not quite brown enough to warrant disposal. The optimal solution? Make them into banana bread!
This recipe was passed down to me by my grandfather, who was a WWII Navy veteran-turned-baker back in midcentury Boston. He was a baking genius. (Interestingly enough, however, he always insisted on making birthday cakes at home from a box rather than from scratch. “You can’t compete with the emulsifiers they put in these things” he would say.) Start by mashing 2 ripe bananas, combing with a cup of sugar, 2 eggs, 1/4 cup of milk, a stick of butter, and a dash of vanilla extract. Voila, wet ingredients. Looks a bit like vomit, but we are only halfway there.
Next, fold in two cups of flour, 1 tsp of baking soda, and a pinch of salt. The secret ingredient? One pinch each of cinnamon, nutmeg and cardamom. Nuts are optional. But if we are cooking for my mother, no nuts allowed. Unless we want to conveniently forget her distaste for nuts. More for us. Woops.
Gently fold in the dry ingredients just until moistened, then gently pour it into a buttered and floured loaf pan. This is where the whole “baking with love” thing comes into play. Hurry through this bit and the whole loaf will be RUINED. Toss that baby into a 350 degree (Fahrenheit, Canadians) oven, set a timer for 50 minutes, and pour yourself a stiff drink while you wait.
That baby is in the oven as we speak. I’m not really sure how it is going to turn out because I have never really had much luck with baking. I’ve always found the careful, precise measurement of ingredients plain old stifling. But we shall see…
New Shades
April 28, 2011
Really proud of these new sunglasses. Kind of like Prada SS2010 (clear) meets Prada Men’s SS2011 (technicolor) meets Proenza SS2010 (California surfer chic). God I’m annoying.
Anyways, best 7$ sunglasses I’ve ever seen. Check it.
La Distillerie, or Parfait
April 22, 2011
To celebrate being done with the semester and to celebrate the approaching summer, some friends and I hopped on down for happy hour at La Distillerie on Ontario and Sanguinet. And, dear readers, it was oh-so-good.
The location on rue Ontario is my personal favorite, mostly because it is the original and I’ve been going there for years, but also because it is a smaller venue and is a lot more intimate than their larger space on Avenue Mont-Royal.
Happy hour at La Distillerie makes their usually pricey mason-jar-sized drinks all the more enticing. And don’t be fooled by the beer list or impressive selection of alcohols- people come to La Distillerie for mixological concoctions. The menu is just right, offering a rarely-seen balance of sugary and savory drinks, with a range that will appeal to all palates. I suggest the Ultra Violet, the Mangorita, the Sailor’s Wet Dream, the Cucumber Rickey… in fact, you really can’t go wrong.
La Distillerie. 300 rue Ontario Est (at Sanguinet) 514-288-7915. also at 2047 ave. Mont-Royal (at de Lorimier) 514-523-8166. also, this just in, soon to be opening a third location in Rosemont at 2656 rue Masson (at 2e Ave). Drinks to take you to the moon and back, totally worth the hefty price tag for the hefty pours.
Tay Tay Ain’t Cray Cray
April 21, 2011
Although I think that Taylor Swift is for the most post an overproduced, phony, spoiled brat from Philadelphia who credits herself as being as southern as an Alabamian who looks pretty with curly hair but strange with straight hair,
I’m still a little surprised at the honesty and grace of this song, “Back to December.”
When she gets to “I miss your tan skin, your sweet smile, so good to me, so right” I still get chills.
As Taylor grows and matures, she is definitely learning how to approach authenticity with piercing emotion. I mean, there is something to be said about how “Speak Now” she wrote entirely (read: “entirely”) on her own.
