I've just entered a very interesting and inspiring contest, Martha Stewart American Made, which salutes American makers.
Martha has judges of her own, of course, but there is a Public Choice category. So if you're so inclined, go to the site, scroll through just to keep things fair -- and then vote for me! It's that simple.
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This is what makers live to see -- their work in action. And OMG - look at this note from a kindred-spirit customer who loves the sound of cicadas: "I just wanted to let you know how much I appreciate that you made something that was not only so unique, but also so sturdy and very well crafted. I try not to carry tons of heavy stuff, but (see attached) I can take it with me to the farmer's market or anywhere else I go and it's pretty much the only bag I need. "I had debated buying it, because I'm a mom, and mom's spend all their money on the kids and the family and the house, for the most part... but there was just something about this when I saw the pic of it the first time that told me, "That's MINE!" :) "Thanks again for this. It's more than a bag to me. It's me carrying something special to me around, every day, and it reminds me of so many happy things." It's a good day for Beyond Her. Smile. I read the New York Times almost every day online, but I must admit I have a bit of a routine -- I read the same sections, in almost the same order -- and I definitely have to set a time limit. This is literally against every rule for living creatively. So, admittedly, I may miss some things. Someone I spoke to recently (who? can't remember) suggested that he always found something interesting by gleaning the "Most E-Mailed" list that they publish every day. Sure enough, the first time I tried it, I found a fascinating article about a 100-year-old brand, L.C. King Manufacturing Co. in Bristol, Tennessee, a struggling clothing factory that has recently, and almost unknowingly, become a favorite supplier among hipsters and Japanese designers. For all these years, L.C. King has produced Pointer Brand, its own line of work and hunting clothing and accessories, but now they're creating private label jeans and jackets, right there in their 100-year-old factory. Clients talk about the "zen" of the place as well as the high quality of the products. There's a story there. As someone who has tried hard to buy US-made goods -- everything from dish towels to calendar frames -- this "discovery" is fantastic news. I can't tell you how disheartening it was to look up global producers of cotton textiles and see how many American companies have gone out of business in the last few years. (For the full story, read "The Travels of a Tee Shirt in a Global Economy, by Peter Rivoli, 2008). And I will say that when I did find an American (usually family-owned) supplier, our relationship was instantly warm, friendly and flexible. We got each other. I want more of those. The article also referred to a fantastic website directory of all American-made goods: Maker's Row. Which means that now I at least have contacts to research for my own small minimums and quirky demands, something I just didn't have before. Thank you NY Times (and the anonymous person who suggested this diversion) for opening my eyes! Coming Home Our waxed canvas tote bags are 100% American made! Canvas: James Thompson Fabrics, Valley Falls NY Design & Eco-Friendly Screen Printing: Beyond Her, Houston, TX Waxing, Construction, Leather: Chris Franks Design, Austin, TX At roughly 8 x 10 inches, with dirt- and water-resistance and irresistible cuteness, this is the perfect lunch bag, wine tote, carry-all for odds 'n ends! And it looks great with a couple of bottles of wine as a housewarming gift or wedding present. Soon to be your favorite bag. See them all here! The Beyond Her manifesto is pretty simple: "Life is too short for ugly dish towels." But the more I think about it, the more I'm sure this thought needs a major revision. In truth, life is too LONG for ugly dish towels. We all know how much time we spend in the kitchen, cooking and cleaning up. Why wouldn't you want to be surrounded by things that you love to see, and like to work with? Little things like handsome hand towels can make a difference. They provide a kind of decoration that changes with the laundry, and if you're like me, you will often be more in the mood for one towel than another. And anyone who has spent any time making dinner or doing dishes knows that there are good dish towels and there are bad ones. The good ones, like ours, are a rich 100% nice cotton muslin, and really soak up water and wash up well. The bad ones, even the cute ones, are shiny, slick and pretty useless when it comes to doing their job. People often have a regretful reaction Beyond Her kitchen towels -- after they appreciate the hand-dyeing, the original art, the surprising colors, the modern aesthetic. "I could never use these, they're too pretty," they mourn. Too which I say, dishtowels are not rags. For god's sake, don't clean up messes with them. Don't wipe up the floor! That's what paper towels are for. Use hand-picked, soul-satisfying, sensual dish towels for your hands and for dishes -- and perhaps for the occasional place mat, bar towel, or gift wrap. Go ahead - live a little, in the kitchen and beyond. Get a lovely dishtowel! In the heat of the summer, it's hard to even think about cooking, but this dish literally takes the heat out of every situation. It's something like fresh pickles! Made by my mother and hers before her, this is real pioneer food -- no muss, no fuss, and simply delicious. Cuke & Onion Salad 2 med cukes (I used an English local variety, 1 large one) 1 onion (Mom used yellow; I had red, so that's what I used) Slice thin - this is exactly what mandolins are for! 2/3 cup white or cider vinegar (how subtle do you want to be?) 1/2 teas. coarse salt Pour over onions and cucumbers. Chill. Some people add tomatoes, and there are recipes with sugar, but this is the basic mix. Prepare at least a few hours in advance so that it gets a nice chill, and serve as an appetizer salad or a side dish. Particularly nice with BBQ. We just pull the veggies out with our fingers, but civilized folk might include tongs or a fork. I keep any extra around to put on sandwiches or even plain bread. Yum! Right now, living in Houston is like living in a terrarium. And it's going to keep up this temperature / humidity extravaganza for about six more months. So pardon me if I appear somewhat damp - the truth is, anything less than soaking wet is considered perfectly acceptable around here. I'm grateful for every dry moment.
But what I've been looking at, on my daily romps through the lush, tropical woodlands surrounding Houston's bayous, are miraculous wildflowers that seem to thrive in the heat. One of my favorites is the swamp milkweed that appears about now, in June. Its flowers start like the photo on the left -- purple stems with clusters of bright green pods that hang heavy like clumps of grapes. A few weeks later, this green-on-green concoction erupts into an explosion of white flowers, and the stems gradually fade from purple to green. The fragrance is intoxicating, and since some of the milkweed bushes where I roam have grown to 12 feet high and 12 feet across, the air is pretty staggering. The Real Birds & Bees I don't know where I heard this originally but it's stuck with me -- white flowers are almost always more fragrant because smell is their only means of attraction. Think of magnolias, gardenias, sweet alyssum - even white roses naturally pack an olfactory punch. A little perfunctory research turned up, not exactly scientific validation of this statement, but at least an acknowledgement that:
Gross, but whatever. All I know is that I like the idea that Mother Nature tries to do the right thing by giving every plant its own set of attraction tools -- which is what she also tries to do with people, I think. Sooner or later, the right nectar-seeker comes along and just dives in, ends up with pollen on its hairy little legs, to be carried to the next flirty flower. Whoever first exclaimed, "What a world!" really got it right. I love my walks in the world and the wonder they inspire. I also love this poem by dear Mary Oliver, a poet who for 30 years has praised simple nature: Why I Wake Early Hello, sun in my face. Hello, you who made the morning and spread it over the fields and into the faces of the tulips and the nodding morning glories, and into the windows of, even, the miserable and the crotchety – best preacher that ever was, dear star, that just happens to be where you are in the universe to keep us from ever-darkness, to ease us with warm touching, to hold us in the great hands of light – good morning, good morning, good morning. Watch, now, how I start the day in happiness, in kindness.” Read her work. Something only a dishtowel aficionado would understand: The best part of natural 100 percent cotton dish towels is how absorbent they are -- right from the start. No artificial finish to wash away. No sheen. You know you've got a good one when, after 2 years of constant use and laundering, a tiny hole appears. Only makes them more lovable. Rock on, cotton towels! I met Jill Melton at a show in Dallas in March. Her enthusiasm for the Beyond Her line of dish towels was palpable, and lucky for me, it turned out Jill is an editor for Relish magazine, a wonderful zine about food and cooking. To my great delight, Relish featured Beyond Her towels in the June issue! Check out this great trove of deliciousness, especially the "This 'n That" section, where you will see . . . Us! We're cooking now! My younger daughter's senior year in high school was a little bit of a joke. I admit, I hadn't been paying that much attention -- I thought we had counselors to do that -- but her story was that she had taken all the credits she needed to graduate, and that basically her whole educational responsibility consisted of going to a single English class. One hour, gate to gate. It was a little disconcerting, thinking that this was the generation that was about to take over the world. She barely got out of bed. Oh, she did make it to English class, often in what I believe were her pajamas. But were they reading world literature, doing research papers, writing the great teen novel? No. They were learning to write thank-you notes. Isn't that a curriculum appropriate for an eight-year-old? We went round and round about this, and she won, of course. The real kicker came at graduation, well, really, post-graduation party, when my neighbor made a point of catching me backing out of driveway specifically to tell me that she had received a letter from Afton -- and, goodness, did that girl know how to write a thank-you note! She has never let me forget it. The Short Course in Expressing Gratitude I'm going to shorten that last semester for you: writing a thank you note is as easy as 1-2-3. 1. Address the giver / hostess / friend as "Dear" and open the note with a reference to the specific gift or kindness about which you are writing. An example: "Thank you so much for the lovely dinner you treated us to the other night." 2. Add a little something about how much you enjoyed the gift / kindness / hospitality. Something like: "This was the perfect book to take to the beach, and I was hooked from the get-go." 3. Your closing should be something personable and friendly (I look forward to seeing you at our family reunion this summer), and it doesn't hurt to mention your gratitude again. Sign off with something warm -- if not "Thanks again for thinking of me," then something like "Warm wishes." There, it's done! The Modern Thank-You Note Some experts want you to embellish your notes with a little news, but I am personally a true believer in the pure thank-you note -- single-minded, purposeful, heartfelt. It works for anything from a large endowment to a light lunch. Keep it simple, I say. But make it prompt. There's a tendency to write thank-you email,s which is of course technically fine -- but there is NOTHING like a written, mailed thank-you note to show that you are a civilized person, capable of wondrous things -- like finding a stamp and getting to a mailbox. Seriously, if you've gotten a good thank-you note, you know how much it means. The secret is how little it takes -- although if you want to turn this into a high school semester I'm here to say, it can be done. Show your distinctive style with clean, contemporary note cards from Beyond Her. Two unique sets of stationery are available at the Beyond Her etsy shop Man Speaks: 8 correspondence cards with nature images, in kraft with kraft envelopes Summer Postcards: 6 postcards on bright white cardstock, self-mailers |
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