Making Cheese

Yes, I have completely gone over the edge and decided I want to make my own cheese. After seeing a recipe in the cookbook "Home Made" by Yvette Van Boven, and how easy they made it seem, I knew I had to try it. I kind of knew this was a long time coming, I have secretly had a subscription to Culture Cheese magazine last year and drooled over it. I think there was even a goat centerfold, just kidding.

So I did my research and then said "if I was a dutch farmer how would I do this?". I would hang up the cheese in a dimly lit barn, like a Vermeer painting and watch the liquid drip out of it until it was ready. Romantic, huh!

Well it is honestly doesn't take a lot of effort to make cheese, but it isn't necessarily economical either. It would have to be a true passion to make it worth it to me. My cheese wasn't bad, it was just a little over cooked. Nothing a little honey and salt and pepper couldn't cure.

All in all it was an experience I'm glad I had. Now I give complete praise to all you cheese makers out there and your animals.

Pure Green Magazine / France

This month in Pure Green Magazine, Susan and I were covering the oysters of Belon and the French countryside. We talk about being "local across an ocean" and what that means to us. Pure Green Magazine is such a joy to work for, and we hope you will enjoy their latest issue now available in Anthopolige in the US.

On Creativity

Creative funk: This ever happen to you? It's kind of like you are on a treadmill and you just can't turn the thing off? You hit a brick wall idea wise, or your ideas just don't sound that exciting? 

Well, that is where I'm at folks. I think looking at sites like Pinterest and so many other blogs confuse my visual self (although I love them as well because they provide inspiration). I almost feel overwhelmed with media and images, so much so I am not as sensitive visually. So my next question is what does one do to recover? Here are some of my steps I will take to recover:

No media for a week and two weekends. 

If I actually do this, I want an award. I LOVE my iPad. Like really love. 

Buy a cross stitch kit. 

I love doing projects with my hands. I need a project like this.

Keep a real visual journal.

I have never been a good journal keeper. I want to be, and admire people who excel at this. My college roommate and friend, Susan Norton is my champ. She has stacks of journals with illustrations and thoughts.

Leave the building.

For those of you that know me well, know that I live and work in the same building. I live on one floor and work on another. Some days I don't leave. I thought living and working so close would be awesome, and it is awesome if you want to do laundry during your lunch. I have to make an effort to leave the building. Period. If you want to get a drink, I am game. 

What do you do to stay creative?

Profile: Kate Jordan

I recently had the pleasure to meet Kate Jordan, who is a fantastic photo stylist that styles soft goods, still life and interiors. Kate is coming to us in New York City from Pennsylvania, where she worked for Anthropologie for quite while. Now out on her own, with representation from Pat Bates, she gets to shower us with her amazing talents, so keep an eye out. Her blog The Modern Diary,  is a great visual diary of her current muses and is definitely worth a look.

Often times, as a professional artists, when we want to include certain types of work in our portfolios or just budding new ideas, we will get together and collaborate to produce some amazing work. This keeps us fresh and our minds working. And Kate and I did just that, so here is a sneak preview of my new still life portfolio. Enjoy!

Ramp Pizza

Since we are in the mist of 'rampmania' we thought is best to make as many meals with ramps as possible. One of our go-to week night meals is pizza. Yes, we buy our pizza dough which adds to the time-saving love of home made pizza. 

For this pizza we used organic pizza dough from Whole Foods, ricotta, ramps, parmesan and olive oil, salt and pepper to garnish. From start to finish this takes about 45 minutes and most of that is oven time and the clean up is minimal. 

What is your go-to week night dinner?

Ramps and Spring

It's that time of year at the farmers market that ramps are starting to spring up. If you have never heard or tasted a ramp, it is like a cross between garlic and an onion. You can eat everything from the bulb to the leaves.

Last year Susan pickled a whole batch and they turned out fantastic. We recently opened a jar and cut them up to top an open faced egg salad sandwich. Seriously amazing, a bit sweet with a pickled kick.

So if you see a bunch of ramps at the farmers market, be sure to pick up some, they don't last long.

Happy Easter

We hope you have a happy Easter with you family and friends.

Sugar on Top

These little 'glass huggers' are made from sugar and you can add them to any cocktail, or champagne. I fell in love with these as soon as I saw them and had to know more. They are from Chambre de Sucre, a sugar company that imports from Japan, but has roots in Queens, NY. I am in love with all their products, but my serious crush remains on the glass huggers. These would be such a conversation starter at a wedding, bridal shower, engagement party or cocktail hour. I love the elephant and wings designs. I have a soft spot for elephants, so these go to the top of my list for our next cocktail party.

I was lucky enough to meet some of the ladies who work at Chambre de Sucre, and they were such a pleasure to chat with. I also appericate the company history, one rooted in family and a passion for quality. They have the tiniest, little sugar stars which are perfect for an evening cup of tea. Minitures of any sort (food, antiques) make me very happy. 

Our Favorite Cheesecake Recipe

House of Brinson Cheesecake from houseofbrinson on Vimeo.

Cheesecake is one of those things in life that need to be enjoyed and savored. What's better than a rich, dense cake with a creamy filling and crunchy crust? Nothing in my book. This is exactly why when we go home to my mom's house for the holidays, I look forward to our family friend Laura and her wonderful gift of a cheesecake. Each year a perfect cheesecake waits in my moms fridge for us. We have arrived in the wee hours of the morning after driving from NYC and had no shame in wanting a piece. 

So of course when I had to attend an all cheese party, I wanted to bring this. I thought making cheesecake would be hard, but Laura's recipe makes it so easy. 

Recipe

Crust

2 pkgs. gram crackers crushed into crumbs

1/2 stick melted butter

Mix together and pat on bottom and about 1/2 up sides of pan. You can use vanilla wafer as well.

Filling

5 pkg. cream cheese, soften to room temperature

1  3/4 cup sugar

5 eggs

2 eggs whites

3 tablespoon flour

1 tablespoon lemon

1/4 tablespoon vanilla

1/2 cup heavy cream

Preheat oven to 500 degrees.

Blend cheese and sugar together.  Beat eggs one at a time alternating with egg whites. Add cream, flour, lemon, vanilla. Mix well until the mixture is smooth. 

Pour batter into prepared 12 inch spring form pan.  Bake at 500 degrees* for 10 minutes lower oven to 250 degrees.  Bake 1 hour or test with butter knife.  You don't want the cake to crack. Cool and refrigerate until set. Add topping.

*We have a convection oven and it cook faster. I cooked at 425 degrees for 8 minutes and then 200 degrees for 50 minutes. I watched it VERY carefully and it still cracked around the edges but tasted good all the same. Laura said it might feel a little undercooked when you pull it out, but it will firm up. 

We hope you enjoy our first video!

Pickled Carrots

There is not a lot of fresh produce at the farmers market in the middle of the winter, but I still get an itch to can something good. I surf the aisle of the grocery store hoping to find something good. As you can imagine I was excited to find the biggest bag of organic carrots on sale. Knowing how popular pickled carrots have become at our house, I knew I had work to do. 

I started making pickled carrots at the suggestion of our friend Jonathan. He convinced me they were his favorite and I had to give it a try. Once I made them, they quickly became Will's favorite as well. 

Here is my well loved pickled carrot recipe. Enjoy!

Pickled Carrots

Makes about 6 jars. I use the pint wide mouth Ball jars.

• one large bag (about 4 pounds) of carrots 

Pickling Liquid

• 3 cups water
• 3 cups vinegar
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup pickling salt
• 2 tbs mixed peppercorns

One for each jar

• sprig of rosemary
• hot chili (I like the small Thai chilis)
• clove of garlic

Peel and cut the carrots into sticks that fit into your jars with plenty of headspace, and room to be fully covered by pickling liquid. Prepare your jars while cutting carrots. Place all items for pickling liquid in a non reactive pot and bring to a boil. Pack prepared jars with carrots, rosemary, chili and garlic. Cover with pickling liquid leaving 1/2 inch head space. Process 10 minutes, wait 5 mintes, remove jars to cool. 

If you need a resource to get started in canning, head over to one of my favorite canning blogs, Food in Jars. 

Kopi Iuwak Coffee

I always say I will try anything once. This time it was more about the idea of what I was having, rather than what it looked like. This pot of coffee looks as normal as what you could get at your local coffee house, but it has a bit of a disgusting background. We are not talking unfairly traded, were are talking just pure crap, actually cat crap! This is the infamous cat poop coffee, no really cat crap.

This crazy coffee can fetch as much as $100 a cup in some places, I guess depending of how well the cat ate (just kidding). It goes by the more specific name of "Kopi Iuwak" which is made from the beans of coffee berries eaten by the Civet cat. Talk about fermentation! 

All joking aside (if that's possible) it is a pretty good cup of coffee. Enjoy, if you can.

Thanks to our friend Nathan for sharing with us, and a second thank you to Bruce Wayland and Marcello De Simone for giving Nathan the coffee to bring back to New York City.

The Little Chicken

Sometimes referred to as the "little chicken", the cornish game hen still packs a punch. This little package feeds two and is still as delicious as its bigger counterpart. How many times have you heard someone say, "I want everyone to have their own little chicken on the plate", countless. And come on, it's got that cute factor.

So today is the perfect time to pick one up for you and your Valentine, and make a romantic meal. And your lucky because they usually come in pairs, like little love birds! Happy Valentine's day.

Letterpress Printing with Earl

We recently attended AltSummit and had to have business cards printed for our blog. Never, in a million years, did I ever think we would have blog business cards. Well, times are a changin' and we had blog business cards printed. I knew they had to be letterpress since I would pretty much letterpress everything if I could. 

I've known Earl Kallemeyn for about 12 years and have worked on projects with him since graduating college and first moving to New York City. We go way back. Earl's family has been in the letterpress business for 75 years, it is really wonderful to see a craft passed on through the generations. 

Not only is Earl a great printer, he's a bad ass. That's right, you won't hear me say it about many people I know, but Earl is a true bad ass. He has tattoos, a bike, and you guessed it a blog. I also love to know someone who is excited and passionate about what they do. Earl fits the bill. I have a great deal of respect for what he does because I own a small letterpress and it is hard. And kind of addictive at the same time. You have to put another sheet in to see if you got it right. This post is a bit bittersweet for me since I decided to sell my press (between blogging, working and other projects it sits there, sadly unused). And honestly I normally send all my jobs to Earl, he does a beautiful job.

The New York Times produced a video about Earl that you can watch here. Next time you are at the stationery shop, you will have an insight as to the process of letterpress printing. 

Our Book!

To say the least, we are very excited to share our first House of Brinson printed piece! We recently self-published a 'look book' of selected images from our first year of blogging. When we looked back on the year we knew we had to do something to document it and share it, for everyone to see. There is no better way than print. To hold something in your hands and see what has been acomplished is pretty amazing. This book will also be a supplement William's professional photography portfolio. It was really interesting for me to look back at what we had accomplished, because I am not a professional stylist, yet now I have a styling portfolio because of our blog. 

With the help of Blurb and the excitement of our readers, we were able to produce this amazing printed piece. Take a look at more sneak peeks at Blurb. We hope you love this as much as we do.

Frozen Citrus

We found these beautiful pink lemons at the store recently. I loved how the leaves were still attached — they looked almost frozen to me. The color is perfect for winter and of course with the outrageous cold weather we had to share the 'frozen' leaf.