friday link love

Good morning, everyone, and happy Friday. Thank you, all, for your comments, tweets, and emails about our home ownership – we feel very encouraged and supported. Thank you for sharing in our joy, and thank you for all the amazing suggestions you’ve given thus far. If you follow me on Pinterest, you’re probably seeing a flurry of decorating pins going on, though our biggest logistical challenge is going to be transporting Forrest to the new apartment. You see, Forrest is afraid to leave any space so much so, that he won’t get into the carrier. And as witnessed by our kind vet who makes house calls (at a price might I add), he possesses the strength of a thousand cats. When we joke about Forrest being drafted in the cat version of NFL, we’re half serious. We might as well give him Bettis’ nickname – “The Bus”. So before we move, we have to and set up Forrest’s new food corner and his litter box. Put some toys around so it feels like he’s already been there. And when the big day comes, wrap him tightly in a blanket or a towel, and cab it to our new place. I’m anxious about it already.

I’m not sure how to link to it, but this morning I had the pleasure of reading David Lebovitz‘ excellent newsletter. I rarely sign up for such things – I find them to be derivative in most cases (i.e. it’s already on the blog), but David’s newsletters are engaging, nuanced, fresh, and are always an interesting read. If you’re reading David’s blog but aren’t signed up for his newsletters – you’re really missing out. In his latest, he writes about one’s ability to criticize the country one lives in regardless of one’s place of birth or citizenship. It’s a topic that is near and dear to my heart, and one that I was really moved by. For me, an immigrant, a US-citizen but not a natural-born one, it hit close to home.

I don’t have much to add today. I tested a few recipes for the blog this week but they were hohum and so I won’t write about them here. I’m a little frenetic with work, with scheduling, with planning logistical things for our new place. Andrew says I’m in my element as I’ve already made a spreadsheet of to-do’s for our apartment (spreadsheets, yay!) and am already talking to some folks about the kind of work that needs to be done, how much it could cost, what we can afford, and so on. I plan on disconnecting for a day to give my head a break and then I plan on doing some book work on Sunday after morning yoga. Tonight, we’re off to check out Kingside, a new restaurant by Chef Marc Murphy with whom I’m working on a book. I can’t wait to try all the food – have a wonderful weekend, folks!

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Homelamb – a hysterical Sesame Street Homeland parody.

Debunking all flu vaccine myths.

Ten gorgeous, nostalgic photos of the old Penn Station. Imagine it looking nice, for once. There are talks of rebuilding it, but that’s at least a decade away. The current Penn Station, as anyone who’s ever visited it, and as any New Yorker can tell you, feels like the worst place on earth.

Stunning, color-saturated photographs of Russia taken a century ago. Hard to believe these are so old.

Romantic insights from maps of Facebook networks?

Marisa McLellan of the excellent Food in Jars blog, has great advice on how to store your jars.

On lateness. Excellent stuff. As someone who is always a little early to things (and let’s not get started with my airport arrival time) I find chronic lateness (as in hour plus late party arrival) to be rude.

The new science of old whiskey.

There’s one key difference between kids who excel at math and those who don’t.

SNAP benefits change today. Here’s what you need to know.

If there is any chance of the Sriracha plant closing, I’m stocking up!

How old is your health?

Can you make cabbage cool? Examining sex appeal of vegetables strikes me as funny. I know kale is trendy and is on the menu of every restaurant that wants to sell a salad, but kale was delicious before the craze and will remain so long after it passes. I’d like to say the same for any vegetable that’s ever felt maligned (uh, so every vegetable). I don’t feel odd eating beets among beet haters, or extolling the virtues of turnips among those who turn their noses at such root vegetables. I’ve liked vegetables since I was a kid and it was the animal protein that I struggled to eat. I think that if you just let most vegetables be, do the least amount of work to them, they really get to shine. Simple roasting and a little olive oil and salt will do the trick, no multi-million dollar ad campaign needed.