Important Notice

Strawberries are the new cupcake.

The cute strawberry above is from crackersandhoney.com, BTW.

For The Rest of Us

In browsing my old posts, I came across some fabulous, water-lily-esque salad servers, which were, of course, more expensive than anything I would buy on my do-gooding, non-profit-type salary.* These, however, are beautiful and affordable. And fair trade!! Ha. You thought I was going to get through a month without a fair trade reference, didn't you?

Never!

www.serrv.org, $20

*That sentence involved an excessive amount of dashing. Sorry. It's Friday, and I have had way too many homemade fair trade** chocolate truffles.

**I did it again.

Raindrops on Roses

I have to post this for two reasons. One, seeing the words "Pink Buttercream Frosting Lip Gloss Ring" made me exclaim in astonished but delighted profanities. Two, seeing the blank blog page was too, too depressing.

So, Pink Buttercream Frosting Lip Gloss...in a RING!!!! No, I would never wear this. Yes, I would buy it anyway and be very, very happy to have it.

www.jacquabeauty.com, $8

Pavlova-Mania

Okay, I haven't actually gotten as far as making one, but I've been thinking about it for a long time. Specifically, since I started making ice cream and needed something to do with the egg whites. Other than throw them away, which is what I've *been* doing. But only after assiduously putting them in an airtight container in the fridge with the intention of making Pavlova out of them, and then leaving them there for weeks (or months, if we're being honest).

I think you're missing the point. Maybe I've never made one. Or eaten one (again, with the honesty!) But pavlovas are awesome. They're going to be big. And crusty. With a marshmallowey center.

The Long Da Svidaniya

I've never been all that fascinated with Russia. The literature's depressing, it's cold, and the cuisine seems to be fairly meat-centric. But lately Russia seems to be popping up everywhere. Russian poetry to be exact. I don't know what that means, but thought I'd say it now so that later I can say "я сказал вас так." And, hey, it turns out that Russian poetry, unlike Russian novels (shudder), is pretty darn good.

Oh, and you should definitely get a copy of Regina Spektor's Begin to Hope immediately. Unless you hate innovative, catchy, good music by a talented singer-songwriter. In which case... you shouldn't.

www.amazon.com, $13.99

Now that I can do the I-told-you-so dance (which involves a lot of hip shaking and some jumping about from foot to foot) about the whole lemon thing (exhibit a: July's House Beautiful, exhibit b: the new Bigelow lip gloss at Bath and Body Works) the question is...what next? In a word, lychee. I had never eaten fresh lychees until my recent trip to Thailand, but I did my best to make up for lost time. And now I've discovered a source IN GREENSBORO. That's right, it's the fabulous, fantastic Super Mart. Yay!

Lychees, however, will not be featured at the family Thanksgiving. I don't think my family is ready for that.

Super Super Mart

For some people, grocery shopping is a chore, but I love it. I love the brightly colored stacks of produce, the obscure condiments, the olive bar, and most of all, the inherent potential in all those choices. Yesterday, I found my Mecca -- a grocery store specializing in Asian and Latin ingredients, and not just a cramped little corner store, but a huge store full of stuff I had never even seen. Even better, full of stuff I *had* seen and hadn't been able to find in the U.S. The next time you're in little old Greensboro, NC, check out the Super Mart at Fanta City on West Market Street. Some of the treasures I found included: Kirin Afternoon Tea (Japan, something for which I've been searching for a decade), guarana (Brazil), S & B Golden Curry Sauce (Japan), fresh lychees (Southeast Asia), and G7 3 in 1 coffee (Vietnam, pictured left).