This Thursday we are teaching a styling class at Alt For Everyone. Each year we attend Altitude Summit in Salt Lake City and love connecting with the blogging community in real life and the amazing educational resources Alt Summit offers. They truly look at blogging as a business and profession, which I am passionate about. 

One of the challenges with attending Alt Summit is the travel. It's not always easy to get away, so when I heard about Alt for Everyone, I thought genius! It's Alt Summit but online, so everyone can attend! There is the same great content, key notes and networking, but online. 

To say the least, we are more than excited to teach a styling class. I'll be sharing all my tips and tricks, plus some behind the scenes of us shooting for House of Brinson.

Here's the fun part: we have 10 tickets to give away to Alt for Everyone! The first 10 commenters on this post will get a ticket. 

I believe our class is sold out, however there are many great classes to sign up for, plus people can change classes until the 15th, so a spot might open up. 

We were more than excited to see a box of figs at the market and thought what better to pair with a lonely fig than honey and prosciutto? Simple and sweet. Figs are by far one of my favorite fruits, and as soon as they go into high season, I will begin my annual fig jam making. I normally make about 15 jars since it is William's favorite.

We were excited to attend AIGA talk with Michael Chernow who shared his know how on Hacking the System with his company the Meatball Shop.

Check out the new app Bondsy. It's like Craigslist, but you only have connections that are your 'friends', so you don't get the creeps. Great way to get rid of stuff you don't need, or trade items.

I can't wait for summer days like this. These two boxer dogs are too much fun.

I just took a great class at the Institute of Culinary Education. They have a great program in food media and I can't wait for the recipe writing class this summer.

Have you heard about the Equals Project? I was more than thrilled to hear they are working on their first print edition. Some talented ladies are putting together this publication. Check it out and show your support.

I can't wait for BlogFest by Kravet later this month. I almost passed out when we received an invite to a party at Jonathan Adler's Manhattan flagship store. I'll be there, with bells on (after I pass out).

I just watched the documentary about Diana Vreeland and loved it. I was excited to see an outspoken woman with original ideas celebrated. She seemed to understand the seductiveness we need to create in visual industries, which is very overlooked in our current state. There is a need to play it safe, and I appreciate her not playing anything safe, but being conceptual and unique. I could talk about this for hours.

“When I arrived in America I had these dark red nails which some people objected to but then some people object to absolutely everything.” DV

Check out my Instagram photos from my trip to Canada. Some photos are from my Aunt's farm which is so quiet, I had a hard time sleeping!

Recently we were asked to contribute to "Be My Guest" with Giulia Doyle of Audry's 74. We both made one of our favorite recipies for shrimp and grits. It was kind of a cook off, but a friendly one! Drop on by to Audry's 74 to see what happened and to get the recipie.

Enjoy!

Before I start this post, I'd like to clarify: this is in fact Susan writing. Since becoming gluten and dairy free, I have been on a quest to find my new comfort foods. You know the kind of food you have a memory about and they warm your soul. No gluten and no cheese makes that challenging to say the least. 

A few months ago I found myself in a basement bar in the village. Squeezed in with jocks and suburban wannabe NYers and city newbies as they watched football together. Bad style, cheap beer and sports was the name of the game. Oh, let's not forget the grunting. I actually heard two guys grunt at each other as a way to communicate. 

I did learn one thing during this traumatic afternoon. Chicken wings are good, and they have no gluten or dairy. They get my crunchy, saucy love on. My relationship with my husband has improved since my new love of chicken wings. No really, when I suggested chicken wings for dinner the other night, William turned and looked at me and said, "Seriously?" Yes, I was serious. 

Chicken wings are legit and take some skill to prepare them properly. Texture and sauce are king. I like my chicken wings a little crispy and my sauce spicy but sweet. This recipe is great because you can make your own sauce and can it in advance, or buy your favorite store bought sauce. Come peach season, I promise to post my peach BBQ sauce recipe. If you are going to be mildly healthy, bake your wings. Yes, I love the fried wings. Who doesn't? My ass told me to put the wings in the oven rather than the fryer. Here's how to make some delicious baked chicken wings. 

Step 1: Trim the wings and discard the tip. 

Step 2: Toss with vegetable oil, salt and pepper to coat.

Step 3: Place on a rack over a cookie sheet.

Step 4: Bake at 400 degree oven for about 40 to 50 minutes, turn wings over half way through. 

Step 5: Sauce the wings and put them back in the oven for 5 minutes.  

Enjoy!

Our lastest addition to The New York Times Magazine, and can I say that drink is addictive. Not only did we have a great shoot with a great staff, I got to meet the mind behind the article Rosie Schaap. What can say, I love my job.

Take a look here for the recipe, it's a keeper. Thanks everyone! Food stylist Suzanne Lenzer and Prop Styling Maeve Sheridan.

As I dive deeper and deeper into avoiding gluten and dairy, I can say finding comfort food is challenging. I was raised on casseroles that generally included a can of creamed soup. Did I mention my undying love of pasta as my favorite comfort food? I even slave over hand making pasta because I want to know every aspect of its existence. When I eat gluten occasionally, I will make my own pasta at home.

I'm learning about a new kind of comfort food, which has become cultural food. We are going to touch on mexican food for this post. There is a small mexican restaurant down the street from us, and I never ate there much. Once I realized they had corn tortillas and I could ask for guacamole instead of cheese, I was hooked. This restaurant did not server the overly melted cheese type of Mexican food I was used to eating. Instead, they use simple ingredients that were well seasoned and simply prepared. A shout out to Choza for making amazing food!

Let's talk fish tacos. One of the reasons this recipe has quickly become a new favorite is because it can be completed in 30 minutes. It's almost as fast as breakfast for dinner, but I don't know if we can go there and knock breakfast for dinner off its pedestal of quick dinners. 

We make our tacos with two kinds of seafood, shrimp and a simple white fish like tilapia, snapper, cod, mahi mahi, or catfish. I do like the really thin fillets, they cook in a flash. And of course shrimp cooks in a matter of minutes. 

Gather theses ingredients:

- green or red cabbage (or both)

- guacamole

- salsa (sometimes we make our own, other times we buy)

- corn tortillas

- fish, shrimp or both

- onions (cooked or raw)

- limes or lime juice

We pan fry our fish or shrimp because it is fast. Make sure you add a little seasoning to your fish and shrimp to spice it up. 

Enjoy!

I can't even believe I am writing a post about this. It's happening right now, right here. At the end of October I was diagnosed with being gluten intolerant and allergic to dairy (oh, and no cow at all, including meat). I have pretty much been in denial about this, but done an okay job at sticking to it. My biggest concern: I LOVE to bake. I don't just love to bake, it's a stress reliever for me. I need flour in my life. I love milk in my coffee, I don't like black coffee. Did I mention I have a lifestyle blog that is FOOD heavy?!?!?

I know there is a huge quantity of gluten free and dairy free food replacements out there, but I'm not a fan (yet). I've had gluten free and vegan cake. In defense of baking, I wish they'd come up with a new name for it, it's not cake. Call it dessert? Cake has some basic ingredients: eggs, flour and a fat like oil or butter. Since gluten free/vegan cake has none of those, I debate the 'cakiness'. Brand it as unique. I've tried some tasty ones, but they are not 'cake'. But then I started wondering, is it called cake not because of the ingredients, but the shape and presentation? Maybe so. We all love the beauty and decorative nature of the cake. Maybe we name it not because of the ingredients, but because of the visual. This is a debate I've been having with myself since looking at baked goods in a whole new light. I'll continue experimenting and taste testing every gluten and dairy free product on the market.

One product I've found and love is everything and anything a coconut can produce. Coconut creamer has saved me from a path of dairy self destruction. Coconut creamer is actually really good and doesn't taste fake. Almond milk has replaced regular milk for most other dairy uses. It's pretty good and I am exploring other ways to use it. While I'm not a huge ice cream lover, I actually like non-dairy frozen desserts (that's the PC name: frozen dessert). 

I am a bit more resistant to not having gluten, I love me some bread and cake. I'm not fully allergic to gluten, and will have it once in a while. I've done a lot of research as to why we are seeing this trend, and found that most grain in America is a GMO (Genetically Modified Organism). Being my stubborn self, I went on a Google hunt for a non-GMO organically grown wheat. It was out there somewhere. Some socially responsible farmer was on the band wagon I was hopping on, and he was gonna get me to the wheat promise land. I found him and his name is Don. He organically grows heritage wheat in upstate NY and has it locally micro milled. I tried it and have no reaction to it. A true whole food. When I bake, I use it and have had great results. 

I'll keep you updated on my journey and share some recipes I come up with along the way. I have some good recipes up my sleeve.

Here's the first recipe: Pumpkin Pancakes. These are a wonderful weekend treat and because pumpkin is low fat, making it pretty healthy. The texture is nice, and cake-like. 

PUMPKIN PANCAKES 

Dry Ingredients

1 1/4 cup gluten free flour (I used King Arthur)

3 tbsp sugar

2 tsp baking powder (make sure it's gluten free)

3/4 tsp cinnamon 

1/2 tsp each of ginger and salt

1/8 tsp each nutmeg and cloves

Wet Ingredients

1 cup unsweetened almond milk

3/4 cup canned pumpkin puree (if you use solid packed, it will produce a denser pancake)

2 tbsp vegetable oil 

1 egg

Whisk the dry ingredients in a large bowl, then combine the wet ingredients in a smaller bowl. Add the wet ingredients into larger bowl of dry ingredients. The batter will be thick. Heat a skillet and add some oil or butter if you prefer. Pour a 1/4 cup for each pancake. When you see bubbles appear on the top of the batter flip the pancake. You might have to cook these a hair longer than regular pancakes because they are so thick. Check a few until you get a feel for when they are fully cooked. Serve with your favorite maple syrup!

 Download the recipe!

We all have these. The loose and loved recipes. So much history and time went into collecting these treasures. I always wonder about women who didn't have technology and share recipes with their church groups and friends on hand written pieces of paper. Baking and trading tastes of their treasured curated collections. 

My book of recipes started with what my mother taught me. "If you want to know how to make something, check the Better Homes and Garden Cook Book," she said. So in college, I was out on my own to hunt and gather as an independent woman. I made my way to the Books-A-Million in sticky, humid Savannah, Georgia to buy the cookbook you see above. It was perfect with the checkered red and white cover. The binder clip part has seen better days, as I have clipped and unclipped it several times when gathering a spread for an entire meal. 

Since college I've been adding recipes to my portfolio. Collecting the best of the best. The pages are torn and dirty, and by dirty I mean unsanitary. Normally I would see this as a sign of love, however I'm starting to see my recipe portfolio as messy and a place of disorganization. This is my church cookbook, an assembly of items given to us from family and friends, and of course our favorite magazines throughout the years. Most of the recipes are adapted and I've perfected them for my purposes. 

I am on a mission to tidy this mess up! I'll share my journey with you and let you into my would and what these recipes mean to me. There's often a story of sorts behind where each recipe came from, or when we had it the first time.

Look out for recipes marked at the end of a post with a 'Recipe Portfolio' download. Print out the recipe and include it in your recipe portfolio. 

I feel like today it is so important to know where things come from. What was made where, is there someone responsible for the quality, is there a soul behind the product. With a wonderful sneak peek from the folks at Beam and Anchor, they led us to the workshops above their shop. It was PDX makers at their best. 

The upstairs workshops were held by Wood & Faulk, Maak Soap Lab and Phloem Studio. It was a collaborative, creative dream space. While all the workshops are separate they all bleed into each other spaces and the common area. Not to mention a shop downstairs to show off all their new wares.

It was such a pleasure to see the behind the scenes action of each studio and know that some real person or persons was behind each thing that was created. From the amazing leatherwork of Wood & Faulk to the sweetness of the Maak Soap Lab to the hand made canoe of Phloem Studio, you could see the handiwork of each artisan, like we had stepped back in time where the people behind the products really mattered.

If you're ever in Portland, Oregon, I hope you get a chance to take a look at all these craftsmen products in person. If a vist to Portland isn't in the cards, go to their sites and I know you will be impressed. Like right now at Wood & Faulk they have these amazing patterned coasters that I would love.

Thank you to the folks at Beam and Anchor for letting us run around and explore the wonderful workshops you have upstairs.

Tell them we all said hello!

This Sunday we had a few oysters from Eataly for our snack. Will is pretty good at shucking oysters, so they are easy to prepare at home. My favorite way to eat them is raw, although I recently had them steamed with butter on saltine crackers in Maryland, and they were pretty good. We are cocktail sauce people, with a little lemon, but you can also have them with a classic mignonette sauce. Being from Southern Maryland, it's very regional to use cocktail sauce. Oysters are salty and clean tasting and the cocktail sauce takes the edge off the saltiness. 

Here's some highlights from last month:

Did I mention how cool my husband is? Check out his food photography in The New York Times Magazine here. 

I liked this article about Martha Stewart. She has guts, and I like that. 

This video showing a woman hand painting the edges of cards is beautiful.

My biggest achievement this month is completing the Writing Life Workshop. Chris Wells is an amazing teacher, one of the best I've ever had. I hope you'll see a change in the blog in the coming weeks. I admit, I'm not much of a writer so it's a real struggle for me to write a longer post. (I actually thought about only doing video posts, then I thought I was crazy!) This class has helped me embrace writing and story telling.

We all have a thing to learn about branding from a company that is hundreds of years old. Kikkoman (that's right, the soy sauce) has this amazing story called Make Haste Slowly: The Kikkoman Creed. How many brands to you know that stick to brand values for over 300 years? This story knocked me off my feet. 

Follow us on Instagram @houseofbrinson to see what we're up to around the city. I'll keep you updated on my house plants and succulent propagation. Fingers crossed my black thumb doesn't take over, again. 

Need to waste some time? Check out You Had One Job!