recycled wrapping.

apparently i was in the holiday spirit last weekend: baking cookies, listening to christmas music, wrapping presents. after not finding a wrapping paper i liked, i decided to put those old newspapers i had lying around to good use. i made little gift tags with some kraft-paper-esque cardstock and brighted things up with fun colored ribbon.

piper's bad*$s sugar cookies.

for years, i searched for the perfect sugar cookie recipe. not too sweet. not too dry. just right. i finally settled on this one a few years back, a recipe i modified from the joy of cooking. i made a batch last weekend for JG's cookie exchange. yum!


sift 1 cup sugar
beat with 1/2 cup butter (SOFTENED) and 1 egg
add 1/3 cup sour cream and 1 tsp. vanilla

sift 2 1/2 cups flour, 1/3 tsp. baking soda, 1/2 tsp. salt, 1 tsp. baking powder

mix wet and dry
chill for 12+ hours

roll and cut
bake 12 minutes at 350 degrees

cool and ice and sugar!

i sort of improve on the icing - start with a stick of butter (healthy, i know), melt that shit, and then dump a whole lot of powdered sugar in it while stirring, until it gets thick. even out with milk (not too much) and keep adding powdered sugar until smooth.




**download a printable 4x6 recipe card here.

the reader radar.

so here's what's on my google reader radar. could this be the new name of my nearly non-existent friday five? perhaps.

1. in the holiday spirit. living in: a christmas story, by design*sponge.

2. love these. inbox posters, by coolhunting.


3. because i am obsessed with knitting right now. blissful inspiration, by sfgirlbybay.


4. just in case anyone was thinking about getting me a christmas present... old and new: thermoses, by apartment therapy.


5. and because i think we could all use a little unplugging, if you will. frederic ferral: UNPLUG: the painting, by josh spear.

sundays.

i listen to jazz on sunday mornings. i make coffee. fix a nice little breakfast. spread the times across the table. if i'm up early enough, i'll put the jazz on pause to catch CBS sunday morning.

i. love. sunday. mornings.

growing up, the local radio station (one of two) played jazz on sunday mornings. my dad would make hash browns. we'd lounge around the house. it was delightful.

these days, sunday mornings are rare. the past couple months, i've been traveling and working and completely over-booked. needless to say, i am relishing today.

toro y moi.

i really dig this song. it's been on repeat. enjoy!

icons for SB.

SB's new site is up and running, looking so fresh and so clean. she asked to borrow a few of the icons from my site, so i customized a few just for her. and yes, that little silhouette is SB herself.

oz = heaven.

here are a few pics from last months' yoga retreat up in mendocino. i'm ready to go back now. sigh.

pocket planner.

these are from dozi. i LOVE them.

35,000.

good morning from the eastern skies.

i blog to you early today from 35,000 feet. ah, the beauty of technology. i'm on my way eastward and northward to attend my good friend tibby's wedding. it's been just over a year since i've visited this side of our great land and the dunk welcomed me back with open arms and a bacon, egg, and cheese bagel. my scalding cup of coffee shook me right out of my red-eye slumber.

late-night SFO to ATL. early morning ATL to BDL. connecticut, here i come.

feed the obsession.

no words for this site. wow. insane. ming makes cupcakes. my jaw has been dropped for all these lovelies, but this one i love especially. apples, caramel, fall, sigh.

(via SB!)

re:session.

this gives me chills and makes me miss winter an INSANE amount. nice work, TGR boys. can't wait to see the whole thing.

friday five!

these things are starred on my google reader page. cool. hope you like them, too.

1. flickr finds: radios, by desire to inspire. photo by lillian day.


2. neither snow..., by oh joy. lovely calligraphy.


3. Portrait Necklace, by poppytalk.


4. inspired by almond orchards in bloom, by stephanie williams photography.


5. Paperfinger Calligraphy and Hand-Drawn Design, by coolhunting.

chicken pot pie.

i've been into the comfort foods lately. maybe it's the weather. if i can't have a fireplace on cold, blustery days, i might as well have some home cooking.

we made some killer chicken pot pie last weekend. (note rene's cute latte bowls from anthro!)


1 pound chicken breast cubed
1 cup sliced carrots
1 cup frozen peas (or sliced green beans!)
1/2 cup celery
1/3 cup butter
1/3 cup chopped onion
1/3 cup flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 3/4 cup chicken broth
2/3 cup milk

pre-heat oven to 425°

in saucepan, combine chicken, carrots, peas and celery. add water to cover and boil for 15 minutes. remove from heat, drain and set aside.

in saucepan over medium heat, cook onions in butter until soft and translucent. stir in flour, salt, pepper, broth and milk. simmer until thick.

place chicken veggie mixture in pie dough, then pour milk broth sauce over, cover with top crust, seal edges (ours weren't sealed. it was more...rustic.) cut slits in dough to allow steam to escape.

bake 30-35 minutes. cool for 10 minutes before serving.

maple pecan minis.

i'm starting to play around with my basic cupcake recipe (see the original here). these little suckers are TASTY. i added about 1/4 cup good maple syrup and 1/2 cup of chopped pecans to the cake mix. for the frosting, i added about 3 tbsp. maple syrup and about 1 tbsp. of brown sugar. then i topped 'em with more chopped pecans. 1) YUM. 2) cute.

more variations to come. i'm thinking pumpkin of some sort for fall.

rain.

it's pouring out today. thus, here are 20 songs for rainy days.

1. lady on the water - blitzen trapper
2. about today - the national
3. cristobal - devendra banhart
4. trouble - ray lamontagne
5. help i'm alive (acoustic) - metric
6. kettering - the antlers
7. telephone - erykah badu
8. quiet houses - fleet foxes
9. masterswarm - andrew bird
10. legends of nothing - ming & ping
11. when the night comes - dan auerbach
12. happiness - jonsi & alex
13. wild world - cat stevens
14. penelope - pinback
15. blue - cat power
16. agoraphobia - deerhunter
17. cowgirl in the sand - neil young
18. take five - dave brubeck
19. murder in the city - avett brothers
20. misread - kings of convenience

the uniform project.

this is one of the coolest things i've seen in a long time. the uniform project. one dress, 365 ways. sheena matheiken is wearing the same dress everyday (actually 7 of the same dress) and mixing things up with scarves, vests, tights, skirts, bow ties, and a seemingly endless amount of creativity. her outfits are fabulously unusual. you can view all the different ways she wears her dress (designed by Eliza Starbuck) on her website: www.theuniformproject.com. even better, all funds from the project go to the akanksha foundation for the education of underprivileged children in india. as of today, the project has raised $15,010.

you've got mail.

noticed this gem walking up to noe valley to meet M for a glass of wine. what an elegant way to get mail.

fall = stew.

when the air gets all crisp and the leaves make that quintessential fall sound as the wind blows, all i want to do is curl up with a good book and some tea and make some soup, maybe some stew. last sunday, as i was compiling a grocery list full of hearty veggies and stock, matt and rene called to tell me they'd picked up stew ingredients in marin. we were on the same wavelength. matt led the charge for a spicy, belly warming stew with 6 different kinds of peppers, (we counted). mine is a little more traditional, so we'll give that one a whirl when this tasty version runs out.

20x200.

dear art lovers,

if you don't already get jen bekman's 20x200 emails, i highly suggest you visit www.20x200.com and sign up, stat. she features affordable limited edition artist prints and they are always, without fail, clever, different, and inspiring. i get a lot of email newsletters, daily updates, and i delete 95% of them without opening them. but i've been saving, (yes, saving) the 20x200 emails because i love them so much.

i'm kind of obsessed with the above print, think-make-think (second edition) by Clifton Burt, and thought i'd share.

sincerely,
piper

julia rothman.

i was really excited to see these freaking adorable sticky notes from julia rothman on our shelves at anthropologie. then, i was catching up with all my blogs and noticed that she has a show at the nahcotta gallery in portsmouth, NH. sadly, i won't be making it to portsmouth, but you can check out her work and order small prints on enormous tiny art show.

four eyes.

despite the fact that i have to wear glasses, that i am legally blind, i still love cool eye-glass frames. ever since the multicolored plastic ones i wore in second grade, ever since those very large, red, sally jesse raphael look-alikes in forth grade, ever since the cat eye leopard print in high-school, i like to keep things...cutting edge? i stick to the contacts these days, though i've been itching for a new styling pair to mix it up a bit. katy passed along this website: allyn scura.

these guys have a rockin' collection of vintage frames and their own line, too. you can check out a larger selection of frames at a number of california flea markets (they'll be in alameda on 11/1).

i'm swooning over these:

cupcakes.

i've been in a baking state of mind recently. it all started with rene's birthday. after the first batch, i decided that i needed to perfect my recipe (courtesy of alice waters). nearly the same ingredients (i used cake flour the second round), but i actually read the advice alice gives in simple food. butter was room temperature. i didn't overmix. the second cake was light and fluffy.

1-2-3-4 cake
1 cup of butter
2 cups of sugar
4 eggs (separated)
1 cup milk
3 cups cake flour
4 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 tsp. salt

cream butter, add sugar, then egg yolks (set whites aside), and vanilla. alternate adding flour (sifted with baking soda and salt) and milk, starting and ending with flour. in a separate bowl, whisk egg whites until stiff. stir in a third of them, then gently fold in the rest. bake for 20 minutes at 350°.

batch #1


batch #2


as for the frosting, i usually improv with butter, powdered sugar, vanilla and a little milk.

yum.

l + s.

i got tibs' wedding invitation in the mail a couple weeks ago and i was so excited to see the monogram i designed for her on the back. i took a picture so that you could see it, too. congrats, tibby and steve!

bryan + narisa

it took me awhile, but here are the photos from bryan + narisa's wedding!