C U R R E N T (L Y): Holiday Gift Guide

INSPIRING BOOKS 



Penguin Clothbound Classics, about $20 each
Penguin Drop Caps, about $18 each
Tartine Book No. 3, $26
Saving the Season, $25
Wild Ones, $20
Gulp, $19
Cooked, $18
The Art of Simple Food II, $22
The A.O.C. Cookbook, $22
One Good Dish, $16
The Essential Scratch and Sniff Guide to Becoming a Wine Expert, $13
Lost Cat, $14
Antiquarian Cookbooks from Omnivore Books, prices vary
Short Stack Editions, $12 each
The Telling Room, $17

CONSTRUCTING COZINESS



Sheepskin Slippers from Johnstons of Elgin, $79
Cashmere Bed Socks from Johnstons of Elgin, $90
Herringbone Wool Blanket from Faribault Woolen Mills, from $190
HARRY Blanket from Area Linen, from $200
Baby Alpaca Blankets from Pilar + Keiko, $229
Bellocq Tea Signature Blends Collection, $32
Imperial Pu-erh from In Pursuit of Tea, $18
Drinking Chocolate from Theo, $13
Anything from The Anou.  Particularly the gorgeous handwoven rugs, starting at around $100 including shipping from Morocco

FOR THE KITCHEN & FOR THE TABLE




Sarpaneva Cast Iron Pot by Iitala, $236
As always, a Cast Iron Pan, $24, or find one at a flea market or garage sale and reseason it lovingly
Teak Measuring Spoons, $20
Box of Maldon Salt, or for the true Maldon fiend, an entire bucket $6/28
Spices from Oaktown Spice Shop, $13 and up
Sandwich Spreading Knife, $6
Dansk Kobenstyle Casserole, $70
Soma Water Filter, beautiful, 100% compostable, and user-friendly, $49
Incomparably delicious Raw Hawaiian Honey, $35
A jar of Calabrian Chile Paste, $10
Set of Basque Wine Glasses, $28
Stollen from Big Sur Bakery, $28
Barrel of 16-Year Aged Balsamic, $400
Warren Pear Gift Box from Frog Hollow Farm, $58
Christmas Cake from June Taylor Jams, $55
Sampler Gift Pack from Double Dutch Sweets, $22
Parmigiano-Reggiano, Cabot Clothbound Cheddar, or Ossau Iraty Veille from Murray's Cheese, $25/25/34
And, as always, a Gift Certificate to Good Eggs, available on the site starting 12/9, Special Link Coming Soon!

MODERN AND VINTAGE CLASSICS



Saipua Limited Edition Soap Sampler, $125
Frost River Bazaar Tote, $90
Small Braid Ring from Katrina LaPenne, $33 and up
Record Player, $90
Borsalino Hat, $200 and up
Red Wings Heritage Boots, $250 and up
Clark's Wallabees, $90 and up
Santa Maria Novella Pot Pourri Cologne, $125
Home Gardener's Collection of Seeds from Baker Creek, $40
Warby Parker Glasses, $95 and up
Kashmiri Saffron Perfume from In Fiore, $75
Senna Round Ring from Bario-Neal, $285
Boulevard Wallet from Il Bisonte, $355
Cotton Fisherman Sweater from L.L. Bean, $99
Rio Lapis from Marisa Haskell, $88
Peppe from Studio Deseo, $168 (she also has wish bracelets for around $30 that are gorgeous!)

KNIVES & SUCH



Gorgeous Handmade Knives by Moriah Cowles, $250 and up
Opinel Kitchen Set in Color and Natural, $34/31
Handmade Knives by Michael Hemmer, prices vary
Black Ceramic Steel by MAC, $55
All-Purpose Knife from Hida Tool.  I give this knife as a gift all of the time. $101
Best Peelers Ever, $10 for 3

CERAMICS



Handmade Fermentation Crock from Counter Culture Pottery $200
Colombian Bean Pot from Bram, $88
Ombré Bud Vase Set from Heath, $130

EXPERIENCES



Color Study Class at Little Flower School, $500
Flower Class with Studio Choo, $275
Gift Certificate to The Pantry at Delancey, $50 and up
Cooking Class with Viola Buitoni, $65 and up
One Day Studio Retreat at Alabama Chanin, $475
Membership to Headlands Center for the Arts, $50 and up
Membership to 18 Reasons, $40 and up
Introduction to Letterpress Printing at San Francisco Center for the Book, $65
A Subscription to Quarterly (I'd pick Tina Roth Eisenberg, Amanda & Merrill, or Pharell Williams), $50

ART


Lake Michigan, Chicago  by Daniel Seung Lee

20x200 is back!  Some of my favorites are here, here, here and here.  So much amazing art, starting at $24.
Creative Growth Art Sale, $5 and up
Archival Prints by Emily Nathan, Aya Brackett, Jen Siska and more for Tiny Atlas Quarterly, $75 pledge to their Kickstarter Campaign


GIFTS TO MAKE

Citrus Salt
Apple Cider Caramels
Mary's Caramel Corn
Marmalade
Spoon Butter
Gaz: Persian Nougat
Olive Oil and Sea Salt Granola
Chocolate-Caramel Truffles
Homemade Vanilla Extract

C U R R E N T (L Y)

photo credit: Jessica Anton

Aletha Soulé's Studio Sale is coming up

An Island of Need in a Sea of Prosperity

Gorgeous infographics

Sarah Kersten's got a new website.  Order now for the holidays.

Moriah Cowles has a new site, too.  Total Swoonology.

Love this story about paying it forward

The Girards POP-UP

Here's my roundup of Thanksgiving tips and recipes from last year

My friends at Good Eggs have got you covered for Thanksgiving

Should you take that job?

Love in the Gardens, by Zadie Smith

Elle Luna: intelligent, inspiring

The Mast Brothers have mastered the art of the book trailer

Thinking about volunteering on Thanksgiving?
Glide Memorial
Meals on Wheels
Alameda County Food Bank
San Francisco Food Bank
Little Brothers
One Brick
St. Anthony's

Now We Are Five, by David Sedaris

I've been cooking this, over and over, using legs, thighs, wings, whatever.  It is just so good, and so easy.

C U R R E N T (L Y)

image source
I'm doing something I've wanted to do for almost twenty years: learning how to surf.  It's pretty much the best thing I could do for myself right now--be a total beginner at something over which I have no control at the same time I'm writing a book for people who are total beginners at something over which they feel they have little or no control.  My instructor is incredible.  If sunshine were a person, she would be named Ashley Lloyd Thompson.  If you've ever wanted to surf, get in touch with Ashley. And tell her I sent you!

July Red Nectarines from Blossom Bluff Orchards are here.  They are my favorite stone fruit variety of the year.  The time is NOW--get thee to a farmer's market!  For those of you who are out of the area, their dried Carine Nectarines are second to none.  In other produce news: dry-farmed early girls are hitting the stands, as are Jimmy Nardello peppers.  And Annabelle is back.

BN Ranch Beef.  Holy mackerel, it's the best beef there is.

I am so excited for Marisha Pessl's new book, Night Film.  I had a little love affair with Special Topics in Calamity Physics a few years ago, so my heart's been beating a little faster ever since I heard about the new book.

Did you see?  City Arts & Lectures has a really excellent line up this fall.  Hells to the yes!

My friends Dan, Kanoa and Kellen made a little movie and wrote a book about a bike trip they took last year down the California coast.  Get a preview here.  And go meet the guys in person!

Sarah and Nicolette are at it again.  Snatch up your tickets fast--people come in from all around the world for these classes!  I think there is one spot left for the Dahlias class.

I know you know how I pretty much unilaterally prefer to eat at home, but I had the most excellent meal at a restaurant a couple of weeks ago.  Impossible!  Let me add my two cents' worth of hyperbolic praise into the ring--State Bird Provisions is undeniably fantabulous!  Holy moly is it good.  GO GO GO GO GO!

I dream of the day I can hire Sarah to design a mosaic for me.

OMG I am in LOVE with Wholier Than Thou.

I'm loving Paige's photos of Pizzaiolo.

It seems like everyone I know is pregnant.  This plus this is my favorite gift to give right now.

And...another silly Samin video. 

C U R R E N T (L Y)

image: Dave Smooth via cabinporn

Two sites for photo inspiration

Green Coriander. My favorite taste.  Hands down.  Available right now from Dirty Girl Produce, or in your own weedy garden.  Pound and add to vinaigrettes, or just straight into salad, rice, noodles, or anywhere you'd use cilantro.  SO GOOD.

Food and photo journals of interest:
Fool
Swallow
Cherry Bombe
Gather
Wilder
Blow (a photo mag, not strictly about food, but there are some amazing food photos in there)
Brother (quite lovely, but honestly, it makes me want to start a mag called Sister)
Short Stack Editions (not a magazine, but so lovely and inspiring.  They remind me of the single-subject Italian book-lettes from Maria Paccini Fazzi and Guido Tommasi Editore that I collected obsessively when I lived in Tuscany.

This might be the most inspiring book I have ever read.  The language is so beautiful I want to eat every word, make the book a part of me.

Best way I've spent a Sunday morning in recent memory

Love MOG

Shhhh...I'm not officially announcing this till next week, but feel free to get tickets now!

My editor, Mike Szczerban, interviews the legendary Eric Simonoff.  Both come off as insane book nerds.  Love it.

Tamar shares how to keep up with summer produce.  This is certainly my own strategy!

I'm pretty excited about Saving the Season, a preserving book unlike any other.

Tuning out is very of the moment.

C U R R E N T (L Y)

These days, I'm doing my best to get myself settled in a regular writing routine.  It's getting a little easier, every week, to come to work and keep regular hours (except for when Little Flower School comes to town and I have to spend four days straight with some of the most inspiring ladies I know).

But naturally, a huge part of sitting at your desk writing all day is wasting time on the internet.  Duh.  And as such, I'm coming across all sorts of inspiring, interesting, and informative things I'd like to share.  So, in the spirit of Heidi's Favorites Lists, and in the interest of not wasting (more) time on elaborate blog posts and ignoring my actual job of writing a book, I hereby introduce:

C U R R E N T (L Y)

illustration by Fiona Strickland




So excited about this collaboration

Mooning over these illustrations

Looking forward to Provisions

Working my way through these interviews

SF MoMA is having a FREE 24-hour Goodbye Party; come see me at 8am on Sunday, June 2nd

I am loving my new Everlane tees.  Gotta say, they also have incredible customer service.

Check out my Cali-Persian spread in Bon Appetit.  Also, this feature on me & orecchiette in Sunset, including a sweet video!

So many of my friends have new books out right now.  Loving/can't wait to get to: Gulp, Wild Ones, Cooked & Farmacology.

On the illustrated cookbook front, I am particularly smitten by How to Boil an Egg and The Connoisseur's Guide to Meat.

I will never stop loving Sarah and Nicolette.  What they do is so unbelievably beautiful, every single time.  So grateful to be in their orbit.

It's time to put our money where our mouths are.  People's Community Market in West Oakland is gonna happen, but only with another push of community support.  Consider investing (or lending, which is how I prefer to think about it) $1,000 to make this market a reality!

These might be the most beautiful knives I have ever seen.

My Oakland picks for, Meraviglia, an Italian travel mag.

We recently had the best restaurant meal in a long time at Sir & Star.

I am obsessed with St. Benoit's Jersey Milk.  It is just so insanely delicious.

I try not to spend too much time or energy coveting stuff, but this spice mill has been taunting me for years.

Hope you're all doing well!