coming soon

...a beautiful new blue couch, in about 8-10 weeks! Yep, the blue won out, and we finally took the plunge and placed the order. I decided that I love the blue and who could ever tire of such a soft and luscious thing?! It feels great to finally have an anchor piece for the room so I can stop waffling and start whipping that living room into shape.


This isn't really THE couch, it's just a chair in the store with lines similar to the sofa, in the fabric we chose.

So exciting. Here's hoping it shows up early....

hey cookie

In today's New York Times food section, there's a veritable thesis on how to bake the perfect chocolate chip cookie. Secret #1 is to let the cookie dough rest in the refrigerator for a full 36 hours before baking. Can't say I've ever tried that one, though I do freeze cookie dough all the time - you know, for cookie emergencies.

But it was secret #2 that really caught my eye: add lots of salt. You can see a generous sprinkling of it on the Times-featured cookies above. mmmm.



I luuuuuuv salty chocolate treats... my favorite are these Caramel Dark Chocolate Truffles with Fleur de Sel, from Bon Appetit January 2004. Oh baby. I have made these many times over the years, and they've become celebrities in their own right around here.

Much as I love baking, I find it annoying to roll truffles. So when I make these nowadays I usually pour the filling while it's still liquid into a small pan, let it harden, then cut into squares, and then dip into the chocolate. It's the lazy way but square truffles are trendy now, so I guess I'm not the only lazy one.



Another salty favorite in chez MCR is the Milk Chocolate Peanut Butter Sandwich cookie from Bon Appetit February 2006. These things have a healthy dose of course kosher salt in the pb-choco ganache filling. They are out. of. control.

Oh man. Anybody else have any deliciously salty chocolate treats to recommend? Do tell!

loved it/found it: big butterfly

I was completely smitten with this room shot from Domino a few issues back - the torn-out page has been hanging on my inspiration board ever since. I love how the formal elements of this room - fine antiques and a very fussy patterned wallpaper - are mixed with that funky giant butterfly, totally shaking up what would have been an uptight space. I also just love the giant butterfly. Where can I get me one of those?

I found this big old buggy mirror on craigslist. Yes, it could be very tacky, but I think it might be the perfect eclectic touch... I like it for the living room, but if it doesn't work there, I could see it in the bedroom or even a bathroom.

Whaddya think peeps, have I lost my mind or should I buy?

UPDATE: Didn't buy it. In person, the b-fly mirror looked like something from a college-age bachelor apartment. Not in a good way. Sigh.

dear lace shawl:

It's been real...

It's been fun.

But I'm so glad to be done knitting you!

xoxo,

MCR

PS: I think you're pretty!

crochet in the news

Check out this ABC News article, where you'll see the smiling mug of yours truly, talking about how popular crochet has become. This is actually an Associated Press article, so it's popping up in other places too. A big thanks to writer Annemarie Timmins for interviewing me!