post No. 351: in which i bombard you with flower pictures, pray you stay interested, brag about my cookie-baking employee Joelle, and wish there was a

a drop of wine left in the bottle.

christmas highlights:

eric tells me about the apocalypse kit he was going to make me for christmas, but didn't
mikee brings over gossip girl, like entire episodes.
susan's prime rib
susan's macadamia nut cheesecake (scroll way down...via Oh Joy)
reading the paper cover to cover

Bridal bouquet from this past Sunday, and a salad I am making (from Gourmet).
More photos of the wedding soon..

carrots

this carrot soup that i just made is so good its making me feel euphoric right now so i had to stop, take a picture and now give it to you. it will make you feel so good i promise...
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Another excellent carrot soup recipe:

5-6 big carrots that are organic so you don't peel them, just chop them
2 onions roughly chopped

that in some olive oil and turn on the gas

while that starts to cook (and throw in some sea salt in the pot too)
chop up: 5 cloves of garlic and a healthy knob of ginger
add to vegetables
drain a can of chickpeas and add

spices to add: cayenne, curry, coriander, cumin ( a few shakes of each )

then 1 can of coconut milk, and 1.5 cans worth of water.

cover and cook half hour or so on medium heat.

remove from heat, process about 1/3 of the soup in a blender or food processor and then mix the puree with the rest to get a nice stew consistancy. NOW squeeze 1 whole lime (or lemon) in there. This is really the key to most soups. people always forget the acid.

Salt to taste. Now you have a really healthy stew that will make you sweat (if you spiced it up enough) which is what you need in this weather. to be warm on the insides
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I'm collecting loot from all over here. my little artist friend scott brought this portfolio of art to us yesterday in exchange for soap. the brown bag has a small zuccihini loaf in it from a neighbor, amanda gave me some booty-booty and i just purchased these pictures of some guys practicing karate on a beach from 1983. I still have to share pictures of my new chair.

Store photos. Doing our best to keep price tags on everything. Christmas time people come in and will buy almost anything. Soap, knick-knacks, the toothless cat.* You can sense the frenzy. I pick up on this because that's always me shopping for gifts in the 11th hour. I've only purchased one gift so far this year. It's a book that I would like to have for myself, so naturally I bought it for Eric. [ERIC DO NOT CLICK THE LINK]

Sometimes people walk in and say, "What is this place?"
I always want to say something like: "Well, it's important to keep an open mind...Are you into leather?"

*Toothy [aka Darla, or Scooter] don't live here anymore. She got shipped out on a reconnaissance mission at our home a few blocks away. [We have a mouse infestation.] She's still diligently gathering information. The other night Eric caught a mouse in the kitchen sink with a yogurt container-peanut-butter trap. I came out to see what all the commotion was and saw Toothy nodding and quietly taking notes from her foxhole under the cupboard. When pressed, she issued a formal statement:

"The vermin situation on Coffey Street has escalated over the past few months, and seems to be directly correlated to the drop in outside temperature. Evidence gathered thus far indicates heavy looting in the stovetop region. A perimeter around the kitchen has been identified as a crumb trading route which leads to a central layer, as of now unknown. The area under the sink seems to serve as a safehaven for these crumb-traffikers. In addition, the dog dish, with its occasional leftover kibble has become a highly frequented area. Get rid of the dog."

Back in March we designed flowers for this Food and Wine magazine piece featuring Chef Fabio Trabocchi. (Try sourcing a Christmas tree in March!) It was my first magazine shoot. Everyone I worked with was incredibly accommodating, kind, and enthusiastic about my flowers. What a thrill to have behind the scenes access to the shoot - and now to see my work in print!

To see my outakes, visit the archive here.

free association at 10:09 am:
coffee, bathroom, office, velvet boxes, peppergrinder, cat is eating dogfood...

There is a flock of bright green parrots that touches down occasionally in red hook. they just landed in my back yard. the strangest thing.

In general it is boring to look at someone's lunch, and I apologize in advance. I just fixed myself some smoked salmon with butter and dill and hard tack. My favorite. People who work at home take pictures of their breakfasts and lunches because they are procrastinating. But now this simple lunch is memorialized forever. And now that i've finished it, i say "hot damn, thats a good lunch!"

I could eat butter on everything. And do. My father, a true Finn, talks about the ideal temperature for butter - somewhere between the refrigerator, and 10 minutes out on the counter; spreadable, but not soft.

Butter sculptures. At your wedding. A butter sculpture that resembles the head of Stevie Nicks, back-lit and hair blowing like in the Stand Back video*. I'm just putting it out there..

*Asheley I blame you for falling off the wagon - I hadn't visited the Stevie files in months.

jackpot; josh sends booty

i receive two lp boxes from san fran this evening containing several life changing items. astrology books, mix cd's and LP's abound.

if you've ever pulled off the highway in Martinsburg WV in a frantic effort to obtain a CD featuring Janet Jackson's Control, then you know what getting this LP means to me tonight.

also I will be considering Saturn, A New Look at an Old Devil in the coming weeks. a major improvement over my current reading list, which I'm not discussing here...ok, fine it's the Urban Outfitters catalog. oh god, did i just admit to that?...

josh i own you a phone call, but you know I got the phone-phobia. speaking of which, add that to my list of possible novels: On the Line: Fear, Loathing and the Telephone.

today eric and i are taking a day off together, the first in weeks and weeks, unless you count thanksgiving, which i dont, because i was cooking all day. it's 10:35 and we've already managed to have a fight.

so...i am now holed up in bed with my computer virtually visiting all the places we had planned to go today. like here. and here.

while i try to get our act together, you can visit my new flower page which i just updated with all new pictures...

i love the winter, anemones, an awful grey day.

soups.

23 degrees, we smoke right at the kitchen table. 

This bouquet from yesterday's wedding is probably the neatest thing I've made. White ranunculus, sweet pea, hydrangea and astilbe. 

Eric downloaded a John Maus for me as a reward. (He's tired of my Vangelis repertoire.) I am listening to it now.

After a big wedding we always eat a big steak with our bear hands. (You hate me now don't you...wait - please don't go! I only eat meat 3 times a week! [Not actually true..] I consume conservatively and respect little animals! I compost!...) But alas, last night I was too exhausted to do anything except pour a stiff drink, throw on my butter, and reluctantly head out to a neighbor's holiday party where I listened to some young man talk about ACORN for 20 minutes too long. So tonight we feast. I'm going to cross myself now and head to Fairway. 

I don't remember making this, but i like it.
Going through iPhoto tonight. What a long drag...
We are working on a wedding for this Saturday at the Boathouse in Prospect Park...looking forward to sharing that with you here. I feel there's been a dearth of flowers on the blog, and lets face it that's what you come here for. Or do you come for this:

[Because I know you're wondering, I just wasted 30 minutes photo-shopping these.]

[above: some snapshots from last year]

Eric says my last post, which gathered the most comments ever (!), makes it sound like I'm writing the books. For the record, Ashley is. 

My topics might include:

- Guilt in the Age of Aquarius; New Ramifications and Applications

- Avoiding Hangovers After the Age of 25

- "Every Day is Different" The Art of Acquiring New Anxieties

- Hording Rare and Expensive Cheeses Until They Spoil

- Petfinder, Celebrity Gossip, and other Intensive Procrastination Techniques

- "What? I Didn't Say Anything"  The art of Instigating through quiet under-the-breath statements

- "Stop Running up That Hill" How to ween yourself off a Kate Bush obsession

bouquet<----

survey----->

My friend Ashley from Small Measure is lucky enough to have a real book deal (unlike my imaginary book deal, for which I conduct "meetings" where I pretend Nea is my editor. She tells me how great my material is and extends my deadlines in exchange for empty catfood cans to lick out)...

The project details specific ways people are re-localizing and re-thinking their food supply. The first book of this project will be all about raising chickens. The later parts are still undecided, so I'd like you to tell me (in the comment's section) which topic you'd be most interested in:

-bread-making
-bee-keeping
-cheese-making
-organic gardening/edible landscaping
-cordials, elixirs, and bitters
-salting, smoking, drying, and cellaring
-herbal products for baby, bath, pets, and home
-growing your own flowers

THANK YOU!