Chris Nordquist
I feel like I’ve just finished the Toddler Challenge on Project Runway for Dummies, but Julia’s Halloween costume is finally finished. I hope she’ll actually wear it. Julia’s love for fish this year has bordered on obsession. “Fish!” was one of her first words, and she spent the first half of summer diligently searching for […]
It’s been fun, but it’s time to move on. We’ve enjoyed our time with our bright blue foyer in Southampton –it’s pretty, cheerful and energetic– but we’re not ready to settle down. The blue was a great summer house color, but we’ve found that we love the place just as much in winter, and what […]
As soon pumpkins start appearing in the Hamptons farm stands, David starts asking for this dish. It’s a favorite in our house –a dish we start making on one of the first truly chilly weekends in October and serve from time to time through the Holidays. The whole roasted pumpkin full of steaming, fragrant filling […]
Some of the best times in my life have been cooking with Marta, our dear friend and Julia’s godmother. Marta’s a gifted but unfussy cook with a rare talent for turning out beautiful meals in record time with no visible stress. She’ll often go from raw materials to a finished three-course dinner over cocktails, assigning […]
One of our purchases last week in Kappabashi-dori, Tokyo’s amazing kitchen supply district, was a small set of leaf shaped pasty cutters. Inspired by the beautifully crafted seasonal sweets we saw in Japan, I thought I would use them to bake some autumnal cookies to have around for our houseguest Craig this weekend. (Craig himself […]
Another great old cocktail with a silly and unappetizing name (which came from a 1922 movie starring Rudolph Valentino). Don’t be put off, though. This crowd-pleasing drink has a big flavor that’s perfect for chilly evenings. At first glance the list of ingredients seems odd: Scotch whisky, sweet vermouth, orange juice and Cherry Heering, a […]
I’ve spent nearly a week exploring this sprawling, crowded, orderly, clean and eminently civilized city, and I feel like I’ve barely begun to find what Tokyo has to offer. Every time I emerge from the city’s extensive (and amazingly clean and efficient) subway system it seems like there’s another delightful cultural, commercial or culinary surprise […]
We’re still exploring Tokyo, but, in the meantime, here’s a repost of a piece about a great way to keep the house cheerful as the weather gets gloomy. I’ve never been very enthusiastic about houseplants, by which I mean those species of plants meant to live indoors indefinitely. It’s just a matter of personal taste, […]
We’re in Tokyo this week — more to come on that– but in the meantime here’s a repost of a seasonal favorite recipe. When the cold weather comes around, I always like the idea of butternut squash soup, but I don’t really like most of the soups themselves. Generally they’re too sweet and heavy for […]
On Sunday, David and I are off to Tokyo for a week, and David’s mother will stay with Julia in New York. (They’re both looking forward to it –Julia asks for her nearly every morning.) David’s mom has a real flair for seasonal decor: in her home near New Orleans, beautiful and inventive displays of […]
