Hello friends. Sorry for the uh three-month hiatus. I started watching LOST and well, you know. Anyhow, it’s just about summer in Washington and I think the consensus is that everyone here is happy about it. Today was a particularly beautiful late May afternoon for a movie at the always charming E Street Cinema downtown. I chose Nicole Holofcener’s new film Please Give. I suppose the best way for me to describe this little gem is to say I felt the same way watching it as I do eating a Vosges chocolate or drinking chicory coffee (so, like this then)—namely, really good, before, during and after. Set in the lovely autumn in New York, it stars Catherine Keener, who only seems to get better with age, and Oliver Platt, who is awesome all the time, no matter what. The story sort of revolves around all the things in Manhattan that I love: antiques, furniture, old people and real estate. Old people have it and the young people want it. It’s a nice little study on guilt too, in an unconventional (meaning non-religious) way. I just loved it. You should see it. Sometimes women just know what to do with the available ingredients, it’s inexplicably inherent, I think. Well, Ms. Holefcener knows, at least; she’s made quite a lovely stew here with this one.

On a related note, I’ve been inspired to buy really expensive jeans just because. Perhaps we all just need really expensive jeans sometimes.

It may not seem like it from the looks of her, but this woman (Grace Coddington, current creative director at US Vogue and at British Vogue for 20 years before that) is the most fabulous woman on the planet. Anna Wintour herself says she is a “genius”—Grace has a vision unlike any other person, according to the real Dragon Lady. It seems that Grace has a strong background in the industry, like everyone else, but she’s built an extraordinary tower of excellence and wisdom upon this foundation common to most in the fashion field. This tower—tall, untamed and even bizarre—is what makes her stand apart from the other editors. It’s an extremely impressive thing. If you google her, you’ll see that she used to be ON Vogue covers. She’s got a whole lot of soul too. What a woman. Watch The September Issue to verify all this. I expected to leave this documentary loving Anna in a steel-cold-yet-real way, but it was Grace who made the lasting impression, to my surprise. Figures. G names are superior.

I’ve been filling the time with Netflix (<3), cooking, catching up on periodicals and podcasts, films noir and correspondence. I suppose I shouldn’t be complaining. I had some blood oranges lying around, so I thought I would adapt this recipe from Food & Wine/ Deb’s recent successful attempt on Smitten Kitchen. My attempt was a total failure, but here are some pretty images from the pre-failure part of the process. Blood oranges are a favorite of mine, and not just because I’m creepy and love Bon Iver’s most recent EP and have been doing oncology research in hematology for four years—it’s a great fruit! The beautiful deep scarlet and burgundy hues evoke  lovely warm sentiments, much like the syrah I would pair it with. I’m aware of the rule that a dessert wine accompanying an acidic tart like this one should be sweeter than the dish so that one doesn’t notice the change in acidity between dessert and drink as much. And I love port wine as much as the next person, but I choose a a jammy, fruity type of wine like a syrah or Australian shiraz with this dessert, in a perfect world in which I didn’t totally destroy it in the oven.

Pretty, right? Seems beauty is as fleeting as everything else in this world. I’m too ashamed to post a picture of what the final product looks like. Suffice it to say that it’s a blood orange cobbler now. Totally depressing; it still tastes pretty good though. Here is Zoe Nathan’s recipe:

Flaky Blood Orange Tart

Ingredients:

• 1 cup all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
• 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 stick plus 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, the stick cut into 1/2-inch pieces and chilled
• 3 tablespoons ice water
• 8 to 10 blood oranges (I halved the recipe and used four oranges for a smaller tart)
• 1 large egg yolk mixed with 2 tablespoons of water

1. In a food processor, pulse the 1 cup of flour with 2 tablespoons of the sugar and the baking powder and salt. Add the stick of cold butter and pulse several times, just until it is the size of peas. I sort of fingered the flour mixture and butter until it was crumbly. The goal is incorporation here, so it’s okay if you don’t use a processor.  Sprinkle the dough with the ice water and pulse (incorporate) just until moistened crumbs form. Turn the crumbs out onto a work surface, knead once or twice and pat the pastry into a disk. Wrap the pastry in plastic and chill for 30 minutes.

2. On a floured work surface, roll out the pastry to an 11-inch round, about 1/4 inch thick. Transfer the pastry to a parchment paper–lined flat cookie sheet and refrigerate for 15 minutes, or until chilled.

3. Meanwhile, peel the blood oranges, removing all of the white pith. Thinly slice 2 of the oranges crosswise; remove the pits. Transfer the orange slices to a plate. Working over a sieve set over a bowl, cut in between the membranes of the remaining oranges, releasing the sections into the sieve. Remove the pits and gently shake out as much juice as possible without mashing the sections; you will need 1 cup of sections. Reserve the orange juice for a blood orange mimosa!

4. Arrange the orange sections on the pastry, leaving a 2-inch border all around. Sprinkle 2 tablespoons of the sugar over the oranges. Using a paring knife, thinly slice the remaining 1 tablespoon of butter over the oranges. Fold up the pastry over the oranges, leaving most of the oranges uncovered. Brush the pastry with the egg wash and sprinkle lightly with 1 tablespoon of the sugar. Arrange the orange slices on top, leaving a 1-inch border of pastry all around. Sprinkle the remaining 1 tablespoon of sugar on top. Freeze the tart until solid, at least 4 hours or preferably overnight. ( I froze it overnight)

5. Preheat the oven to 375° and position a rack in the center. Place a baking sheet on the rack below to catch any drips. Bake the tart directly from the freezer for 1 hour and 15 minutes, until the fruit is bubbling and the pastry is deeply browned. DO NOT FUCK THIS PART UP LIKE I DID. It’s key. Transfer the cookie sheet to a rack and let the tart cool for 30 minutes. Carefully slide the parchment paper onto the rack and let the tart cool completely.

Zoe suggests serving it with a salted caramel sauce. I suggest a Syrah. Maybe both. I’ll do better next time.

Relevant Song

has emerged this February mix for my darlings. I wonder how frightened Anne Shirley would be if she heard it. My bet is ‘extremely.’ But she would appreciate my reference, surely. Enjoy.

February Air

Also, can you believe that In An Aeroplane Over the Sea is 12 years old?!  Turns out there might be some spirit in NMH and Animal Collective that extends quite far beyond the twirling, vodka shot-spotted memories of 3 am dancing at the University Plaza in midtown St. Louis from some five years ago. They seem to have a significant place in time and space, in fact. Now I’ve done it! I wrote about music. Forgive me, cats.

So that was nice. What was not nice, however, was the reaction of a dude my friends wanted me to meet because they thought we might hit it off. He took one look at me, laughed, and turned around to go to the bar on the other side of the establishment. Commence laughter … now.

I met some people who know DC pretty well at a Heldref happy hour last week. We discussed the best places to meet celebrities, which Totally Matters ever since my missed connection with Bill Murray a few months ago. The place I saw him, The Tabard Inn, instantly became my favorite (even before I recognized him sitting alone in a corner wearing a velvet sport coat in the same peacock green color as my scarf). Upon entering the hotel, you find yourself in what appears to be someone’s impeccably furnished Victorian living room; it’s like a museum room filled with seated people talking in small circles, as if they are all at the same party. Tabard has an ambiance I’ve never quite experienced before—like being on the stage of one of my favorite plays, T.S. Eliot’s The Cocktail Party. The beautiful bar filled with sweet and possibly vintage (or vintage-inspired) glassware is just past the living room, and beyond it is the dining room with that black and white tile I cannot help but associate with that iconic scene in Kenneth Branagh’s Hamlet from 1996. I didn’t try anything on the menu that night, but I intend on doing so soon. My friends and I did, however, enjoy their sazerac. Hopefully I’ve convinced you all that this place is totally unique and worthwhile in its own right because in addition to all these things, I’m told by former employees that literary celebrities, film directors and actors are known to frequent it. The likes of Toni Morrison and Edward Norton, apparently. Some images:

The other place these wonderful Heldref employees instructed me to go to is called The Gibson. Their website is nothing more than that, intentionally, no doubt. I suppose even speakeasies must evolve a bit with the passing of time and repealing of amendments. I really loved this place. It’s located on the U Street Corridor, on 14th Street—it’s just sort of tucked away in a corner, unlabeled except for the number 2009. You’ll need to walk through a few doors before you see a giant, gorgeous bar that might as well as have been plucked out of Rick’s cafe in Casablanca or something. Perfect. Worth the wait for a ‘reservation,’ which basically means the bouncer’s permission to be seated (there is no standing allowed). I tried one of their specialty cocktails, but then quickly switched to many, many glasses of Prosecco, which seems more appropriate for Thursdays to me for mostly inexplicable reasons. No photos from The Gibson, folks—you’ll just have to visit me so I can take you there to see with your own eyes.

I followed up my glorious Gibson night by trying an elaborate christmas cookie recipe in an issue of Bon Appétit from 2005. It turned out really well and seemed to be a hit at the party. Some photos from the process:

Recipe for anyone interested:

Chocolate Candy Cane Cookies

INGREDIENTS

PREPARATION

FOR COOKIES:

• Whisk flour, cocoa, and salt in medium bowl to blend. Using electric mixer, beat sugar and butter in large bowl until well blended. Beat in egg. Add dry ingredients; beat until blended. Refrigerate dough 1 hour.
• Preheat oven to 350°F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Scoop out dough by level tablespoonfuls, then roll into smooth balls. Place balls on prepared baking sheets, spacing about 2 inches apart. Using bottom of glass or hands, flatten each ball to 2-inch round (edges will crack). Bake until cookies no longer look wet and small indentation appears when tops of cookies are lightly touched with fingers, about 11 minutes (do not overbake or cookies will become too crisp). Cool on sheet 5 minutes. Transfer chocolate cookies to racks and cool completely.

Happy holidays, friends.

Um. Just maybe try to picture her more like this:

And less like this:

2.  ”cause there is no tomorrow/just some picture perfect day to last a whole lifetime”

-  ”Young Forever,” Jay-Z, The Blueprint 3

3.  Sam: Let’s go get the shit kicked out of us by love.

- Love Actually

4.  ”It’s your dad … he was killed.”

- Julie Taylor, Friday Night Lights