snapshots from a shared blogosphere

Today, I’m excited to announce a new project that I recently took part in. We all know (or you should) how much I love food, especially international cuisines. So I’ve teamed up with a group of bloggers around the world to stop and drop on the same day, at the same time, to photograph what we were eating. 

The Lineup:

Jessica, San Francisco, 8:00am

Me, Philadelphia, 11am 

Julie, London, 4pm

Judith, Seoul, midnight

It’s amazing what a cuisine will say about a culture, and this project has me itching to go eat my way around the world. Food is something people want to share with each other because it’s a deep rooted and meaningful piece of ourselves. The memories you have from being young, the meals your mom used to make, the restaurants you visited with your best friends in high school - traditions and memories develop around food, and the way in which each culture does it is unique. 

Here in Philadelphia on a Saturday morning, I had four friends walking in the door. As they arrived, I was putting the finishing touches on a brunch spread I had prepared using my favorite local and organic ingredients. For me, two things are important when it comes to food: home cooked and ethically-sourced. It’s not necessarily the most common way to consume food in this country, but it is one that is held in high regard. People here love a home cooked meal. And people here love food they can feel good about. Also, it should be noted that brunch is a very American thing…a brilliant custom if you ask me.

The Menu:

Baked Ricotta: made with Wholesome Dairy Farm’s Grass-Fed Raw Milk and Dutch Way Dairy Heavy Cream

Maitake Mushroom & Egg Scramble: mushrooms sourced from Greensgrow Farm and Sandy Ridge Farm eggs

Homemade Bloody Mary’s: made with tomatoes sourced at Greensgrow Farm, home brewed pickles, Clover Creek Cheese Cellar Pirate Blue Cheese, and Sky Vodka

Rosemary and Sel Di Gris Popovers: made with rosemary sourced in Philadelphia’s famous Italian Market, Sel Di Gris purchased from The Meadow in NYC, King Arthur Organic Flour, and Wholesome Dairy Farm’s Grass-Fed Raw Milk

Home-brewed Iced Tea: with ginger, chamomile, cinnamon sticks, clove, rose hip, and Walt's Swarmbustin' honey. 

Peach Preserves: made by Fifth of a Farm

We sat around the table for a good two hours. There were several foreigners in the group - something that is very common in our melting pot of a country - and the conversation went from talking about one person’s country to the next. That’s the lovely thing about brunch, you sit and enjoy the food, and then you sit some more and enjoy each other. It’s a long drawn-out custom that is perfect for the weekend, and a good way to enjoy the company of friends. I should also mention that at my house, dogs are always welcome, so we had three dogs playing underfoot and providing us with plenty of intermittent laughs. 

And that is how we Philadelphians do it. Head on over to Thread & Bones to see what was simultaneously occurring in the culinary worlds around the globe.

chinese new year, the year of the snake

It's officially a new year according to the Chinese calendar - the year of the snake - and yesterday we went out to celebrate. The day began with dim sum bright and early (for a weekend) and went on to include bubble tea, firecrackers, and the suns lion dance parade. The stimulation was at an all-time high with so many foreign things to take in. I've never been to a Chinese new year celebration before, but boy are they fun. Giant firecrackers go off and make your question your safety. No space precautions are taken, and your adrenalin gets pumping from the blasts. Drums, boom boom, set a baseline that reverberates through your veins. People push you from every angle, and colorful costumed dragons twist and wind to they rhythms all around. When the firecrackers finally quiet down, the dragon retrieves the cabbage and moves onto the next stopping point, where it all begins again. Slowly, they slither their way through Chinatown like so.

It was a fun adventure, and it might just become a tradition. After all, I have Chinese family now!

Also, dim sum is the new brunch. Get on it.

eve

Have an amazing New Years everyone!

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Image sources and more New Years inspiration here

goof bawls

This past Thursday was our annual work holiday party! We got all dolled up, and goofed around before going over to celebrate. As they say, you can dress her up, but you can't take her out. And I don't mind one bit. :)

a free people event

Tuesday night was Free People's Winter Tale event! I've been working on the event for over a month now, and it was great to see it all come to life. We had hard cider with Snap from Art in the Age, vegan treats, a curated shop of picks from Refinery29, and live music by Alexandra Stewart. Planning and putting on these events is a passion of mine. I love the knitty gritty of setting up, the creativity of planning, and the fun of meeting all new (and some old) people. It was a magical night. I hope that everyone who came out thought so too. 

All product available at FreePeople.com

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