SAVE TIME | Where steaming vegetables is concerned, I’m lazy, I’ll admit it. During the week, I don’t want to have to haul out a saucepan, steamer insert and lid just to cook some stalks of broccoli or wait for them to go al dente on top of the stove. Read more
DESIGN WISE | It’s been two decades since gardening became a fashionable endeavor in North America. If we’ve learned anything during this time, over and above garden history and plant vocabulary, it’s that maintaining a garden is damn hard work. Only those who love mucking about in the dirt survive and thrive in the trenches.
This knowledge, plus a fascination with mid-20th-century modernist architecture and the gardens that went along with them, has lead to the pursuit of simple, (and hopefully) low maintenance planting schemes. Read more
FURNITURE WE LOVE | To our list of favourite contemporary home furnishings designers/manufacturers (who just happen to come from western Canada)—Niels Bendsten; Omer Arbel; Stephanie Forsythe and Todd MacAllen of Molo—we would like to add the name Peter Cardew. A man better known both here and abroad for award-winning architecture, Cardew has, in recent years, turned his talent to designing furniture for 18 Karat (now back in business after an hiatus), and this collaboration has resulted in some fine furniture pieces, particularly in wood. Read more
SAVE TIME & AVOID STRESS | Anyone who has ever packed up their belongings to switch dwellings doesn’t need to take the Holmes and Rahe Life Changes Scale Stress Test to know moving is stressful. Anything that makes moving house easier has our stamp of approval, which is why we love FrogBox, the company that delivers reusable plastic moving boxes and supplies to your old home (or office) and then picks them up at your new one. Read more
EASY & DELISH | Making authentic French puff pastry is no small accomplishment, even for the likes of Martha Stewart who confessed in her cookbook Martha Stewart Pies & Tarts that producing a classic puff takes time, “skill and practice,” and that she’s had her share of difficulties making one “because there are so many variables.”
While “quick-from-scratch puff pastry” is definitely easier and less time-consuming to make than the true classic version, it can still be a disaster as I learned not long ago when I tried to replicate THIS AWESOME RECIPE from the Los Angeles Times. Read more
THE LOOK FOR LESS | “Steal of the Month” is a feature—actually a double page spread—that appears at the very back of Vogue magazine every month. In the current issue, the steal is the top from Altuzarra’s capsule collection for J. Crew pictured above, and it’s been paired with wide leg jeans from Acne ($350) for an overall look Vogue editors have labeled “French preppy.” Joseph Altuzarra’s tops start at around $800 (on Net-A-Porter), so, of course, the J. Crew pullover seems shockingly inexpensive at $85—and it would be an absolute steal if it looked less basic J. Crew and more quirky Altuzarra, but it doesn’t.
What we are trying to say is that wardrobe pieces this iconic and familiar don’t need big label validation. To prove it, here’s our version of French preppy for a quarter of the price. Read more
CULT SHOP OPENING | There are any number of interesting clothing designers in Vancouver, but when it comes to kids’ apparel, one company in particular stands out: Redfish Kids. Their clothes for girls and boys are not inexpensive, but they are great value when you consider that they’re impeccably made (in Metro Vancouver) and not about to wear out (think coveted hand-me-downs). Still, qualities like durability don’t begin to explain how Redfish Kids came to achieve a cult status, with celebrity moms such as Salma Hayek (pictured above) outfitting their offspring in the label. Read more
THIS JUST IN | We write so much about our love of all things Joe Fresh that you might think the company pays us to chat them up (they don’t, btw); it’s just that we remain perennially impressed by the fashion coolness that surrounds everything this brand creates.
We don’t care who you are or how much money you have to spend on your wardrobe, you are going to want to have a few pieces of Joe in your closet because they are just that interesting—and fun. Here’s what we’re loving (our own mini lookbook) from the limited edition SS2012 runway collection, which is in select Joe boutiques (in Vancouver that means Granville Street) right now.
BUY RIGHT | Google pizza slicer images and you’ll find an amusing looking assortment of scissors, wheels and other contraptions designed to cut effortlessly through homemade pie. The only trouble with most of these gizmos is that they don’t work all that well. I know because I have a drawer full of them and not one delivers a decent wedge without struggle and concentration, including Jamie Oliver’s pizza wheel pictured above. Read more
KEEPING IT REAL | Wherever you look on the internet today you’re going to be clobbered with last-minute gift ideas. Since when did Mother’s Day (this coming Sunday), an occasion honoring maternal bonds and the influence of mothers on society, become so hyper-commercialized that we now feel compelled to prove our mother love by purchasing the sorts of presents typically reserved for birthdays or Christmas.
Flowers and corner-store cards are one thing, says my friend Tansy Palmer, “but gadgets and gift certificates for Mother’s Day? No way. Mother’s Day is about gratitude and emotional connection not buying stuff.” Read more