roses

Washingtonian Magazine just launched a new magazine called Bride and Groom. I initially got involved in this project because my talented friends Pum and Jake who are, Design Army, worked with the Washingtonian on the new magazine and asked me to do flowers for a photo shoot for the first issue of the Bride and Groom...
Soon after I was excited to be named as the up and coming florist in the premiere issue of Bride and Groom.
Yesterday there was a launch party/bridal showcase for the magazine at the Park Hyatt. Through the planning process for the event (as well as doing a presentation table at the event I did the flowers for a fashion show, and some other spots), I ran into lots of friends and colleagues working on the project including, Jill Hudson Neal, who I have enjoyed working with over the years and is now the editor of the new magazine. Aimee Dominick , a fantastic event planner orchestrated the Park Hyatt event. It was great to reconnect with other colleagues and meet new ones as well as brides planning for the future.
All that information gets me to rose cookies. I made the bridal bouquet in the above photo based on Design Army's vision. The roses in the bouquet are a variety called, Esperance and come from a Florida distributor that only sells roses from farms that use sustainable growing practices. Many of the farms they buy from are cooperatively owned and all have excellent labor practices....and all of that in a round about way led me to making Rose Cookies for yesterdays event.

Rose Cookies
2/3 cup non hydrogenated shortening
large pinch of salt
4 teaspoons rose water
1 cup all purpose unbleached flour
1 cup spelt flour
1/2 cup pureed silken tofu
1 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 cup sugar (organic, free trade and vegan if possible)

decoration
1/4 cup sugar (organic, free trade and vegan if possible)
1/4 teaspoon beet juice
6 buds of rose tea, leaves removed from bud and broken into small pieces

1.Combine decoration sugar and beet juice to make a pink sugar, set aside.
2.Cream the shortening and sugar. Add the other ingredients and mix until thoroughly incorporated.
3.Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
4.Roll the cookies out using additional flour if necessary to prevent sticking. Cut cookies out with a cutter.
5.Sprinkle cookies with pink sugar and rose leaves.
6.Bake until barely golden brown around the edges, about 8 minutes.

Inauguration 2009

My Highlights:

Catching up with old and new friends-
We live near the Capitol and had friends and friends of friends sleeping at our home and stopping by throughout the long weekend. The events opened up time in our lives to allow ourselves to relax, talk, share meals, connect and dream.

Day of service-
On Monday January 19 we found an organized event through my.barackobama and spent several hours picking up trash on the national mall. It felt great. I intend to regularly participate in other organized public service events and to organize events of my own.

Chant 4 Change-
A charity event where we chanted and danced on the eve of the inauguration.

Wandering around DC and feeling the energy and hope-

My friend Laurie’s party-
Below is the menu I prepared and served to a receptive group of eaters

passed-
delicata winter squash soup with black chantarelles
mashed potatoes with Oregon black truffles and French truffle salt
toasted local cornmeal cornbread with caramelized onion and shallot
brussel sprouts with pickled ginger
falafel with sesame sauce

table 1-
montgomery farmhouse cheddar
whole grain crackers
seeded crostini
sweet and salty pumpkin seeds
black grapes
salted spelt, black walnut, whole wheat oatmeal breads
kohlrabi, celery root, carrot and radish
white bean sage spread
spinach roasted garlic puree
quince and pear compote
sweet potato chestnut spread

table 2-
salty rosemary biscotti
earl grey drops
chocolate, chocolate and nib biscotti
cardamom stars
coconut pecan oatmeal cookies

drink-
spiked clementine and ginger agua fresca
Coston Coteaux du Languedoc, Les Terrasses 2004
Savignon de Saint-Bris, Corps de Garde 2004

Litter Free Inauguration

DC one week before Obama becomes the next president you can feel the excitement, tension and traffic. A good friend and long time collaborator sent me a public service announcement he made to help nurture our city during this time of celebration.... and hopefully incorporate into our daily practices.
Check it out Litter Free Inaguration

Photo was taken today (one week pre-inauguration) by a good friend and talented photographer Abby Greenawalt

Grandmothers Cookies

I think yesterday was my grandmothers birthday. November 11th was the day she celebrated her birth …when she was alive. She never knew her exact birth date, so she chose November 11th.

My grandmother loved to cook and feed others….

These almond biscotti-like cookies were always available at her house. She called the ends and any broken pieces, “damages” which she happily fed to any takers.

This version of her cookies has been vegan-ized and adapted with the addition of some whole grain flour, a vanilla bean instead of extract, chopped almonds instead of sliced, tofu in place of eggs ….

Grandmothers Cookies
Makes about 30 cookies

Prep time- 10 minutes
Total time-1 hour 10 minutes

3/4 pureed silken tofu
3/4 cup sugar (if possible vegan, fair-trade and from an environmentally sustainable source)
1/2 cup grapeseed oil
seeds from 1 vanilla pod
2 cups all-purpose unbleached flour
1 cup spelt flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup roughly chopped almonds
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoons cinnamon

1.Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place pureed tofu in a mixer and add sugar, beat well. Add oil and vanilla, beat until well blended.

2.Combine flours, baking powder. Mix into tofu mixture until smooth. Stir in almonds.

3.Divide dough in half and shape each portion into a 10- x 3-inch log. Place the two tablespoons of sugar and 1 tablespoon of cinnamon on a large plate. Roll each log in the cinnamon sugar coating it on all sides. Place on a lightly greased baking sheet.

4.Bake cookies for 30 minutes.

5.Remove cookies from oven and let cool for five minutes. Cut each log crosswise into 3/4-inch-thick slices with a serrated knife. Place slices on baking sheets.

6.Reduce the heat in the oven to 225°. Return cut cookies to the oven and bake for 20 minutes. Remove to wire racks to cool.

traveling without electronics

We ended up without a charged battery or plug for my daughters DVD player last night and four hours of travel time ahead of us.

I am somewhat television-phobic.….Regardless several years ago we started to always travel with a DVD player. The DVD player is handy especially on long trips. Sometimes I watch a movie with Martin-Lane but more often I work, read, think or nap. Martin-Lane loves movies and for her the opportunity to watch them is always a treat.
When we discovered that we were without electronic entertainment there was a moment of despair…

Turned out to be a gift….we leisurely watched clouds and gave them identities and played multiple games of hangman. I had the latest copies of two favorite magazines, Bloom and The Ecologist which we slowly poured over discussing articles, photos and idea after idea. We drew pictures together and separately, laughed, talked and silently observed the world whizzing by through the window.
Magical…

Eating NYC

We regularly make quick trips up to New York. Sometimes there are plans for cultural events, social events, work…always there is eating!!
Just back from the quintessential street food eating visit:
Just off the Bolt Bus, our preferred method of DC-NYC transportation
we headed to Vanessas dumplings on Eldridge close to Broome for steamed vegetable dumplings, sesame pancake with vegetables, pickled cabbage, cucumbers and seaweed. Then around the corner to Babycakes the amazing vegan bakery. The night was beautiful so we walked and ended up near Pure Food and Wines, One Lucky Duck, where we decided to get a pint of raw “oreo” ice cream to bring home for a late night snack….
Sunday morning started with a trip to the Brooklyn Flea Market in Fort Greene which included a bean tamale and a pizza made in an ingenious traveling brick oven (they made us a special cheese-less one). Also found some amazing chocolate made a few blocks away from the market called fine and raw. There were many potential flea markets finds most of which we enjoyed without purchasing. Most intriguing was a stand selling old pieces of Japanese fabric…each one unique, worn and inspiring…many patch-worked together.
Then back to Manhattan where we got some new pickles from the Pickle Guy, a sesame stick at Kossars and a chestnut organic doughnut a few doors down at Doughnut Planet.
After all that needed a walk… went to check out Tadashi Kawamata’s treehouses that are in Madison Square Park until December 31st.
Jumped back on the bus with a bag full of fuji persimmons that we had picked up from a vendor in Chinatown.
Yum!!

feel good

About a week after we all found out who Sarah Palin was I got severe fatigue of talking to people who agree with me. There were endless emails from fellow Obama supporters, I had an uncountable number of conversations with people just like me who were appalled by the possibility of a McCain Palin presidency.

At that point I decided that I would attempt to replace at least some emailing and talking time with volunteering. The result has been very satisfying. MyBarackObama.com and many friends led me and Martin-Lane to door to door canvassing in Virginia, post card writing to undecided voters in Pennsylvania, a random fund raising event with performance art, a phone bank and yesterday a small event at home.

We invited friends and their friends to our home to make get out the vote phone calls and to bake cookies for voters waiting in long lines to vote in southern Virginia. About half of the volunteers that showed up were under 9 years old....it all felt good!

Tomorrow morning I plan to make a few more get out the vote phone calls and then... anxiously await the results-

puff ball

On a run in Rock Creek Park (DC) yesterday morning before heading out of town for the night I found this pristine puff ball mushroom!
While we had Rupperts Restaurant we were fortunate to work with several wild mushroom hunters who were incredibly knowledgeable. I learned a bit about varieties of local wild mushrooms. I often see mushrooms that I cannot identify and therefore cannot eat....since eating the wrong type of mushroom can be deadly...
There are a few types that I am confident identifying, one of these is a puff ball. It is quite amazing seeing this huge white non organic looking ball growing in the middle of the forest.
The discovery made me giddy but even more exciting was sharing some of the freshly found mushroom with several enthusiastic friends. I hope that my next big mushroom find will fall on a day when I have a free evening to invite a bunch of friends to dinner.
Before leaving town we only had time for a quick salad with greens from our garden and roasted puff ball.
Tomorrows menu will probably be something like this...
breakfast- roasted puff ball with scrambled tofu
lunch- puff ball, lettuce and tomato sandwich
dinner- puff ball ravioli
We have invited a few people to stop by and enjoy mushroom with us.

Chocolate Examination

Last weekend we had the amazing opportunity to participate in a small chocolate tasting/discussion/lecture with the chocolate expert Chloe Doutre-Roussel who is known as “the goddess of chocolate”. She spoke to a small group at Biagio, a chocolate store in DC that has expanded my enjoyment, knowledge and exposure to fine chocolate.

Chloe’s passion about the chocolate is contagious and her insights memorable….
She presented a method of tasting that will change the way that I taste chocolate, and everything else. We were educated about deciphering acidity, bitterness and astringency, how percentage of cocoa butter plays a role in taste and why not to pay attention to the percentage of cocoa marked on many fine chocolate bars. At the same time Chloe was clear that the purpose of chocolate in our lives is to add pleasure and gaining knowledge about chocolate can enhance that pleasure. She spoke of individual tastes and the way those can change from moment to moment (something that makes lots of sense to me personally). We learned how even within the category of fine chocolate there is great variety in the source of beans, method of processing and in the packaging and shipping which all impact on the final product.
In addition to consulting for some of the best chocolate makers in the world Chloe travels to cocoa growing countries who want to make chocolate in addition to growing beans. That experience has led her to examination of organic farming practices, fair trade, truth in labeling and purity in cocoa bean variety. All complex subjects, many of which she had interesting and provocative views on.
It is always exciting to meet an individual who has such passion and knowledge about a subject…if that subject is chocolate it is even a little more exciting! But in addition Chloe presented her information with thoughtful insights that resonated with me. For example, she spoke of the connection of taste and smell to our unconscious mind and how favorite tastes tie into memory. Chloe talked about the journey of life and additions of pleasure into that journey. And she discussed how her passion and obsession with chocolate paralleled her passion and obsession with music.
I left the event with her book, “The Chocolate Connoisseur”, I look forward to reading it.

Sustainable Hedonism

Because we need to get more pleasure and gardening in our politics....check out Johns recent article.

Mushroom!

Recently we were gifted this large chicken of the woods mushroom that was found in suburban Washington, DC. Last fall I found lots of wild mushrooms in Rock Creek Park within the city. Varieties included chicken of the woods, oyster and puff ball.

Over the last few days we ate roasted mushroom for breakfast, lunch, dinner and shared some with friends. Some of what we ate-
mushroom and scrambled tofu
roasted potato, French bean and mushroom salad
mushroom lettuce and tomato sandwich
mushroom curry

Check out mycologist Paul Stamets lecture on TED about how mushrooms can save the world.

Early summer I heard Li Edelkoort give a autumn and winter 2009-2010 trend presentation based on mushrooms as an influence on all aspects of design from architecture to fashion.

For more wild mushroom information check out The Journal of Wild Mushrooming.

Austin Texas

First visit to Austin- a few of my favorite things

-there is someone in the city who does guerrilla crochet
-pickle snowcone with hot chili
-small buisnesses everywhere that appear to be supported by the community and seem to be dedicated to supporting the community, articulated in part by the note on the menu of Blue Dahlia
-sustainable living seems to be deeply incorporated into daily life regardless of neighborhood and income level, this is supported by all sorts of things like the city in giving away free rain barrels, excellent cheap to free public transportation, organizations like The Rhizome Collective...
-seemingly endless sources for excellent affordable food with vegan options, a couple favorites tacos quick cheap and excellent for breakfast lunch or dinner, vegan diner with traditional herbalist on site, cupcakes
-inspired garden stores with excellent selections of plants and containers including Big Red Sun
and Gardens

I look forward to returning and exploring more!

Two Exhibits

Eero Saarinin and Buckminster Fuller
Interdisciplinary Approaches

In the last couple weeks I visited two museum exhibitions: Eero Saarinen, at the National Building Museum in DC, and Buckminster Fuller, at theWhitney Museum in New York, (both these link to lots of information about both individuals works).

Both shows linger with me and seem relevant to everyday life. The products of their work are quite different: Saarinen known for his design of the St. Louis arch, innovative advances in both corporate building as well as airports and chairs made in collaboration with Eames, juxtaposed Fuller known for geodesic domes, dymaxion car (only developed to prototype stage) and the dymaxion map (shows the earths continents with minimum distortion when on a flat surface).

Eero Saarinen, "Each object should be designed in its next largest context - a chair in a room, a room in a house, a house in an environment, an environment in a city plan."… “Nothing exists in isolation. Everything is connected.”

Buckminster Fuller, defined synergy as "the behavior of whole systems not implicit in any of the behavioral characteristics of any of the parts of the system when those parts are considered only separately," and synergetics as the "exploratory strategy of starting with the whole." He adopted "synergetics" as the name for the experiential mathematics he developed and demonstrated using numerous models.

My draw to their work lies in the similarity of an interdisciplinary approach which results in a practice of utilizing innovative materials and methods. For one project Saarinen developed a neoprene gasket for the windows in another he experimented with Cor-Ten steel which previously had been used only for railroads. Fuller advocated the necessity of recycling materials and looking to renewable sources for energy. My interest lies in that they approached individual projects as opportunities to try something new. This practice naturally incorporates ecology not as an end goal but as an essential component….something I strive for in my everyday practices.

Visiting Path Valley

In the early days of Rupperts there were only a few purveyors delivering local produce to restaurants…there was no Dupont Farmers Market….

Shortly after opening we got connected with a small company called Organics that delivered organic produce from a variety of Amish farms in Pennsylvania. Immediately it was obvious that the produce coming from Organics was exceptional…. the perfect baby greens, uniform fennel, young leeks, tiny turnips and beets…..

After Rupperts at other restaurants where I have consulted the first purveyor that I suggest is Organics which somewhere along the way changed its name to Path Valley. During our recent visit we learned that the founder got out of the business and created a farmers cooperative which is the way it is now operated.

Anyway, a few weeks ago it suddenly seemed pressing to go visit the farms that this produce we had been enjoying for years was coming from. I called the person who coordinates the orders for restaurants and asked if it would be possible to come up for a visit. She said that she would ask around when she went to visit the member farmers that day.

She arranged for us to visit three different farms. Martin-Lane and I drove about two and a half hours from DC and arrived in a picturesque valley between small mountains. There were horse drawn buggies sharing the road with cars.

The farms looked like very well maintained large kitchen gardens. Row after row of picture perfect varieties of lettuce, tomatoes, herbs......This is possible since all members of the large families work cooperatively on the land. As anyone who has planted even the smallest garden knows it takes lots of consistent work to keep it in good condition. Especially some crops like baby lettuces need daily weeding and attention.

The land is used very intensively. I have read that organic farming practices are symbiotic with the Amish way of life which believes in nurturing and supporting the community as a whole. The Amish concept of community includes people, land and other living things. Excellent soil is maintained through hand tilling, composting and crop rotation. All the work is done by hand and with the occasional help of horses.

At each of the traditional Amish farms we met friendly families and saw impeccable fields and greenhouses. We shared ideas about growing things, insects and food. We saw the hand picking and sorting of lettuce that is the secret behind the truly spectacular greens that we have eaten over the years. The compete focus and immersion in the practice of farming was astounding, beautiful and inspirational.

The experience was other worldly and I am anxious to go back. Upon leaving one of the farms I asked if we could come up for a day and weed with them. They laughed at us and said we were welcome.

Rainbow over DC...

photo Martin-Lane Cochran

Epicurus (341–270 B.C.) writes in his letter to Pythocles:

The rainbow arises when the sun shines upon humid air; or again by a certain peculiar blending of light with air, which will cause either all the distinctive qualities of these colors or else some of them belonging to a single kind, and from the reflection of this light the air all around will be colored as we see it to be, as the sun shines upon its parts. The circular shape which it assumes is due to the fact that the distance of every point is perceived by our sight to be equal; or it may be because, the atoms in the air or in the clouds and deriving from the sun having been thus united, the aggregate of them presents a sort of roundness