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Jul 5, 2011

cherries + other combustible chemicals

cherries + other combustible chemicals

For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter; a time for cherries, and a time for fireworks. Now that it's July, the season for pie and the time for merrymaking is upon us! Enjoy this graphic from Eat Seasonably and celebrate eating the right things at the right time.

- Emily

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Jun 30, 2011

On taste-making.

On taste-making.

I recently re-discovered the Specialty Coffee Association of America Flavor Wheel, and it occured to me: taste has a direct relationship with vocabulary.  Between our bites and criticisms, we distinguish what we eat by how we describe each mouthful. Logically, then, the more words we aquire to identify our reactions to foods, the better it will taste!

Side-note: There's a flowchart hiding in this flavor wheel, Graphic Designers! Please recreate this as a personality test where I get to describe myself as piquant.

- Emily

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Jun 27, 2011

NYC: A Tiny Food Memoire

Though I've been to New York several times over the past few years, I don't think I've returned to Greenwich Village since my first visit. That is -- until this past weekend. And I don't know if nostalgic is the word, but I was certainly a certain something when I walked past Magnolia Bakery.

My first trip to New York was somewhat lonely, but in a good way: I had gotten a small grant to spend one winter week after finals and before Christmas doing research for a thesis. I spent a lot of  down time just wandering the streets, escaping the cold in bookstores and cafes and little bakeries.

On one late winter afternoon I stumbled across Magnolia; I must have gotten there at the right time because there was practically no line. I took my cupcake to the little park across the street and ate it on a bench. Everything about that memory is golden: the cupcake was yellow and everythin was bathed in the glow of magic hour. (I remember that because at the time, I was just starting to get into photography.)

At the time, it was perfectly ordinary, quiet moment. But almost four years have passed since then. This time, when I walked past I was lucky to be with five very dear friends and I felt lucky.

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Issue IV: Coming Spoon! from The Runcible Spoon on Vimeo.

A Mini Teaser For Issue V

I made a mistake and put "issue IV" in the video. Typical.

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Jun 26, 2011

A Day In NYC

Everything is magical in the summer, but especially New York.

For no reason at all, other than to spend a few days elsewhere, we organized a girl's trip this weekend. Friday and Sunday were pretty much devoted to the bus ride (though we did stop briefly for a drink at Pastis -- had a great Sazerac). We had all of Saturday to mosy around. The above scene was spotted in the Lower East Side just after tapas and amazing cocktails (recipe to come) at Poco. At the sight of a dinner table set up in the street, Malaka shouted, "How very Runcible Spoon!" She was right. So I took a picture.

The weekend wasn't terribly jam-packed with food, but there were a few highlights. We had a lovely lunch experience at the farm-to-table style restaurant Home in Greenwich Village. I had the seasonal salad with a poached egg.

It was a lot more fun than their faces might suggest. The spicy bloody marys were good -- if not a touch too horseradishy (and lacking in pickled garnishes). They had a homemade ketchup, which was interesting. A far cry from sugary Heinz, god love it. And Becky happened to have two jars of homemade jam (recipes to come, we hope!), and we figured a farm-to-table-style restaurant wouldn't mind us using it!

Some other scenes from the weekend. Farmer's market:

I LOVED the aesthetic of the Van Leeuwen ice cream truck. Beautiful, botanical hand-drawings to illustrate flavors like earl grey and palm sugar.

Also enjoyed the style of this marketing technique -- tiny sachets with a fortune and one piece of candy advertising a pop-up boutique:

And nothing, nothing, nothing is better than drinks on a roof overlooking the New York skyline.

- Claire

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