Tree Stump Side Table

This project for The Apron blog was worth the mess. We now have a completely unique side table at our new apartment. 

"Scrolling through design blogs and flipping through my go-to furniture glossies, I noticed a trend: natural pieces of wood being used as furniture, especially tree stump side tables. I love bringing the outside indoors–so ,of course, my wheels were spinning. My mind went to one place: I can do that for a fraction of the price with just a few items from The Home Depot. The result was this perky little side table that actually did get people talking at a recent dinner party."

READ THE STEP-BY-STEP. 

Space-Saving Herb Garden

In my current post as home and DIY blogger at homedepot.com, I created a vertical herb garden perfect for my new patio--and summer cocktail menu. READ ON.

Asian Bakeries in Flushing

For Edible Queens, one of the gorgeous, local food magazines from Edible Publications, I toured the bakeries of Flushing, a Chinese nexus in New York City. From egg custards to sweet bean mooncakes, I came, I sampled, I wrote.

"You may have come to expect certain things from Flushing's Chinatown, like a piquant bowl of hand-stretched noodles or Xinjiang's smoky chicken-on-a-stick, served amidst the crowds and din. What many people haven't saved mental room for is dessert." 

READ THE WHOLE, SUGARY PIECE

For Norcross Author and Chef, Food is Fate

A cook and author in Norcross, the turf that I cover as editor of Norcross.Patch.com, wrote, shot and styled the "Big Green Egg Cookbook" right in the historic area. Her food journey was filled with serendipitous twists.

"The other night, Sara Levy decided to have an 'easy' dinner: Cream of onion soup with caramelized onions to start, Cornish hens with a tarragon sauce and roasted Brussels sprouts.

Levy, a self-taught chef and former kitchen manager for southern cooking icon Nathalie Dupree, is author of the 'Big Green Egg Cookbook.' The book is a tome that explores the myriad options for cooking with the smoker and grill that has a cult following. Last summer 50,000 copies were printed when it hit the shelves. And it was devised, cooked and photographed in her historic Norcross home." READ THE WHOLE STORY HERE. 

A Tour of Ethnic Eats in Norcross

When I lived in an area that is blessed with secret Japanese spots and taco shacks with cult followings, how could I have stop myself from documenting them? Here is a recap of Ethnic Eats, possibly the favorite thing I did as editor of Norcross.Patch.com:

Local Thai Spot is Spice Right

Shoya Izakaya: The Art of the Japanese Pub

Sublime Vegetarian Indian, At a Food Court

Underground Japanese, In Glorious Simplicity

Thai Star Shines

Under Chandeliers, A Happy Valley of Dim Sum

Pho Sure: Yany Express

A Salvadorian Eatery That's All of Dessert First

A Musical Family Has Deep Roots

 

A father and son with musical ties play in Norcross on the same night--in different locations. 

"For Steve—and Nick—McElroy it all started with a Christmas present about 40 years ago: a 12-string Yamaha acoustic guitar. By both of their accounts, it is a beast with a massive dreadnought body and rich tones that emanate from the depths. 'It is like a telephone pole with wires on it,' said Steve, 'If you can play that guitar, you can play anything.'” READ THE WHOLE THING HERE.

Umi Nom: Master of Many

In Brooklyn, I did a review of the fantastic Bed-Stuy fusion spot Umi Nom for the Local, a New York Times experiment in community journalism. Check it out: 

"I admit to being put off by the idea of fusion cuisine. Call it the 'master of none' principle — the possibility of getting Italian-spiced calamari sushi that is neither Italian nor Japanese, but trapped in some parsley-flavored dead zone. (Also see: taco pizza, curry egg rolls.) But I was wholly proven wrong after eating at Umi Nom again and again. It has become my favorite Asian spot in the city — for Filipino, Thai and Vietnamese, all at once." READ THE WHOLE REVIEW AT THE LOCAL

The Sanctuary of Yosemite

Check out this Parenting piece about Yosemite National Park:

"If there's one word that kept popping in my head to on my recent trip to Yosemite, it was 'temple.' Chiseled, handsome granite rock formations--the largest monoliths in the world--jut out of the pristine forest, frigid waterfalls from recently melted snow trickling down the warmed rocks playfully. Not far from that sacred valley are some of the largest, oldest trees in the world, Giant Sequoias. If you are looking for a way to teach your kids to respect nature's temple, just take them to Yosemite. SEE THE WHOLE SLIDE SHOW!

Grad Thesis: A New, Urban Atlanta

In this, my graduate thesis, I examine the city the raised me as it tries to redefine itself in a younger, postracial and urban way. The examination leads me to three very different neighborhoods that embody the changes taking place in Atlanta. And this is the short version...

"Slow brunch at a chipper Grant Park café frames what the new urban Atlanta can be. The crowded work of local artists beams warm colors on the room, cartoonish sketches and strong, chunky close-ups. The server tilts friendly toward silly, complaining that the soy sausage shipment is late and sticking her head out the open front door to call down the cracked sidewalk for the delivery truck. Neighbors roll in on bikes to order eggs scrambled with veggies and fontina cheese but stay to talk music after their orders ding in the window. It is young and neighborly. It’s diverse, cultured and street-smart."

Photo credit: Burn Away via Creative Commons

Atlanta as a city

The Easy Riders of Vietnam

In an epic motorcycle trip, I learn about the Vietnam that meanders far from the tourist traps, teaching me much about the scars of war and how they heal.

"Coming off an Easy Riders adventure is not unlike coming off a drug. The pushy sales tactics and cat calling of locals in the tourist ghetto of Hoi An grate your nerves. Everything compares against the unforgetable real thing: the easy smile of a chiseled women carrying a superhuman load of bamboo in a handwoven basket-cum-backpack over a ramshackle bridge, children attacking you with exploratory fingers that pinch to check if you are real, setting around a comforting stove with brighteyed hilltribe people who laugh heartily at just your presence. The Easy Rider’s close encounters with Vietnam make the tourist trudge on Highway 1 a hard comedown." READ THE WHOLE STORY HERE. 

Papua New Guinea--Ethnographers Don Hammers

The full version of a journey from ultra-modern Japan to being embedded in the distant tribe in the New Guinean jungles. And there were cannibals.

"Our plane finally landed in Port Moresby at dawn and spit out of it's accordion trunk ten bright-eyed, twenty-something English teachers in the so-called third world. The sound of crickets in thick air recalled childhood summer nights, a welcome contrast to the urban chatter we left behind in Tokyo. We collected our lonesome bags from the only claim. A busty, chocolate-brown woman with red teeth put 'security checked' stickers on our things without so much as a second glance and we limped around to the domestic side of the airport to climb on an 18 passenger 'Dash 8' that would take us to Lae. The plane reeked of pungent sweat and looked well over its prime."

Full PNG journal

A Margarita Tour of the ATL

Whenever I go home for Christmas, some things always push my this-is-my-city button. The air in Atlanta is inexplicably warm and sweet. Thing seem easier, less rushed, more American, and with more attitude and good humor. And there’s something that thing that fills a gaping hole in my New York life: damn-good Mexican food.

On a single, gluttonous day, I toured three of Atlanta’s most celebrated Mexican restaurants, drinking too many margaritas and consuming far more cheese than a person should in a 24-hours. (Then I played with gusto with my four brilliant nieces and nephews.)

Round 1: Taqueria Del Sol
The line was long when I made my first stop around 1:30 at the now-swinging Westside Provisions warehouse district. (All hail the genius of Anne Quatrano.) But the simple fish tacos made flaky, buttery tortillas, prepared on site, were perfectly pitched. The fresh, sweet corn chowder got a balancing kick of chili, totally changing my perception of what a chowder could be. And the margarita? Tart and not too strong, but the food shined brighter. Why, oh why, can’t you find white cheese dip with jalapenos in New York? Criminal.

Round 2: No Mas! Cantina
This artful Mexican compound tucked into Castleberry Hill takes the prize for its margaritas. Triple Sec, Cointreau, and top-shelf tequila in liberal amounts--but it all finds balance with the addition of fresh squeezed lime juice. No sugary extra crap here but each glass comes with a bracelet with tiny oval pictures of Catholic idols that you can slap on and take home. (My companion from San Francisco tells me that the hipsters in the Mission are all for these charms.) The flan was creamy and crustardy with bold cinnamon notes that don‘t mess around.

Round 3: Frontera
Oh, how I long for the words “hot plate!” as a heap of perfectly authentic, cheese-soaked Mexican is thrust in front of me. This is my family go-to and it was as great as my often-dreams. The chunky guac was just as creamy, tart and piquant as I wanted it to be. A firey tomato stew-stuffed bell pepper is soaked in white Mexican cheese, then baked until piping hot and served with the always appropriate refried beans and rice. It’s 7:30 and I’m home sweet.

Vanynerchuck's Picks: Wines to Pair with Lucky Charms

The problem: You don't want to "waste" good wine on cheap food. The solution: This Lemondrop article, in which wine gadfly and tech sensation Gary Vaynerchuck gives uber-budget options to enhance the flavor of, say, beans and rice. 

"Just 'cause you're broke doesn't mean you can't be a wino wine connoisseur, right? We talked to loquacious wine impresario Gary Vaynerchuk, host of the video podcast Wine Library TV (whose punk-rock, forget-what-you-heard take on wine we seriously dig), to learn some inexpensive wines that will pair quite nicely with your boxed dinner." READ ON.

Photo Credit: Quinn Dombrowski via Creative Commons

Can You Live Without a Car?

Surprising revelations here about how you can actually live without a car. Created quite a stir on Mint.com. 

The Budding Eco-Tourism Industry in Laos

In this travel piece for a national magazine in Japan, I examine the neophyte ecortourism industry in less-traveled parts of Southeast Asia.

READ THE PIECE FROM OUTDOOR JAPAN