Ahhh, cookbooks and decorating/home books. If the photography is high-quality, they are my favorites for the coffee table. And this fall seems to feature a bumper-crop of must-haves. This Friday Five? Lifestyle books I’m eagerly anticipating:
1. A Passion for Parties, by Carolyne Roehm The pictures alone in any of her books will keep you busy for days. Her parties are over-the-top, but in an over-the-top way that I like ….
2. Homekeeping Handbook, by Martha Stewart Okay, I’m already a control-freak housekeeper (who irons sheets) but I figure this is going to be the ne plus ultra resource guide. Stain removal? The best way to clean a window? Certainly, Martha has figured it out, and then some.
3. Barefoot Contessa at Home, by Ina Garten Genius cookbooks – a killer combination of recipes that are delicious, along with photographs to salivate over. Gotta have it!
4. Nell Hill’s Entertaining in Style, by Mary Carol Garrity I’ve never been to the Nell Hill’s store (probably because it’s in Atchison, Kansas – a hike of sorts) but her styling is amazing. More virtual party goodness
5. Tartine, by Elizabeth Prueitt Those who know me well know of my bakery weakness. Looking forward to studying the photographs in this cookbook – not to bake anything, but to plan my next order. It’s on the way to me, from amazon, as we speak!
Happy reading/ordering! See you Monday.
By the way, isn’t it sad to see Rob Corddry leave the Daily Show!
Hello, all! Just returned from a trip to Evanston, IL, to see the Cottage Living 2006 idea house. My thoughts: the house (and extravagantly lovely) gardens were very nice – a lot of thought was put into the design. Perhaps too much outdoor space for the midwest climate? No formal, or for that matter semi-formal dining space? On the plus side, who knew Lands’ End made such nice bed and bath products? There was a them with white bath towels, and white Egyptian cotton bedsheets, all embroidered with numbers corresponding to the “owner” – very Martha. I left with a lot of ideas to try at home, but with no desire to pony up the $2.2 million to own it outright. The house will be the main focus of the October 2006 issue of the magazine. In the meantime, get a preview here.
Even though I have yet to leave my house for a WiFi connection, (but I might), I am still obsessed with laptop bags, especially those made from neoprene. My search has led me to Built NY, which has now launched “electric” accessories, featuring an electric pocket (shown) as well as a laptop sleeve. The pockets come in three sizes to fit cell phones, iPods/MP3, cameras, and Blackberrys. The laptop sleeves come in 12, 15 and 17 inch sizes. So cool! So neoprene! So washable! Check them out at builtny.com.
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It seems wherever you look, there’s an article about New Orleans, one year after Hurricane Katrina. Sadly, they are tales of promises made and not fulfilled, served with a side of government inefficiency or apathy. The New Yorker’s article details the plight of the Lower 9th Ward. September Vogue has a nice piece by Julia Reed, who lives at least part-time in New Orleans. And of course, tonight Spike Lee’s documentary “When the Levees Broke” premieres on HBO (I still don’t have HBO!).
Stepping down from the soapbox:
This is a poor segue, but what is up with celebrities? (oops, I’m back up) I’m speaking of the gift-basket brouhaha, where from now on those who receive gift baskets full of iPods, vacations, spa treatments, and the latest must-have products, will now have to pay taxes on its value. How is this a story? It’s more a story that they haven’t paid taxes on the free goods until now!
In my neighborhood, it’s one week until the start of school, and I’m already happily anticipating not making lunches! Which is why I was very interested to read “The School-Lunch Test”, by Lisa Belkin, in Sunday’s NYTimes Magazine. It speaks of a district in Florida that is trying to find out whether changing the makeup of a student’s lunch actually helps our nation’s obesity problem. What I found interesting was the complexities inherent in a school lunch program, and how the government came to be involved in lunches in the first place. Whether you are for or against tinkering with the system, it’s an interesting read.
