Song of the Day

Support the artist by buying this song on Amazon here.

On My Travel Bucketlist

Place: Taktshang Monastery, Bhutan
(Photo:  Douglas J. McLaughlin)

Film Recommendation: Helvetica

A movie on a font?

I spent a week watching a handful of documentaries on design because I was feeling uninspired.  I stumbled on one that I'm surprised I ended up liking - a film about the typeface Helvetica.  Yes, really!  Helvetica goes through the history of the font, the personality it evokes and explains its ubiquity (it really is everywhere).  Here's a quote from the film if you're not sold by the trailer yet.

You can say, "I love you," in Helvetica.  And you can say it with Helvetica Extra Light if you want to be really fancy.  Or you can say it with the Extra Bold if its really intensive and passionate, you know, and it might work." - Massimo Vignelli

Oh yes, Valentine's Day is coming up.  Remember to use Helvetica Extra Bold to say "I love you."  Your lover will know you really mean it.

Rent or buy this documentary from Amazon here.

Margiela Love: Backstage and Front Row from the Couture Show

My favorite images from the line's Spring/Summer 2013 Artisanal's Haute Couture show.

Photo: Maison Martin Margiela

11th Street Cafe (Manhattan)

Europe and Vietnam taught me how to enjoy a cup of tea or coffee.  For 28 years, I drank my caffeine on the go or at my desk in the office.  Now when I want to relax, I want to sip a cup at a cafe.  But finding a good coffeeshop to do work at in Manhattan proved a lot more difficult than I thought because I had Starbucksanitus - someone who is addicted to Starbucks - before.  Today I found a great place called 11th Street Cafe on 11th and Greenwich.  The space is small, but the vanilla tea latte and spice tea latte are amazing.  11th Street has an extensive food menu as well.  I had a taste of my friend's curry soup - totally delicious.

Song of the Day

Support the artist by buying this song from Amazon here.

My First Attempt at a Peach Pie From Scratch

I hosted a Southern themed dinner party for a small group of friends awhile back.  I opted to make a peach pie from scratch using this recipe by Joy the Baker instead of buying a pie. The recipe was surprisingly simple to follow, and I am an amateur at best in the kitchen... The crust for this pie was amazingly crispy and loaded with butter.  Since it is freezing in NY right now, I think I'll make this pie again this weekend. 

Please note that I have re-written the recipe in my own words and have used my own pictures.

Peach Pie (makes 1 nine-inch pie)
For the Crust:
2 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter (cold and cut into cubes)
5 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons ice cold water
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar

For the Filling:
about 12 ripe peaches
1/2 to 2/3 cups granulated sugar (depending on how sweet you want your pie to be)
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
scant 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon ground ginger
1/8 teaspoon ground coriander
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon cornstarch
2 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
1 egg, beaten, for egg wash
2 tablespoons sugar and 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon, for topping crust before baking


We will start with the crust... Whisk the flour, sugar and salt together. Using your fingers, mix in the cold (cubed) butter until the butter breaks down. In a separate bowl, mix together the vinegar and the water. Creating a well in the center of your flour mixture, pour the vinegar/water in the center. Moisten the flour mixture using a fork as best you can. On a slightly floured surface, divide the dough in two and create disks of equal size. In a plastic wrap, cover each disk and refrigerate for an hour.


I didn't use blueberries as Joy did because I love peaches. Now onto the filling... Slice each peach into 8 or 12 parts each. Just a personal preference, but I don't like my peach slices to be too thick.


In a small bowl, combine the sugar, spices, flour and cornstarch. Pour the sugar mixture all over the fruit and gently toss. I love when each piece of fruit in my pie is oozing with sweetness so I try to make sure each slice is covered with the sugar mixture. Next stir in the lemon juice. Refrigerate the bowl of fruit.


Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Joy recommends placing a rack in the center and covering the bottom rack with a baking sheet. This should prevent any pie drippings from messing up your oven.


Remove one of the dough disks from the refrigerator. On a slightly floured surface, roll the dough out to about 13 inches round. Make sure the dough doesn't stick to the surface so gently remove from the surface as appropriate. Roll the dough until it starts springing, which means the butter has warmed up enough. If the dough starts to tear, you can always cover them up with extra dough. I constantly tore my dough...


Once you've rolled out your dough enough, place the disk in a nine-inch pan. Place in the refrigerator. Remove the other dough disk to create the top crust. Repeat the process from above. When you are finishing rolling, remove both the pie and fruit filling from the refrigerator. Pour the fruit into the pie dish. Now you can gently remove the top crust from your floured surface and drape over the pie dish. There will be excess pie crust hanging so you will need trim it to leave about 3/4 inch. I used scissors for this step. Using your fingers (some people use a fork), crimp the edges. You will need to create vents for the juices and steam to come out next. You can do so by cutting 5-6 slits into the pie with a small knife. Now use the beaten egg and glaze the pie. Cover the pie with the cinnamon sugar mixture. I probably used more than was instructed!!!


Now you are ready to put your pie in the oven... At 400 degrees, bake your pie for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, reduce the heat to 375 degrees and bake for an additional 45 minutes or until the pie crust turns golden and the juices are bubbling! Remove the pie from the oven and let it cool down for at least 2 hours before you serve it. I let my pie cool down on the stove overnight...


I started making my pie at 10 pm and didn't get to eat it until dinner the following evening. I had to reheat the pie after 20 hours so am not sure if it would have tasted better if I ate it within 6 hours. Considering this was my first pie, I was a little nervous about how it would turn out... To my surprise, the pie was a hit with everyone! I highly recommend using this recipe. This pie is even better a la mode using vanilla bean ice cream - perfect for a hot summer day!  And a cold winter's night if you prefer.