l'ete

i consistently come back to this piece by mark bittman every summer. #34 is a personal favorite.

einstein.

Buddhism has the characteristics of what would be expected in a cosmic religion for the future: It transcends a personal God, avoids dogmas and theology; it covers both the natural and spiritual; and it is based on a religious sense aspiring from the experience of all things, natural and spiritual, as a meaningful unity.
— Albert Einstein

eat.

ah. the moment you've all been waiting for {i'm sure}. summers tend to be a bit slow for the wool business, so i shifted my creative energy to another passion of mine - food. this isn't to say i won't still be slinging yarn. there are still some lovelies in the crumbs & co. shop and expect a trickle of things over the next few months with a delightful fiber explosion nearing the cooler months.

now, on to 'eat'. eat is a zine which is the product of two artists {me and my talented pal, dan varenka} who love cooking, eating, writing and making art about food. each issue is jam-packed with recipes, reviews, art, stories, and much much more. you can can nab one on etsy and one copy is a raging deal at only 5 dollars, or a get a whole year's subscription {4 issues} for only 15 bucks. that means you get one FREE!

completing a project like this from beginning to end is thoroughly satisfying: designing, cooking, writing, eating, printing, drawing, eating, laughing, staying up waaaay too late, eating,...i'm real glad i get to hang on to this creative momentum by publishing a new issue every 3 months. expect lots of exciting blabber about the grub and art in issue 2 in weeks to come.

peek.

here is a sneak peek at what has been keeping me super busy this month. you might be able to deduce what's going on already, but the big reveal will be on july 5th.

cherries.

i got these incredibly sweet and delicious cherries from the farmer's market last weekend. we quickly ate most of them, and a few of them also got squished. so instead of the pie i had planned, we settled on cherry vanilla buttermilk pancakes the next morning. we eat a lot of pancakes. oh my gosh.

pancakes are so delicious, and versatile, and quick, and simple. i sound like a crazy person, ranting about pancakes. but seriously.

pancakes.

we ate them all before we could get a picture, but just imagine the fluffiest, pink specked, golden, crisp-on-the-edges, pancakes you've ever seen. a photo wouldn't do them justice anyhow. you should just make them yourself and experience the tastiness.

:cherry vanilla buttermilk pancakes:

7.5 ounces all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 tablespoon granulated sugar
1 large egg
1 1/2 cup buttermilk
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
2 tablespoon butter, melted*
6 ounces fresh cherries, pitted and chopped

* what i typically do, is just melt about half to three quarters of a stick of butter, add the 2 tablespoons to my batter, and use the rest for cooking the pancakes

in a large mixing bowl, weigh your flour {if you don't have a scale - get one. if you can't get one, use about 1 1/2 cups of flour}. sift your flour with the rest of the dry ingredients. if your measuring cup is large enough {2+ cups} you can measure your buttermilk, add to that your egg, vanilla and melted butter, and whisk it right in the measuring cup. add the liquid stuff to the dry things, being careful not to over mix - you still have to fold in some cherries. if you're not sure about how many cherries, it's very flexible. i used about a heaping handful, but feel free to experiment. cook these pancakes in melted butter, and top with maple syrup. enjoy!

¡tamalada!

we had a tamalada {a tamale making party} which was a delicious success. along with the tamales we had pinto beans topped with queso fresco, spanish rice, and some icy and refreshing homemade horchata*. food like this really makes me miss the southwest but knowing i can recreate it in my own kitchen is comforting to say the least.





*i'll be including a recipe for my favorite warm weather beverage in a food zine i'm publishing this summer.

studio.

i feel like i haven't mentioned my new studio at all here. i have always wanted a space to create in and i am lucky to live in a city that has lots of affordable spaces for artists. it's in an old factory which used to manufacture fruit flavored syrups for various libations. there are loads of artists in the building which makes it a great community to be a part of, not to mention the popularity of first fridays there. be sure to stop by if you're ever in the rochester area!

dyeing.

i've been trying my hand at some dyeing lately, and cooked up some colorful mohair locks. they're in the shop now, and you can expect some some handspun hand-dyed yarn in the very near future.

tomorrow.

the mayday underground arts + crafts fair is tomorrow, so i'll be temporarily removing the items from the shop. expect everything to be back in its place by sunday afternoon {along with some exciting new additions}.

if you're in the rochester area, please stop by! it's at 416 st. paul, across the street from the genesee brewery, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. admission is free, and the first 30 people through the door will receive a goodie bag.

mayday.

i will be participating in my first craft show, may 1st, and i'm really excited. so excited that i made this flyer. click here to view large.

pink.

there's been a pink baking explosion around here lately. after picking up i love macarons by hisako ogita, i successfully pulled off my first macaron attempt, with some somewhat traditional matcha macaroons with matcha buttercream. so i decided to make my second attempt something slightly more experimental by making rose macarons with sesame buttercream.

the cupcakes were an easter creation - dark chocolate hazelnut with pink cream cheese frosting. in my mind, the perfect cupcake - rich and dense, but not too sweet, and with a hint a savory tartness from the cream cheese frosting.

open.

don't forget that the etsy shop re-opens today {around 6 p.m. EST}. it's also first friday, so i'll only be listing a couple for today and then releasing the rest over the weekend.

if you'd like to get your hands on my woolly wares and live in the rochester area, swing by the hungerford building at 1115 e. main suite 216, and see the crumbs & co. studio in full effect.

and on a final note, if you haven't seen it yet, check out my new website at www.crumbsandcompany.com

preparations.

some new skeins lounging in the studio, ready for the shop re-opening on april 2nd, 2010.

shop.

the shop is re-opening soon! stay tuned for details and more exciting news.