JAPANESE HAIR HATS: completely awesome

I don't know why I logged onto Vice magazine's Behind the Seams for the first time in years today, but I'm glad I did.  I think instead of telling our children that maybe someday they can become president if they dream big enough, we should be telling them that maybe someday they can dream up and create creepy and amazing hair hats for a living if they so desire.  I love people who are totally true to themselves, I'm mean, it don't get no truer than this!  This guy's portrait should be in the dictionary next to the definition of "F*CK OFF".   The point of this post: go for it....

Pretty Ballerina- DYI style

So I just got an email from the Textile Arts Center, that they are offering a shoe making class, and teaching you how to make your own pair of ballerina flats! (Yes, I am the creator of the bad 5 minute photoshop image of stormy weather ballet flats above, complete with spikes on heels for bad mood swashbuckling)  I have not been here yet, but this place looks like it needs me to take a class there.  They have everything from weaving, to knitting, to printing....the list really just goes on and on.  You can even just show up after work on Fridays with a project in process and bro down....or just chat if bro-ing is not your thing.  The TAC is headquartered in Brooklyn (of course) but much to my delight, they are also offering this class and more at their new location in Greenwich village.  They also have a sweet selection of holiday gift workshops in both locations that include everything from knitted scarves, leather work, printed paper, and even kids classes (Does that mean i can't cuss like a sailor when inevitably slam my thumb with a blunt object of sorts?).  At any rate, I digress.  Alright, I'm off to sign up for some crafty-fun.  Hope to see you there!

From the Etsy Labs: Natural Perfume Blending at 3rd Ward

So no overly witty (or the bad attempts of) titles to this post.  I was just really excited that 3rd ward added a Natural Perfume Blending Class to the roster of creative classes!  Classes are on December 11th from 2:30-5:30pm/ January 19th from 7-10pm/ February 11th from 1:30-4:30pm and are taught by Julianne Zaleta of Herbal Alchemy Apothecary.  I don't know much about her, but it says she studied with Mandy Aftel, who is pretty much the queen mum of the natural perfume making universe. The natural perfume making workshop I took in October with Charna Ethier was not through 3rd Ward, but I took a Textile Print Design class with Francesca Capone, who designs for Coach and has her own accessories line, and the class, not to mention to whole facility rocked, so I'm pretty sure this class is going to kick some boo-tae.  I noticed the classes are only a single session deal, so sounds like just enough to wet your whistle of curiosity and then compel you to buy a dozen books on amazon to further the fire.  Enjoy my fellow potion lovers!

You Smell Real Purdy.....

Whilst at the soap making workshop through the Backporch Soap company, I learned that they were going to have a two night workshop on natural perfume making taught by a natural perfumer named Charna Ethier, the lovely creator of the delicious perfume line Providence Perfume Co.. As I mentioned in my previous blog entry, I have been obsessed with "potions" and since I was a little girl and LOVE perfume, although I knew very little about natural perfume other than I like the idea of "natural" but am afraid of patchouli and hacky-sak. To be perfectly frank my choices in perfume are totally "old lady"- heavy, cloyingly sweet, musky, scandalous and slightly suspicious scents like Opium, Musc Ravageur, Musc Nomade, and wait for it...yes, Jimmy Choo. What all this says about me??? Intense, immature, nostalgic, and down for a tryst in pre-war Paris maybe? But back to being perfectly Jeanine again....I signed up for the class and it was definitely worth the small investment!

The class is perfectly suited for beginners wanting to know the fundamentals of how to get started- from materials needed to strategies for starting to mix. Although you do get to take a stab at creating your own perfume, the class is really more focused on teaching you how to approach mixing and familiarizing yourself with the ingredients, how the work together and the process as a total, which I felt was really great. Charna shared as many samples of rare scents with her students as possible, as well as share tips on ingredient suppliers, and her own experiences in starting her own business. Charna is a great advocate for the natural perfume movement. It is pretty sad that most of the beautiful perfumes of the past have been so modified by chemical replacements of their original natural ingredients that they are at best vaguely reminiscent of their predecessors, not to mention can sometimes be toxic. I may not be able to put down the bottle of Musc Ravageur any time soon, but in the mean time I will be having fun trying to create my own natural perfume that smells great, is uniquely mine, and is healthy and natural!

Getting bubbly: Soap making classes in New York City!

I've always had an obsession with perfumes, lotions and soaps. It probably started back when I was six years old and used to steal my mom's purple shampoo for platinum hair (remember that mom? ha!) to make secret potions. Yeah, I was a little weird.....what's your point? I wanted to try my hand at homemade potion making of some sort and signed up for a natural soap making class through the Back Porch Soap Co.

The owner of Back Porch, Marla Bosworth provides classes on everything from Soap Making, to a natural perfume making class that I am absolutely signing up for. It was one of the BEST classes I've taken in a long time. Marla was super knowledgeable, thorough and incredibly nice. She had another very knowledgeable soap maker helping us prep so that no one's questions got unanswered! The class was held at The Little Shop of Crafts on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. Because classes on natural soap making and such is hard to find, there were students in class from all over, including Miami, Virginia, Atlanta, etc. Some students wanted further training for their own businesses, while others like myself just wanted to learn how to make natural products at home. Every student went home with 2 gigantic bricks of soap to cut down and enjoy. They smelled awesome too. Will post pics soon!

Holy Dough!....nuts- DOUGH BROOKLYN at Smorgasburg

DOUGH Donuts: A Far Cry From The Old Fashioned from SkeeterNYC on Vimeo.

I finally made it to Smorgasburg in Williamsburg this weekend (the weekly market of local food vendors selling everything from grilled corn with smoked peach butter to homemade brisket and bklyn made jams, plus a farmer's market)

Now let me just say this, I'm not a huge doughnut fan and will choose a lot of other fat or sugar laden lovlies before I indulge in a doughnut, however, the DOUGH doughnuts I ate completely BLEW MY MIND and were hands down the best thing at the market. When we got there the doughnuts were sold out, but just as I finished off a bit o' fried chicken a fresh delivery arrived from their store in Bed Stuy. Big, light, chewy, warm....they just pulled apart so beautifully. I got a coconut milk glazed with toasted coconut on top AND a blood orange glazed doughnut (complete with a candied orange peel garnish). I'm kind of obsessed.

You can find them at 305 Franklin Ave, Brooklyn, Ny. The mastermind behind these pillows of love is Fany Gerson, a James Beard award winner for he cookbook, My Sweet Mexico (I am awaiting my copy from Amazon as I type). Clicky clicky the link above for more on her.

Apparently it took chef Fany Gerson six months to perfect her dough. I will be trying my hand at some yeasted doughnuts tomorrow and will post the results and recipe soon there after- wish me luck and please post any tips if you have made them before!

X dough X dough

Slingin' Hash Hamptons Style: Teen & Adult Cooking Classes

Loaves and Fishes is a beloved prepared food shop which also has a cooking supply annex in Bridgehampton. Everything is delicious, fresh, organic and so absurdly expensive that it may send you into an existential tailspin. The cooking supply shop in Bridgehampton however, is really awesome and a great resource for a gifts!

They have cooking classes for both adults and kids! I took a two night course with my "special man friend" two weeks ago. It was fun, but really geared more towards people who already know how to cook, and just want to get together with a bunch of people and learn some new recipes. The highlight was making home made pasta, which sort of ignited a little torch of italian cooking passion under me. I have since gone and bought a pasta roller attachment for my kitchen aide mixer and have made spicy red pepper rigatoni- YUM!

http://www.landfcookshop.com/

David Cheng's Lucky Peach

While perusing the culinary section of the magazine racks at Barnes & Noble yesterday I noticed one magazine that didn't look like any others. Chef David Cheng started a food quarterly called Lucky Peach (Momofuku) and issue one was released this summer. The great photography and "zine-esque" illustrations throughout are such a welcome and refreshing departure from other mainstream publications. There is also an ipad app to accompany that will come out soon.

At $10 a pop, it's pricey, but the gitty nostolgia of teen-angst I felt while flipping through all the diy illustrations & slightly twisted content told me it was mine. The first issue reads somewhat like if Economist magazine was about food and could flip you the finger . It is dense with information on Ramen (from recipes & classifications of, to it's history and tours of Ramen houses) and rife with indulgent liquor-induced & not-liquor induced musings on the affects that culinary fusion, mediocity and authenticity have on our society and world at large. And that is just the tip of he content iceberg here. It's not a magazine you can plow through in one sitting (like I said, it's kind of like the Economist of food magazines) but the recipes and subjects are great and delivered with intelligence, wit, and laugh out loud bawdiness (with articles by favorites like Ruth Reichl, Todd Kilman, Peter Meehan, and Wylie Dufresne-who apparently is incensed by Brooklyn and the farm to table movement which is just kind of funny).

So go ahead, indulge your inner anti-establishment, angsty, culture and culinary obsessed self and pick one up:

http://www.momofuku.com/news-and-events/lucky-peach/

Great article by NPR:

http://www.npr.org/2011/08/07/139019770/lucky-peach-an-irreverent-look-at-cooking

ZEN LOOM WEAVING CLASSES

A great discovery! After getting a lilac glitter fade gel manicure at Sakura's Upper East Side location I grabbed myself the most delicious iced coffee at Little Brown and started making my way back across the park to the west side (yo). While strolling down sleepy little East 87th Street I happened upon Loop of the Loom, a weaving arts studio! They teach a type of weaving called Saori, which is a Japanese method that is centered on zen expression, and have both adult and children's classes. Among the different items you can learn to make here: tapestry, scarves, bags, shrugs, skirts and more. I like it! Wondering if I can weave a bust of my chihuahua Bill into a tapestry....hmmm. Enjoy!

http://www.loopoftheloom.com/