Lindsaycdavison

Whyyyy do I do this.

Just when I’m really getting in the groove of eating vegetables by themselves, without covered in something fabulous, probably how they should be, I throw it back and cover them in CHEESE SAUCE.

But at least it’s adult cheese sauce. And by adult cheese sauce I don’t mean vodka cheese sauce, though that doesn’t sound terrible. (does it? whomp.)

I mean butternut cheese sauce! Technically, I put another vegetable inside of my cheese sauce so I’m eating vegetables on vegetables.

In other words, brilliance?

Potatoes were my absolute FAVORITE food when I was growing up. Favorite, I tell ya. If you asked me what my favorite food was, I’d say scalloped potatoes, baked potatoes, mashed potatoes – even my mom’s cheesy potato chip topped potato casserole. POTATOES gave me all the feels.

It was a rare occasion that we ate fast food when I was a kid, but my brothers and I were desperately obsessed with the idea of happy meals. Apparently I have always been a marketer’s dream?

We had fast food maaaaybe if my mom was going out with her card club friends (who never play cards) or if my grandpa took us after school one day, but it was only a handful of times a year. I obviously see the good in that NOW, but back then it was a special kind of torture.

There was a hot minute when I had the biggest fascination with the Wendy’s baked potatoes. Do they even still have them? After dance class I would beg my mom to get me a broccoli cheese potato, but I’d remove all of the broccoli because it was broccoli. And I’d just eat the cheesy potato.

I was the worst.

But I figured out the solution. They should have been ROASTING(!!) their broccoli. Because then I probably would have eaten it.

Obviously.

Let’s talk about the sauce. Cheesy and melty, made with butternut squash and actual cheese. I’ve done this before in butternut mac and cheese recipes. But I know that most butternut cheese sauces you can find on the good old internets are vegan versions made with nutritional yeast. I will be the first to say how much I LOVE nutritional yeast – it really is super cheesy and is the only thing I put on my kale chips. However.

I was sold on making cheese sauce with freshly grated cheese. And my favorite squash. It’s been a minute since I’ve made anything with squash (typical after a full blow obsession, as usual. obsessed > forget about for four months > repeat.) and it’s still so abundant in my grocery store that I should be taking advantage.

So I am!

Over the years I have detailed my love for meatless meals when Eddie is away. Three years ago those meatless meals were very much centered on wine and cheese but today, it’s not just me that I have to feed.

With that, I’m absolutely wacky over this meal. I had one of these potatoes with my favorite house salad for dinner a few nights last week and it was so satisfying – not to mention incredible comfort food. And it was so much better than the drive thru potato my highlights-reading, tap-dancing twelve year old self wanted back in the day. Super glad I discovered that now.

Bacon next time. For sure.

 

I have forever seen recipes on TV and around the web for something called Mexican Lasagna, a giant layered casserole that contains pretty much everything we love and cannot get enough of — tortillas, beans, salsa, cheese and then some — but couldn’t bring myself to make one because I make bad decisions based on trivial things, such as the name, which made me cringe (must we blame the people of Naples or Mexico for the unholy ways we Frankenstein their cuisine?) and the fact that I hadn’t exactly run out of excuses to eat tortillas, beans, salsa and cheese yet and thus didn’t need to enlist another one. Don’t worry, Deb is going to see the error of her ways in the next paragraph.

... Read the rest of taco torte on smittenkitchen.com

---

© smitten kitchen 2006-2012. | permalink to taco torte | 111 comments to date | see more: Appetizer, Beans, Photo, Tex-Mex, Vegetarian, Weeknight Favorite

I'm going to take a wild guess that if you hadn't read the title of this post, you wouldn't have guessed that there's no butter or chicken in this "Butter Chicken". But thanks to some clever kitchen tricks, this rich, flavorful plant-based curry is meaty and loaded with lip-smacking umami. For thos

Continue reading "Vegan Butter Chicken"

Read the recipe »

Want a day trip with a difference? It’s worth heading over to Pulau Ubin, a rustic island located just off the East Coast of Singapore. It’s home to Singapore’s last authentic kampung (village) and one of the most unique cultural experiences you can enjoy beyond the city. The bumboat ride is fun, the cycling is a good laugh, and there’s plenty of nature to see on the little island – plus, the whole shebang is affordable! Here’s what to do on your adventurous day out.

Pulau Ubin: What to bring and how to get there

Two things you need in your arsenal of island necessities: sunscreen and insect repellent. The sun’s rays in non-forested areas can be seriously intense, so don’t skimp on the layers of sun protection for your face. You’ll want to spritz on insect repellent generously to stave off pesky mosquitoes, too. And, to relieve those bites, a tube of Mopiko or SuuBalm will come in handy.

The fun begins at Changi Village Ferry Terminal. Arrive early in the morning to avoid spending the bulk of your day under the scorching afternoon sun. A one-way trip to the island will cost you $4, and will only depart when 9 to 12 passengers are in line. There’s an additional cost of $2 if you bring a bicycle along.

Things to do in Pulau Ubin

1. Visit the Chek Jawa Visitor Centre

The Chek Jawa Visitor Centre is actually a restored building! It was previously used as a holiday home by the Chief Surveyor of Singapore in the 1930s. It’s the only remaining Tudor-style house left in Singapore and even has a fireplace. It also has its own jetty, which makes for great pictures to remember your adventure in Pulau Ubin.

2. Hunt down Instagrammable spots

We love Singapore, but you can’t get the same lush and expansive nature in the city. While you soak in all the greenery, remember to snap some pictures for Instagram too! There are a couple of spots that look gorgeous basked under the glow of the sun. We recommend stopping by Pekan Quarry and Ketam Quarry or heading up to Puaka Hill. It’s a bit of an intense climb, but the view is absolutely worth it.

3. Hit the waters on a kayak

For a unique way to experience Pulau Ubin’s rugged terrains, hit the waters on a kayak. Choose from three expeditions organised by Adventures: the beginner-friendly Mangrove Kayaking is perfect for wildlife-seeking adventure junkies, while Ubin Bisect Kayaking takes you on a challenging 8.27km trail from one end of the island to the other. But for a real workout, hit the open seas with Round Ketam Kayaking. It’s an adrenaline-pumping journey that’ll take you around Ketam Island while learning better paddling techniques.

4. Go on two-wheeled adventures

Unlike the biking trails of Singapore’s well-manicured paths, cycling in Pulau Ubin is a real adventure. Rent from one of the bike shops in the village and follow the signs to the main attraction: Chek Jawa. Make sure your phone and portable charger are fully juiced up – there are plenty of scenic ponds, paths, quarries and kampung houses for you to photograph along the way.

If it’s an adrenaline-pumping adventure you seek, go on the physically challenging Ubin Bike Trail Adventure. You’ll be pushing your legs and glutes to the limit thanks to steep uphill paths. But the speedy downhill slopes, wildlife spotting, quarry views and hidden scenic spots are worth the week-long ache.

5. Explore the island on foot

Lace up those hiking shoes ’cause there’s plenty to see. Take a 40-minute walk to Chek Jawa Wetlands, where you’ll be greeted by gorgeous sea views, a natural rocky shore and a mangrove swamp at the end of a boardwalk. Something else hikers should strike off the bucket list: Puaka Hill, the highest peak of Pulau Ubin. Be careful, as the trail is steep (especially when you’re going downhill). But the peak will grant you breathtaking quarry views and even distant CBD views of Singapore.

6. Surround yourself with nature

Prefer immersing yourself in the island’s impressive natural landscapes? Learn about Ubin’s native plants, fruit trees and herbs at the Sensory Trail or see rare species of butterflies at Butterfly Hill. Alternatively, go birdwatching at Pekan Quarry, which is home to a variety of feathered creatures including hornbills, herons, egrets and sunbirds.

7. Go camping

If detaching yourself from urban life is the goal, a night on Ubin’s shores should do the trick. While you don’t need a permit, be sure to inform Pulau Ubin Police Post so they’ll look out for you. Note that camping is only permitted on Jelutong, Mamam Beach or Endut Senin campsites. Strict guidelines apply as Ubin’s untouched environment is precious – these may include no campfires, littering, tying ropes or tent lines to the trees, or cutting off branches.

8. Go on a temple run

You’re not likely to miss the shrines and temples dotted across the island of Pulau Ubin. A popular one that most come to visit is the German Girl’s shrine on the southern coast. The story goes that it was established in 1914, after a German girl fell off a cliff escaping from British soldiers.

Don’t forget to stop by Wei Tuo Fa Gong Temple as well. It’s decorated in colourful, fluttering prayer flags, making it stand out from its spot amidst a sea of green trees. The main temple contains various religious statues including one of Gautama Buddha, the founder of Buddhism. If you’re feeling brave, you can even explore the graveyards and gravestones of Pulau Ubin that are shrouded in vegetation. Be warned that there have been plenty of ghostly sightings on this little island, though…

So, what are you waiting for? Hop on a ferry to Pulau Ubin and begin your adventure!

The post How to spend a day at Pulau Ubin: Go kayaking, camping, birdwatching and more on this rustic island appeared first on Honeycombers Singapore.

A group of Australian scientists sailing to research plate tectonics discovered more than they were expecting. Well, less. They sailed right through where an island should have been.

Dr. Maria Seton, our cheif scientist, noticed that on the path that we were taking there was this very unusal island. Essentially it was on all the Google Earth maps and it was on all the weather charts. But when you zoom in on it it was just a black blob. Google had no photos from it. It was just this sort of slit in the Earth.

(via ★interesting-links)

Tags: geography   maps

ide·ate

verb  \ˈī-dē-ˌāt\

intransitive verb
: to form an idea

Canada is absolutely awesome. Canadian television is wonderful (Degrassi, Kenny vs. Spenny), and Toronto might be the most genuinely diverse city on Earth. The Canadians look so much like us and talk so much like us…but they’re not US! And they will do their damnedest to make sure everyone knows it. Whenever any Canadian travels overseas, he will have a Canadian flag somewhere on his person to make it perfectly clear that he’s not an American.

The myth about Canadians is that they’re unfailingly polite. Canadians are always deferential, and being deferential is certainly one major component of having decent manners. Canada is a nation of people whose major line of clothing retailers is called Winners. That’s not a joke, though it sure is a punch line. It’s no coincidence that the best Canadian movie, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, stars Michael Cera. This mumbly beta male is Canada incarnate, unable to stand up for himself no matter what the circumstances.

It’s important for Americans to realize that Canadian deference is not one of choice but of necessity. That’s because every Canadian is very aware that their entire nation is America’s bitch (or whatever the non-sexist iteration of that term might happen to be). As such, they have no choice but to constantly act submissively. They’re the B-squad, and they know it. They bring nothing to the table but poutine (a term which Microsoft Word doesn’t even recognize!), and every famous Canadian only became so once they went to the US.

Underneath Canadians’ submissive veneer is a nation of people who have the snide arrogance of the British with none of the dry British wit. As a result, there are few things as easy and as hilarious as making a Canadian lose their shit. On one hand, their disdain for Americans demands that they combat any insult. On the other hand, they’re obsessed with being non-confrontational at all costs. The tension between these two antithetical courses of action leads Canadians to have maple-scented meltdowns that they have no ability to control. Here’s how to get any Canadian to put on a free show:

1. Insist that Canada isn’t really a country.

Even though Canada is the world’s second-largest country (nearly two million square kilometers larger than the continental United States), its total population is less than that of California. Further, over 75% of that population lives within 90 miles of the United States. That’s not a separate culture; that’s a suburb. No one blinks when Rockford, Illinois residents say that they’re from Chicago. But Canadians bristle at this suggestion, even though they have no cultural identity of their own other than “not American.” What I like to say is, “Canada isn’t a country. It’s like, you know, what Puerto Rico is.” Conflating Canada’s national status with Puerto Rico’s legal classification—while remaining ignorant of both—truly riles them up.

2. Ask how many states Canada has.

Canada has ten provinces and three territories, the distinction of which matters to no one. The same applies to the USA: Pennsylvania is technically a commonwealth. Some Canadian “states” are absolutely gigantic (just like Alaska), and one is literally just a few islands (like Rhode Island should be but isn’t). There are no practical differences between provinces, territories, and states—but to the Canadian there is, because United States. An insistence on using American terminology for Canadian geography drives them nuts.

3. Ask who the president is.

This causes them to flip out. Unlike states—which Canada does not have—Canada does have a president. However, their president is an honorary ceremonial position. Their government is actually led by their prime minister, who comes from their parliament. Asking about the Canadian president is technically correct but effectively wrong, a question with no right answer yet one that provokes hilarity as they explain themselves at length with great exasperation.

4. Refer to “Eskimos.”

I stumbled upon this one quite innocently. In the same way that American vernacular has evolved from “colored” to “Negro” to “Afro-American” to “African-American,” the term “Eskimo” (or “Esquimaux” if you want to be old-timey) is no longer in use. The preferred term is “Inuit.” Canadians are aware that few Americans are aware of this distinction, so they will gently correct you while looking around in PC terror. Try to use the word “Eskimo” several times as you fail to understand the difference. Their creeping panic will warm your heart.

5. Use endearing but utterly condescending nicknames for Canada.

Here are some suggestions:
 

America’s little brother
America’s kid sister
America’s hat
The school-play version of America
America: the dress rehearsal

 
Come up with your own! It’s creative and fun, two things Canadians are uncomfortable with.

6. Bring up Kim Campbell.

Nothing but nothing sets off Canadian smugness like George W. Bush. What greater proof of Canadian superiority do you need, right? Except the Canadians don’t have such a clean track record themselves. That’s because they have Avril “Kim” Campbell.

Kim Campbell became Canada’s first female prime minister after Brian Mulroney retired in 1993. Even though Mulroney’s approval ratings were execrable, Campbell had an opportunity to turn things around for her Progressive Conservative party (roughly the Canadian equivalent of the GOP). Her opponent in the fall election was Jean Chrétien, who suffered from Bell’s palsy. So what did the Right Honourable Ms. Campbell do? Why, she ran an ad that made fun of his disability, one that asked, “Is this a prime minister?” alongside shots of his messed-up face.

Her campaign was such a disaster that her party went from having a parliamentary majority with 156 seats to losing every election but for two, including Campbell’s own. She was such a calamity—and feminist cautionary tale—that it took her less than five months to destroy a party that had existed in some form since 1867. The party subsequently dissolved itself. Reminding a Canadian about Kim Campbell hits them where it hurts. The best part? There is no possible rebuttal, as the facts speak for themselves.

Since all Canadians are convinced that Americans are loudmouthed obnoxious morons, they can’t reasonably get angered when a given American is being a loudmouthed obnoxious moron. This forces them to feel guilty for losing their temper, causing their apoplexy to escalate to cartoonish levels. It’s great fun for all concerned—except for that oh-so-polite Canadian, baffled how and why he’s found himself yelling at a dimwitted and naive American.

#PREACH

TheEllenShow / Via youtube.com

TheEllenShow / Via youtube.com

TheEllenShow / Via youtube.com

TheEllenShow / Via youtube.com

---

View Entire List ›

Looks like Seamless has been checking out some Internet memes.

Done!

http://robynsmorgue.tumblr.com/post/54100090209

nevver:

Julian Opie

PUPPY IRA GLASS

Kate Robinson – Oysters getting ready for market

On a clear day, the ghostly meringue-like swirl of Mont Saint Michel is just barely visible across the bay from Cancale. This plucky little seaside town has been famous for its oysters since the Roman occupation of Gaul, and continues to be a top destination for ostreaphiles the world over.

Isabel Miller-Bottome

On a painfully bright day in July, I found myself sitting on a beach littered with shards of chipped and broken oyster shells, bleached white by the sun. Balanced on my knees was a plate of nine intact oysters, fresh from the Cancale bay, deeply cupped and glistening in their own liqueur. The oyster farmer who had sold them to me five minutes earlier had cracked each one open with barely a downward glance, as he stood talking to me in the shade of the little blue and white striped hut where creuses and plats sat in jumbles designated by size (the largest was surely only meant for cooking…). In exchange for the last three euros of vacation money that still jingled in my pocket, he presented me with a sturdy white plastic plate of oysters, a half a lemon and his condolences regarding my imminent return to Paris on the afternoon train.

Kate Robinson – Oysters on the beach!

Roberto Poveda

I am a late-blooming oyster enthusiast, having been traumatized at a young age by one of the poorly fried variety. If my introduction had been a sip of the cool, briney liquid of a Cancale oyster, its smooth, buttery flesh brightened by a drop of lemon juice, with my back against a warm embankment and my toes wiggling in the sand, the rocky curves of the Emerald Coast meandering to my left, and a quilt of oyster beds unfurling before me with each receding wave, I would have probably felt differently about oysters from the start.

Oysters growing - Rog01

That afternoon, I was slurping on Crassostrea gigas, the Japanese rock oyster that has come to dominate oyster production in France following the decline of Ostrea edulis, the flat, wild oysters native to Europe. Until the 18th century, flat oysters, or huîtres plats, were abundant off the coast of France, and certain areas, including Cancale, became renown for the quality of theirs. Louis XIV is said to have commanded his be delivered by horseback from the seaside village, and Napoleon III swore by a meal of oysters before every battle. Harvested in France since as far back as the Romans, who built ponds to stock and sort the coveted mollusc, ostrea edulis was valued for its gustatory and supposedly aphrodisiac qualities. Mollusk fever never relented, and overfishing in the 18th century and successive epidemics nearly exterminated the fragile bivalve.

Isabel Miller-Bottome

As I gave each plump morsel a delicate chew, I came to understand why Cancale’s oysters made a twice-weekly appearance at the royal table starting with Francois I in the 1500s. Faced with the possibility of their disappearance in the 18th century, Louis XIV issued several royal decrees forbidding the harvesting of oysters during the breeding season. This probably explains the myth that oysters should only be eaten in months whose names contain the letter ‘R’: in June, July and August, the oysters produce a milky liquid as they prepare to spawn. There’s no reason not to eat them then, but many producers don’t sell these huitres laiteuses. Also threatened with the disappearance of his beloved bivalves, Napoleon III sent Victor Coste, a French scientist, to Italy to study the techniques that had been in use there for centuries. In 1859, Coste announced his first successful oyster park in the Bay of Saint-Brieuc and modern oyster cultivation was born. 

Kate Robinson

With some of the largest tidal mean ranges in the world–14 meters–the waters around Cancale bath 6,000 tons of hungry, growing oysters in a smorgasbord of microscopic plankton with each wave that rushes in over the city’s nearly 2,500 acres of oyster parks. My Breton friends had all said, “Eat the oysters in Cancale!” and I thought I’d stumbled upon a local secret. But no; Cancale has always been an oyster town, popular with kings, queens, writers and philosophers alike.

Oysters growing - gelinh

Seafood restaurants and souvenir shops seem to overlap one another on Cancale’s waterfront boardwalk, advertising “special” seafood platters on chalky ardoises, regional delicacies in portable sizes and an assortment of garish postcards with larger-than-life oysters plastered over beach scenes. Despite the usual tourist bait, Cancale is more known for the grit of its hardworking fishermen and women, which spares it the hollow kitsch you might expect from a vacation town. 

Cancele - bornin78

You can gorge yourself on chilled oysters, perfectly steamed mussels, and the finest crêpe beurre-sucre you’ll ever eat in one of the waterfront restaurants, but you should really walk to the end of the boardwalk and buy some oysters to be eaten the way they are meant to be: fresh from the sea, under the sun, with the slightest squeeze of lemon.

It’s possible to tour the Cancale oyster parks from May to September at each low tide. Sign up at the tourist office and bring your boots. Cancale can be accessed by local bus from Saint Malo.

• Cancale Tourist Office – 44 Rue du Port, 35260 Cancale. Tel: +33 (0)2 99 89 63 72 
• Keolis Saint Malo – Rue des Rougeries, 35400 Saint-Malo. Tel: +33 (0)2 99 56 06 06 

Related links:

• Check out Le Fooding’s review of Pleine Mer, a Parisian restaurant in the 10th where you can get oysters directly from the Cancale Bay.
• Fancy a cocktail with your seafood? Forest Collins presents some of the city’s best cocktail-forward seafood joints.
• Everything you need to know about oysters! Take a peek at the Paris By Mouth oyster-eating primer.

Written by Kate Robinson for the HiP Paris Blog. Looking for a fabulous vacation rental in Paris, London, Provence, or Tuscany? Check out Haven in Paris.

One of my favorite snacks has always been a soft-cooked egg which I break into a bowl, drizzle with soy sauce and pepper, stir up, and slurp down. I always thought I was a little weird for loving it so much. But then I found vindication in one of Singapore's staple breakfasts: kaya toast served with soft boiled eggs and strong coffee sweetened with sugar and evaporated milk (the soy sauce and pepper are added at your own discretion). Read More

The iconic red sauce meatball—one of the foundational foods of Italian cuisine in the U.S.—has more to do with the New World than Naples. Its development, and its influence on what Italian-American cuisine would become in the U.S., is inextricably tied to New York City. This is the city where Italian-American became American, and where the meatball as we know it began. Read More

Last year, Hampton Creek's Just Mayo vegan mayonnaise beat out our winning brand of traditional mayonnaise in a blind taste test. Now the company is about to release Just Cookie Dough, the vegan chocolate chip cookie dough they've been working on. Could their cookies pull off the same trick as their mayo in an informal taste test? We enlisted the help of strangers to find out. Read More

In the years that I have been the master of this domain, there is nothing I have gotten asked about more than my annual attention paid to sexy Halloween costumes. [Tangent: If I took myself seriously or fancied myself a serious journalist (psshhhht.) than maybe this subject matter would be below me, but I know my wheelhouse. Sure, I could rant and rave about sociopolitical issues till the tides part, but I choose to use my blog as a platform to bring attention to another part of our cultural landscape that really stumps me- the sluttin' up of Halloween.] Even though, I am knockin' on the door of 32, I still  put a lot of thought and attention to a homemade fun costume. I don't take a lot of things seriously, but October 31st is sacred, mothertruckers! Because of the sanctity of the day, my initial distaste for the sexy costume stemmed not only from me thinking they are kinda trashy and more than a lot misogynistic, but because I thought they just weren't creative. However, this assessment was a little unfair, the liberties taken with beloved characters, animals, professions and hell even inanimate objects show inordinate creative license. My bad, sesxy salsa bottle, my bad. You are a true revelation, and I am sorry that I judged you.
Thankfully, my beloved one-stop shop for hooch accoutrement, YANDY.COM, is still crankin' out the nonsensical low-cut hits to show off your tas and in the case of some horrific costumes, your daddy issues. Once you fall down the costume rabbit hole on this site, there is a point of no return. There are hundreds upon hundreds of costumes and more have been added since  my 2013 roundup. To make it easier to digest, I have cut it into fun-sized categories!

Culture Shock and Awe

I know every season there is some huge hullaballoo against people appropriating cultures as costumes, but what if they are slit up to the vag? Maybe, like in algebra, two negatives make a positive.


Objects are Sexy People Too! 






Good Enough to Eat 









Beloved Characters (that may be DTF)

Amy Thielen's fantastic New Midwestern Table celebrates iconic heartland dishes that haven't all gotten the nod of the cool kids—homemade braunschweiger (a soft, smoky pork pâté), beer cheese soup, and the homey chicken hotdish. Here, she shares a few cookbooks that inspire her. Read More

My cat loves small, dark spaces. Only problem is that these kinds of spaces are hard to come by in my open floor plan house. When I came upon a cat teepee in one of the expensive pet boutiques, I knew it was the perfect DIY-able solution.

READ MORE »

Though today celebrated as an icon of Southern home cooking, pimento cheese originates in the north, as a product of industrial food manufacturing and mass marketing. Here's how it arrived in your picnic basket. Read More

this gif is a nightmare factory

When you hear "animal print" you likely picture a leopard or maybe zebra-skin print. Some women can totally pull these prints off, but if done poorly the look can seem, pardon the pun, a bit cougar-like. Maybe it's time to try a different kind of animal print; something a bit more tame.

READ MORE »

Minutes after the announcement, a representative for Doug Ford, the mayor’s brother who is a City Council member, formally registered him as a mayoral candidate.

At the end of each summer, the gang here at Design*Sponge takes a weeklong break to rest up, rejuvenate and get re-inspired before autumn approaches. This summer, I decided to pay a little visit to a place that is always near and dear to my heart: my hometown, Buffalo, New York. The purpose for my trip was twofold. One: a visit to chez Mom was long overdue. Two: I wanted to check out all of the latest and greatest things that my fine city has to offer—and boy, did it not disappoint! From fabulous new farm-to-table restaurants to snazzy new watering holes, Buffalo’s renaissance seems to be going full-force ahead! Of the many new additions to my hometown, though, I discovered my favorite on a chance walk through the farmer’s market: Bread Hive, a worker cooperative bakery owned and run by three totally awesome, totally rad young women. Opened just this year, Bread Hive is in many ways more than just a bakery—it is a movement and a model in terms of its gastronomy, politics and sheer badassery. Founded upon the belief that a business’s workers should also be its owners, Bread Hive is an exercise not just in bread making, but in forging a sense of community and connectedness with food. I had the pleasure of dropping into Bread Hive’s West Side HQ for a quick tour and what I got was a real treat. Not only is their bread quite literally the best I have ever had (and I swear, I’m not just being biased), the atmosphere is one that seems integral to the making of great food: friendly, laid-back and fueled by infectious passion! Check out the 10-Second Tour above or all of the photos from our visit after the jump! —Max (more…)

What does a stylish, spacious home in Greenwich Village go for these days? Well, if its current owners are the quintessential NYC family - Sarah Jessica Parker, Matthew Broderick and their kiddos - the answer is a cool $22 million. Take a peek at the interiors...

READ MORE »

A shortlist of designs for D.C.'s answer to the High Line is under consideration now. Waterfalls and trampolines, yes please!

Washington, D.C. plans to transform its abandoned rail infrastructure into a vibrant recreational destination, following the lead of so many other metropolises. A new batch of design proposals suggests that D.C.'s might be the best elevated park yet.

Read Full Story

If its voters choose independence next week, Scotland will join the ranks of the world’s small, affluent countries. Over the past couple of decades, that’s been a good club to belong to. As Gideon Rachman put it in the FT in 2007:

This is the age of the small state. Look at almost any league table of national welfare and small countries dominate.

Things have gotten a little more complicated since then. (Rachman in 2009: “Big is beautiful again.”) Several small nations suffered brutally from the financial crisis and subsequent Euro mess: Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Portugal.

Still, several of the emerging bigs (Brazil, India, Russia) have since run into economic headwinds too. And small countries remain overrepresented near the top of lists of the world’s most affluent, most competitive, healthiest, and smartest nations.

So it’s not crazy to think that Scotland, which on its own would be a country of 5.3 million people with a GDP per capita ranking between Finland’s and Belgium’s (that’s counting offshore oil revenue), could be an economic success. But it’s not guaranteed, either.

What has made small countries so economically successful over the past few decades is less their smallness than the ways they’ve taken advantage of it. David Skilling, a former New Zealand government official and McKinsey consultant who now advises small-country governments and companies from a base in Singapore, has spent as much time thinking and writing about the strengths and weaknesses of small states as anybody. In a 2012 paper that should be required reading in Scotland, he lists two main characteristics of successful small states:

1. They’re cohesive, and thus able to make policy decisions quickly and stick with them.
2. They tend to make good policy decisions, in part because they’re very aware of the world around them and what it takes to compete in it.

In polls, Scotland appears evenly split on whether to leave the United Kingdom. That doesn’t look very cohesive. But one of the forces that’s been driving Scotland toward possible separation has been the divergence between Scottish political priorities and those of the rest of the UK. The ruling Conservatives hold only one of the 59 Scottish seats in the British parliament; two leftist parties, Labour and the Scottish National Party, dominate Scottish politics. If the question of independence were settled, it seems like the Scots would be able to find lots of other things to agree on.

Would they agree on the right things? A generous welfare state and economic success aren’t incompatible for small nations — there are several examples of this just across the North Sea from Scotland. But since a stretch of tough economic times in the early 1990s, Denmark, Sweden, and Finland have combined their generosity with remarkable efficiency and economic savvy (Norway, with its vast oil riches, hasn’t had to make quite as many hard choices). They and other successful small states tend to balance their budgets, export more than they import, and invest heavily and smartly in infrastructure and R&D. As Skilling tells it, they have designed their economies to be globally competitive.

“Being a small country offers a lot of in-principle upside, brings with it significant risks, and is what you make it — but it’s only for serious countries,” Skilling replied when I emailed him about Scotland.

So is Scotland serious? Skilling thinks it is, but the leaders of the “Yes” movement don’t seem to be quite there yet. They assume that they can continue in a currency union with London when officials in London say that won’t work, for one thing. What’s more, Scotland today has giant government deficits, a fast-aging population, and not much in the way of exports apart from oil, The Economist argued this summer. That, and it has spent the past three centuries becoming ever more economically intertwined with the rest of Britain. Set loose alone on the rough seas of the global economy, it seems likely to founder at first.

After that, the question is whether the small-state effect would kick in. Would the Scots be able to get their act together and rally around things like fiscal discipline and smart tax policies and R&D investment? This is the land that spawned such great economic thinkers as Adam Smith, David Hume, and — what the heck — John Law. Surely the Scots could figure it out eventually. And once they did, it is entirely possible that an independent Scotland with a clear economic identity would be a more vibrant, cosmopolitan, thriving land than the sometimes-neglected northern appendage of a populous country that it is now.

The big question — which neither I nor anybody else outside Scotland can really answer — is whether it would be worth the pain it will probably take to get there.

The merger will help streamline communication across the construction process, according to the companies.

Gehry Technologies, Frank Gehry's software and consulting business, has been acquired by Trimble, a technology company that focuses on "location-based solutions," like GPS technology, serving the construction and surveying industries.

Read Full Story

Can a colicky baby's piercing scream be militarized? As in, made (literally) into a weapon of war? Oh, absolutely, says this scholar, smiling ever so slightly.

» E-Mail This