I had recently stumbled upon an interview of Berlin-based photographer, Magnus Reed, featured last September in 2012 on Freunde von Freunden. The interview dialogue is a great read, and the photo tour of his stunning apartment/studio is outstanding. Find it here.
The Best Chocolate Chip Cookie in LA
…is found at The Sycamore Kitchen. Their Rye Chocolate Chip Cookie rocks- they’re thick and chewy, with big hunks of bittersweet dark chocolate countered by flecks of sea salt. They’re baked perfectly- the edges dark, deeply flavored by browned butter, and with each bite of cookie you get the faintest crunch of rye, and your mouth momentarily fills with the aroma of the characteristic grain, but then all that butter and chocolate mellows it out wonderfully. Until I’m proven otherwise, this cookie wins. I gladly accept all contenders with an open mind and gullet.
143 S. La Brea Ave.
Los Angeles, CA 90036
Breakfast and June
I was looking forward to seeing the supermoon over the weekend. I love the moon. I fall in love with it over and over again. Earlier in the week, I had set an alert on my iPhone, to remind myself that “the moon will be super” on the 23rd.
The moon was indeed super on the 23rd. That is, from the 22nd to the first hours of the 23rd. I had in mind the evening of the 23rd. I spent the actual night of the supermoon eating roast duck at the tiny Chinese BBQ restaurant down my street. I ate a terrific amount of it, along with its wonderfully crispy, fatty, duck skin. I was cholesterolically fearless and happy, and I drank lots of Jasmine tea. Then I went home and passed out on the couch.
The month of June has been like the faintest color of lilac purple. So faint, you’d sometimes think you’re seeing white. I floated along the lightest breeze of June, and it’s bringing me to its end. When I pause now and reflect back on the month, the actualized, and concrete forms, changes, events, and ideas materialize as memory, and it makes me believe that June makes living in the moment so natural and easy.
Grapes are so sweet right now, and I’m consuming gigantic watermelons each week. I’ve also discovered how awesome juicing is. I’ll be sharing my favorite juice concoctions soon.
For now, here are a couple things I made over the weekend. The first- a batch of lowfat yogurt.
I had nearly two full gallons of milk in the fridge, a day past its printed expiration date, yet, it was still good. Milk can’t see outside of its carton. Milk doesn’t know when it’s supposed to die. The milk will spoil when it naturally will, so sniff, inspect, taste, before throwing out perfectly fine milk that has passed- within reason- its printed expiration date.
Have you made yogurt at home before? It’s simple. Heat your milk in a large saucepan and set it over medium heat, stirring periodically to make sure it doesn’t burn. Turn off the heat once bubbles just begin to break at the edge- right before it gets to boil. Let the milk cool until you can dip your clean finger in and is warm to the touch. In that meantime, preheat your oven to 110 degrees, and then turn the oven off.
When the milk has cooled, stir in a few spoonfuls of good yogurt with active cultures. You can use supermarket yogurts like Fage for this, and it’ll still be great, but if you can get your hands on fresh yogurt from a local dairy farmer at your farmers’ markets, even better.
After everything is stirred together, cover the saucepan with its lid, wrap it with a towel, and let it sit in the warm oven overnight. I keep the oven light on for warmth. Incubation.
By morning, you’ll have fresh, homemade yogurt. It’s different from anything else. It’s like the smoothest custard. 
And then I made Heidi’s baked oatmeal. I was motivated to make it after making these blueberry bars that I had mentioned last week, because I spent the following days eating warmed up leftover blueberry bars for breakfast with coffee. Blueberry bars for breakfast made me happy, but I figured I ought to have something a bit more wholesome as a morning meal, so I turned to Heidi, and her baked oatmeal recipe is it. It’s easy to put together, it’s wholesome, delicious, sweet, but not too sweet. It’s wonderful with a dollop of fresh yogurt on top.
The recipe is from Heidi’s latest cookbook Super Natural Every Day, and you can also find the recipe online here.
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How Not to Be Alone
Links for midday Monday…
“The flow of water carves rock, a little bit at a time. And our personhood is carved, too, by the flow of our habits.” – A terrific NY Times Opinion article about how communication technologies have affected human connection. 
Have you tried butter coffee? I’m intrigued.
Planning to make these blueberry crumb bars for friends coming over tomorrow night.
Studio YOY made me look twice.
And in case you missed this, Apple describing their thoughts and emotions behind their creation process. Beautiful.
10¹² Terra
My heart gasped when I first came across these modern terrariums by 10¹² Terra. Founded in Japan by Daisuke Tsumanuma and Kenichi Yamada, 10¹² Terra aims to create products that reflect the constant flux and changes in life. The name 10¹² Terra was inspired by the number of cells reproduced per day (10¹²).
The rectangular chrome and glass vessels suspend the plant over a small basin of water. The transparency- to be able see the entirety of the plant- is stunning. There’s a purity and rawness to see the roots, which are usually hidden under dirt, to see them extend and uninhibitedly drink in the water to stay alive. To live. It’s like seeing the heart.
New York
If you happen to be in New York, and if you happen to like deer beds and rain, I’d visit this two exhibitions. I qualify only on the latter stance, so I can only wish…
Katherine Wolkhoff’s exhibition, Deer Beds, is at the Sasha Wolf Gallery in the Lower East Side. The show consist of seven photographs of imprints made in the grass by sleeping deer. Those images of deer beds make me think of peaceful slumber, the warmth of the body of a living animal, and the feeling of lying very close to the earth.
Rain Room is an interactive exhibit at the Museum of Modern Art. A heavy downpour of water falls like rain in an expansive dark and mysterious space, and visitors can walk through the storm without getting wet. Motion sensors pause the rain wherever body movement is detected, so you can walk, dance, and contemplate deep thoughts as millions of raindrops shower down around you from all sides. 
Pretty neat.
Something Magical
Something magical happened this past weekend.
I stepped out onto my backyard to wrestle with the giant puppy. And then I found this.
It was just lying there, on the grass. Gold.
I don’t know where it came from, and I don’t know what I did to deserve this. But it’s mine now, and I love it so much.
My eventual plan is to mount it above my bed, like this-
I think I’ll need some reinforcements (both in materials and bodies) to help mount this beauty, so in the meantime, it’s sitting above one of my bookcases, with a string of lights tangling through the branches. 
( Images unlinked are my own )
Two or Three Things
Sweet Home
Sometimes I imagine what it will be like to build a home together with my future husband. I think about going to the flea market together on the weekends for secondhand furniture, with overambitious plans set by overestimated expectations of our DIY restoration skills. I think about warm dinner parties together with our loved friends, using makeshift chairs, makeshift cutlery, makeshift space, because the things we have can not capacitate the things we want to give.
I think about living together, praying together, reading together, eating together, sleeping together. And it makes me feel so happy.
If there’s one thing I can choose about the interior of my future house, it would be white wooden floorboards in the bedroom. I love the rustic look of them, how they make a room feel so cozy and comforting. They brighten up so wonderfully by the morning sunlight, and create a fresh, open, and airy sense of space. I like the thought of walking across the white wood with my bare feet. 
Lovely, right?
Have a wonderful weekend!
(Image source: 1. Tad Carpenter, via DesignSponge; 2. Cody VanderKaay; 3. via adoreann; 4. via nordicskinnylove; 5. the style files; 6. via milenachka; 7. via youhatethis; 8. via A Merry Mishap; 9. via jsmn)
Bread
Receiving little gifts wrapped in brown paper is so nice. 
Especially when that gift happens to be home-baked bread. 
I’ve been meaning to try Sarah’s recipe for her Life-Changing Loaf of Bread, and after seeing it praised on Jen’s blog as well, I knew this bread was something. But I never got around to it.
I did however, mention the recipe to a friend a few weeks ago, and in the most lovely and wonderful way, this morning I get to declare to my dear readers that yes, this bread is something. It’s beautifully studded with almonds, flax seeds, chia seeds, pepitas, and sunflower seeds. It’s healthy- there’s no flour in it, it’s high in protein, made of whole grains, seeds, and nuts. It’s incredibly high in fiber.
But apart from all that, it’s delicious. It’s dense, but not heavy, and once toasted, it is indeed life-changing.
May life remain simple enough for a wonderful little loaf of bread to be able to do that.
minimal + lovely 