Photos from the Rare Books Section at The Strand

photos by Seze

Oh I absolutely love this article Why I adore the night, by Jeanette Winterson in The Guardian UK. I couldn’t agree more! The colder months are a perfect time to stay in and become more introspective.

A Sunset photo I took in magical Lake Tahoe last year.

Team Cozy in full effect!

Love to cuddle up with a good book.

…along with the puuurfect soundtrack.

Currently reading The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende. I just can’t seem to put it down. Perfect pre-Halloween reading.

I have been practicing Chinese cuisine with the help of my new cookbook “Every Grain of Rice: Simple Chinese Home Cooking” by Fuchsia Dunlop. So far every recipe has been quite easy to manage and the results have been great.

Oooh I just love a good used bookstore. I can spend hours getting lost in one. We found pretty much one of the best ones I have ever been to, in Santa Rosa, California. Treehorn Books had just the right combination of fine literature  and  many obscure books on wine and other delicious hedonistic California activities.

…and I met this lovely lady

pretty miniature paper dollhouses hung in the windows too

Mario Laboccetta’s illustration for Charles Baudelaire’s Fleurs du Mal/ Flowers of Evil (1933)

Brian Dettmer sifts through stacks of antiquated books, boxes of dusty cassette tapes, and piles of obsolete maps to uncover the perfect source and subject for his conceptual explorations and sculptural dissections. Dettmer alters pre-existing materials by selectively removing and manipulating elements as a way to allow new interpretations and ideas to emerge. With the precision of a surgeon, Dettmer uses scalpels, tweezers, and other medical instruments to carve into the surface of his found objects to reveal hidden meanings.

Skull, sculpture made from altered cassette tape cartridges by Brian Dettmer

Websters New World Dictionary altered by Brian Dettmer

Happy birthday to Fannie Merritt Farmer (23 March 1857 – 15 January 1915).  She is know for writing one of the first cookbooks with precise measurements, her basic recipes are still my favorite.

Fannie Farmer’s Macaroni and Cheese

Ingredients
pinch Cayenne
2 cups Elbow Macaroni dried
2 tblspoons Butter
2 tblspoons Flour
1 1/4 cups Milk heated
Salt to taste
Pepper to taste
1 1/2 cups Cheddar cheese grated
1 1/2 cups Buttered Bread Crumbs

Instructions
1. Preheat the oven to 375 F.
2. Melt the butter in a heavy-bottomed saucepan.
3. Stir in the flour and cook, stirring constantly, until the paste cooks and bubbles a bit, but don’t let it brown – about 2 minutes.
4. Add the hot milk, continuing to stir as the sauce thickens. Bring it to a boil.
5. Add salt and pepper to taste, lower the heat, and cook, stirring for 2 to 3 minutes more..
6. Stir in cup grated Cheddar cheese during the last 2 minutes of cooking, along with a pinch of cayenne pepper.
7. Remove from the heat
8. Butter a 1 -quart casserole.
9. Put the cooked macaroni into the casserole, pour the cheese sauce over it, and mix gently with a fork.
10. Sprinkle the grated cheese evenly over the top and spread the crumbs over the cheese.
11. Bake, uncovered, until the top is golden and the sauce is bubbling, about 30 minutes.

this so cute