midnight word

Devon. England

2012-01-30T12:25:00.000-08:00

I have a project in mind about life, villages, happiness and a new rural paradigm. For now, here's a preview of our winter in rural England.

Great Torrington

The old abattoir

Exmoor

discipline & lightness

2011-10-28T11:24:00.000-07:00

Just returned from a trip! Traveling with a professional photographer doesn't inspire me to take too many pictures of my own, but maybe that is a good thing because it forced me to process the journey inwardly and I ended up doing a fair amount of writing along the way.

Something about wilderness forces me to strike that balance between discipline and lightness. There are so many ideas, lessons, life practices that float like clouds above my head in an urban setting. It would be nice to be disciplined, nice to be fearless, nice to smile genuinely in the midst of extreme challenge. For me, the wilderness is a place to be those things—to not just anticipate my best self, but to be her.

kaiserschmarrn

2011-08-26T10:27:00.002-07:00

My mom makes this, always for dinner and never for breakfast. We ate it even before Austria, but now it brings back memories of life in Alpbach.

re-appropriated memories.

Here's the recipe, my mom says the trick is to not over beat the eggs and to heat the skillet before you pour the batter in. We topped ours with lingonberry jam to please the Swede, but yogurt, apple sauce, sugar & lemon are also great toppings.

Recipe: Kaiserschmarrn (origin: my grandmother's dearest friend, Mable Moore)

1 Tablespoon shortening (Earth Balance is great, but butter burns)
3-5 eggs (works with either, I usually use 5)
½ teaspoon salt
1Tablespoon. sugar
⅓ cup sifted flour
½ cup milk (soymilk works great too!)
1 medium jar applesauce, berries or cherries ( plain yogurt great too)

Place shortening in a deep skillet ( cast-iron best, 10-12 in”) and place skillet in oven while pancakes are being mixed and oven brought to 450.
Beat eggs and salt until light
Blend sugar and flour
add to egg mixture and beat until batter is smooth ( electric beater)
Remove skillet from oven and make sure shortening is spread evening
Pour in batter
Return to oven and bake until it is puffy. well-risen and brown 9 (about 15 min.)

Remove (it will deflate) add fruit and yogurt or applesauce, cinnamon etc, and fold over on itself
Serve right away !

glass house

2011-07-11T15:00:00.001-07:00

can't get this place out of my mind. installation by Harumi Yukutake, photographs Sune Tamm.

たびのそら tabi no sora

2011-06-03T14:29:00.001-07:00

I miss afternoons at this cafe near 高田公園, 上越市, 日本.

bee

2011-05-30T14:06:00.000-07:00

thinking about bees a lot. bees and honey. watch this video about an urban beekeeper in HK.

outside

2011-03-08T10:50:00.001-08:00

outside spaces i've known and loved.

inside

2011-03-05T23:29:00.000-08:00

this month marks one year of being without permanent residence. a lovely life, but my mind falls back with great frequency to those spaces both real and imagined that somehow capture me.

茶

2010-12-27T15:52:00.001-08:00

it's tea season people. you may find yourself wondering, "what is my tea freak friend lindsay drinking this winter?" well, don't despair, i'm here to let you know about some seriously good tea.

Huang Shan Mao Feng 黄山毛峰
when it's cold and snowy outside I like my tea to be bright and Spring-like. This green tea from Anhui province in China is hands down my favorite green out there. It's crisp, nutty and well rounded. and remember, when it comes to green tea, steep it in warm/hot water (not boiling! that's how green tea gets bitter). I often bathe my green tea leaves in a splash of cold water just to make sure i don't scald the leaves. redblossom in san francisco's china town sources some of the best chinese tea i've ever found outside of China. their selection is small, well managed and carefully selected. Their 2010 huangshan maofeng is one of the best i've had. ever.

Formosa Oolongs 台湾乌龙
i'm alternating between two taiwanese oolongs this winter. One is a charcoal roasted tung ting, the other is a jing xuan. The charcoal roasted tung ting is bold and creamy, a perfect morning cup. The jing xuan is more representative of formosa oolongs, a bit more floral but it still has a creaminess that makes it alright in my book. again, i bought these two from redblossom, if you live in the bay area i highly recommend visiting this place!

Pu'er 普洱
i cant live without this tea, and winter seems to be when it tastes best. The pu'er market in China has exploded and crashed... there was this crazy phase when pu'er cakes were being sent from their native Yunnan to hot and humid Guangdong for their aging process—these teas are flat, musty and undeveloped. For good pu'er it's got to be aged in Yunnan. When I lived in Yunnan I always bought my tea from LongRun tea company—they're small and they don't use pesticides.

Darjeeling
a year ago I might not have listed an Indian tea, but after a Spring trip to darjeeling this year my palate has been converted. Darjeeling tea is fresh, sweet and surprisingly complex. At high altitude (darjeeling is at about 8,000 feet above sea level) tea bushes grow slowly, producing a leaf that is refreshingly interesting! I bought some great darjeeling tea from this fellow in darjeeling, he sources his teas from small local estates and will FedEx you your order promptly!

If you want a few more recommendations for where to get good tea, i'll list a few here to send you in the right direction.
The People's Republic of China— sipping tea in a Sichuanese tea house is unbeatable.
The Imperial Tea Court—their east bay location is fantastic, with authentic chinese snacks too!
Teance—the atmosphere is pretentious, but the quality is good.
Far Leaves— a taiwanese tea house in Berkeley
The Tao of Tea—portland's little gem
Peet's Coffee & Tea—what??? no seriously, their tea buyer knows his stuff.