So, when I was trying to decide if it was appropriate to put our friends to work for our wedding, I thought about how good it felt to be so hands on at Kate and Eric’s wedding. In the end, we were shameless about exploiting our ridiculously talented friends and family. Either our friends are amazing actors, or they were actually happy to help.  Honestly, no wedding gift could have meant more to me than the creative labors of our nearest and dearest.

Drum roll please:

Save the Dates:  My brother, Ethan, is an awesome illustrator. Since we were little kids, he’s had a style of drawing that I love. He creates these crazy, detailed drawings with all sorts of little objects interacting in surprising ways. Looking at them is like going on a scavenger hunt.  He drew a piece for our save the dates that pulled together all kinds of things that made him think of Karl and me. It was so well done, but also so sweet and funny. It is currently framed in our house and we keep discovering new elements. I seriously love my brother.  And if you ever need any illustration, he’s totally your man.

Invites: Debi is one of the most creative people I know. Sometimes I feel like everything she touches turns to gold. Check out her Etsy site here.  We planned the wedding pretty quickly, so the invites were one of the first things we did and really set the tone for the rest of the wedding. We talked about wanting something with a vintage feel, like old office supplies at a flea market.  And Debi, in all her genius, stumbled upon a true treasure: an old telegram.

This was the inspiration for our awesome invitations. They seemed so unique, but so appropriate for the vibe of our wedding.
Debi is brilliant and if you ever want a museum exhibit, a knitted creature, or some graphic design, call her. Seriously.  (images to come)  My mom also donated all the printing in her shop in Santa Barbara, which was so awesome.

Guestbook:  Tyler is an artist, and art teacher, and a great friend. He used to be a regular at our dinner table and now that he’s moved to Portland, we rarely get to see him. For our wedding, he created the most unique and beautiful guest book I have ever seen, really.  I was so impressed I almost didn’t want people to write in it!

 Flowers: Jackie is one of those jack-of-all trades kind of ladies, to the point that it is actually humbling to be around her. Every time you talk to her you’re like, “wha?? she’s also a ship captain???” So, anyway, luckily for us among this girl’s endless supply of skills is flower arranging.  She took me down to the wholesale flower market a bunch of times and taught me all about flowers: what’s in season, what looks good together, how to get a good price, etc. Flowers are, it turns out, finicky friends – the need all sorts of loving to look just right on their big day. So there was Jackie, tirelessly pampering the flowers in our living room, setting me up with spray bottles and flower food, instructions, buckets; later she made the most beautiful bouquet and awesome table arrangments. I couldn’t have been happier with the flowers, they were so beautiful.  Also, I learned a ton, and didn’t end up in scary wedding industry land, spending a fortune and getting bullied.

Photos: Shane may be the nicest person I ever met. He literally saves kittens, that nice. On top of that, he’s also a sick cinematographer and photographer.  Of everyone I know, he may be the one who loves what he does most.  He’s constantly on the run working on amazing projects. So, the fact that he shot our wedding was unbelievable. He was so generous, offering to shoot all day, so understated, so patient. Of all of our rad helpers, he was the only one who’s contribution may have interfered with his enjoyment of our wedding. However, he did manage to write a sweet country song at the bar. You should ask him about it.   So I hope that means he had fun.

Cake:  Mindy, in all her awesome baking glory actually managed to bake us a three tiered wedding cake. First off all, that seems like a engineering feat beyond measure, second of all, oh.my.god was it delicious. It was ginger with ginger cream cheese frosting (I don’t like chocolate and am a huge pain to bake for).  We wrapped up the third tier to eat on our first wedding anniversary (which is seriously incentive to stave off divorce for at least a year). But every day I come home expecting to find Karl peering out of the freezer with a guilty look on his face and ginger cream cheese frosting across his cheeks. That’s how yummy is was.

Lots of other friends pitched in, making phone calls, play lists, giving toasts, carrying things around. It was such a good feeling.

Thanks one and all.

love.

Well, I’m here to tell you that it pays to dream big. My childhood fantasies have all come true and I did, indeed bake a pie. But not just any pie.

The Tartine Cookbook is unparalleled. Pretty pictures, good design, but most of all phenomenal recipes that let me recreate the out of this world sweets at the Tartine Bakery in San Francisco. The secret for the apple nougatine tart is to carmelize the apples in butter and sugar before you put them in the pie.  Not surprisingly, butter and sugar did quite the trick on this pie.

Delicious. And I think I turned a new leaf on craft procrastination. I’m ready to take on the big guns, like the baby quilt that’s basically ready to file neglect charges against me.

One neighborly project of the Neighbors Project is the Food and Liquors project, which is based in Chicago and is working to encourage neighborhood bodegas to sell more fresh produce and neighbors to shop there more. As a fundraiser, the organization put together the Bodega Party in a Box kit, which includes, among other nifty treats, a cookbook with recipes from food bloggers around the country.

As I mentioned, I’ve got friends in high places at the Neighbors Project. Hence, I’m a “food blogger from around the country” now. And, if it weren’t exciting enough to be published in this great looking 44-page book, I’m also in Conde Nast Traveler online.

Check out the Neighbors Project and order your Bodega Party in a Box now!

And… as seen in Conde Nast Traveler online:

Banana Bread Pudding
by Jessica Arnold of 3DayWeekend
Clinton Hill, Brooklyn

In order to make this banana bread pudding, you’ll first need to bake banana bread. You’ll only need one loaf for the bread pudding, but it’s nice to have another loaf. If you’re anything like us, you’ll find a way to enjoy the remaining loaf (like hot out of the oven, with some butter).

Serves 8 to 10
Drink with coffee or tea

Ingredients:
2 loaves banana bread
Custard
2 cups heavy cream
2 cups whole milk
5 eggs
1/2 cup sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Garnish: 1 banana (optional)
Bourbon Sauce (optional, recipe below):
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
1 cup sugar
1 large egg
2 tablespoons bourbon, or more to taste

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. In a large bowl, beat eggs.
3. Cut banana bread into one-inch cubes (it’s okay if it crumbles).
4. Add milk, cream, sugar and vanilla.
5. Add bread cubes and allow them to soak for half an hour, gently pressing the cubes into the custard occasionally.
6. Pour mixture into a baking pan or casserole dish.
7. Optional: Slice a banana into coins, and layer coins on the top of the bread pudding. If garnishing with bananas, bake the bread pudding covered with a sheet of tin foil until the final ten minutes.
8. Bake until set and golden on top, about 45 to 50 minutes.

Bourbon Sauce Directions:
1. Melt butter in small sauce pan.
2. Whisk together sugar and egg and add to sauce pan.
3. Whisk constantly over low heat until thickened (about 10 minutes).
4. Allow to cool and add bourbon.

Serve Banana Bread Pudding warm with sauce drizzled on top

In order to celebrate this joyous occasion, we had a small shower for her friends and family at my house. We naturally emphasized the handmade for the festivities.

The lovely and talented Kate helped me with the invitations, providing inspirational genius and supplies, including an introduction to Speedball Speedy Stamp Blocks. I’m used to the old linolium block, which I love/hate. I have made some great prints with lino, but have also dug my carver deep into my hand on pretty much every project. The speedy stamp is, well, speedy. And injury free!

For the party favors, I hunted some thrift shops in Manhattan for old (cheap) teacups and made some “tea-lights.”

Mindy and her mom, Joan, made some delicious finger sandwiches, chocolate chip cookies, and the Tartine shortbread cookies that could break your heart. Add some ginger scones and strawberry rhubarb compote and ricotta, honey, fig crostini and I think my stomach was as big as Mindy’s by the end of the party.

Being the official 3dayweekend baby is a pretty big job, and there’s a scary possibility that this kid will be wearing a tragic, knit wardrobe and playing with odd, homemade toys. But we’ll have to wait until August 2 to find out (or will we???)

But, in the meantime, I will report on a fantastic salad I made for lunch today.

I’ve been slightly obsessed with cabbage lately. We’ve been getting loads of farm fresh cabbage at my great new CSA. And a couple weeks ago, Tara Parker-Pope’s health and wellness blog on the New York Times, Well, featured a list of 11 super healthy foods that we should all eat and often aren’t. Cabbage was #2 on the list, along with 10 other foods I love to eat.

With one of my green cabbage heads, I made this great recipe from 101cookbooks, substituting Kirby cukes and avocados for the tomatoes. This got me thinking about the millions of varities of coleslaw one could invent. Here’s what I came up with today:

Half a head of red cabbage,sliced into very thin ribbons

A large handful of cherry tomatoes, halved

2-3 peaches, cut into thin slices or chunks

1/2 cup fresh basil, chopped

1 cup raw almonds

Balsamic and olive oil vinaigrette (I used some dijon mustard as well)

Combine ingredients in a large salad bowl, drizzle with vinaigrette, toss, eat.Yum.

For Karl’s birthday, I bought him the Tartine cookbook. Sort of. Like last year’s pastamaker, it was really for myself. I love the Tartine bakery in the Mission in San Francisco. And I’ve had my eye on this cookbook for ages, it’s a beautiful Chronicle Books production full of devastatingly beautiful looking treats. So, in honor of Karl, I told him to pick out any dessert he wanted and I’d make it for him. Then I crossed my fingers that he wouldn’t choose anything too far above my baking skills set.

The choice? Shaker Lemon Pie.

The result? Divine. The Flaky Pie Crust recipe is probably the best pie crust recipe I’ve come across. And the sugary tartness of the pie, with some fresh unsweetened whipping cream? Oh.my.god.

The other result? Man will I be working that off at the gym for the rest of the year? And man will it be worth it.

So, we decided to have a party. I stayed home yet another Friday night, this time hunched over my food processor, basically pureeing my brains out. Deborah Madison was my constant companion. The result, bowls and bowls of tasty dips and crostini spreads.
On the menu:

Spreads:

• White bean, sage and roasted garlic
• Artichoke pesto
• Roasted red pepper

Dips:

• Spicy chick pea
• Guacamole
• Yogurt dip, with cucumber, cumin and mint
• Artichoke and olive tapenade (from the Moosewood New Classics)

I felt like eating them all with a spoon on Friday night and skipping the party (which was fun, so I’m glad I didn’t actually do that).

He’s a good cook (secret ingredient = butter), but his specialty is breakfast. He’s not use to preparing a full meal, but he threw himself into the challenge in earnest. He shopped, prepped and cooked the whole thing on his own. I had the sense he was staving off a stress meltdown, mostly because of timing and the crunch of getting things all out together. But, it came out great and was a lovely birthday treat.

The menu:

Fresh foccacia (from the farmer’s market)

Fennel, beet and orange salad with olives

Winter vegetable soup

Sautéed spinach and mushrooms

Dessert: My favorite yogurt

Well done Karl.

“Consumption of dairy products from cows treated with rbGH raise a number of health issues,” explained Michael Hansen, a senior scientist for Consumers Union. “That includes increased antibiotic resistance, due to use of antibiotics to treat mastitis and other health problems, as well as increased levels of IGF-1, which has been linked to a range of cancers.”

Canada, Australia, and parts of the EU have already banned Monsanto’s recombined milk outright. In order to stop the same thing from happening in the US, Monstanto aims to change the labels on milk to hide the issue.

“Absolutely nothing good could come from a ban on rBGH-free labeling,” concludes Hansen. “More information is a good thing, and all these state actions are anti-consumer, restrict free speech and interfere with the smooth functioning of free markets.”

Consumers have a right to know what’s in their milk, and dairies have a right to tell them.

Read the article>

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I knew I wanted to have eggs with the bread this morning for breakfast, and for some reason I felt inspired to make croque madame open face sandwiches even though I’ve never made them before. They were not 100% authentic, however, since I didn’t have any ham or gruyere on hand. I substituted sausage and cheddar, which American-ized it a bit. The best part is the dijon-based sauce that I used from the Food Network.

Dijon Sauce

• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 rounded tablespoon all-purpose flour
• 1 cup milk
• Salt and pepper
• 1/8 teaspoon fresh grated nutmeg
• 2 teaspoons Dijon style mustard

Place a small sauce pot over medium low heat and melt butter in it. Whisk in a rounded tablespoon of flour and cook 1 minute or so. Whisk in milk and bring to a bubble then drop heat to low. Season the sauce with salt, pepper, nutmeg and Dijon. When sauce coats back of a spoon, turn off heat.