Blue Blissdom Lampwork Glass Earrings
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Couture Derby Hat
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Lavender, Plum and Yellow Glass Soap Dish
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What’s In Season Now: May 2011 Edition
For the first quarter century of my life I thought that I hated beets in all their forms. Hated. “They taste like dirt! I’d adamantly regurgitate. I’m sure I’d heard it somewhere, at some point, because I’d never actually tried them myself. And while it’s true, they can taste like dirt, one day in what I like to pretend was no cosmic accident, I picked up a salad from a local market; a salad that contained — unbeknownst to me — pickled beets and a love affair was spawned.
As it turns out I love beets. At least when they’re sweet pickled. I could sit and eat them straight from the jar with a fork. And I probably will as soon as our 2011 crop ripens and I’ve pickled up another year’s supply. You see, I’ve been out of pickled beets for quite sometime now and my patience is growing weary. Everything in this area — and so many others — is considerably behind this season. While beets should be a staple of May production even in some of the more northern parts of the country it may very well be June before we see any. In the meantime, I may have to tide myself over with a jar from Pick-a-Peck. There is no better way to dress up salad greens and spinach — my favorite is a greek style spinach salad with feta — and if spring continues on in the manner it has been greens and spinach may be just about the only local bounty we’ve got to work with.
Still, it doesn’t hurt to keep your eyes peeled. And, especially if you’re in a more southern locale, you may just get lucky. In addition to beets, asparagus continues cropping up from south to north this month, strawberries will start producing in most of the southern states working their way towards a June and July harvest up north, potatoes are making their appearance along side many of the cole and brassica crops — cabbage, broccoli, kale, cauliflower, and the like — and green onions — one of spring’s tender delights — will also start gracing market tables.
As always for more relevant seasonal food shopping tips be sure to check out the full What’s In Season Now series. It’s impossible to mention all the seasonal produce it’s possible to find at Markets around the country so be sure to pay special attention to recent months’ editions and this month’s edition from previous years for inspiration. Happy Market Shopping!
*Both the beet and green onion photos above are Fine Art Prints, click either photo to be taken to the artist’s Etsy Shop. Vegetable photos make excellent kitchen decor!
Derringer Friday
Derringer Friday is a duo of transplanted southern gentlemen who like to wear nice things. Like so many independent designers I know, Scott Permar and Lukas Smith got started because they couldn’t find anything in stores that satisfied both their style and quality requirements.
Derringer Friday is about neckties, because that’s what Scott and Lukas like to wear. Although neither of them come from a design background, they know what they like, and they know what looks good. “At the end of the day, it comes down to taste rather than any specific skill,” says Scott, and he’s right. After all, many of the most successful menswear designers never set foot in fashion school.
I first noticed Derringer Friday ties at the Temporium, where their unusual colors and interesting shape caught my eye. As always, I noticed the fabric first: high quality wool, linen and seersucker in bold plaids and florals. The combination of texture, color, and pattern was really interesting, and a far cry from the boring “power ties” on the collars of most men in DC.
The most interesting feature, however, is the guillotine tip, a design detail that really sets Derringer Friday ties apart. They are constructed using an unlined, four-fold technique that Scott and Lukas devised themselves, after some research and trial and error. Their goal was to create a tie that would drape nicely and hold up well over time, all while looking stylish, and of course, not like everybody else.
The company came about as sort of a happy accident. Scott and Lukas have been friends for years, and have always been interested in clothes and style. After talking about starting something together for a while, they took the plunge by experimenting with necktie designs, and Derringer Friday was born. Their first collection debuted in April 2010.
All the ties are handcrafted in Washington, DC by Derringer Friday’s talented local production team. The most popular ties, not surprisingly, have been the brighter, more colorful designs, which also happen to be the ones that Scott and Lukas enjoy designing the most.
There are plans to add cufflinks and tiebars to the collection in 2011, but for now you can find handmade Derringer Friday neckties at their online shop, and at Alter Brooklyn in New York City.