entertaining by Kristina Gill 0

In the Kitchen With: Bryant Terry’s Pan-Fried Grit Cakes

In celebration of Black History Month, for the past three weeks I’ve chosen recipes that remind me of my home in a black family from the South in the United States. I realize that the recipes have been so incredibly rich that they can’t be regular staples. I purposely let our cholesterol run wild so I could juxtapose it all with a recipe from Bryant Terry’s first cookbook, Vegan Soul Kitchen. Due to a lack of good spring onions here, I’ve adapted Bryant’s recipe for Pan-Fried Grit Cakes with Caramelized Spring Onions, Garlic and Thyme by using some very fine leeks that I bought at the Fern Verrow stand at this weekend’s Maltby Street Market. I’m sure Bryant wouldn’t have had it any other way. If you’d like all the flavor of American soul food without the quadruple bypass, you really should check out Bryant’s book. If you’re interested in the history of soul food, check out the PBS documentary Soul Food Junkies by Byron Hurt. (Bryant appears in this, as well!) — Kristina

About Bryant: Bryant Terry is a chef, educator and author renowned for his pioneering activism to create a healthy, just and sustainable food system. Bryant’s work has been featured in the New York Times, Gourmet, Food and Wine and O: The Oprah Magazine, among many other outlets. His latest book is The Inspired Vegan, and it can be seen in the current Scion IQ commercial. As an exclusive speaker signed with the Lavin Agency, Bryant frequently presents around the country as a keynote speaker at colleges and universities, including Brown, Columbia, NYU, Smith, Stanford and Yale. In 2012, Bryant was chosen by the U.S. State Department as one of 80 American chefs to be part of its new American Chef Corps. From 2008 to 2010, he was a fellow of the Food and Society Fellows Program, a national program of the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. Bryant is the co-creator and host of Urban Organic, a multi-episode web series. He is currently working on his fourth book, Afro Vegan, which will be published in 2014 by Ten Speed/Random House. You can follow Bryant on Twitter @bryantterry and see his Cafe Brulot Lace Cookies in our archives.

See Bryant’s recipe after the jump . . .

ashley english by Ashley 4

Small Measures: Creating Bath & Massage Oils

In 2006, I decided I was ready to move out to the country, get some chickens, grow a garden and trade in my city garb for flannel shirts and muck boots. Luckily for me, out of nowhere came the man who would be my husband and along with him an 11-acre homestead in a forested cove. While I was sold on my man straight away, the added perk of marrying into a country home certainly sweetened the deal. And when I later learned that our neighbor, one of two living down our 1-mile dirt road, was a licensed massage therapist who practiced out of her home, I was so glad I’d had the good sense to say “I do.”

My neighbor, Lynn Bernatsky, was a modern dancer before becoming a massage therapist 24 years ago. Accordingly, her knowledge of how the body functions, and how to best care for it, is vast. A few weeks ago, in exchange for cat-sitting while she and her husband were out of town, Lynn gave me what I can honestly say was the best massage I’ve ever received. While the physical manipulation was exquisite (she’s a tiny thing but can work her hands like a giant!), a huge component of what made the experience so pleasurable was the custom massage oil blend she made.

For today’s Small Measures, I’m sharing Lynn’s tips for crafting all-natural custom bath and massage oil blends at home. I’ve also got her wonderful recipe for a winter blues-banishing blend. We’re two-thirds of the way through the driest season here in the northern hemisphere, so any added moisture right now absolutely helps. Lynn’s tips and blend should go far toward keeping you, your skin and your attitude happy and healthy! — Ashley English

The full how-to continues after the jump . . .

interviews by Grace Bonney 1

After the Jump: Alex Eben Meyer (MP3)

This season of After the Jump has been close to my heart. Mainly because- after warming up last year- I finally feel comfortable to email people I consider dear friends. I’ve always been scared to interview friends because I’m so worried about letting them down, but I’m glad I finally tried because it’s been such a wonderful way to get to know them even better and share how great they are with the rest of the world.

This week I got to sit down and interview illustrator Alex Eben Meyer. I met Alex years ago, through our mutual love of street hockey, and have admired his work and general awesome-ness as a person ever since. In addition to creating some of my favorite illustrations (including these indie rock birds I’m obsessed with), Alex is one of the nicest people I’ve ever met and never ceases to remind me of the importance of being a good person and a great artist. Yesterday we shared at pizza at Roberta’s and talked about his early years in Philadelphia, his reluctance to focus solely on art in school and how the importance of supporting other artists has lead to great work and an incredible sense of community among his peers. If you’ve ever wanted to hear someone who’s pretty much living the dream of making art for a living and keeping it all in balance, you’ll definitely want to listen to Alex’s interview. You can also check out Alex’s D*S sneak peek right here, his guest sketches for us from 2009, his sketchblog and website and, my favorite, the many faces of Alex during our interview. xo, grace

*You can also check out Alex’s hand-written Top 5 Obsessions after the jump below!

HOW TO LISTEN: Download the podcast on Itunes or stream online at Heritage Radio.

accessories by Grace Bonney 1

D*S Newsletter + Downloadable Desktop Wallpaper!

Good morning guys! I’ve been out for a few days dealing with some health issues (yet another reminder to check in on my work/life balance) and I’m happy to be back at work today and sharing a little peek at our first ever D*S newsletter, going out today. I’ve been really unhappy with all the free newsletter options out there so I’m really thrilled that we were able to come up with a format that felt right for us to produce on our own every week. We’ll be sending out this week’s first newsletter later this afternoon, but I wanted to give everyone a peek of what will be inside, in case you want to sign up to catch any of it. Here’s a little preview:

Our favorite D*S posts of the week
An mini-interview with Parisian blogger Anne Ditmeyer + An illustrated map of her must-see spots in Paris
Our Top 5 Team Obsessions this week (ranging from Connie Britton fan-dom to great cotton bags)
A sneak peek at our schedule for next week!
A free downloadable Paris-themed desktop wallpaper by illustrater Tuesday Bassen- available only to newsletter subscribers!

If you want to catch all the goodies above (the desktop wallpaper is seriously adorable) you can sign up at the link below. The newsletter will go out later this afternoon! xo, grace

Subscribe to our newsletter

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Dinner Party: Little Paris Kitchen & Cookbook Giveaway

Late February marks the time of year when winter’s charms begin to wear out. Sweaters and scarves, once donned excitedly, are now put on begrudgingly. Snow, which once seemed magical as it fell to the ground, is now just an unwelcome reminder that cold days still lie ahead. While one might prefer to simply hibernate until spring arrives, there are things one can do to shake up the midwinter doldrums. You can, for instance, go winter camping! Or, if going out isn’t your thing, take the excitement indoors with a dinner party! Dinner parties are excellent cold-weather diversions — they bring your favorite people together in an intimate setting full of warmth, laughter and that winter-weather essential: libations!

To celebrate the simple act of dining with friends, we’re launching a new feature today. We’re calling it Dinner Party, and it will showcase a few delicious recipes from a brand new cookbook as well as beautiful tableware from a favorite shop or designer. To kick off the series, we chose Rachel Khoo’s charming guide to modern French cooking, The Little Paris Kitchen. Newly released in America, this delightful little volume contains dozens of recipes that taste just as good as they look. To complement the pared down beauty of Khoo’s book, we decorated our table with a few super easy DIYs, a lovely printable menu and pieces from one of our favorite new stores: West Elm Market!

Hopefully, these recipes and table-setting tips will inspire your own Parisian dinner parties and give you the push you need to get through the worst of winter. But — if that’s not enough — we’re also giving away two copies of The Little Paris Kitchen to two lucky readers! To enter to win one of these fabulous cookbooks, simply leave a comment on this post telling us your ideal dinner party for a cold winter day. We’ll choose our favorites! — Max

To see all the recipes, DIYs and photos, continue reading after the jump . . .

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Sneak Peek: Best of Parisian Homes

No matter how many stories Anne, D*S sneak peek editor and our resident Parisian, tells me about the teeny tiny living or the horrors of French bureaucracy, part of me thinks that living in Paris would be the stuff of my rom com dreams. You know, girl meets cute French boy sort of thing. In reality, I’m not sure I have the gumption (or energy) it takes to move across an ocean, so I’ll voyeuristically settle for peeking inside Parisian homes. I picked my favorite French homes here; each photo is a window into an entire sneak peek. I had a little trouble picking just one photo to represent each home, so click through to see the full peeks. And if you haven’t guessed that we’ve been on a Paris kick this week, we have a French dinner party coming up at 1pm. À bientôt! — Amy Azzarito

Image above: The floors in this Napoleonic-era townhouse in the Marais are the stuff of Parisian apartment dreams. See more photos here.

Image above: Dorothée Monestier’s dining room in Boulogne-Billancourt, a peaceful suburb of Paris, with Guariche and Eames chairs and a Moroccan rug from Caravane. The kitchen has been painted with Farrow & Ball. See more photos here.