From Grubstreet about one of my favorite restaurants: "At last night’s party for Food 52’s Piglet cookbook competition, we were reminded that Peter Meehan’s Momofuku follow-up is another cookbook, this time with the Frankies of Carroll Gardens. And now it has a title: Come May 2010, look for The Frankies Spuntino Kitchen Companion and Cooking Manual, which, yes, will include the recipe for their addictive cavatelli and sausage."

vote here

craved this weekend (pugkin)

I made Applesauce Cake with Cinnamon Cream Cheese frosting last night. It was delicious and the cake was not overly sweet or buttery. Great and easy fall recipe from the fallen Gourmet magazine (R.I.P.)

cuddlebug.

a 25K cupcake car, really?

Sophie Blackall's illustrations of missed connections (via Kottke)

I love Iphone apps and this site features the home screens of some of the best designers, developers and tech writers... oddly interesting to me.

Looking forward to Wes Anderson's "Fantastic Mr.Fox"

off to michigan for my last wedding of the season... (i think)

New Miranda July photo project on Vice.

I've done some jamming and pickling classes at the BK kitchen lately that I need to blog about... so fun! more soon.

Former Gucci designer, Tom Ford's directorial debut, A Single Man is all the talk of the Toronto Film Festival and if the trailer is any indication, I can see why.

I made some bran muffins this week on request and they turned out pretty good. They made about ten good sized muffins. I kept two out and froze the rest for the coming week's breakfast. I like to defrost them while I am getting ready and smear some peanut butter on them for a fiber and protein filled breakfast on the go. Here's the recipe.

Steven Alan's clothing is pretty simple but it has great lines and fits really well. Refinery has a sneak peek at his spring line and its pretty dreamy.

some mornings i feel like doing this... (via swissmiss)

You can watch the first full episode of HBO's Bored to Death on Fancast. I just watched it and thought it was super charming and shot really well. Worth your 3o mins.

We went to check out the Greenpoint Food Market this weekend. It was its first weekend open and has some potential. The vendors were all sweet and generous with their samples although a bit more variety would have been appreciated. Too many baked goods and kimchee products. The set up was a bit claustrophobic too but it might be good to check out again in the fall. We also went to Flushing Meadows Corona Park this weekend (photo left). It's huge and the site of the 1939 Worlds Fair. Can't wait to go back and explore more of its 1200 acres.

We made old fashioneds on Sunday to commence with our Mad Men watching. They were delicious.

2oz whiskey (we used makers)

1 sugar cube

1 dash bitters

1 slice lemon

1 cherry

1 slice orange

Combine the sugar, bitters and 1tsp water in an old fashioned glass. Muddle well and add whiskey, add a twist of lemon peel and ice. The add slices of orange and a cherry.

What NYers are reading on the subway

I am feeling a bit under the weather so Justin treated me to a fantastic homemade dinner of seitan curry stirfry. It was so good I took the rest for lunch. Mushrooms, onions, carrots, broccoli, seitan and simmering sauce on a bed of brown rice - YUMmmmm...

Image released today by NASA, taken from the refurbished Hubble Space Telescope, showing stars bursting to life. (AP)

"The number 9 is revered in Hinduism and considered a complete, perfected and divine number because it represents the end of a cycle in the decimal system." (wiki)

the cool, dj-loving, buddhist french chef, eric ripert has a new show coming to pbs this weekend. here is the trailer:


(via grub street)

I have been hotly anticipating Where The While Things Are but until it comes out in October, I will have to be happy with the looooong NYT Magazine cover story this weekend that delves into the whole backstory of getting it made. Preview here.

A coworker's girlfriend does the gift guides for a couple magazines and he has started to bring in the leftovers. Today's discovery was Yoku Moku cookies. Insanely buttery, delicious and individually wrapped. Apparently they are currently backordered everywhere.

okay, this looks a little complicated but panda bear bread! recipe here

ikea catalog circa 1965 (via kottke via ikke)

Fish taco war #2 happened last Friday. Every taco was delicious and quite different. Mine was a citrus shrimp taco, Maurico's was a ceviche taco and the winner, Jill, went traditional with a beer battered taco. Plus there was a fantastic bean dip that Justin made. Yummmmm!

Obama's Reading List

This morning, White House deputy press secretary Bill Burton shared these selections from the president's reading list during his vacation this week.
"The Way Home," by George Pelecanos
"Hot, Flat and Crowded," by Tom Friedman
"Lush Life," by Richard Price (love this book!)
"Plainsong," by Kent Haruf
"John Adams," by David McCullough

(via realclearpolitics)

for some reason, i like rainbow, child-like cakes. here's one from whisk kid -recipe there (via the kitchn)

i kind of cant stop drinking these...

As with all things Justin Vernon (aka Bon Iver) I can't get enough of his new side project, Volcano Choir. Check out the single, Island, IS here.

(via this isnt happiness)

Nabe News

* I am a bit behind on this so bear with me...
-The new beer garden in Fort Greene, Der Schwarze Kolner is open and supposedly quite good although the outdoor area is still under construction.
-The old Barbette on Vanderbilt in Prospect Heights will soon be the new Pequana. Love their plantain and black bean quesadillas.
-Also new on Vanderbilt is Milk Bar, a new breakfast place (via Brownstoner)
-A new fancy hot dog place, Bark on Bergen (near Flatbush) is now open. A friend went to the opening and said they were delicious.
-Everyday on my walk to the subway I see the construction progressing on Cafe Mei Mei, a new restaurant taking over the old spot where Jill's was on Court St.
- Rumor has it that the much beloved pizza joint, Lucali is opening another location in the South Slope (via Brownstoner)
- Both Bonitas (in the Burg and in Fort Greene) are closing, although rumors are that Marlowe & Sons might take over the FG space.
- The Franks (of Prime Meats and Frankies 457) are interviewed about their favorite things on the NYT Moment blog here

This is my kind of bank: Italian Bank Accepts Parmesan as Collateral (LA Weekly)

be still my heart. lyell is making a line for urban outfitters!

this amuses me : skinny girls with big sandwiches.

A fish taco showdown was had this weekend and it was delicious. I used my standby recipe but this time I also pickled some red onions to go with it which was so easy! I used this recipe from David Lebovitz and it couldn't have taken more than five minutes to whip up. I think my fierce competitor bested me though with his secret sauce of avocado crema. We finished the meal with ice cream sundaes with fresh berries, peaches and cinnamon. I call for a rematch (soon)! More pics here.

via icanread

Super cool art by Kevin Dart. More on his site. He also made a trailer for this nonexistent film. Check it here

As a self admitted Twilight fan, I totally appreciate this. (via Videogum)

I went to check out the Francis Bacon retrospective at the MET and it was fantastic. If you're in NY, definitely make an effort to check it out before it closes. Oh, and I also fell in love with this Klimt painting.

Feeling under the weather and a trip to the west coast has kept me away but now back to regularly scheduled programming...

fast food mafia

(via silentsketcher)

Threadcakes is an online cake-baking contest where bakers turn their favorite Threadless designs into amazing cakes.

how awesome is this, i want to be in this wedding. (via iamledgin)

Fancy Fast Food - These photographs and recipes show extreme makeovers of actual fast food items purchased at popular fast food restaurants. No additional ingredients have been added except for an occasional simple garnish. Kinda of crazy. (via VSL)

Pretty spot on for about every movie I am a sucker for...

My Mother's Red Hat w/Alicia Silverstone & Alanis Morissette from Alicia Silverstone

swoon worthy clip - BSS (even with feist and emily haines!) from this past weekend! More here.

(via i can read)

Friday's nonstop listening session is Discovery. I'm really enjoying (almost) the whole album. A boy from Vampire Weekend meets a boy from Ra Ra Riot and get influenced by R&B and add in some synthy electro pop. You can stream it here.

pretty cute.

Jenny Lewis "See Fernando" from Team G on Vimeo.

Nabe News

- I just got word that a second edition of Eton, the dumpling and shaved ice place on Sackett and Henry, called Eton II, will be moving into the empty space behind Zaytoons on Sackett and Smith that was briefly the hookah bar, Sheesha. Look for it by the end of the month. Yay! (thanks JD)

- As reported in the BK Paper, Whole Foods have abandoned their plans to build a store in Gowanus at 3rd and 3rd.

- In better news, the long empty Blockbuster storefront on Court Street has now been rented... to Union Street Market! (via Brownstoner). This place will be right across from me so I have a feeling I will be there often :)

- Sadly, there was a fire at Lucali's which will shutter it for about one week. A commenter on Brownstoner is also saying that a 2nd location is coming to 20th St and 6th Ave (via Slice & Brownstoner)

- A new taco joint has opened on Smith between DeGraw and Douglass, Oaxaca. I have heard mixed things but am going to try and check it out tonight.

- Bastille Day is upon us and activites abound on Smith Street. As with every year, Bar Tabac hosts an annual Bastille Day celebration that includes a serious patanque tournament at Smith and Dean. More activities on BK Based.

Totally looking forward to this, the script was great!

One of my favorite books, Middlesex, has been optioned by HBO as a potential series. Based in Detroit and by Jeffrey Eugenides, it follows the life of Calliope Stephanides and the epic family history that may hold the answer to her complicated sexual identity.

4th of July was pretty much the best. Eat. Drink. Nap. Repeat.

More pics here.

i'll be here soon... counting down to the weekend!