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Collecting Catherineholm

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I have a new obsession.  Catherineholm. The enamel dishware was designed by Scandinavian designer, Grete Prytz Kittelsen in the 1970s, according to this article.

I heart this dishware.  I am not alone.

It's expensive on ebay and etsy, where it's very easy to get in an ugly bidding war.  Plus, buying vintage on the internets just isn't the same as hunting for it in a thrift or antique store.

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My 2012 Culinary Resolutions
2011, Not So Much

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I'm not going to lie to you.  I didn't do so well on my culinary resolutions.  I finished 13.5 out of 25.  And, let's be honest, they were the easy ones.  Like making whoopi pies with Modern Domestic, buying more pieces for my Russel Wright collection, or eating at Estadio.

What's a girl to do?  Cram.  Just last night I was thinking, I can finish at least six of "the big 25" THIS WEEKEND. Next thought: but do I really want to?  Have I lost the point of it all?  This list isn't a "to do list." It's a "live life list" and if I don't want to do the things on the list, well, I don't have to.  

Yeah! Screw you, list-I-didn't-finish.  

Here's the thing: I still like the idea of having a list.  And who knows, maybe someday I'll actually finish one. So here goes; my culinary resolutions for 2012.  Basically a list of things that I like to imagine myself doing, but probably won't do.  

Some of these are leftovers from 2011 or 2010.

25.  Use my pressure cooker

24.  Make sausages from scratch.  

23.  Eat at Toki Underground

22.  Create a recipe for the Vietnamese meatball like the ones at Shophouse

21.  Take a class with Mrs. Wheelbarrow

20.  Start a Catherineholm collection

19.  Build a backyard pizza oven

18.  Make some fancy popcorn

17.  Paint my kitchen a nice, bright color

16.  Organize my food magazines and get rid of some

15.  Make more salads for dinner

14.  Eat at Ethiopic

13.  Cook fish more often

12.  Eat dinner in another country

11.  Throw a tiki party

10.  Make a gorgeous cheese plate

9.  Make a chocolate cake

8.  Try those blueberry capers at Ripple

7.   Make more dishes that include leeks

6.  Make at least one dish with cauliflower

5.  Share my recipe for lentil soup

4.  Make crab rangoon from scratch (ok, it's true, I already did this one and I'm adding it to the list after the fact.)

3.  Save enough money to buy a 5D

2.  Make a few recipes from Plenty.

1.  Re-design this blog

 

I love reading about people's culinary resolutions.  Like here and here. 

What are your culinary resolutions?

 

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Olio, An Olive Oil Tasting Room (Plus Planning Josie's Nursery)

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Since I knew I would spend a lot of time in Josie's nursery --sitting, singing, soothing--I required a comfortable chair.  The problem with nursery gliders are that most of them are dumpy and unattractive.   I wanted a pretty chair that could serve as starship baby, a command center I could sit in comfortably for hours.  After what seemed like an eternity shopping around, I finally found one I liked at Pink and Brown, "an organic trendy children's boutique"  in Old Town Alexandria. Those are not fake quotes. As in, their words, not mine.  The store is absurd.  I say absurd, not because of their tagline (which is absurd), but because the store is absurdly expensive.   But also, they sell absurdly cute things, like onsies so tiny a medium sized pear would complain it was too tight.   

Wait, why am I talking about baby stuff again?  I'm getting to the food part, soon, I swear.  

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Meet Baby Arugula! (Plus The Reasons Why We Are Not Starving to Death)

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It's been a long 9 months.  Finally, Marcus and I have a daughter. Want to meet her?

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Grateful (Happy Holidays)

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This is our first Christmas tree.  It's lovely, isn't it?

What a year.  I feel incredibly lucky and grateful.

Stay warm, have a wonderful holiday, soak up what matters.   Pay it forward. 

See you next year (or maybe a little bit before with some fondue just in time for the ball to drop).

Happy Holidays!

Mary

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"I Do" Menu: Dinner by Star Catering

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Marcus and I got married in June.  It's taken me a while to go through the photos, and I wanted to do that before I told you about our catering company.  Everyone says that no one remembers food at weddings, except to say that most of it is bad and some of it is inedible.  I didn't want that to be the case for our wedding.  Um, I'm a food blogger.  That would be a crisis. 

We wanted delicious, seasonal food that would be a treat for our friends and family. We tested quite a few catering companies.   Most fell in the bad wedding food category: gluey potatoes, rubber chicken, sickly sweet salmon, and gray tuna that would make the likes of Eric Ripert gasp. 

We finally found Star Catering through the Neighborhood Restaurant Group, owners of some of our favorite restaurants: Birch and Barley, Churchkey, Rustico, the Evening Star, and Planet Wine.  We decided on Star Catering because of our tasting.  We went on a Friday night.  It was just the two of us, a chef, a manager, and a hostess.  They served us an amazing dinner with wine, and instead of telling us about them, they asked lots of questions about us. And previous to meeting us, they did their homework and checked out our venue, Cabell's Mill in Centreville, Virginia.  I'm surprised they didn't offer to rub my back, the service was that good.  Based on the deliciousness of the food and the level of service, we were sold.

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