i’m in the home stretch of my d*s book manuscript writing so i’m going to head back to work now- but i wanted to leave you with another little peek into its pages. this detail shot belongs to one of our editor’s amazing homes. when you see the full shot of this room you’re going to flip- it is the most gorgeous peach color ever. along with this home, all of the other d*s editor homes will be featured in the book, so stay tuned- it’s shaping up so nicely! until monday, i hope you all have a wonderful weekend. below is a summary of this week’s highlights.

[photo above by johnny miller, who has been a dream photographer to work with over the past few weeks]

• must-read post of the week: new free d*s desktop wallpaper for november by camilla engman!
• new city guide: palm springs, california
• new biz ladies 09: trademark 101 for designers
• new sneak peeks: trina dalziel, ally of ‘from the right bank to the left coast’adam and cynthia
• new diy projects: kate’s pipe cleaner garland, lindsay’s wine bottle vases, margie’s crocheted lights
• before & afters: andrea’s bathroom + kim’s mantle, erin’s sink + tanya’s room + allison’s crib, lauren’s kitchen + kevin’s room + j.c.’s home reno
• new we like it wild: hanging hardens of bernal heights (crocheted flower basket how-to)
• small measures with ashley: domestic liquor
• in the kitchen with: a delicious cookie cream sandwich recipe from ‘our kitchen’
• cookbook reviews with kristina: focusing on books with great food photography
• behind the bar: plum and green tea martini recipe!
• new dear d*s q&a: print hanging and floral centerpiece ideas
• misc.: coulson macleod love prints, modern genealogy charts, new wallpaper from isak, nautical prints from brainstorm, leaf prints by jeff friesen, beverly hsu’s letterpress calendar, remedy quarterly food mag

Alissa and I have both been under the weather for the past week and with HORNE, our friend’s wedding and day-to-day life, we haven’t had an abundance of time to take care of ourselves. The one thing we did do, which really helped, was drink a lot of green tea with honey. So, when our sister, Jillian, told us she recently had an amazing drink that prominently featured green tea and honey we thought sharing the recipe with everyone would be the perfect way to pay homage to the multitudes of people suffering through cold and flu season.

[photo by Jonathan Levitt for the Boston Globe]

This martini hails from the lovely city of Portland, ME and can be found at the bar of the wonderful restaurant Evangeline. Evangeline is a French inspired restaurant with a seasonally driven, daily changing menu. Stephen, the general manager, created this drink when he was inspired to use Italian Plums he found at a local market. As with all of his creations, he wanted this drink to be fun, creative and approachable. Most importantly it had to go well with the French cuisine while still standing on its own as a cocktail.

CLICK HERE for the full drink recipe after the jump!

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This week, I thought I would focus on cookbooks with great food photography, since photography is becoming a bigger part of the food experience these days. There are a few new books out this season which I believe raise the bar in cookbooks. Why? They do not just deliver recipes. They deliver an entire food experience, from the location in which the food is enjoyed, to the environ in which the food is gathered, prepared, and served. [image above from Gordon Ramsey's 'Cooking with Friends', after the jump]

What sets the photography apart in these books? I can tell you what I like, starting first and foremost with the subject, which fills the frame– not a narrow depth of field (where one particular element closest to the camera is in sharp focus and the rest of the image is quite out of focus). I also like images which go beyond the ordinary or the expected. If the idea is to portray the ‘wholesome’ aspect of fresh eggs, instead of a basket of eggs with chicken feathers on them, an image that shows a picture of a grandfather and his grandchild rinsing off eggs before using them to make a birthday cake makes a greater impression on me. Finally, I like to feel like I am there in the scene– so images where the photographer has gotten into the action and shoots from a ‘participatory’ point of view makes a much greater impact.

CLICK HERE for the full cookbook reviews (and a list of great food photographers to check out!) after the jump!

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This is the second part of the New Zealand-based Our Kitchen team. Last week we featured the Vegetable Torta by Sara and Emma in Auckland. This week we have Cookie Cream Sandwiches (with cinnamon-chocolate semi-freddo!) from Andy, Lauren, and Susie in the Dunedin kitchen.

Notwithstanding their different locations, the team keeps their food blog going with wonderful recipes and fantastic photography. Even though Andy says the recipe is a little labor-intensive, don’t believe him! Just make it and enjoy, no matter which hemisphere you’re in! -Kristina

CLICK HERE for the full Cookie Cream Sandwiches recipe after the jump!

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I’m what you might call a bit of a “timid” imbiber, when it comes to alcohol. If it doesn’t taste good, I won’t drink it. If it has to be downed in quick shots, it’s not really my gig. If it must be sipped, savored, and consumed with attention to flavor nuance, however, then I’m on board. I’ve allowed myself to be “over-served” only about five times in my life (those Italian Surfers-a fruity blend of Disaronno amaretto, Malibu rum, and pineapple juice-that I sampled at that ’80’s-themed party whilst dressed as Molly Ringwald were lethal!), every time by mistake. I guess you could call me an intentional drinker, appreciating the flavor and aroma of my chosen brew as much as the individuals responsible for crafting it. I really enjoy a well-made cocktail, a hand-crafted ale, and a nicely aged wine, so much so that, in a previous career, I was a sales representative for a distributor of small-production organic wine and beers. [image sources, clockwise from top left: cocktalia, st. george spirits, plant green, ashley english, pdx plate]

With Halloween past, the holiday season is now officially upon us. For a number of people, that means cocktails! From holiday parties to family meals, from impromptu dinners in with friends to a host of seasonal celebrations, the stretch from October 31st to January 1st is characterized by libations. My small measure topic today highlights the upswing of small-production, domestic liquor producers. Gin, vodka, brandy, whiskey-you name it, someone is making it. In the United States, a number of new distilleries have opened, many of them using locally sourced and organic ingredients.

There are far more than I could list in this post, but a few of my favorites include: Koval Distillery , for their organic grain spirits and Rose Hip Liqueur; St. George Spirits , for their dazzling selection of eau de vies; House Spirits , for their Apothecary Line, including small-production runs of ouzo and rum; Anchor Brewing , for their Junipero gin; Greenway Distillers , for their Crispin’s Rose Liqueur; Square One Vodka , Crop Vodka , Rain Vodka , and 360 Vodka for their organic vodkas; Art In the Age for their Root liquor; and, lastly, Sazerac for their New Orleans-produced Herbsaint, an absinthe substitute that was developed when absinthe was outlawed in the US.

CLICK HERE for the rest of Ashley’s “Getting Into the Spirit: Domestic Liquor” post after the jump!

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with the mainstream publishing industry struggling these days (r.i.p, gourmet), it’s been wonderful to see so many independently and self-published magazines and books on the market. one of the self-published magazines i’m most excited about is a new food journal called “remedy quarterly“. remedy describes itself as “stories of food, recipes for feeling good” and is illustrated in pink and red colors that i find impossible to resist. each issue will have 48 pages (8.5 x 5.5 inches in size), be printed in 2-color offset printing (like the old community cookbooks that inspired the authors) and will be 100% content, ie: no ads.

the first issue’s theme is “home” and includes a q&a with tim of lottie + doof, an interview with will gilson (of cambridge’s famed garden at the cellar) and a story from stacey slate, writer for the ny times food blog bitten. kelly, aaron, jillian and ari (the boston/brooklyn-ites who founded the mag) are currently raising funds for the magazine, but you can go ahead and pre-order or subscribe and get all sorts of goodies like recipes and homemade cookies on their website. i love the promise that this publication holds and am excited to see what sort of creativity comes from the lack of glossy magazines available on stands. here’s hoping that more pubs like remedy (and my fav: edible brooklyn!) can fill the shelves one day…

ps: click here to check out remedy’s clever list of hangover and spicy food remedies on their site…

pps: click here to check out jill’s final post on rain solutions, yurts and domes!