Check out Beerdude.com for detailed instructions on how to brew your own pear mead (you need orange blossom honey, pear juice, wine yeast, water, and assorted brewing instruments). Yum.
You can also go here for a list of places to buy mead online. Some Costcos, Safeways and Whole Foods Markets also carry the stuff, but call ahead to check first.
Kendrick and I stopped in to Casellula for some olives and cheese on Sunday night, and he tried their chili-infused mead (I took one sniff and not-so-politely declined). Mead is pretty hard to find nowadays, but such an interesting addition to a drink menu: made with honey and water (via fermentation with yeast), mead is sometimes referred to as “honey wine” and varies dramatically in terms of taste and alcohol content (it usually hovers somewhere around the alcohol content of a strong wine, but can be distilled to brandy or liqueur strength).
Maguelonne Toussaint-Samat called mead “the ancestor of all fermented drinks,” while Claude Levi-Strauss declared it a marker of the passage “from nature to culture.” Maybe I should give it another try? Next time I’ll have one without the chili infusion, thanks.
I was in awe of honoree Jane Aronson, an adoption medicine specialist and head of the Worldwide Orphans Foundation (WWO), and was brought to tears by the video depicting her life’s work: helping to find loving homes for orphans around the world. Dr. Aronson was visibly emotional upon accepting her award from Katie Couric, and only became even more so when Couric brought up thirty or so international children whom Aronson had helped to place in American homes to join her on stage. It was a beautiful tribute to a beautiful woman.
To learn more about Dr. Aronson’s work with the WWO, click here.
Megan and I in the lobby of Carnegie Hall, waiting for the ceremony to start. Yep, we both wore black one-shouldered outfits…but hers was a jumpsuit, while mine was a dress. So: totally different. Kind of.
My grandma used to play piano in Carnegie Hall, but I’ve never been (the closest I’ve gotten has been ordering $16 egg salad sandwiches at the Carnegie Deli across the street). It’s stunning, and I felt so honored to be able to attend this event.
Heading out the door on the way to the Glamour Women of the Year Awards.
The camera flash wasn’t working too well, resulting in this series of odd - but, I think, kinda…atmospheric - photos. What, they’re just blurry? Ah, well.
Vintage Calvin Klein one-shoulder dress, Barney’s clutch.
A slightly blurry photo (thanks to a faulty flash and a restless me) of me in my parents’ apartment (I’m still housesitting) with my new hair courtesy of Karmela, all ready to go to the Glamour Women of the Year Awards. I think I struck this exact pose in this exact spot just before heading to my senior prom. Memories.
Vintage Calvin Klein one-shoulder dress, Forever 21 cuff, diamond-and-aquamarine necklace borrowed from Mom.
Reader Molly wrote to tell me about Shannon Lambert, who was recently named a 2009 L’Oreal Woman of Worth for her volunteer work with Pandora’s Project, an organization that provides support, information, and resources to sexual violence survivors and their supporters. She was chosen for this honor from more than 2,500 applicants, and Pandora’s will receive a $5,000 donation from L’Oreal. The organization is now part of an online vote to win $25,000, so if you would like to show your support for Pandora’s Project please go here, enter your email address in the box on the right, and click on the “submit vote” button (you don’t need to register). Each email address is allowed one vote, and voting ends November 24.
Shannon is one brave and driven young woman, and I, for one, would like to show my support for her remarkable achievement in creating the largest international online sexual abuse survivor community.
If you or any of your loved ones have been a victim of rape, sexual assault, or sexual abuse, consider connecting with others through Pandora’s Aquarium, an online support group that is safely monitored by a diverse group of survivors.
If you are in crisis or need professional support now, please check out these resources to find help.
Jordan has self-control around her food. I, on the other hand, am of the “can’t-have-just-one-slice” school. :(
OK, but in my defense…as desserts go, pumpkin pie is relatively healthy, no? Fun fact: pumpkin is both a fruit AND a vegetable (it is a fruit botanically speaking because it has seeds, but in the culinary world it’s referred to as a vegetable). For an enlightening explanation of all those “fruit-or-vegetable?” wonders, check out this article from Suite101.
(And P.S.: I only have self-control around pumpkin pie because I’m not all that crazy about it. I make it for Kendrick because it’s his fave. Stick some Chubby Hubby in front of me and it’s a whole other ball game.)
I’ve had the same old long-ish hair for about four years now, and this afternoon I suddenly decided I wanted something with a little more style. I headed over to my friend Karmela Lozina’s apartment, and she took off 3 1/2 or so inches and gave me long, sideswept bangs.
I’ve been visiting Karmela at the John Sahag Workshop for years now, but this is the first time I’ve seen her apartment. It is an absolute explosion of pink girliness, stocked with gorgeous Italian glass pieces and vintage Barbie dolls (you can see part of her collection behind me). I also got a chance to peek in her closet and…oh, my. You remember that scene in 27 Dresses (or maybe you don’t…was I the only person who saw that?) in which Katherine Heigl’s closet pretty much explodes on her? It’s like that, only full of awesome, beautiful, unusual finds instead of weird bridesmaids’ dresses. I wanted to pick through it for hours…but I’m headed to the Glamour Women of the Year bash at Carnegie Hall tonight, so, newly coiffed, I had to give her a big kiss and run.
Peanut Butter & Co., on Sullivan Street, is one of my absolute favorite spots in the city. I first discovered it in junior high, when my best friend Arielle and I would head down to the Village on Saturdays in search of the perfect costume jewelry from Ziggy’s (which has since closed), loose tea from Aphrodisia, and sparkly eye makeup from Ricky’s, and would inevitably end up at Peanut Butter & Co. eating Elvis sandwiches (served alongside tall glasses of cold milk and carrot sticks).
