Looking back at the demise of something so dear to my heart. I wrote this post last year as the end was blaring out of the TV, but something this big this important should be shouted from the roof tops, so here is my tribute to not just a magazine, but to an old friend, who for reasons beyond belief, is no longer with us.
Why? Why why why…? It was October 5th 2009, about two weeks ago, I was at the gym, on the treadmill. Loud music blasting in my iPod earphones, CNN on the screen in front of me, both meant to distract me from dwelling on the fact that I’m running on a conveyor belt alongside other people running on conveyor belts. Then I saw it. An image on the TV screen of the cover of the latest issue of Gourmet magazine, and the printed headline, “Gourmet magazine closes after 70 years.” WHAT!? No Way! How is that possible? I’m frantically looking around, for… what… ? I think I was expecting others must have seen this headline and also stopped running out of shock and disbelief, like me. I was thinking I’d see people hugging, comforting one another over the news, shaking their heads. But no, I only saw people still running, pedaling, and the usual sea of heads bobbing up and down in the elliptical section.
I couldn’t keep going. I had to know what happened, so I ran home and checked online and yes, indeed, Conde Nast was shutting down Gourmet. Along with 3 other titles: a cookie magazine and two bridal magazines. I don’t get it. Isn’t there another silly magazine they could shut down? How about Golf World or Golf Digest? Does the world really need both? (or either?) Immediately I emailed my Mom, my Stepmom, and chef Neal, among others, like “OMG, did you hear???” They too were saddened. I wanted to call people and talk about it. I wanted to pull out a bottle of good wine and sit on the floor with all my old issues spread out around me, flipping through them and getting drunk and nostalgic. Continue Reading / See Additional Photos
I’d be totally lying if I said I weren’t a sucker for anything colored pink or purple. Which is why, when I came across these purple hull peas at the market, I couldn’t resist the splurge! The price was high, and I had no clue what I was going to do with them, but that only intrigued me more.
When I got home, I anxiously cracked open a pod, and to my surprise found a bean similar to that of the black eyed pea. ‘Crap’ I thought, I have to cook these! Not because I don’t sometimes eat cooked food, but because my dehydrator’s home is on top of my stove – Basically, cooking (with heat) to me, is so much more work than it’s counterpart. Funny what we get used to…
Any who, I sat in front of my computer, watched two hours of hulu, and shelled all of the beans. Whew, what a job! I knew after all that work, that this would definitely be a one time only purchase!
Parfait is a wonderful thing. It allows those of us who find boredom in single-flavour desserts to enjoy many tastes and textures elegantly layered in one tall glass. This one was inspired by Japanese parfaits, in which the most peculiar colours and foods are combined to make insane edible creations.
Avocado ice cream is among our favourite culinary discoveries of this summer. It seems as though avocado was created for ice cream making, with its smooth and creamy texture.
We wanted this parfait to tell a visual story and paint a delicious landscape. The layers of green ice cream, buckwheat crunchies, fresh cherries, and blueberry and vanilla creams are meant to resemble topography. Mountains and valleys, trees and flowers, and finally, at the very top – snowy peaks.
Just like all desserts on Golubka, this parfait is nourishing and full of ingredients that do nice things for your body. Go ahead, try it for breakfast.
I love a beautiful G bathroom where I can treat myself to some private, personal, spa- like luxury and nothing would go better in my dream bathroom than designer La Chanh Nguyen’s live Moss Carpet. My feet would feel worshiped if greeted by this beautiful patch of living moss after a nice bath.
The Moss Carpet elegantly lays nature at your feet. There are three types of moss (ball moss, island moss and forest moss) that go in a tray of imputrescible foam called plastazote.The humidity of the bathroom and the drops flowing from the body, water the mosses.
Aside from being gorgeous, practical and eco-friendly, you may also be able to derive some of the health benefits that studies have shown that walking barefoot on grass can have such as strengthening your immune system, improving circulation and lowering the risks of health problems such as arthritis.
But I mostly want one because it is incredibly cool.
Lindsay Lohan was spotted swilling it, and soon everyone and their damned Chihuahua was talking about that strange, stinky tea called kombucha. But before you could say ‘fermented mucous blob’, the potion was pulled from the shelves of every Whole Foods and health food stores across the nation. Which means those of us who depend on it can no longer find our fix! What’s a jonesing little monkey to do?! Well, we’re taking it back prohibition-style: we’re cooking up our own ‘bathtub brew’.
Why?
Kombucha can be traced to the far east, as far back as 2,000 years ago. The fizzy fermented drink is all raw and claims bragging rights on a whole slew of healthful properties, including improved digestion, increased metabolism, regulated hunger/blood sugar, body detoxification, and immune system strength. The cordial itself contains active enzymes, probiotics, amino acids, and energizing B-vitamins. A little goes a long way, and a daily dose will leave you feeling great.
How?
Oh, Miss Lohan, what have you done? The feds got frazzled over alcohol content and now the stuff’s on lockdown. BUT, if you can get your hands on just one bottle then you’re in good shape, because you can turn it into an everlasting supply. Really, it’s very simple.
Beans and greens. Mmmm. One of the simplest, best tasting meals ever. And since I’m currently operating with three, count’em three stictches in my right thumb, my dinners this week have been dishes without a whole lot of chopping involved.
I’ve made lots of similar dishes in the past, but I’ve always used canned beans, since the thought of using dried beans always seemed like so much work to me. Then I came across this cookbook called ‘Super Natural Cooking’ by Heidi Swanson. In it not only is there a fabulous recipes for beans and green, but Heidi also mentions a company called Rancho Gordo that specializes in heirloom beans. I decided to order a few different kind of beans (there are so many amazing varieties) and am now totally obsessed over their giant Cannellini beans. Oh, and they are ‘kitty approved’ as well… :)
Yes, dried beans are a little more work, but with just a little planning ahead, it’s really not that difficult and sooo worth the extra effort. All you have to do is soak them in water before going to bed and then some time the next day, cook them up which takes about an hour to an hour in a half. In fact, you can find out all sorts of helpful tips and recipes at the Rancho Gordo website.
By now everyone is used to me professing my love for this girl or that girl or some songstress, who just won’t stop tugging at my soul. Well, today I am officially changing my tune. It’s not some girl this time, no, I am in serious love with white pale male meat. Oh don’t go rolling your eyes at me, I am still a vegan, and I am not fibbing, its a White Lie. Yes, some London Boys are looking pretty mmmm (not sexy if that is what you are thinking). I mean, like they just may be come my official soundtrack for the rest of 2010.
Like I said, the bands name is The White Lies and the Album is called To Lose My Life. Not the most uplifting titles, but there is something special about these songs. Yes, they lie to you and sing about dying, but you have to give them some credit, they do it all with this amazing driving beat, which seems to be purely addicting to me. Really , trust me, or don’t. Just click play on a few of the videos I have added to this post.
The title song on the Album is called Death (don’t worry, you wont cut your wrist right away) and it’s the first video at the top of the page. It’s a great song, but the song which really pulled me in, was A Place To Hide. This song is just… mmmm, and you would know what I mean by that, if you knew me. But you don’t so, I will let you in on the secret. Mmmm is the way I say, I love you, I think your hot to a certain somebody in my life and to give the White Lies the mmmm treatment is big. Believe me…. Very Very Big.
I have posted three more videos after the jump. Now after watching the videos get your Monkie ass over to iTunes and down load the album, you wont regret it, trust me. Plus, its a bargain at $7.99. I downloaded it about a month ago and it may have saved my life. Okay, I am lying again, maybe it didn’t save my life, but it sure did improve it. Without the song a Place To Hide, I might not have found some bodies loving arms waiting for me. I could still be standing in Central Park, with my bags in my hands, waiting with no hope of someone ever coming to get me. It was this song, yes, this song, which made everything, I mean everything, turn out so perfect. MMMMM perfect. :) Do you think I am lying now?
Now that I actually own my own electric powered bike (The Ultramotor A2B) and love it, I am obsessed with finding an even better bike. One that will go over 100 miles on a charge and at speeds up to 40 miles an hour, plus able to pull a bikewagon. I know California State law requires you to have a license if the bike goes over 20 miles per hour, but if they could design it with a switch, to let me choose, I would buy it. 20 Miles per hour is fine, but only for local trips. If I have to go all the way down town, I would never make it on my A2B.
So, today I came across this little modern looking electric bike from Yamaha, the Divide. It was announced back in 2003 so I very very late, in this discovery, but I don’t know what happened. Did it ever make it in to production? The Divide I guess is a scooter, not a bike, but it seems to be very small and even folds up. If your a boy from Texas, like me, you probly know Yamaha as the maker of motor dirt bikes. I personally owned a Yellow YZ 80, which I road endlessly. So I am guessing they know how to make a pretty cool scooter.
Usually, the best ideas are the simple ones. This is the case with Blake Mycoskie’s brand, TOMS Shoes. Just buy a pair of his classic Argentinian-style shoes (which are quite affordable), and a child in South America gets a free pair. These are not your mom’s Keds, mind you – TOMS are stylish, versatile, and most of all, comfortable. Already featured in Vogue Magazine, LA Times, Daily Candy, and Women’s Wear Daily, the shoes are also adored by celebrities like Sienna Miller.
Affordable, delightful, makes a difference, and G – the best of all worlds!
As the saying goes, you have to repeat your actions, your issues, over and over and f-ing over again until you finally get IT. Until IT, the lesson, sinks into your being fully and completely and you have your AH HA moment. And it’s not until that moment of awakening you realize, all those moments before…the struggling…the suffering…was worth it. Was worth it because now you know. Now you FINALLY know what you want and what you don’t ever want to repeat again. And all those struggles, painful as they may be, make the awakening that much sweeter.
The ever changing, ever present, ever lasting obstacles of life deliciously presented to us all the time. Knocking on our doors to see if we see them, hear them and if so how we react to them. To see if we have changed, grown or need another repeating. And make sure you don’t get too comfortable in your accomplishments of conquering challenges cause the next challenge is right around the corner so you better be ready. Makes life interesting, though. Always exciting. Always shifting. That is, if you choose to see it. Explore it. Embrace it. I am doing just that these days. Have been really for the past 4 months. Embracing with fearless courage and excitement and sometimes patience (I’m working on that one…heee heee) my obstacle rich journey. Finally, interested in excavating why and how and what I do over and over and over again. And ultimately, realizing I have a choice if I want to continue doing what ever it is I choose to continue or not.
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